BOTB round 5 at Gateway International Raceway pitted a full field of cars from 4 internet forum groups facing off for bragging rights on the quarter mile. In July STL- Mustangs took the trophy and they returned to defend it against Lethal 1320, STL Speed and SIKOTS (Southern Illinois King of the Street). With great weather conditions that prevailed throughout, attendees were treated to some spectacular racing and, as usual, the carnage to racecars that BOTB has unfortunately become known for. Despite the various construction endeavors on almost all of the highways around GIR a good crowd of spectators showed up to take it all in and cheer for their favorite racers.
Round 1:
Temp-74 Humidity- 56% Track Temp-86 DA- 1554
First to the line to start the BOTB was Tim Mallicoat Jr. for Lethal. A regular in the weekly SCSS program, Tim brought his 68 “Hellraiser” Camaro to line against Frank Signorelli’s 00 TA Vert. Frank was a late fill in for Orson “OJ” Johnson who suffered catastrophic engine failure……..ie……engine holes……….the previous Tuesday which necessitated Signorelli filling his spot for STL-Mustangs. Despite the mismatch, at the hit Signorelli took almost a 4 tenths holeshot en route to an 11.82 @116. It wasn’t enough though as Mallicoat ran 8.62 @ 156 to move on to round 2.
Next up Matt Martin of SIKOTS against Mike Mester for STL Speed. Martin’s 95 turbo Mustang took a 2 tenths lead from the tree and extended it down track running a 10.11 @146. Mester was game, but the nitrous gremlins from the previous May BOTB came back again and forced his 00 TA into an NA pass of 10.56 @ 127 that fell short.
Eric Luig of Lethal brought his beautiful purple and orange 64 Chevy II to the line to face off against Dave Braley’s 89 Mustang Vert representing STL-Mustangs. Braley showed his driving skills cutting an .069 light on the pro .500 tree while running 12.32 @ 107. Though Braley’s run was smooth, it wasn’t enough and went unnoticed because Luig put on a show in the left lane. Pedaling numerous times, Eric took anything but a straight route to the win. With the front wheels up and the car twisting and sashshaying down the lane Luig had the crowd cheering his 8.58 @ 163 that sent him into round 2. As a side note, the Gateway crew also returned to Luig a piece of chrome trim found down track, no doubt detached during the twisting gyrations of the Chevy II’s wild pass.
Next up Brandon Carter’s 03 Turbo-charged Cobra against Mike Verweyst’s 00 TA. Carter running for Speed took the win with a 10.44 @ 131. Verweyst for SIKOTS suffered mechanical issues at the hit and stumbled to a 16.32 @ 108.
GIR regular Laurence Bass for STL-Mustangs pulled up to next to do battle with relative newcomer Jason Singleton for Speed. When the tree dropped, neither driver would have a reaction time to write home about, but both Fox-bodies left cleanly and Bass ripped off his usual 8 second run with his 8.99 @152 sending him past Singleton’s 11.00 @ 123.
SCSS points leader Daryl Jauerning’s familiar 88 Mustang was next. Due to construction in the area and the inability of a racer to navigate it on time, SIKOTS ended up short a car and “Dirty D” was the beneficiary of the vacancy and received a solo bye run. He pushed his ride to an 8.67 @ 151. A back-fire through the pipes down track slowing him from his usual performance levels.
Next up in round one, John Manno for SIKOTS against Jeffrey Long for STL-Mustangs. Long was the July winner of BOTB and helped STL-Mustangs take the board win. Unfortunately for him, that was then…….this is now. Separated by 56 thousands at the start Long’s 86 supercharged Stang quickly fell behind as his car suffered a mechanical failure and wouldn’t make any boost. This allowed Manno’s 65 Turbo Mustang to race to victory with a 9.69 @ 154 taking the win over Long’s slowing 11.66 @ 116.
The final pair for round one pitted Chris Buchanan’s 91 Mustang fronting STL-Speed against Lethal’s Tommy Bantle and his 92 Turbo Mustang. Bantle, fresh off his entry into the SCSS 7-second club this past Tuesday with a 7.93 run put Buchanan in the underdog role with his nitrous Mustang being a much slower car. The saying goes….. “Looks good on paper” ……..proved true again. Neither had a stellar light, but just past the sixty Bantle’s car, wheels up, continued to rise to a monster wheel-stand by half track. At near vertical the car was on the bumper with all four tires free and clear of the racing surface. Just past the eighth-mile gravity, and the rear bumper took over and Bantle crashed to earth in a shower of sparks. He pulled to the side un-hurt, but his run was done well short of the quarter-mile mark. Meanwhile, Buchanan ran an 11.03 @ 118 to move on to round two. Said Buchanan later, “I had the best seat in the house for Bantle’s wheel stand and it was quite a show.” As for Bantle, the oil pan was mashed flat and though the engine diaper did most of its job, a track clean up was in order and he was out of the competition for the night.
