moments in radial racing history go down at South Georgia .
“ We lived through a time of that ten-year run for Donald to see some amazing stuff ,” Woodruff says , looking back on the years of Lights Out , No Mercy , and Sweet 16 races that created drag radial legends and put the niche category on the mainstream drag racing map . “ David Wolfe going 4.30s . Keith Berry winning , beating Stevie [ Jackson ] on a holeshot with a Corvette that they just put together that afternoon . There ’ s some stuff like that , to be involved in the deal and to stay involved in it and be competitive as long as I have , it ’ s pretty awesome .”
One of the “ Duck ” races that stands out in Woodruff ’ s memory is the inaugural Sweet 16 in 2018 . Paying $ 101,000 to win in Radial vs . the World , it attracted the heaviest of heavy hitters , which led to a slew of new records . Woodruff himself missed the 16-car shootout , qualifying
No . 17 with a 3.793-second pass in his twin-turbo ’ 10 Corvette , but he still looks back fondly on that weekend .
“ It was a moment in time ,” Woodruff says . “ It was the most incredible drag racing event . I would have to talk to [ Bret ] Kepner because he ’ s the historian , but I don ’ t believe that there ’ s ever been another event in the entire world where every round a record was broken through that qualifying session .
“ And then the guy that was on top went and won it ,” Woodruff continues , referring to longtime teammate Mark Micke , who won in Jason Carter ’ s twin-turbocharged ’ 78 Malibu . “ DeWayne [ Mills ] went a . 60 ( 3.696 ), Stevie [ Jackson ] went . 60s ( 3.666 ), Micke went . 62 ( 3.623 ). It was like , ‘ Holy cow !’ It was incredible . It was a fairytale story . I ’ m getting chills even thinking about it .”
Another favorite memory of Woodruff ’ s goes back further to Lights Out 8 in 2017 when he raced to the final round in RvW . Before the final , though , Woodruff and his team , led by longtime buddy and car chief Brent Sansoucie , had to repair engine damage sustained during a semifinal win over Stevie Jackson . The team ’ s pit area was flooded with people jumping in to help while a huge crowd stood back to watch it all unfold . It
WOODRUFF ’ S RACING OPERATION HAS EXPANDED SUBSTANTIALLY , BUT A CONSTANT OVER HIS CAREER HAS BEEN SHOW-QUALITY CARS AND EQUIPMENT .
Issue 175