Event Recap Congratulations to the following winners from Points Race #9 on Sunday, August 17th! Top Eliminator - Darrell Collins of Winston Salem, NC
Jason Harris scores Big Dog win; (8-09-08) Julian, NC - For the second time in his 5 month old Big Dog career, Jason Harris hoisted the famous K-9 shaped trophy in Piedmont Dragway's winner circle last evening. Harris, son of Big Dog founder, Bob Harris, used an even mixture of hole shot magic, a solid car and perhaps a wink and a smile from Lady Luck to put all the pieces together and score his second Big Dog win of 2008. Harris held off the incredibly tough Ronnie Gardner in this unique final round where one elapsed time fit all. Qualifying 6th in the 8-car main event, Jason Harris used a Rick Jones-fabricated GTO and horse power from an inspiring Billy Albert-assembled 632 - the smallest motor in attendance yesterday evening. The combo clocked 4.26 @ 171mph in the tightest Big Dog field of the year. Sitting on the bump was "Diamond" Jack Gaddy, returning to the seat of his Cavalier and sliding in the show with a 4.27 @ 171mph. Up one notch to the #7 spot was Bobby Leonard, who made his Big Dog debut yesterday behind the wheel of his stunning, in-house constructed 57 Chevy from L&H Race Cars. Moving up the qualifying ladder to 5th was Gilmer Hinshaw's Kresto Cobalt. Season-opening winner, Ronnie Gardner, slid into the #4 spot, with David Campbell holding down 3rd. Ford fans cheered loud for Brian Williams, as his Mustang made a strong showing with a #2 qualifying effort. July's Big Dog PowerJam winner, Travis Harvey, was the quickest man through 2 rounds of qualifying, posting a 4.23 @ 175mph. Picking up the action from round one, eventual winner Jason Harris needed a hole-shot in the worst way to get past David Campbell. Harris caught the bulb he needed, his 4.27 holding off Campbell's quicker 4.23 elapsed time. This advanced Harris to a semi-final show down with Brian Williams. Harris was second out of the gate on this one, but the GTO had an aggressive tune-up, as his 4.22 went low e.t. for the round. Brian Williams' 4.23 made this anybody's race at the 660 mark. Ronnie Gardner, who got past Gilmer Hinshaw and Travis Harvey in the earlier rounds, staged along side Jason Harris for one last blast down the 1/8 mile. Incredibly, both drivers stopped the clocks at 4.257 seconds. Gardner's mph was greater, but Harris took an enormous lead out of the gate and never looked back.
As traditional with the Big Dog series, both drivers immediately turned around in the shut down area, and drove their race cars right back down the 1/8 mile strip to the starting line, where they greeted fans and chatted with Alvin Dildine over the public address. Back in the pits, Jason Harris, the 28 year old resident of Pittsboro, NC, voiced praise for engine builder Billy Albert and the amazingly effective 632 c.i. powerplant he produced in his Wytheville, VA engine shop. A relatively small race team, the Harris family make up the bulk of the group. "Racing is hard work, and I've got a full time job, but it just goes to show you what Big Dog is about. You can take an affordable car with a smaller budget and find success," commented Harris. Racing since he was 18 years old, Harris has honed his skills over the last decade in the local bracket racing scene, as well as gaining tons of experience as a driver in IHRA competition, placing 5th in the world last year in Top Dragster. For 2009, Harris is seriously examining the possibility of adding a second car to this racing enterprise. In addition to the Big Dog GTO, Harris could very well be making a move to his biggest stage yet, with talks of fielding a Pro Nitrous entry for ADRL competition. Catch the cult-following Big Dog series in action next month, as the series assembles again on September 4, 2008. Story and photo by: Van Abernethy Press Releases
Southern Automotive presents Rico's Real Street 7.49 & 8.99 winners from August 14th! 7.49 - Ken Myrick of Julian, NC
Congratulations to the following winners from Points Race #8 Top Eliminator - Tommy Plott of Winston Salem, NC
The Chi-Town Hustler comes from Chicago for Piedmont’s Chicago grudge racer CJ is bringing his all motor street tire Hayabusa to Piedmont Dragway’s Bike Night on August 9th to openly challenge anything “the East Coast has to offer.” With such big words, can he back up his claim that he has the “fastest all motor street tire bike”? With several big races in the works, you are guaranteed to see some very fast racing at Piedmont Dragway’s August 9th Bike Night! 230-275 lbs. = 70" max w/ 2" GC Gates open at 3 PM and time runs begin at 5 PM. General admission is $10 with unlimited time runs for an additional $10. Kids 12 and under are always FREE! For more information, call (336) 449-7411 or email us at info@piedmontdragway.com!
