DragRacingOnline.com - Drag Racing From a Different Perspective

FRA/TSRA founder and promoter Ronnie Davis entered his '69 Nova in the Outlaw 10.5 race, but lost in the opening round when he got out of shape off the launch. Davis also placed his 1963 Corvette on the pole for the Top Sportsman event with a 6.952 -- the only six-seconds pass in T/S all weekend -- but made it only to the second round, where he lost a close one to Larry Hutcheson's 2002 Cavalier.

orecasts of rain were blamed for a disappointing turnout of racers and spectators at the inaugural Ten Five Racing Association/Top Sportsman Racing Association (TFRA/TSRA) event June 26-27, at Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA. Just seven cars entered the Outlaw 10.5 race and nine Top Sportsman teams made the trek to the middle-Georgia strip. Also on the raceday card were 6.0 and 7.0 index classes, as well as Limited Street.

Despite the forecast, eliminations were mostly held under dry and very hot conditions (track temperature exceeded 130 degrees at mid-afternoon), but the event's luck ran out just as Jack Barfield and Rob Hale completed their burnouts for the Outlaw 10.5 final. High winds accompanied a heavy downpour with more obviously to come, so the decision was quickly made to call the race and evenly split the purse between the finalists in each class.

Outlaw 10.5 finalist Jack Barfield earned the number-one qualifying spot with a 4.748-second effort over the 1/8-mile distance at Reynolds. It was a costly pass, though, as Barfield and crew spent the better part of Saturday night replacing two damaged pistons.

Marcus Birt appeared headed for the Outlaw 10.5 final after laying a .041 holeshot on Rob Hale in the semis, but his VIP Racing Camaro bogged down almost immediately with a too-rich fuel condition. A clearly despondent Birt later said the team had been battling the problem all weekend, but it progressively worsened.

Statham, GA's Rob Hale said his 1966 Chevy II was carrying a wounded cylinder, but still thought it would've beat Barfield in the 10.5 final had it not been rained out.

Tom Waters made the trip north from Orlando and made it all the way to the Top Sportsman final with his '86 T-Bird, where he was scheduled to meet fellow Floridian Larry Hutcheson.

David "Big Wig" Wiggins, from nearby Hawkinsville, GA, entered his street-legal(!) 1937 Chevy in Top Sportsman and qualified with a 7.866 pass at 170.56 mph in his first attempt at racing it on pure slicks. Wiggins lost in the opener on Sunday, however, to eventual finalist Hutcheson.

Number-one qualifying honors in Limited Street went to Shannon Ragsdale and his 1995 Corvette. Ragsdale made it through three rounds before reaching the pre-empted final against number-two qualifier Mike Hill, an Outlaw 10.5 regular whose primary ride is temporarily out of commission for repairs.

Only the 6.0 final was completed at Reynolds, with Michael Strickland from Alma, GA, taking home the win with his '95 Camaro over a redlighting Denardo Barron. The 7.0 finalists were David Johnson in a 1985 Mustang and number-one qualifier Grady Robinson in his '69 Nova.