Dirt
How Sweet it Was
Recapping 15 wild, wacky and awe-inspiring moments from Duck X Production’ s Sweet 16 By Josh Hachat
Since its announcement, there has been a considerable amount of hype surrounding Donald Long’ s Radial vs. the World Sweet 16 event. With a $ 101,000 winner-take-all prize and a totally different concept than any of Long’ s previous drag radial events, there was also a lot at stake. But after an utterly incredible three days at South Georgia Motorsports Park, it’ s safe to say the race exceeded all expectations.
With that in mind, let’ s take a look at the 15 best wild, wacky and awe-inspiring moments from the thrill ride in Valdosta that made it possible.
DUCK DOES IT AGAIN
Let’ s be clear, Long didn’ t have to do something radically different. His Lights Out and No Mercy events are unequivocal successes and have been for years. But he deserves plenty of credit for trying something totally different, where one class – Radial vs. the World – was the sole focus, there were limited tickets sold and it was available for live viewing only on pay-per-view.
He threw traditional concepts to the wind, but Long believed in it, trusted the work he did and set the stage for the ultra-talented drivers to deliver. That happened in record-setting fashion, which certainly helped the feel of the weekend, but positivity and excitement was flowing all three days. You would be hard-pressed to find a negative word said about the Sweet 16 event from any angle. The energy was palpable, the event was a smash hit and it was another home run for Long.
MICKE RUNS THE TABLE
What more can you say about the performance of Mark Micke, car owner Jason Carter and the rest of his team? We ran out of adjectives by the time he claimed the $ 101,000 prize by beating DeWayne Mills in the final round, wrapping up one of the best weekends in drag radial history.
Micke set the Radial vs. the World record three different times in two days, qualified No.
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1, outslugged the biggest names in the class in eliminations and took home the biggest prize in radial racing history.
To be that dominant in a class littered with such talent is beyond impressive, but Micke proved up to the task each time he made a run. He was record-breakingly quick, he was consistent, he was dynamite on the starting line and, ultimately, he was the best of the best. That’ s a weekend worth remembering.
HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
Just a month before the Sweet 16, Jeff Sitton, the No. 1 qualifier at Lights Out 9, ran a 3.787 in Radial vs. the World. Amazingly enough, that number wouldn’ t have qualified here, a tribute to the impressive performances by everyone in the field. Sure, track conditions were different and the track was prepped for kill, but it doesn’ t take away from the job the drivers and teams did to raise their performances to another level.
DON’ T FORGET THE FIRST
Before all the madness ensued, we can’ t forget who made history first. That honor will forever belong to DeWayne Mills, who went 3.698 to become the first driver in Radial vs. the World history to reach the 3.60s. Mills, a longtime standout in the radial world, deserves his moment in the sun for doing it first and completing another successful weekend that ended in the final round.
HANEY AGAIN IN THE CONVERSATION
Keith Haney proved one more time he is not a person to be taken lightly in the biggest drag
radial races. Haney’ s persona online is well known, both in his ability to dish it out and often be portrayed as a drag racing Internet meme, but on the track he is all business. Haney continues to be in the thick of things when it matters most, running well once again after his Lights Out 9 runner-up finish. His. 002 red light against DeWayne Mills ended his day in the semifinals, but not before another consistent performance, including this awe-inspiring thrash in the pits before facing off with Mills.
STEVIE FAST ALWAYS DRAWS A CROWD
As this weekend proved once again, nobody moves the needle quite like Stevie“ Fast” Jackson. The Lights Out 9 winner didn’ t have the result he wanted, losing to Mills in the second round, but plenty of attention still surrounded Jackson, who followed Mills into the 3.60s on Thursday. He did it again on Friday, setting a momentary record of 3.666 at 202.58 before Micke took it back.
WELCOME TO THE PARTY Daniel Pharris’ run to the 3.60s shouldn’ t be
PHOTOS: JEFF KLINE
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