Middle East Car Show - August 2nd On Saturday August 2nd, DJ's Waleed Coyote and Tap Money of 102 JAMZ will be hosting the Middle East Car Show at Piedmont Dragway. With a full day of racing, a car show, and special celebrity and musical guests, the first ever Middle East Car Show promises to be on of the most talked about car shows in North Carolina. With a paid general admission of just $15, you will receive a free entry into the car show and free Test & Tune on the track! Awards will be given out for the Top 25 overall cars along with 4 special awards: Tap's Pick, Waleed's Pick, Best Rims, and Best Overall. Come and check out the show cars of special guest Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks! Following the car show will be a free musical performance by North Carolina artist Ricco Barrino with special guests P-Wonda and the 336 Boyz
Motley Crew gets their second 6.49 win!
Congrats to Derek Motley and his crew for their first We Fly Together Motorsports & Southern Automotive 6.49 Shootout win! In the finals, Motley ran a 6.506 at 105.88 MPH to defeat the always consistent Jeff Faucette who ran a 6.474 at 100.16 MPH. Don't forget, the 6.49 Shootout is always the on 3rd Thursday of each month along with our regularly scheduled Test & Tune!
Piedmont Dragway will host one of the most unique race vehicles to ever go down a drag strip this Saturday night. The famous jet truck known as “American Thunder” will make two separate exhibition runs at Piedmont Dragway’s Thrill Show on July 19th.
The Lesson from Points Race #7? Learn from the Jr.'s They are small, they sound funny, and they run on a lawn mower engine. No, Jr. Dragsters are not as entertaining as the Big Dog cars nor are they as fast, but one thing is certain: they are the future of drag racing. And if you were racing at Piedmont Dragway on Sunday for Points Race #7, you probably could have learned a thing or two by watching the Jr's cut the tree down all day long. Just take a look at some of their reaction times: Top Eliminator finals featured our first round bye winner Cameron Manuel out of Winston Salem, NC and Mike Reavis from Yanceyville, NC. Manuel's luck continued as he took the win, running a 4.979 at 135.82 MPH.
David Scotton of Robbins, NC and Colt Buckner out of Winston Salem squared off in the Street ET final round. Scotton and his Ford Mustang came out on top taking his first win over our current Street ET points leader.
Our Footbrake finals saw #1 qualifier Bill Ritts against Jonathan Surratt. Ritts, out of Danbury, NC continued his great day with a win over the Charlotte, NC native Surratt. Not only did Bill take the win but he gave the quote of the day. After congratulating and introducing myself to him after his win, he laughed and said, "it's always a pleasure to meet someone while you're in the Winner's Circle!"
The Rain That Never Came
We spent several hours looking at the radar map on Thursday afternoon wondering what time the rain would hit Piedmont Dragway. The big green blob of rain was moving slowly across the state and it looked like once it started, it was not going to let up for a few hours. We just knew that Thursday night's Test & Tune plus Rico's Real Street 7.49 & 8.99 (sponsored by Southern Automotive) was going to get rained out before the gates were to open at 5 PM. Anyone who came to Piedmont Dragway on Thursday night must have not paid any attention to the weather forecast all day. But we are glad everyone came because the green blob began to slowly break apart and moved south, completely missing Piedmont Dragway and allowing us to run our normal Thursday night program. Now on to the racing...
