Hancock Takes Radial Vs. The World Win, Nitrous Cars Send Message!

Drag radial racing’s premier class, Radial Versus the World, was at risk of becoming a one-trick pony. Boosted big block cars had claimed the only 4.teen passes and dominated the class in both numbers and performance. Then, in February, Jamie Hancock showed up at Lights Out with a car that actually met promoter Donald “Duck” Long’s call to “bolt a pair of radials on a Pro Mod” (touting the wide-open nature of his brainchild class), though many dismissed the car as more of a sideshow than a competitive car. However, by the time summer rolled around, he’d knocked over two tenths off his ET and had become the first car in history on a radial tire to blast into the 4.0-second range, ripping off a 4.09 at ShadySide Dragway in the sweltering June air.

Anticipation was high as racers filled the pits at No Mercy this past weekend as rumors of radial legend Steve “Stevie Fast” Jackson returning to his roots swirled amidst some nearly-incomprehensible pre-race testing numbers from Keith Berry and Willard Kinzer, among others. Current radial king DeWayne Mills, “THE” Kevin Mullins, Mark Woodruff, Rob Valden, Mark Micke and Steve Crisafulli along with Berry and Kinzer made for a murderers row of turbo badasses, but none of them had what it took to sit atop the qualifying sheet. The top 2 spots would belong to Stevie “Fast” Jackson, who had fitted his sinister grudge Mustang with a pair of radials, and Hancock, with both drivers knocking down 4.10’s at over 180 mph. Of course, the turbo contingent was nipping at their heels with a handful of cars joining the 4.teen club.

Come race day, it was the nitrous cars that played the role of favorite, with Hancock, Jackson, and longtime nitrous stalwart Kyle Huettel stepping up and going several rounds each. Jackson would bow out in round 3 when a resurgent Brad Edwards laid down a nice 4.14 to better Jackson’s 4.16. Huettel also fell to Edwards in a wild semifinal match that saw Huettel’s Camaro nearly take flight at half track, before crossing the centerline. Edwards hoped to pull off the nitrous-car hat trick by taking down Hancock in the finals, but he was denied when he spun the tires at the hit and couldn’t reel in a coasting Hancock, who suffered a nitrous backfire downtrack.

In winning the premier class on radial racing’s biggest stage, Hancock sent a message that nitrous is not dead in Radial vs the World.