In what has become a “Mecca” for muscle cars and drag racing enthusiasts for the last twenty years, the legendary Memphis Motorsports Park on October 16^th, 2009 was the spot to be if you wanted to prove you had the quickest and fastest muscle car in the country. It was also the third time for the GM Performance Parts LSX Shootout, which drew some of the baddest LS-powered drag cars as well. There were over 500 cars acceleration machines on the property, a record car count for this event, and the competition was stout in all categories. The NMCA’s Nostalgia, Index, and Heads-Up classes, combined with the 3^rd Annual LSX Shootout, made the 2009 World Finals one to remember. The crisp, down-right chilly air meant that the cars across the board were capable of making big horsepower, but a cold racing surface on Saturday made the track surface a bit tricky for all racers and it came down to who could get a hold on the track’s characteristics.

In what has become a “Mecca” for muscle cars and drag racing enthusiasts for the last twenty years, the legendary Memphis Motorsports Park on October 16^th, 2009 was the spot to be if you wanted to prove you had the quickest and fastest muscle car in the country. It was also the third time for the GM Performance Parts LSX Shootout, which drew some of the baddest LS-powered drag cars as well. There were over 500 cars acceleration machines on the property, a record car count for this event, and the competition was stout in all categories. The NMCA’s Nostalgia, Index, and Heads-Up classes, combined with the 3^rd Annual LSX Shootout, made the 2009 World Finals one to remember. The crisp, down-right chilly air meant that the cars across the board were capable of making big horsepower, but a cold racing surface on Saturday made the track surface a bit tricky for all racers and it came down to who could get a hold on the track’s characteristics.

Even though very few Scorpion Performance Pro Street competitors made clean passes for qualifying in Memphis, the tricky track made it a challenge for those that wanted to prove the separate the men from the boys. Topping the field was Noel Felton, who had won the Milan, Michigan NMCA event last month. A 6.51 at 214 pass from Felton, followed by Chris Rini’s 6.54, and Billy Glidden’s 6.58 rounded out the weekend’s top three qualifiers. In eliminations, Felton advanced over a broken Andy Burnett, Mark Micke took out Tony “The Sandman” Williams with a 6.71 pass, Chris Rini ran a 6.32 to beat Laracuente, Poulos got past a broken Matusek, Glidden had a broken bye run, as did Troy Coughlin. In the second round, Felton had to use all his driving skill when his Camaro got out of shape and whipped around violently, but was able to get it under control, as Micke won with a 7.24. Rini won with a nice 6.31 and Coughlin beat Glidden with a blistering 6.27 run. In the Semi-finals Micke got a bye into the finals, and in one of the coolest races of the weekend, Rini was able to take out the 2009 Scorpion Pro Street Champion. Rini busted a .017 to Coughlin’s .087 and was able to stay ahead of Coughlin for the win. The finals were a bit anti-climactic, as Micke was broken, so Rini simply bumped into the beams to take the victory.        
           
In Mickey Thompson Super Street, Conrad Scarry topped the field with a 6.69 at 221 mph, number two was Bill Lutz who ran a 6.70, and third was Mike Murillo with a 6.70. In round one, Joel Greathouse won over Marvin Bridge by running a 6.98 on Drag Radial tires, Lutz won over Dennis Bailey, Jim Blair beat Ed Rice, Tony Nesbitt advanced over a redlighting Sheldon Root, Nick Scavo over Steve Morris, Murillo won in his match, and Keith Bell, Scarry, and Robbins all won their match-ups. Round two started with Scavo winning over Greathouse when he leaked a bit on the track. In a great nitrous versus turbo race, Jim Robbins and Murillo faced, but the turbo won with a 6.79 to 6.86. Other winners that round included Scarry and Blair, which both advanced after their rivals both broke. Next, Blair and Murillo both got competition bye runs, as Scarry outran Scavo in a 6.70 to 6.86 contest. The Semi-Finals basically ended with Murillo advancing over a broken Blair, and Scarry got a bye into the finals. The finals between Scarry and Murillo was intense, with Murillo busting a killer .008 reaction to Scarry’s .105, and he got out of the groove as Murillo won the event with a 6.98 run.
         
