SUNDAY FINAL - THE OUTLAWS GET THEIR WALLYS

For the first time outside its national events, the California-based National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) awarded much-coveted “Wally” trophies to the winners of NHRA Unleashed, a brand-new, made-for-TV drag racing series featuring several “outlaw” eighth-mile classes and quarter-mile index classes that kicked off this weekend at Atlanta Dragway. Named after NHRA founder Wally Parks, the gold-colored trophy has long been considered the ultimate symbol of excellence for drag racers.

The gesture was not lost on drivers like Robert Mathis, who steered his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro to the Dixie Pro Mod title with strong run against former ADRL Pro Nitrous World Champion Keith Baker in the final round.

“Oh man, I can’t tell you how much this means to me. This is my first-ever Pro Mod win and for it to come with a Wally is unbelievable,” Mathis declared shortly after being interviewed by NHRA Unleashed TV host Steve Watson. “I’m going to remember this for as long as I live.”

Joining Mathis in making history at the NHRA-owned facility were Tim Lynch in Outlaw 10.5, Keith Szabo in Limited Street, Jimmy Martin in EZ Street, and Jody Voyles in Modified Street, all heads-up, no-breakout classes incorporated into NHRA Unleashed from the Outlaw Racing Street Car Association (ORSCA). Index class winners included Danny Bytnar (8.50), Stan Sinack (10.0), Mark Young (11.0), Howard Warren (12.0), and Jacob Rutledge (13.0)

Mathis said his win “didn’t come easy,” requiring the swap of an engine during qualifying and a most-fortuitous torque converter change after making a semi-final bye run.

“Thankfully we had my spare Gene Fulton motor with us,” Mathis said about trading it in before running 4.16 seconds at 177.32 mph in his second qualifying attempt to place fifth in the eight-car field. Thirteen teams made qualifying passes on Saturday and those left out included high-quality racers like Johnny Pilcher, Chris Patrick and Brad Brand.

Mathis opened with a 4.12 pass at 180.72 over Norman Thomas, but the race was actually won at the starting line when both drivers left too early, but Mathis was the lesser of the two offenders. Then came an even luckier break in the semis against number-one qualifier Ronnie Davis, who had to shut down his ’63 Corvette upon feeling a severe engine vibration during his burnout.

“My converter was done,” the Baker, Florida-based driver revealed about making a seven-second pass at just 87 mph. “I had to restart the car three times just to get it to the line. I was just up there to take the (green) light and hope for the best.”

The best came for Mathis in the final against Baker, who left with a slight .004 advantage that Mathis had more than overcome by the 60-foot marker. They ran identical 2.749s to half-track (330 feet), but Mathis tripped the eighth-mile beams in 4.13 seconds at 179.92 mph compared to the 4.15 at 176.53 by Baker in his split-window Corvette.

Lynch, from Woodstock, Georgia, was happy to get the first win with his brand-new 2010 Corvette in only its second race outing.

After qualifying seventh in the 16-car field, the Woodstock, Georgia, driver made his strongest pass of the weekend with a 4.49 win at 177.35 mph over Bill Futch. He then ran 4.51 at 171.27 against a redlighting Jill Hicks before earning a holeshot victory over Rob Wells in the semis with a 4.52/169.44 combination beating the 4.51 at 173.54 by Wells.

The final saw Lynch go up against Dave Cox and his ’94 Mustang from Conway, South Carolina, where Lynch overcame a slim holeshot with a 4.60 pass at 168.53 to Cox’s 4.97 at 156.83 mph.

“We really didn’t expect this today,” Lynch admitted. “It was so hot today it made it extra hard for us to dial it in with a car that we’re not used to yet, but with the chassis tuning help of Hank Hill and a great Skinny Kid race car it’s starting to come around. There’s a lot more there and we’re just starting to tap into the potential.”

In a final-round meeting of the two top Limited Street qualifiers at Atlanta Dragway, Lynch’s ProLine Racing teammate and polesitter Eric Dillard fell victim to a holeshot by Keith Szabo from nearby Gainesville, Georgia.

Szabo dispatched Jerry Gunter from the opening round, then made a lazy bye run in round two before dominating Texan Kevin Cram in the semis. Dillard made his bye pass in the first round, caught a break in round two with a traction-challenged win over Tommy Ranier, who turned on the red bulb, then beat Kevin Scott in round three.

