Radial Action: Quartuccio, Barnett, LaSala, LaFerriere, And Coulter Win At Lights Out 17

Radial racing has turned into a February tradition at South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP). The kings and queens of small-tire racing descended on Adel, Georgia, to be part of Lights Out for the 17th time. Mother Nature challenged both the SGMP and Duck X Productions staff, but in the end, champions were crowned.

Lights Out is the second stop on the Radial Outlaws Racing Series (RORS) championship tour for 2026. During the event, the 2025 RORS champions were recognized, and they were all ready to get back on track to mount a title defense this season.

Ken Quartuccio dominated the RORS series in 2025 on his way to a championship, so expectations were high coming into Lights Out. The Scott Tidwell Racing team gave Quartuccio one heck of a car, and tuner Steve Petty had the ProCharged Camaro singing a sweet song all weekend long. The result was a number one qualifying spot, a new radial tire world record, and an event win.

Quartuccio locked down the number one qualifying spot with a 3.49, which was just an appetizer for the meal Petty was cooking up. During the second round of eliminations, Quartuccio dropped another 3.49 on Bubba Greene on his way to the win.

In a huge third-round matchup with Lyle Barnett, Petty and Quartuccio served up the main course. In what became the quickest side-by-side radial race ever, Quartuccio’s Camaro unleashed a 3.436 to Barnett’s 3.496. That win put Quartuccio in the final against Houston Dial, but Dial couldn’t make the call, so Quartuccio took a broke single for the Lights Out 17 win.

The Pro 275 ladder at Lights Out 17 was full of gorillas ready for a fight. Grantley Schloss, the 2025 RORS Pro 275 champion, rolled into race day as the number one qualifier. In the semifinal round, Schloss lined up against Lyle Barnett, and his 3.701 wasn’t enough to overcome Barnett’s 3.652. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ladder, Eddie Harrison had to run defending Lights Out champion Brad Edwards twice after a timing system issue during their first semifinal matchup. Harrison grabbed the victory and moved on to the final round.

In the final, Barnett and Harrison had one heck of a drag race. Harrison’s 3.648 was his best run of the weekend, but Barnett laid down a record-setting 3.600 to take the Pro 275 win at Lights Out 17.

The most diverse class in the RORS is Limited Drag Radial (LDR), and it always produces great racing at every event. Tommy Youmans set the LDR record with a 3.793 to go number one, but he fell in the first round to class newcomer Jimmy Dale. It looked like Jimmy Dale was on track to be the Cinderella story of Lights Out, but then he ran into Brett LaSala and the Snot Rocket 3.0 in the semifinal round, where LaSala picked up a close win.

On the other side of the ladder, former LDR champion and class kingpin Shane Stack smashed his way through some tough rounds of racing, including 2025 LDR champion Jamie Handcock. In the final round, LaSala turned on the win light in Snot Rocket and picked up his first RORS victory.

There are no easy round wins in X275, and that proved true once again at Lights Out 17. Ian Hill went into eliminations as the number one qualifier but fell in the second round to Ducky Johnson. In the semifinal round, Johnson ran into the Toyota buzzsaw known as White Rice, driven by Eric LaFerriere, and was sent packing.

Meanwhile, number 14 qualifier Davey Hull was pulling off a string of upsets. Hull made his way to the semifinal round, where he lined up against 2025 RORS X275 champion DJ McCain. Hull stamped his ticket to the final after McCain encountered issues. In the final, LaFerriere and White Rice proved to be too much for Hull, running a 4.069 to Hull’s 4.132.

The Ultra Street racers kept things interesting during eliminations at Lights Out 17. Ronny Rhodes was the number one qualifier and was slicing through the field until he ran into 2025 RORS Ultra Street champion Jessie Coulter, who sent Rhodes home.

Number 22 qualifier Rodney Ragan was pulling off major upsets on the other side of the ladder and made his way to the semifinal, where he met Steve Romeo. Ragan defeated Romeo with a huge holeshot to move on to the final round. In the final, Coulter’s 4.466 out-muscled Ragan’s 4.471 to pick up the Ultra Street win at Lights Out 17.

Cameron Kardules won the 6.00 index class. Ken Grant was crowned the Open Comp champion at Lights Out 17. Troy Pirez Jr. picked up the win in Wicket Gangster. Anthony Masiello brought home the victory in No Time 275. The Warden won All Steel All Glass. Chris Cadotto finished the weekend as the No Time Pro Truck class champion.