Departments - Missed Races

ROBINSON WRAPS UP ORSCA OPENER

Words and photos by Ian Tocher
3/24/04

hat would an outlaw race be without a little controversy? A timing glitch helped determine the Outlaw 10.5 outcome of the Outlaw Racing Street Car Association's inaugural points event Mar. 19-21, at Carolina Dragway, but by all other accounts it was an auspicious beginning for the Atlanta-based series.

Michael Robinson had luck on his side when Mike Hill couldn't answer the call to stage for the Outlaw 10.5 final.

Twenty-three cars showed up to contest ORSCA's premier class, with 21 of them making laps on raceday. The Limited Street and EZ Street fields weren't quite so full, but ORSCA administrator Johnny Fenn is confident those classes will grow with time. Additionally, a strong showing of 6.0 and 7.0 index cars rounded out a full day of racing.

When Mike Hill couldn't stage his turbocharged 2002 Mustang Cobra for the Outlaw 10.5 final, Mike Robinson took the winner's trophy -- as well as $7,500 -- home to Dallas, GA. The controversy stemmed from Hill's semi-final match against Joey Martin in an '03 Cobra after the timing system failed to give either racer a time or speed. Hill's car was all over the right lane, but he gathered it in to create a finish too close to call, so track and ORSCA officials decided to have them run again.

Like all four Outlaw 10.5 semi-finalists at Carolina Dragway, Washington, GA's Mike Hill had a bye in the first round.

The second time around there was no doubt. Hill left with a .053 holeshot, then posted his best numbers of the day with a 4.713-seconds pass at 157.65 mph over the eighth-mile race distance. Meanwhile, Martin shut off early, coasting through in 6.19 seconds at 83.83 mph. Unfortunately, however, Hill lost the oil pump belt on what should have been his final-round pass.

"It's frustrating for sure, but it wasn't the track's fault the lights didn't work," Hill said. "I didn't really want to run him (Martin) again, but I understand where the track was coming from. It was the only fair way to do it. That's just the way drag racing is sometimes."

A large crowd gathered to watch Mike Hill's crew gamely try to solve their low oil pressure problem in time for the Outlaw 10.5 final at Carolina Dragway. Hill said the motor normally runs 90 to 100 pounds of oil pressure, but could maintain only about 70 pounds, so he decided to play it safe and withdraw.

To make matters worse for Hill, Robinson barely moved off the start before spinning the tires in his bye-run final. Then, flames erupted under his nitrous-equipped 1970 Camaro.

"Any way I can get it. The car's been running 4.70s every pass, so I can't complain," Robinson said later. "There's no damage. It wasn't a nitrous fire; I think it was just all the brake cleaner I'd sprayed under there to clean things off between rounds that caught on fire."

As unlucky as Hill was, Blake Wilder was the exact opposite as he advanced to the semis on the other side of the ladder. Wilder, driving a 1966 Rambler with a blown 526 hemi up front, made an off-the-pace bye run in the opening round when his opponent broke, then overcame a huge holeshot by Jack Barfield in round two when Barfield's '68 Camaro lost traction. Wilder enjoyed another bye in round three courtesy of breakage in the other lane, but then had to face off against Robinson for a chance at the big money.

Despite losing in the semis, driver Blake Wilder and car co-owner John Jenrette were pleased with their appearance at ORSCA's first race. "We're fourth in points," Wilder pointed out. "That's not too bad."

In the semis, Robinson left with more than a tenth advantage off the line, then went 4.722 at 153.69 while Wilder posted another sub-par 5.15 at 145.54 mph. The Marietta, GA-based driver wasn't surprised, however, as his team discovered a broken clamp on the distributor that allowed it to move and throw the engine's timing off.

"They saw it when we started the car for that last pass, but there was nothing we could do about it then," Wilder said. "At least we know what's wrong and can fix it. We rode that horseshoe as far as we could."

Low e.t. during 10.5 eliminations was posted by Terry Robbins, from Mooresboro, NC, with a 4.696 at 154.32 in his 1967 Nova, and top speed honors went to Steve Kirk when he went 4.734 at 161.98 mph in the second round with his 2000 Camaro. Clint Goethe, from Smoaks, SC, drove his '98 Mustang to the Outlaw Quick 8 win over Monroe, GA's Kirk to close out Saturday night's qualifying action.

Joey Martin, from Milton, FL, performs all the work on his '03 Mustang himself -- right down to the eye-catching paint job.

The $2,500 Limited Street final-round win went to Keith Szabo in a '93 Mustang over the '95 Corvette of Shannon Ragsdale, and Ron Hardy, from King's Mountain, NC, won $1,000 as the EZ Street winner. Jason Richards earned $1,200 as the 6.0 class winner, while Bobby Michard converted a holeshot victory to a $750 payday in 7.0 action.

With race number one in the books, ORSCA's Fenn left Carolina Dragway feeling upbeat and confident about the future. "It went great. We have a beautiful facility here and we had the baddest cars, so I expect we'd have a great race," he said. "There were a couple of glitches, but what race doesn't have them? If we can have every race half as good as this one, we'll have a great season. I really believe that."

Michael Robinson digs in on his way to winning the inaugural ORSCA Outlaw 10.5 race at Carolina Dragway.