Original Super Chevy Show Celebrates the Best of the Midwest’s Bowtie Vehicles~

A Saturday “Night of Thunder” featuring nostalgia fuel Funny Cars, nostalgic BB/Funny Cars, outlaw Pro Stock cars including the late Bob Glidden’s 1979 Plymouth Arrow, Chicagoland Super Stocks, jets and a one-of-a-kind wheelstander will provide the backdrop this weekend for the Original Super Chevy Show’s celebration of the Midwest’s “baddest” bowties.

John Lawson’s Joliet, IL-based, supercharged and nitromethane-burning “Runaway” 1970 Chevy Camaro Funny Car will oppose the “Quickdraw” 2001 Firebird driven by Joey Haas of Morrison, IL, in Saturday night’s main event although they will by no means be the weekend’s only attractions.

Two days of General Motors car and truck show judging will determine the “best of” in a wide variety of categories featuring both early and late model Chevrolets from Corvairs to Cobalts to Camaros and everything in between.

On the track, though, is where the bulk of the action will occur, especially on Saturday.  In addition to the “Night of Thunder” feature, which begins at 6 p.m., Saturday’s program also will include racing in the Lane Automotive Bracket Series to crown champions in Top ET, Modified, Jr. Dragster and Street categories.  On Sunday racing will feature an all GM drag racing, GM bodied or powered.

Saturday, though, in addition to Lawson and Haas, the “Night of Thunder” will shine the spotlight on the bumper-dragging, eight-second Chevies, Buicks, Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles of the Chicagoland Super Stock circuit, the Nostalia Pro Stock cars and on supercharged, methanol-burning Funny Cars.

In addition to Glidden’s Arrow, the only non-Ford car in which he ever won a championship, the Pro Stock lineup also includes the erratic, short wheelbase Rod Shop Racing Dodge Colt driven by the late Don Carlton, Warren Johnson’s Oldsmobile Firenza and the “Party Time” Pontiac Firebird.

The BB/Funny Car lineup will include Bill Anderson’s “Road Show” 1969 Camaro, Nick Tilley’s “Shyster” 1978 Corvette, the “Blue Thunder” 1968 Camaro of Monty Stotz, Sue Christopherson’s “Susie Q” 1957 Chevy Bel Air and Steve Timoszyk’s replica of Poncho Rendon’s “Detroit Tiger” 1980 Monza that was driven on the NHRA circuit by Detroit’s Tom Prock.

Once the nitro and methanol fumes have dissipated, the track will become a “runway” for three of the quickest and fastest jet-powered vehicles on the planet – the 300 mile per hour “Queen of Diamonds” dragster driven by 24-year-old Sarah Edwards of Stamford, CT, the “Top Secret Eastern Raider” Pontiac Funny Car driven for the last 13 seasons by Ken Hall of Pottstown, PA, and the “First Strike” Firebird driven by Rich Hanna of Middletown, CT.

Finally, the world’s only wheelstanding 1933 Willys truck, Jim “Papa Soul” Brewer’s Cleveland-based “Peacemaker” will show off its wheels-up performance.  Brewer, by the way, not only is the world’s sole African-American wheelstand artist, he also, at age 83, is the oldest.

The track will open Friday for a 5-to-11 p.m. test-and-tune session for which the car and driver fee is just $25.  Adult spectator admission is $10 Friday, $20 Saturday and $15 Sunday.  Children 6-12 are $5 each day with children under six free when accompanied by a ticketed adult.