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Racer Recap: Holley EFI @ Lights Out 11!

Events

Staff Photographer

02/17/2020

10 min read

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Racer Recap: Holley EFI @ Lights Out 11!

Racer Recap: Holley EFI @ Lights Out 11!

Staff Photographer

02/17/2020

10 min read

Radial Versus The World

Radial Versus The World was a major crowd draw again with the lowest E.T.'s coming late on Saturday night with beautiful weather conditions. Team KTR was able to manage the power effectively following Thursday's rain shortened qualifying. Reigning NHRA Pro Mod champion Stevie "Fast" Jackson laid down an impressive 3.552 @ 215 MPH to place him comfortably atop the qualifying ladder. His teammate Marcus Birt was fourth on the sheet heading into the final qualifying round, but an incredible wheelie turned magic carpet ride found Birt sailing through the air. (SpeedVideo's video below) Birt was able to set the car down safely and come to a stop, but not without sustaining severe damage to the world's quickest nitrous door slammer. He was unable to make the call for first round eliminations and ended his weekend prematurely. With Birt out of the picture, it was up to Jackson to take home the trophy (and boy, did he....). Round after round, Shadow 2.0 went deep into the 3.50's and remained virtually unchallenged until the final round. There, Steve Jackson would square off with #2 qualifier David Reese in his El Diablo 2.0 Camaro. Reese left first with a .025 reaction to Jackson's .068, and it looked as if Reese would take the crown. But, as the two pro mod's headed towards the boards, the Billy Stocklin tuned Shadow 2.0 chased down the red Camaro. Jackson crossed the stripe, edging out Reese by .0041 with his 3.548 @ 213.81 MPH to the latter's 3.594 @ 205 MPH.

NOS' DXP Street

New for Lights Out 11, the NOS DXP Street was created with grudge style racers in mind. The rules are simple, street/strip style cars, with small block based engines and an NOS Cheater Plate (pnx: 12500). What ensued was an event filled with thrills, spills and wild wheelstands! Martin Connelly, famed Limited 235 racer brought out a new car for DXP street. His 90' Mustang traded jabs with Shawn Pevlor in qualifying, but Connelly's 5.002 @ 140 MPH was enough to take Q1 on the sheet. Pevlor in his 93' Mustang took Q2 with his 5.011 @ 139 MPH. Jonathan Insley rounded off the top 3 with a 5.051 @ 137 MPH pass. Heading into eliminations, Connelly, Pevlor and Insley all defeated their first round challengers with little effort. Pevlor seized the record with his 4.991 @ 138 MPH (the first four second pass of the DXP Street class). Unfortunately, Pevlor had a redlight start during his second round, but did reset the record with a 4.977 @ 140 MPH. Connelly and Insley extended their reign of terror and sped through the second and third round facing one another in the finals.

With both racers staged, it was time for the well-matched pair to do battle. Insley left first with his .044 light to Connelley's .054, and it looked like Insley may capture the win. He passed the 60' beam on his back tire but the car kept climbing, Insley was forced to pedal and set the car down. Regrettably, the car rebounded and began climbing again forcing him to abort. Connelly motored past Insley to take the win, in doing so securing a new class record with his incredible 4.924 @ 140 MPH!

Congratulations to Connelly for navigating the tricky conditions and taking home the trophy. Over 30 cars entered the inaugural DXP Street event and you can expect a ton of excitement from this class in the future. NOS wants to thank all of its competitors for relying on their nitrous plate to get the job done!

SpeedVideo provided a highlight reel of the event including all final round races, check it out below!

Noteworthy Mentions

Holley EFI Dealer Matt Bell in his 93 Mustang made waves at No Mercy X by setting the LDR class record. Unfortunately weather and a finnicky track left Bell unable to make the LDR field at Lights Out 11. He did however make the RvW bump with a stout low 4 second pass but ultimately lost to Kevin Rivenbark's Pro Mod Camaro. Paul Gargus in his white 69' Camaro made the fastest LDR pass of the weekend! His Holley EFI powered big block clicked off a 4.057 second pass deep in eliminations, Paul did not make the final round but the Alabama native did make bracket style 4.0 runs throughout the event. Jeff Miller in "Bumblebee" converted from RvW to PRO275 this year and the blown Camaro put down fast passes in eliminations. With low E.T. in round one and two, the "Bee" looked like a favorite to win but regrettably came up short in a tough third round loss to eventual class winner Russell McManious.