Goldstone Closes Gap to Bailey at Chaotic Hot Rod Drag Week Day Four
Hot Rod Drag Week’s fourth day took competitors to Carolina Dragway, better known as the House of Hook, where traction was on tap under cloudy skies.
Radial racers were salivating at the chance to put some power down early after dealing with a number of tricky surfaces for the week so far. Most taking advantage was Devin Vanderhoof, who tuned his Josh Davis-driven small tire Mustang to a 6.878, which we believe was a class record for Drag Week.
That would be the third quickest time of the day, as the duel between Tom Bailey and Bryant Goldstone continued. Goldstone took three shots at the track and the work paid off with a stunning 6.627 at 217mph to not only set the quickest time of the day but also set the Carolina Dragway quarter-mile doorslammer record. The pass took Goldstone’s average to a 6.786.
Bailey had another one-and-done day with a 6.800 at a slowing 182mph in the Sick Seconds Camaro, which had some surgery overnight to deal with a sticking exhaust valve. His average of 6.717 means Goldstone will have to run at least 0.28 quicker than Bailey on the final day of competition at Darlington Dragway to win Drag Week.
Most classes stayed per their Wednesday order, but there were some names that moved around. Rick Trunkett is out of Super Street Big Block Power Adder after valve train problems on the day three drive, elevating Clyde Carlson to first place courtesy of his 8.606 average. Meanwhile Jamie Jarvis took the lead of Gasser/B, with a 9.946 pass taking his average to a 10.028, ahead of Dominic Zvacek’s 10.056.
On the verge of achieving history is Dustin Trance. The Street Race Small Block Power Adder racer has an 8.505 average after four days of competition, setting him up for a run at the first ever 8.50X average in drag-and-drive competition. While an 8.500 average is theoretically possible in the class, the 8.50X barrier is widely regarded as the Holy Grail.
Beyond the result sheets, chaos could be easily found at Carolina Dragway. Jeff Oppenheim had a spectacular transmission fire that thankfully caused little damage to his already fire-patina’d El Camino.
Taylor Hedrick’s Mustang moved around like it had broken its whole rear end, but fortunately it was just a control arm breakage that slashed a brand new tire.
Elsewhere in the pits, Rick Steinke could be found getting ready to pull the transmission, while Frank Romano spent much of the day underneath his ’55 Chevy working on a front left brake caliper.
Back on the track, Ned Dunphy blew the intake sky-high from his Viper, causing plenty of damage to the carbon fiber front end and the windscreen.
Ned wasn’t the only driver to suffer panel damage, as David Armentrout’s Nova blew its own doors off at the quarter mile mark.
Compared to the carnage around Aiken, the 180-mile drive seemed to be relatively peaceful. Drag Weekers cruised through South Carolina, stopping in the small town of Pelion for a photo checkpoint at a local deli.
From there it was smooth sailing to Holt Oil Co, a unique BBQ/gas station that would serve as the final stop of the week’s route. Now all that remains is day five at Darlington Dragway!
Click here for full results from day four.
