Gear Jammer Growth |
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Racers show out for record $ 10,000 payday at 12th annual Stick Shift Nationals By Van Abernethy |
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The Greg Butcher Trucking Stick Shift Nationals has become a legendary event at North Carolina ’ s Farmington Dragway for a number of reasons , not the least of which is the fact that this race is completely free to enter , and includes huge payouts with several chances to score big . Not only is the $ 10,000-to-win main event completely free to enter , the same goes for the Scarlette ’ s Performance Gambler ’ s Race on Friday night , which awards $ 5,000 to the winner and pays eight places deep . Basically , everyone who enters this event gets paid to race , with zero entry fees across the board .
If you have the unfortunate luck of losing first round in the main event , no problem , just get back
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in line and enter the Second Chance race . “ If you showed up this year and lost first round of the main event , and also lost first round in the Second Chance race , you still got $ 25 !” says Ken Regenthal , who ’ s been instrumental in growing the event .
This gathering is also gaining notoriety for the fact that Saturday ’ s main event has never had a repeat winner , including the recently completed 12th running . Mark Charcalla made the long trip from Pennsylvania to become the 12th original
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winner of this race ’ s main event , getting past Colton Krishner in the thrilling finals . Charcalla drove his 1990 Ford Mustang – a car he ’ s owned since high school – to the winner ’ s circle .
In fact , he nearly swept the whole weekend after he first scored a runner-up finish in Friday ’ s gambler ’ s race , but Virginia ’ s Will Hull delivered a starting line advantage in his Camaro and never looked back , thus collecting the $ 5,000 purse . “ I choked on Friday night ... I ain ’ t gonna lie ... I had
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PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG BURROW |