For some drag racers nothing beats banging your own gears down the drag strip. There’s just something about the feeling of nailing every gear perfectly -it’s having one more level of control of the car, that many racers give up to an automatic transmission.
Tremec, who manufactures a wide variety of popular transmissions for Mustang and muscle car owners around the world has been sponsoring NMRA’s True Street class for years. Last year they launched the Tremec Stick Shift Shootout, as part of the True Street class at the annual NMRA Spring Break Shootout in Bradenton, Florida.
Drivers racing with a Tremec transmission onboard their car, and running in True Street are eligible to compete. At the end of the day, the two fastest drivers square off in a best of three headsup series to determine the Tremec Stick Shift Shootout champion. To the winner goes a brand new Tremec T-56 Magnum XL six speed transmission package.
This year at Bradenton it came down to the 1991 Mustang coupe of Anthony Heard with an average time of 9.894, and the 2003 Cobra of Scotty Scarbrough who averaged 10.357. Unfortunately Scarbrough couldn’t make it to compete for the best two out of three. Stepping in and pinch hitting for the Terminator crowd, was last year’s Tremec Stick Shift Shootout champion, Jeff Smith in his own Competition Orange Cobra. Smith’s spirits were high going in, in-spite having a disadvantage against Heard’s much faster coupe -if you’ve ever drag raced a stick shift car, you know it only takes one small error on the part of the driver to ruin a pass. Heard on the other hand explained his strategy is all about getting the car through the first 60 feet, and then letting it do the rest of the hard work.
In the end it was Heard dominating, sweeping the shootout with two quick wins against Smith.
2014 Tremec True Street Bradenton Category Winners:
- Dan Caissie: 15 Second
- Ralph Foster: 14 Second
- Colin Timlan: 13 Second
- Chad Ruth: 12 Second
- Jeff Smith: 11 Second
- Ken Bjonnes: 10 Second
- Alex Corella: 9 Second
- Anthony Leone: King of the Street
Last year modular power dominated over pushrods in the Stick Shift Shootout, and this year the title goes back to pushrod power, Congratulations to Anthony Heard, and all of the 2014 Tremec Stick Shift Shootout competitors.
