Lights Out 9 Radial Tire Racing Coverage From South Georgia

Rob Cossack
•
February 14, 2018
Image header

Brad Edwards has had some issues with his car this weekend loosing the head gasket three times this week on number seven, he has been a 4.13 Friday and a 4.08 Saturday and qualified at twenty first position. He faced off with Norman Bryson in round one of RVW scoring a win and taking the gasket.. They found the issue late last night with a thread insert pulled slightly above the deck surface so it was holding the head from clamping properly and were buttoning the engine back up this morning prepping for round two.

The Lights Out 9 No Escape Radial Vs the World class unbelievably wound up just where some predicted in the final round with the Stevie Fast and Steve Jackson Racing/KTR crew and Keith Haney Racing’s Enigma meeting up for a rematch. Jackson played the gap band on Haney in Q3. The cars were nearly matched in ET through three rounds of racing in facing various opponents, with Haney facing a tough match with Paolo Giust in the semifinal. He pulled out a .017 reaction to Giust’s .048 and needed it with both cars running hard to the stripe and improving over prior passes. Haney tripped the beam first with a 3.798 at 198.47 earning his way to the final round on a hole-shot over Giust’s 3.787 at 198 flat.
Tim Slavens was the underdog in the semi final fight coming in from nineteenth position, Lester Johnson’s round one red light and a foul/timeout start by number three qualifier Daniel Pharris in round two. He brought his A game in the semi with Jackson with a .037 reaction and 3.838 at 209 swinging hard at the fence but could not get around the 3.786 in the other lane which would earn lane choice against Haney.
The pair staged for the final and it would be Stevie Fast who got away first with a .027 light to Haney’s .081, a margin that would be too much to over come as both cars improved with Haney running a 3.77 at 199.52, his best run of the weekend. Jackson had more in it though getting his way down to a 3.742 at 199.67 to seal the deal earning the No Escape event win after an epic battle on the baddest cars on the planet.
The Pro 275 final pit number one qualifier and No Mercy 8 class champ Josh Klugger against number two man Greg Powrie based out of Michigan. The tree flashed and Powrie struck the tires immediately, putting an end to the match early with Klugger’s record-setting Fiscus Klugger Racing Mustang on route to back to back wins with a 4.21 at 184.
The Outlaw 632 class showed why it has some of the best racing at any DXP event at Lights Out 9. Ken Quartuccio took the number one spot during qualifying and proceeded to smash everyone he faced each round. The other half of the final was X275 star Dean Marinis won only qualified number 15, but was able to pick the field apart on his way to the money round. Quartuccio showed why he is one of the best in the class by leading Marinis wire to wire and picking up the win.
The rumors of X275’s death have been greatly exaggerated, to say the least, with over 50 cars trying to make the 32 car field. With a ladder filled with top-level racers X275 eliminations was a five-round heavyweight boxing match on wheels. In the finals number nine qualifier Shane Heckel lined up against number two qualifier John Keesey. When the tree dropped Heckle took an early lead, but the KBX turbo power of Keesey was just too much for Heckle and he picked up the win.
The debut of the DXP 235 class lived up to its billing as the racers put on a huge show on their tiny tires. The top racers in the class lived in the 5.20 zone all weekend with turbo, blower, nitrous, and all-motor combinations being represented on the track. The final round came down to a number one vs number two match-up between Jason Anderson and Martin Connelley. When the tree dropped number two qualifier Connelley took out Anderson on a huge holeshot to bring home the money, glory, and DXP sword trophy.
Limited 275 would wind up an all blue final with Round Rock, Texas based Mike Terry facing off with Charlie Johnson from Grand Ridge, Florida. It would be Terry who made the full trip to the finish line scoring a 4.632 at 151 with Johnson losing traction in an effort to run with the faster more consistent Terry.
The Ultra Street class faced some attrition with multiple cars also entered in Limited 275 with number one qualifier Alex Hays out after eating a valve in round one on his earned single. Brian Keep would go red against Rodney Regan, (near lane) a hard loss for him after running a 4.74 to Regan’s 4.82. Bart Tobener earned his way to the final from eighth spot and put up a .027 reaction but wheelied and slowed to a 4.81 to Regan’s winning 4.73 at 149.
Limited Drag Radial Champion Shane Stack faced off with Princeton, West Virginia’s Terry Parks in a turbo vs Procharger battle with number two qualifier Stack earning the starting line advantage, a .056 to .062 for Parks who faced an uphill battle against the higher qualified car. Stack would put up a repeat of his semi final run 4.17 as Parks faltered and struck the tires early in the run. Stack took back to back class wins and is set to defend his LDR championship for 2018.
Six Oh Index was filled with tough competitors and faced six rounds of racing with Bankston, Alabama’s Hunter Burgess facing off with Dennis Smith based out of the carpet capital Dalton, Georgia in a Chevy vs Mopar final. Smith went .006 on the tree to take the early lead and kept it to the stripe in a double break out match taking the loss to Burgess’ 1966 Chevelle with his winning 5.988.
Open Comp also faced six round of grueling racing with Ken Grant taking the win in an all Nova battle with Joe Soucea Jr.

