Warm temperatures and sunny skies greeted fans and racers at the Atlanta Dragway in Commerce Saturday. Fans were treated to some great racing, with Brad Howard and Kyle Stephens ending their win droughts with victories on the quarter mile.
Brad Howard, Gainesville, found a tire combination that worked well for his ’02 Miller Dragster, helping him towards his victory in the Super Pro category. Howard took out Toccoa’s Thomas Bell with a great 4.88-second pass at 141 mph (4.87 target). Bell attempted to win by taking the finish line stripe first, but broke out with a 4.67 at 144.88 mph (4.68 dial) due to Howard’s better reaction time.
Loganville’s Kyle Stephens saw his last win in 1988, in what is now called Pro class. Stephens, who races a supercharged ’75 Camaro, faced an even quicker Travis Bryant, of Bowman, in the Pro final round. However the race was over the moment Bryant left the dreaded red light glowing at the starting line with a -.007 second red light. Stephens ran his car all the way out, posting a 6.69, 104.78-mph pass (6.71 dial) to Bryant’s otherwise near perfect 6.289 at 108.53 mph (6.28 dial). Jeff Wagner of Braselton made it to the semi-final round.
Jay “Jaybird” Rhyne took the win in the Motorcycle category courtesy of a better reaction time and breaking out less with his Athens, GA based ’81 Kawasaki, carding a breakout 12.39 at 102.18 mph (12.41 dial). Loganville racer Paul Cavanaugh, who was campaigning on a borrowed ’05 Hayabusa, broke out more with a 9.33 at 138.26 mph (9.37 dial).
Sportsman winner Scott Reynolds, of Cartersville, usually runs in several classes, and does well. Saturday, he consolidated his efforts into the Sportsman class, and was rewarded with the final round win light. Reynolds was at the disadvantage in the reaction time department against finalist J.D. “Doc” Burford of Greensville, SC, but got the win light with a 14.21 at 91.62 mph in his ’90 Firebird (14.18 dial). Burford’s ’07 Corvette was just a bit too quick in the final, and while he did cross the big end stripe first, the breakout 12.96 at 103.66 mph (13.00) was only good enough for the runner-up spot.
In the 8-12 Jr. Dragster division, 11-year-old Charlie Smith of McDonough used a better reaction time to take the win with an 8.99 at 72.57 mph (8.90 target) against 12-year-old Austin Solesbee of Sautee. Solesbee’s 8.96 at 71.14 mph (8.90 target) was closer to the mark, but he crossed the finish line 0.023 seconds after Smith.
Maddie Lee, from Campobello, SC, is not a stranger to the 13-17 Jr. Dragster winner’s circle and earned the chance to visit it again by running the tightest final round of the day (in all classes) by crossing the finish line 0.022 seconds ahead of 17-year-old Jacquelyn Lastinger of Lilburn. Both racers dialed 7.90 seconds, and both posted a 7.91-second time, with Lee running 81.88 mph and Lastinger 80.94 mph. Eighteen-year-old Taylor Ramsey of Commerce won a semi-finalist trophy.
