Lynch got past a broken Apolito in round one, then overcame a holeshot by Ronnie Davis when Davis' '69 Nova lost traction. In round three, he beat Carlton Thompson, then in the semis took out Leo Barnaby III, who made the trip down from Spotswood, NJ, with his 1990 Camaro. Mike Calvert, meanwhile, drove his own 2002 Mustang from the third-place qualifying slot to wins over Chris Ridge, Shannon McKenzie, Rob Hale, and Shannon Renfro.

Lynch grabbed the advantage right from the start of the final round with a .429 light to Calvert's .442 reaction. He then posted a 7.292/202.97 combination to beat the 7.875 at 160.59 mph run by Calvert. "The track changed a little in the middle of the day and slowed down a bit, but that's how it always is down here," Lynch said. "We were able to adjust for it and made it to the end."

ORSCA regular Marcus Birt put the VIP Racing Camaro 12th on the qualifying list, but fell in the first round to Irv Hodgeson.

Tony Johnson, from Conyers, GA, qualified his beautiful 1969 Camaro eighth in the Outlaw 10.5 field and made it to the second round where he lost to holeshot by Carlton Thompson.

Orlando finalist Mike Calvert also campaigns occasionally with the Atlanta-based ORSCA group.

HEAVY STREET

The Heavy Street competition started off quite literally with a bang. After a lengthy staging duel against Carl "Deckdaddy" Smothers, number-one qualifier Elliot Thompson eased his turbocharged 1991 Camaro into the beams and came up on the transbrake. With Smothers still delayed, however, the starter appeared just about to warn him when his '79 Trans Am inched forward and finally lit the staged bulb. Then, at the first hint of green, both drivers hit the gas, but Thompson's car immediately exploded into a hellacious ball of flame.