The extremely popular Outlaw Mad Dawg series rolled into O’Reilly Farmington Dragway on Saturday, September 20, and was greeted with weather fit for a king. Race fans enjoyed a huge field of fast doorslammers, 18 in all that were trying to bust their way into a tough Quick-8 field to compete in the main event.

Statesville, NC’s Joel Douglas overcame a boat load of adversity just to squeeze into the show. Douglas drove an amazing tree-trimming race, eventually putting his 2007 Chevy Cobalt in the winner’s circle, his first main event final of the season in any series. The extremely popular Outlaw Mad Dawg series rolled into O’Reilly Farmington Dragway on Saturday, September 20, and was greeted with weather fit for a king. Race fans enjoyed a huge field of fast doorslammers, 18 in all that were trying to bust their way into a tough Quick-8 field to compete in the main event.

Statesville, NC’s Joel Douglas overcame a boat load of adversity just to squeeze into the show. Douglas drove an amazing tree-trimming race, eventually putting his 2007 Chevy Cobalt in the winner’s circle, his first main event final of the season in any series.

The beautiful racing conditions may have been picture perfect, but Joel Douglas’ day at the track was not. “I got to the track late to begin with, then we messed up the first qualifying run with a pair of carburetors that wouldn’t take fuel,” commented Douglas. “We came back and tore them apart, cleaned on them, fooled with them and still couldn’t get them straighten out,” recalled Douglas.

Douglas and team eventually outfitted the race car with a set of carburetors that had been sitting on the shelf of the car hauler for 3 years. The carbs performed flawlessly and Douglas was ready for a second attempt at breaking into the show. Trouble was, a hot wire that was attached to the nitrous relay switch had gotten knocked out of position and the car fell flat on its face. Strike two.

With a single shot left at making the field, Douglas rose up and unloaded a stout 4.23 @ 169mph, placing him 6th on qualifying sheet.

Douglas rolled to the line in round one to face Jason Harris, a two time winner this season in the Big Dog series. Douglas was out of the gate first with a .016 reaction time to Harris’ .096 rt. Harris was first to 60 feet before his Pontiac GTO experienced problems and slowed. Douglas drove to a 4.22 @ 170mph to collect a round one win.

Considering his qualifying struggles, the only conceivable hint of luck Douglas caught all night was when second round opponent, Todd Howard, wasn’t able to make the call for the semi finals due to mechanical problems.

The cool night air at Farmington had fans breaking out long sleeves for this thrilling, under the lights final round. Recent Mean 16 event winner, J.D. Goad, who got past Ken Regenthal and Darrin Hoyle in the previous rounds rolled to the line to face Joel Douglas in the finals.

Not taking Goad’s good-running Lumina lightly, Douglas leaned on the tree again and caught a good bulb out of the gate with a .017 rt. Goad’s Lumina stumbled at the hit, allowing Douglas to heat up the strip with his best tune-up of the night, stopping the clocks at 4.20 @ 170mph.

Douglas, who co-owns the race car with Charlotte’s Anthony Sherrill, was quick to credit Steve Vance Racing Engines for providing race-winning power from a 632 c.i. engine. The Cobalt’s chassis was originally built by Wally Stroupe Race Cars. Douglas and Sherrill purchased the chassis and rear quarters, and final assembly took place at Donnie Gibbs’ Mooresville race car shop. “Randy Smart and Donnie Gibbs deserve so much credit because without them it would have been really tough to get this car finished,” commented Douglas after his Mad Dawg victory.

Next stop for the Outlaw Mad Dawg series is scheduled for October 4, at Mooresville Dragway.