“Atlanta is always a tricky track, we came here expecting worse track conditions than they were and it made for better racing and we just played it round by round.  I want to thank my main man John Ferguson, my crew chief Eddie Wilson, Hoosier Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Fulton Racing Engines, and my whole family.  We have been down on points all year long so hopefully this will help us out and should make for a good battle for the championship as the year goes on,” stated the world champion Kirk Jr.  

    With just four races remaining on the Year One ORSCA schedule and one of those being a make up event rescheduled for August 25^th at Carolina Dragway which is from being rained out earlier in the year, the series headed to Atlanta Dragway for round four which is the halfway point of the 2007 season. It was also the host of the first ever ORSCA series bikini contest sponsored by Oasis Goodtime Emporium which brought out over thirty beautiful ladies from in and around the Atlanta area seeking the two thousand dollar prize!

On Saturday the real action started with three rounds of qualifying for all seven of the Year One ORSCA series. Throughout the day series official kept an eye on the weather radar as various times throughout the day on-track activities were slowed by sprinkles. Top qualifiers included Ricky Pennington in the Atlanta Speed Shop 7.0 class, Trent Sanders in the Industrial Depot 6.0 class, Israel Delaney in the Southern Truck Parts 5.30 class, Brian Murphy in the RaceCoachSales.com Modified Street class, Shane Stack in the TCI Automotive Easy Street class, Mike Donnahue in the Sheppard Race Cars Limited Street class, and finally Richard Sexton in the Mickey Thompson 10.5 class.

 

As teams rose to the Sunday morning time they noticed there was no sunlight and nothing but wet conditions and raindrops. Most anticipated another washed out elimination day. ORSCA director Johnny Fenn stated early in the rainy morning ,ORSCA is here to race if any conditions will allow it.  As almost an act of magic the rain stopped, clouds broke, and work began to prep the track for the day’s racing action.

 

The finals began as David Brand faced sixteen-year-old Chuck Hardy in the Atlanta Speed Shop 7.0 class. The youngster Hardy would red light and give the win away to David Brand.

It feels good to get this win here at my home track. I grew up racing here so it makes it real special for me.  Saturday was a little rough on us battling the track, but for some reason after the rain came on Sunday, the track really came to us and made things a lot easier on us.  I also want to say that this sixteen-year-old I raced against is a class act and look for him to make some noise in the future,” said Brand. 

 

It was now off to the 6.0 class sponsored by Industrial Depot as the fans saw Nicky Ewing versus Mike Strickland. It was the second red light in a row after Strickland jumped the gun a little too early giving the victory to Ewing in his 1970 Camaro.

 

 

I want to thank Atlanta Speed Shop for giving us the horsepower to get down the track, Ewing Trucking, and my crew chief Lonnie Moon Jr.  It’s been about two years before we could get this win here and all those guys have really stepped up to help me out when I needed it and this should hopefully put us in the top-10 in points and that’s where we need to be.  This win couldn’t have came at a better time as we are getting ready to go back to Jackson for that make up race where we qualified number one and it is a track that I really enjoy, so this will definitely boost our confidence as a team,” noted Ewing

 

Smoking the late night air and ready to rumble, up next was the Southern Truck Parts 5.30 class and it would be Lester Pitts battling Glenn Dutton. It was now time for the first real final race of the night as Dutton would run a 5.315 defeating Pitts.

This has been a long time coming, we were eighth last year in the points and that’s where we stood coming in to this race and our goal this year was to be in the top-5 in points and get a win.  It looks like we have accomplished part one of our goals and if we can keep doing this then the points will take car of themselves.  I’ve got a lot of sponsors and crew members and I want thank them all for helping us get here today,” said the winner Dutton.

 

In the Modified Street presented by RaceCoachSales.com it would be Glenn Jones going up to face Bryan Murphy. In one of tightest races of the night, Bryan Murphy running a 5.530 just ever so slightly edged out Jones’ 5.563 at the line.

 

I can’t ask for a better weekend, it seemed like a perfect weekend for us.  We were the number one qualifier,  and won the race. You can’t really ask for anything better than that.  I just want to thank Mo Money Entertainment and GMS Custom Fabrication because they are the ones that get me down the track each time.  I’m not sure if we will be in Jackson, we had a motor down at the time and didn’t get to qualify, so if they let us make a qualifying pass we will definitely be there.  It would be nice to carry this momentum into that race because I think we would have a shot at being back to back winners,” stated Murphy. 

 

 

On to the EZ Street where it looked like most finals we have seen this year as number one qualifier Shane Stack in his 1986 Monte Carlo took on David Reese in his 1995 Mustang. This would not be a race at all as Stack would break at the line not even able to take the start and giving the win to Reese.

 

 “We have been to ten races this season and been in the finals ten times and now won eight of them but I know this was as easy as it gets.  I hate it for Shane (Stack) to go out like that because we enjoy racing against him and we are building a pretty good rivalry up for the fans.  Jackson should be a good race for us as last time we were down there we set a new ET record and we do a lot of grudge racing there so it’s a track we have had success at, not to mention that I think it’s one of the best tracks we go to,” said Reese

 

Down to the final two classes where Darin Hoyle faced off against Jeff Cooner in the Sheppard Race Cars Limited Street class. Hoyle would expand his points lead with the win running a 4.901 to Cooner’s 5.043.

 

 “I didn’t think we were going to be here in the finals today. We weren’t getting down the track like I thought we needed to in order to win but it looks like we had a little luck shine  on us and here we are.  I really have to say thank you to my wife Emily she is only four weeks away from giving birth to our son and she’s out here in the hot sun lining me up and working on the car, she’s just unbelievable.  I’m ready to go to Jackson it’s the closest race to home for me, and that may be a good thing because I might have a new little boy by then.  We are thinking about naming him Carson and can already tell he is going to be a racer because he has been to the track more than I did before he was even born,” said Darin Hoyle with a smile from picking up the win and soon to be dad.  

 

After several delays throughout the day, shortly before 11PM the season was officially at the half way point for the 2007 season.  Up next for the ORSCA Series will be a rain-out make up event at the Carolina Dragway in Aiken, South Carolina Saturday August 24-25^th. Be sure to visit www.outlawracing.com for all the latest news going on in the world of outlaw racing. 

 

Article credits

Chris Ragle

Tex Motorsports Marketing/Pro Photo Productions

www.texmotorsports.com

www.prophotoproductions.com