Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 3B
Local Racing
Banks battles Commerce at Night of Fire
BY AMY GLOVER
Special to The BCN
Mother Nature waited until after
the fans were satisfied with a clas
sic Commerce vs. Banks County
show on the quarter-mile before
she rained on Atlanta Dragway’s
parade, at the 2008 Night of Fire
event Saturday.
The ever-changing weather pre
cipitated a challenge for all racers,
dial adjustment being the main
issue, when predicting elapsed
times throughout unpredictable
conditions.
In the 13-17 Junior Dragster
Category, both 16-year old Brett
Bowman of Homer and 15-year
old Taylor Ramsey of Commerce
struggled with matching their dial-
ins, Bowman running an 8.05 on
an 8.00, and Ramsey an 8.02 on
a 7.99.
The race became all about reac
tion time, with Bowman ending
the race at the starting line with a
.059 light against Ramsey’s .092,
claiming the win with a .008 mar
gin of victory.
Bowman met the victory coolly.
“It’s a big race, but just like any
other win,” he said. “A lot more
people watching, you know.”
Seventeen-year-old Amber
Stroud of Douglasville took the
number three position.
Eight-12 Junior Dragster win
ner 10-year old MacKenzie Butler
of Jackson met the weather chal
lenge with determination, cutting
a perfect .000 light against 10-year
old Cole Wood of Jefferson, who
broke out by .05 seconds, running
an 8.85 against an 8.90.
Ten-year old Alex Krause of
Peachtree City placed third.
In addition to the Summit ET
Series bracket-racing program, the
Night of Fire event features exhi
bition runs, from wheel-standers
to jet cars, and the grand finale of
a huge fireworks show.
Corvettes dominated the visit
ing Pro-Mod category, namely the
’63 model, with Salem, Ala., racer
Dan Parker at the head of the pack.
Parker ran 180.28 MPH in 4.06
seconds against the non-conformist
’04 model driver James Hancock
III, of Opelika, Ala., whose car
gave out mid-race, running 48.82
MPH in 8.93 seconds. Keith Baker
from Dothan, Ala., and Steve Kirk,
Jr. from Monroe, placed in the
semi-final round.
The Pro Mod show was topped
off with a face-off between Scott
Kennedy’s “Controlled Insanity”
Funny Car and Ken Nelson’s
“Cool Bus,” racing to the finish
line on just two wheels each.
To complete the set, Elaine
Larsen rolled up in the Embry-
Riddle jet dragster, with three suc
cessful runs, the final pass offered
a unique insight into the process, as
an in-car radio amplified the con
versations of the Embry-Riddle jet
dragster crew, including Elaine’s
exclamation of “Woohoo” follow-
HOMER'S BRETT BOWMAN
ing each 280-plus mph run.
The culmination of the event
was the annual fireworks display,
highlighting the approaching July
4th weekend, in celebration of
independence and the sport of drag
racing. The show was made more
spectacular by nature’s own contri
bution; the clouds behind the fire
works lit up with lightning, carried
by an approaching storm.
Conveniently enough, the clouds
did not break until after the official
highlights of the show came to a
close, bringing the curtain down
on the remaining racers of the
accompanying Summit Snap-On
points race. The winnings were
split among the nine Super Pro,
nine Pro, eight Sportsman, and six
motorcycle racers left in competi
tion, while the Junior Dragster
and Pro Mod classes were able to
finish.
First and Ten ... continued from page JB
After eight successful seasons in
Covington, West suprised many by
moving to Union County, a smaller
school.
However, it really didn’t suprise
me. West always moved to his own
beat and certainly never cared what
anyone else thought.
With Union County competing in
the same region as Banks County,
I had the chance to catch up with
West a couple of years ago after his
team competed.
“Coach West,” I said as I extended
my hand.
“Chris Bridges,” he responded in
turn.
It was obvious time had seen
both of us mature and grow in our
respectful professions. More than
a decade ago when I first met the
coach I wouldn’t have thought much
about the chances of us still talking
12 years later.
