We caught DSE’s Stacy Tucker kickin’ out the back of her ’69 on the autocross course where
The Outcome
In the end, our predictions of a Mark Stielow sweep were found to be accurate. It was his day and he earned every bit of it. In the weeks prior to the event all Mark did was practice driving his 427 LS9-powered Camaro and fine-tune its systems. We heard that he stopped occasionally to eat, but that’s just a rumor. The combination of skill and a wicked-fast car couldn’t be overcome, and he won two of the three driving competitions. He only came in Second Place on the road course because the race-prepped and supercharged ’04 Z06, being driven by Steve Ruiz, was given a makeup lap and managed to squeak in a faster time. As for the other racers, even those who didn’t place still had a great time. And at the end of the day, there were smiles everywhere, tired ones, but you could tell that everyone wanted nothing more than to do it all again the next day. Unfortunately, we’ll just have to wait til next year when the baddest rides on the planet will once again battle to find out who is the best of best.
| Results |
| Top 10 Road Course Times |
| Name | Vehicle | Best Time |
| Steve Ruiz | ’04 Z06 Vette | 1:48.071 |
| Mark Stielow | ’69 Camaro | 1:48.825 |
| Kyle Tucker | ’70 Camaro | 1:52.386 |
| Brian Finch | ’71 Camaro | 1:54.899 |
| Paul Arvid Blytt | ’86 Trans Am | 1:55.462 |
| Bruce Cambern | ’05 Ford GT | 1:56.628 |
| Kevin Kraack | ’08 AMG C63 | 1:56.666 |
| Jay Weir | ’70 Nova | 1:57.180 |
| Carl Casanova | ’68 Camaro | 1:58.097 |
| Billy Utley | ’72 Nova | 1:58.335 |
| Top 10 Autocross Times: |
| Name | Vehicle | Best Time |
| Mark Stielow | ’69 Camaro | 39.359 |
| Brian Nutter | ’02 Z06 Vette | 40.502 |
| Bruce Cambern | ’05 Ford GT | 40.788 |
| Kyle Tucker | ’70 Camaro | 41.126 |
| Brad Coomer | ’68 Mustang | 41.200 |
| Brian Finch | ’71 Camaro | 41.605 |
| Kyle Newman | ’57 Chevy | 41.780 |
| Paul Arvid Blytt | ’86 Trans Am | 41.836 |
| Carl Casanova | ’68 Camaro | 41.838 |
| Jay Weir | ’70 Nova | 41.872 |
| Top 10 Speed-Stop Times: |
| Name | Vehicle | Best Time |
| Mark Stielow | ’69 Camaro | 6.401 |
| Paul Arvid Blytt | ’86 Trans Am | 6.421 |
| Kyle Tucker | ’70 Camaro | 6.430 |
| Bruce Cambern | ’05 Ford GT | 6.492 |
| Robert Strohmeyer | ’67 GT500 | 6.596 |
| Bret Voekel | ’66 Chevelle | 6.608 |
| Mark Turner | ’69 Camaro | 6.634 |
| Jason Plotke | ’10 Cadillac | 6.687 |
| Josh Hart | ’70 Mustang | 6.702 |
| Steven Rupp | ’68 Camaro | 6.750 |
| Top 5 Finishers Style Category: |
| Name | Vehicle | Place |
| Jim & Mike Ring | ’67 Mustang | 1st |
| Brent Jarvis | 65 Corvette | 2nd |
| Josh Russell | ’32 Ford | 3rd |
| Chris Keinitz | ’61 Mercedes | 4th |
| Bob Bertelson | ’72 Firebird | 5th |
| Overall Winners: |
| Name | Vehicle | Place |
| Mark Stielow | ’69 Camaro | 1st |
| Kyle Tucker | ’70 Camaro | 2nd |
| Bruce Cambern | ’05 Ford GT | 3rd |
| Paul Arvid Blytt | ’86 Trans Am | 4th |
| Jay Weir | ’70 Nova | 5th |
Bad Penny Track Report
By Steven Rupp
This year we were once again running our Bad Penny ’68 Camaro at the Optima event. In the first year we took the win, but last year a dead power steering pump left us languishing in Fourth Place. This time we had a better car with a fresh 461-ci RHS LS engine. The car handled great in testing and I had been practicing my driving skills. Still, I knew the car was better than I was. In the end, I decided it was more important to just go out, have fun, and let the chips fall as they may.