JOHNSON, GODWIN LEAD FINAL. ODSS QUALIFYING IN O'BURG
Sun, 2010-06-06 17:00
Friday’s three qualifying sessions for the Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com South Carolina Spectacular, the first of six scheduled events this year for the Coca-Cola Outlaw Doorslammer Series (ODSS) presented by Hooter’s, resulted in Tony Johnson leading the headlining Outlaw 10.5 class, Greg Godwin at the head of the Pro Modified list, Eric Dillard first in Limited Street and Wes Whittle on top of the Outlaw 275 Drag Radial field.
Johnson’s 1968 Camaro tripped the eighth-mile timers at Orangeburg Dragstrip in 4.43 seconds at 179.63 miles per hour, followed by Brian Harrell and Danny Lowry, who will be unable to compete today after crashing his 1998 Mustang in the last qualifying round.
“It just got over toward the (right) wall and I thought it was going to stick, but all of a sudden it turned left and the back end came out from under me,” Lowry recalled. “It hit pretty hard, but I don’t think there’s really that much damage other than cosmetic. It did tear up the four-link (rear suspension) pretty bad, though, which is what really bums me out because we’d just got that working perfectly.”
Coca-Cola Outlaw Doorslammer Series (ODSS) presented by Hooter’s, resulted in Tony Johnson leading the headlining Outlaw 10.5 class, Greg Godwin at the head of the Pro Modified list, Eric Dillard first in Limited Street and Wes Whittle on top of the Outlaw 275 Drag Radial field.
Johnson’s 1968 Camaro tripped the eighth-mile timers at Orangeburg Dragstrip in 4.43 seconds at 179.63 miles per hour, followed by Brian Harrell and Danny Lowry, who will be unable to compete today after crashing his 1998 Mustang in the last qualifying round.
“It just got over toward the (right) wall and I thought it was going to stick, but all of a sudden it turned left and the back end came out from under me,” Lowry recalled. “It hit pretty hard, but I don’t think there’s really that much damage other than cosmetic. It did tear up the four-link (rear suspension) pretty bad, though, which is what really bums me out because we’d just got that working perfectly.”
Godwin, the track record holder at Orangeburg (3.89 seconds), paced the ODSS Pro Mod field with a 3.92 pass at 185.41 mph in his nitrous-boosted ‘63 Corvette, with Danny Blankenship, the only other driver to reach the three-second zone, in second at 3.99 seconds and 180.00 mph with his 1941 Willys.
The final Pro Mod qualifying session also was marred by a crash by Paul Gibbs in his supercharged 1970 Cuda, which hit the right wall nearly head on less than 150 feet from the start, which split the car’s fuel tank wide open, leaving a trail of fuel that ignited, then enveloped the car in flames when it came to rest about half track (330 feet).
“There was no warning at all. I didn‘t even have a chance to get out of it before it hit the wall,” said Gibbs, who like Lowry considered the damage to be relatively light. “Then I saw that trail of fire heading toward me and I hit the fire bottles. I have to give a lot of credit and thanks to the track crew for putting the fire out fast and saving my car from burning up. They did a fantastic job and I can’t thank them enough.”
Dillard reserved his praise for Jason Rueckert of VP Racing Fuels, who was in town from Terre Haute, Indiana, to prep the strip with VP’s latest traction compound.
“This track usually isn’t that good to me, but Jason’s got it working better than I’ve ever seen it,” Dillard said after improving his own number-one time to 4.70 seconds at 167.66 mph to secure the top spot in Friday night’s final session.
Whittle’s Outlaw 275 Drag Radial-leading 5.05 pass at 150.45 mph came in his second attempt on Friday, but his first day ever on the smaller 275-designated (nine-inch wide) tires.
“I usually run the bigger 325 (12.5-inch) tires, but everyone kept telling me I had to try this,” Whittle said. “The track was a little slick, but that’s okay with me; that’s the best conditions for me.”
In a combined 6.0 and 7.0 index class race, after two rounds of qualifying and three rounds of eliminations, Todd Sinclair of Chester, South Carolina, and Robert Holton of Monks Corner, South Carolina, met in the final round.
