Kit Car

Run And Gun 16 -- Old Friends, New Cars

Run and Gun 16 Was a Tribute to Building Expertise, Driving Skill, Safety, and Variety, and This Time, Ponies Made the Show

By Mike Blake

Photography by Mike Blake, Harold Pace, Darrel Arment

Auto racing debuted in America on November 28, 1895, when drivers of six cars started their engines and drove a 54-mile route from Chicago to Evanston, Illinois. One hundred-eight years after the Duryea brothers won that race with an average speed of 5 mph, we see that the racing world has come a long way. With last year's Run and Gun, the pre-eminent kit car race in America, we see that kit cars have come just as far in the 53 years since the Glasspar, Scorpion, Wasp, and Lancer were presented in the fiberglass glory at the '51 Los Angeles Motorama.

Run and Gun 16 was run last fall at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois--just a short sprint from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis--and it was a study in automotive diversity and technology.

This 16th annual revival of the largest kit car race in the country was safe (under the guidance of Gateway Tech and Safety Officials Tim Giger and Dan Harmon) and filled with fun and excitement, thanks to Gateway's Coordinator Gale Nungesser and the tireless volunteer efforts of Wayne Turpin, Rich Pickles, and Leslie Howard.

Run and Gun is a triathlon of racing skill, car building, handling, and versatility and is a hommage to innovation. The action takes place on the SCCA-directed Autocross, the CART/IRL NASCAR pro road course and oval, and the NHRA dragstrip. These are the same Gateway International venues that serve as home to Lazier, Hornish, Castroneves, Earnhardt, Gordon, Stewart, Force, Bernstein, and Pedregon.

It is the trio of events that shows a car's or driver's durability and versatility. Driver/builders use all their acumen to gain that little advantage over competition by finding the best line on the track, eking out that extra horse or two from their engine setup, subtracting a crucial pound or two from their cars, or increasing the aerodynamics of their rides. It's always a pleasure to watch these kit car hobbyists drive, tinker, drive, correct, drive, repair and replace, drive, upgrade, and drive. These fine hobbyists obliterated the "speed" exhibited at America's first car race in 1895, as some of these cars and drivers exceeded 160 mph on the straights of the road course and bettered 130 mph on the dragstrip.

Last year's event took on a new look as, for the first time, production Mustangs were invited, through KIT CAR's sister publication Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, to compete in their own class, on the three venues.

The Mustang addition was conceived to help grow the event, which will eventually include vendors and nationwide coverage. It also gives the Cobra, GT40, and other Ford-powered kit cars a chance to see what they can do, head to head, against their Blue Oval production counterparts.

The half-dozen Pony cars were in the scintillating company of 58 drivers racing 56 kit and component cars--up from the previous year's competition.

The variety of cars was a testament to individuality, though Cobras still led the way--as they do every year--with 37 Cobra 427 replicas present, and three Cobra 289 replicars entered, making it a 40-Snake contingent. However, they were challenged by three GT40s, three Lotus-inspired cars, three Dragons, two Lolas, and one each of the following: Corvette, Ultima, Artero, Dio Tipo, and Manta. Also joining the festivities were a non-racing Daytona, Cheetah, '51 Jaguar C-Type, and '29 Ford Model A.

From a manufacturer's perspective, variety also ruled the venue as we saw seven Factory Fives; five from Contemporary; four each from MidStates and Shell Valley; three each from Dragon, B&B, and Everett-Morrison; two each from CMC, CanAm Exotics, and Roaring 40s; and one each from 21 other manufacturers.

In terms of powerplants, the mills ranged from a tiny 121 Honda to a huge 510ci Chevy. The Blue Oval ruled the track with 31 cars employing Ford power, 16 propelled by Chevy mills, two from Honda, and one crate engine each from Edelbrock, Shelby, World Products, Donavan, Roush, Suzuki, and Buick.

In terms of engine-size supremacy, small-blocks led the way with 29 small-block engines. Sixteen cars were powered by big-blocks, with five four- or six-cylinder mills and six power-adder powerplants. A further breakdown of engine choices shows that ten of the plants were 302s, eight were 427s, seven were 351 Windsors, five were 350s, two were 289s, and two were 351 Clevelands. Twelve of the mills were stroked.

Now back to the cars and drivers. Run and Gun 16 saw many returnees--old friends who had missed the event for a year or two and some who had come back with new cars or new parts.