I’m glad we did though. Grudges
are for weak people. We should
all live for the present and for the
future, not the in the past.
My thoughts are with West’s fam
ily today. I hope some hand of com
fort will be placed upon them. I will
remember a fierce competitor who
hated to lose and one who didn’t let
what others thought keep him from
his goals.
I admire those traits in anyone who
had the courage to display them.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of
The Banks County News. E-mail
comments to chris@mainstreetnews.
com.
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Down the Stretch
Having to step up and find my racing nerve
S everal years ago, my dear
friend and mentor Rob
Wainberg taught me a
phrase in Yiddish that I have used
many times since. It’s become
one of my favorites, and it sums
up some situations nicely.
The phrase, as best I can spell
it in English, sounds like “Tokhis
oyfin tish.”
Roughly translated, it means,
“Put up or shut up.”
Well, I had to apply that phrase
to myself this week. Over the
course of the last 25 years, I have
said many times that, given half
the chance, I’d hop into a high
powered, rubber burning race car
to tear laps around Peach State
Speedway, my home town race
track.
Well, that opportunity came
around on Monday. I’m proud to
say, folks, that I put up.
The folks out at Peach State
were getting geared up for their
Independence Day weekend race,
and invited the media out to the
track on Monday to talk to a few
of the racers and to tour the facil
ity.
Plus, track media director Allen
Hastings added in his email, the
newly renovated Peach State
“Ride Along” car, a two seater
race car, would be available to
take folks on a few laps around
the venerable old speedway.
Now, I’ve taken laps around
tracks many times before, in pace
cars, on golf carts, and more than
once just driving a pair of sneak
ers. But I had never really had
the opportunity to turn laps at
speed at Peach State, which, at
one time, was the fastest half-mile
paved track in the country (and
remains the
fastest paved
half mile in
Georgia to
this day).
I think I
can honestly
tell you that
I didn’t once
think about
not doing
it. My 34th
birthday fell
just a few
days before the media day, and I
just looked at it as a late birthday
present from fate.
So, on Monday morning, I
drove out to the track on Lyle
Field Road, along with Jackson
Herald sports editor Justin Poole,
to have a go at the track.
Hastings met us at the gate,
and directed us to the infield
to wait on the drivers to arrive,
along with track promoter Vince
Whitmire.
Whitmire, a second-generation
racer who competed in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck series
and has worked and appeared in
several racing movies and com
mercials, arrived in style moments
later. He hit the track in the ride
along car, which, instead of being
the GAS late model that I had
expected, was a former NASCAR
Busch Grand National racer, a car
that potentially held a lot more
horsepower under the hood.
Remember I said I was looking
at this as a late birthday present?
Somebody also brought cake.
Before the GAS series drivers
showed up, Hastings asked me
“You ready to jump in there?”
Absolutely.
I climbed in on the passenger
side, and got some assistance
hooking up the three-point seat-
belt before putting the helmet on.
After securing the window net,
Whitmire looked over at me and
grinned.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“I was born ready,” I said.
With that, he lit her up, and took
off.
The biggest sensation I noticed
were the g-forces. Even on a
small track like Peach State, they
shove your body over pretty good,
and I was fighting against them
to stay upright. I didn’t reach for
any kind of “chicken bar,” but I
did hold on to a support bar in the
middle of the car to help keep me
upright.
I never really got worried dur
ing the ride, other than when the
car came up on the track off the
apron, and when it was coming
off the banking into the pits. That
was the only time the car ever
seemed unstable. Other than that,
it was pushing up in the turns, so
there was little fear of it spinning
out.
As we rolled into the pits,
Hastings looked in and grinned,
asking how it was.
I just flashed the “ok” sign. I
looked over at Whitmire and said,
“Good run. Felt good.”
I climbed out feeling like a mil
lion bucks. I had done something
I had always wanted to do.
It made for a heck of a birthday
present.
Brandon Reed is a reporter for
Mainstreet Newspapers. E-mail
comments about this column to
brandon @ mainstreetnews. com.
brandon
reed
Auto Racing
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