Holton, the 7.0 finalist, broke out at 6.98 and 95.29 mph, while Sinclair took the win in only his second competition appearance at the Orangeburg strip with a near-perfect 6.004 pass at 114.04 mph in his 1970 split-bumper Camaro.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
Johnson’s 1968 Camaro tripped the eighth-mile timers at Orangeburg Dragstrip in 4.43 seconds at 179.63 miles per hour, followed by Brian Harrell and Danny Lowry, who will be unable to compete today after crashing his 1998 Mustang in the last qualifying round.
“It just got over toward the (right) wall and I thought it was going to stick, but all of a sudden it turned left and the back end came out from under me,” Lowry recalled. “It hit pretty hard, but I don’t think there’s really that much damage other than cosmetic. It did tear up the four-link (rear suspension) pretty bad, though, which is what really bums me out because we’d just got that working perfectly.”
Friday’s three qualifying sessions for the Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com South Carolina Spectacular, the first of six scheduled events this year for the
Greg Godwin, the track record holder at Orangeburg (3.89 seconds), paced the ODSS Pro Mod field with a 3.92 pass at 185.41 mph in his nitrous-boosted ‘63 Corvette.
Johnson’s 1968 Camaro tripped the eighth-mile timers at Orangeburg Dragstrip in 4.43 seconds at 179.63 miles per hour, followed by Brian Harrell and Danny Lowry, who will be unable to compete today after crashing his 1998 Mustang in the last qualifying round.
“It just got over toward the (right) wall and I thought it was going to stick, but all of a sudden it turned left and the back end came out from under me,” Lowry recalled. “It hit pretty hard, but I don’t think there’s really that much damage other than cosmetic. It did tear up the four-link (rear suspension) pretty bad, though, which is what really bums me out because we’d just got that working perfectly.”
Godwin, the track record holder at Orangeburg (3.89 seconds), paced the ODSS Pro Mod field with a 3.92 pass at 185.41 mph in his nitrous-boosted ‘63 Corvette, with Danny Blankenship, the only other driver to reach the three-second zone, in second at 3.99 seconds and 180.00 mph with his 1941 Willys.
The final Pro Mod qualifying session also was marred by a crash by Paul Gibbs in his supercharged 1970 Cuda, which hit the right wall nearly head on less than 150 feet from the start, which split the car’s fuel tank wide open, leaving a trail of fuel that ignited, then enveloped the car in flames when it came to rest about half track (330 feet).
“There was no warning at all. I didn‘t even have a chance to get out of it before it hit the wall,” said Gibbs, who like Lowry considered the damage to be relatively light. “Then I saw that trail of fire heading toward me and I hit the fire bottles. I have to give a lot of credit and thanks to the track crew for putting the fire out fast and saving my car from burning up. They did a fantastic job and I can’t thank them enough.”
Wes Whittle’s Outlaw 275 Drag Radial-leading 5.05 pass at 150.45 mph came in his second attempt on Friday, but his first day ever on the smaller 275-designated (nine-inch wide) tires.
Dillard reserved his praise for Jason Rueckert of VP Racing Fuels, who was in town from Terre Haute, Indiana, to prep the strip with VP’s latest traction compound.
“This track usually isn’t that good to me, but Jason’s got it working better than I’ve ever seen it,” Dillard said after improving his own number-one time to 4.70 seconds at 167.66 mph to secure the top spot in Friday night’s final session.
Whittle’s Outlaw 275 Drag Radial-leading 5.05 pass at 150.45 mph came in his second attempt on Friday, but his first day ever on the smaller 275-designated (nine-inch wide) tires.
“I usually run the bigger 325 (12.5-inch) tires, but everyone kept telling me I had to try this,” Whittle said. “The track was a little slick, but that’s okay with me; that’s the best conditions for me.”
In a combined 6.0 and 7.0 index class race, after two rounds of qualifying and three rounds of eliminations, Todd Sinclair of Chester, South Carolina, and Robert Holton of Monks Corner, South Carolina, met in the final round.
Holton, the 7.0 finalist, broke out at 6.98 and 95.29 mph, while Sinclair took the win in only his second competition appearance at the Orangeburg strip with a near-perfect 6.004 pass at 114.04 mph in his 1970 split-bumper Camaro.
Eric Dilliard paced the Limited Street division.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
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