The Woodward Dream Cruise was technically cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and while there were still plenty of cruisers on the road last August, there were few parking areas full of cars and almost no big displays. That prevented Dan VanHorn and his crew from the Modern Street Hemi Shootout from hosting their annual HEMI’nsanity show in the Pontiac Loop during the Woodward Dream Cruise, but with the event storming back for 2021, the MSHS was back in action on August 21st and 22nd.
This started with a great show area during the Woodward Dream Cruise followed by an incredible day of racing on the day after the big cruise in Lapeer, providing Mopar fans with two solid days of Hemi-fied fun.
MSHS at the WDC
First up, the Modern Street Hemi Shootout series once again had a huge parking area in the area of the Woodward Dream Cruise known as “The Loop”. This stretch of road, located on the northern end of the route, is in Pontiac, where police presence is low during the main hours of the cruise.
A lack of police presence leads to a copious amount of smoky burnouts, making the whole Loop area the idea spot for watching the Dream Cruise. The traffic also flows better in Pontiac than it does in, say, Royal Oak, so spectators get to see more vehicles in action in addition to all of the burnouts.
Dan VanHorn and the volunteers who help make the Modern Street Hemi Shootout series run so smoothly could stop at simply securing a parking area for their racers, but they take it a step further. Non-racing Mopar owners can buy parking passes for the area, allowing them to park with the MSHS racers in action-packed Pontiac, but it gets even better. A parking pass comes with access to a lunch buffet that includes fried chicken, pulled pork and the best grilled corn on the cob you will ever have, along with frees drinks.
There are also reserved bathroom facilities and a dyno, so between the parking location, the food and the facilities, the Modern Street Hemi Shootout parking area at the Woodward Dream Cruise is a draw for all Mopar fans – but it gets even better. With help from the LX and Beyond Nationals and the sponsorship of Professional Auto Collision, there is a judged car show with awards, all surrounded by one of the best on-road car shows you will ever experience.
Since the Dodge and Mopar crew stopped hosting the corporate display at 13 Mile Road when the company instead focused on the Roadkill Nights event earlier in the week, there has not been a corporate Mopar display, but VanHorn, his MSHS crew and the participants in The Loop all come together to once again create a great place for Mopar fans to hang out during the legendary Woodward Dream Cruise.
Below is a list of the car show winners from Dream Cruise day and for more images from the weekend, Charles Ruggles from Diezel Magazine has a ton of great shots from the cruise and the track.
LX & Beyond Car Show Awards presented by Professional Auto Collision
Best of Show
Mike Lee
Best Show & Go
James Golden
MSHS Whoa! Award
Alex Tester
Best Engine
Mike Lee
Best Interior
Art & Laurie Britt
Best Hellcat/Redeye/Demon
1st Steve & Anita Logue
2nd Lisa & David Shatzer
Best 4 Door Daily Driver
1st Ray McLean
2nd Andrew Berger
Best 4 Door Show Car
1st George McGuire
2nd Mark Polisamo
Best 2 Door Daily Driver
1st Steve & Anita Logue
2nd Lisa & David Shatzer
Best 2 Door Show Car
1st Jeff Davis
2nd Sean Jackson
Best 2 Door Race Car
1st James Golden
2nd Jess Richards
Best AWD/4×4 Daily Driver
1st Brian Chidsey
2nd Jeanette Pfeifer
Best AWD/4×4 Show Car
David Line
Best AWD/4×4 Race Car
Lisa Gallegos
ThiTek HEMI’nsanity at Lapeer International Dragway
After a great day of Mopar-based camaraderie at the Woodward Dream Cruise, the Modern Street Hemi crew headed an hour north to Lapeer International Dragway for the main event of HEMI’nsanity weekend. As is always the case, the MSHS event drew many of the quickest modern Mopar-powered drag racers in the country and while temperatures climbed up near 100 degrees, it was a great day of racing.
In addition to hours of intense side-by-side racing with ETs ranging from the 7s to the 15s, we saw some records fall in the heat. The blower-only record for the Ram 1500 TRX was set, as was the quarter mile record for a Challenger Hellcat Redeye. Thanks to the Heavyweight class, we saw a handful of 7-, 8- and 9-second cars battling on the quarter mile on a heads-up, no-time basis while the Hemi Outlaw class had a group of racers running in the high 4s and low 5s in the 8th mile.
That Hemi Outlaw class featured the likes of Josh King’s twin turbocharged Duster (above), the Epling 007 Hellcat Challenger (below), the Grumpy Cat Hellcat Challenger (above) and the TopCat Challenger (below) from High Horse Performance.
Of course, in addition to those two class, there was great index racing with classes for 8.50, 10.00, 10.50, 11.50 and 12.50 ETs, along with the East Coast Moparts Pentastar Bracket Class, the Rookie Class and, of course, the Z Automotive King of the Hill shootout. The King of the Hill shootout has the winners of all of the other class go head-to-head with dial-ins and at HEMI’nsanity, Erik Storms took home the big win – taking the bracket class and finishing second in the 10.5 index class before winning the King of the Hill title as well.
