BY NATE VAN WAGNEN & JOSH HACHAT
PHOTOG R APHS BY RICK B E LDE N , B RE N NAN SHORTALL
& J E RE MY PAT TE RSON
SMOKING TIRES AND
STANDING ROOM ONLY
IN VALDOSTA, GEORGIA
T
here was a time in
the not-so-distant past
when radial cars were
parked in the weeds at
outlaw Pro Mod events
across the Southeast,
destined to wait in the
wings until the real show – the big-tire
Pro Mods – had cleared the track. Now,
nine years after Donald “Duck” Long and
his Duck X Productions team started a
modest small-tire event called “Lights
Out”, all of that has changed.
Lights Out has become a must-see, must-attend event for
racers and spectators from around the world and across drag
racing’s many disciplines. This year, over 50 racers turned out to
compete for the $50,000 purse in Radial vs. the World, the head-
lining class made up of drag radial veterans, Street Outlaws cast
members and even an NHRA professional racer. Hundreds more
competitors filled the qualifying sheets of 10 other classes rang-
ing from Pro 275 to Open Comp. Packing the grandstands – and
the starting line – were thousands of spectators eager to see who
would permanently etch their names into drag radial racing’s
history books as the winners of Lights Out 9: No Escape.
By late Sunday night, the remaining competitors and specta-
tors got what they deserved as the cool Georgia air and seasoned,
Wade Rich-prepped track made for some of the quickest and
fastest passes of the weekend during the final rounds. The grand
finale in Radial vs. the World featured an epic battle between
two of the class’s biggest stars, “Stevie Fast” Jackson and Keith
Haney, racing in a rematch of their Saturday-afternoon grudge
match. It was a fitting end to the weeklong spectacle that has
become The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.
April 2018
DragIllustrated.com
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