TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout at the 2025 Holley Ford Fest
A lot has changed since TREMEC was at Beech Bend Raceway in September 2024 for the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout. What hasn’t changed is the great racing action from our manual transmission racers and the camaraderie that is the foundation of the racing community.
Fast forward to 2025, and the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout we had some major format changes to spice things up and add excitement to the competition. The first is that the Stick Shift Shootout is its own racing class; not involved with the True Street class. Competitors can make three qualifying runs to make the field, but only need one complete pass to qualify instead of having to make all three runs.
Next, the shootout is now split into two classes: Street Stick (10.00 E/T or slower) and Pro Stick (9.99 E/T or faster). And racing is heads up without the staggered start. The final rule change is to add a tenth of a second breakout rule, meaning if any competitor ran more than a tenth quicker in competition than their qualifying time, they would be disqualified.
For the Pro Stick class, victory earns $1,000 plus a brand new TREMEC manual transmission of the racer’s choice. For the Street Stick winner, there’s a $1,000 check plus a band new McLeod Racing clutch kit.
Here’s how the action rolled out during the weekend.
TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout at 2025 Holley Ford Fest Qualifying Order
Pro Stick
Torrey Browne 8.377 E/T
Mike Niehaus 8.726 E/T
Dannie Addair 8.864 E/T
Skyler Hardy 8.966 E/T
Dan Watts 9.087 E/T
James McCool 9.209 E/T
Adam Cox 9.451 E/T
Trevor Thome 9.890 E/T
Street Stick
Matt Fint 10.167 E/T
Chris Rusch 10.249 E/T
Spencer Barber 10.351 E/T
Roland Appleton 10.806 E/T
Chad Hughes 12.052 E/T
David Garcia 12.417 E/T
Here are the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout Pro Stick competitors from this event. In no particular order, Dannie Addair, Dan Watts, Skyler Hardy, James McCool, Trevor Thome, Mike Niehaus, Adam Cox and Torrey Brown.And here are the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout Street Stick competitors: Christopher Rusch, Spencer Barber, Matt Fint, David Garcia, Rolan Appleton and Chad Hughes.For the first two rounds of competition, matchups would be determined by random chip draw. Even if one racer was going to get a bye run, the chip was still drawn so it was random chance.The first matchup of round one in Pro Stick was James McCool (left qualifying E/T of 9.209) versus Trevor Thome (right qualifying E/T of 9.890) in a battle of Fox Body Mustangs. McCool cut a quick light with a .099 reaction time (R/T) but Thome stayed close with a .128 R/T. It was a tight race at mid track with a slight edge in McCool’s favor.By the 1,000-foot mark McCool had pulled ahead, and kept his lead to turn on the win light with a 9.620@140.68 run to Thome’s 9.921@135.25 pass. The second matchup of round one saw TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout veterans Dannie Addair (Left 8.864 qualifying E/T) versus Skyler Hardy (8.966 qualifying E/T) facing off, both cars equipped with TREMEC Magnum 6-speed transmissions. Hardy got the jump on Addair at the line with a .166 R/T to Addair’s .369 light. Addair had been experiencing consistency problems during testing and qualifying, so he would need to make his best possible pass to make up the ground against Hardy.Down the track Hardy’s Mustang was on a rail and steadily increased the gap behind Addair. When the scoreboards lit up, it was Hardy with the win light and a fast pass of 8.87@157.23 to Addair’s 9.28@131.64 pass. During qualifying, Mike Niehaus (left 8.726 qualifying E/T) lost a turbo and most thought he was done for the weekend. But with the help of fellow racer Dannie Addair and the Holley Ford Fest swap meet, a used compatible turbo was found and installed in place of the damaged turbo the night before. With no idea about the used turbo’s health, the big question was would it even survive one pass down the track. But luck threw Niehaus a break, as number one qualifier Torrey Browne (right 8.377 qualifying E/T) left early and tripped the red light, giving Niehaus the free pass to the semi-finals with an easy (well, for his car!) pass of 9.211@115.The final pairing of round one in Pro Stick was another TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout veteran and past winner Dan Watts (left 9.087 qualifying E/T) versus Adam Cox (right 9.451 qualifying E/T). Cox was first off the line with a .170 R/T to Watts’ .261 R/T. Cox’s car had problems at track, allowing Watts to easily pull ahead and take the win light with a 9.048@157.63 run that had him dangerously close to breaking out under the new one-tenth-faster rule. In the Street Stick class of the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout it was Roland Appleton (right 10.806 qualifying E/T) against Chad Hughes (left 12.052 qualifying E/T). Hughes was caught sleeping at the line, cutting a .462 R/T to Appleton’s .149 light. Already at a 1.5-second disadvantage based on qualifying times, Hughes was going to need everything his car had plus some luck to get the win light.Unfortunately for Hughes