The July 27th event marked the final race in the 2010 High School Eliminator track championship series and the title wasn‘t decided until fifteen minutes AFTER the final round! GIR 2008 High School Eliminator track champion Matt Gosch needed to win the final round in his Bunker Hill (IL) High School twelve-second 455 Buick-powered ‘83 Regal station wagon in order to secure his second title but lost out to Erik Lipka driving his well-known twelve-second 2002 Z28 for Fort Zummwalt West (MO).

The runner-up meant Gosch was tied with Derek Allen‘s Waterloo (IL) H.S. twelve-second ‘84 355 Cutlass. GIR‘s chief statistician, Sharon Westcoat, checked the first tie-breaker , (number of event wins during the season), and found the two drivers still tied! She checked the second tie-breaker, (number of event runners-up), and found the same result! It was Gosch, however, who had the most semi-final appearances during the year but, just to be sure, Westcoat, checked the entire season worth of points earned by both as the two rivals waited in silence on the fence. Finally, it was made official and Gosch was announced as the 2010 Champ. He will now head to Indianapolis for the NHRA Division III Finals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in September in an effort to win the biggest crown for High School racers.