Street Racin'...LEGAL

How do you make street racing legal ??? Well...ya gotta bring it to the track ! This past Saturday was the 2nd annual Rusty Bridges Street Car Challenge, held at Brainerd Dragstrip. Not just a "show up & race" type of event, no... Rusty puts up 5 classes to keep things real ! Classes that can be entered into are Domestic, Truck , Import , Bike and Unlimited ...to give the big boys their time to shine. Now being true to the theme "Street car challenge" all drivers (excluding unlimited) have to prove themselves & their rides by completing a 50 mile cruise without falling behind or dropping out !

Now if you're part of the lucky crowd and make it back to the track you hit the pit's and await tech inspection, which is handle by Rusty himself. This is the point where the "street racing" lifestyle starts to build, people walking around scoping out the competition and of course a lil' smack talk (that's the way it is in the streets...right?) and when the two come together ? Oh yeah...grudge races are born and at this location you have nowhere to hide ! But at the end of the day it's all about the fun that was had from being part of this lifestyle, without worrying about the PoPo getting you and taking your wheels !

As the day goes on and drivers are eliminated from the heads-up rounds that are smoothly coordinated by Rusty , Karen & crew , the excitement builds to a new high when the time comes to see who's the fastest of them all ! Yes... the winner of each class has to line up and run again , the fastest of the fastest battle it out in a one time heads-up run till the champion of the day remains ! This event has it all , cars, trucks,bikes,imports and unlimited class where you"ll need to hold your ears...but usually only for 4 seconds once the beams are broke !!! As a final note, Rusty Bridges is jumping in with the "Beat the Heat" program and putting both programs together in September when the "BTH" will have their world finals. Not to be missed, the event will have America's fastest Fire & Police cars around...not to mention the Street cars Vs "The Man" !!! haha

The results of the 2 annual RBSCC...
Domestic Class - Shawn Bryson (above photo)
Truck Class - Micha Carrol
Import Class - Jimmy D,
Bike Class - Jason "Gimpy" Davis
Overall Fastest - Shawn Bryson
Unlimited Class - Craig "Money Man" Cash  (Driving the 1963 Corvette owned by Johnny Cash...No...not the singer)

View all the photo taken at the event HERE
Below video shows some "Unlimited" action.

Nostalgia at it's best

This past weekend was the time to go back in time. Built in 1961 , Paradise Dragstrip is currently celebrating it's 50th year anniversary while still running strong, and hosting many cool events. This past Saturday was the first of the three main Show-N-Go's held at the strip by North Georgia Hotrods , most know the lead man... BB Brown. Now this nostalgia show is far from static , as the sounds of high horsepower Rat Rodz & Flathead Fords can be heard from far away rippin' down the strip all day ! A fun day with the family can be had , whether you're checking out vintage parts in the swap meet , getting up close to many Rat Rodz at the car show or simply standing along the fence watching these old skool steel body machines run the historic 1/8 mile once again !

Though the chance of rain made for a few less tires on the hill this time , it was still a good turnout. The highlight of my day attending the event was seeing a 820ci Kaase Boss engine pushing 2,000hp in a ... yep once again...Rat Rod !!! The Mountain Magic Speed Shop rod wasn't there to just set pretty and bench race noooo , the crew brought it out to turn the tires. But unfortunately , like all fresh builds ,it had a few bugs to be worked out and never made a full pass. When it came time to load it up the crew found out it was fuel related and possibly faulty floats in the carbs. No major disappointment from me...the monster burnouts made up for it haha. Not to over shadow the other cool rides there , was one of many repeat Show-N-Go'ers "FistFull Of Dollars", a awesome Gassers that has no problems lifting the tires off the line ! And a Kellison car that brings plenty of attention with it's proudly worn original paint job , I must add...it also has no problem putting daylight under both front tires !

A day filled with oldies playing on the big speakers , walking around finding vintage parts , looking at all the "back in the day" cars we love and setting on the bleachers or standing on the fence and watching lil' deuce coupes race side by side as they once did... 50 years ago ! It's a great time to be had and not one to miss ,so come on out to the next one which will be July 2nd then another Oct. 8th , and crowd the fence with all the other motorheads and have yourself a good time !

