- Race Coverage
- Shooting Gallery
Words and photos by Ian Tocher
Sam Hornish won a thriller at Indy; Kasey Kahne dominated late in the race to win at Charlotte; Fernando Alonso led flag-to-flag at Monte Carlo; and on the always busy Memorial Day racing weekend, Steve Kirk Jr. joined the parade of champions by putting together a string of identical times at Albany, GA, ultimately beating Jack Barfield in the ORSCA Outlaw 10.5 final at U.S. 19 Dragway.
 Kirk was joined by his young son, Trae, in victory lane. |
Also earning victories at the middle-Georgia eighth miler were Tom Hammonds and Robby Erwin in Limited Street and EZ Street, respectively, while the index class winners included Lester Pitts in 5.30, Michael Strickland, who picked up his second 6.0 event title in as many weeks, and defending 7.0 class champ Ricky Pennington.
The weather was the story of the weekend, though, as temperatures soared to nearly 100 degrees for eliminations, with track temps reaching one-and-a-half times as high. Several racers commented on the hot, slick racing surface and said they had to really stay on top of things to keep going straight.
Marshall Hancock did get out of shape, however, in a solo qualifying pass on Saturday afternoon and stuffed his Limited Street Mustang into
the guardrail. Fortunately, he was uninjured, but the car apparently needs a new front clip. Despite the oppressive heat, Sunday’s eliminations went ahead without incident, a tribute to the U.S. 19 track crew for maintaining a raceable surface under tough conditions.OUTLAW 10.5
Fresh off a win the previous weekend in Jackson, SC, Mike Hill earned an extra $300 from Custom Kitchens of Albany by securing the number-one starting position in the Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 class with his last of three qualifying attempts, running a track record 4.585 seconds at 156.28 mph.
“I actually thought we’d run about a .56 or .57,” the Washington, GA-based driver said. “But I guess a .58 is pretty impressive out here in the conditions we had.” After a first-round bye on raceday, Hill and his ’05 Mustang fell in the second round to Michael Robinson when he slipped out of the groove at half-track and had to shut down early.