Mid-Way Through The 2008 Season The ORSCA 7.0 Index Class Has A New Sponsor And New Winners    

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  The  season opener in Huntsville was plaqued by rain and eliminations remain incomplete. Only one round of qualifying was completed for all classes. Local racer Scott Johnson qualified # 1 with a 7.0020. Even with only the single round the top five qualifiers still averaged a 7.015. We did manage to get two complete rounds of eliminations on Sunday, so this race will be finished at the Huntsville event this fall

  In Atlanta, the weather was awesome and the racing was as well. Wood Electric put up a $ 100 Cash Bonus for the # 1 qualifier and Ed Bendall claimed it with a perfect 7.000. The top 5 qualifiers ranged from Bendall's 7.000 to a 7.003, an unbelievable 7.0018 average. Brock Taylor took the win after David Brand redlighted in the final.

Rainwater Scores First ORSCA Win

Paulk, Jackson, Ellis Post 2nd Of Year

Ken Rainwater had perhaps one of the toughest weekends of his Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 career, but the team's perserverence paid off in a big way.  Suffering both a broken differential and a loss of steering in the shut down area , due to a broken bolt, during eliminations.  Ken, Dee and the crew never gave up.  Ken qualified # 2  with a 4.58, just behind Jimmy Blackmon's 4.57, then defeated Jack Barfield and Gilbert "The Rock" Jacobs on his way to the final round match-up with Bill Jewett.  Rainwater defeated Jewett 4.66 to a slowing 4.85. Anthony New was Jewett's semi-final opponent.  Points leader Joe Newsham also had his share of problems in Montgomery and fell in the first round to Ed Lavender.

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Newsham Repeats And Extends Points Lead

 Joe Newsham wasn't as consistent in the Carolina heat as he was in Commerce, but he still managed to pull out the win in Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5. Newsham became the first back-to-back winner of ORSCA's fastest class in quite sometime, by using a .001 reaction time to defeat Tim Lynch in all turbo powered Mustang final. Lynch ran quicker with a 4.631 to Newsham's 4.712, but his .104 light proved to be the difference. Lynch, the #1 qualifier with a 4.49, defeated Jimmy Blackmon in the semi-finals and Newsham defeated "The Rock" Gilbert Jacobs. 

David Waits took his first ever Sheppard Race Cars / Berry Plumbing & Equipment Limited Street win in his Proline Powered Camaro. David has been improving every race and qualified #1 in route to victory. Waits defeated fellow turbo powered competitor Keith Szabo, 4.987 to 5.081. The race was tighter than the ET's showed as Szabo had a .023 reaction to Waits' .076. Waits used a strong 4.942 to beat Carlton Thompson's 4.994 and Szabo used a holeshot aided 5.031 to defeat defending champ Darrin Hoyle's 5.004. The starting line advantage was .021 to .057.

Joe Newsham of Sicklerville, NJ and Nick Yarber from Meadview, VA invade the south, with wins in Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 and TCI EZ Street.

 Newsham in his turbocharged Mustang was the model of consistency with ET’s of 4.465, 4.466, 4.464 and a final round 4.482 to defeat Kimberly AL racer Ken “Big Chief” Rainwater’s 4.581. Carlos Zaldivar of Miami Fl was the #1 qualifier in his beautiful 2004 Corvette with a strong 4.422. Bryan Markiewice and “Outlaw” Jack Barfield were the semi finalists.

 Jeff Paulk of Social Circle, GA kept the Sheppard Race Cars/ Berry Plumbing & Equipment Limited Street Class money in the south, nearly pulling off a clean sweep. Paulk, driving his beautiful 2000 S-10 qualified #1 with a 4.835, set low ET of the meet with a 4.818 and defeated defending champion Darrin Hoyle with a 4.842 to a losing 4.885. Mike Davis and Alan Halbert were the semi finalists.

Champions Decided ! What A Throwdown at H'Town

photos and words by Wade Mooney 11/13/07

Carolina Dragway supplied the ultimate track surface, the good Lord provided the ultimate weather and the ORSCA racers from near and far provided the fastest side-by-side action in Outlaw history. Records fell in every heads-up category and first-time winners were crowned in three different classes.

Doom Reigns Over Huntsville

 Everyone seemed to know that eventually Shannon Ragsdale and the Doom Team would pick up a win in the Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 Class and Huntsville Dragway provided the perfect place. Racing on a nearly flawless track the hard charging, high Mph twin turbo Corvette found the et and consistency to survive 5 rounds. In the final Ragsdale left first againest Pasadena TX's Todd Moyer and never looked back. His 4.67 @ 168 Mph handled Moyer's 4.76 @ 153 in his small block turbo Camaro.
 Team Doom showed that a turbo car can be as consistent as it's nitrous competition by running a 4.65 in the semis over Tony Johnson's blown 69 Camaro which broke during the launch. In round 3 the Vette posted a 4.63 and a holeshot win over Chuck Ulsch's quicker but losing 4.60. Previously he had run a 4.59 defeating Jim Robbin's troubled 5.06 and on his first round bye he posted a 5.11 after letting off as he drifted towards the center line.
 Moyer's march to the final included a huge win over "The Hitman" Mike Hill in the opening round 4.65 to a 4.70. Second round for Moyer turned out to be a pedal fest againest fellow Texan Grant McCreary with the flamed Camaro prevailing 5.14 to a game 5.34. Moyer's round 3 win was his closest as he defeated Keith Sexton 4.663 to a 4.664. Moyer slowed to a 4.81 in the semis but caught a break when the resurgent Jack Barfield got out of shape and had to abort his run.
 A total of 26 Mickey Thompson Outlaws were in attendance with 23 making the first round call. Maryland's Richard Sexton was #1 qualifier with a 4.480 at 165.50 mph.