As a final note , I would like to end with RIP to Mr. Otto Timms the man behind this wonderful place that many call home. Otto passed away early this year , but like any legend he held strong at his home overseeing the track during the winter while the track was closed , and I'm grateful to say he left us all on a Sunday...a race day...he left us hearing the sounds he so happily loved. Thank you Otto , we all miss you and will continue to call this lil piece of Paradise our home !

To view all photo's taken at the event click ..... HERE

The South gets...Smokey !!!

That's right , if you noticed the haze in the sky around Atlanta this weekend don't worry...we was all up in smoke after a few of the 800+ Hp beast at Road Atlanta roasted their tires ! May 6th & 7th Road Atlanta hosted round 2 of Formula Drift , a 7 round drifting competition that started April 8th in Long Beach California and will end in Irwindale ,California Oct. 8th . This makes the 8th year Road Atlanta has hosted the Formula Drift event and word from the web is they have confirmed a 3 year extension for this completely intense show of driving skill !

Friday started off with Pro/Am practice and qualifying ,which is held in the turn 10 complex of the track. A cool bit of info I heard announced is that 8 years ago the horseshoe ( 10b) was created just for this event ! A starting line that's a straight shot downhill where the goal (points wise) is to hit 80mph before the left-hand turn,and if you mess up just a little...you end up in the gravel ,which is nicknamed  "Kitty litter" and a few found it on both days ! The right-hand to left-hand turn into the horseshoe is uphill until the exit which made for some of the best full throttle high rpm  drifts , the smoke clouds would sometimes hide spectators on the other side of the track...it was just too cool ! Another little extra Friday was seeing  F2000 series race, it went down during the break in drifting action.

Saturday , well... was PACKED out. I thought by getting there early I would find a good parking spot , haha never mind the spot I had a hard time with the crowds of fans along the road. Making my way to the pit's to cover that scene I noticed the diverse fan base, young to old , mostly all carrying or wearing Nitto,Hankook,Falken etc. gear. Trying to capture the scene and get good pic's in this highly crowded area I used my wide angle lens & my height to my advantage lol . Most of the drivers & crew could be met down there..just hanging out tweaking on the cars, prepping for the big day. The Formula Drift scene knows how to show their fan's a good time, I was even able to meet many of the drivers, not to mention Vaughn Gitten Jr (2010 FD Champ) , you know I got a pic with him ! This event makes you feel so apart of the sport (minus the driving haha) that you just stay entertained all day. When it came time for the main competition of a field of 32 the bleachers were packed , and you could feel the excitement all around. The sun was setting creating a warm glow on the track and when the cars put up all that smoke and made the turn out of the horseshoe their headlights would barley creep through the cloud , just making for such a cool sight to see & hear ! If anyone gets a chance to go to a Formula Drift event (or any drift event) don't miss out, it's a cool motor sport that's fun to watch ...and to be apart of !

The results of round 2
1st - Dai Yoshihara (1993 Nissian 240 / car #9)
2nd - Darren Mcnamara (2009 Saturn Sky / car #8)
3rd - Toshiki Yoshioka (Nissian 240ls / car #21)

View the two days of coverage (983 pics) from the event .... CLICK HERE

Ruff Ryder's Event

This past Saturday was the scene of two wheel action at Brainerd Dragstrip in Ringgold Ga . Part of a weekend celebration for their 1 year anniversary the Chattanooga chapter of the Ruff Ryder's spent Saturday hanging out & rippin' the strip at Brainerd. The Ruff Ryder's "Lifestyle" is 1 of 5 chapters in Tennessee , they also consist of a Car , Truck , Dog and Music division. This Ruff Ryder's lifestyle is not just in Tennessee...it's world wide , Japan to France and even Guam !
The Chattanooga chapter is not just a group of bikers rippin' around just for fun , they hold charity events to better their area , they state "We strive to help our community" . To become part of the Ruff Ryder's...being a "Prospect" , you have to meet requirements , one of which is to host a charity event !  It's a lifestyle that I can certainly respect .