James Goad has been making progress with his new car “Deez Nuts” as his team gets more hits at the track. Goad’s tuner Travis Quillen told us they are just trying to get data on the new setup and have seen a lot of progress so far. Last night Goad drove the Camaro to an early shutoff pass with a 1.10 60 foot on an extremely soft tune. Quillen stated they don’t have any extra pistons or head gaskets so they are just playing it safe with the tune-ups as they keep working with the car.
Kenny Hubbard and his team were working on an early morning gear swap for his nitrous-fed Nova. Hubbard is double entered in both the Outlaw 632 and X275 classes this weekend, as well as tuning on several other cars. He has been one of the few cars to make it down the track the entire week on a regular basis.
Lamar Swindoll Jr. was thrashing on his ProCharged Camaro this morning before racing began. The car pushed a head gasket after a few head bolts became worked free. He overnighted a new set of gaskets and is working on getting the car ready for qualifying today. Overall he has been pleased with the cars performance and expects to move up the qualifying ladder today when racing begins.
Fort Wayne, Indiana based Adam Hodson is running the DXP 235 class with his 1973 Camaro and suffered an engine failure in qualifying breaking the number one connecting rod and ventilating the oil pan. Luckily for the team a spare engine was available back home in Bowling Green and phone class were made to arrange delivery here to south Georgia. Adam has owned the car for nearly twenty years campaigned the last four years as a SBE LS turbo combo at Dragweek running a best of 5.50/8.60 tipping the scales at 3740 pounds and backed by a TH 400 transmission. This weekend it's being fed by a class legal Bullseye S475 turbo. The group has three cars here this week and plenty of crew to assist. “Thanks to Colton and Samatha Coffee for holding us down in the RV and cooking for the crew, we have a good group of guys here helping out, couldn't do this without all the help, I have to thank Lonnie for the spare engine and loaner turbo to race this weekend.” Adam Hodson From left to right in the middle are Kenny Laflower, Adam Hodson and Travis Martin the drivers of the three cars the team brought.
Nick Yarber took the year off in 2017 and is back for 2018 running Limited Drag Radial with a fresh engine by Robert Hughes at Yarber Performance. He is qualified with a 4.29 at 182 with his first full pass this weekend and tuned by Ziff Hudson.
Phil Swales has a new engine recently in the Dirty Bird from HRE topped with a pair of Pro Systems carbs and a single Induction Sulutions fogger. This is the first race with a new trans and converter combo, a two speed 400 trans and Pro Torque converter. He qualified with a 4.74 yesterday. “I have to thank Larry Ensslin for coming over yesterday and going through and re setting my 4 link and Brian Keep and Ken Quartuccio for helping me with the tune up this morning. My son Patrick is the crew chief and his friend Jonathon Howell is also here helping out. I’m hoping to improve on my .74 in the next round.” – Phil Swales.
Manny Buginga faced some issues yesterday and was in the process of putting a spare head on the driver side of the engine this morning. He is currently sitting outside the qualified Radial vs the World class with a 5.77.
Rich Bruder ran well last night with a 4.42 but always looking for more. They were making changes to the Marty Chance billet bolt together converter this morning which is backed by a Proformance transmission.
Terry Parks was the last car down the track last night before things were shut down due to excessive fog. Parks hails from Princeton, West Virginia with his 1972 SS Nova. The car was run for several years on nitrous before switching to Procharger in 2017. Some changes were made in the offseason to the gearing, trans and converter. The Nova is powered by a TKM big Chevy. Parks has three hits on the car since getting here this week running a best of 4.33 last night. His son Dustin is also racing here this weekend in X275 and faced some electrical issues at first and backfired the scoop off the car but managed a 4.68, good for 30th in class so far.
Dan Moore has his Nitrous Outlet sponsored GTO entered in Ultra Street with some internal upgrades to the engine by Ultimate Maching in Wilmington and a new carburetor from DeVane Carburators. Moore is from Delaware and runs at Cecil County on a regular basis. So far he’s run a 5.13 at 132 with a personal best 1.13 60′. The car was built by Moore Quality Fabrication and features assorted lightweight components from Paul Demer at JCR Chassisworks.
Martin Connelley is driving for Eddie McCarty in the car built by Tin Soldier Race Cars about five years ago which is tuned by Connelley and Eric Mitchel. They run local around Kentucky and Ohio on the 235 radial with an 8.2 deck SBF built by BES and fitted with a Robert Lane nitrous fogger system weighing in a 3050 pounds. Eddie and Martin send a big shoutout to Maggie and all the family and friends watching back home in Sayersville.
Ron Rhodes has been fight an issues with the car driving left since last year and moved towards the center on one pass so finally decided to get under the car and look at the chassis. A trip to the local home supply store was in order for some plywood, levels and measuring devices to plot out the suspension finding an issue with the rear end not being square in the car. Being a leaf spring car the fix was more complicated requiring some fabrication and welding but the team got it done scoring a record breaking 4.38 with a nice 1.06 60′. Ron runs Induction Solutions, Devane Carburetors, Ultra Carbon body panels, Micky Thompson tires Optic Armor windows, Calvert and TRZ Suspension components, RPM Transmissions, PTC converters, Santhuff shocks, Ross pistons and VP Racing fuels.
