PHOTOS: JEREMY PATTERSON. JASON SHARP, WES BUCK
HYPE MAN As the unofficial ringmaster of the drag radial circus, Donald “Duck” Long has been instrumental in elevating the small-tire classes from filler material to legitimate
stars of drag racing, using his one-of-a-kind brand of grassroots promotion to pack the stands, pits and starting line at South Georgia Motorsports Park twice a year.
Sears is quick to warn against dividing up the
scene’s potential. “With more races, car counts
will drop and guys won’t want to travel as far
because the exclusivity of the big races simply
won’t be there anymore,” he predicts.
“People want to put on a race every week, but
if only four or five cars show up, it really takes
away a lot overall,” says Long, agreeing with Sears’
July 2016
sentiments. “I think it’s a money thing. Everyone
has a right to put on a race, but just trying to
make a couple dollars can hurt the sport with too
many events on the calendar. If you had 20 Super
Bowls, who would care about getting tickets or
trying to play in it?”
Ironically, Nicodemus claims it’s for that reason that he founded the RTRA. He says he was
looking to create a series that people could commit to, rather than hop all over from one standalone race to another. “These guys want to race
for something and we wanted to give radial tire
racing a place to remain pure. I also wanted to
make it affordable to race on radials, because the
X275 guys don’t have the budget that the Outlaw
315 guys do,” he shares.
DragIllustrated.com
| D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | 101