THE
FASTEST
STEVIE
the stage beam. Haney followed,
and it was Haney following
Jackson again when the three
ambers dropped and the green
light flashed. Jackson led the
race from start to finish, 3.787 to
Haney’s 3.901.
“Sunshine was out, track was
good – I don’t know what them
boys were doing over there,” Jack-
son laughs. “I guess they weren’t
looking at the same track I was
looking at. I told the boys we’re
gonna lay the wood to this thing.
I don’t take those guys lightly. Bran-
don Switzer is a very smart guy.
Brandon Pesz and all the guys who
work on that thing are smart, and
Keith is a good driver. We couldn’t
take him lightly. He’d only been a
3.85 up to that point when we raced
him the first time, but I ran it just
like it was a final round. That’s why
grudge racing is so exciting. You
look at that picture of the people
on the starting line and the people
piled into the stands, standing up
to watch – that is fan interest. You
April 2018
From qualifying
through eliminations,
“Stevie Fast” Jackson
demonstrated why
he’s become one
of the most feared
competitors in the
ruthless Radial vs.
the World scene.
can’t generate better publicity.”
Despite coming up short by a
U-Haul trailer length (as a meme
hilariously illustrated after the
race), Haney was equally excited
about the overall buzz that sur-
rounded the pairing.
“I never experienced anything
like that in the history of my drag
racing,” Haney says. “That starting
line and that crowd during that
moment, I’ve never seen drag
racing like that – ever. If at the
end of the day we won more fans
in the stands, more people online
or Stevie got an extra fan or I got
an extra fan, at the end of the day
that’s what the sport needs.”
With the grudge race be-
hind them, Haney and Jackson
prepared for the first round of
eliminations. Jackson was racing
out of the No. 2 on the strength of
his 3.787 at 198.06, just .64 mph
behind his teammate and sponsor,
Jeff Sitton, who nabbed the No.
1 spot in his “Hyde” ’17 Camaro.
Haney held down the No. 8 posi-
tion with his 3.858 at 196.62 from
Thursday night. The first step in
lining up an improbable rematch
in the final round – qualifying
on opposite sides of the ladder –
was complete.
To complete the other four
steps in the process, both drivers
gradually recorded quicker passes
in winning efforts against their op-
ponents in eliminations. Jackson
ran 3.89 over Lyle Barnett, 3.87
against Enzo Pecchini, 3.81 over
Street Outlaws star Ryan Mar-
tin’s respectable 3.85, and finally
3.78 to defeat Tim Slavens in the
semifinals. On the other side of
the ladder, Haney and “Enigma”
stumbled out of the gate against a
struggling Jeff Shawver, but picked
back up with a 3.86 over Paul Ma-
jor, 3.81 over Kenjo Kelley and a
holeshot-win 3.798 over Canadian
Paolo Giust’s 3.787 in the semis.
Jackson and Haney returned
to the starting line for the final
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