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Tabitha Draughon · 10-16-2023, 06:25 PM

Darlington Dragway Race Report:

We rolled into Darlington Dragway on Friday afternoon for our 3rd Carolina Classic Modified Production Series race of the season. Only 1 of our racers decided to participate in the track hosted test-n-tune & the results was the track was "too good". Due to Mother Nature, we didn't get to see the track until later Saturday afternoon /evening. We had 4 cars in attendance on Saturday (Steve Johnson, Strawberry Dixon, Darrell Lail, & Robbie Draughon). During Q1, once again the track proved to be almost too good & a couple of our drivers had difficult times getting down the track. First pairing was Strawberry Dixon (after only having a few hours of sleep over the last few days because racecar) & Robbie Draughon. Robbie decided he wanted to see what both lanes of the track felt like during the same pass & visited Strawberry's lane whereas both drivers had to abort their runs to save both cars. Robbie didn't receive an ET & Strawberry ran a 7.7170 at 57.41 mph (1.707 above his 6.01 index). Darrell Lail & Steve Johnson were next in the waterbox & both had a front row seat to the action 🫣. Steve also had issues at the hit & ran a 7.1318 a 68.37 mph (0.9318 above) while Darrell decided to show out & run a 5.4169 at 127.62 mph on his 6.01 index (0.5931 under). While we were in the lanes for Q2, the dew starting falling quicker than expected on the top end so racers & Carolina Classic Modified Production officials made the call to cancel for the evening due to safety concerns & complete everything on Sunday where weather was expected to be much better. Sunday morning rolls again & conditions are much better so we prepare for Q2. Unfortunately Strawberry wasn't able to stay until Sunday due to other obligations but we did gain a new racer for Sunday, Josh Barczy in his grandpa Jimmie's Flinstone Chevy II Nova. 3 of our 4 drivers get down the track with respectable #'s for Q2. Draughon lines up again Lail & we saw a good side-by-side run. Robbie went a 5.3135 at 131.04 mph (0.5865 under his 5.90 index) & Lail goes 5.4352 at 127.95 mph (0.5748 under his 6.01 index. Johnson still has trouble getting down the track & doesn't better his run from Q1. He goes a 7.6075 at 61.56 mph (1.4075 above) while Josh goes right down broadway to clock his time at 5.9096 at 115.65 mph (0.4404 under his 6.35 index). Final qualifying order is now set & #1 & #2 are only 0.0066 apart. First round pairings are Lail (lane choice) versus Johnson & Draughon (lane choice) versus Barczy. Darrell also collects the $100.00 for #1 Qualifier. Unfortunately E1 was ran & then had to be re-ran due to a minor timing system error but all drivers understood & wanted the race to be fair. 1st pair out was Robbie vs. Josh. Josh turned on the dreaded red bulb at the hit handing the easy win over to Robbie. Josh did better his ET in R1 running a 5.9027 at 115.74 mph as well as Robbie running a 5.2800 at 132.00 mph. Steve was late at the tree but finally made a somewhat decent pass down the track, 5.5892 at 123.66 mph on his 6.20 index (0.6108 under) & Darrell took the win running 5.4082 at 127.51 mph (0.6018 under). In the finals we find Lail & Draughon, both in their 2nd finals of the season & both have been bridesmaids so one of them are going to get their 1st Carolina Classic Modified Production Win of the season. Both had a pretty good run but Draughon sat on the tree due to car trying to push through the beams & Lail came out with the biggest Carolina Classic Modified Production payday of the year. Darrell had a .0474 RT & ran a 5.4136 at 128.53 mph (0.5964 under). Robbie was .2896 at the hit 😴😴😴 but ran his best ET with this engine combination clocking a 5.2334 at 131.66 mph (0.6666 under). If you read the CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association write up about Korey Alexander's angel riding with him, you might say Chris showed his presence at Darlington with Robbie as well. RIP Brother, you are missed!! Darrell picked up his 1st Carolina Classic Modified Production handmade trophy built by Robbie & Tabitha & his trailer check sponsored by Mj Custom Printing & Graphics.

Our final race for the year is Saturday, November 18th at Coastal Plains Raceway Park Dragway. We will be having our Thanksgiving feast at this event as well. Let's go out with a bang & have the biggest turnout of the season & gain headway going into 2024! An 8 car field sure would be nice & the weather should be cool so the #'s should reflect.

