New drag record
HISTORY was rewritten at the third event in the National Drag Racing Circuit’s (NDRC) 2014 calendar held at Vernamfield in Clarendon, on Sunday.
The 11-year-old 4WD record fell as Michael Williams, from the Cayman Islands, ran a 9.603. Jamaican George Bailey held the previous record with a time of 9.800.
“It was a successful meet. There was a fair-size audience present, with other events like Reggae Sumfest and the Wealth Car Show in Montego Bay having an impact on overall attendance,” Stephen Gunter, NDRC executive member, told Auto.
Attendance numbers may have been slightly down, but the drag racing action was definitely up with 92 competitors whittled down to the final two for each of the timed classes in very compressed proceedings due to an unfortunate 2 1/2 hour delay.
“A late start due to a cable malfunction was overcome, with Qualifying, Eliminations, all Class Finals, and the Street Car Quick 8 completed with the event being only 15 minutes late overall,” explained Gunter.
This meant cars were sprinting from the timing lights as the NDRC tried to make up the lost time. With minimal breaks, fans were pleased by the near-constant flow of cars down the quarter-mile strip.
In Street 16, Josimar Jackson took the win when Denniston Graham red-lighted. Street 15 went to Kevin Archer and Street 14 to Ricardo Bryan. From there on out, the competition was close, keeping all involved engaged to the end of every Pro Street and Pro Race run. Jason Moses edged out Ronald Johns in Pro Street 13 winning after putting down a 13.142 second run to Johns’ 13.242. Pro Street 12 went the way of Jordane Ellis. Herbert Edwards and Eugene Grandison won Pro Street 11 and 10 respectively.
As the bulk of the field sits within the 14 to 10 second categories, Pro Race 9 and 8 were lonely affairs, but never-the-less exciting to watch. Michael Williams put down an untroubled run of 12.629 seconds, as there was no need to stress his Mitsubishi Lancer after qualifying for Pro Race 9, the nine-second class. Adrian McLymont continued to chart his path in Pro Race 8 with an 8.832 pass in the Badbreed Racecraft Ford Mustang. The quick eight went the way of Paul Fung over the Honda Civic of Charles Maxwell.
“Our next meet will be on October 12 and have the full programme of NDRC drag racing for all classes, plus the Street Car Quick 8. However, additional items are being considered and will be announced when finalised,” Gunter said.
