PTRA at Orangeburg recap

[Brian C]

PTRA at Orangeburg recap

(08-25-09) ORANGEBURG, SC – The Orangeburg Drag Strip held the first PTRA event last weekend. It took an extra day to finish due to the rain that came in Saturday. Mother Nature was much nicer on Sunday. The racer’s and fans woke up to blue skies Sunday morning and at 12:30 the action kicked off and was finished a few hours later.

In the Top Street class Brad Edwards to home the win after he scored the win over Jeff Tyson. This was a very close race, and Brad left first with a .065 light to Jeff’s .091. Brads’ 4.970 at 147.90 was enough to hold off Jeff’s hard charging 4.951 at 152.13. In the true street class it was Jason Hoots scoring the win over Jeremy Pearson. Jeremy had some traction problems while Jason streaked away for the win running a 5.638 at 128.94 to Jeremy’s 6.150 at 123.27.

Joe McCoy got the win in the 5.30 index class over the Ford Man Frankie Bartlett. Both Joe and Frankie broke out but it was Joe that was the lesser of the two. Joe posted a 5.288 at 135.10 while Frankie ran a 5.275 at 133.12. The 6.00 index was won by Jerry McSwain. Jerry defeated Richard Dukes in the finals. Jerry ran a 6.035 at 109.54 to Richard’s 5.990 at 112.78 which was a break out.

The 7.00 index was won by Bobby Bartlett in his ‘66 Chevy Nova Wagon. Bobby faced Jerry Cline in the final. Jerry broke out and handed the win to Bobby when he posted a 6.911 at 96.56. Bobby ran a 7.013 at 96.55 to get the win. Mike Hutchens won the Pro Tree Eliminator class over Aaron Hice. Mike was first off the line with a .026 to Aaron’s .510. Mike ran closer to his dial in and picked up the win. In the performance street class it was Chiffen Parker getting the win over Kirk Thompson. Not only did Chiffen win the race he set a new the record running a 6.435 at 103.95. The junior dragster race was won by Ricky Herbert. He met his sister Alicia Charette in the finals. Ricky got off the line first with a .009 light to Alicia’s .026.

For more information on the PTRA visit www.headsupsuperseries.com. For more information on Orangeburg Drag Strip visit www.obdragstrip.com or www.orangeburgdragstripllc.com. To see a complete photo gallery visit www.prestagephotography.com.

Story by Buddy Trivette, photo by Matthew Trivette