The Laughlin’s purchased their RVW Corvette from Marty Robinson four months ago which had been campaigned previously by Jason Michalak. They tested the car in Denton at Northstar Dragway, making two runs to the gear change before loading up for the day. The car sat in the trailer until the team got here with Frankie Taylor assisting on tuning the car. Alex has been in dragsters and other big tire door cars including campaigning in NHRA Pro Stock for several years with this being his first event driving a radial tire car. “It’s really going about as well as I can ask for. We have Frankie Taylor, “The Madman” tuning , so I’m shifting this car myself, it’s got three speed in it. It doesn’t drive like any of the other cars I’ve been in, it doesn’t feel fast, it’s so smooth, the car doesn’t sashay like the big tire cars do, it’s like nothing I have experienced before. This car just move directly forward, the front end doesn’t come up like I’m used to. It sixty-foots slow but then a second and a half in the runs it’s pulling almost 4g’s and I’m stuck to the back of the seat and I’m having the time of my life,” said Laughlin. Before qualifying Alex had not even made a a full pass in the car and is qualified with a 3.86 at 202 mph in ninth position.
Daniel Pharris is running three classes this weekend, driving the C7 Vette for Andrew Aleppa in Radial vs the World and his own car in two classes, Limited Drag Radial and Pro 275, using the event as a test session to prepare for the 2018 NMCA season in Street Outlaw. He has a new engine from Bennett Racing with Garrett Turbos coming on for the year as a sponsor. His first time racing the car after purchasing it from John Kolivas resulted in an NMCA win at Indy last year. The car is showing improvements already and is tuned by Kolivas and the KBX team. “We qualified with a 4.38 in LDR and in Pro 275 with a 4.36 but are in NMCA legal trim and about four hundred pounds over weight. If we can stay consistent with some 4.30’s we should go some rounds in that deal.” Companies involved with Pharris’ program include Bennett Racing, KBX, Pressurized Solutions, Garrett Turbos, Pro Torque, M&M Transmissions, Mickey Thompson and FuelTech.
Outlaw 10.5 racer Steven Gorman has had a successful weekend so far, scoring a 3.94 at 189 mph running the same boost as he has on the 10.5 tires. Gorman is still learning the radial and suspension to get the car off the line, scoring a 1.03 and 1.04 60′ so far. Steve is tuning the car himself after consulting with the crew along with Mark Menscer providing his expertise with shock settings and spring rates and some phone chats and texts with Keith from Skinny Kid. “We had to make complete changes to the car from 10.5 trim to radials. We are making baby steps and now that we got the car down the track and we see what it takes to keep the front end down we’ll start pouring a little power to it and see if we can go one round at a time … it’s very exciting.”
The DXP 235 class has a lot of action with Adam Hodson losing two engines in spectacular fashion and several wheelstands. Number two qualifier Martin Connelley set a prime example here in the final qualifying session. He was bumped by Jason Anderson who took over top position with a 5.17 at 135 MPH.
The Killin Time Racing team of Jeff Sitton and Steve Jackson led PTC Radial vs the World qualifying with identical ET’s at 3.787 at 198 mph, with Sitton edging out Jackson by virtue of a better mile per hour. The class fought tough track conditions and still managed to get the top half of the field in the three second zone, with Canadain racer Enzo Pecchini at 16 with a 3.98 at 182 in his Procharged Mustang. Shane Novak is doing well in his first time on radials entering the field at 17th before being bumped down to 23rd with a 4.12.
KBX/Precision X275 had 48 cars attempt to qualify, with Ron Rhodes holding on to number one with his 4.38 and Richard Lowery holding the bump spot with a 4.68, making for a nicely bunched field. Coatesville, PA-based John Keesey managed to bump Rich Bruder to third by one thousandth with a 4.424 at 164.
Don Lamana scored a new personal best in Pro 275 with a 4.02, landing third in class for the Pro Fab Performance Southern Speed Racing tuned machine. Josh Klugger is top qualifier in Pro 275 with a 3.98 and backed it up with a 3.99 this afternoon. “We set the record down in Orlando with a 3.97 and ran a .98 here, there is a lot left in the car but now it's time to race smart and see if we can win another race” - Josh Klugger
Radial vs the World round one was a tricky affair with the track playing a large role in winners and losers and many cars not making the trip to the finish line cleanly. Keith Haney and Jeff Shawver were the first pair out with Haney reaching for the sky in the Enigma and Shawver having issues on the line building boost. The Enigma would advance to round two.
Jamie Hancock made a clean 4.34 pass at 162 for his effort earning a win over Jason Collins foul start. Next up was Paolo Guist who scored a 3.84 at 194 to take out Greg Powrie.
Daniel Pharris earned his way past David Wolfe setting low ET with a 3.79 at 214 on the tricky surface while Wolfe laid down his best effort of the week 4.03 at 196. Pharris and Wolfe pictured left. Shane Novak and crew figured his car out scoring a 4.01 at 192 over Steven Gorman's 4.09.

