Street Car Super Nationals 16 Coverage From Las Vegas

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Race day at SCSN 16 was wild to say the least. Every racer pushed their car to it’s very limit, some sent beyond that point, and that led to some downtime here and there. At the end of the day Mel Roth and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway crew put on an outstanding event despite every curveball they had thrown at them in the COVID-19 era.

Ed Thorton absolutely dominated Pro Mod qualifying by going number one with a 5.54 at 273 MPH, but when eliminations started things got interesting. Thorton fell in the semi-finals and Steve Summers was able to pick up the win after defeating Sean Renteria in the final round. Outlaw 10.5 was the Gilly Bobby show all weekend long as the Washington-based racer set the pace during qualifying and eliminations. In the final round, Art Raz couldn’t make the call, and bobby unleashed a 3.93 to show his number one qualifying effort of 3.92 wasn’t a fluke.

John Urist owned the X275 class at SCSN 16 with a string of passes in the 4.20s during qualifying and elimination. In the final round, Urist faced off against number two qualifying Kenny Hubbard and picked up the holeshot win with a 4.29 to Hubbard’s 4.25. The XDR class saw its share of tight racing and Sergio Gonzalez found himself in the winner’s circle in this class along with the Pro 275 No Time category as well. There were a lot of female competitors at SCSN 16 and Wendy Gonzalez represented the well with her victory in the Limited 235 class. Jason McLean battled his way through a tough 8.5 class to pick up the victory at SCSN 16.

A race car usually takes months to build and the more complex the car, the longer the build is going to take. Lance Kniggie had a deadline to make SCSN 16, so he took a bare chassis and created a four-second Outlaw 10.5 car in just over a month. 

The car Kniggie was racing just didn’t fit his goals, so he purchased an RJ Race Cars chassis after SCSN 15. Kniggie got all of the tabs on the chassis and set it off to paint, but he got the call to start filming a show with JJ Da Boss and the Nova wouldn’t be ready in time for the show. Another car was purchased for filming, and Kniggie slid the nova into a corner of his shop until he had time to work on it.

“Our goal was to make this race with the Nova, so as soon as we finished filming with JJ we started working on it. I built this car in my shop in the back in just about a month and a half starting from a bare chassis. We actually finished the car here at the track mounting the hood, plumbing the fuel system, mounting the wheelie bars, and finished all the other little stuff,” Kniggie says.

Chris “Kamikaze” Day has been a huge part of this project and has been elbows deep in getting it finished up at SCSN 16. With Day’s assistance, Kniggie piloted the Nova to a 4.40 at 176 MPH on it’s third pass, followed by a 4.32 at 183 on its fourth pass. The car showed even more potential during eliminations dipping into the 4.20s. Kniggie plans on racing the car at big tire no prep events and any small tire race where it fits the rules. 

Kristopher Dollinger went for a terrifying ride during the first round of Pro Mod eliminations. After a five-second pass at over 250 MPH, Dollinger pulled the chutes in his Pontiac but the throttle hung wide open causing the engine to expire. Dollinger began sliding around and made hard contact with the wall on the driver’s side and was headed for the sand trap, but in an unprecedented turn of events ended up hitting the safety truck at the top end. Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured in this freak accident, but Dollinger did go to a local hospital to be checked out. 

Rod Tschiggfrie brought his wild Oldsmobile known as the “Sorceress” to SCSN 16 to race in Pro Mod, but don’t let the class fool you, this car is a legit street car. When we say street car we mean it, Tschiggfrie takes his wife out to dinner in the Sorceress since it can run on 91 octane thanks to a killer tune-up by Shane Techlenburg. 

At SCSN 16, John Howitz was strapped in and drove the Sorceress into the five-second zone with a booming 5.98 pass at 250 MPH. Howitz made that hit in full street trim, just with slicks on the car and some high-octane fuel in the tank. Being able to pull off a new personal best meant a lot to Tschiggfrie since that’s something he’s always striving for at the track. 