10-16-2023, 06:25 PM	#14
Tabitha Draughon Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 434 Likes: 114 Liked 678 Times in 224 Posts	Re: Carolina Classic Modified Production Darlington Dragway Race Report: We rolled into Darlington Dragway on Friday afternoon for our 3rd Carolina Classic Modified Production Series race of the season. Only 1 of our racers decided to participate in the track hosted test-n-tune & the results was the track was "too good". Due to Mother Nature, we didn't get to see the track until later Saturday afternoon /evening. We had 4 cars in attendance on Saturday (Steve Johnson, Strawberry Dixon, Darrell Lail, & Robbie Draughon). During Q1, once again the track proved to be almost too good & a couple of our drivers had difficult times getting down the track. First pairing was Strawberry Dixon (after only having a few hours of sleep over the last few days because racecar) & Robbie Draughon. Robbie decided he wanted to see what both lanes of the track felt like during the same pass & visited Strawberry's lane whereas both drivers had to abort their runs to save both cars. Robbie didn't receive an ET & Strawberry ran a 7.7170 at 57.41 mph (1.707 above his 6.01 index). Darrell Lail & Steve Johnson were next in the waterbox & both had a front row seat to the action 🫣. Steve also had issues at the hit & ran a 7.1318 a 68.37 mph (0.9318 above) while Darrell decided to show out & run a 5.4169 at 127.62 mph on his 6.01 index (0.5931 under). While we were in the lanes for Q2, the dew starting falling quicker than expected on the top end so racers & Carolina Classic Modified Production officials made the call to cancel for the evening due to safety concerns & complete everything on Sunday where weather was expected to be much better. Sunday morning rolls again & conditions are much better so we prepare for Q2. Unfortunately Strawberry wasn't able to stay until Sunday due to other obligations but we did gain a new racer for Sunday, Josh Barczy in his grandpa Jimmie's Flinstone Chevy II Nova. 3 of our 4 drivers get down the track with respectable #'s for Q2. Draughon lines up again Lail & we saw a good side-by-side run. Robbie went a 5.3135 at 131.04 mph (0.5865 under his 5.90 index) & Lail goes 5.4352 at 127.95 mph (0.5748 under his 6.01 index. Johnson still has trouble getting down the track & doesn't better his run from Q1. He goes a 7.6075 at 61.56 mph (1.4075 above) while Josh goes right down broadway to clock his time at 5.9096 at 115.65 mph (0.4404 under his 6.35 index). Final qualifying order is now set & #1 & #2 are only 0.0066 apart. First round pairings are Lail (lane choice) versus Johnson & Draughon (lane choice) versus Barczy. Darrell also collects the $100.00 for #1 Qualifier. Unfortunately E1 was ran & then had to be re-ran due to a minor timing system error but all drivers understood & wanted the race to be fair. 1st pair out was Robbie vs. Josh. Josh turned on the dreaded red bulb at the hit handing the easy win over to Robbie. Josh did better his ET in R1 running a 5.9027 at 115.74 mph as well as Robbie running a 5.2800 at 132.00 mph. Steve was late at the tree but finally made a somewhat decent pass down the track, 5.5892 at 123.66 mph on his 6.20 index (0.6108 under) & Darrell took the win running 5.4082 at 127.51 mph (0.6018 under). In the finals we find Lail & Draughon, both in their 2nd finals of the season & both have been bridesmaids so one of them are going to get their 1st Carolina Classic Modified Production Win of the season. Both had a pretty good run but Draughon sat on the tree due to car trying to push through the beams & Lail came out with the biggest Carolina Classic Modified Production payday of the year. Darrell had a .0474 RT & ran a 5.4136 at 128.53 mph (0.5964 under). Robbie was .2896 at the hit 😴😴😴 but ran his best ET with this engine combination clocking a 5.2334 at 131.66 mph (0.6666 under). If you read the CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association write up about Korey Alexander's angel riding with him, you might say Chris showed his presence at Darlington with Robbie as well. RIP Brother, you are missed!! Darrell picked up his 1st Carolina Classic Modified Production handmade trophy built by Robbie & Tabitha & his trailer check sponsored by Mj Custom Printing & Graphics. Our final race for the year is Saturday, November 18th at Coastal Plains Raceway Park Dragway. We will be having our Thanksgiving feast at this event as well. Let's go out with a bang & have the biggest turnout of the season & gain headway going into 2024! An 8 car field sure would be nice & the weather should be cool so the #'s should reflect.