INDEX QUALIFYING
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| David Harvey qualified his Richmond Hill, GA-based Trans Am first with a perfect 6.000 pass in the 6.0 class, then made it to the final round where parts breakage cost him a shot at the win. |
Qualifying in ORSCA’s index classes routinely emphasizes the accuracy required to be competitive. Case in point: Roger McConnell drove his 400 c.i. 1948 Anglia to the top spot in Draggin’ Speed 5.30 qualifying with a 5.301 at 134.20 mph, edging the first-generation Camaro of second-place starter Lizon “Show Stopper” Walker by just one thousandth of a second. Points leader C.G. Knight was third at 5.306 in his wild ’68 Ford pick-up.
Eventual finalist David Harvey ran a perfect 6.000 lap at 109.97 in his early-90s Trans Am to start on top of the Industrial Depot 6.0 class, while LeBron Hill was two thousandths back in his ’68 Camaro. And in Atlanta Speed Shop 7.0 qualifying, Terry Martin duplicated Harvey’s perfection with a 7.000 at 97.77 mph, with David Brand second at 7.001, Ed Bondall third at 7.002, Josh Madrey fourth at 7.003, Chris Sloan fifth at 7.004, and defending class champion Ricky Pennington sixth at 7.005 seconds.
5.30 INDEX
David “The Alabama Outlaw” Goodson (far lane) earned his first-ever ORSCA 5.30 win with a late-race pass of Allen Keller and his Southern Truck Parts Monte Carlo.
In the 5.30 class, it was number-four qualifier David Goodson from Weaver, AL, meeting up with 11th-place starter Allen Keller in the final round. Keller left first with a .035 light to Goodson’s .052, but at the top end it was Goodson turning on the win light with his drop-top ’69 Camaro, going 5.336 to Keller’s 5.356 in his Forest Park, GA-based ’88 Monte Carlo. Keller actually led most of the way, but “on the other end the car just got a little crazy and I got on the brakes and he got by,” he said.
Goodson admitted to being “a little worried” coming into eliminations after running under the index twice during Saturday’s qualifying sessions.
“Actually, I had changed the shift point and leave point on it a little and that’s when it ran under, so I went back to my standard tune-up and it picked up and ran the right numbers,” he said. “That last run it was off a little, but I think the track was going away. It was enough to get the win, though, and that’s the main thing. We’ve been chasing it all year and this is our first win with ORSCA. It feels good; we needed it.”
6.0 INDEX
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| Jody Voyles completely rebuilt his ’87 Mustang for the 2006 season. After a slow start, “Mr. 6.0” recently posted three consecutive race wins, including last weekend’s ORSCA event at Atlanta Dragway. |
Again with most competitors getting a first-round bye, the real racing began in the second round of 6.0 action. The final would see number-one qualifier Harvey going up against Voyles, who was off base somewhat on Saturday and had to start from the 18th position. No matter, Voyles, from Douglasville, GA, ran a pair of 6.00s to get things started in eliminations, then never ventured above 6.02 before reaching the final round.