We kicked off the day with Dragzine’s Brian Wagner doing a photo shoot with Shannon Poole on the top end of the track. Last night we made it through five classes of round one qualifying before shutting down about 11:30 PM and resume Q1 with Pro 275 as today’s first class.
Barry Cook (pictured at left) is based near Nashville, TN and is another street car entered in Pro 275 this week. The 1992 Blazer is powered by a 408 cubic inch LS built by Mike Lough Racing and fed by a pair of VS Racing billet 79/78 turbos putting down 1325 RWHP. Cook was experimenting with second gear launches yesterday looking to keep the front end down in the short wheelbase truck and hurt the transmission, which is on it’s way to Dave Klaput at Proformance Transmissions for repairs.
We stopped by Dave Adkins pits this morning to check on his new Jerry Bickel built Camaro and saw T.J. going over the valve adjustment. Adkins is entered in the 29/315 No Time Shootout and made it 60 feet before the tires let go in what were difficult track conditions on Thursday. The car is powered by a fresh Baker Engineering 427 LS and backed by an RPM built transmission and Pro Torque EV1 converter with Holley EFI engine management tuned by BEI.
Tommy Youmans owns this 65 GTO entered in Pro 275 powered by a Kauffman Racing built pure Pontiac engine with their Warp 6 War Chief head combo. Youmans purchased the car as a roller and had several engines in the car before stepping up to this level. The former bracket racer is on the “donut” 275 radial for the first time scoring a 5.0 while testing yesterday.
Orlando, Florida based Fat Daddy Racing’s Matt Schlein has a new wrap and a new name for the “ICY HOT” Mustang and is entered in the small block no time shootout. Last time here he aired it out with a long wheelstand ending his weekend a little early. He has a new engine combo for 2018 but of course it’s all secret … you know how these no time guys can be.
Rutledge, Tennessee based Richard Reagan has a new bullet from Albert Racing Engines using a 5.3 bore space combo and is double entered in Pro 275 and Limited Drag Radial. It's a fresh install with no testing before getting here but he managed a 4.54 on the second attempt. The engine is backed by a Bruno/Lenco drive and Marty Chance converter. Pictured from left to right, Nick Ferguson, tuner, Richard Reagan and Scott Horner.
We caught up with Troy Smith with Top Secret Speed who had his engine on the ground last night putting in a new crank and bearings after losing the number one main from overheating on a run. He is entered in Open Comp with the “Fire in the Hole” Camaro named in a contest on the Top Secret Speed Facebook page. They had a friend who lives near Summit Racing who was kind enough to stop by the facility and pick up a new crank and bearings and bring with him to SGMP to make repairs which were wrapped up about 6:30 this morning. Smith is also involved with the Veterans Adventure Group, a non profit based in Nashville, TN who supports extreme sports teams and has about nineteen Vets here this weekend both on the team and as spectators. The engine was put on the dyno at Dynotune Engineering making 666 horsepower prompting the team to have another naming contest resulting in “Devils Dynamite” for the 454 cubic inch big Chevy. Some of the sponsors that help out are Howards Cams, Wallace Building Supply, Armour Coating, Gina Miller at a Flick of the Wrist who does the apparel and decals and KY Excavation to name a few. Troy Smith, Mike and Harlie McGuire pictured from left to right.
Dean Marinis has some changes inside his BES built big Chevy, a new Edelbrock intake and Speedtech nitrous system a new NCRC converter along with some new parameters in the AMS 2000 which works with the G meter and other sensors on the car for smoother power application taking progressive controllers to the next level. The team got the car back together last week and headed here. He is entered in two classes this weekend with his Mustang, X275 and Outlaw 632.
Brian Keep was doing maintenance to his small block Chevy last Tuesday and discovered two pulled head studs and a cracked block prompting an epic thrash session to prepare a new short block. Brian and Daryl from HRE went to work using three 24 hour sessions prep a new block which was luckily already on hand. They had to reuse the crankshaft due to the spare still being on order but the rest of the parts were in the shop as part of a plan for a spare engine. So now the spare is the “Hanibal” A unit and the B unit awaits shipment of a new crank and block repairs. He is qualified with a 4.80 at 148 in Ultra Street.
Lyle Barnett is running Limited Drag Radial this weekend in Jason Digby’s “Tooth Jerker” and is qualified third with a 4.30 at 184 after one session. Barnett has a new Greg Slack converter in the car since the U.S. Street Nationals with good results so far after looking at the data. “The track has been tricky so we don’t have a real tune-up in it yet but are happy with the performance so far and will be putting some ‘stank’ in it during tonight’s session looking for teens,” said Barnett. “Pooch and Tyler have put together a good rules package which makes some tight racing, Stack is the champion from last year so everyone is kinda’ chasing him but Ray Parson’s is about a tenth ahead of us with that teams new car.”
Mark Rogers is qualified second in Ultra Street with a 4.74 at 147 and a new best 60′ 1.097 in his ’03 Cobra Mustang sporting a 281 inch Mod Motor from HED with a Work Turbochargers 76 MM managed with a Holley EFI. Customs by Bigun did the chassis fabrication and suspension. The car has Proformance Transmission fed by a CDS/Greg Slack converter with Rogers teamed up with Mark and Lyle Barnett who race and pit together.
DXP 235 is debuting here this weekend featuring a resurrection of Florida Real Street rules double reverse piggy backed from Charlie Taylor’s XOS 235 in Ohio. The class is designed as the new entry level class and features limited cast wheel turbos, small superchargers and jet limited nitrous combos and bars nitrous and boost controllers as well. The cars should be in the 5.10-5.20 range. Martin Connelley is the top qualifier so far with a 5.21 at 133 MPH.
Number two qualifier Jason Anderson hails from Fairland, Indiana with a 565 cubic inch Chevy powered 69 Nova running a 5.23 at 134.48 MPH, top for the class so far.
Clarksville, Tennessee based Jason Sisco pulled quite the wheelie in his DXP 235 Monte Carlo scattering his headlights on the track and knocking a chunk out of the racing surface in the ground shaking landing. DXP 235 is another “tire limited” unleashed on the world. How long before the record is a 5.12?? Time will tell.
Tony Alm sits fifth in Limited 275 with a 4.80 at 142 MPH, a clean A to B pass for him.
Jeff Shawver sits on top of the Pro 275 field with a 4.24 at 182 for the Ocala, Florida based racer.
John Keesey sits second in X275 behind Earl Stanley with a 4.50 at 162. Keesey hails from Coatesville, PA.

