MSD True Street Challenge - Street Car Shootout

Another sweet Malibu--this one a '78--belongs to Bob Walsh, Jr. of Bradenton, Fla. Walsh, whose dad won this same event last year in a Mustang--averaged 12.125 with a naturally aspirated 383 and a turbo 400 trans.

You think we'd let 31 hooligans loose on a 30-mile cruise without supervision? Not a chance. Bearing an eerie resemblance to Primedia senior vice president, Doug Evans, Manatee County Sheriff's sergeant Steve Becker kept a lid on all the shenanigans. Come to think of it, that's another scary similarity.

The innocuous-looking '70 Challenger of Floyd Warren is anything but passe--under the hood at least. Floyd transplanted the late-model 5.7L hemi in his garage over an 18-month period ("nights and weekends..."). The toughest part? Swapping in the five-speed automatic from the donor car. According to Floyd, the trans is huge and the only way to do it without cutting up the floor was to carve some of the reinforcing ribs off of the transmission case. The powertrain is completely stock and has propelled the E-body to a best of 13.66/101.

The '81 Chevy Malibu is the quintessential affordable street bruiser, and Doug Juhrend (teamgbody.com) proved it once again by laying down an 11.90 three-run average. Juhrend's 'bu packs a Magnacharged LS1 that puts out 535 hp to the wheels. It's gone as fast as 11.44/115.

Every dog has its day, and on this day it was Paul Kwiatkowski's turn. "I was looking for a nine, and I got greedy, I think..." A little too much nitrous through Paul's '74 Nova bent some pushrods and burned the number seven plug. "I suspect I put a hole in the piston too."

Felix Garcia and Paul Buchanan field this sweet '69 Camaro, which ran 11s all day. It relies on a 468 big-block mated to a Turbo 400. BMR suspension pieces and a TrueTrac rear bolted to 3.73 cogs help this beast launch.

Stacey Rockey operates BMR Suspension with her husband, Brett Rockey, but still finds time to race her brand new Trailblazer SS. With only a boost of nitrous, it squeaks into the high 12s.

Nothing beats the smooth lines of a '67 Impala. Owner Jon Sweiger says a stock Impala like his in good condition can be had for about $15K. This one runs 14s and has the added economy of an overdrive 700-R4 trans. Sweiger took home $100 and a set of MSD plug wires for averaging 15.062--the closest average to 15.00.

Editor's Choice winner Trev Jordan won a lot of people over with his home-built '77 Trans Am. A 511-cid Pontiac uses an Indian Adventures block and belts out 523 hp at 5,200 rpm. It's got a Keisler TKO-600 five-speed, custom front K-member, Flaming River rack-and-pinion conversion, Baer disc brakes, and supportive Corbeau seats, so you could say it's designed to do everything.

Tibe Larson usually runs high 12s in his mildly modded '94 LT1 Camaro. The F-body gets by on ported stock heads, a mild cam and headers, but uses a turbo 350 and 4.10 gears to trade off some drivability for better ET.

Michelle Slatker (Tampa, Fla.) leads the pack with her '03 Mustang Cobra as the gang heads out on the 30-mile cruise. Her pony runs bottom 12s with simple bolt-ons like underdrive pulleys, cold-air induction kit, exhaust, and Mickey Thompson ET Streets.

About two seconds after this photo was taken, Brian Kohle's '84 Mustang erupted in a nitrous fireball, ending his day abruptly. Under normal circumstances, Kohle's Fox Mustang runs low 10s with a carbed and nitrous-assisted 306 small-block Ford.

Rich Perry's '66 Chevy II Nova runs an open rear end with 2.73 gears, yet it still knocks down high 11s with a built 383 and an Edelbrock nitrous kit.

We caught Tarynn Jojola (Sarasota, Fla.) basking in the Florida sun. Cars were there too.

Like most girls, Hadley Shahinian of Bradenton couldn't resist the urge to shop in the NMCA tent, but enjoyed the hot street car action too.

When 19-year-old Emily Lewis isn't driving her 2000 Camaro SS, she's beating the crap out of boys in her 555-cid big-block Mullis dragster. It runs mid 7s.

When Brittany Castellano (Tampa, Fla.) walks by, grown men turn into blathering idiots. She favors El Caminos for their large, utilitarian beds.

April Mazzie (Tampa, Fla.) and Christina Szaloczy (right, Lutz, Fla.) ham it up for the camera in the staging lanes.