2015 Chevrolet Performance Shootout Race Wrap from Summit Motorsports Park
Santa Ana, CA – Rescheduled to be hosted at the 14th Annual NMCA Flowmaster World Finals in Norwalk, Ohio, the 
Chevrolet Performance Shootout came to Summit Motorsports Park with guns- and bullhorns-blazing as heads up and index racers looked to flex their cars’ LSX muscle.
The quickest cars of the Chevrolet Performance Shootout compete in JE Pistons Drag Radial presented by K1 Technologies, and Elk Grove Village, Illinois’ Anthony Manna was the quickest, posting a 4.31-second elapsed time (eighth-mile) at 180 mph-some 8 mph faster than number-two qualifier Mark Carlyle. Carlyle went out in the first round, and it was David Atkins that would face Manna in the all-fourth-gen-Camaro final. Adkins took a slight advantage at the hit (.114 to .128), but Manna’s black machine powered past, running 4.35 at 179 to Adkin’s 4.61 at 167.
Jessie Coulter had his Holley EFI Real Street third-gen Camaro delivering stout 7.8-second, quarter-mile performances at the series’ opening event in Atlanta, and he did some further tuning since then to pick up another tenth. While he qualified with a 7.77 at 175 mph, George Farkouh and the American Racing Headers Camaro edged him out for the top qualifier spot with a 7.70 at 177. These two would meet each other in the final round where Coulter would strike first with a .019-second advantage off the line. From there, it was a close race with Farkouh coming out victorious in a 7.70 to 7.75 contest, and taking his trip to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle.
The new for 2015 sealed crate engine heads-up class, Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center, has seen racers continue to fine-tune their new rides through competition, as few had the opportunity to test over the winter. Ronnie Hackelton’s CRC Camaro had been laying down the quickest elapsed times (10.3s in testing and a 10.42 to qualify number one), but consistency was an issue. Kevin Lumsden and Glenn Pushis went rounds at every event, but Pushis’ CRC Camaro has been quicker and would challenge Hackelton in the Norwalk final. The all-COPO-Camaro final saw Hackelton leave first and use the holeshot advantage to make his 10.54 outperform Pushis’ quicker 10.52 elapsed time.
In the LME Street King index class, three rounds of competition pitted Jeff Heintz and his ’03 Corvette against Donald Dixon in his ’05 GTO. Heintz cut a big holeshot on Dixon who broke out while chasing him to the finish line-Heintz ran a 10.14 on a 10.00 index while sped to a 9.60 on a 9.75 index.
The other index class at the Chevrolet Performance Shootout is Proform Rumble, which saw 30 cars enter the class. As eliminations wound down, it was a Pontiac G8 versus Chevy Camaro final. Trey Sikes or Hamlet, North Carolina, cut an impressive .018 light on his way to running 13.28 on his 13.25 index, and visiting the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle. David Rickey of Tipp City, Ohio, was .096 at the green and broke out, running 11.45 on an 11.50 index.
The Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series welcomed the Gear Vendors True Street competitors with their LS and LT based combinations. Daniel Rensch secured the Overall Win thanks to a 9.00 average from his twin-turbocharged, 1972 Chevy Nova. The Ohio-based racer was on his way to a mid-eight second average as he dropped an 8.48 in the opening round but spun the tires in round two and slowed to a 10.15. He picked up the pace in the final run with an 8.36. The Runner-Up this weekend was Chris Bishir and his turbocharged 1982 Chevy S10 pickup truck with a 9.10 average. Other winners include Brian Schick (9-second), Phil Frantz (10-second), Adam Wright (11-second), Matt Davis (12-second), Aaron Schoen (13-second), Chuck Stefanski (14-second), and Brian Palcisko (15-second).
The Chevrolet Performance Shootout also played host to the LSX Racer Appreciation Party, where free food, drinks, and raffle prizes totaling over $15,000 in value were given away. This is one party you don’t want to miss, so be sure to attend next year if you weren’t able to make it in 2015.