Round One Qualifying Results

Don Lamana scored a 4.08 while qualifying in Radial vs the World at 189 MPH but required some repairs and welding to the right side steering arm after the run.
Jeff Shawver improved slightly to a 4.23 at 181 on his round two attempt in Pro 275 though was bumped to second by Josh Klugger’s 3.98 at 197.
JR Lazic’s 88 Firebird is all the way from BC, Canada and likes to spit flames. He is fourth in class with a 4.54 at 160 MPH.
Bradenton, Florida’s Bill Gregan scored a new best ET 4.87 at 142 in Ultra Street in the second session landing fourteenth in a tough field of cars here this weekend.
Ron Rhodes placed himself in the records books again scoring a 4.388 at 160.19 putting himself on top of X275. This is the first small block in the class to run 4.30s. Just try to keep up.
Kenny Hubbard ran well landing seventh in X275 after his 4.49 at 160 MPH for the Montgomery, Texas based racer.
Daniel Pharris put Andrew Alepa’s Vette on the pole in RVW, if only for a short time, running a 4.81 at 211 MPH.
Not to be out done Steve Jackson squeaked his way to number one with a 3.804 at 196. The track is coming around now so those times are likely to fall in the final qualifying session Friday.
Taylor Lastor is qualified seventh in RVW but got loose and hit the wall in the opposite lane. It’s doubtful he will return to competition this weekend after the incident.
Troy Smith made it after the engine repairs last night running a 6.34 at 105 in the “Fire in the Hole” 68 Chevy. He sits thirty fourth in Open Comp.
Rich Bruder put the teams blown ’89 Mustang in the second spot in X275, running a 4.42 at 165.
Eric Leeper ran well in the second session of X275 landing sixth in class with a 4.48 at 161 MPH.