Round 2:
Temp- 72 Humidity- 58 Track Temp- 85 DA- 1324
The round led off with John Manno against Chris Buchanan. Buchanan chopped down the tree, but Manno was on a stellar pass and his 8.42 @ 164 was too much for Chris’ 91 Mustang and his consistent, but losing 11.07 @ 121.
First round bye recipient Daryl Jauerning faced off against a known foe, Laurence Bass, both familiar with each other from previous racing. At the hit Jauerning took over a tenth lead from the tree and stretched it out all the way down the 1320. His 8.11 @ 170 not only took out Bass’ 9.01 @ 151, but also set a new ET performance personal best for the car. Both the Speed and ET would also be tops for the night for the BOTB contest.
Next to the line, Brandon Carter and Eric Luig. In one of the strangest runs of the night, neither competitor received a full time run. Carter left before the tree activated and Luig suffered what appeared to be catastrophic driveline failure and went mere inches past the starting line. With the first or worst rule, Luig advanced to the next round, but he was broken so Carter, even though he received no points for the round would actually be running in the semis. Said Carter, “I’ve got a new converter set-up and I’m trying to get used to it.” He’d get another round to dial it in due to Luig’s breakage.
Finally to close the round, BOTB’s version of extreme driving skills. Tim Mallicoat faced off against Matt Martin. Martin knew he was overmatched, but was determined to make a race of it with his turbo boost levels set on kill. His shot at the tree came up short with a .056 red gifting Mallicoat the win, but he was still going to run it out the back door. That’s when drag racing became drifting on the quarter mile. Just past the 1/8th Martin’s boost level overpowered his tires and the track sending him into an eventual 360 degree plus spin. Doing his best “Jimmy Johnson through the grass at Daytona” impersonation Matt managed to not only keep the car off of the wall, but scrub off enough speed so that when it did finally come to rest against the wall at about a 1000 feet, it suffered only minor cosmetic damage to the front right side. All of this and Martin never left his lane! Meanwhile in the other lane, Mallicoat streaked to a consistent 8.59 @ 155 and a berth in the semi-finals.
Round 3:
Temp-69 Humidity- 61% Track Temp- 82 DA- 1221
The first pairing in the semi’s featured Tim Mallicoat Jr. versus break rule come backer Brandon Carter. At the hit only one car left cleanly. Carter still trying to dial in his new trans set up was timed out, failing to take the second stage bulb in the required time which pushed Mallicoat and his 8.61 @ 155 into the finals.
The second pair vying for a finals appearance pitted two racers again well familiar with each other, Daryl Jauerning against John Manno. Mustang versus Mustang, 88 versus 65 and Nitrous versus Turbo. Both had good lights with a 41 thousands lead at the tree for Manno, but just off the line he fell back as he overpowered the track and went into tire smoke when the boost level kicked in. John pedaled to a 9.97 @ 163 but ran out of real estate. Jauerning took the win with an off-pace 8.90 @ 141 but his run was also marred by another series of nitrous backfires through the pipes leaving him to ponder his tune up settings for the finals.
Finals:
Temp- 68 Humidity- 62.6% Track Temp- 80 DA- 1114
Just past 1 AM two competitors very familiar with each other pulled to the line. Tim Mallicoat Jr under the direction of Tim Sr have faced off against Daryl Jauerning and his crew chief Joe “Mongoose” Voelkel many time in the SCSS series and knew each others’ capabilities well. Lane choice was not an issue with each in their favored lanes, Mallicoat right and Jauerning left. Tim Mallicoat had been consistent all night with all of his runs within 2 hundredths of each other. Meanwhile, Jauerning had reset his personal best ET but also suffered tuning woes through a series of nitrous backfires, so the final round match up was anybodies race. When the tree dropped, it was Mallicoat with the best RT of the night, a .022 off the line first…….actually, the only one off of the line. He was on his way to an 8.64 @ 155 and the win because Jauerning’s nitrous troubles continued as he had a deafening backfire of howitzer proportions. The hood stayed on and there was no fire, but the car failed to move and Mallicoat took the win. Said Daryl’s crew chief later with his ears still ringing, “The rpms didn’t come up at the line and I think it loaded up and that was it.”
Whatever the reason, later examination revealed little if any damage, and Jauerning drove the car from the line back to the pits after the episode. For Mallicoat the win capped a consistent evening and a BOTB victory for the first time event competitor and a return to the winners’ circle for the Lethal 1320 team.
Final Stats:
Points: Lethal1320- 18 SIKOTS- 6 STL Speed- 4 STL Mustangs- 2
Single Winner- Tim Mallicoat Jr. (Lethal 1320)
Board Winner- Lethal 1320
Best ET- Daryl Jauerning (Lethal 1320) 8.116
Best MPH- Daryl Jauerning (Lethal 1320) 170.62
Your View……………..courtesy of Lethal 1320.com
