Sunny skies and breezy conditions greeted fans and racers at Atlanta Dragway Saturday, as the second event of the season was held at the Commerce facility.
“It’s about time,” exclaimed the jubilant 6.50 Index winner Matt Ward after defeating defending champion Stan Sinack in the 6.50 Index final. Ward, from Fair Play, SC, used a near perfect .005 reaction time to take his ’69 Camaro to his first Atlanta Dragway winner’s circle with a 6.528 at 101.29 mph. Sinack did not leave much room, turning in a slightly quicker, but second across the stripe, 6.517 at 104.19 mph in a showroom quality ’69 Dart.
Lloyd Shanks Jr. of Pendergrass finished in the semi-final round.
Royston’s John Norris kept his ’86 Camaro quite warm during the last few rounds of 7.50 Index racing, using a better reaction time to take the final round 7.50 Index win stripe with a 7.55 at 85.09 mph against Woody Bryant’s Bowman based ’82 Camaro. Bryant was only .015 of a second behind, running 7.540 at 88.02 mph
In Open Comp Full Body, Norris again took the win stripe, barely defeating Bill Boomhower from Walhalla, SC. Norris had the dial-in time set to 7.41 for Open Comp, and finished with a close 7.426 at 91.27 mph. Boomhower’s ’65 Belvedere was hot on the trail, crossing .001 seconds later with a 6.135 at 108.57 mph (6.09 dial).
Hull’s Ray LaCount, who raced a venerable Vega wagon for many years, switched to a ’98 Horton dragster four years ago. LaCount’s new mount earned its third victory, posting a 4.837 at 142.91 on his target time of 4.81 seconds. Jesse Young of Danielsville crossed the finish line .03 seconds behind LaCount with a slightly off-pace 4.826 at 137.05 (4.77 dial).
Bruce Wilson, of Tallapoosa, visited the Pro winner’s circle in his ’70 Nova. He met Walhalla, SC, racer Bill Boomhower’s ’65 Belvedere, which was in its second final round of the day. Although Boomhower’s car was running nearly perfectly, Wilson’s reaction time advantage was good enough for the win light, taking the big end stripe first by .06 seconds with a 6.71 at 95.92 mph (6.67 dial). Boomhower carded a 6.12 at 110.65 (6.11 dial).
Jay “Jaybird” Rhyne added another Motorcycle victory to his win column, this time against Carl Gant of Augusta. Rhyne’s ’81 Kawasaki ran close to its mark with a 7.67 at 85.67 mph (7.66 dial) against a much faster Gant, who went a bit off pace with a 6.04 at 109.92 mph (5.97 dial).
Cumming’s Mel Abney won the 2010 Atlanta Dragway Sportsman championship in his ’67 Camaro without winning a single race in 2010. Abney ended the drought with a victory against Harold Wilson of Winder. Abney’s .007 reaction time gave him what he needed to slow his car to a 13.26 at 97.19mph (13.20 dial) and still take the finish line stripe .04 seconds ahead of Wilson’s ’74 Nova, which also ran a little off of its target (13.10 at 101.00 – 13.03 dial). Steven Wagner of Jefferson finished his day in the semi-finals.