Stopping by to catch up with Marion, North Carolina-based David and Tracy Pearson we noticed something just a little different with “Little Evil”, now sporting Vortech sponsorship on the side, with a V30 128 supercharger now feeding the small block Ford through a new Chisled Performance inter-cooler. Other changes include new stopping power from The Brake Man, new wheels, and some upgraded suspension from UPR, along with a fresh paint job from Addison Paint and Body covering the new front end and hood from Shoneck Composites. Total Seal, MBE, Wiseco, UPR, Proformance Transmissions, Billet Atomizer, Big Stuff, The Supercharger Store and First Choice Auto and Performance and a shout out to long time friend and ride along “Mustang” Mike Modeste, a true legend in the sport.
Marty Stinnett is rolling in with some new pieces from Garrett and Jeff Burns Racing Engines with new 98mm turbos and Stage Two heads topping the 470 cubic inch small-block Chevy. Marty was sure the “new look” tucked tire will be copied across the pits come Friday as other racers search for ways to improve traction.
Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada based racer Ian Hill is a first time participant at SGMP this weekend with his “Grey Area” Mustang purchased from Douglas Vanstrom and fitted with 430 cubic inch small block Ford with a 114 MM Precision turbo out front. Hill races in the Ontario Grudge Wars at St. Thomas Raceway Park and will be racing in Limited Drag Radial this week. Hill did some suspension upgrades to the car and has one win in Grudge Wars so far. Vanstrom will be here Friday to assist.
Jack Greene, based out of Knoxville, TN, is the new owner of “The Warbird” formerly campaigned by Jason Harris in PDRA. It’s sporting radials now and entered in the No Time shootout with Jack making his first hits in the car on Wednesday. Mark Micke and Mark Menscer are honorary team members providing assistance as needed. The Greene’s raced the candy gold Nova in LDR previously.From left to right, Arnold and Jack Greene.
We stopped by Team Boddie’s pits and spoke with tuner Patrick Barnhill with PTP after he was adjusting the timing ramps on the Chevy II. Patrick has been in Orlando testing with several teams including Boddie, Andrew Demarco, Jim Bersani, Mark Wells and Charlie Cooper and some other teams preparing for the 2018 season. Boddie put together six street style No Time Team Boddie Racing events last year on the Westcoast and has seven planned for 2018 including Sears Point, Bakersfield and The Strip at Las Vegas. There is a big tire and small tire class as well as a street car class added for this year. Boddie has a Minor Brothers Hemi with twins in the Chevy II and will be focused on getting the car to work better this year, he is entered in the No Time 28/29 Shootout this weekend.
“The Reaper” is sporting a new Procharged engine combo this weekend for it’s race debut. The car was finished out at Travis Quillen’s shop for the fitment and some updates to the car and wiring. He was getting a chassis inspection by NHRA Division 2 official Mike Welles.
Bill Lutz has his former OL 10'5 car here for it's first event in near seven years. We will catch up with Lutz later this morning to check out the updated ride.
Blake Copson is here debuting the family’s new car here this weekend fresh out of Gary Naughton’s shop. The build started as an X275 car and not-so-gradually progressed to a full tilt Radial vs the World build. Father, Joe, and Blake went to Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School about two years ago and Blake did well enough to get the go-ahead to drive. The car features a Pro Line Racing Hemi fed with Garrett turbos backed by a M&M Trans and Pro Torque converter. The team had yet to make a hit when we chatted earlier today. Bucky’s Limited Autobody is responsible for the amazing one off candy Root Beer, flamed out paint scheme.
Kenjo Kelly is here also debuting his new Pro Mod/Radial ride — another racer with no testing prior to getting here. Kelly purchased the car from Chris Owens and now has a Pro Line Racing engine with Josh Ledford on the laptop, and was a McAmis Chassis finished by Dan Parker. Kelly is based out of Lake Jackson, Texas and is also in the new Street Outlaw No Prep Kings series which will start airing on February 27th.
Don Lamana from Pro Fab Performance in New Port Richey, Florida is running Pro 275 this weekend and is sporting some new Precision Gen II 94mm turbos for the event. The Southern Speed Racing-tuned car has run in the low fours in LDR trim and spent some time on the Haltech hub dyno last year troubleshooting a few issues, in part traced to some faulty wiring. Matt LaRue and Troy Fedora did some work in past couple of weeks to remove near one hundred pounds to get to class weight and allow some adjustment to weight placement. Don Lamana at left with Matt LaRue.
