Stevie Jackson’s 3.58 Pass, $50,100 to Win the Radial Vs. World Class Leads First Day of Qualifying News from Lights Out 15 at South Georgia Motorsports Park
After a couple of years away from radial racing, Stevie ‘Fast’ Jackson has returned to form at the popular Lights Out race at South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP).
After some test time behind the wheel of his new Shadow 3.0 (which we exclusively covered in our news story here), Stevie made his presence known immediately at SGMP with a big wheelstand on a test run that recalled the major wheelie Stevie experienced of the original Shadow about eight years ago at the No Mercy event at SGMP.
By the first round of qualifying, Stevie made the right adjustments, and had people were talking for another reason.
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The Killin Time Racing Motion Raceworks-backed ’68 Camaro rocketed to the top of the qualifying sheet in the first session of Radial Versus the World, using a 3.58 at 208 mph run to grab the number one spot for the moment.
The run was costly-looking though, as sparks and smoke appeared as Stevie crossed the finish line.
Ned Dunphy, who debuted his 2013 Viper at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2023 and produced a best pass of 6.09 at 247 mph at World Cup Finals last November, is the quickest drag-and-drive car on the property right now, pushing the Steve-Morris Engines-powered supercar to a 3.91 at 201 mph for the sixth spot in the Radial Versus the World class.
The impressive performances were slightly overshadowed by event promoter Donald Long’s announcement that the Radial Versus the World class would pay an impressive $50,100 to the winner at each of the five remaining events on the Radial Outlaws Racing Series, as well as reward the series champion of the class with $50,000 more next January.
The move more than doubled the existing purse of $20,000 to win in the Radial Versus the World class, and many say it reaffirms the commitment to small tire racing for Donald and Duck X Promotions.
Although several other classes are on property, the other news out of SGMP we noticed is the Braggin Rights’ Street Car Braggin Rights class, featuring nearly 40 cars registered for a chance to run in one of two 16-car fields.
The class features several Sick Week competitors, but one of the favorites is the team of Josh Davis and Devin Vanderhoof. The ’93 Mustang convertible known as ‘Big Ern’ has been fixed up from the engine damage it sustained at Sick Week, and on its first pass back, it showed plenty of potential, clicking off a 4.22 at 181 mph at the eighth-mile timers.
Class promoter and Braggin Rights front man Nate Prater also extended a free entry to Sick Week Street Race 275 class Randy Seward, who will compete in the unique blind qualifying format for a chance at the $12,000 in payouts.
No Mercy will continue qualifying rounds through Saturday, with final eliminations scheduled to take place Saturday and Sunday.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of SLM Media, Chris Story Foto, Steve Jackson Racing, and Devin Vanderhoof.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com