It’s been a long time coming for John Durden, but on Sunday afternoon at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Californian finally drove his hot rod to victory at the COMP Cams Street Car Super Nationals presented by FuelTech and Summit Racing Equipment. After earning top qualifier honors Friday in the Precision Turbo presented by Energy Manufacturing Pro Mod class, Durden took his ’59 Corvette to the Winner’s Circle.
“I’ve been close three times,” Durden said Monday. “We work hard and enjoy coming out. (SCSN Promoter) Mel Roth has treated me well and gave us a great race track. It’s the biggest event on the West Coast to win and this is the one I cared most to win. Thank you to Mel and the PSCA crew!”
The Pacific Northwest was well-represented when it came to holding the big checks at the end of the day. Rian Hayward out of Marysville, Wash., not only took the MagnaFuel Outlaw 10.5 victory, his lap of 3.852 seconds at 192.25 mph blistered the existing track record for the class. The run was good enough to beat fellow Washingtonian Art Raz’s 4.247-second run at 149.13 mph.
“It was just our Sunday to win the race,” Hayward said on Monday. “There’s so many reasons we won, starting with the days in the shop, the hours of going over data, the preparation, the travel itself. When teams load up to race, they have a goal: to compete, to win, and set records. It doesn’t always play out like we plan, but when it does, it’s an incredible feeling.
“To have a program come together with all the necessary pieces top to bottom is a great feeling. And now, it’s time to prep and plan for 2023!”
The PNW also saw the win lights within the event’s sizeable Canadian contingent, as Justin Gallant from British Columbia earned the victory over Scott Lewis in the Mickey Thompson 275 class. Gallant’s 4.331-second lap at 163.22 seconds topped Lewis’ 4.693-second pass at 127.56 mph.
“SCSN 18’s No-Time classes were all loaded with entries from all over the West Coast and Canada,” said Roth after the event. “Look for features on them and the SCSN winners in the upcoming weeks.”
“I don’t know that we could’ve had a better event,” Roth continued. “Amazing weather, perfect track prep by TVC’s Kurt Johnson and crew along with Jeff Foster’s A-Team. I also want to give special thanks to our race director Matt DeYoung for a flawless job calling the event.”
2022 Street Car Super Nationals Winners/Runners Up
SMC Race Cars Outlaw 8.5: Tim Orello (4.558 seconds, 163.87 mph) over
Chris Brenton (4.573 seconds, 160.18 mph)
MagnaFuel XDR: Chris Alston (4.559 seconds, 132.01 mph) over Derek Cooper (No Time)
Speed Society Open Comp: Michael Porter (10.528 seconds, 121.85 mph) over Paul Calvert (12.054 seconds, 96.94 mph)
Morrow Mustang Maddness: John Calvert (8.392 seconds, 147.13 mph) over Justin Keller (11.338 seconds, 120.54 mph)
Red Tide Canopies Triple Index: Michael Porter (10.938 seconds, 106.04 mph) over Joe Vlasity (11.872 seconds, 89.35 mph)
Nitrous Outlet Super Index: Kirk Hall (8.595 seconds, 156.26 mph) over Michael Hadrath (9.494 seconds, 147.13 mph)
Calvert Non-Electronics: Darin Taylor (8.750 seconds, 149.75 mph) over Tanya Lippen (9.691 seconds, 138.78 mph)
Racing Junk Electronics: Nick Pressimone (5.905 seconds, 115.10 mph) over Dave Burden (5.447 seconds, 125.70 mph)
Hughes Performance Big Tire presented by Team Boddie: Jordan Lazic over Doug Reed
ProCharger Pro 275 presented by M&M Transmission: Brylon Holder over DJ Reid
Holder’s AC Small Tire Presented by Callies: Derek Cooper over Brian Manske
Arizona Race Company Real Steel presented by RES: Billy Hespeler over Nate Burger
Addiction Motorsports Limited Small Tire presented by RES: Brian Greenberg over David Holtgrew
The 19th running of the Street Car Super Nationals returns to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on a new date next year. The marathon of speed is scheduled for Oct. 18-22, 2023. For more information, visit StreetCarSuperNationals.com.
This story was originally published on November 27, 2022. 
