when it was launched by then-track owners Jerry Joyce and Norman Drouillard . Dipping into the 5-second barrier in bracket racing on the eighth mile wasn ’ t incredibly common 40 years ago , and although only a handful of people were doing it with consistency in the Southeast , Joyce and Drouillard believed these type performances would be the wave of the future for dial-in bracket racing , and indeed their assumption was spot-on .
Just 16 cars were on hand for the inaugural running , which was won by legendary racer and chassis builder Tommy Mauney driving the Reese
DIALED IN
and Anderson 1981 Camaro . “ That first event stands in my mind as the most memorable !” says Mark Joyce , who has attended all 40 gatherings of the event that his father co-founded .
Joyce is not only the announcer for Farmington , but also a sponsor of this event and supplies each competitor with a t-shirt , which famously lists every driver who ’ s ever won the Big 5 Second Shootout , along with a decal and giant trailer check for the winner , compliments of his business , MJ Printing and Graphics . “ I ’ ve got to give a shoutout to my crew at the shop , because I couldn ’ t
do this without the help of Scotty Smith , Ben Nicholson , James Bledsoe , and Kory Fischer ,” says Joyce .
The competition for this event is pretty fierce , with only one back-to-back winner in its entire four-decade history , when multi-time IHRA Top Sportsman world champion Frank Teague from Hickory , North Carolina , won the event in 1984 and 1985 .
The event promises to always be heavily attended and is among the most celebrated bracket racing gatherings in the Southeast . DI
Runner-up Stuart Smith
Farmington Dragway official Mark Joyce
Winner Brett Myers
76 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 192