Szabo cut an excellent .016 light with his ’93 Mustang in the final, while Dillard posted his worst of the day, a .050 that negated his quicker and faster 4.896 at 162.74 mph against Szabo’s winning 4.899 at 161.54 effort.

“That was a great win. Eric and I race each other a lot and I’m always pumped up to race against him. It feels good to get a win like that, especially in these conditions,” Szabo said. “It’s very cool to get a Wally, too; that makes it extra special, too.”

Martin, from Flovilla, Georgia, put his ’93 Mustang on top of the seven-car EZ Street qualifying list with a 5.05 pass at 148.27 on Sunday that granted him a 5.53 bye run in round one of eliminations. He next went 5.90 to beat Glen Jones in the semis to reach number-two starter Wes Whittle of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

Whittle left with a significant .055 advantage, but his turbocharged 2000 Mustang smoked the tires immediately off the start, allowing Martin an easy win in 5.31 seconds at 137.30 mph.

“The heat made it pretty tough today to get down the track. You had to be careful about how much (power) you gave to it,” Martin said. “This is very exciting to get this win,” he added, clutching his Wally after leaving the NHRA Unleashed stage.

Though making only two passes all day in order to win his Wally, Voyles agreed the trophy made his Modified Street win in a tiny four-car field a special moment.

“We’ve been on a bit of a streak lately, winning five of the last six finals we’ve been to, including this one,” the number-one starter from Douglasville, Georgia, said after taking down Ricky Pennington in round one, then going 5.35 at 135.40 mph to easily handle Neil Hawkins in the final round. “But this trophy is a first for me. I’ve never won one of these before and it’ll be going in a special place at home.”

The second of four scheduled NHRA Unleashed events this year will be held Aug. 6-8, at Indianapolis, followed by races at Columbus, Ohio, in September and November at Gainesville, Florida.

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SUNDAY UPDATE -

CAR SHOW HARDWARE - Winners were crowned at Atlanta Dragway in the first-ever NHRA Unleashed Car Show, with Greg Stiles of Epworth, Georgia, receiving the most spectator votes to earn Best of Show with his 440-equipped ’70 Challenger. Stiles also received the Best Mopar trophy, while David Briles got Best GM with his Monroe, Georgia-based ’71 Corvette. Best Ford honors went to Winder, Georgia’s Robert Preston and his ’67 Fairlane 500, while Lamar Harwell, also of Winder, and David Parker from Clairmont, Georgia, shared first place in the Open Truck category with a pair of ’71 Chevys.

Both Dixie Pro Mod semi-finals at NHRA Unleashed wound up being singles for Robert Mathis (#42) and Keith Baker (#1036) after Georgia drivers Ronnie Davis (#204) and Steve Kirk Jr. (#1) both broke during their burnouts. Davis said he felt severe vibration and shut down early thinking his timing belt had failed (though later examination proved something as-yet unknown at fault), allowing Mathis to idle down the track into the final, while a broken rocker arm put an end to Kirk’s day and Baker took the opportunity to secure lane choice with a solid test pass.

SUNDAY - WELCOME TO RACE DAY

Top qualifier Ronnie Davis (far lane) made a 4.12 solo run at a class-leading 181.06 mph in the opening round of Dixie Pro Mod eliminations when the ’96 Camaro of Jasper, Georgia’s Brian Russell broke after the burnouts.

CONTINUING TO DOMINATE - Eric Dillard, co-owner of ProLine Racing, steered Todd Berry’s twin-turboed ’91 Mustang to the number-one position in the first qualifying session for Limited Street and sat out the rest of the day. In a bye run in Sunday’s first round of eliminations Dillard set low ET and top speed of the round.

OOPS! - While taking on Tony Watkins and his ’95 Mustang in the opening round of Outlaw 10.5, “Racin’ Jason” Enos got a little out of shape in his Rehoboth, Massachusetts-based ’67 Mustang and took out the first finish-line cone at Atlanta Dragway.

NATIONAL ANTHEM - Need more proof that NHRA Unleashed is not your grandfather’s NHRA? Tim Wharton of Lawrenceville, Georgia, performed a Jimmy Hendrix-esque version of The Star Spangled Banner to get the raceday festivities started at Atlanta Dragway.

WELCOME TO NHRA UNLEASHED -  Recently announced NHRA Unleashed TV hosts Steve Watson and Sarah Karges are taking in the action at Atlanta Dragway.