Below is a full list of class results from the 2021 Modern Street Hemi Shootout HEMI’nsanity event at Lapeer International Dragway. Along with some pictures of the various class winners, we have included some random videos showing the racing action from the event.
Z Automotive King of the Hill
Erik Storms (above)
East Coast Moparts Pentastar Bracket Class
1st Erik Storms
2nd Russ Scott
3rd Rick Ross
Diablosport & Holley HEMI Outlaw Class
1st Josh King (above, far lane)
2nd Jason Epling (above, near lane)
3rd Josh Schwartz
4th Matt Kesatie
Demon Performance Super PRO Class
1st Ron Polidora (above)
2nd James Golden
3rd Corey Rimay
ThiTek Heavyweight Class
1st Tommy Falk (above, second car in the left lane)
2nd Sujal Patel
3rd Danny Mortenson
ThiTek Heavyweight Class 2nd Chance Winner
Jon Sipple (above, front left)
High Horse Performance 10.00 Index
1st Mike England
2nd Kyle Strube
3rd Eskle Collier
4th McKenzie Peterson
Gearhead Fabrications Modified Class
1st John Roscoe
2nd Erik Storms
3rd Jessica Duger
4th Jeff Lindgreen
LegMaker Intakes Super Stock Class
1st James Burnthorne Jr (above)
2nd Jon Dalton
3rd Greg Green
4th Guy Dalton
Litens Street Class
1st Alan Scanlan
2nd John Govenettio
3rd Ashley Hostetler
TC2 Motorsports Rookie Class (whole class pictured above)
1st Mason Couture
2nd Jason Dendrea
3rd Eric Emery
AAD Performance Best 60 Foot
Jason Epling – 1.18
Hell Raiser Performance Best ET
1/8 mile – Kevin Helmick- 4.82
Moe’s Performance RAM Best ET Award
Dillon Carter (below)- 10.94
Series boss Dan VanHorn dedicated the event to Bobbi Kimak. VanHorn thanked the following people for their efforts in making the Dream Cruise parking area so great:
ThiTek (Craig Thibeau)
Brian + Denise Brunt
Eskle Collier
Justin Applegate
Greg Davies
John Roscoe
Andy Wagner
Greg Wagner
Julie VanHorn
Anthony Carter (LXBN)
Of course, VanHorn also had to sign the praises of those who helped at the track:
Andy Wagner
Greg Wagner
Julie VanHorn
Greg Hostetler
Gary Rhudy
Simon Haddad
Stell Savarino
Darla Kimak
On the behalf of the Mopar community, I would like to extend a big thanks to the Modern Street Hemi Shootout, from the folks who run the series at the track, the folks who helped organize the car show at the Woodward Dream Cruise and the racers who put on a great event on Sunday.
Finally, the Modern Street Hemi Shootout series wouldnt be possible without the sponsors, so next time you are shopping for parts, support the companies below which support the modern Mopar community.
2021 MSHS Sponsors List
SERIES PRESENTING SPONSOR
Pure Drivetrain Solutions
TITLE SPONSORS
The Driveshaft Shop & Hemituner Performance
KING OF THE HILL
Z Automotive
EVENT SPONSORS
Legmaker Intakes
Eastcoast Moparts
ThiTek
Demon Performance
Hemituner Performance
TG Motorsports
High Horse Performance
CLASS SPONSORS
King of the Hill – Z Automotive
King of Kings – Barth Tuning
HEMI Outlaw Class – DiabloSport/Holley
Super Pro Class – Demon Performance
Heavyweight Class – ThiTek
Modified Class – Gearhead Fabrications
Super Stock Class – Legmaker Intakes
Street Class –
Bracket Class – Eastcoast MoParts
10.00 – High Horse Performance
Rookie Class – TC2 Motorsports
Closest to the Pin – Modern Muscle Xtreme
Boost N Juice – Nitrous Outlet (Rockingham, Houston & MIR)
PRIZE SPONSORS
Best Reaction Time – Stage 6 Motorsports
Best ET – Hell Raiser Performance
Best 60 Foot Award – AAD Performance
Best ET HEMI RAM – Moe’s Performance
Twin Win – Stell Sav/carfinish
Party Sponsors – VanDrake Racing
Winners Circle Sponsor – Demon116 Fuels
SPONSORS
VanDrake Racing
AAD Performance
Suncoast Converters
Cam Motion
Jokerz Performance
Quick Time Performance
Hall | MileOne Autogroup
Anderson Composites
Gen3 Products
Litens High Performance
ASSOCIATE SPONSORS
Holmberg Motorsports
American Muscle Performance
Sipple’s Speed & Performance
Per4mance Development
True Street Performance
Satera Tuning
Allpar Garage
Professional Auto Collision
Karma Racing Products
Orthopedic Spine Care Of Long Island
DRP Motorsports
Cometic Gasket
Nitrous Outlet
DemonTKM
1320 Solutions
Frank Racing
MS Racing Components
BFNY Performance
CONTINGENCY SPONSORS
Quick Time Performance
ProCharger
Litens High Performance – HellRaiser
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