After
qualifying number one in EZ Street, Smith and
his Rossville, GA-based '72 Nova made it to
the semi-finals where they faced eventual race
winner Thomas Taylor of Mt. Holly, NC. Smith
lost in the semis when his car went in to an
eighth-mile-long wheelstand, tripping the finish
line timers with his rear wheels! Near half
track, his car's front end was so high in the
air it looked like his car was ready to flip
over backward! Ed Lavender beat Jeff Plemmons
in the other EZ Street semi-final.
In the final round, Taylor's 1988 Mustang
crossed the finish line just slightly ahead
of Lavender's 1986 'Stang, as Smith carded
a 5.65 at 126.87-mph pass, while Lavender was
close with a 5.67 at 121.74 mph.
"I loved the track." Taylor said. "It
was a good race. That was a much needed win."
The 6.0 final came down to a battle between
David Harvey from Richmond Hill, GA, and Matt
Davis of Acworth, GA. Number-one qualifier
Sanders fell to Harvey in the semis, while
Davis eliminated Marty Collier. Unfortunately
for Davis, his light turned red off the start
of the final round, as he left just .003 too
soon, allowing Harvey to post the winning 6.04/113.40
pass in his 1984 Trans Am.
Perhaps familiarity
with track conditions helped local Sportsman
Al Hause and his pristine '70 Cutlass survive
to finish on top of a tough 7.0 index class
at Atlanta Dragway. |
One of Atlanta Dragway's regulars took the
top spot in the 7.0 class, as Al Hause from
Grayson, GA nailed the 7.0 index with his 1970
Cutlass 442 W30 several times during eliminations.
Although Hause was a little off in the final,
running a 7.05 at 97.82 mph, the win light
was his the instant opponent George Bolton
left the starting line with the big red bulb
glowing.
Hause's first 7.0 Heads Up win was only part
of a family winning streak that weekend. Hause's
niece Morgan won her soccer game Saturday by
two goals (both of which she scored), his stepmother
Bobbie Hause won her golf tournament on Sunday,
and his dad Jerry finished second in his golf
tournament.
Finally, Gerry Williams, who recently bought
Jesse Young's '89 Horton dragster, earned his
first ever win in Sunday's Top Eliminator final
by beating the 1970 GTO driven by footbraker
Toby Barnes from Palmetto, GA. Barnes went
7.70/89.83 against his 7.68 target, while Williams
crossed the finish line first by just .0007
seconds, running 5.09 at 133.25 mph on a 5.06
dial.
SHOOTING GALLERY
Shannon Ragsdale
had such a huge wheelstand in his '95 Corvette
during Saturday afternoon's Limited Street
qualifying session that all four wheels
actually came off the ground and damaged
the fronts when the car came back to earth.
No problem, the Marietta, GA racer just
borrowed some extra wheels and came back
racing, eventually ending up one of the
semi-final finishers. |
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