Special Vehicle Shootout

Get ready for the SVT event of the year at Maryland International Raceway

By Steve Turner
Photos by Stacy Stangz, Steve Turner, and courtesy of the NMRA

If you love Ford performance, you undoubtedly love the vehicles created by Ford’s vaunted Special Vehicle Team. It’s pretty clear that your friends here at SVTP love those cars and trucks. And, if you want to help us celebrate these vehicles, you have to take a trip to Maryland on the first weekend of May to attend the SVT event of the year, which just happens to be sponsored by your favorite web site!

“SVT was born to build high-performance Ford vehicles and the NMRA Keystone Automotive Ford Nationals will be celebrating their passion with the third-annual SVT Shootout at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland, the weekend of May 1-5, 2015,” says the NMRA. “It’s only fitting that the number-one all-Ford Motorsport show in the U.S. plays host annually to this speed-infused celebration. SVT Shootout participants will join NMRA’s community of racers and car show enthusiasts for one of the largest and baddest all-Ford events of the year.”

Within the confines of the NMRA’s traditional stop at MIR, the SVT Shootout incorporates several SVT-oriented events within the event. The event gets underway on Friday May 1, and to kick off the fun, your friends here at SVTP have joined forces with the NMRA and SCT Performance to host the SVT Shootout Racer Appreciation Party, featuring cold beer, music, and a parts raffle open to all SVT Shootout competitors and crew. You’ll definitely want to come out and party with us that night from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

If partying with the NMRA, SCT, and SVTP weren’t reason enough to attend, there will be  prizes raffled off at the party—lots of raffle prizes—including:

• AEM Wideband Failsafe Gauge ($330 value)
• Airaid Cold Air Intake System of Choice (excluding carbon fiber)
• American Muscle $100 Gift Certificate (3)
• American Muscle $250 Gift Certificate
• ARP $300 Product Certificate
• Borla 50 percent off an exhaust system
• CFM Performance Valve Cover Breather
• Circle D Specialties  $100 Torque Converter Credit
• Edelbrock $50 Product Certificate
• Evolution Peformance $100 Gift Certificate (2)
• Flex-a-Lite $200 Product Certificate
• Lethal Performance $50 Product Certificate (two) w/ Swag Bag
• McLeod Racing $250 Product Certificate
• MGW Shifters $100 Gift Certificate
• Mothers Polishes-Waxes-Cleaners Detailing Kit ($100 value)
• NMRA Power Mall $100 Shopping Spree
• NMRA Power Mall $50 Shopping Spree
• QA1 $100 Product Certificate
• Quick Fuel Technology $200 off a Carburetor or Fuel Pump
• Racestar Wheels – $100 Product Certificate
• Redline Tuning $50 Product Gift Certificate toward any of Redline’s QuickLIFT Systems
• Reische Performance Thermostat (Winner’s Choice)
• Ross Racing Pistons $200 Product Certificate & T-Shirt
• SCT Performance X4 Handheld Tuner
• Steeda Autosports $100 Gift Certificate
• UPR Products $100 Product Certificate
• VMP Superchargers Supercharger Pulley Tool ($149.99 value)
• VMP Tuning Custom Tune ($129 value)

“This year’s SVT event is special because it has gotten bigger and bigger each year, and we expect this year to continue that growth,” NMRA Race Director Rollie Miller said. “We expect the usual great turnout from mild bolt-on cars to super quick ones. It’s a great experience for owners of those SVT vehicles as participants and fans. They can see real-world results from mild to extreme.”

On the competition side of the event, the NMRA is offering a number of categories for SVT advocates to race in. One of the most popular of such events is the battle for SVT supremacy known as the GT500 vs. Terminator Shootout. Sponsored by our friends at VMP Tuning, this class allows these sibling rivals to battle it out on the drag strip. So far the Terminator team has the edge on the GT500 group, but we’ll see what happens at MIR.

Whichever team prevails, all the participants also receive a free entry into Saturday’s SVT-only True Street class so they can keep racing. This class also offers a great opportunity for those that want a fun way to enjoy some track time. No need to worry about reaction times or heads-up racing, just run your best numbers.

“This will be our fourth year at MIR, it’s going to be bigger and badder than ever. We ran the shootout for the first time at NMRA Bradenton last month and saw over 20 cars participate,” Justin Starkey, of VMP Tuning, said. “The guys up north will be ready by the time MIR rolls around and you will see some very fast Terminators and GT500s coming out.”

“Being at MIR and being an all-SVT shootout it should be quite interesting. Lots of fast cars will be there…” GT500 vs. Terminator Shootout organizer Jim Irelan added. “We are now allowing motor plates, so several cars that were just barely out of the rules will now be accepted, especially centrifugally supercharged cars.”

The winner of the GT500 vs. Terminator Shootout will receive $500 plus contingency and an acrylic award, while the runner-up will take home $200 plus contingency and a plaque. Even the semi- and quarter-finalists won’t be left out. They will receive $100 and $50, respectively.

So, the prizes are quite impressive, but there will also be several other awards given to the participants. Ten special outstanding achievement awards handed out, and the winner of the SVT True Street category will take home $250 and a 6-foot trophy, and the runner-up will score $100 and a plaque. Moreover, those that run closest to 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 second averages in their three back-to-back passes will win $100 and a plaque!

If that isn’t enough, this little preview video should get you pumped up about the overall event…

If you happen to enjoy racing a manual-trans SVT, there’s also a special category for you at MIR. McLeod Racing is sponsoring a unique competition that will pit the two quickest stick-shift SVTs from the GT500 vs. Terminator Shootout against one another in a heads-up race. The winner of this speed-shifting battle will score a custom award, a $750 McLeod Racing Product Certificate, and a $100 NMRA Power Mall gift certificate!

Of course every NMRA event features the Truck & Lightning class, so you’ll be sure to see plenty of SVT trucks speeding down the quarter mile. However, if you just want to hang out and show off your SVT vehicle, there will also several special SVT categories in the car show, so you might even take home top honors and a unique trophy.

Obviously, we here at SVTP are excited about the MIR event, so we hope to see you in Maryland in early May. If you are coming out to the event, be sure to post below or head over to our thread in the NMRA forum and tell us what class you are running.

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