The southwest region of our wonderful country just might have the most wide-ranging selection of drag racing entertainment anywhere in the continental United States. Oklahoma and Texas host the biggest no prep races in the world, big money bracket races aren’t hard to find, the Outlaw Fuel Altereds and Texas Outlaw Pro Mods are two of the longest independently running series in history, the Radial Tire Racing Association is hosted exclusively in Texas, NHRA Division 4 is one of the toughest and most active in the land and the list goes on. This area likely also has the most open drag strips per capita than most, despite losing several tracks over the last five to ten years. But before small tire drag radial racing emerged, before no prep and Street Outlaws claimed the spotlight, grudge racing was one of the most popular and exciting forms of drag strip assault available for both racers and spectators.
Grudge racing is far different from your traditional drag race. The first major difference is, the scoreboards are turned off and programmed to display the win light only, no times or mile per hour readings are shown and time slips are not handed out. This is to protect the performance numbers of the car for reasons we will explore shortly. At some events, even the computer operator in the tower has a piece of paper taped on the monitor covering the elapsed time and mile per hour readings as this person may learn information about the performance of a certain car that could be very valuable to an opponent. Secondly, there will very likely be an under the table wager going on between teams for cold hard cash. I’ve personally witnessed a race a few years ago that wagered a side bet of $20,000. This is where the “no time” approach comes in. If a racer knows the numbers his opponent is capable of, that may affect the final negotiations of their grudge race. The spectator interaction is just as intense. Groups of friendly “negotiators” with fists full of cash form quickly and arms wave from side to side as the challengers indicate which lane and car he prefers to wager on. When two cars line up, be it in an official grudge race or not, the spectators are making their wagers regardless simply for the fun of it.
Additionally, grudge races are 0.400-second pro tree starts with no dial-ins or handicaps. If a team or driver knows they have a slightly slower car, they may request “the back tire” or “the hit”. “The back tire” lets the slower car stage with the rear tires giving him or her a full car length advantage off the starting line while “the hit” lets the slower car leave whenever it wants while the other car must wait until that car leaves first. Different, but it works in negotiations for a grudge race. Needless to say, things get very entertaining, but your typical grudge race event is becoming far less common with the growth of small tire drag radial and no prep racing.
Jacob Harper is a grudge race promoter based in North Texas and chose the weekend of June 14-16th to host his annual Southern No Time Nationals III event at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas about thirty miles north of Dallas. This event welcomed any and all grudge racer who was looking for action and also hosted four classes. Friday night offered a $22,500 to win Small Block Nitrous Shootout in which eight cars pre-entered prior to the event. In the wee hours of the morning the final round bout came to the line between the Texas based, Themo Diaz owned, Stephen Barnett driven 1990 Ford Mustang up against David Brinkley’s “Southside Ratchet” Ford Mustang all the way from North Carolina. After their burnouts the two machines approached the starting line and the drivers began their typical routines of clearing the engine and purging the nitrous system. All staged up and ready to go, the ambers dropped and Barnett was off the line first and never trailed. The win light came on and the cash was in hand for Diaz, Barnett and company as they became the first big winners of the weekend.
“This is a big win for the team! I’d like to thank Themo Diaz for giving me the opportunity to drive this supremely built and tuned machine. This car was built by Steve Penewitt, owner of WRC over 10 years ago before Themo took ownership. Since then a custom-built KBX 450 cubic inch single carbureted engine with Bennett cylinder heads was installed and is maintained by Joe Gonzales at G&G Performance between events. This team spent many long nights at test sessions and countless hours studying data before this event and we delivered what we came to do- win!” said Barnett, who was personally invited by team owner Diaz to handle the driving duties. Barnett is also the defending class Champion in the RTRA drag radial series Limited 275 category.
After a long night on Friday night highlighted by the $20,000 win by Barnett, it was time to recuperate and gear up for Saturday’s even bigger night of racing. Close to 100 cars found a home in the pit area at North Star Dragway as the line of cars to enter the facility overflowed the fence line until 10 pm. It was one of the hottest days of the year in Denton, Texas and racing was held off until 9 pm when suddenly the staging lanes were full, and the action was on full steam ahead from that point on.
The Street Car Shootout welcomed Stefan Slisz and Duane Biddle to the final round, both sporting Ford Mustang entries. Slisz established himself quickly in the no prep True Street game with a string of wins over the past two years but Biddle’s Ochs Performance built powerplant was pickin’ em up and puttin’ em down in fine form, hard to pick a favorite in this one. Slisz was in the stage beams last and just before halftrack held a car and a half lead on Biddle, but shortly after a series of backfires forced Slisz out of the throttle, and that was all Biddle needed to drive around at the finish line and take the come from behind win by a slim margin. Biddle and company collected $2,500 for their efforts.
Saturday’s Small Block Shootout brought some heavy hitters to the line and with two left standing, Texans Cody Jones and J.R. King brought their turbo charged entries to the burnout box. The call went out to fire em’ up and Jones’ yellow and black Mustang refused to fire. After several attempts, it was clear the car wouldn’t start, so Jones threw in the towel, as race officials gave J.R. King the signal to fire up and take a solo shot to the $10,000 purse. King and company were all smiles the next morning on their way home to Channelview, Texas.
Finally, the fastest class of the night was the 28/275 drag radial shootout which included local heavy hitter Mark Moore’s twin turbocharged Mustang tuned by Josh Lindsey as well as the Fletcher Cox owned, Shawn Ayers driven “Gold Rush” turbocharged entry. Cox, a superstar in the NFL and current defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles, came down to mix it up with the Texas boys, and with Ayers behind the wheel, the team was able to march to the final round to meet Moore. In the final, both drivers crept into the final stage beam together and were off the line charging hard. Ayers took the lead early but climbed into a wheelstand. Shortly after, sparks flew from underneath the car and Moore drove around at the top end to take the win. Moore had just a two mile drive home with his $5,000 cash winnings. Countless grudge matches were also contested and a large crowd was entertained by non-stop racing action that lasted long into the morning hours at North Star Dragway.
“It was a great weekend at North Star. I’d like to thank track owner Gene Nicodemus and starter David Strickland for giving these racers a killer surface. We had cars from all over the country including Charlie Kaier, Nick Nalepa and Scott Krieg’s “White Devil” from Michigan, Mario Johnson’s “Showtime” from South Carolina and David Brinkley and Kelly Munizza’s “Southside Ratchet” from North Carolina. We also had a ton of local support from racers like David “Bird” Jones, Flip Wilson, Kenny Duke, Rick Scott, team “Nightmare” and more. Thank you to everyone for their support and we’ll do it again next year at the Southern No Time Nationals 4,” said event promoter Jacob Harper of Big Jake Promotions.
The Southern No Time Nationals III provided many with that old school grudge race feel that in the past was a frequent occurrence in the region. It’s a unique angle of drag racing that all fans of the sport should experience. There is serious money spent on these machines and even more serious money spent on the starting line and in the stands as these prideful racers do battle for bragging rights. So look up your local drag strip and pick out a grudge race, an old school and unique form of drag racing we hope lasts in the years ahead. It’s a very friendly crowd, you’ll likely eat very well and see cars you’ve never seen before, but the gloves quickly come off when it’s time to race and it’s all about that win light at the other end of the strip.
The post The Southern No Time Nationals appeared first on Hot Rod Network.