Ricky Pennington
In the Mullis Super 7 Footbrake wars, it was good to be a part of Doyle Kay's "Ashville Army", the fleet of neat, clean and deadly footbrake cars driven by Doyle's family and friends. On Saturday, John McKinney knocked out Doyle Kay in the semis and then faced Ricky Pennington in the finals. McKinney took the win with an .013 bulb, a 6.55 dial and a 6.556 at 99.97 miles per hour. Pennington had his ride dialed at 6.75 and scored a 6.794 at 94.29 with an .018 light. Ben Willis was the other semi-finalist.
Douglasville, Ga., racer Brandon Thompson took the Saturday Jr. Dragster title over Cayden Marsh, who was making his first MMP start. Brandon dialed a 7.90 and went 7.906 at 81.63 miles per hour with a .039 light. Cayden lit the red lights but soldiered through with a 8.945 on his 8.87 dial. Taylor Ramsey of Commerce, Ga., was the lone-semifinalist.
Brandon Thompson and Taylor squared off in the Sunday Jr. Dragster final and Brandon blinked. Taylor took the win with a .134 light, a 7.67 dial and a7.732 at 83.37 miles per hour. Brandon ran a breakout 7.815 at 82.91 mph on his 7.83 dial. Cayden Marsh and Brett Childs of Montgomery were the semi-finalists.
It was "O-Kay!" in the Sunday Footbrake finals as Doyle Kay pulled one out against heavy hitter Jim Griffiths of Foley and his 1947 Ford. Doyle, a former world Footbrake champion, logged a .041 light, and a 6.447 on his 6.45 dial at 103.83 mph. Kay got away with the breakout when Griffiths had an .056 light and a 6.975 on his 6.99 dial-in. Ronie Lancaster of Baileyton, Ala., was the lone semi-finalist.
The Pro class at the Mullis Super 7 looked like a field at the Million Dollar race with two former winners of that event and mega-hitters like Scott Richardson and "Bones" Ewing. But it was a second-generation racer, Jonathan "Lil" Jones who rose to the top, mowing down hitter after hitter. In the finals, Jones, the son of legend Rickie Jones, met Mississippi ace Mike Buchwald, the defending champ of the "King of the Coast" series.
Buchwald (shown) took home the big check with a .023 light and a 4.867 at 136.34 on his 4.85 dial-in. Jones had dialed a 5. 01 and ran a great 5.023 at 136.19 mph but had box problems and lost a ton on the starting line. Jeremy Hancock of Commerce, Ga., was the lone semi-finalist.