MAKING THE CALL - Chad Reynolds describes the inaugural event in the NHRA Unleashed series from the air-conditioned comfort of the Atlanta Dragway control tower. With clear, sunny skies and ambient air temps in the high 90s, track temperature reached 125 degrees on Sunday and was already creeping toward the 120 mark by noon on raceday.

SUNDAY LADDERS -

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SATURDAY - WE ARE UNDERWAY AT UNLEASHED

Only four cars showed up to contest Modified Street at NHRA Unleashed, led in qualifying by Jody Voyles and his Douglasville, Georgia-based ’92 Camaro.

Just as he did last weekend at Orangeburg Dragstrip, Tony Johnson of Conyers, Georgia, qualified number one in the Outlaw 10.5 class for the inaugural NHRA Unleashed event. Johnson and Keith Neal of Snellville, Georgia, both ran 4.483, but Johnson got the nod for top spot based on going 5.5 mph faster over the eighth mile at Atlanta Dragway.

The husband-and-wife team of Cindy (left) and Gerry Williams from Snellville, Georgia, lined up beside each other for round two of 12.0 index qualifying. After three qualifying sessions were completed for eliminations on Sunday, Cindy will start from eighth place after running 12.025 in her ’74 Challenger, while Gerry’s ’73 model went 12.074 to place him in the 12th position for raceday.

Yes, those are the front tires participating in the burnout for Bobby Doddrill’s wild, four-wheel-drive Outlaw 10.5 ’87 Chevy truck. The Florida-based racer jumped up from 16th to ninth on the list with a 4.77 at 150.45 mph in his third and final qualifying pass.

Well-known Top Sportsman racer Ronnie “The King” Davis entered his ’63 Corvette in the Dixie Pro Mod portion of the inaugural NHRA Unleashed event and jumped to the top qualifying position with a solid 4.11 pass in his second attempt. The only change made on the list after round three was Coby Rabun and Lynne Milner-Baxley swapping the 11th and 12th positions, with Rabun taking the higher spot.

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SESSION 3 - QUALIFYING

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SESSION 2 - QUALIFYING

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SATURDAY EARLY NOTEBOOK

There was plenty of diversity in the index class staging lanes at Atlanta Dragway for the first running of the NHRA Unleashed series.

FULPS FORD - Keith Fulp of Alpharetta, Georgia, was busy cleaning up the fenders of his 605 BBF-equipped ’58 Ford at the NHRA Unleashed event. Fulp has owned the big Ford since 1973 and usually races it in NHRA Super Street, Super Gas and bracket classes, but at Unleashed this weekend he’s entered the 10.0 index class. Fulp is set to retire after a 31-year career with UPS at the end of this year, then plans to start manufacturing specialty parts for big-block-Ford applications through Keith Fulp Motorsports.

CLEMSON VS MS STATE -  Teams from South Carolina’s Clemson University and Mississippi State (shown) are at NHRA Unleashed racing their Formula SAE cars on the eighth-mile dragstrip and autocross course to determine a winner for “Extreme College Rivalry,” a stand-alone show slated to appear later this year on the Fox College Sports network.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE - No mater your preference in American muscle, there’s something for everyone looking to buy in the car corral at NHRA Unleashed at Atlanta Dragway this weekend.

BAKER BEATS KIRK WITH MPH - The ’63 Corvettes of Steve Kirk Jr. and Keith Baker both ran exactly 4.131 seconds in round one of Dixie Pro Mod qualifying for NHRA Unleashed, but Baker sits on top of the field after running a faster 177.39 mph to Kirk’s 175.27. Ronnie Davis, in yet-another split-window Vette was third after going 4.136 at a class-fastest 181.45 mph.

QUALIFYING - FIRST SESSION

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A sizable turnout of race teams and fans showed up for the inaugural NHRA Unleashed event featuring Outlaw 10.5, Limited Street and several other heads-up and index classes racing on both the eighth- and quarter-miles at Atlanta Dragway this weekend.

Billed as “a sensory overload for competitors and fans of Sportsman drag racing, muscle-car enthusiasts, car-show exhibitors and high-performance automotive fans of all ages,” in addition to the track action, NHRA Unleashed includes a swap meet and car corral, dyno and autocross opportunities, and interactive fan displays.

Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com will report on a little of all the action throughout the weekend.