Now that past weekend's 2010 Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships are in our rearview mirror, there are a couple things about the annual drag race of gun that you might have missed if you weren't there. Unstoppable Max Stopped

K.C. Eusebio proved too much for Sig's Max Michel.

It looked as if Max Michel was going to turn 2010 into a perfect season. Up until this point the captain of the Sig Sauer shooting team had been undefeated, winning all six USPSA Area matches as well as the Steel Challenge Nationals, and was the odds-on favorite to repeat as a World Speed Shooting Champion. But as anyone who is familiar with the Steel Challenge will tell you, the path to the winner's circle requires shooters to get past K.C. Eusebio, himself a two-time champion and widely regarded as the fastest shooter. And it was Eusebio, along with a disastrous run by Michel on the stage Pendulum, who derailed the shooter's quest for an undefeated season. Eusebio walked away with his 3rd World Speed Shooting Championship while Sig's standard bearer finished in fifth place. Glock Pistols Prove To Be Contenders

Dave Sevigny's Glock 17L helped carry him to victory in the Limited division.

Few people would argue against the supremacy of the 1911 platform, whether single stack or a wide body, at the Steel Challenge unless that person is Dave Sevigny. The captain of the Glock shooting team not only managed to finish second in the overall standings shooting a custom-built Glock 17 but also captured the Limited title and, with his second-place finish in the Open Rimfire division, the Steel Master title. Sevigny's performance calls into question the conventional wisdom that the 1911 is the only pistol that's competitive in Piru. It's A Family Affair

Montie Arellano times his son, 9-year-old Jason, during Wednesday's practice.

The Steel Challenge has always been a family-friendly venue with 2010 being no exception. It seems that everywhere you turned there was another family of shooters in the thick of the competition. Ryan Leonard and his father Nick made the trip down from Oregon to compete. The Arellano family and the Saylor family drove down from northern California to compete. Jeff Olhasso, brother of Team Smith & Wesson's David Olhasso, competed. Jec Clark, nephew of Jerry and Kay Miculek, shot the match. Mike Setting competed with his daughters Alicia and Micaela, Todd Crow competed with his daughter Rachel as did Thomas Rodriguez with his daughter Alexis. And Tata Eusebio, father of K.C. Eusebio, shot the match, no doubt giving other shooters a pronounced sense of unease at the thought of having to face yet another Eusebio. Speaking of Juniors, Look Out Because Here They Come

Sarah Irish, one of several juniors competing this year, finished third in the Women's Open Rimfire event.

When K.C. Eusebio won the Steel Challenge at the age of 15, competitors noticed and overlooked the junior shooters at their own competitive peril. This year drove home that point even further as 17-year-old Ryan Leonard, whose shooting speed is known among the Pacific Northwest shooters but not on the national level, surprised everybody with his Open Rimfire division win. Team Smith & Wesson's Molly Smith edged out Teammate Annette Aysen - a highly respected wheelgunner - in the Iron Sight Revolver division. Another 17-year-old, Sarah Irish, placed 3rd in the Lady's Open Rimfire event at her first Steel Challenge. And perhaps most telling of the impact juniors will have in years to come, Janae Sarabia of Team Smith & Wesson finished 3rd overall in the Lady's open division - not bad for a 13-year-old. Of course, Janae does have an unfair advantage being a distant cousin of K.C. Eusebio's and therefore born with a special go-fast gene. Steel Challenge As A Team Sport?

Julie Golob's shooting team racked up 9 titles for Smith & Wesson.

The Steel Challenge is not a team sport but don't tell that to Smith & Wesson which had 13 shooters competing - and winning - at this year's match. Team S&W's Julie Golob, Janae Sarabia, Molly Smith, Rachel Crow, Jerry Miculek, Phil Strader and B.J. Norris all walked away with wins. Only the Limcat sponsored shooters came anywhere near the number of shooters that S&W had on hand. Springfield Armory only had Rob Leatham attending - though I'm not sure you could ever say "it's only Rob" when talking about one of the most dominant figures in the shooting sports. Sig, despite having grown their team in the last couple months, only sent Max Michel. CZ USA had Angus Hobdell on hand along with Sara Drake. And of course Glock was represented by its two shooters, Dave Sevigny and Randi Rogers. Only time will tell if S&W's big wins will encourage other companies to up their presence at events like the Steel Challenge.