INDEX CLASSES

Thanks to a better reaction time, Mooresville, NC’s Roger MConnell took the 5.30 win with a 5.364-second pass to Kenny Acree’s 5.334 in his Newnan, GA-based Corvette.

After many weeks of negotiations and preparations, a 5.30 index experiment worked out well for ORSCA at Atlanta with 14 high-quality cars ranging from a ’41 Willys to an ’04 Mustang making qualifying attempts. In the end it was the 1948 Anglia of Roger McConnell that took the win over Kenny Acree’s ’63 split-window Corvette. Lizon Walker of Stockbridge, GA, was the number-one qualifier in his ’68 Camaro with a pass of 5.324 seconds at 130.94 mph.

The 6.0 index win went to Michael Strickland, from Alma, GA, on the strength of a better reaction over Keith Laws (far lane) after both drivers went 6.008 in the final round.

Qualifying in the 6.0 index class was led by Keith Laws with a perfect 6.000-seconds run at 112.79 mph in his 1971 Nova. Laws advanced through eliminations to eventually face off against number-10 qualifier Michael Strickland and his ’95 Camaro in the final round.

Strickland left with a .005 light while Laws waited .022 after the green and that made all the difference as both drivers ran 6.008 to the finish. “It was close, both of us ran dead on, I just had a little bit better light,” Strickland said after beating his “best buddy” for the win. “We both had a lot of fun here.”

A two-thousandths redlight by recently crowned ORSCA champion Ricky Pennington (far lane), handed the 7.0 index win to Keith May.

Top qualifying honors in 7.0 went to Lonnie Wigley after he steered his Acworth, GA-based ’87 Mustang through a 7.013-second pass at 97.13 mph. Wigley fell to number-nine qualifier Ricky Pennington in the quarter-finals, though, while Pennington went on to face Keith May, who usually races his Chevy pick-up in the 6.0 class, in the final round.

Unfortunately, Pennington left .002 too soon in the final, giving May his career-first ORSCA win with a 7.165-second run at 94.73 mph. “Pure luck,” the Sharpsburg, GA-based driver said. “No, seriously, I just got in the groove today and it just worked out.”