We are just a little late getting started this morning with the staff scraping the starting line and dragging and spraying the track now. We had some rain overnight which is the reason for the delay in getting things dried out. The run order to start things off is Open Comp, 6.50, 5.70, Ultimate Street, Outlaw 275 vs. 28’s then P.T.C. Radial vs. the World. Stay tuned for updates throughout the day.
Special thanks to our race coverage sponsor Mickey Thompson, check out their great line of wheels and tires at www.mickeythompsontires.com.
Walt Pearce has got the long distance award sewed up as he hails from Washington State in the far reaches of the northwest. He already has 200 runs this year after kicking off his season at the Hangover Nationals in Pheonix, running some assorted races in Florida, ran here during the Mickey Thompson tire testing and staying for the Radial Rumble to race Open Comp. The car is a 32 Chevy powered by a 6 cylinder.Kirk Hatley qualified 6th in Billet Atomizer Ultimate Street running a new 421 SBC from Nelson Competition. So far the 5.27 is the best run and they are still working on the new combo. Atillio DeRosa from AA Performance is seen behind the passsenger door .Johhny Kolivas signed up for Open Comp to make some test hits during the event. I saw one of the crew adjusting the bull horn angle in the pits this morning, as Kolivas has had issues with the car carrying the wheels down track in qualifying. The adjustment works as his run this morning was a 4.36 @ 177 MPH, sure to make car owner Jere Etheridge, John and the crew happy.“Hooky” Lance Hooks from Sloperton, Georgia qualified fourth in Ultimate Street running a fresh 421 from Enderfab racing, Induction Solutions and sporting a new F.A.S.T. fuel injection system this weekend.
We are currently under a rain delay and completed one round of Ultimate Street and Outlaw 275.
Danny Sandere launched hard on his broken bye after Kevin Neal stood it up hard and crashed last night. running a 5.40 @ 132, he will face Marty Stinnett in round two who has lane choice with a 4.74.Terry Elam had low ET and high MPH of round one in Mac Fab Outlaw 275 with a 4.619 @ 161.Tont Johnson and Danny Lowery put together a last man standing for the Outlaw 10.5 class this weekend. Danny Lowery was the fastest man that bought in and qualified number two with a 4.218. There are four cars left in out of ten, Tony Johnson, Charlie Dobin, Rob Wells and Steve Jackson. Pictured from left to right, Tony Johnson, Donald “The Duck” Long and Danny Lowery. Photo courtesy John Fore III.
Well I have sad news to report as the race has been called for rain. There is a front in the area that just isn’t going to allow the race to be wrapped up today.
The schedule this year has switched up a little due to a curfew imposed on the track to be quiet by 11 PM. There will be one more round of qualifying in all the heads up classes starting off at 10 AM with PTC Radial vs. The World, and including two hits for the index classes. Plans are to begin one round of eliminations around 4:45, then followed by index racing with the big wheel races and other special events mixed in this evening.
Special thanks to our race coverage sponsor Mickey Thompson, check out their great line of wheels and tires at www.mickeythompsontires.com.
The new Mickey Thompson 275 Drag Radial was debuted here for public sale Thursday morning and promptly sold out. The success was immediate with several cars running them setting records and personal bests. These will be highly sought with many racers waiting until more are available.Saturday is the biggest day for spectators here at SGMP, to say the house was packed is certainly an understatement.As title sponsor of the premire class at the event PTC was just one of many manufacturers and venders on the midway.This was not an unusual sight today as more than one car put it on the bumper, some came crashing down, while others did their best to pedal it and save the run.
It’s been a hectic day here at SGMP with records broken in several classes, again. We are currently running the Midnight Towing/Baja Cleaners Outlaw 10.5 class. Below are the final qualifying sheets for the heads up classes and ladders with more updates coming later. Thanks for looking.
Kevin Fiscus lowered the Radial record in Radial vs. the World running a 4.323 @ 185. They are still working this out and several cars are hunting to be the first to break into the 4.20’s this weekend.The always dangerous and never scared Steve Jackson struggled on Friday and burned a chamber in the final session. Last night they had both heads off and sent one out for repairs. He came out swinging and jumped up to second with a 4.328 @ 178 today.Chad Opaleski has struggled after the switch from nitrous to an F3-R Procharger. This weekend was looking iffy as well untill today when he ripped off a 1.16 3.02, 4.59 @ 157 this afternoon. Rob Zarconi has come on board to tune the engine late last year.Don Burton became the 315 radial 60′ record holder and the fastest twin F1-R Procharged car with a 1.10 and 4.47 ET in his first outing this year. Everyone is sure there is more coming.Troy Fredrickson put X275 legand on the trailer last night in round one after ripping off a personal best 4.81 @ 174. His previous best was 5.0’s so they are getting it figured out now. He runs a F1-R on a small block chevy built by Fast Forward Race Engines.
We made it through round one of three heads up classes today and split the money in the index classes after stopping at 10 PM to run the big wheel races and the human wheelbarrow competition.
Friday starts qualifying here at the Lights Out III – Radial Rumble with Outlaw 10.5 up first and in the water. Stay tuned all weekend for updates through the day.
Special thanks to our race coverage sponsor Mickey Thompson, check out their great line of wheels and tires at www.mickeythompsontires.com.
