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.