If not for a dragging engine diaper in the opening round of Outlaw Drag Radial at No Mercy 13, it’s unlikely anyone would be talking today about Houston Dial as Radial vs. The World champ at No Mercy 13. But that’s how it turned out Oct. 30, at South Georgia Motorsports Park when Alabama’s own Dial ran a 4-flat at 184.02—a solid pass for an ODR car—against West Coast heavy hitter Jason Lee in the RVW final to score the biggest win of his career.

“I'm super excited, but emotional at the same moment. My son won today, too,” Dial revealed while waiting his turn at taking over SGMP’s victory lane. “He called me right before we were both going to the finals and then he called me again when he won. He was Junior drag racing at GALOT in North Carolina and he won, too, so this is really extra special because of that.”

No question on a personal level, but Dial and his Xavier McBride-owned team had just pulled off arguably the biggest underdog victory in Duck X Productions history. And it all started with that unintentionally ill-fitting diaper in round one of ODR qualifying that “dragged the beams” and gave Dial a quicker 60-foot time and ET than he deserved.

Strict class rules dictate that’s a disqualifying offense, regardless of intent, but with McBride also having entered his nitrous-breathing “Devil Horse” ’04 Mustang in RVW for the extra test runs it would provide, the team made the obvious choice to throw their efforts in with the big boys and see where it took them.

Turns out, straight to the winner’s circle.

Dial lived a charmed life in eliminations, though. After qualifying 18th with a 4.13 at 175.96 mph in a 29-car field led by Paolo Guist at 3.53 and 209.56, there was no reason to believe Dial would be anything more than first-round fodder.

But when Saturday’s racing began, so did Dial’s date with destiny. First, number-13 starter Jaber Almaghrabi and his Proline-powered Mustang was a no-show for round one. And then, 4th-place qualifier Norman Bryson, who opened with a 3.65 win with his nitrous-fed C7 Corvette, couldn’t answer the call for round two. 

Meanwhile, Dial had advanced with a troubled 7.58 at just 93 mph, followed by a nice (but nowhere near RVW worthy) 3.98 at 186.38 to reach that night’s quarter finals. Waiting for him there was Mike Jones with his twin-turbocharged Chevy Cobalt in what looked to be a fair fight, though Dial treed Jones by .051, then outran him with a 4.01 at 173.41 to Jones’ 4.05 at 184.50 combo.

After that, Dial and company had all night long to think about the opportunity that lay ahead with the semis and final round scheduled for Sunday.

“It's been a big learning curve for me here, ‘cause it's the first time I ever drove this car. I had never drove it until Thursday here,” Dial revealed late Sunday night. “I’ve drove other cars for (McBride), but not this one, so I’d kinda’ like to just get this done, but I guess we gotta’ wait until tomorrow.”

His opponent for the semis would be Florida’s Brian Keep, who, after dropping out of Ultimate Street with three of four rounds of qualifying completed, also was living a charmed existence in RVW with his Procharged SBC-equipped ‘98 Firebird. 

Keep, who ran 4.48 at 155.87 to start 22nd in RVW, also opened with an off-the-pace 6.91 at 101.55 bye run when 9th-place qualifier Jarrod Wood from Australia failed to make the start. He then outran fellow Floridian and number-23 starter Mike Freeman with a 4.48 at 155.67 in round two, followed by a 5.68 solo pass in Sunday night’s quarterfinals after Jeff Miller’s screw-blown “Bumblebee” Camaro shut off at the end of its burnout.

“Yep, gonna’ be an underdog in the final,” Dial observed later that night as the opposite side of the ladder featured Vernon, CA’s Lee, who ran 3.562 at 205.69 to qualify his Procharger-boosted ’69 Camaro third, versus 7th-place starter Calvin Franco, who went 3.68 at 202.55 to start his nitrous-boosted ’70 Camaro out of Mooresville, NC, seventh.

When the RVW semis were finally ready to go, Dial and Keep were up first and it was a weird one. Keep left with a .067 reaction time in the right lane while Dial waited an agonizing .229 before moving. But the Devil Horse ran down the deficit quickly, winning with a sizable .432 advantage after posting its best time of the weekend at 3.91 and 188.83 mph to Keep’s 4.51 at 154.94 effort.

That left Lee and Franco to determine Dial’s opponent for the NM13 win. And it was all Lee, as he left with a .035 light that translated into a .027 holeshot and led to a 3.57 win at 207.27 mph and lane choice over Dial for the RVW final.

Once there, a brief staging duel ensued, but Dial was ready, cutting his best light of eliminations at .024 with Lee late at .136. Then, just as both cars reached the 60-foot marker, Lee’s Camaro nosed over and ran 4.28 at 131.34 while Dial was dialed in to a 4.00 at 184.02 to take the NM13 win home to Harvest, AL.

“I knew the only chance I had was for something bad to happen on his side, but I also said I gotta’ leave first. And I did, I definitely left first,” Dial said. “I just tried to do my part as a driver and if we didn't have enough car, well, you know, at least I would’ve done my part.”

Still, Dial admitted he was just waiting for a white, Camaro-shaped blur to streak by as the finish line approached.

“Oh, for sure, I’m looking for him because I know he’s probably 30, 40 mile an hour faster than me. I seen his nose out front for a second and then he just disappeared and I didn't see him no more,” Dial recalled. “When we got to the end I just started to screaming on the mic.”

Team owner McBride said he was feeling mixed emotions while celebrating in victory lane. After acknowledging his crewmembers and thanking Mark Micke and Jeff Naiser for the transmission and engine in his car, respectively, McBride admitted to also feeling disappointed at the reaction of at least one rival over the weekend.

“It's bittersweet, you know, because you learn who a lot of people are when you win, and a particular racer that we've helped for many, many years showed his true colors to me,” McBride said. “So that's probably why I'm a little emotional. But you know, some people just can't stand to see something good happen. 

“You know, we fought our way through the field. We did what we were supposed to do. We raced every round, and that particular guy, he’ll know who he is when you write your story. But you know, no hard feeling, it’s just in the end you're just very disappointed. So yeah, I'm disappointed. He showed me who he really was.”

Regardless, Dial thanked McBride and singled out car chief Nick Oxendine, Blake, and tuner Jack Green for their hard work and support all week long at SGMP.

“Nick goes with me everywhere,” Dial said. “But all these guys deserve a lot of thanks and credit for this. I really can’t believe it.”

It seems like that’s a popular sentiment in the RVW ranks these days.