During eliminations, Tecklenburg loaded the big tuneup into the car but it shook the tires and threw the fuel pump belt causing it to shut off. According to Tschiggfrie, the plan is to keep pushing the Sorceress even harder to see how quick and fast it will really go.

“Our ultimate goal and reality are probably two different things. I think the car could run over 270 MPH and in the 5.80s. John Howitz drove the car this weekend and got acclimated to it quickly. He did a great job and made the 5.98 look easy so I think we might have a shot at the 5.80s”  

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After three days of qualifying at SCSN 16 all of the fields were set on Saturday night and elimination began for many classes. Racing ran well into the night after a few delays due to on and off-track incidents. There were several upsets during the first round of eliminations and many racers ran personal bests thanks to the great weather and track conditions.

Racers will go to great lengths to make a car their own, for Tess Wood that meant getting a 1973 Ford Maverick, painting it jet black, and stuffing some big Ford power under the hood. Wood’s Maverick is powered by an 8.2 deck small block Ford that measures 363 cubic inches. The engine gets its boost from an F3 ProCharger that hangs on the front via a gear drive. Don’t ask Wood how quick the car is either, she campaigns the Maverick in various no time classes so the boards are never lit.

Why a Maverick? Wood’s answer is simple, they are something you just don’t see at the track often. You can turn around in the pits at any track and see tons of traditional muscle cars, but a Maverick is just rare and cool so it was an easy choice.

Wood’s drag racing journey actually began thanks to a school trip to the iconic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. She also shares the goals most heads-up racers have, to go faster every time she hits the track  

“I got into drag racing because of my dad. He was into off-road racing, but it was still racing and I loved to be around it. In high school, I took an automotive class and we went to Pomona for a race and it became something I was obsessed with. I always want to just go faster, that’s my goal after each race. For me, the rush of drag racing makes it fun. You’re always trying to find ways to go faster, solve problems, and just win,” Wood explains.

Paul Langlie’s 1970 Outlaw 10.5 Camaro known as the “Oaktown Hustler” has had an interesting life. It started out as a legit streetcar that transformed into a nitrous-huffing slick tire monster, moved to a nasty blower combination, and even took a ride upside down on a guardrail at 180 MPH.  

The Oaktown Hustler still has its factory steel quarter panels and roof. Between the fenders is a rowdy 489 cubic-inch Ken Vinny headed HEMI with a 14-71 Superman supercharger that’s backed by a Rossler three-speed speed transmission. 

“Horsepower got easier to make and build, so our old Chevy engine just wasn’t cutting it anymore. We got an opportunity to pick up an old NHRA Pro Mod combo from 2005 thanks to Jeff Prock so we could stay competitive. After we decided to go really fast with this new engine, Performance Chassis built us a brand new 6.0 certified chassis,” Langlie says.

One thing you notice about the Oaktown Hustler’s pit is that everyone is smiling and having fun. The team enjoys coming to the track and competing in the Outlaw 10.5 class. The car’s logo has an old-school feel to it too and that’s no accident either. 

“I come from drag boat racing and every boat has a name, so I was joking with the co-owner of the car Kirk Olson that we should name the car so we could sell shirts. I’ve owned an automotive repair business in Oakland, California for over 20 years so that’s where the name Oaktown Hustler comes from,” Langlie explains.

Drag racing is a sport that will put you through the wringer when it comes to emotions. You can experience the highest of highs after a big win or new personal best, but the lows can quickly follow with a loss or equipment issues. Unfortunately for Jay Boddie Jr., he rode the entire drag racing emotional roller coaster in one pass when his stunning 1967 Camaro laid down a great lick and hit the wall.

Boddie’s race weekend at SCSN 16 started off great as his team made big progress with the Camaro’s performance. On Friday however, Boddie went for a wild ride at the top end when his Camaro made a big move sideways and began to spin at the top end. Thankfully, Boddie’s stellar driving job kept the car off the wall that pass, but on Saturday luck wasn’t on his side. 

