MSHS: Clear weather and great racing in Virginia

The fourth event of the 2017 Modern Street Hemi Shootout was held on September 15-16 at Virginia Motorsports Park and for the first time this season, the world’s fastest Hemi street machines didn’t get rained on. As a result, the MSHS stop in Virginia, sponsored by Demon Performance, was packed with the most racing action of any event on this year’s schedule, while also being the richest event so far.

If you have followed our coverage of the 2017 Modern Street Hemi Shootout series, you know that the  Milan MSHS event last month was rained out altogether. Since no prizes were awarded in Michigan, the cash prizes from that event were carried forward to the Virginia event, leading to double payouts for the class prizes – with some $25,000 up for grabs. The only exception was that prize money for the #Bad_Ass_Official and VanDrake Racing $5,000 King of the Hill class. Rather than have a $10,000 cash prize for King of the Hill, the prize money from the Milan event was donated to the relief efforts in Texas following hurricane Harvey.

The classes at the Demon Performance-sponsored MSHS Virginia Motorsports Park Event included:
Eastcoast Moparts – Bracket – Dial-In
Demon Performance – Super Pro – Heads Up, Run 8s to Be Competitive
ThiTek – Pro – 9.50 index
True Street Performance – Modified – 10.50 index
Legmaker Intakes – Super Stock – 11.50 index
RK Motors – Street – 12.50 index
High Horse Performance – Hellcat Shootout – heads
#Bad_Ass_Official and VanDrake Racing $5,000 King of the Hill – Class winners – Dial-In

Class-by-Class Rundown from Virginia:
In the EastCoast Moparts Bracket class, John Govonettio and his 2012 Dodge Charger took on Chris Dufresne and his 2011 Dodge Challenger. Govonettio used a big holeshot advantage to win the race, even though he ran 12.71 on a 12.62 while Dufresne ran a 10.48 on a 10.45 dial.

In the RK Motors Street class (12.50 index), Gary Sanders and his 2017 Dodge Challenger took on Gary Rhudy and his 2014 Dodge Challenger R/T. Rhudy had a small starting line advantage with a better reaction time, but Sanders ran a 12.60 to Rhudy’s 12.73, giving the 2017 Challenger the win.

In the Legmaker Intakes Super Stock class (11.50 index), Kate Tout and her 2010 Dodge Challenger (at the top of the article) took on Patrick Zabst and his 2010 Dodge Charger. Zabst ran the quicker ET, laying down an 11.566 and losing to Kate Tout’s 11.572 due to a better reaction time by the Challenger.

In the True Street Performance Modified class (10.50 index), there was a pair of Hellcats battling for the win, with Donald Carter and his 2016 Hellcat (below) taking on Ron Polidora and his 2017 Hellcat Challenger. Carter had a much better reaction time (.081 to .199), but Polidora’s 10.534 allowed him to drive around Carter (10.633) on the big end.

In the ThiTek Pro class (9.50 index), Brian Brunt and his 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee (below) went head to head with Chris Harrigan and his 2006 Dodge Charger. Harrigan had a stunning .008 reaction time, but “only” ran a 9.828, losing to Brunt’s 9.622.

In the Demon Performance Super Pro class (heads up, no index), Brian Destefano and his 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 took on Gary Rhudy in a 2011 Dodge Charger. Destefano grabbed a starting line advantage (.230 to .343 reaction times), but with a 9.035, his Jeep beat Rhudy’s 9.673 in the Charger.

In the High Horse Performance Hellcat Shootout (heads up, no dial), Nelson Bucklard Jr took on Nathan Lewis and it wasn’t much of a race, with Bucklard running a 9.9.42 to Lewis’ 12.724.

Finally, the #Bad_Ass_Official and VanDrake Racing $5,000 King of the Hill class pitted the winners of every other class head-to-head with the dial-in system and in the finals, RK Motors Street class winner Gary Sanders and his 2017 Dodge Challenger took on the High Horse Performance Hellcat Shootout winner Nelson Bucklard Jr, with Sanders taking the win and the $5,000 cash price.

Some other winners from the Virginia stop of the 2017 Modern Street Hemi Shootout schedule include the following:
The A2Speed Best Reaction Time Award – Stephan Rimay – .001
The Orthopedic Spine Care of Long Island Best ET Award – Brian DeStefano – 8.892
The Nitrous Outlet Best 60 Foot Award – Greg Davies – 1.35
The JONZ HVAC & Stanley’s Performance 2nd Chance Runoff was won by Larry LaGuardia
The Gary Rhudy Best Package Award – Chris Harrigan – .058
Cabinet Factory of Delaware Hard Luck Award – Tim Ercolano

Finally, on the behalf of the event organizers, the racers and the entire Mopar community, we have to give a shout out to all of the sponsors who helped make this event happen:
Series Title Sponsors:
The Driveshaft Shop
Hemituner Performance

Event Title Sponsor:
Demon Performance

Class Sponsors:
#bad_ass_official & VanDrake Racing – King of the Hill
Demon Performance – Super Pro
ThiTek – Pro
True Street Performance – Modified
Legmaker Intakes – Super Stock
RK Motors – Street
High Horse Performance – Hellcat
East Coast MoParts – Bracket
Stanley Performance & Jonz HVAC 2nd Chance

Associate Sponsors:
Stage 6 Motorsports
Southern Hotrod
Nitrous Outlet
Orthopedic Spine Care of Long Island
A2Speed
OC Performance
Hall Automotive
Cabinet Factory
Z Automotive
BFNY Performance
LXForums.com
Moparfan.com
G3 Performance Products
Authentic Performance
American Racing Solutions
Professional Auto Collision
DTP Racing
American Racing Solutions
Gearhead Fabrications
Mass Acceleration Motorsports
Gary Rhudy Motorsports
American Muscle Performance
Per4mance Development
Autocomplete Mobile Detailing
Livernois Motorsports
Brunt Associates
Newton Crane Roofing
JerseyBoy Tuning
MotorCity Detail
Dairy Queen of Walled Lake
Michigans Best Entertainment
Detroit Muscle

The 5^th and final event of the 2017 Modern Street Hemi Shootout will be held on Saturday, November 4^th at Atco Dragway in New Jersey.

All images courtesy of the drivers of the vehicles. More images will be added as they are submitted.