The 16 qualifiers that will vie for the record $101,000 payday in today’s inaugural Sweet 16.Stephanie Long with the winner-take-all prize … in cold, hard cash.DeWayne Mills uncorked a career-best elapsed time — low for the round — in a defeat of Alex Laughlin to open eliminations, 3.663 to 3.779.
(Left) Low qualifier Mark Micke overcame a stellar .002 reaction time from young-gun Ty Tutterow in their opening round match, sailing to a clean 3.74 at 219 mph to Tutterow's 3.84. (Right) Jamie Hancock continues to impress with his nitrous oxide-assisted Camaro, defeating Marty Stinnett in the best race of the round; Stinnett carried .009 out of the gate but didn't have enough steam up top, with his career-best 3.748 coming up just short of a 3.722. Ever the entertainer, Donald Long was in character this morning as he and announcer Brian Lohnes discussed the opening round of eliminations — and the historic numbers that his event produced. Long noted this morning, “I knew the cars would be fast if we could get some decent weather, but I didn’t think we’d see low sixties.”
Keith Haney has worked his way into the late rounds yet again, carding a 3.78 in round two to dispose of an-out-shape Daniel Pharris.Steve Jackson will not repeat his Lights Out 9 Radial vs The World crown, as he fouled out in a titanic round two match with DeWayne Mills. Mills was there for the taking, as he struck the tires early, and not realizing he’d already won, frantically gathered it back up for a 5.10-second victory. Mills will meet Haney in the final four – Haney with lane choice.Jamie Hancock’s career weekend came to an end in the second round when his nitrous-assited powerplant expired at the stripe, allowing Paolo Giust to stay out front by a matter of inches inches; the two were separated by just .001-seconds at the tree, with the final numbers 3.763 to 3.768 – Hancock some 12 mph off-pace.Mark Micke advanced on Tim Slavens’ red-light. Micke carded low elapsed time of the round at 3.732, and will meet Guist in the semifinals.
Eliminations Round Two Results
Paolo Giust (left) enjoyed a stellar weekend behind the wheel, setting a new career-best in qualifying and motoring to a semifinal appearance, but his 3.82 was no match for the Mark Micke buzzsaw, as the Missourian clocked another consistent 3.75 to punch his ticket into the $101,000 final round. Following an epic thrash to repair damage to the torque converter – which Donald Long and the track staff graciously allowed an extra half-hour of time to complete — Keith Haney fouled out by the slimmest of margins, just .002-seconds, in his semifinal match with DeWayne Mills. Mills, with a an .041 light and a 3.734, would have been unbeatable with Haney’s 3.790-secon elapsed time.
Donald Long with the $101,000 in cash strapped to his wrist before the big final.
In what was a weekend dreams are made of, Mark Micke powered away from a slowing DeWayne Mills in the richest, most anticipated radial-tire finale in history, going 3.72 to a 4.07 to collect the $101,000 prize and the bragging rights. In all, Micke reset the world record three times, qualified number one, and was never headed in eliminations -- the only stat keeping him from running the table end-to-end being low elapsed time of raceday, which went to Mills. The first three members of the Radial vs The World 3.60 club — DeWayne Mills, Steve Jackson, and Mark Micke — all sat down with promoter Donald Long last evening for a unique interview session on the live pay-per-view feed to discuss their pursuit of the magical “sixty” and this weekend’s $101,000 prize.
Marty Stinnett and crew are continuing to thrash to piece their world-beating Mustang back together after a brush with the all yesterday afternoon. Last evening and overnight, the team repaired the missing/damaged fiberglass on the door and nose, while acquiring parts to repair the turbocharger system, which was pushed inward on itself when the bullhorn exhaust pipe impacted the wall, bending the tubing and flanges. The crew noted, "we're going down the track today one way or the other." Scotty Cannon and racing partner Alan Pittman currently sit 14th in the qualifying order with a 3.83 best from their supercharged Pontiac Firebird.The general consensus in the pit area is that it will take a high 3.70 to make the 16-car field, meaning the “Husband-In-Law” crew will be one of many teams needing to improve on what should be a very fast day of qualifying.Joe Newsham is well outside the field at 29th with his traditional Outlaw 10.5 Camaro with a 5.48 recorded early in qualifying yesterday. Newsham has the transmission and converter out of the car this morning in preparation for today’s qualifying.Alex Laughlin and tuner Frankie Taylor hold down the provisional bump spot with a 3.86. Laughlin said priority number one is getting away from that spot, commenting, “and not in the wrong direction, to 17th.” Taylor, who says the radial allows him to get far more aggressive than his PDRA Pro Extreme car, believed it will take around a 3.78 to make the show at today’s conclusion.
