Radial versus the World

Dewayne Mills took a wild ride down the track.

The quickest and fastest cars in the event were found in the Radial vs the World class. This group featured the best and most well-known racers in the “small tire” world and those racers proved they deserved the title.

Qualifying for the 32-car field was fierce with ET’s close to the 3-second zone and speeds over 200 that fuels the popularity of this class. A prime example of how hard the cars and drivers in this class pushed themselves was Dewayne Mills who almost had a Top Fuel “blowover” in his ‘69 Camaro trying to improve his qualifying position.

The best radial-tired cars and their drivers qualified at the top of the field and those same drivers and cars went to the final rounds of the class eliminations.

The Radial versus the World finals was an all-Georgia affair with number-five qualifier Steve Jackson from Evans, Ga., drove his ‘93 Mustang to the win over  number-three qualifier Chris Daniel in his ‘02 Firebird. Jackson combined a .038 RT with a stellar 4.026/191.29 effort that easily covered Daniel’s troubled 14.64/41.11.

How dominant were the top qualifiers in the class? In the semifinals all four drivers had qualified no lower than fifth. In the third round, number-one qualifier Texan Jason Michalak had a .000 RT combined with a 4.112/187.52 against fellow Texan Kyle Huttle, who made his best pass of the event with a great 4.066/180.77 but red-lighted the pass away. Huttle (#25 qualifier) was also part of the closest race in the class when he trailered number-nine qualifier Roger Holder. Holder had a .007 RT to Huttle’s .049 but Huttle got to the win stripe first by .036 of a second.

Jackson also used a holeshot to defeat number-four qualifier Nick Agostino and his 2000 Camaro. In the semifinals Jackson had a .013 RT with a 4.055 ET that trailered Agostino who had a better ET at 4.054 but couldn’t make up for his .052 bulb.

Chris Daniel

Top Four Qualifiers                      
1 Nick Agostino  Ontario Canada  2000 Camaro    4.086/192.91
2 Jason          Cypress TX      ‘08 ‘Vette     4.088/195.62
3 Steve Jackson  Evans GA        ‘93 Mustang          4.111/193.60
4 Chris Daniel   White GA        ‘02 Firebird         4.126/198.79

Low ET: 4.026 Steve Jackson                          
Top Speed: 201.43 Chris Daniel