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Number-three qualifier Keith Szabo and his ’93 Mustang reached the final against Hoyle after making a first-round bye, beating Florida’s Carl Gilbert in round two, and edging second-place starter Eric Dillard in the semis. |
EZ Street
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Domination isn’t a strong enough word to describe David Reese’s (Left) performance in TCI Automotive EZ Street at Atlanta. The Rockmart, GA-based racer began by placing his Reese-Langston Motorsports ’95 Mustang atop the qualifying list with a record-setting 4.893 blast at 157.15 mph on Saturday night, covering the field by more than a tenth as second-place starter Shane Stack ran 5.003 at 153.47 in his tubocharged ’86 Monte Carlo. After a 4.983 opening-round bye, Reese easily handled Robert Culver in round
two and oused Matt Mungall and his ’78 Fairmont from the semis. In the final round, Reese faced off against Chad Henderson (Right), where he led wire-to-wire for a convincing .481 margin of victory after going 5.001 at 153.77 mph.
Henderson, from Madison, AL, qualified his 1972 Nova seventh, then defeated Pierre Burley in Sunday’s opening round before taking out Shane Stack in a tire pedaling round-two match. In the semis, Henderson took out Tommy Brewer in his new-for-this-year ’94 Trans Am, but was no match for Reese and his turbocharged Stang in the final round.
Modified Street
Proving his win earlier this year at Huntsville, AL, was no fluke, Dustin Mewbourn turned the trick again, defeating Richard Reagan in the Race Coach Sales Modified Street final at Atlanta. Mewbourn started his 429 Chevy-powered ’89 Mustang in third place after qualifying with a 5.559 at 124.82 mph in a class designated for small-block entries with a single stage of nitrous. Mewbourn overcame a holeshot by Kell Eubanks to win round one, then had to do it all over again in round two when Bob LaBrecque left with an unreal .003 light. In the semis, Mewbourn held off a hard-charging Shawn Normal and in the end had to rely on his own starting-line prowess for the event win. A .021 advantage off the start meant Mewbourn’s 5.598/126.86 would hold off the slightly better 5.595 at 129.18 by Reagan’s Rutledge, TN-based ’80 Mustang.