O
ver 150 stick-shift race cars
gathered at historic Farmington
Dragway in Mocksville, North Caro-
lina, on Saturday, June 15th, for the
9th annual Clemmons Concrete Stick Shift Na-
tionals, an event celebrating manually shifted
doorslammers. Racers from as far away as Chi-
cago, New York, and Arkansas matched skills in
a day-long battle for bragging rights and their
share of the $21,000 pot of gold.
Organizer and promoter Ken Regenthal and
Farmington Dragway track manager Sandy
Collins were hoping to surpass last year’s record
number of entries of 102 stick cars. The 2019 edi-
tion far exceeded all expectations, as 152 entries
rushed through the gate.
Part of the reason for the tremendous turnout
of racers is the free entry to the event. Another
part is the free second-chance race. A third would
be the endless door prizes given out by the gener-
ous sponsors of this prestigious event. Perhaps
the best reason for the success seen this year is
there are a boatload of racers that want to race
an event that is stick-shift only.
There were representatives from several stick
racing clubs, including Classic Gear Jammers,
Pro Stick Racing, United Manual Transmission
Racers (UMTR), Ozark Super Shifters, a couple of
South East Gassers, and a few NHRA and IHRA
Stock and Super Stock legal entries.
The weekend began with the track hosting
a test-and-tune on Friday evening, which was
open to anyone that wanted to send it down the
eighth-mile course, including 5.50 index and 6.0
index. While the index racing was the feature
Friday, lucky fans were privy to the majority of
early arriving stick cars also taking to the track
to get in a few hits under cool night conditions.
Those Friday evening test squirts proved ben-
eficial to a few of the visiting racers, chronicled
later in the story.
Saturday was race day, however, as two time-
trial sessions preceded the Dash for Cash, ba-
sically a third time trial, with racers putting a
dial-in on the car and the best package of reaction
time and closest to the dial-in wins. The winner
was North Carolina resident Jeff Smith Jr. in his
1967 Chevy II, who earned $500 for his .0004
package. Earning $250 for the second-best pack-
age with a .0043 total package was Pro Stick
Racing’s president Eric Kitchen of Maryland in
his big-block 1969 Chevelle.
After the Dash, the main event began for the
152 drivers entered. An endless supply of Novas,
Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs came rolling
down the staging lanes, with an occasional AMX
(six were on the grounds), Maverick and Bar-
racuda thrown in for good measure.
After eight grueling rounds of competition, the
finalists were a pair of northern invaders, both
racers making the long tow from Pennsylvania,
and both regulars on the Pro Stick circuit. Andrew
Charcalla, who was the 2014 Pro Stick points
champion, was no stranger to final rounds and
the pressure that comes with advancing to the
money round. John Soltes has had a different
fortune racing with the group, only garnering a
fifth place best in several years competing with
his stick car. Once the scoreboard declared a win-
ner, Charcalla emerged from the tire smoke as
the event champion in his deep green, G-Force
2000-shifted 1986 Ford Mustang, and Soltes was
declared the runner-up in his burgundy, Liberty
clutchless 1969 Mach 1 Mustang.
“This was our first trip to Farmington for this
race,” Charcalla said after claiming his biggest
win. “Let me assure you, we’ll be back next year
to defend the title. I had both my boys, Josh and
Drew, here to help and cheer all us on. Next year,
I hope to have the entire family down here. The
track was outstanding. It was great to be part of
such a cool event! I had a little luck today. It sure
Issue 147
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