All I can say is that Bobby Stokes was on tonight. He ran a 7.51 to pick up the number one qualifying spot and then knocked off Jeff Faucette in the first round. In the second round, we saw a rematch from 2 weeks ago between Owen Teague and Randall Cantrell. Last time, there was a $25 bounty on Teague since he was the previous winner. This time the bounty was on Randall because he was the most recent winner of Rico's Real Street. Randall went red and The Outlaw moved on the the semi's. Another interesting run in the 2nd round was between Derek Harris and Ken Myrick. Harris pre-staged and then rolled deep while Ken was pre-stage. Realizing his mistake (since deep staging is against the rules in Rico's Real Street), Harris backed it up a split second before Myrick staged and got himself in position to make the run. The tree dropped and Harris took the win with a 7.51, which caused quite a buzz from everyone watching on the starting line. In the finals, it was Bobby Stokes and The Outlaw, Owen Teague in a rematch from 2 months ago. The end result was the same with Stokes taking the win with a 7.53. Congrats to everyone with Brady Racing! A big thanks goes out to everyone who came to Piedmont Dragway tonight and decided not to pay attention to the radar!
Travis Harvey Conquers PowerJam!
(7-04-08) Julian, NC - Car owner Russ Farmer should probably go on vacation more often, especially if it's on race night. Farmer made a brief appearance last night at Piedmont Dragway's PowerJam event - just long enough to watch his driver, Travis Harvey, make one lap down Piedmont's 1/8 mile before taking off to the beach. Approximately 5 hours later, Farmer's relaxing vacation was interrupted by a phone call. "We won!", Travis Harvey shouted. "He basically responded with total silence," laughed Harvey, followed by, "Are you kidding?"
Travis Harvey 4.284 170.29 W
Video's Qualifying from Wednesday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqUm857mpqY&feature=related More Qualifying and Limited St: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BnlMd0go_M&feature=related Qualifying Thursday + 1st round: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2vYmxiMfvs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYsTlluvC68
GrudgeFest, RainFest, or Oil Fest? If North Carolina is in the midst of a drought, all Piedmont Dragway has to do is schedule a GrudgeFest and the rain will follow. There was a great turnout of racers and spectators on Saturday afternoon when GrudgeFest was scheduled to begin. The rain bounced all around the track on the radar map and things were looking promising. Races were locked in, trash was being talked, and races started going down. Then, the inevitable happened, rain. The track crew did everything they could, but it wasn't enough as the bottom fell out around 6:30. GrudgeFest was moved to Sunday. While a lot of out of towners packed up and went home, some did stay. One of the first races of the day was Team Xtreme vs Street King. This race came down to the wire as you can see from this photo:
We had the conclusion to the Busa Shootout from back in April. It was to decide who has the fastest Busa at Piedmont Dragway. Greg, riding the Willy Wonka entry, was to take on the Friday the 13th bike being rode by Ray Lee. Ray jumped the lights, turned it red, and Wonka took the win. There were a handful of other bike races, including those by MotorCycle Jack/Alex. You can watch the video of the bike races here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcNzv2PE3I8 Near the end of GrudgeFest on Sunday, a certain dog from down south got walked. Baby Boy got called every name in the book by DOG during negotiations, but Baby Boy laughed last. Baby Boy taking the win: The Trouble Maker owned by Lance Stafford and driven by Travis Harvey were in attendance and ready for action as well. They lined it up against the Richmond Boys. The Trouble Maker made a great debut at Piedmont Dragway: They ran it back with the same outcome. At the end of the day, our boards were hit by lightning so the last 2 races were done by hand. Countless runs going on throughout the day. Many more than what we talked about here. I took some pictures over both days and hope you guys enjoy them. NdaCut will be the man to see with the video as always. We appreciate all you guys coming out to Piedmont Dragway and we'll see you again at the next GrudgeFest in September! http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff10/PiedmontDragway/GrudgeFestJune/
Moss, Lister, Ritts and Buckner in bracket race finals. If there is ever a drought, Piedmont Dragway is here to help. To eliminate any drought, we simply plan a bracket race. Wham, a 50% chance of rain will pop up. Today, we ran the guys hard. We were worried about the threat of rain, so we ran the program a little faster than usual. Piedmont is known for a quick program and today was no exception. We really appreciate the racers working with us to get the event over by 5pm. Not bad to run 4 classes, 2 time runs and eliminations in 4.5 hours!