“I pulled the chutes going through the finish line and one deployed fully, the other got tangled up and it just jerked the car sideways. It sent me towards the wall and there was nothing I could do, I was just along for the ride,” Boddie explains.

While the damage to the Camaro looks extensive, according to Boddie the car is fixable. There are only a couple of bars in the front of the chassis that will need replacing. Since the Camaro still had an all-steel front end it took most of the damage and actually saved the car from a much worse fate.

John Urist has collected a lot of event wins and championships over his racing career and that’s not by accident. His methodical approach to building and perfecting a car makes him a formidable force on the track, it’s also taught him how to deal with adversity. Urist has been chipping away at his technologically advanced 2016 Mustang and all of that work is finally paying off with a string of low 4.20s in X275 trim at SCSN 16. 

The plan for Urist in 2020 was to come out stronger than ever and use what he learned in 2019 to make the next big step with his Coyote-powered Mustang. Unfortunately, COVID crashed his plans, moved races, and forced Urist to take a step back and regroup a bit. When the time was right, Urist made the trip from New Mexico to South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP) to work on bringing his racing plan to life.

“We went to the Sweet 16 and No Mercy, so that gave us a great track to make hits on for two weeks. During that time we just made lap after lap so we could see what the car really wanted. We ran our best time with a 4.24 at SGMP and we brought the car here to try and chip away at it more. The track this weekend has been stellar, hats off to Kurt Johnson and the TVC crew for what they’ve done,” Urist says. 

Urist has taken a non-traditional path with his 2016 Mustang. The Coyote engine uses a direct injection system for fueling that’s similar to what the car would be equipped with from the factory. The extreme horsepower requirements of X275 require a radical fuel system and advanced ECU. Urist worked with Bosch to get control of the fuel system and control the engine.

“This car has always had the capability to run at the front, but with new technology like this direct injection, it just takes time to figure it out. The fueling is crucial with direct injection, and Xtreme DI has developed the only injectors that can fuel something like this. Now that we have the fueling figured out, we’ve been able to unlock more potential and that 4.22 is the fruits of our labor with our partners,” Urist explains.  

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The second day of racing at SCSN 16 was packed with plenty of excitement. Racers in every heads-up class took advantage of the cooler weather and great track conditions during each round of qualifying. The stage has been set for a huge final round of qualifying on Saturday and there are more than a few racers that are on the outside looking in.

Jim Philp is the kind of gearhead whose biggest goal is to have fun with his hot rod, so when he decided to build his 1961 Ford Falcon he wanted it to still be street legal. By sticking to this plan, Philp gets to enjoy his Ford twice as much along with his wife, and his dog Roxy.

Philp’s Falcon rides on a full chassis from Chirs Alston’s Chassis Works. The car is powered by a 468 cubic-inch big-block Chevy, and is backed by a powerglide transmission that works with a Gear Vendors overdrive unit. The star of the show upfront is the 6-71 Weiand supercharger that has a pair of 750 Holley carburetors on top. This combination has produced the best pass of 9.80 this weekend at SCSN 16.

This entire project started for Philp after one of his friends built a Falcon and it inspired him to find one for himself to build. Things escalated quickly from there and Philp took his Falcon to a new level.

“Originally, this was just built as a show car, but when I turned 70 I decided I wanted to start racing, so we did Rocky Mountain Race Week. I keep it a streetcar because my wife and I like to drive it. During the summer we travel to tracks in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado just to have fun,” Philp says.

Brylon Holder’s racing career began behind the wheel of a dirt track car about eight years ago, but when you’re dad is Roger Holder it’s only a matter of time before you start drag racing. Now that Brylon has got a taste of drag racing, he’s ready to leave the dirt racing for life in the fast lane at the drag strip. 

