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Above: Jeffrey Barker (near lane) and Jeremy Glidewell prepare to settle the final round of the 3rd annual NHRA Top Sportsman Dart Dash at Atlanta Dragway. Barker prevailed at the top end courtesy of a .043 holeshot off the start. |
Jeffrey Barker of Warner-Robins, GA, won the 3rd annual NHRA Top Sportsman Dart Dash Apr. 28, beating Corinth, MS’s Jeremy Glidewell with a holeshot in the final round at Atlanta Dragway. Barker said his car, a 2002 Camaro built by Rick Jones and powered by a naturally aspirated Reher-Morrison 622 cubic incher mated to a two-speed Powerglide by Richard Godley, “was perfect all day. I couldn’t have asked for a better day.”
 Jeremy Glidewell (near lane) and Mitch Smith perform their burnouts prior to their Dart Dash semi-final that saw Smith foul out with a redlight start. |
Twenty-nine cars made qualifying attempts for the special, invitation-only event for the top-10 2006 points finishers in Top Sportsman from the Northeast, Southeast, North Central, and the South Central NHRA Divisions. Local racer Ronnie Davis took the number-one spot with a 6.569-seconds pass and set top speed of the meet at 212.53 mph in his ’63 Corvette.
Louisiana’s Earl Folse, last year’s polesitter, was second at 6.571 with his ’68 Camaro, followed by Allen Firestone of Velma, OK, in a 2001 S-10, Bradenton, FL’s Dan Morrow in his ’06 GTO, and Rick Corn with his Benton, IL-based ’05 Stratus. Barker started his 2002 Camaro from the 16th position, while Glidewell was 19th with his ’95 Cutlass after three qualifying rounds were in the books.
 In Atlanta Dragway’s victory lane, Jeffrey Barker thanked family and friends along with sponsor CSR Performance Products for helping him win the 2007 Dart Dash, so far the biggest race title of his career. |
Of the top five qualifiers, only Davis and Morrow advanced from the opening round and Morrow was gone in round two. Then Davis was eliminated by an uncharacteristic redlight start in the third round against Glidewell. “I broke my own rule,” Davis explained later. “I didn’t dial in a whole number to my delay box like I always tell other people to do and it cost me.”
Glidewell previously got past Corn and Brad Clarke before his win over Davis put him into the semis against number-17 qualifier Mitch Smith and his Anderson, IN-based 2006 GTO. On the opposite side of the ladder, Barker dispatched Folse, Morrow and Lee Adkins Jr., who broke on the line before his burnout, to reach the semis against his father, Jerry Barker, driving a 2007 Cobalt.
The first semi-final was over at the start, as Glidewell again benefited from an early leaver when Smith left .134 too soon. The battle of the Barkers saw Jeffrey leave with an excellent .006 reaction to his father’s .034 and it proved just enough to hold on for the win as Jerry Barker went a perfect 6.930 on a 6.93 dial, but Jeffrey’s 7.225 against a 7.20 dial put him ahead by .003 at the finish line.
“Three thousandths, that’s all it was. Oh well, I taught him everything he knows. Maybe I taught him too much,” Jerry Barker joked later.
In the final, after dialing in at 7.22, Barker again left with a great .007 light, then ran 7.220 at 188.67 mph to edge Glidewell, who had a .050 reaction and made a 7.271 at 185.97 mph pass against a 7.26 dial in.
“This is probably the biggest race I’ve ever won. I’ve won a few division races, but this by far tops it all,” Barker, 23, said in victory lane. “This is the best of the best; I mean, I beat the Division 4 champion, Earl Folse, and of course my dad was a Top Sportsman champion two years ago, so he’s no slouch, and Jeremy Glidewell by no means is easy, so there are pretty tough competitors in this class and it was a lot of hard racing.”
SPORTSMAN WINNERS
| Right: A pair of classic Bowties settled the Super Street final, with Lamar Stevenson’s ’69 Camaro (far lane) from Montgomery, AL, taking the win over the ’67 Chevy II of Red Bay, AL’s Don Strickland. |