It was a bit of old school racing at the Atlanta Dragway Saturday for the fifth Saturday Insanity event, after a lightning strike last week disabled the time slip printers, meaning that staff members had to copy each run down by hand.
That didn’t affect the racing, however, as it was fast and furious on the quarter mile.
Lilburn’s Stan Sinack regained his points lead by making it to the 6.50 Index finals against T.J. Thomas of Baldwin. Sinack’s Dodge Dart left the line with a .055 reaction time, just before Thomas cut a .081 green light. Though Thomas made a 6.52-second run at 108.23 mph, Sinack’s reaction time made his 6.53-second run at 101.47 mph the winning package. Lloyd Shanks Jr. of Pendergrass and David Brand of Covington placed in the semi-finals.
Shane Williams of Knoxville, TN, lined up for his fourth final this season in the 7.50 Index category against Randall Roop of Canton. Williams and Roop jumped at the last moment, cutting a heart-breaking -.001 foul. Williams wasn’t distracted by Roop’s red light, leaving the line with a hard-to-beat .012 green light. Roop carried on for a 7.52-second run at 88.06 mph, while Williams finished his winning run on a high note with a 7.503 elapsed time at 91.14 mph.
John Norris of Royston staged for the Open Comp finals against Buford’s Steve Adams. Norris, dialed in at 7.34, left first with an excellent .010 green light. Adams, with a 6.98 dial-in, was itching to catch up, but left the line a little slower with a .073 reaction. Adams never caught Norris, running over his dial with a 7.07 second run at 98.56 mph while Norris recorded his second win for the season in 7.38 seconds at 92.53 mph.
Saturday’s event also featured several special attendees, including NHRA Pro Stock racers Warren and Kurt Johnson from nearby Sugar Hill and Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Steve Harker from Gainesville. A new racer, Steve Moore from North Carolina, made his first full Top Alcohol Dragster pass during his licensing runs, at 5.37 seconds and 249 mph.
