For the first time outside its national events, the California-based National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) awarded much-coveted “Wally” trophies to the winners of NHRA Unleashed, a brand-new, made-for-TV drag racing series featuring several “outlaw” eighth-mile classes and quarter-mile index classes that kicked off this weekend at Atlanta Dragway. Named after NHRA founder Wally Parks, the gold-colored trophy has long been considered the ultimate symbol of excellence for drag racers.

The gesture was not lost on drivers like Robert Mathis, who steered his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro to the Dixie Pro Mod title with strong run against former ADRL Pro Nitrous World Champion Keith Baker in the final round.

For the first time outside its national events, the California-based National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) awarded much-coveted “Wally” trophies to the winners of NHRA Unleashed, a brand-new, made-for-TV drag racing series featuring several “outlaw” eighth-mile classes and quarter-mile index classes that kicked off this weekend at Atlanta Dragway. Named after NHRA founder Wally Parks, the gold-colored trophy has long been considered the ultimate symbol of excellence for drag racers.

The gesture was not lost on drivers like Robert Mathis, who steered his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro to the Dixie Pro Mod title with strong run against former ADRL Pro Nitrous World Champion Keith Baker in the final round.

“Oh man, I can’t tell you how much this means to me. This is my first-ever Pro Mod win and for it to come with a Wally is unbelievable,” Mathis declared shortly after being interviewed by NHRA Unleashed TV host Steve Watson. “I’m going to remember this for as long as I live.”

Joining Mathis in making history at the NHRA-owned facility were Tim Lynch in Outlaw 10.5, Keith Szabo in Limited Street, Jimmy Martin in EZ Street, and Jody Voyles in Modified Street, all heads-up, no-breakout classes incorporated into NHRA Unleashed from the Outlaw Racing Street Car Association (ORSCA). Index class winners included Danny Bytnar (8.50), Stan Sinack (10.0), Mark Young (11.0), Howard Warren (12.0), and Jacob Rutledge (13.0)

Mathis said his win “didn’t come easy,” requiring the swap of an engine during qualifying and a most-fortuitous torque converter change after making a semi-final bye run.

“Thankfully we had my spare Gene Fulton motor with us,” Mathis said about trading it in before running 4.16 seconds at 177.32 mph in his second qualifying attempt to place fifth in the eight-car field. Thirteen teams made qualifying passes on Saturday and those left out included high-quality racers like Johnny Pilcher, Chris Patrick and Brad Brand.

Mathis opened with a 4.12 pass at 180.72 over Norman Thomas, but the race was actually won at the starting line when both drivers left too early, but Mathis was the lesser of the two offenders. Then came an even luckier break in the semis against number-one qualifier Ronnie Davis, who had to shut down his ’63 Corvette upon feeling a severe engine vibration during his burnout.

“My converter was done,” the Baker, Florida-based driver revealed about making a seven-second pass at just 87 mph. “I had to restart the car three times just to get it to the line. I was just up there to take the (green) light and hope for the best.”

The best came for Mathis in the final against Baker, who left with a slight .004 advantage that Mathis had more than overcome by the 60-foot marker. They ran identical 2.749s to half-track (330 feet), but Mathis tripped the eighth-mile beams in 4.13 seconds at 179.92 mph compared to the 4.15 at 176.53 by Baker in his split-window Corvette.

Lynch, from Woodstock, Georgia, was happy to get the first win with his brand-new 2010 Corvette in only its second race outing.

After qualifying seventh in the 16-car field, the Woodstock, Georgia, driver made his strongest pass of the weekend with a 4.49 win at 177.35 mph over Bill Futch. He then ran 4.51 at 171.27 against a redlighting Jill Hicks before earning a holeshot victory over Rob Wells in the semis with a 4.52/169.44 combination beating the 4.51 at 173.54 by Wells.

The final saw Lynch go up against Dave Cox and his ’94 Mustang from Conway, South Carolina, where Lynch overcame a slim holeshot with a 4.60 pass at 168.53 to Cox’s 4.97 at 156.83 mph.

“We really didn’t expect this today,” Lynch admitted. “It was so hot today it made it extra hard for us to dial it in with a car that we’re not used to yet, but with the chassis tuning help of Hank Hill and a great Skinny Kid race car it’s starting to come around. There’s a lot more there and we’re just starting to tap into the potential.”

In a final-round meeting of the two top Limited Street qualifiers at Atlanta Dragway, Lynch’s ProLine Racing teammate and polesitter Eric Dillard fell victim to a holeshot by Keith Szabo from nearby Gainesville, Georgia.

Szabo dispatched Jerry Gunter from the opening round, then made a lazy bye run in round two before dominating Texan Kevin Cram in the semis. Dillard made his bye pass in the first round, caught a break in round two with a traction-challenged win over Tommy Ranier, who turned on the red bulb, then beat Kevin Scott in round three.

Szabo cut an excellent .016 light with his ’93 Mustang in the final, while Dillard posted his worst of the day, a .050 that negated his quicker and faster 4.896 at 162.74 mph against Szabo’s winning 4.899 at 161.54 effort.

“That was a great win. Eric and I race each other a lot and I’m always pumped up to race against him. It feels good to get a win like that, especially in these conditions,” Szabo said. “It’s very cool to get a Wally, too; that makes it extra special, too.”

Martin, from Flovilla, Georgia, put his ’93 Mustang on top of the seven-car EZ Street qualifying list with a 5.05 pass at 148.27 on Sunday that granted him a 5.53 bye run in round one of eliminations. He next went 5.90 to beat Glen Jones in the semis to reach number-two starter Wes Whittle of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

Whittle left with a significant .055 advantage, but his turbocharged 2000 Mustang smoked the tires immediately off the start, allowing Martin an easy win in 5.31 seconds at 137.30 mph.

“The heat made it pretty tough today to get down the track. You had to be careful about how much (power) you gave to it,” Martin said. “This is very exciting to get this win,” he added, clutching his Wally after leaving the NHRA Unleashed stage.

Though making only two passes all day in order to win his Wally, Voyles agreed the trophy made his Modified Street win in a tiny four-car field a special moment.

“We’ve been on a bit of a streak lately, winning five of the last six finals we’ve been to, including this one,” the number-one starter from Douglasville, Georgia, said after taking down Ricky Pennington in round one, then going 5.35 at 135.40 mph to easily handle Neil Hawkins in the final round. “But this trophy is a first for me. I’ve never won one of these before and it’ll be going in a special place at home.”

The second of four scheduled NHRA Unleashed events this year will be held Aug. 6-8, at Indianapolis, followed by races at Columbus, Ohio, in September and November at Gainesville, Florida.