Don Garlits' Wild Ride at SGMP - John Nance Video
Southern Slingshots at Southern Nostalgia Shootout
by Marvin T. Smith
The Southern Slingshots put on quite an exhibition at the Southern Nostalgia Shootout! They brought eight cars and ran the wheels off of them. These eight ran four or five times a day, putting on their own eighth mile show and not running in the regular eliminations. Other members of the Southern Slingshots chose to run in open competition. Several cars ran their personal best times, so they were really pushing their machinery to thrill the crowds. Tammy Fargo ran the quickest of the group at 4.91 at her personal best speed of 141.61 mph. Ed Fargo drove the car the full quarter to a 7.97 158 mph on Saturday. Charlie and Diane Meyer’s injected Chevy dragster with Diane driving was another car with a new personal best. John Crawford brought his injected 427 Chevy Logghe car from Ohio and also ran a personal best on the South Georgia Motorsports Park concrete. Dave Workman had his beautiful blown rat-powered dragster on the track for a number of runs, but was having problems. Even though he broke two transmission shafts, grazed the wall, and had to repair his steering, he never missed a session! Both Dave Workman and Tammy Fargo participated in the Cackle Event on Saturday night, and Tammy out-flamed Don Garlits and Roger Gates in Denny Fenstermaker’s car. Two other Southern Slingshot members raced in open competition. Terry Stewart won Flathead/Inliner class with his Hilborn injected 6 cylinder dragster, and Phil Bramande won Altered Competition class with his dragster. These guys and gals really personify the spirit of nostalgia drag racing: great cars, wheels-up action, great people, and great times.
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Baddest of the Bad at the Southern Nostalgia Shootout
by Marvin T. Smith
The Baddest of the Bad category was established for anyone who wanted to step up and race heads-up. This was the only category where nitrous oxide was allowed. It was a winner-take-all race with a six foot trophy and cash up for the winner. Matt Gilmore, driving his quick 8 Austin Bantam altered was number one qualifier. Charlie Gambino was the second qualifier in his roadster funny car. Also solidly in the field was the Mike Forsythe 63 Vette top sportsman car and the Morgan Motorsports nitrous 68 Camaro. In the final, Charlie GAmbino set low elapsed time and top speed at 4.059 178.92 mph to beat Matt Gilmore who crept through the lights to foul. These cars put on a great show. On Friday, Matt Gilmore ran the quickest elapsed time of the entire event at 6.45 at 184 mph on his only full quarter mile pass of the event. That is nearly half a second quicker than Top Fuel!! These cars were truly BAD.
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Top Fuel at the Southern Nostalgia Shootout
by Marvin T. Smith
With a limited purse, no one knew what to expect for Top Fuel, but some great cars came to race. Most of the cars usually run A/F at Bowling Green. Number one qualifier was Lincoln Hassell from North Carolina with a 6.814 at 196.42 which held up as low elapsed time and top speed for the dragsters. Kevin Sine, from Palm Beach, Florida, was also in the six second zone. Charlie Smith towed all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma, only to have problems and have to withdraw. Charlie won the “Best Engine” award and thus did not go home completely empty-handed. Three cars of the five cars present made the call on Sunday. In round one, Lincoln Hassell beat A. Douglas and ran a fine 6.853 185 to Douglas’ 8.06. Douglas ran beautiful wheels-up runs every time he went down the track and put on a great show with his immaculate Chevy fueler. Kevin Sine singled when Charlie Smith couldn’t run. He ran a nice 6.97 at 193. In the final, Sine left on Hassell and ran a 6.957 at 193 for the win. Hassell trailed with a 7.463 at 160.75. Then Hassell’s throttle stuck, the chutes came out late, and he went off the end of the track into the sand at a high rate of speed. He was taken to the hospital to be checked out since he was complaining of back pain. He was later released with only minor bruises.
Julius Hughes III made an appearance for some license passes with the new Atlanta Speed Shop dragster. He was driving the former Frank Spittle Syndicate of Sound fueler with an engine run by his father back in the 70s. He made some great runs for the crowd. Look for this team in competition soon.
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Garlits at the Southern Nostalgia Shootout
by Marvin T. Smith
Don Garlits was the featured attraction at the Southern Nostalgia Shootout at South Georgia Motorsports Park October 27-29. Big Daddy brought his Swamp Rat VIII recreation to put on a show for the fans. Don make a short blast on Saturday and another on Sunday, and participated in the Cacklefest on Saturday night. He spent hours talking with his fans and signing autographs.
On Saturday, Don suited up and pushed his car down the right lane, turned around and push-started it coming toward the starting line in the left lane. He then turned in staging and made a smokey blast for 330 feet or so to give fans a feel for drag racing the way it used to be. The sticky South Georgia Motorsports Park track surface was not conducive to making a lot of smoke, so when Don idled down the track and reached the finish line where the track had not been sprayed, he nailed the throttle and exploded in a cloud of tire smoke!
On Sunday, Don made a second run: same procedure, with one major difference. When he reached the top end, he again decided to nail the throttle but this time the car spun out making a full 180 degree spin and then went up on two wheels. Don narrowly missed hitting the wall. Luckily everything turned out fine and Don and Swamp Rat VIII were unscathed. Don
said his first thought was that he was going to hurt his museum car! He also said that he had entirely too much horsepower for such a short car. I can tell you that Don doesn't have to worry about having a heart attack!! If he survived this event, he has excellent health! It was quite
a show!
It was a real honor to have Big Daddy at our track. It is only the second or third time he has had Swamp Rat VIII out this year. Thanks Big Daddy for making the Southern Nostalgia Shootout a success.
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Southern Nostalgia Shootout Results
Results from the Southern Nostalgia Shootout at South Georgia Motorsports Park October 27-29 by Marvin T. Smith
Top Fuel: Kevin Sine 6.95 193 over Lincoln Hassell 7.46
Super Charged Altered: Ken Gonyo 4.28 169 (eighth mile) over Bill Heister 5.76
Funny Car: not contested due to several cars with mechanical problems.
Altered Comp: Phil Bramande 7.79 170 over Chris Strickland 8.67 (handicapped)
Gassers: Joe Kelley 6.42 over Roger McConnell (foul)
Joe Kelley's Willys was also selected for a "Best Paint" award.
Super Stock: Wesley Purvis over Roger Kelly (local bracket cars running in SS)
Flat Head/Inliner: Terry Stewart (6 cyl dragster) 9.77 over Charles Overfelt (blown flathead altered) 9.99
Baddest of the Bad: Charlie Gambino 4.05 (eighth mile) over Matt Gilmore (foul)
Quick 100: Brandon Wood 6.87 over Franky Bishop (foul)Photos