Charles Howard, who thought he had lost his car in a Denver blizzard and collapsed garage six months earlier, found that his MidStates Snake was only scratched and was driveable (to a Second Place finish on the road course and Third on the autocross). Greg Lapoint was back after a few missed events, but this time, he left his FFR Snake home and brought a Mustang. George Anderson brought both his MidStates Cobra and his big-block Mustang. Other returnees, after a few passed-on R&Gs, were old friends Jay Nordstrom (sharing an Excalibur Cobra with Bob Lightsey), Jack Rosen who parked his winged Factory Five Snake and brought his newly built Ultima CanAm, Scott Richey with his Contemporary 289, Hershal Byrd with his Roaring Forties GT40, and Rick Merz with his daily driver, a GTD GT40.

At the track, Run and Gun 16 included three days of racing, tech and safety inspection, driver's meetings, a dinner party, an awards presentation, and tons of fun, camaraderie, and friendship among drivers. That friendship extends to those who unselfishly offer their time, expertise, and assistance to fellow drivers and to the occasion itself. The event could not have run as smoothly without the help of Greater St. Louis Kit Car Club's Don Shank and the volunteer efforts of Bill Bonadio, George Anderson, and Bill Frimpter.

On the track we saw sights that were historic in their scope. At times, we were entertained by an Ultima CanAm taking on a Lola in a road course shootout. We were treated to replica Cobras passing hi-po Mustang Cobras and some Pony cars gaining a measure of revenge on some Snakes. On the dragstrip on the final day, we saw a duel for King of the Hill honors between the car of 69-year-old Run and Gun favorite Pete Tork and the first non-kit or component car ever to make the finals, the '01 Mustang Cobra of Jonathan Blevins.

Those who generally win the big trophies came through again, as Rich Pickles, Bill Bonadio, Wayne Turpin, Randy Schranz, Bill Belcher, and Pete Tork were among those who came away with post-race hardware. However, they were challenged by dozens of other seasoned and new drivers who competed hard and won many of the trophies awarded.

John Chesnut and his three-car Dragon contingent won plaques in several categories, and newcomers Daniel Mann, Dave Koepp, and Mike Winebrenner also came home winners.

John Gyann, who has won at Run and Gun in Cobras and Mustang GT350 replicas, brought two CanAm Exotics Lola T-70 replicas (driven by Gyann and his son Greg). Greg ran 1:11.98 on the road course, for First Place in the Street Small-Block section, while John won First Place in Prepared Small-Block at 1:09.88. On the autocross, Greg won his division at 37.585, while Papa John came in Second to Gary McDaniel's 36.335 (FFR Cobra) with a time of 38.449. In his other T-70, Gyann ran in the Pro class and finished in Second to Randy Schranz' Shell Valley Cobra--1:08.29 to 1:08.62 on the road course.

Rich Anderson made it a successful Shell Valley trio, joining Schranz (road course and dragstrip) and Dave Serchuk (autocross) with wins in the autocross and dragstrip in the Pro Class Big-Block.

And speaking of trophies, Mustangs won a few for the first time in Run and Gun history on the dragstrip, and KIT CAR magazine awarded its Editor's Choice Car of the Show to Jack Rosen and his Ultima CanAm. It was selected due to its debut at the event and its style, grace, builder ingenuity, and overall performance--winning four trophies in the competition.

The top times on the autocross, regardless of category, belonged to: Bill Bonadio (CARS Dio) 35.079, Dave Serchuk (SVC Cobra) 35.891,Tony Martin (BackDraft Cobra) 35.617, and Rich Pickles (Contemporary Cobra) 35.718.

On the road course, the event's best belonged to Martin at 1:07.45, Schranz at 1:08.29, John Gyann (Can Am Exotics Lola) at 1:08.62, and Gyann in his other Lola at 1:09.88.

On the dragstrip, Bill Bonadio lit his nitrous and blasted to a 10.045 e.t., Wayne Turpin (Contemporary Cobra) came in at 10.686, Pete Tork (FFR Cobra) 10.774, and Bob Mustic (Johnex Cobra) 10.923. Top speeds posted on the strip were: Bonadio at 139.65 mph; Chuck Nickloy, in his Kirkham Cobra, smoked to 132.35 mph; and Pete Tork came in at 131.91 mph.

However, as far as we are concerned, all 58 drivers were winners. They showed driving skill, car building ingenuity, and the love of cars, friendship, and excitement. They all drove safely and under control, while pushing the envelope for their personal bests. Who can ask for anything more from a race event?

Run and Gun 17, scheduled for September 21-25, 2004, at Gateway International will include an extra day of racing, a larger contingent of Mustang racers, a driving school, a driving tour and cruise into St. Louis, wider media coverage, and some surprises. Make your plans to be there, and get your car and driving skill in gear. It's the "can't-miss" event for 2004.

In the next issue, we'll take you to the dragstrip for smoking tires, the fastest times, the bracket race, and the shootout for King of the Hill. KC