The Ronnie Buff Memorial honors the founder of Shadyside Dragway, Ronnie Buff. This race has changed formats thanks to the help of Corey Stamper, and now it features tons of great heads up drag racing. The eighth edition of this event was the biggest yet, with sell-out crowds and a facility filled to the gills with racers.

How full was Shadyside Dragway during the Ronnie Buff Memorial? Well, it was announced early in the weekend that the pits were at capacity for racers. Then, when the event really got rolling on Saturday, the entire facility was at capacity and the Fire Marshell nearly had to shut everything down. This provided an amazing atmosphere for racing, and the fans got one heck of a show.

One of the feature classes at the Ronnie Buff Memorial was Lil Gangstas. There were three different Lil Gangstas races held during the Ronnie Buff Memorial, one on each day. Friday saw Lyle Barnett pick up the win. On Saturday, Tom Gunner and Jarrett Bradshaw split in the finals due to the weather. Craig Wilson was able to bring home a victory on Sunday.

The main event for the Ronnie Buff Memorial was the King Of The South invitational that paid $75,000 to win. This 64-car invitational shootout featured some of the fastest racers on a 28×10.5 slick. Radial stars like Brad Edwards and Bill Lutz were on the property, along with no prep kingpins Ryan Martin and Kye Kelley. It was an absolutely stacked field of racers, and there wasn’t a single easy round of racing.

After six rounds of intense racing, only two drivers remained, Larry Larson and Lyle Barnett. The final round was an absolute battle with Larson nudging out Barnett by just .004-seconds at the stripe. It was an emotional win for Larson since it had been a while since he visited the winner’s circle, and he made it into the field as an alternate.

Make sure you check out Kaitlyn Ward’s photos in the gallery from this event. There are a lot of great shots that really tell the story of what went down at the Ronnie Buff Memorial.