Morning Notes
With already well over two hundred cars in the pits some racers were still coming in Friday morning along with a mass of spectators.Robert Coady lost the bottom end in his 377 ci. small block Ford at Bradenton’s X-275 race last weekend and had a mad rush to get things back together. The block was taken to Nelson Competition for machining and sleeves and the rotating assembly from his 430 ci. nitrous engine was put to work. Van at V&M Cylinder Heads did his part to repair the heads and Rob Wells from Ford Speed Racing working late into the night wrapping up the assembly.Jason Michalak normaly runs his 1970 Chevelle in the TT5 class in Texas and made the trip to Georgia along with fellow Texas racer Kyle Hutell. Previously running in the 4.90 range on slicks this is his first time on radials. With a new engine from Taylor Laster and a new transmission it’s back to square one to get things tuned in.
Baja Cleaners/Midnight Towing Outlaw 10.5
Jimmy Marino took the top spot in OL10.5 with a nice 4.28 @ 165. He hails from Palm Beach Gardens and uses a Nelson Competition 738 on Nitrous.
Monte Smith/NOS/ Holley Outlaw Drag Radial
Pelion, South Carolina racer Brian Mcgee set low ET and high MPH in the first session of Outlaw Radial.
Proformance/Steele Fabrication/Avery Enterprises Leaf Spring Shootout
Tommy Kirk put his 72 Camaro on top of the leaf spring class with a record performance 5.02 @ 145.
TCI/TRZ X-275
Dean Marinis laid down a very nice 4.73 @ 151 to earn top qualifier this afternoon.
Precision Turbo/Mac Fab Beadlock Conversions Outlaw 275
Terry Elam set the pace in Mac Fab Outlaw 275 vs 28’s with a 4.63 @ 159 MPH.
Billet Atomizer/Media1 Ultimate Street
Number one in Billet Atomizer Ultimate Street so far goes to Chris Tino with a 5.24 @ 135.99 MPH. Chris drives for car owner Tim Oakes, with “Cheeseburger” on board to handle the tuning.
PTC Radial vs. the World
John Kolivas is driving for Jere Etheridge this weekend and took top spot in PTC Radial vs the World running a 4.46 @ 174.
Round Two Results
The Bruder Brother and Mustang Mike Modeste took the record in X275 with the new F1-X Procharger with a 4.65 @ 151 MPH in the final session grabbing the top spot for Friday’s session of qualifying.Matt Mungall grabbed the small block nitrous record and is sitting in the number two spot with a big shoutout to Induction Solutions nitrous.The leaf spring record was set, then reset twice more in the second qualifying session with Ken Marrow Jr. ripping off a 4.93 @ 149.93 with his supercharged 79 Camaro based out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.There was no shortage of action in the second session as demonstrated here by Ronnie “Danger” Wilson. Multiple cars were hanging the hoops high and far with only a few incidents with the walls and timing cones.This shot is a testament to not being able to be two places at once. The crowd reaction is from Kevin Neal’s insane wheelstand which had him completely off the ground at one point, then sliding on the drivers side tojjust past the 1/8 mile. Thankfully he is uninjured, thanks to The Racing Vids for getting it on film.DeWayne Mills was the lone car in the 4.30’s Friday snagging top qualifier with a 4.38 @ 177 running a 68 Camaro based out of Sand Springs Oklahoma.
Welcome to South Georgia Motorsports Park for Redemption, The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia III. This is the first, big radial race of the 2012 racing season and this weekend will be an exciting one! Stay tuned to DRAGZINE all weekend for the coverage!
Special thanks to our race coverage sponsor Mickey Thompson, check out their great line of wheels and tires at www.mickeythompsontires.com.
The Real Speed Racing Mustang looked good and gets the nod for first picture of the event. Walter Drakeford is fresh of an X275 win at Bradenton last weekend after a string of 4.90’s.Jason Lee rolled in with his fresh wrap sporting Strange Engineering colors.New car and engine for Eric McMillen in the lane to make his first run. He had a problem and lifted early on the pass.Team North racer Scott Bitzer now sports a Procharged combo in his trusty Malibu. He had a nice clean run on this hit.Many cars are now running bumper or fender exit exhaust, we like it cause it’s so much easier to see the flames on a nice tuneup.VP’s own Jason Rueckert is here running his car this weekend in Outlaw Drag Radial.His ride is sporting a new rear housing from TRZ Motorsports.Birthday man Bill Futch and Mel Nelson finish up putting a fresh transmission back in Mel’s ODR Camaro.Steve Jackson has been fighting a fueling issue and running some 330′ hits today trying to get things figured out. He is not unhappy with the half track numbers currently. He has not turned it up early in any runs so the 60′ is off pace.he brought some fuel system parts over to the Mac Fab Performance Beadlocks folks to have some welding done to modify the fuel pickup. Hopefully this will cure the current issue, helping Jackson to keep the heads on for a few runs and keep his foot to the floor for some full passes. Consider this weekend to be the kickoff of the official race to the 4.20 zone.Troy Pirez Sr. is sporting some of the brand new Mickey Thompson 275 radials. He has been fighting a loss of MPH recently but think they have found the issue in the trans pump. We will see tomorrow.
