Real Street Eliminator

Car shows are OK, and car cruises are cool, but nothing gets us fired up like a full-on car competition. Not just a drag race, and not just a handling test, but an exhaustive test of the entire car. We thought our long-standing Real Street Eliminator (RSE) competition had become a little too blandly Motor Trend-ish, which is one reason why it went on hiatus for several years, but this year we’re bringing it back by tweaking the rules a little to make the event, judging, and results more interesting and more fun.

Straight-line performance is our bread and butter, so we’re placing the cars’ quarter-stomping capability highest on the weight scale. We hope that doesn’t surprise you. Handling hasn’t been overlooked either, but since most of you don’t have a slalom course or a 200-foot skidpad in your backyard, we’re goin’ autocrossing. Dodging cones means you need good transient handling and sticky cornering grip, so the results will be just as meaningful. We like autocrossing ’cause it puts the drivers’ talents to the test too, so you’d better devote a couple months to practice.

It seems unfair for us CC staffers to judge the show-’n’-shine portion of RSE since most of our own rides have seen better days, so we’re having a group of experts judge how sweet (or rough) your car looks. Those experts will be from restoration giant Year One, whose Bristol Bash, in Bristol, Tennessee, will host our RSE event on Oct. 18-20, 2002. We’re draggin’ on Bristol Dragway, autocrossing in their parking lot, and judging on the show grounds—all as part of Year One’s Bristol Bash, which attracts several hundred musclecar enthusiasts on its own. If you’re lucky, we’ll have convinced the organizers to let y’all take a victory lap on Bristol Speedway, but don’t count on it. C’mon, like this isn’t cool enough?

We’re looking for five or six awesome all-around cars, so if this sounds like something you and your street machine can compete in, take some clear, descriptive pictures of your car and all its trickery you’d like to highlight. Fill out the entry blank (thoroughly, you lazy-asses), then mail it all to: Real Street Eliminator, Car Craft Magazine, 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048 . Sorry, we’re not accepting e-mail submissions. The Car Craft staff will select the slate of entries and preview contestants in an issue prior to the event. Don’t wait too long to send in your entry, either. We’re closing submissions on July 31, 2002. And please don’t enter if you can’t be in Bristol for the full three days of the show, plus the travel time to get there and back. It’s gonna be an awesome show. Are you worthy?

Print out the entry form from the sidebar below. Then fill it out and ship it in!