“RPM Magazine put on yet another excellent event. Things were well-planned and we enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks to all our sponsors; Porters Diner, Brian Smith Photography, Ludsan Enterprises, Dennis Financial, Auto Machinery, Carl Fox Plumbing, Hanwell Autobody, and to those who wish to remain anonymous, and to John Hutchinson and Brian Noakes for the transmission parts. We can’t wait for the next ‘war’!” The SSTS—Canada’s original stock suspension, small tire grudge shootout—jumped into battle at the War In The North event and it was the tightest, most competitive racing the series has seen since its inception in spring 2014. Both SSTS classes—Street King and Outlaw—were contested and both provided fans with on-the-edge action. Street King is tailored to cars that are street driven or can be and includes rules like a maximum 28x10.5 non-W or 275/60 radial tire, stock front and rear suspension, no wheelie bars, two seats, carpet, stock dash, and other items on the streetcar checklist.
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The Outlaw class is the SSTS big dawg, hope-you-brungenough class- 29.5x10.5 non-W or 315 radial tires, any front and rear suspension, and no wheelie bars are all that govern this class. Both classes are instant green (no ambers), 1/8th mile, heads-up, clocks off lasses— all of which makes for insane action! Plus, all of the cars on the grounds could do a call-out grudge match at any time during the event, which gave fans a taste of what grudge racing really is…in real life on the dragstrip, instead of the TV screen! With solid car counts in both classes, it was a guarantee that there would be some stiff ompetition for the $2000 and $3000 dollar prizes going to the winners of each. After cars were tech’d in, racers were given two test passes. The SSTS does not run qualifiers, but instead draws car numbers from a hat randomly before each round, leaving lane choice up to paired opponents (just like it would be done on the street). They can flip a coin, arm wrestle, rock/paper/scissors— whatever they want to choose who gets what lane. Racers use their
two passes wisely to dial in their cars or make any needed changes for the weather conditions before they had to run at their absolute all-out best for eliminations. A unique element of the SSTS is that in its short existence it has managed to draw racers from all over North America. At the War In The North, Michigan’s Jeff lder attended for the second time in his white ’93 Mustang going all the way to the semifinals of Street King; Michael Comeau and his beautiful first generation ’67 Camaro and Chris Woods in his “Blue Berry” ProCharged ’83 Camaro made the trek all the way from New Brunswick to battle it out in the Street King and Outlaw classes respectively, with Woods making it to the finals in Outlaw. Fans were also treated to more than Mustangs and Camaros with rides like Mark Robert’s badass big inch big block Chevy powered ’66 Chevrolet pickup out of Hamilton, Ontario and Mark Hutchison’s ’72 Mercury Montego sleeper that flew all the way to the semifinals with its turbocharged small block and had
august 2015 | RPM Magazine
Also making the long drive from the east was Chris Woods in his insane 1983 small tire ProCharged Camaro. The tower staff ag eed that this was one of the baddest machines in the house. Although he went quicker, Woods lost in the SSTS Outlaw finals as he le t the starting line just hair behind winner Jeff ance. Killa Cole, with the support of Paul Silva Performance, is always a threat in his boosted Fox body Stang but this time lost in round two to Woods.