Redemption 14 presented by Thompson Motorsports rolled into Ferris, Texas this past weekend for the fourth stop out of six of the Texas No Prep series this year. The Redemption series is known for great racing action with the best no-prep racers locking horns at each stop, but this event they would also be fighting weather, too. Blistering heat would make the track surface at Xtreme Raceway Park even trickier than usual so every competitor would have to be on their toes.

With these difficult conditions, it’s not all about who has the most power, but who can get the power to the ground efficiently without breaking the tires loose. The Redemption rules state no burnouts past the beams, so there is no extra rubber getting added to the track on a burnout.

Because of the searing Texas heat on Friday the drivers meeting was pushed off until later in the afternoon and it was decided to start racing around 8 p.m. to avoid the heat. The Friday night program included Big Tire, Small Tire, 6.0, 7.0, and True Street

Shannon Morgan who promotes the race made a decision to not run the “Run What Ya Brung” Friday night class and instead split the Big Tire cars into two: nitrous cars and blown cars. The winner of these classes will go against each other in the Big Tire Friday Night final to find who reigned supreme.

By making this change I want to give other Nitrous and Blown drivers the chance to come out and battle it out within their own power assisted class and still have a chance to make some money rather than only having a chance at the big pot.- Shannon Morgan

Chris Varni lined up with Clint Downs during Small Tire class action with their run having an interesting conclusion. Varni was paying attention to the win lights over the fast-approaching end of the track and things almost got ugly.

“As I crossed the finish line, I was trying to see who got the win light and I failed to throw the parachute. When I applied the brakes the car decided to lock up and start to hop. I tried to get on and off the brakes three or four times, and the end of the track was coming quick. The last time I went off the end of the track the drop off was huge. I really didn’t want to go off the end, so it was time to go from the left wall and head to the right to put the car into a 180-degree spin to stop it. Although there was a huge chance of flipping, my instinct to spin it around helped it to come to a stop which I was very happy about,” Varni explains. 

Friday’s winners

In True Street, Jeff Speer continued his winning streak by earning a victory against Vincent Rangel as Rangel spun coming off the line and wasn’t able to catch Speer. Eric Stubbs and Brent Self had a great match-up in Small Tire with Stubbs taking the win. Sam Wilburn beat Byron Jordan in the 6.0 class, and Cody Mcclain won against Wendell Dunaway in the 7.0 class. Chuck Parker took the win against David Bird Jones in the All Nitrous Big Tire Class. Fabian Bell won against Charlie Davis when Charlie got loose at around the 60-foot mark and skidded along the wall.

Chuck Parker and Fabian Bell battled it out in the Big Tire final after winning their respective blown and nitrous classes with Chuck Parker taking his first Redemption Big Tire win.

I was worried about that big twin turbo Sonnys Hemi in the finals, but our big Sonnys nitrous Hemi got out on him and there was no catching it. – Chuck Parker

Saturday’s Action

Much like Friday, the heat continued on Saturday and the decision was made to get cars to the lanes later in the evening again. Six classes were scheduled to run on Saturday night including the Truck class, Outlaw True Street, Outlaw Small Tire, 5.80, 6.50, and Outlaw Big Tire.

In the first round of Outlaw Big Tire, Scott Jost in his first-generation Camaro lost control when he was racing Phillip Weaver in his blue GTO. Jost bounced off his wall which sent him slamming into Phillip’s wall after the initial impact. After the crash, Jost exited his car unharmed as the safety equipment did its job in keeping him safe during his wild ride. During the Outlaw Small Tire class final, Cody Jones spun giving the win and the $10,000 prize to Brent Self. 

Billy Rains took the win against Sammy Delgado in the Truck class final earning his $3,000 payday. Outlaw street ace Casey Rance won his final round matchup against Duane Biddle taking home a cool $5,000. After his win Friday night in the 6.0 class, Sam Wilburn won against Byron Jordan in the DaVinci Performance Carburetor 5.80 Class. Ryan Mannis scored the 6.40 class win against Brad Young on Saturday, and “Talulabell” took the win against Austin Hamilton in the Jr Dragster class.

Kayla Morton shook the tires against Jared Winger during the Outlaw Big Tire final, giving Winger the Outlaw Big Tire win and the $10,000 purse. “Tire shake got me and shook the main power switch off. I was a dead fish in the water,” Morton explained.

Even in the Texas heat Redemption 14 was an absolute success, it is always a blast to get together with the fans and the racing family. Redemption will be returning to Evadale Raceway for Redemption 15 in Evadale Texas September 14-15th.