The weather wasn't the only thing that was hot this past Thursday night at Piedmont Dragway. Our Southern Automotive Rico's Real Street 7.49 and 8.99 Index classes featured some hot races on the track. To start the day, we quickly realized our timing equipment had been struck by lightning earlier in the week. Herb Jr. spent hours diligently working to get us ready to race only to find out our power was out to the scoreboards and half of the pit side track lights. With a call to Duke Power and nearly 3 hours later, we were ready to race right at 6 PM! After qualifying, a $25 bounty was put on "The Outlaw" Owen Teague simply because "he's won too much." In the first round race, Owen lined up against Robert Cone and rolled deep, causing the foul and giving the win light to Cone. I am sure that $25 will spend well at lunch tomorrow. The first round was stacked with big match ups including Ken Myrick against Derek Harris and Randall Cantrell against Bobby Stokes. Congratulations to Mike Jefferies for being the number one qualifier giving him a first round bye. Both Randall and Tootsie Roll moved on to the next round and into the semi's as well. The finals featured Jeff Faucette vs. Cantrell and by now I am sure you can take a guess at who won by the number of times I have said his name thus far. Randall Cantrell ran dead on with a zero to pick up the win and some bonus money from Southern Automotive for running 7.490 in the finals!
I also need to give a shout out to the previous winner and runner up of 7.49 from 2 weeks ago, Owen Teague and Ken Multer. Sorry we missed you guys two weeks ago Tonight also featured our 8.99 class, always paired with 7.49 on the second and fourth Thursday of every month. Points leader Robbie Dalrymple helped his cause by moving on to the finals but rolled deep, giving Robbie Gibson and the Anger Management Racing Mustang an easy 8.99 win. I also want to thank the street cars and imports from Imports NC and Carolina Hondas for coming out and supporting our Test & Tune. We are hoping to get a great Street ET following for the end of this year and into 2009. Be on the lookout for some special races specifically for street cars! Thanks to everyone who came out tonight and battled through the early heat, but once it cooled down, the racing is what heated things up!
What an interesting night at Piedmont Dragway. Maybe Dripmont would have been a better name. We had quite a few oil downs last night. Hopefully nobody tore anything up. It kept the Piedmont staff on point as we were constantly cleaning and looking for drips throughout the night. In 6.49 action, Derek Motley drove Steve's Automotive machine to the winners circle. The finals of 6.49 saw Derek going against Pro Tree veteran Owen Teague. Owen had .04 in his pocket off the line. He wasn't able to turn that into a win light however as Owen ran out of nitrous. Nothing like getting ready to hit the button and nothing is there. Motley took the finish line .0002 of a second. The closest race in 6.49 history. We'd like to thank Rocky at We Fly Together MotorSports and Southern Automotive for helping put on the 6.49 class!
