Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted both fans and drivers Friday night, as Week 6 of the popular street-style drag racing series, O'Reilly Auto Parts Friday Night Drags, got underway on the pit lane drag strip at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Despite Friday being its first appearance at Friday Night Drags in 2016, a familiar race car emerged from the starting grid as the Harbin's Mechanical Services Super Pro Division lined up for its preliminary races to begin the night. It was Bobby Daniel, piloting the fan-favorite "Batmobile," a black souped-up 1995 Chevrolet Lumina with a prominent Batman logo emblazoned on either door.
Daniel, who raced full time during the 2015 season, said he wasn't sure if he would be making a run for the 2016 Super Pro class title, but that he likes to make surprise appearances every once in a while.
"I don't know if we'll do that," he said. "We'll come down here every now and then and play the spoiler. We'll come down and mix it up a little bit."
And mix it up, he did.
Daniel survived the first two rounds of the Harbin's Mechanical Services Super Pro Division races, and in the final race of the evening, wound up lining up next to Robert Chaney of Stockbridge, whose American Dragster has won six weeks straight, dating back to last year, when he wrapped up the division championship in the season's final event.
Daniel in the left lane and Chaney in the right, the fastest cars on the drag strip exploded off the line as the green starting lights illuminated. Mere seconds later, Chaney's win streak went up in smoke, as Daniel flew across the finish line a full car-length ahead.
"It's good; it was fun," Daniel said when asked about halting Chaney's run. "The car ran good. It wanted to ride on the tires a little bit when it shifted, and I had to feather a little bit, but it ran good."
Chaney will look to get back into the Win column in Week 7 next Friday night. As for Daniel, he offered little in the way of saying whether or not he'd be back next week.
"When you have a car like this, it takes a lot to get it ready."
In the Active Pest Control Pro Division, David Clevenger of Hampton posted his second victory in as many weeks, beating out Oxford's Dale Rodgers, and nabbing an early-season lead in the points standings. Meanwhile, Amanda Ledbetter of Peachtree City and James Hames of McDonough also won for the second week in a row in the MetroPCS Tuner Division and Truck Advanced Division respectively. Both sit atop their respective division standings.
Other notable Week 6 winners include Jon Stovall in the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Division, Donnie Henderson of Hampton in the Harding Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Domestic Division, Rodney Bunn or Griffin in the Dynamic Towing Street Outlaw Division and Doug Anglin of Griffin in the HeadsUpGeorgia.com Street Modified Division.
Below is a complete list of the June 10 race winners:
Harbin's Mechanical Services Super Pro Division
Bobby Daniel (Stockbridge); 1995 Chevrolet Lumina
Active Pest Control Pro Division
David Clevenger (McDonough); 1969 Chevrolet Nova
Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Division
Jon Stovall
Harding Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Domestic Division
Donnie Henderson (Hampton); 1980 Chevrolet Malibu
Dynamic Towing Street Outlaw Division
Rodney Bunn (Griffin); 1973 Volkswagen Bug
HeadsUpGeorgia.com Street Modified Division
Doug Anglin (Griffin); 1988 Ford Mustang
Peach Pass Factory Street Division
Diesel Madkins (Jonewboro); 2014 Chevrolet Corvette
MetroPCS Tuner Division
Amanda Ledbetter (Peachtree City); 2012 Ford Mustang
Truck Advanced Division
James Hames (McDonough); 1978 Ford Bronco
Diesel Truck Division
Taylor Wilder (Locust Grove); 1994 Dodge Ram 1500
Truck Division
Brian Leath (Hampton); 1976 Chevrolet C-10
Sport Compact Division
Tyler Winter (Fayetteville); 2013 Ford Mustang
Super Bike Division
Tony Freeman (Stockbridge); 2012 Suzuki
Sport Bike Division
Ricky Harrelson (McDonough); 2011 Kawasaki
U.S. Marines Motorcycle Division
Nichilas Robinson (Stockbridge); 2009 Honda
Cruiser Division
Robert Thomas (Griffin); 2004 Harley-Davidson
ATV/Dirt Bike Division
Omar Ruiz (Cumming); Banshee
The Show-N-Shine competition featured everything from new imports to classic muscle cars and automobiles ranging as far back as the 1930s. Those vehicles then took part in the Speedway Cruise following judging.
Below is a complete list of the June 10 winners:
Classic Custom (Through 1972)
First Place: Dustin Smitherman (Senoia); 1972 Chevelle SS
Second Place: Gary Fowler (Griffin); 1968 Chevy Nova
Third Place: Larry Young (Woolsey); 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
Modern Custom (1973 through 1999)
First Place: Andrew Kerlin (Griffin); 1995 Ford Mustang GT
Second Place: Terry Ison (Zebulon); 1999 Z28 Chevrolet Camaro
Third Place: T.J. Williams (Forsyth); 1998 Pontiac Trans Am
Current Custom (2000 through current)
First Place: Hayley Dutton (Jackson); 2012 Ford Mustang
Second Place: William Anander (Newnan); 2007 Ford Mustang GT
Third Place: Chris Johnson (McDonough); 2012 Ford F150
Showroom Modern (1973 through 1999)
First Place: Chris Gallagher (Fayetteville); 1998 Pontiac Trans Am
Second Place: T.J. Ison (Zebulon); 1998 Chevrolet Camaro SS
Third Place: Justin Osterland (Griffin); 1990 Ford Mustang GT convertible
Showroom Current (2000 through current)
First Place: Russ Thomas (Peachtree City); 2007 Chevrolet Corvette
Second Place: Mitchell Sullivan (Jonesboro); 2007 Ford Mustang GT
Third Place: Jordan Rhead (Newnan); 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS
Tuner
First Place: Daniel Ingram (McDonough); 1995 Toyota Celica
Second Place: Adam Wallace (McDonough); 2007 Mini Cooper
Third Place: Steven Smith (Henry County); Lexus SC300
Truck
First Place: Michael New (Senoia); 2013 GMC Sierra
Second Place: Troy Murphy (Columbus); 2013 F150
Third Place: Trey Hill (McDonough); 2008 Ford F150
Open
First Place: Connor Younginer (Stockbridge); Legends Car
Second Place: Judson Woodall (McDonough); Legend
Third Place: Steven Jones (Griffin); 1998 Suzuki Intruder 800 (bike)
Atlanta Motor Speedway's O'Reilly Auto Parts Friday Night Drags & Show-N-Shine continues with Week 7 on Friday, June 17. Grandstand gates open at 6:30 p.m., and nightly drag race eliminations start after 9 p.m.
Entry to drag race or for the Show-N-Shine is just $20 or competitors can purchase a combo ticket for $30. Spectator tickets are just $8, and children 5 and under are free. More information can be found at www.atlantamotorspeedway.com/drags or by calling the Atlanta Motor Speedway Ticket Office at (770) 946-4211.
