PILCHER PREVAILS OVER PARKER

Words and photos by Ian Tocher
4/1/04

Johnny Pilcher said his car had some problems with the nitrous turning on and off early in the day, but fortunately, its performance never suffered on the way to the ORSCA Outlaw Pro Mod win at Atlanta Dragway.

ittingly, the two quickest and fastest cars on the grounds faced off Mar. 28, in the ORSCA Outlaw Pro Mod final at Atlanta Dragway, as Johnny Pilcher and Dan Parker traded blows throughout eliminations in a pair of '63 Corvettes before staging their ultimate clash.

It was only the third time out for the car Dan Parker was driving in Atlanta after testing it for four days early in the year at Darlington and finishing runner-up at Orangeburg, SC, two weeks before the ORSCA event. Car owner Mike Hill, who races a turbocharged Mustang in Outlaw 10.5 action, said he plans to enter a few Outlaw Pro Mod events and match races with it himself this year, and may even try to qualify for a couple of IHRA national events.

With 13 cars in the class, both Pilcher and Parker enjoyed bye runs in the opening round. Pilcher ran next-to-last and set low e.t. for the round with a 4.18 at 175.64 mph over the 1/8-mile distance. That left only Parker to make a pass in Mike Hill's '63 Corvette and he promptly went one better with a 4.14 at 179.25 mph. The stage was set. In round two, Pilcher ran another 4.18 against a red-lighting Thomas Lee, while Parker went 4.16 to a 4.58 by Rex Kelley.

Pilcher, from Chancellor, AL, said he showed up at Georgia's House of Speed just expecting to shake down his new Sonny Leonard-built 737 engine and support the fledgling Outlaw Street Car Racing Association (OSCRA). "We've changed some components in the motor, trying to get it faster and get a little more durability. You know, you've gotta' finish to win," he stated.

The semi-finals featured match-ups against James Hancock Jr. for Parker and Jeff Ensslin for Pilcher. In the first pairing, Hancock left early while Parker set low e.t and top speed for the day at 4.12 secs and 179.40 mph. Unfortunately, in the other semi, Ensslin's 1954 Studebaker broke on the line, sending Pilcher on a 4.13-secs solo pass.