The crowd was filling in as the first round of Outlaw 10.5 eliminations concluded and grew even larger after temperatures dropped to the high 80s when the sun went down.
“To be honest I was more nervous about the oildown right in front of us than I was about the final round itself. The big end was where we were having our biggest problem anyway, so to have that right in front of us was not good on my mind,” Rainwater said. “But they (the MMP staff) did a great job and for the car to go out and run like it did, well that just leaves me speechless. I really don’t know what else to say.”
Rainwater (far lane) beat Texan Kevin Hargett in the Outlaw 10.5 final. Hargett appeared to abort the run after losing traction early, but later explained something broke on his 2001
Mustang and he lost all power. “The track was good, the car was good, it was hooking up and then it just died,” said Hargett. “It’s definitely disappointing, but we had a great time and we were happy to go rounds here.”
In the opening round of eliminations, number-four qualifier Rainwater ran his career-first “50” with a 4.589 win over Chris Shortridge, then took out Billy Stocklin with a 4.554-seconds pass, beat a tire-smoking Mike Hill after going 4.571, and wrapped up the day with a 4.593-seconds win over Kevin Hargett in the Outlaw 10.5 final. “I’m really proud of being in the .50s for all four passes,” the Kimberly, AL-based racer/promoter said. “That, and winning, of course. This is really exciting for all of us.”
“It’s small, I guess, compared to most everybody else, but we still get power out of it,” Jeff Cooner said of the small-block, twin-turboed 426 Ford residing under the hood of his ride. “It’s just a beast; this motor makes well over 2,000 horsepower.”