HAMPTON, Ga. - Fans were treated to the fastest cars to ever to take on the Atlanta Motor Speedway’s pit lane drag strip on Friday night, as the Hanna Motorsports Jet Cars “Top Secret Eastern Raider” and “First Strike” competed in a pair of exhibition races as a part of last week’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Friday Night Drags event.
“We love it. We pulled around the corner (onto the grid) and I saw the crowd and I was stoked,” said Rich Hanna, driver of “First Strike”. “We did a few extra fireballs, a few extra burner pops and try to give them that little extra show.”
The pair split the two exhibition races with the “Top Secret Eastern Raider” collecting the first win while “First Strike” extracted revenge in the second and final race between the two Jet Funny Cars.
“It’s crazy, it’s 4-Gs of acceleration off the line with 6,000 pounds of thrust and 4,000 horsepower,” said Hanna. “With jet cars in particular its tough getting parts for them, that’s why they are so rare and that’s why people like to see them because there aren’t too many of them in the county.”
While the jet cars set track records ripping down the strip at breakneck speeds of more than 200 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds, the regular 18 different division battled for bragging rights and ever important points in the chase for a division championship.
The finals of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Division saw Richard Cocoran snag his third victory of the season as he defeated the 1988 Chevrolet S10 of David Cobb in the final.
“Stay in the pedal,” said Cocoran about the key to his final round win. “Don’t lift. I was all over dancing, but it worked out for me. My car has been running real good.”
Cocoran extended his points lead on David Waksman with the final round win as four points races remain in the season.
Kevin Mayo in his 1969 Chevrolet Nova earned his fifth win of the season in the QuikTrip Pro division to take control of the points race. Mayo knocked off the Ford of Dale Cosby in the finals.
Other notable winners included Robert Cheney and his American Dragster in the Super Pro Division and the 1973 VW Beetle of Rodney Bunn in the Harbin’s Mechanical Sportsman Division.
Atlanta Motor Speedway’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Friday Night Drags returns to the pit lane drag strip next Friday, August 3. More information can be found at AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, GA
Friday Night Drags – July 27, 2018
Super Pro: Robert Cheney – 2014 American Dragster
Pro: Kevin Mayo – 1969 Chevy Nova
Street Outlaw: Rodney Bunn – 1973 Volkswagen Beetle
Sportsman: Richard Corcoran – 1986 Ford Mustang
New Edge: James Walker – 2016 Dodge Challenger
Street Performer: Brandon Sampler – 1995 Chevrolet S10
Domestic: Andrew Morgan – 1987 Ford Mustang
Factory Street: Chad Greenway – 2001 Pontiac Firebird
Street Modified: Kelly Morgan – 1968 Ford Mustang
Truck: Ed Blanford – 1968 Ford F100
Diesel Truck: Justin Mercer – 2015 Ford F250
Tuner: Shane Kirkland – 1983 Datsun 280ZX
Sport Compact: Brian Grieb – 2004 Nissan 350Z
Super Bike: Robin Malcolm – 2003 Busa
Sport Bike: Robin Malcolm – 2006 GSXR 1000
Motorcycle: Keith Stamps – 2002 Honda
Cruiser: Billy Mueller – 2006 Harley Davidson
ATV: Wayne Cline – Yamaha Banshee
Jr. Dragsters: Gracie Haralson – 2005 Mov. Tub Jr.
Burnout Zone: Jay Velez – Extreme Automotive 1979 Mazda RX7
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/7/697328/jet-cars-set-new-pit-lane-drag-strip-record-at-ams