Three-Second Home Run Derby On Radials At The Sweet 16!

If you had any questions about the hype around Donald Long’s Sweet 16 event at South Georgia Motorsports Park they were answered quickly during qualifying on Thursday night. The first sessions felt like the racers were feeling out their opponent in a boxing match, and then they started throwing the haymakers at the track when the time was right. In the span of just three passes, the radial record book was re-written multiple times by the biggest names in heads-up racing.

The first racer up to bat in the Radial vs The World home derby was DeWayne Mills, driver of the Golden Gorilla Camaro. With what looked like a nearly effortless pass he became the first on radial tires to run in the three-second zone with a blistering 3.696 at over 212 MPH. Just like that, the perception of what could be done on a radial tire changed forever, but this was just the beginning.

 

Next up to bat was Steve Jackson behind the wheel of The Shadow. Leading up to this session Jackson had been eluding to the fact they had big numbers in the car, and the team would hang the rods out if needed to move to the front. Jackson is a man of his word and ripped off a 3.686 at 202 MPH to snatch the new record from Mills.

The final at-bat in the three-second radial home run derby was given to Mark Micke, the pilot of Jason Carter’s 1978 Malibu. This team had shown earlier in the year they had the power to run in the low 3.60s with their 215mph pass at Bradenton Motorsports Park. As the world watched Micke knocked the ball out of the park with a 3.677 at over 221 MPH. After the pass, Micke stated the car has more left in it and if the weather is there it will run a low 3.60.

During Micke’s pass, you see Frank Soldridge experience a terrifying crash where his Mustang made hard contact with the wall and began a series of violent barrel rolls.  We can report that Soldridge is fine but does have a few injuries, we wish him the best in his recovery.

Check out the full video from Free Life Films that captures all three of these amazing passes.

You can see all the coverage and action at the Sweet 16 RIGHT HERE on Dragzine!

About the author

Brian Wagner

Spending his childhood at different race tracks around Ohio with his family’s 1967 Nova, Brian developed a true love for drag racing. Brian enjoys anything loud, fast, and fun.
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