Mike Welles NHRA division 2 tech official is on the property this weekend doing chassis certs and tech assistance. “I’m Having fun, I love to see these fast cars, these are cars I don’t normally deal with. I deal with Stockers and Super Stockers and Comp and Alcohol cars on the NHRA side, but to see these blown cars with nitrous and fuel injection and all the different things they come over here and play with, and make them do what they do with the weight they are is just very impressive.”
John Sears reports at least 46 cars in X275 here this week, a good turnout for sure and sure to be an action packed class. NHRA safety inspector Paul Sieli is here assisting with tech in a new safety protocol enacted by Ozzy Moya, new track manager Nelson Hoyos and Donald Long to ensure all racers are in compliance. It's been a long couple of days for the tech team but things are quite a bit more relaxed here Thursday as teams are getting settled in to testing. The increased scrutiny caught more than a few racers by surprise requiring several packages of seat belts to be delivered, these from Racequip via Innovative Racecraft.
The Jokers Wild Corvette Pro Mod is owned by Kenny Kneece out of Eureka, South Carolina and runs outlaw Pro Mods along the east coast. The engine is from Gene Fulton and Kneece is here looking for some of that big money up for grabs. The paint and body is from Midland Paint and Body and he is on radials for the first time this weekend. The crew from left to right is: Kenny Kneece and Scott King with Kenny’s wife Michelle who lines of the car on the line (not shown).
Beef City, Texas based racer Lamar Swindoll has his new car here for it's debut, built from scratch in just eleven months with the chassis by Rick Stevens Race Cars and the rest in house at Swindoll's home.”Gold Dust” was built as a tribute to a car he had years ago that was raced on the street back in the day. Power comes from a Scoggin Dicky Race Shop 572 with an F1X-12 Procharger and APD Blo-Thru carburetor making just at 2,400 horsepower on low boost. The engine is backed by an M&M trans and FTI billet bolt together converter. “It's an all new combination for us with the blow through, I Just kinda wanted something low maintenance to go out here and make some laps. We tested a few laps back home in HMP in Texas so we have some data but you know it's like everybody, the weather has been crappy everywhere. We got a lot of people that help out, my mom and dad, my wife, Rick Stevens, FTI, Scoggin Dicky, Kenny Hubbard with the tuning, my uncles and family, Medina River Ranch, you know without those people we wouldn't be here.” Lamar Swindoll
Bill Lutz has had this Camaro for about twenty five years though the last seven it’s been “sleeping” in the garage. The car was campaigned back in the day in Heavy Street, OL 10.5 and Pro Street with a 615 cubic inch single four barrel combo. When he got sick last year he sold the Pro Mod and drug this car out for a new build. It was stripped down and the chassis was updated. Then fitted with a 477 cubic inch Minor Brothers Hemi with twin Garrett turbos. Plans for the car will be various no time and grudge style events with some limited testing at Darlington last year with good results. The paint and body work was done by Vic’s Body Shop and Crucial Peroformance and will feature a blue stripe on the car once they get back home. “The car is a warrior, it’s been around forever, it’s been down and out like I was and come back to life, that’s why we call it the Phoenix, it’s been resurrected.” Bill Lutz.
We stopped by the RPM Transmission pits to speak with Camren Massengale about the teams new engine combo from BES. It's an Concept Performance LSR block topped with RFD canted valve heads sporting 440 cubic inches topped with a Wilson Intake and Accufab throttle body with the gas routed out by custom step headers and fender exit exhaust. A Holley EFI manages 160 lb Billet Atomizer injectors and a plate nitrous system. So far they are tuning the engine fuel curve and have yet to activate the nitrous. Plans for 2018 include some Ultra Street events and select NMCA events. Camren and Rodney Massengale from, left to right.
Steve Gorman has his OL 10.5 Corvette here for the first time on radials this week. This is the second year for the car after winning the inaugural Mickey Thompson OL 10.5 series with his 481X powered Mustang. “The car is powered by a J&E Automotive built Alan Johnson small block with twins, we have been 3.98 with it, a 1.01 60' so far as a best and will be looking for 3.80's once we get going A to B with the car. I have to thank my crew chief John Vito and Shorty who make it to every event they can, I'd rather not run without them. Jamie Miller has taught me so much, Skinny Kid have always been right there with any help for me, Billet Atomizer, Pro Torque. From Left to right, Rick 'Honk if parts Fall Off' Steinke, Steven Gorman, John Viteo, Tom Tumtumolo aka 'Shorty'.

