2018 LIGHTS OUT 9 - EVENT RESULTS
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ELIMINATIONS
FINAL QUALIYFING
FRIDAY RESULTS - STEVIE FAST TURNS ON THE SPEED TO JUMP TO THE TOP
Apparently trash-talking can be as crucial in drag radial racing, as an aggressive tune-up. One produces the other at Lights Out 9, the popular drag radial event hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park.
Stevie "Fast" Jackson will be the first to testify.
"I wasn't planning on running for the No. 1 qualifier, but I was inspired," Jackson admitted.
And for Jackson, he needed very little inspiration after seeing Keith Haney thunder to the top of the leaderboard in Thursday's opening session.
"The pocket carnival midget had on his No. 1 qualifier shirt on Friday, and he made videos about me because I had only made one decent run. I spun out on Thursday. I told [Haney] to wait about 12 hours, and I would get him straight."
Jackson straightened the rest of the Radial vs. The World field with a 3.804 second elapsed time at 196.93 miles per hour. Friday's qualifications were much better than Thursday, largely in part because of a racing surface willing to cooperate with the 50-plus entries within the Duck X Productions top of the food chain division.
"I didn't run too fast, I just eased it down there," Jackson explained. "The car ran good, and the track came around good today. Today was the first day we've had a good one to race on. As you can see everyone is ripping down there. It's normal SGMP. I wanted a second run today because I was going to really hang my wee-wee out there."
The third qualifying session was postponed until Saturday when the deteriorating conditions left race officials with no other choice than to call it a day.
Daniel Pharris stepped up in a big way during Q-2 with a 3.810, 211.43 to claim the No. 2 spot, while the boxy 1978 Chevrolet Malibu of Mark Micke was third with a 3.855.
Thursday's provisional No. 1 Haney, fell to fourth when he failed to improve on his 3.858.
Jason Hoard holds down the No. 32 spot with a 4.594.
The multitude of classifications competing have one more qualifying session before first round Saturday afternoon.
SESSION TWO
THURSDAY - HANEY FIRES OPENING SALVO IN RADIAL VS. THE WORLD QUALIFYING
Keith Haney heard all the wisecracks; largely those from Lights Out 9 promoter Donald "Duck" Long and his cronies over the last week. The good-natured ribbing focused on everything from his physical stature to his driving ability.
Thursday night during Radial Vs. The World's lone session, Haney shut them all up, and didn't even have to open his mouth.
Haney, the driver of the Enigma 2016 Camaro, thundered to the provisional low qualifying position with a 3.858 elapsed time at 196.62 miles per hour.
"I really didn't do anything but let go of a button, I have the team who have done all of the work, and they made it all happen," Haney explained. "At the end of the day, it's more about them than me."
Haney's purpose-built Camaro struggled in Wednesday's open-testing which resulted in long hours for the Enigma braintrust of Brandon Switzer and Bradon Pesz.
"There was a four-hour conversation Thursday evening that I was not a part of," Haney admitted. "The Brandon's and our shop guys came together with a plan for a new combination."
Haney had one test hit on Thursday afternoon, and consensus beforehand was one of uncertainty.
"At first I was supposed to drive it to the 330, but then I was told to go to the finish line, so I did it."
Haney lit up the scoreboards with a conservative 4.04 elapsed time, and then baseline run was enough data for the team to tune for Q-1.
"Everything worked as it was supposed to, or at least that's what they told me," Haney said. "The way it usually works, is I ask them what they did and they respond with get in the car and drive."
Just how impressive was Haney's 3.858? The second quickest Radial vs. The World entry was former NHRA regular Taylor Lastor, who turned in a 3.926. Paulo Giust was third with a 3.998.
NHRA Pro Stock driver Alex Laughlin ended the day as fourth with a 4.158 in his drag radial debut.
In a scary moment, Radial vs. The World/Top Sportsman racer Andrew Johnson lost control of his '57 Chevy and slammed into the retaining wall. He exited the car under his own power, and appeared uninjured.
SESSION ONE
THURSDAY RESULTS -