Bike Night this Saturday has been canceled in respect for Gue or BigMan as most knew him by. This past Wednesday night BigMan was shot and killed. Here is the story via the Times News: http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/called_14504___article.html/lawmen_shooting.html There is a lot more to racing than cars. The people involved in racing are what make it fun. We have owned this track for 1 year. Prior to that, I had never heard of BigMan. He was ones of the nicest guys I had ever met. My brother and I have constantly joked with him on TNT and Big Dog nights. Our starter Leon and him went back and forth many times, chasing each other with sprayers, brooms or whatever was around. He was the constant jokester. We did countless scooter races, foot races and all types of other things with him. His main objective was to have fun. Without being asked, he would run cold water and drinks to our gate staff. That is the type of man he was. He just wanted everyone to be happy. We go through life trying to better ourselves. Many of us feel that success and happiness is defined by the things we acquire. BigMan had a gift that money couldn't buy. He was able to make anyone laugh. Not once in the past year have I ever been around him and NOT laughed. He was always able to put a smile on people's faces. BigMan had a big heart. I hope that everyone will remember him as that guy. The man on the starting line, standing behind his bikes, his friends bikes, riding down pushing riders back, getting debris off the track or doing a burnout on his scooter at the import meet. In honor of BigMan, I ask that each of you try to put a smile on someone's face you know every single day. I can't think of a better way to honor him. People outside of the racing world will never understand what type of family the racing community is. It has taken me almost an hour to type this paragraph. My hands are shaking and tears are running down my face. It is going to very hard for some to come to the track and not see him. Knowing BigMan, he'd want the show to go on. We can honor him best by keeping our hobby fun, that is the way he would have wanted it. RIP BigMan, we all loved you. Mike McCandless
Ronnie Gardner seals another Big Dog win Gardner, once a dominate force in Big Dog during the late 1990's and years following, went winless in 2007 as competition became brutal with 7 different winners in 8 events last season. Driving for car owner Jack Gaddy, Gardner is enjoying his best series start in years - winning the season-opener - followed by last night's display of power and consistency. Repeating his qualifying performance from last month, Gardner once again solidly muscled his way into the show with a #2 spot on the qualifying sheet, as 23 capable race cars were trying to fight their way into the 8-car roster that made up the main event. Gardner stopped the clocks with a 4.28 @ 173mph on his best attempt through two rounds of qualifying. Just as dusk was settling over the North Carolina skies, Big Dog's elite began lining up in the staging lanes for the round one eliminator. Gardner's Jack Gaddy-owned 1968 Camaro was indeed a picture of consistency throughout the event, but Gardner himself was no slouch either. Through 3 rounds of competition, Gardner was first out of the gate in all 3 flashes of the Christmas tree. Gardner rolled to the line to face Burlington's Travis Harvey in the opening round. Gardner's 4.27 @ 173mph pulled away from Harvey's out of the groove 5.70 et. Gardner then held off Thomasville's Andy Beal in the semis, when Beal's Camaro slowed to a 5.52 et. Gardner drove to his best numbers of the night on this pass, stopping the timers at 4.24 @ 174 mph. Gardner then faced Big Dog's man on the rise, Darrin Hoyle, competing in the series for only his third event. Hoyle, very impressive in qualifying, landed his Cobalt in the top spot, then took out New York's Chris Rini, and Mad Dawg winner Gilmer Hinshaw en route to the finals against Ronnie Gardner. Hoyle drifted in and out of the groove against Gardner, slowing to a 5.62 et. Gardner, meanwhile, was hooked up and hammer down, streaking to the finish line with a 4.28 @ 169mph. "It feels good to pick up another win tonight", said Prime Time chassis builder Ronnie Gardner. This was Gardner's 28th career Big Dog win, 25 of which came while steering Glen Redman's Superman Corvette, widely regarded as the winningest car to ever compete in Big Dog. For those who've been following the excitement of this series, it was simply understood that ORSCA Limited Street star, Darrin Hoyle would figured this game out quick. Shocking to some, however, was learning that Hoyle's way of "figuring it out" would consist of swapping his mammoth 762 engine, for a 632 built 6 years. Ironically, the engine has been between the frame rails of everything from his Limited Street Camaro, to a friend's drag radial Ford Fairmont. "I wouldn't say I've figured it out, laughed Darrin Hoyle, I'm just a little closer than I was." Hoyle's belief is that the 632 is a tried and true combination, and the Taylorsville, NC car dealer has high hopes for continued success in the southeastern heads-up scene. Despite brutal temperatures yesterday, the usual standing room only following of Big Dog completely filled the grandstands. Big Dog action returns to Piedmont on July 3. Story and photos by: Van Abernethy Press Releases  For once, the weather held off. I was able to catch video from the quarterfinals on. However, a new lens I tried didn't work out so well. I apologize for the odd view of the video. In the finals of Top we had Steven Moss and Todd Ball. Steven had the reaction time advantage and took his Duragloss Mustang to the winners circle. You have to love the family picture of the Moss gang. In Footbrake, local boy Ken Myrick took home the win against Chad Harrisfrom Vinton, VA. We really appreciate the these VA coming down and supporting us! Jr Dragsterwas very competitive throughout the day. In the finals,
Video link:
Kleeme, Procopio, Binge Jr and Clay take home the big money at Piedmont's 20k/5k bike race. What a day. It's sunday at 3pm and I'm just getting recovered from a very long day of racing. Friday night we had our usual open TNT for guys that traveled great distance to run in our 20k/5k race. We had a decent selection of bikes, some I had never seen more, some I've seen at every race. We ran a gamblers race with 12 bikes. The Kleeme clan had 3 entries left at 3. I get them all confused, so I will now call anyone from Iowa or IN, Kleeme Clan.
