The original incarnation was along the same lines as ADRL’ s eighth-mile SuperCar Showdown, and NHRA’ s rendition was a heads-up contest that fell in with Stock Eliminator class eliminations and raced to the quarter-mile. The competition was a way to showcase the drag-racing ready, factory-built vehicles coming out of Detroit that had captured the attention of veteran racers, and that first Indy event drew a handful of fierce and recognizable competitors in both naturally aspirated and supercharged entries.

In the final round, it came down to a matchup of Cobra Jet Mustangs between a pair of standout racers: 2006 Competition Eliminator champion Bo Butner and second-generation drag racer Brett Candies, son of NHRA legend Paul Candies. Candies left first but spun the tires, and Butner sailed ahead for a 9.10-second win at 148.84 mph.

“ To win anything at the U. S. Nationals is huge, but that was really cool. I still have that big inaugural Factory Stock Showdown check hanging up,” says Butner, who has accumulated four Factory Stock Showdown wins to date. Although he hasn’ t yet raced the shootout in 2018, he’ s planning a return at Indy this year in a new Cobra Jet Mustang.

Butner became widely known when he turned Pro in 2015 and slid in behind the wheel of a KB Racing-powered Pro Stock Chevrolet Camaro, but his roots are deep in the Sportsman ranks. Aside from his Factory Stock Showdown titles, the 2017 Pro Stock champion has 21 national event wins across five categories, including six each in Pro Stock and Comp Eliminator, three in Super Stock, five in Stock Eliminator, and one in Super Street.

“ This type of racing is where I came from, and it’ s probably where I’ ll end up,” says Butner, regarding the Factory Stock Showdown.“ It’ s a good class, but it’ s getting pretty tough. Between the three manufacturers, they’ re all pretty close. It’ s a growing deal, and it’ s a lot like the old Pro Stock, which is cool. It’ s bringing new people into the sport.”

Partnership and steady growth

In 2013, the special series expanded to three events – with races added in Englishtown and Charlotte – and split into two classes within Stock Eliminator to separate the naturally aspirated engines and supercharged entries. The respective class winners in Charlotte ran one another for the championship, which was won by David Barton in a naturally aspirated V8 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak over a red-lighting Butner and his supercharged Cobra Jet Mustang.

Four events were on the schedule from 2014- 2016 as popularity continued to grow. The School of Automotive Machinists and Technology( SAM

2018 SCHOOL OF AUTOMOTIVE MACHINISTS & TECHNOLOGY SCHEDULE

March 15-18 Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals Gainesville, Fla. April 27-29 NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four- Wide Nationals Charlotte, N. C. June 15-17 Fitzgerald USA NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals Bristol, Tenn. June 21-24 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Norwalk, Ohio Aug. 29-Sept. 3 Chevrolet Performance U. S. Nationals Indianapolis Sept. 21-23 AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals St. Louis Oct. 4-7 AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals Dallas

Tech) stepped up in 2016 as the series sponsor, with director of student motorsports Brian Massingill taking the reins on their involvement in the program. The partnering of SAM Tech with the series was a no-brainer.

“ We knew we wanted to be involved with NHRA, and we talked about a few things – but we were excited when NHRA offered [ sponsorship of this class ] to us,” says Massingill, who has become something of a liaison between the racers and the sanctioning body as they work to refine and grow the class while still keeping it accessible and as affordable as possible.“ It was a good fit for us because it was right in line with what we were building at SAM Tech. This was a way for the students to see what they were working on translate to real life on the racetrack.

“ We have several graduates who work with various teams in the class. Travis Hilger helps with the cars that have Ray Barton Racing engines, Collin Jackson is Archie( Arthur) Kohn’ s crew chief and car chief – nothing goes in or out of that car without Collin knowing what it is – and Conner Statler helps the Stanfield Racing team at the events. We get a lot of calls asking for our students to work on things because not only do these guys like racing, they really know what’ s going on. We build COPO engines for a few Sportsman racers, so they see it first-hand, know what goes into it and know how to tackle things.”

A fifth race was added in 2017, and the Factory Stock Showdown was booming. For 2018 it became a seven-race series with the championship awarded based on the best six of seven events. Evolution of the class brought it to a Quick 8 Eliminator format in 2016, and in 2018 it was designated as a 16-car field.

“ Having this as a true heads-up, 16-car field is

PHOTOS: RICK BELDEN, ROGER RICHARDS