Mangrum's the Man in Georgia

Words and photos by Ian Tocher
4/12/03

Doug Mangrum, from Bells, TX, runs an ATI Procharger on the 400 c.i. small
block in his 1998 Mustang.

It really looked at times like the 3rd Annual Bassani Xhaust National Mustang Racers Association Ford Nationals was going to get rained out Apr. 6, at Silver Dollar Dragway in Reynolds, GA, but the racing gods smiled on the gathered Ford faithful and 11 class champions were crowned without delay.

In Pro 5.0, the NMRA's quickest class, Doug Mangrum qualified number one with a 6.82, then defeated Jeff Allenback in round one, ran unopposed in round two, and received an unexpected redlight gift from Randy Eakins in the final.

Mangrum got lucky with that second-round bye, since the chain on his blower drive broke near the top end of the track and knocked off an oil line. "I've gotta give credit to my crew chief, Ray Crow, for getting the car ready after that," he said. In the final round, Mangrum said he saw Eakins red light, so he took it easy and coasted through the finish in 8.33 seconds at 121.72 mph.

Randy Eakins said he had the line-lock set on his 'Stang at 150 pounds, but felt it release just as he lit the staging lights for the Pro 5.0 final and it rolled through. "That's only the second time in 10 years that's happened to me," the Sikeston, MO-based driver said. "Something caused it to let loose, but I don't know what."

HAYWOOD MAKES HISTORY

Randy Haywood runs the only Ford modular motor in the NMRA's Super Street Outlaw class, and on Apr. 5 at Silver Dollar Dragway, he became the first driver to push a mod motor SSO into the sevens. Haywood's 7.992-second pass in qualifying placed him fourth, compared to the 7.905 run by number-one qualifier Jason Smith.

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