luck didn’t throw him a break, with Appleton running just inside the one-tenth breakout and posting a 10.748@114.58 winning pass to Hughes’ 12.268@116.57 run. Next up in Street Stick was slowest qualifier David Garcia (left 12.417 qualifying E/T) against Street Stick number one qualifier Matt Fint (10.167 qualifying E/T). With a two-second disadvantage, Garcia was going to need a big break to give the crowd its first surprise of TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout eliminations.While Hughes ran his best pass and broke out running more than a tenth faster than his qualifying E/T with a 12.293@121.18 pass, Fint beat him to the line anyway with room to spare running a 10.456@107.10 to get a spot in the semis of Street Stick. The final pair of Street Stick in round one was Chris Rusch (10.249 qualifying E/T) against Spencer Barber (10.351 qualifying E/T) with Fox Body versus S550 Mustangs in a one-tenth difference matchup. It was close off the line, with Barber cutting a .199 R/T to Rusch’s .234 R/T. It was a tight race in the first 660 feet. Past the halfway mark, Rusch’s faster car started pulling ahead, crossing the beams first to get the win light with a 10.416@141.67 pass to Barber’s 10.764@132.54 run. Round two of the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout at the Holley Ford Fest started with Pro Stick class. The random chip draw for the semis pitting James McCool (left) against Skyler Hardy (right) with three tenths of a second between the two cars based on qualifying E/T. McCool took the advantage off the line with a .165 R/T to Hardy’s .277 light. But Hardy was quick out of the gate and his Mustang hooked perfectly and looked to be on another perfect pass while McCool had issues.While the miles-per-hour was close, Hardy’s car ran flawlessly and posted an 8.899@147.18 winning pass against McCool’s 9.735@143.00 and getting Hardy a spot in the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout Pro Stick Final. The other semi-final matchup was Mike Niehaus with his swap-meet-turbo repaired Mustang against Dan Watts and his supercharged 2003 Cobra. Everyone was still wondering how many passes Niehaus’ swap meet turbo had in it while Watts’ Mustang had been running solid. Niehaus got the advantage on the tree with a .183 light to Watts’ .278 reaction time. Watts gave it everything his 2003 Mustang Cobra had but at the top end it was Niehaus who got the win light posting an 8.742@142.00 to Watts’ 9.184@157.25 pass. It would be a battle of the Fox Body Mustangs in the Pro Stick final.For the first semi of TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout Street Stick, Matt Fint put on a wheelstand show for the spectators as he was first off the line with a .123 R/T and carried the wheels to the 60-foot mark while Roland Appleton left with a .216 R/T to try and reel in Fint and pull off the upset with some luck.At the top end Appleton put up a fantastic pass but also broke out of his qualifying E/T by .15-seconds with a 10.654@127.17 pass. But it didn’t matter because Fint crossed the top end first with a 10.299@117.71 run for his spot in the Street Stick finals.Chris Rusch ended up with the bye run in the semis for an assured spot in the final, but it wasn’t without some drama. Something went awry on the line and Rusch left early, tripping the red light. Since it was a bye run there wasn’t anything in the rules regarding a bye run DQ, so it didn’t keep him from his finals matchup against Matt Fint that pitted the Street Stick top two qualifiers against each other.The Street Stick finals went first in the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout at the Holley Ford Fest. Number one qualifier Matt Fint had another impressive wheel stand with an .184 R/T but Rusch was right behind him with a .222 R/T. Rusch’s car had more mile-per-hour in it than Fint’s 1998 Cobra but Fint was almost a tenth faster on the E/T side of the equation.It was an exciting race down the track, but it was Fint who crossed the beams first while dancing dangerously close to the one-tenth-breakout rule with a 10.093@132.54 pass against Rusch’s 10.375@140.39 sprint with some smoke through the top end. With some great wheelstands and fast passes Matt Fint takes home the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout Street Stick title, with a $1,000 check and a new McLeod Racing clutch kit.For the final in Pro Stick, it was the four-eye Fox Mustang of Mike Niehaus and its living-on-a-prayer swap meet turbo against Skyler Hardy’s running-on-a-rail every pass 1992 Fox Body. Both cars were equipped with TREMEC Magnum 6-speeds. If Niehaus’ turbo held up, Hardy knew he’d have to cut a great light off the line, run the best pass he could and hope for some luck. Hardy launched first with a .107 R/T while Niehaus got out of the hole with a .210 R/T. At the top end the mile-per-hour difference between the two cars was less the one. While Hardy’s Mustang ran another flawless pass, Niehaus’ turbo held up for a solid and winning run of 8.682@159.83 to Hardy’s 8.864@158.89 pass. Mike Niehaus takes home the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout Pro Stick trophy at the 2025 Holley Ford Fest, earning $1,000 for the win and a brand new TREMEC transmission.
