With a stunning pass in the last of three qualifying rounds for Radials vs. the World at Lights Out 9, Jeff Sitton eclipsed teammate "Stevie Fast" Jackson for the number-one start based on mile per hour alone. Sitton exactly matched Jackson's 3.787-seconds elapsed time from earlier in the session, but his supercharged 2017 Camaro crossed the finish line at 198.70 mph, .64 mph faster than Jackson, to earn the top spot.

Sitton expressed surprise at the result.  

 Despite finishing Friday as number-one qualifier for the headlining Radials vs. the World (RvW) class at Lights Out 9, "Stevie Fast" Jackson predicts a wide-open field for eliminations.

Several inches of rain fell on South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP) over a period of four days prior to the event, leaving its eighth mile as an essentially bare concrete surface. With few slick-tire cars on the track to help lay rubber down on the racing grooves, it creates a challenging task for the SGMP track prep crew.  

Apparently trash-talking can be as crucial in drag radial racing, as an aggressive tune-up. One produces the other at Lights Out 9, the popular drag radial event hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park. 

Stevie "Fast" Jackson will be the first to testify.

"I wasn't planning on running for the No. 1 qualifier, but I was inspired," Jackson admitted.

Just as he continues to meet and beat tremendous challenges stemming from a drag racing accident that left him 100-percent blind, Columbus, Georgia’s Dan Parker plans to restore a Hurricane Harvey-damaged Corvette to better-than-new condition—then drive it as a record-setting race car. {Facebook.com/DanParkerQuestForTheSalt)

“I found a flood-damaged 2008 C6 Corvette with no motor in Oklahoma City, so me and three buddies went down there late last year to pick it up. Then, when I came back home I accidentally came across another complete, but wrecked, C6 of the same year with the same engine and transmission combination. So a family member bought that car and donated it and we started putting the two of them together to make one good car,” says Parker, who crashed nearly six years ago while testing a 1963 Corvette Pro Mod at a drag strip in Steele, Alabama.

Drag-racing fans, especially throughout last season, have enjoyed the story line about Top Fuel ace Leah Pritchett being married to the man who preps the critical clutches for her chief rival, Steve Torrence. But Gary Pritchett someday could end up racing his wife. Actually, it’s more likely he would be trying with her to score a double championship, for her in a dragster and himself in a Funny Car.

Gary Pritchett has been involved in Top Fuel racing for 11 seasons, and with Torrence’s Capco Contractors Dragster team for seven years. One of his biggest joys was helping Torrence earn his first pro victory, in 2012 at Atlanta. (It wasn’t that long ago, but it was when the Top Fuel class included fulltime drivers Khalid al-Balooshi, Brandon Bernstein, Dave Grubnic, Shawn Langdon, Morgan Lucas, Spencer Massey, Cory McClenathan, JR Todd, Bob Vandergriff, and Hillary Will.)

Keith Haney heard all the wisecracks; largely those from Lights Out 9 promoter Donald "Duck" Long and his cronies over the last week. The good-natured ribbing focused on everything from his physical stature to his driving ability. 

Thursday night during Radial Vs. The World's lone session, Haney shut them all up, and didn't even have to open his mouth. 

Haney, the driver of the Enigma 2016 Camaro, thundered to the provisional low qualifying position with a 3.858 elapsed time at 196.62 miles per hour.

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) announced the complete 20-race schedule for the new IHRA Summit Sportsman Spectacular. The historic Wilkesboro Dragway, Wilkesboro, N.C., has been added to the schedule.

The IHRA Summit Sportsman Spectacular will produce a fun double-race weekend with increased purses that is affordable for grassroots, bracket-racing competitors who support their local tracks each week.

No matter how carefully an action is planned, something may still go wrong with it. Just ask Cruz Pedregon.  

Pedregon had the plan laid out at the end of the season to purchase a new Funny Car chassis from Don Schumacher Racing. He learned the hard way that one size does not fit all in the world of Funny Car.

"We’re obviously rivals, but he’s a great man," Pedregon said. "He’s making his equipment available to purchase for an independent team like mine, which is great and a win-win for everybody."

It was a pleasant surprise for Funny Car racers in the southwest when Texan Chris Graves announced plans for the inaugural running of Funny Car Chaos. Not only were racers and fans alike very receptive to a new Funny Car event in Texas, but the no-rules 'outlaw' approach really spiked the interest of the public as this one of a kind event began to take shape. That's right, no rules. Graves and company created Funny Car Chaos to appeal to any and all Funny Cars with absolutely zero restrictions on engine combinations or body styles. Funny Cars of all types, appearances and performance levels are welcome to attend these two day flip top extravaganzas and the proof was in the pudding as over 20 cars from 7 states rolled through the gates of North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas in September of 2017 for the first event. A thrilling weekend was capped off with impressive wins by Mark "Mr. Explosive" Sanders in the 'A' field and Andy "Dragon Slayer" Mears in the 'B' field.

"I like the part where there are no rules. It's pretty obvious it's a good idea when you look around in the pits. 90% of these cars I've never seen before and I'd never have a chance to see them if it wasn't for this event," said Illinois based Funny Car owner and tuner of the "Crop Duster" Frank Ousley at the inaugural event.  Division 4 Top Alcohol racer Mark Billington shares that enthusiasm, "I think it's great, I think the idea of bringing Funny Cars back together is great, the 'run what you brung' idea is great and has brought out an impressive field of cars. I'm excited to be here and plan to support these events as much as possible."