The Ruff Ryder crew rode in with style around 1pm and prepared for the day's event in the staging lanes where Karen & Brainerd staff went over the plans. As all the bikes rolled into the pits that day you could see Hayabusa's , Gxsr's , Ninja's and even a 2011 Ducati , to name a few.
The action started quickly as the  high revving engines made their noise in the water box...ready for w.o.t down the strip ! But you could just feel desire in the air for a good 1/8 mile standing wheelie...and it didn't take long haha, we all seen a few passes that stretched well over 1/8 mile on one wheel !!! The crowd of Ruff Ryder's on the fence got loud when Brittany Ewing (Nashville Chapter) on a Busa made her fastest pass of the day which was a blistering 5.77 !

All I can say is that I was wide open myself , when it came time to take a break from the racing action (announced over the PA)  I started to walk off...but then, out of the corner of my eye a bright green bike busted a big endo , Ahh stunt bike time ! So back track-side I go...it was all good though , I love being close to any action. After he was warmed up he wasn't camera shy at all lol , I only had to zoom my lens a few times to catch his smooth skills, I got the honor & RUSH of capturing endo's , stoppie's and 90 deg wheelie's 2ft in front of my face...well, camera !
Another cool aspect of the show was a fella that most will know...Jamie "Hotrod" Millholland, a cool guy that rode his fair share of 1/8 , 1/4 mile and land speed surfaces, not to mention he raced AMA Prostar for many years ! A cool fella that helps others out in the world of racing , and watch out for Logan Poppell ... (a 12yr old that's soon to be twisting the throttle of a 1000 ) that he's currently working with !

It was a great day of action and I hope I get the chance to do it again soon.
So... much respect to all the Ruff Ryder's out there , and to the Chattanooga chapter that put on a cool event this Saturday !!! And big thanks to Skitzo for throwing me some RR info ...I appreciate it man ! If anyone is interested in the Ruff Ryder life you can find'em where everyone else in the world is at...FaceBook lol

View the 353 photo's of the full day coverage HERE

The MissMisery Racing crash

The "Battle Of The States" at Brainerd Dragstrip was the scene of a hard crash in the right lane. Bobby Dodrill /MissMisery Racing, in the 3000+hp 1987 4x4 Outlaw truck was making his qualifying passes during Saturdays event , when all went wrong !

Spinning all four off the line and kicking sideways down the track he managed a pass to make him the #1 qualifier , but sadly this was his last pass of the day, as the truck went out of control he slammed hard into the guardrail sending parts flying, even damaging the scoreboard. The sound was loud but quickly muted by the sounds of spectators screaming & the ambulance that wasted not one second to get on the other end of the track !

Bobby came out fine, a lil' bruised up and sore... that's good news for sure !

Fellow racers have set up a PayPal donation button on the MissMisery & Bobby Dodrill wall on FaceBook , if you would like to donate please search either name on FB and help get this awesome truck back on the track ! Estimated damage is 15 to 20 k .

Battle of the States

The HUGE  3 day event "Battle Of The States" at Brainerd Dragstrip was not one to miss !!! Action from the very first burnout to the very last rippin' heads up run . Steve Jackson in the Orange/green flamed Fox body mule took home the big win in "Limited Street" stuffing his pockets with $17,000 plus !!! Saturdays qualifying runs came with two big crashes on the top end , Bobby Dodrill in his 1987 Chevy 4x4 Outlaw truck pushing over 3000 hp broke loose on the top end in the right lane and hit the guardrail hard enough to send parts flying into the air. Bobby came out okay , just sore and bruised up.

Sundays eliminations started off strong , competition the air and drivers focused . Ground pounding action came from 7.0 , 6.0 , 5.30 , Super Street and Limited Street . Spectators in the bleachers and on the fences held their ears as these mean machines would turn the tires in the water box and come to a smokey halt at the beams, once the beasts where staged RPM's would go high and you could feel the power in your chest, just pounding meanest from these machines ! It was a sight to be seen...and felt.
View Saturday & Sunday coverage at... http://www.colephoto.net/   "Brainerd Gallery"
Direct link to the specific galleries...CLICK HERE