If there was a defining race for the ADRL U.S. Drags II in Dinwiddie, Va., Jim Halsey and Khalid Al-Balooshi made sure they earned the title.

As burnout smoke lingered in the air above their potent Pro Nitrous doorslammers the finalists provided those in attendance, the majority of whom entered on a free ticket, with enough excitement that they’d have willingly paid $100 apiece to see the run.

“I was telling my guys that it was 10:30 P.M., and there wasn’t an empty seat in house,” Halsey said. “It was the coolest thing to race in front of that many people. I’ve never raced in front of that large of a crowd.”

If there was a defining race for the ADRL U.S. Drags II in Dinwiddie, Va., Jim Halsey and Khalid Al-Balooshi made sure they earned the title.

As burnout smoke lingered in the air above their potent Pro Nitrous doorslammers the finalists provided those in attendance, the majority of whom entered on a free ticket, with enough excitement that they’d have willingly paid $100 apiece to see the run.

“I was telling my guys that it was 10:30 P.M., and there wasn’t an empty seat in house,” Halsey said. “It was the coolest thing to race in front of that many people. I’ve never raced in front of that large of a crowd.”

Halsey strapped a .05 holeshot on Balooshi and never looked back en route to a 3.900 to 3.908 victory.

There was as much magic as there was smoke in the air for this run. A lot was on the line in terms of bragging rights for the winner where the two drivers appeared to be nothing more than pawns in a high-stakes chess games between engine builders Gene Fulton [Halsey] and David Reher [Balooshi].

“Sometimes you just do what you have to do and you don’t want to go out there and set the world on fire and shake the tires,” Halsey said of the run. “We make every run count and turn up the wick when we have to.”

Halsey turned up the wick in the finals with his quickest run of the event, beating the third quickest of the Al Anabi Awesome Motorsports team which had claimed the top three qualifying spots.

Halsey entered eliminations as the fourth qualifier.

He admitted the pressure level was surprisingly low considering the challenge he faced in that final round.

“We have a pretty good points lead and with Shannon losing in the semis, it didn’t bother me too bad,” Halsey said. “We just went out there and tried to run a low 3.90. We made him have to beat us.” 

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