Camaros Rock in Brackets, but Oldsmobile Rules Nitro Coupe Wars at Super
Chevy's Indy Stop
Words by Hank Schmitt
Photos by ShowCase Photo
7/18/06
His family, friends and neighbors probably heard Brian Robbins holler all the way back in his hometown of Highland, Michigan. Brian scored his inaugural Nitro Coupe win Sunday (7/16) at one of drag's racing's most revered sites, the newly renamed O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. The event was also sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts.
Robbins, driving an exquisite '72 Hurst Oldsmobile Nitro Coupe, arrived at the racetrack a day early and got in some shakedown passes during Friday's Test and Tune session. The extra homework apparently worked, as Brian was the picture of consistency during qualifying and eliminations, qualifying second behind the '57 Chevy of Zach Barklage and then rolling through eliminations with 6.43, 6.48 and 6.49 second blasts in the scorching heat.
In the finals, Robbins was lined up against Tony "Sandman" Williams, but Sandman's '69 Camaro broke before ever making it into the water. Famed racer Billy Glidden was a
surprise guest, testing a beefy Chevy which roared down Indy's famous track in seven-second land at close to 190 miles per hour.The Chicago Super Stock Outlaws thrilled the crowd with passes like Bill Houghton's 7.936 second blast at 170.86 miles per hour. In the Super Chevy bracket wars, Camaros ruled as they won in three of the four classes. In the TREMEC Transmission Bonus Race, it was an all Camaro semi-final and an all '67 Camaro final which ended with Randy Shipp of Whiteland, Indiana coming out on top. Greg Dillman of Greenwich, Indiana had a bridesmaid kind of weekend as he runner-uped in both the Saturday bonus race and Sunday's Bracket Two (Footbrake) competition. (Complete bracket racing results listed
below).
The 26th Annual Tour of the Super Chevy Show rolls East into Maple Grove Raceway at Reading, Pennsylvania this weekend (July 21-23).