Winners Crowned at 8th Annual One Guy’s Garage Drag Weekend
For the eighth time, the annual One Guy’s Garage Drag Weekend took place over the September 22nd to 24th three-day weekend.
The drag-and-drive encompasses nearly a 500-mile drive between Bryon Dragway, Cordova International Dragway and Tri-State Raceway, and features five different classes, plus a heads-up shootout and a bracket race on the final day.
Starting on Friday September 22nd, the event started at Tri-State Raceway with a drivers meeting before organizing and starting the cruise from Tri-State in Iowa to Cordova International Dragway in Illinois for racing that afternoon and evening before heading to Byron Dragway for Saturday’s activities.
Racing would start on Saturday morning at Byron Dragway, before an afternoon cruise would return the group to Iowa to finish the weekend at Tri-State Raceway on Sunday.
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The quickest class on the One Guy’s Garage Drag Weekend docket is Outlaw, which has no class rules, and is the only class run on the eighth-mile standard.
At the end of the weekend, the quickest average belonged to Carl Thomas, who earned a 5.10 average with his Fox Mustang for the class win. Adam Folder’s solid 5.35 average would be good enough for the second spot.
True Street is the quickest quarter-mile class, and is based around stock style front suspension, a full interior, and a maximum of two fiberglass panels and two Lexan windows.
Restrictions on power adders include a maximum compressor inducer diameter of 66-millimeter on twin turbochargers, single turbos limited to an 88-millimeter, F2 or smaller-sized ProCharger superchargers, or a single nitrous system.
The quickest average would be 9.22, and that earned Derek Hurd the class victory. Second place went to Doug Dahl with an average of 9.83.
Factory Street is a bit more restrictive than the True Street class, allowing for bolt on suspension components, a full interior, stock material body panels and glass (aftermarket hood is okay), full exhaust with mufflers exiting behind the rear axle, and 17-inch or larger wheels are required.
The power adder restrictions include a maximum compressor inducer diameter of 58-millimeter on twin turbochargers, single turbos limited to a 76-millimeter on a T4 or smaller flange, bolt-on style superchargers, D1 or smaller-sized ProCharger superchargers, or a nitrous system with a single plate or nozzle.
The best in class would be John Thuringer with an average of 9.76 for the class accolades, while a 10.16 average from Brian Atwood would earn second.
The Street Eliminator class is limited to a 16-car maximum size field, requires cars to run 10.00 or slower without throttle stops, and awards are based on consistency / smallest difference between time slips.
With a nearly perfect spread of .001-seconds, Erik Lawson picked up a well-deserved class title with his Buick station wagon. A six thousandths of-a-second difference between three time slips would normally be good enough to win, but Steve Eden would have to settle for the second-place spot.
The Stick Shift class rules require a H-pattern shifter, and a leg-activated clutch. The best of the field would be Chuck Schleicher III with a 10.21 average, while second would be claimed by Bridget Morris thanks to her 11.19 average.
On the final day, an Outlaw Heads-Up class would be contested, based on a 15-mile cruise, limited to door cars only and run on the eighth-mile standard. In the final round, Carl Thomas had the chance for a double-up, but Dean Anderson’s gray Malibu would snag the win.
A bracket race was also contested on Sunday, with entry open to anyone participating in the five classes run during the 3-day event. The final round pitted Jodie Huey opposite Joe Hajny, and Huey would pick up the win.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Carl Thomas, Erik Lawson.
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