Donnie Key’s ’67 Camaro couldn’t decide which way to go during EZ Street competition. The Lexington, Alabama, driver was shaken, but not injured. (John Fore III photos)
The win was Miller’s first this year and his first ever with a new Taylor Lastor-built 771 cubic-incher up front boosted by three stages of Speedtech nitrous.
“It feels good to get a win again, especially with Taylor here this weekend,” Miller said. “He’s been helping us find the right tune-up. We’re normally pretty good hot-weather racers, but it’s taken us a lot longer than I expected to find the right combination this year.”
John Smith took his ’68 Camaro to victory lane after the postponed Valdosta 5.30 class final, but after qualifying 11th for the Huntsville portion of the weekend he lasted only until round two.
Also driving Chevys to the rain-delayed winner’s circle in Huntsville were John Smith in the 5.30 index class and Pete Rickerson, who also qualified his immaculate ’69 Camaro ontop of the 6.0 class at Valdosta. Other Valdosta winners included Jeff Cooner in Limited Street (similar to Outlaw 10.5, though no wheelie bars are permitted and they have to run on true 10.5-inch-wide slicks), Robby Erwin in EZ Street, and Steve Smith in the 7.0 index class.
After three rounds of qualifying were completed, Kirk sat atop the Outlaw 10.5 field with a 4.509 at 164.05 mph. Robinson placed the next Bow Tie on the list in fourth place with a 4.544, followed by Miller in fifth based on his race-winning run in the second session.
Two races, two finals, one win. That was the weekend tally for Steve Kirk Jr. at Huntsville Dragway early this month. Kirk set low E.T. of the meet at 4.509 seconds in qualifying his John Ferguson-owned 2000 Camaro number one in Outlaw 10.5, then advanced to defeat the Ford of Loganville, GA’s Brad Brand in the final round.
Raceday saw Kirk start with a bye run, then get past the ’68 Camaro of Marcus Birt and the ’78 Trans Am driven in its first ORSCA appearance by P. Carroll. His opponent in the final would be Mustang pilot Brad Brand, who set top speed of the meet and established a new ORSCA record when he ran 171.10 mph in the final round of qualifying. After qualifying third, Brand also opened with a bye, then beat Ken Rainwater and Mike Hill in the preliminaries.