Jeff Naiser uncorked the quickest nitrous Radial vs The World pass in history last evening with a 3.726, to slide into fourth in the order. Naiser, Kenny Hubbard, and the NRC team were busy this morning checking over the giant slugs in the engine for any damage before pressing the car back into action in round four qualifying this morning. Naiser is confident the car has the power to go into the 60s today. To the routine maintenance, Naiser added, "we've got to make sure eveything is good...we're here to win 100-grand, man."
Toronto, Ontario's Frank Pompilio is trying his hand at radial tire racing for the first time this weekend with his gorgeous Outlaw 10.5 car, which has been as quick as 3.99 on slicks previously. Pompilio noted, "we're having trouble keeping the front end on the ground," adding, "the car had never been on radials until four days ago. We went to Bradenton and make a couple of sixty-foot hits and then came here." Pompilio added he may run some additional radial events this season, depending on how their experiment goes.
Think these two are having fun with the Sweet Sixteen? Yesterday, Lee Sebring and Brian Lohnes came as Harry and Lloyd from the comedy "Dumb and Dumber", and today are throwing it back to the olden days of ABC Sports broadcasters in their yellow suitcoats and tie. What will tomorrow bring for the purveyors of the microphone? Daniel Pharris and team owner Andrew Alepa are still moored in the bottom half of the field with their 3.794 from yesterday, good for 12th in the order.The Mad Man, Frankie Taylor sent Alex Laughlin comfortably into the show in the fourth session with a 3.766, good for eighth in the provisional field.Alan Pittman now resides on the bump spot at an incredible 3.839-seconds. Six other cars, including Frank Soldridge who is out of competition, have run in the three-second range thus far who are outside the show. Such hitters as Mark Woodruff, Bill Lutz, and Enzo Pecchini are among those currently on the outside.
The Mystery Men Driver Ty Tutterow and new car owner Grant Tuttle debuted the former Barry Mitchell-owned and driven, Tim McAmis Race Cars-built Camaro at this, the richest radial-tire racer in history…and they did so in secret, keeping things low-key while having a little fun with their mysterious status. Tuttle, a West coast A/Gas nostalgia racer, jumped at the opportunity to purchase the highly-competitive car from Mitchell last season, and in the process was able to retain the services of renowned tuner Todd Tutterow and son, Ty, already an accomplished driver in the PDRA Pro Boost ranks. While currently in the field, the team sits dangerously close to the bump spot with their 14th-best 3.81. Tuttle shared the team is fighting gremlins that have yet to allow the car to repeat the record-breaking performance it showed under Mitchells’ guidance.
Tuttle has a Chevrolet Nova Radial vs The World car currently under construction at Mickey’s Chassisworks, but due to the extended timeframe, opted to purchase the Camaro in the interim. He’ll jump behind the wheel of the car in the coming weeks, and will then press the Nova into duty once complete.
“It was taking too long to build the car, so I chose to go ahead and buy a race-winning car. I live in California, so Ty and Todd will operate this car out of their shop in North Carolina and we’ll run some races out in their area this season. Eventually I’ll be driving … I’ve never been in anything this fast, so once I get comfortable in it, then I’ll be in the seat. I don’t want to make an ass out of myself out here and do anything stupid.”
Tim Slavens stepped up to a career-best 3.732 this morning to jump into the top half of the show in seventh. To that his crew said they were “happier than a pig in mud.”Mark Micke put together a stout 3.70 in this morning’s qualifying, backing up his 3.67 from last night with a little additional heat in the track. His run was second only to DeWayne Mills, who clocked a nearly-identical lap to his barrier-breaking 3.69 from last night.
Marty Stinnett is all smiles after returning from yesterday's shot to the guardrail, caused by a broken steering linkage, to punch his way into the quickest Radial vs The World field in history with a 3.758, good for 12th with one session remaining. Every collective jaw on the property hit the pavement this evening when Mark Micke uncorked a stunning 3.641 at 220 mph to re-take the provisional pole with authority. With one session remaining, potentially the best session yet, others will be gunning for Micke under the lights.Jeff Sitton joined teammate Steve Jackson and three others in the 3.60s this evening with a stellar 3.687 at 201 mph to slide in fourth in the order.Jamie Hancock and Jeff Naiser have been trading jabs all throughout qualifying for the nitrous oxide radial tire record; Hancock stole it back in the eighth of nine sessions this evening with a stout 3.722 at 198.96, good for sixth on the sheet. Hancock is one of five nitrous cars presently in the show, which is anchored with an incredible 3.772 from Norman Bryson.Team owner Andrew Alepa was the happiest man on the property after Daniel Pharris powered his C7 Corvette to a stunning 3.642 in the final round of qualifying to jump up to second in the raceday field.
