Making its competition debut at Atlanta was Ryan Hargett’s 1953 ‘Vette. Hargett runs in Pro Outlaw with NSCA, but can move over to NMCA Pro Street just by adding 50 pounds.

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In the first round of qualifying, however, Haynes broke a rocker arm during his burnout. After making repairs, he made uneventful second and third-round qualifying passes, winding up fifth on the list and slated to face off against the number-two qualifier-- Bennett—on Sunday.

For Bennett, his next problem came in the form of a .176 light against Haynes. “I’ll be hearing about that one for the next 10 years,” the Forest, VA-based racecar builder joked, after his 6.672 was put away by Haynes’ 6.806 thanks to a .025 reaction time. That set up a second-round match for Haynes against John Stanley, after Stanley trailered Randy Eakins. With just six cars in the field, the last first-round pairing saw Ryan Hargett get past Marc Dantoni when Dantoni’s ’41 Willys lost fire halfway through its run.

Maryland’s John Stanley qualified his 1969 Camaro fourth in Pro Outlaw despite making only one of three qualifying rounds. Stanley went 6.711 in his first pass, but in the process spun a bearing in his blown Alan Johnson 526. Dropping oil pressure forced him to shut off after the burnout for his second attempt and he missed the final session while making an emergency engine swap.

Haynes picked up the pace to a 6.750 against Stanley, who suffered tire shake almost immediately upon launching, and Hargett enjoyed a 6.898 bye run to reach the final round.

In the final, Haynes again left first with a .077 light and again went quicker with a 6.717 at 210.72-mph pass, his best of the weekend. Hargett answered with a .139 reaction leading to a 6.798/203.11 combination. “That was my worst light of the weekend,” Hargett said. “It came at a bad time, but realistically it didn’t make much difference.”

“I never saw him. I just kept my foot in it and I wasn’t going to lift,” Haynes said after scoring a margin of victory of .134 seconds. “This is definitely a relief. We had such bad luck all weekend that I knew it had to change sometime.”