DRAG STRIP AFFAIRS
PACKED HOUSE It hasn’t taken long for Lights Out to become a hot ticket, not only for small-tire racing, but in
the entire sport. A capacity crowd at South Georgia Motorsports Park has become the annual norm for the race.
have the power or anything to run over here. I
knew I had to dot my I’s and cross my T’s before
I came back. But I knew from the very beginning
it was going to be a big deal.
MARK WOODRUFF (longtime radial stand-
out) We had run ORSCA Limited Street for a lot
of years, so coming to this event, it was the same
people we used to race with. It was all the big-
name radial guys back then and it was awesome.
You could see something exciting happening.
SEARS You just had these raw, home-built
hot rods and it was just a bit more chaotic getting
them down the track. Some of the cars that came
through tech, it was like, “We need to talk to this
guy about the safety aspect of his hot rod.” That’s
what got it done back in the day until everyone
raised the bar.
KEITH BERRY (Lights Out VII winner) I
remember when David Wolfe ran the first 4.40,
won the deal and there was a big article in DRAG
ILLUSTRATED on Wolfe and Duck. That really
struck the iron and the curiosity for me.
LONG That first Lights Out, I talked all this
trash about Outlaw 10.5 cars and slicks, so if we
go into Lights Out and a radial car gets crushed
by a 10.5 car or a slick car, is it where it is today?
I don’t know. Thank God for David Wolfe, though.
96 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
I remember rolling around on the ground, throw-
ing my hat up in the air I was so excited.
DAVID WOLFE (Lights Out I
winner) We put that big block on
the car and we were a couple tenths
ahead of anybody, went rounds and
won the race. All this stuff was new
to everyone, but to me, it was just
racing and numbers. Ultimately,
I go there to race, but I thought
Donald’s deal had potential and a
good vibe.
JOHN FORE III (Drag racing
photographer) I was big into Out-
law 10.5, but ORSCA was on its way
out and Donald came around at the
perfect time. The first Lights Out race, the one
thing that stood out was these were die-hard drag
radial fans. It’s like they all knew each other or
knew of one another. Plus, it was like their kick-
off event of the season. From there it just grew
bigger and bigger.
WOLFE It turned into a destination race.
There were a lot of top-end guys racing for very
little back then. Donald put up the money and
that made it nice. Some of the best guys in the
whole country were here.
FORE The racers in this class weren’t going
to show up for $3,000 anymore. You had to put
some money up to get the guys out there. With
the quality of drivers, it’s a class that demanded
some money in the pot.
The pot had grown to $20,000-to-win in RvW,
which had every driver’s attention. Eric Dillard
won Lights Out II in RvW with a victory over
Guadagno in the final round, an event highlight-
ed by Dillard’s 4.40 at 187.52 to beat Paul Major.
Rain won out at Lights Out III – one of two years
there wasn’t a winner, with Lights Out V being
the other – but by 2013 the buzz had grown con-
siderably. When Lights Out IV arrived at SGMP,
Mickey Thompson Tires had built considerable
buzz with a new radial tire. Barry Mitchell made
a number of 1.10 60-foot passes just weeks prior
with the tire in testing and people were anxious
to get it. Just how anxious people were perfectly
summed up where radial racing was heading.
TOMMY KUNDRIK (Motorsports Manager,
Mickey Thompson Tires) We made 100 tires and
that’s all you could
make in the time
we had. The way I
had it structured
was, “Hey guys, we
have a 100 of these
things. Be in line at
9 a.m. on Thursday
and we’ll sell them
until we’re sold out.”
We sold every tire.
TOMMY KUNDRIK
There was literally a
line at the tire trailer
with 100 guys in it. It was crazy. I’ve
never seen everything like it. (Drag
Illustrated #114)
SEARS With the guys starting
to get a handle on things, you saw
each pass like, “Is this going to be
a record pass? What’s going to
happen next?”
LONG We just kept moving up
the chain. It’s like when you go to
school and beat up one bully, and
it feels pretty good so you keep
rolling up on the next one.
WOODRUFF You just never
knew what would happen when you came to
this race. The evolution of the class at that time
was just intriguing, the level of cars showing up,
everybody chasing to be No. 1. It was pretty cool.
But Donald just gave back to the racers and teams.
People appreciated that and that’s where you
started getting dedicated followers and the best
radial racers in the world.
JACKSON, who won Lights Out VI You just
never knew what you were going to see. You had
these 4,000-horsepower cars, they could blow
over, wheelie, catch on fire and we’re idiots for
wanting to drive them. But it had everything. It
was good stuff for the kids, the drivers loved all
the fans that were coming and it was just all-
around badass. It was like a big party.
THE ARRIVAL
The party was about to get even bigger. By the time
Jackson won Lights Out VI in 2015, following
Kyle Huettel’s victory at Lights Out IV with a
4.214 at 177.28 and the rained-out Lights Out V,
Issue 142
KEVIN
★ ★ ★ ★ ★