In what may have been one of the single most anticipated runs in years, if not decades, given the prime conditions for historic performance, it was Mark Micke who silenced Stevie Jackson with a mind-numbing 3.623 to rest his own world record and stamp his name atop the Sweet Sixteen ladder for raceday. Jackson, his usual animated and charismatic self in the staging lanes prior to their matchup -- even making a friendly wager on the run, in grudge fashion -- didn't shake Micke, who noted before buckling he was simply "going to give it a try" when asked if he could shock the world one more time. While the event is long from over, the world record now stands nearly one full tenth of a second head of where it was just two days ago. We’ve certainly seen a lifetime worth of cool things at this inaugural Sweet Sixteen, but Georgia’s own Ed Haddock had provided one of the stars of the show in his Chevrolet C10 pickup that carried the left front wheel the entire length of the eighth-mile on every run on its way to laps in the 4.3-second range.
Final Qualifying Order
Outlww 632 regular and Lights Out 9 champion Ken Quartuccio aimed his Camaro for the sky in the second session of qualifying today, bouncing the nose skyward twice before wisely shutting it down.
Leroy Nabors, Jr. (left) holds down the bump spot after two rounds with a 3.919 in his new supercharged C7 Corvette. Keith Haney (right) who runnered-up to Jackson at Lights Out 9, currently sits seventh at 3.791 -- one of three nitrous cars inside the top eight. Texas runner Jeff Naiser clocked what was unquestionably one of the finest passes in the history of Radial vs The World in the second session of qualifying, going 3.73 at just 193 mph, after throwing the parachutes around 600-foot mark and scrubbing some elapsed time. Might this be the first radial car into the 3.60s this weekend?
Lights Out 9 champ Steve Jackson and tuner Phil Shuler come into the Sweet 16 as the definitive favorites for the record $101,000 prize -- they're also the frontrunners for the bounty being offered for the first sub-3.70 run. Jackson blasted to the provisional pole in the second session with a stout 3.72 at 200, and the word on the street is he and Shuler are throwing the kitchen sink at it this evening to try punching into the sixties.
Marty Stinnett had an unfortunate excursion with the guardrail in the opening session of qualifying this afternoon when his small-block Mustang drifted astray near the finish stripe. The impact caused plenty of superficial damage to the exterior of the car, but also bent some of the tubing for the turbocharger system beyond repair, forcing the team to seek replacement parts to button the car back up for tomorrow's qualifying.
Oklahoma's DeWayne Mills made history this evening by recording the first 3.6-second pass in Radial vs The World history, storming to a 3.69 in his Pro Line-powered, twin-turbo Golden Gorilla. While he just missed being the first by a couple of pairs, Steve Jackson stunned an already jaw-dropped crowd here at South Georgia Motorsports Park when he followed Mills’ 3.69 with an even quicker 3.68 to re-take the provisional pole.Alex Laughlin presently holds down the bump spot in a historically-fast 16-car field at 3.869. Laughlin damaged a seal on the intake manifold on his second qualifier, forcing the team to sit out the third session. Laughlin said the team plans to make as many runs as it takes to punch into the show tomorrow and gain valuable data for eliminations. Laughlin’s spot will be hotly-contested in the morning session tomorrow, with four cars behind him in the three-second range and a handful of others more than capable of making the show.
Mark Micke Stuns With Quickest, Fastest Radial Pass In History
Following two incredible 3.6-second runs by DeWayne Mills and Steve Jackson early in tonight’s third session of qualifying — led by Mills’ first-to-the-sixties 3.69 — nothing truly seemed impossible. With some of the finest track and atmospheric conditions (the adjusted altitude was measured around 275-feet above seal level) the Radial vs The World contingent has ever encountered at their disposal, the session allowed the sport’s elite teams to tee-off in pursuit of radial tire infamy, and while Mark Micke and car owner Jason Carter missed out on the opportunity to be the first, their 3.677-second lap at an otherworldly 221.20 mph was the shot everyone is talking about.