The 1991 Mustang that Brylon pilots is powered by a 427 cubic-inch Ford engine and it feeds on a healthy diet of nitrous oxide. Roger picked this car up for Brylon to see if he would like drag racing, so far the answer is a resounding yes.

“Drag racing gives me a bigger adrenaline rush than dirt track racing. There’s so much of a difference between dirt racing and drag racing. From the reaction time side of things, to how much you work on the car, it’s just a totally different world. My favorite part is going so fast in such a short amount of time,” Brylon says.

Brylon has really enjoyed the time he’s got to spend with his dad drag racing. Since Roger has such a massive amount of knowledge about drag racing, Brylon has done everything he can to soak up his father’s teachings. Brylon has put considerable effort into learning about all aspects of drag racing. It’s safe to say that Brylon is hooked on drag racing and plans on doing it for a long time. 

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It’s the first day of qualifying at SCSN 16 and you couldn’t ask for better weather. Kurt Johnson and the team at Total Venue Concepts have groomed the surface of Las Vegas Motor Speedway to perfection for all of the racers. For this event, all four lanes of The Strip will be used with two being prepared for slicks, and the other two receiving the full radial prep treatment. We’ve updated our gallery with more great shots from the action today so check it out along with our stories from the pits.

Volkswagen racing is pretty big in the western part of the United States, so it’s no surprise that we found a few VWs here at SCSN 16. Mike Sheldon’s Gulf Blue 1962 Beetle caught our eye as we were wandering around the pits. This VW is powered by a 2165cc engine and is backed by a Type 1 transmission that Mike bangs during his mid-10-second jaunts down the track.

For Mike, racing VWs is something that was introduced to him by a family member and it just stuck.

“My brother raced VWs and I watched him as a kid, it hooked me and I’ve been racing them ever since. I got to drive his car at Terminal Island Dragway back in the 1980s and that did it. It’s fun to be different and race something other than what you normally see at the track,” Mike says.

When you look at Mike’s Beetle, it doesn’t look like anything crazy at first, until you start to think about the size of the car. Being such a small vehicle makes it a real handful to drive deep into the 10-second zone, mix in a clutch and you’ve got a recipe for a good time. Needless to say, Mike stays very busy inside the tight confines of his Beetle on each pass. 

As a native of the Los Angeles area, Mike has spent a lot of time traveling to big VW races during his career. He’s been as far east as Denver and all the way to Arizona at one point too. Mike doesn’t mind the travel because he loves spending time with his racing buddies. 

“The friends I’ve made racing are what I enjoy the most, the adrenaline rush of racing is great, but the friends make it worth it.”

California native Artis Houston has been a fixture in the small-tire racing scene on the west coast for many years. Houston’s stunning 1971 Nova has been under the knife recently for a host of updates and is just now getting back to the track. The BES-built nitrous engine is still between the frame rails up front, but that’s about the only thing that’s remained the same for Houston.

“The car was on leaf springs for many years, but we’ve switched over to an X275 legal ladder bar suspension in the rear. Another change we made was going from a Mike’s Transmission Powerglide to a TH400 transmission. I went to ladder bars because I wanted to give myself more of a tuning window with the suspension. I also wanted to do something different with the car, I like the lower stance with the ladder bar set up,” Houston says.

Going from leaf springs to a ladder bar suspension is a big change, but to make it easier Houston enlisted the help of super tuner Kenny Hubbard. The suspension is very similar to the one Hubbard runs on his Nova, so that has made the transition much smoother for Houston. Matthew Mongo from MacFab took care of the installation and has been assisting with the tuning as well. 

“The plan right now is to keep running in X275 along with any other small tire classes the car will fit in. I want the car to run in the top half of the field in X275. The goal is to get the car to run in the 4.30s since I don’t have a lock-up torque converter,” Houston explains. 

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The Street Car Super Nationals 16 is lighting up The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Check out our gallery from the opening day of pre-race testing and stay tuned to Dragzine for more coverage all weekend long!