Words by Ian Tocher
Photos by Wes Buck/Drag Illustrated
5/4/06
The Outlaw Racing Street Car Association (ORSCA) opened its 2006 season Apr. 21-23, at Atlanta Dragway, with Steve Kirk Jr. prevailing over Craig Miller in the headlining Outlaw 10.5 division. Also picking up event wins were Keith Szabo in Limited Street, Dave Cox in EZ Street, and C.G. Knight, Jeff Paulk, and Ed Bendall in the 5.30, 6.0, and 7.0 index classes, respectively.
Starting from the third position after only two rounds of qualifying due to rain on Saturday, Kirk made a solo pass in round one after Lance Styck broke, got past Bobby Cole in round two, and beat 2004 ORSCA champ Jack Barfield in the semis.
Miller, the number-eight qualifier, steered his ’92 Camaro past Rob Hale in the opener, took out number-one qualifier and defending class champion Terry Robbins (4.552/161.20) in the second round, and used a holeshot to hold off Jimmy Blackmon in his semi-final match.
Miller left first with a .020 light in the Outlaw 10.5 final against Kirk’s .044, but soon lost traction, allowing Kirk’s John Ferguson-owned 2000 Camaro to streak by and capture the win in 4.706 seconds at 161.34 mph.
In Limited Street, number-one qualifier Jeff Cooner (4.983/149.70) reached the final round with his late-model Mustang after taking wins over Darrin Hoyle, Paul Davis, and Carlton Thompson in the preliminaries, the last courtesy of an unreal .001 light against Thompson’s .311 reaction.
Meanwhile, Szabo also came from the number-three slot in his ’93 ‘Stang and won over Ed Dillard, David Reese, and Terry Woodson to reach the final, where Cooner had another .001 light—but this time on the wrong side of the signal. The red light handed the win to Szabo’s 5.095/158.61 combination over Cooner’s 5.050 at 151.10 mph.