"Stevie Fast" Jackson made quite the splash when he won the first ADRL Pro Nitrous race he'd ever entered at Rockingham Dragway back in March and he proved it was no beginner's luck when he repeated the feat June 30, in the ADRL Summer Drags IX at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

Jackson, from Martinez, GA, qualified his Al-Anabi Racing '68 Camaro fourth behind polesitter Jim Laurita, teammate Mike Castellana and John Hall with a 3.808-seconds pass at 195.39 mph. Once eliminations began, Castellana made the quickest eighth-mile pass in American Drag Racing League history when 3.726 at 195.95 flashed across the right-lane scoreboard to signify an easy first-round win over Keith Jackson.  His second-place qualifying run of 3.802 at 192.62 was not quick enough to back the run up for an official record, however, and tire shake put Castellana out when he raced Tommy Franklin in round two.

"Stevie Fast" Jackson made quite the splash when he won the first ADRL Pro Nitrous race he'd ever entered at Rockingham Dragway back in March and he proved it was no beginner's luck when he repeated the feat June 30, in the ADRL Summer Drags IX at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

Jackson, from Martinez, GA, qualified his Al-Anabi Racing '68 Camaro fourth behind polesitter Jim Laurita, teammate Mike Castellana and John Hall with a 3.808-seconds pass at 195.39 mph. Once eliminations began, Castellana made the quickest eighth-mile pass in American Drag Racing League history when 3.726 at 195.95 flashed across the right-lane scoreboard to signify an easy first-round win over Keith Jackson.  His second-place qualifying run of 3.802 at 192.62 was not quick enough to back the run up for an official record, however, and tire shake put Castellana out when he raced Tommy Franklin in round two.

Meanwhile, Jackson opened with a 3.842 solo run at 193.89 mph when John DeCerbo couldn't make the call, then led stripe-to-stripe with a 3.838 at 195.39 against Robert Patrick. Jackson then had to take on top qualifier Laurita, who faded to 3.952 while Jackson took lane choice into the final after going 3.825 at 195.90 for the win.

Waiting for Jackson in the final was an unlikely opponent in Franklin, who prior to the Summer Drags IX, had yet to win a round in eliminations this year. After also opening with a solo pass, then catching a break against Castellana, Franklin took a huge holeshot victory over Hall in the semis when he left with a .013 light to Hall's .091 that allowed his 3.932 at 190.32 to beat a quicker and faster 3.860 at 196.15 by Hall.

"Yeah, man, that was really exciting," said Hall who turned 40 just one day earlier. "Obviously, I knew Mike (Castellana) had us covered, so I just told my guys we'd just put our usual tune-up in it and maybe they'd go out swinging for the fences and it looks like that's exactly what happened. And then against John Hall he was just late and I cut a good light and that's again what we needed."

Franklin got the early jump again in the final as he left with a .031 light to Jackson's .047, but that marked the end of his lead as Jackson's 3.834 at 192.58-mph pass easily outdistanced Franklin's losing, but game 3.909 at 189.64-mph effort. Still, the win was not without its own drama.

"Oh my gosh, I get up there and I go to pre-stage and the thing has no brake pressure, the pedal goes right to the floor; it was rolling and I stopped it with the transbrake!" Jackson declared. "I tell Billy (Stocklin) on the radio, 'Listen, I don't have any brakes,' so he tells me to forget it and don't run, but I said to just tell the fire truck and ambulance to get ready because I'm headed for the other end.

"That's why I poked it in kind of deep and kind of had a bad light, but it went straight down the race track. I got the chutes out a little early 'cause I really didn't think I was going to stop, but it doesn't matter now, I've still got a great hot rod.

"It was a great weekend for my guys," Jackson concluded. "They worked their butts off and I can't tell you how happy I am about getting this win for them and for KH (Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani), who's letting me live the dream."

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