In ARP Nostalgia Pro Street, ten cars showed up and it was Jeff Colletta topped the field with a 7.44 at 192, but it was Danny Shemwell who prevailed in the end. Starting with victory over Chuck Demory, who left before the tree was activated, Danny Shemwell was able to get the event win. In an awesome race against Barb Nesbitt, Nesbitt left first with a .045 as Shemwell cut a .058. Both cars were side-by-side, but in the end Shemwell’s 7.52 was enough to get around Nesbitt’s 7.53. Next, Shemwell got a bye run into the finals to face Joe Bucaro. Shemwell murdered the tree with a .033 as Bucaro cut a .114. Bucaro, knowing it was over, ran a lifting 9.84 as Shemwell won the event with a 7.51 run.
           
Vortech Superchargers Xtreme Street started with dogfight during qualifying where the cold weather threw some racers a curve ball, but Jamie Stanton was able to bookend the weekend with the number one qualifier (8.08 at 171 mph), as well as the event win. In the first round, Stanton got a bye run where he ran an 8.25. In the next a race against Bob Curran, Stanton was able to get the win after Curran hurt his engine. A redlight from Scott Guiler let Stanton then advance straight to the finals to meet Bob Kurgan. When the light dropping in the Finals, Stanton got the holeshot and both cars were side-by-side for a while until Stanton’s gold machine walked away from Kurgan’s Mustang on the top-end, winning with an 8.22.                  
           
In Comp Cams Pro Stock, former class champion Charlie Booze was another that was able to both qualify number one and win the race. Being the first to run the 8.30 zone, Booze busted an 8.36 to take the number one spot. In the first round Booze faced Don Bowles. Booze nailed the tree with a .035 as Bowles busted a .091. Booze won when Bowles’ little Maverick was unable to get around the ‘Red Freight Train’ of Booze. Next, Booze won after Greg Delaney broke, and Booze busted the record again with an 8.35 pass, sending him straight to the finals to meet Skip Baskin’s red Nova. Baskin tree’d Booze with a .036, but he spun and motored an 8.96, which was not enough to catch Booze’s speedy Mustang.      
           
In BFGoodrich Tires Street Radial there were seven entries, with a good variety of combinations and muscle cars. Topping the field in qualifying was Jay Canella who busted a killer 8.68 at 153 mph, the quickest pass in the history of the class. Brad Schehr qualified number two and was able to get it done and win his second event this season. Starting with a first round win over a redlighting Heath Shemwell, Schehr had an easy trip to the finals after Tim Hendricks failed to show in the second round. The Final round came down to John Macaluso and Schehr. Macaluso slept at the tree with a .151, as Schehr cut a .037 and won the event in an 8.72 to 8.80 contest.             
           
Drag Racer Magazine Mean Street had five cars in Memphis and topping the field was Don Baskin, running a killer 9.97 at 125 mph. Baskin didn’t have to push his ride that hard during eliminations, as he literally got two bye runs into the finals, where he faced Jeff Swanson. Swanson tree’d Baskin and it was a great race, but in the end, Baskin got the win with a 9.94.       
           
In Hedman Hedders Nostalgia Super Stock Fred Rader won over a redlighting Joe Ewing, Nostalgia Muscle Car saw Ken Weilbrenher take out Class Champion Andy Warren in a very close 10.00 to 11.00 match. In Mcleod Clutch Open Comp, Greg Bagnell prevailed over Chuck Hockenberry, and in Eaton Late Model EFI John McPartlin beat Jason Phillips. In the 2010 Camaro Shootout, Daniel Moore of Katy, Texas won the gold. In the LSX Rumble category Edgar Perez got an event win also. 
           
In the LSX heads-up categories there were four in the All-Motor class and eight cars in Drag Radial. In All-Motor, it came down to a race between David Lezear and Judd Masingill. Both cars went up on the bumper, but Massingil’s better reaction helped him stay ahead of Lezear grabbing the victory. In LSX Drag Radial, Mike Brown faced Mark Kohler in a turbo match-up. Brown’s .026 reaction time was enough to keep his ride in front of Kohler the whole track, winning with an 8.10 at 189 mph.   

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