One of the staples of the Lights Out 8 events is the success and popularity of its Manufacturers Midway from those attending the popular drag radial event at South Georgia Motorsports Park located outside of Valdosta, Ga.

During the four-day event, as many as 75 vendors are set up and doing business, with less than one-third of those participating peddling apparel and souvenirs.

Quartermax and RJ Race Cars are two of those major companies involved in drag racing who use the more targeted venue to display their products and services. 

“We’ve seen people from all over the world as well as a lot of the customers from the United States,” said Rickie Jones of Quartermax/RJ Race Cars. “A lot of the guys need parts when they’re here racing, so it’s good that we’re able to come and kind of help them out and do business with them.”

The visitor to their display, Jones said, is very interactive with their wants and needs. 

“I think a lot of people here are enthusiasts in some sort or fashion,” Jones said. "Either they race a car back home, or they’re racing here.”

One of those major vendors with a significant presence is Strange Engineering, and they deem their presence at the Lights Out events as a success. 

“We’ve noticed a big difference in these types of events versus what we’ve traditionally done with the NHRA and some of the bigger events,” said JC Cascio, Strange Engineering rep. “Grassroots events, especially this Light’s Out 8 race, have in years past been one of our top races as far as sales go. We get great contact with the racers, and the spectators are all enthusiasts and hobbyists themselves. And so all around it’s been a very good event.” 

Jones believes the package works well for companies because of a number of factors. 

“They’re really friendly here,” Jones said. “Everybody at Duck X is really good to work with. It’s not too expensive to come down here, so it makes it pretty affordable, and it’s pretty cut and dry. You just show up, pay your fee, park, and do business. There’s not a lot of rules to follow. It’s basically just come down here, do your business, support the racers, support the event, and it’s a win for everybody.” 

Donald Long, of Duck X Promotions, and promoter of the popular Lights Out and No Mercy events, says the Manufacturers Midway is popular to both fans and manufacturer’s because it delivers the end result its intended to. 

“People actually show up to buy stuff here.” Long explained.” I think the fans that come out and the people that really relate to this; they have their own cars at the house. So when they come here, most of these guys, the reason they keep coming back is because they do a lot of sales here. And it’s because the people who are coming, these guys are real race fans. They actually have their project cars at the house. Some of them may never, ever get done, but you know how that is. It’s like me; I used to live paycheck to paycheck making sure that I could buy each little part to keep trying to get it together. There’s a lot of those guys out here that do that. That’s why I think it keeps growing, because people come out here to actually buy stuff.”