 Big Dog Continues To Be the |
“Who let the (big) dogs out?” was the question that greeted the estimated 6,000 hard core, heads-up, drag racing fans who jammed themselves into North Carolina’s fabled all- concrete 1/8th mile Piedmont Dragway. Why did 6,000 fans turn out on a Thursday night for a drag race? ‘Cause it was old-school, Southern style, heads-up doorslammer racing For the second race of the season nearly two-dozen of the region’s biggest, baddest, and fastest Top Sportsman, Pro Street and Pro Mod cars were on hand to battle for a spot in the eight-car feature program that paid the winner $4,000.
The Big Dog shows are one-day programs where racers get just one shakedown and two qualifying passes to make the show, so racers have to make each run down the track count. Sandy Wilkins, Top Sportsman winner from the IHRA national event at Rockingham Dragway just two weeks prior, got out of shape on his very first pass and nosed into the wall, but was able to come back and attempt to qualify after just 14 rolls of duct tape were used to shore up the damage to the body.
As the evening wore on, Greensboro resident Rocky Raynor emerged as the top qualifier with a 4.196 at 172.84 mph. Ronnie Gardner, winner of the first Big Dog of the year in April, came in second with a 4.213. Jason Harris (son of former track owner Bob Harris), in just his second event, came in just behind Gardner with a 4.220. Matt Giangrande, Travis Harney, 3x Limited Street champ Darrin Hoyle, David Campbell and one of the original IHRA Pro Mod racers Ken Regenthal filled out the rest of the field, which featured a 4.277 bump.
Perhaps the biggest surprise from qualifying was that Todd Tutterow, who has dominated this series in the past few years in his supercharged cars, could not crack the top eight at this event with the two qualifying passes that he had. Tutterow was mired in 17th spot with a 4.415 best, which didn’t get him a spot in the main event but did get him into the second-eight consolation race as an alternate. Brian Williams, who missed getting into the feature program by just .007 of a second, led the second group of racers with a 4.284. He was followed in order by Chris Rini, Tony Ward, Chad Tilley, Sandy Wilkins, Joel Douglas, Gilmer Hinshaw and Flip Spinks.