Round One Qualifying Results

Outlaw 632 racer Joey Smith leaked some fuel after the burnout which caught fire and was quickly addressed by the track staff, Smith was out of the car quickly and uninjured.
Walter Lannigan Jr earned top qualifier after one session in Outlaw 632 running a 4.38 at 159 in the Savannah, Georgia based 53 Corvette.
Paulo Giust was half of the first pair out in Radial vs the World Qualifying with Brad Edwards in the other lane. He scored a 3.99 at 193 on the pass while Edwards spun very early.
Keith Haney made a solid pass but spit sparks most of the way, He is currently top qualifier with a 3.85 at 196 MPH.
We are in round one qualifying of Radial vs the World and Andrew Johnson moved towards the center line in his Chevy Bel Air getting out of shape and got into the wall. The Johnson's are a family team with two cars here this weekend and his father Lester was next to run. He fired his car and drove down the track to be with his son in a unique incident. Andrew was alert and talking with the rescue crew so that is a big relief for all of us after the big hit into the wall.

The tech line has been packed all day here at South Georgia Motorsports Park as racers get ready for testing for Lights Out 9.
Paolo Giust is back at Lights Out 9 with his Radial vs The World Camaro known as “Black Betty”. Giust is waiting on his primary engine to arrive so he can get it dropped in before qualifying. That may seem like a tall task, but Giust said it will take his team less than an hour to get the car running when the engine arrives.
Paul Major is ready to make a comeback in Radial vs The World racing after making some wholesale changes in 2017. “Last year we made the change to a Hemi from a big block Chevy and didn’t race much. We’re still trying to learn about the car and made some great progress last year when we did get out. The nice thing about this event is the killer prep and it allows us to get good data.”
Shane Novak debuted his sleek Camaro recently at Bradenton on slicks in the Pro Mod class. Now he’s tossed some radials on to go after the big money at Lights Out 9. “The car was designed to go from big tires to radials so we wanted to use this event to try them out. We only had to make some adjustments to the shocks and 4-link to get them to work. The car has never ran on little tires so it will be a learning process, but the Proline team is here to help us out as needed.”
Joe Newsham is a standout Outlaw 10.5 racer from the Mid-Atlantic but he decided to bolt on some radials and try his luck at Lights Out 9. “I’ve always wanted to run the car on radials and this is a great event to try them on. I’m using this as a test session to see what I need to do before we come back in March to run the Sweet 16 event.”
Bryan Markiewicz is debuting a brand new car and is ready to take on the Radial vs The World class. “We haven’t made any nits on this car yet so it’s going to be interesting. We just want to go A to B and get data so we can figure the car out more. This event is just for us to learn and get ready for the March race, then we are coming back in October to really open the car up.”
Mark Dykeman plans on running X275 and LDR with his Blue Goose Camaro. The team is going to make some baby passes before they turn the wick way up. “We switched from ProCharger to Vortech for this season and this is the first event with the new blower. The car also has a carbon fiber front end now to remove weight. We also made a lot of chassis changes to the front of the car to make it perform better and shave weight off.”

You might also like
AFCO’s Long Travel Strut Helps Mustang Racers Find Traction On Any Surface

Traction is a critical in a no prep or low prep racing environment. AFCO developed its long travel struts for no prep racers with Mustangs.

Brian Wagner

Recommended Next

Photo Extra: The 2026 Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals

Derek Menholt Scores Pro Mod Victory At 2026 Gatornationals

Ricky Hord Opens 2026 With Gatornationals Victory In Factory Stock Showdown