For Micke and Carter, the stunning, world record pass is the culmination of years of work, and something they knew they and their iconic twin-turbocharged Malibu were capable of. Micke had opened the season at the U.S. Street Nationals in Bradenton, Florida with a career-best 3.72. The pair hoped to parlay that performance into success at Lights Out 9 last month, but never quite got a handle on the track and combination, but they had no such troubles on this day.
“We were kind of going for that. We saw DeWayne went the .69 and thought ‘alright, it’s there,’ and then Stevie went .68, and we knew this was our shot. We loaded it up pretty heavy and said ‘hell, let’s go for it, man.’
httpv://youtu.be/J63nx9rDlNw
“I told Jason, ‘we’ve gotta’ hurry up there, but it is what it is, I’m happy for DeWayne…he’s a good customer and a good friend, and it’s just badass that you see a .68, a .68, and then a .67. Stevie was down there high-fiving. We’re all happy for each other, we want to kick the shit out of each other on the track, but after that, we’re all friends.”
Micke’s pole-grabbing pass was temporarily overshadowed by Frank Soldridge, who crashed at the finish stripe in the lane opposite to him, barrel-rolling to a stop following a violent impact with the guardrail. Soldridge was transported by ambulance to a local hospital with a possible broken arm, but was otherwise awake and alert and was quickly out of his battered Mustang.
The 3.72 at Bradenton gave Micke and Carter confidence in their program, sharing it was simply a matter of putting their early numbers together with the back-half to make it happen.
“We knew what we were doing on sixty-foots and everything, what we’ve done previously on sixty and 330-foot numbers, and in Bradenton we were off there — we were slow. So we kind of knew it was there, if we could just put the front and back together. But could we do it? We weren’t sure. It’s one of those deals. The track is just insane here, and the air is great. The air was 275-feet on that run…it’s just insanity.
“We were really bummed because we came here for Lights Out 9, and the circumstances with the track prep and the weather, and we had a mechanical issue, and we were really just pissed when we left. We wanted to run like this then. It was a big let-down, but that’s drag racing…you’re a hero to a zero in a matter of seconds. Bu it was a good run…all of the guys that support us, that’s the big deal.”
Despite the number, Micke doesn’t believe it will hold for the number one spot, with even better conditions possible in tomorrow morning’s fourth session, slated for 10 a.m.
“It will hold until tomorrow morning, or maybe tomorrow night. We looked at the data, and if we can get this weather tomorrow night, I think we can go a 3.62 or .63. There’s tons left on the table. It only went .995 to sixty-feet…we can go .975 with this car. It went 2.53 to 330, and we’ve been 2.50-flat, last year. On this car, every number I get to the 330, it shows me a hundredth and a half out the back.”
Micke had been 215 mph previously, adding the 221 was a bit of a surprise on the scoreboard. “It went a 1.141 back-split, which is the fastest split we’ve ever been. We’d been 1.149 before, and that was on the 215 run. People can say what they want about it, but you know what, it’s on the scoreboard and it’s on the timeslip, so it went 221….I’m sorry. If people don’t want to believe it, that’s not my problem.”
While he didn’t rule out another ‘hero’ pass during tomorrow’s five scheduled sessions, Micke and Carter intend to shift their focus to race-mode and the pursuit of the $101,000, winner-take-all payday. “I think that was my hero run. We’ll probably change focus. I want to win…I wanted my sixty and I got it, and I got some speed, so I think we’ll change our focus. But i’ll be honest, to win this thing, you’re gonna’ have to go that fast. You aren’t going to win this race going 3.80s…you might get a round or two. You take Mills, and Stevie, and Alepa, they can go that fast, so we’ve just gotta’ do it, and keep it in one piece.”
Driver Ty Tutterow and new car owner Grant Tuttle debuted the former Barry Mitchell-owned and driven, Tim McAmis Race Cars-built Camaro at this, the richest radial-tire racer in history…and they did so in secret, keeping things low-key while having a little fun with their mysterious status. Tuttle, a West coast A/Gas nostalgia racer, jumped at the opportunity to purchase the highly-competitive car from Mitchell last season, and in the process was able to retain the services of renowned tuner Todd Tutterow and son, Ty, already an accomplished driver in the PDRA Pro Boost ranks. While currently in the field, the team sits dangerously close to the bump spot with their 14th-best 3.81. Tuttle shared the team is fighting gremlins that have yet to allow the car to repeat the record-breaking performance it showed under Mitchells’ guidance.
