Race promoters don’t always put on quarter-mile events for small-tire racers these days, but when they do, they’re certainly entertaining — not to mention history-making — as a number of Outlaw 10.5 runners proved over the weekend at the Import vs Domestic World Cup Finals in Maryland.
With cool, late fall air making record-setting numbers ripe for the picking, the Outlaw 10.5 contingent — competing in the Outlaw vs. Extreme category — took full advantage of the opportunity; but none moreso than class veteran Richard Sexton, who shattered both the eighth-mile and quarter-mile world records with his familiar screw-blown Pontiac GTO. Sexton, from Ijamsville, Md., marched to an unreal, world record-setting 6.08 at 238 mph in qualifying to top Dave Hance’s former record of 6.10, and in the process set the Outlaw 10.5 class on its ear with a run just a few short ticks of the timer away from the five-second zone in legal trim.
Sexton then became the first racer in Outlaw 10.5 history to card an official three-second pass in the eighth-mile, when he put down a 3.99 effort on his march to another incredible quarter-mile pass of 6.11, which also solidified his earlier 6.08 with a proper “backup” run.
With his 6.08, Sexton concluded qualifying second, trailing Victor Flores’ big-tire Lexus. Fellow Outlaw 10.5 racers Harry Jarvis and Joe Newsham joined Sexton in the very low sixes with passes in the teens during qualifying, but it was Newsham who stood tall at the close of the weekend, using a stellar series of runs —including a career-best 6.13 at 235 mph — to emerge victorious in the category.
With his 3.99-second pass, Sexton also earned the long-awaited “First to the 3’s” bonus award, posted by ProTorque.
Video credit: TheRacingVids