Bobby Stokes gets his first win in 7.49! The wonderful weather man. If there is every a person you'll grow to hate as a track owner, it's the weather man. All week we were told Thursday was going to be a wash out. The rain held off at Piedmont Dragway and we were able to get 7.49 and 8.99 action in. Michael Jefferies likes his new parking spot, the winners circle. His truck found its way back there again this past Thursday night.
PTRA invades Piedmont, you have to watch the video PTRA, for those who don't know much about it, it's time to learn. Tony Brown has put together a Pro Tree program that is very entertaining. 3 index classes, 7.0/6.0/5.30, along with 2 heads up classes and pro tree eliminator. Bracket racing has needed a breath of fresh air and I believe Tony Brown has done that. Pro Tree racing brings a new challenge to racers who have went off the bottom bulb for years. His heads up classes are very entertaining to watch. Top Street and True Street provided some incredible side by side runs on some very small tires. I ask that you watch the video below. If you only feel like watching for 1 minute, then go to the 5:15 mark of the video and watch what happens with a true 10" tire car hooks up! Below are your winners from the PTRA event this weekend. I'd also like to give a special, a VERY special, congratulations to Eric Gauldin who won his first race this weekend in 7.49. Congrats buddy! Below are the winners per PTRA's website for this respective classes: Top Street
Fastest field in BigDog History! Big Daddy takes the win and pumps a 632! The question always is, what will the bump spot be. It's a question we always ponder before any BigDog. Tonight, on May 1st, the fastest field in BigDog History was set. With just .08 separating the entire field, the bump spot tonight was a 4.277. How that bump spot came, is a great story. After 1st round of qualifying, the bump spot was 4.313, Tony Ward driving the Jack Gaddy entry. During 2nd round of qualifying, Chad Tilley had some breakage, which left oil on the track. Ken Regenthal and crew had been thras
hing on their car, as they had missed 1st round of qualifying. They knew there was no way they could make the final round of qualifying. Dismayed, they came to the tower and said, we ca
n't make it. With Tilley's oil down, 2 amazing things happened. First, Ken was able to thrash and get the car together and uncork a 4.277 for the #8 spot. Second, Chad being bumped out, put #17 qualifier Todd Tutterow in the consolation race. Todd's best run was a 4.401. As everyone knows, you can't give Todd a 2nd chance.
Semis: Finals: Rocky Raynor 4.196 172.84
Brian Williams 4.284 Race #1 Jason Harris 4.209 W Ronnie Gardner 4.200 W Rocky Raynor 4.197 W Semis: Matt Giangrande 4.224 W Finals:
Brian Williams 4.274 W Todd Tutterow 4.15 W Chris Rini 4.27 W Semis: Tony Ward 4.27 W Finals: It was a great BigDog night. We appreciate everyone coming out. Currently I just have video of the main race. I'll load up the rest of the video's I have on Friday. We look forward to seeing everyone out at Piedmont Dragway at the next BigDog June 5th. Hope you enjoy the video!
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
June sun, the red hot Ronnie Gardner collected win number 2 last night, with the running of Big Dog's third event for 2008. 
.jpg){kind=link}
©2008 Piedmont Dragway,Com
Piedmont Dragway - 6750 Holts Store Rd. - Julian, NC. - 336.449.7411