Super Chevy Show Topeka Series - Down The Road To Kansas

Hendrick Motorsports Performance Group (as in Rick Hendrick, the uber successful NASCAR owner/operator) brought out some of its special toys to show off for the weekend at the show. Aside from the usual horsepower boosting parts, it also had some of the special edition '10 Camaros it's selling on display, along with some suck-the-breath-out-of-your-lungs new Corvettes. Check out the autocross coverage to see the Donahue tribute Camaro weaving through the cones.

Another John Findley-built car was this Butternut Yellow '68 SS that belongs to self-proclaimed "Old Fart" Bill Oertel.

Under Bill's guidance, John put in a 383 roller motor with Tremec 5-speed and Moser rear. Not just a looker, Bill's Nova has handling goodies from Heidts and brakes from Baer. This Nova also rolls on a set of 17-inch Americans with 225/45 Bridgestones up front and 245/45 out back.

John Sidney from Independence, Missouri, showed that four doors can be cool with his Vermillion Red '66 Nova Wagon. This hauler has a 427 Rat stuffed in the little engine compartment backed by a 200-4R. It took John four years to complete this beauty, and we think his time was well spent.

...'70 Camaro at home in the garage. The car has a 350 backed by a 700R4. It rides on an 18- and 20-inch Coys/Hankook wheel and tire package, and has Hotchkis springs, Edelbrock shocks and Fatman control arms. Jason had the Camaro sideways Dukes of Hazzard-style around some of the corners, which we caught on video.

There were even a few killer drop-tops out at the show like this hot red '64 belonging to Ray Kirk.

It's powered by a 383 stroker and has just the right stance thanks to 2-inch drop spindles and Coddington wheels.

Charlie Davison took home one of our Editor's Choice Drag Car awards with his slick red and white '56 210 sedan. Here he's carrying the wheels to the tree on another run down the Heartland Park quarter-mile.

Winning the female category was Christina Fleming in the family's SS Camaro. The entire Fleming family-mom, dad, and son-drove the car both days, and mom proved to be the fastest in her class.

One of the vehicles Hendrick Motorsports brought out was this Hendrick Edition '10 Camaro painted up as a tribute to Mark Donahue's classic '69 SCCA racer. Jeff Kopp also drove a raced-out Vette that allowed him to turn in the fastest time of the day with a 25.42 and winning the open class.

Dale Long from the Topeka Corvette Club won the Novice class with a time of 26.94 in his wife's Corvette. To show that any car could run the course, Dale even threw around his '72 Monte Carlo with a 383 small-block and stock suspension. The C5 Corvette wheels helped him turn in a time of 35.49 in the big Monte. Hold on, Dale!

Dale Long has a knack for pushing stock handling cars around the cones and showed Bill Mohringer's Elco no mercy. The completely stock ride was pretty entertaining to watch as it went around the track like a waterbed sloshing side to side.

Runner up in the Novice class was Joe Clance in his ZZ4-powered '69. The F-body has an assortment of Hotchkis and Detroit Speed suspension products, which allowed him to click off a 26.99.

Another beauty on the track was Jerry Thomas' '65. The car was freshly restored and the side pipes sounded sweet as Jerry romped the throttle out of the corners.

The other notable car that was with the Hendrick folks was Scott Mock's bitchen '69. Kevin Miller was able to push the decked-out Camaro to a 26.32, getting him second place in the Open class.

One of the smoothest cars to watch was this '72 Corvette co-owned by Tim Coulter and Jerry Thomas. The pair got together and bought this car two weeks before this event. It has wide 17x9 Americans wrapped with 295/35 Hoosier A6 tires. The car has 800-pound springs up front and 375s in the rear. Koni double-adjustable shocks kept the bouncing to a minimum.