Dirt
The Best, Worst and Wildest
Moments of Lights Out 11
From the small-block-that-
could to Stevie Fast’s ongoing
reign of terror and everything in
between, D rag I llustrated delves
into all the eyebrow-raising
moments of Lights Out 11
By Nate Van Wagnen
F
or most people in America there’s
still snow on the ground, so it’s hard to
argue that there is any better time for
Donald Long to throw a drag race than
the second week of February. Racers and fans
the country over are as eager as the day is long
to kick off the racing season, and if they’re lucky
start their year off in style at the most prestigious
and popular small-tire race in the world.
With Lights Out 11 now in the rearview mirror,
the team at D rag I llustrateD sat down to break
down some of the biggest moments of the race.
The list below represents just a selection of the
many highlights – and a few lowlights – of “the
Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” at South
Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Georgia.
BEST: Stevie Fast Does It Again
■ On the heels of a dominant NHRA Pro Mod
world championship season and multiple Radial
vs. the World wins in 2019, Stevie “Fast” Jackson
is on pace to have an even better season in 2020.
Jackson’s win over David Reese in the Lights Out
11 Radial vs. the World final round marked his
fifth victory at one of DuckX Productions’ races
at South Georgia, including one at No Mercy last
year. He’s simply operating at a different level
than many of his competitors in RVW.
BEST: Screw-Blown Small Block Makes
Big Splash
■ Besides the obvious fact that David Reese is an
old-school small-tire guy that anyone who’s been
paying attention for any amount of time can’t help
but root for, it was undoubtedly impressive for
the Georgia-native to roll out a brand-new race
car (that he built himself ) with a small-block
Chevy powerplant and become an instant power
player. Reese in his “El Diablo 2.0” ‘19 Camaro
qualified No. 2 with a 3.61-second blast before
laying down three 3.58s in the first four rounds
of racing. With a better reaction time and 3.594
in the final round, he came up just a few thou-
sandths short of taking down Jackson.
BEST: Melanie Salemi Ties RVW ET Record
■ Melanie Salemi has been on the Radial vs. the
World radar since winning in her RVW debut
at the World Street Nationals at Orlando last
November, but her performance at Lights Out
11 proved how seriously her team is taking their
small-tire program. Tuned by her husband, Jon,
and brother-in-law Jim, Salemi fired off a 3.546
at 213.57 mph to tie Stevie “Fast” Jackson’s class
ET record during the first round. She was stopped
in the semifinals when an electrical issue shut
off the screw-blown “Side Piece” Camaro after
the burnout.
BEST: Manny Buginga is The Man in X275
■ Manny Buginga may have let the event win slip
through his fingers in X275, but his turbocharged
Mustang did leave South Georgia as the quick-
est X275 car in the country after lowering the
class record twice. He led qualifying with a 4.229
and improved the mark with a 4.220 in the third
round. He and No. 2 qualifier Rob Goss were both
off pace in the final round, though Goss held out
for the win in a 4.539-to-4.599 race.
BEST: Ayers-Cox Debut New Mustang
■ Super Bowl-winning NFL star Fletcher Cox’s
supercharged ‘67 Mustang rolled off the chas-
sis jig in the summer of 2018, but it made its
Manny Buginga
Stevie Fast
Melanie Salemi
26 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 154