Jamaica’s drag racers will head to Vernamfield, Clarendon, for the second staging of Battle of the Belts, this Sunday, June 9.

The first staging of this unique quarter-mile event took place on Sunday, February 25, to much success.

“The event was nice, successful. Everything went off without a hitch. We had a couple of hiccups with the spectators crossing the barriers, but otherwise a safe day of drag racing,” Brian Clough, event conceptualiser, told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

Battle of the Belts presents drag racing at its most stripped down form in a controlled environment. It is, in essence, a straight drag race between two cars with no significant level of preparation to see who crosses the finish line first, as there is no clock.

There are only four classes, unlike traditional bracket drag racing. Class one is for front-wheel drive cars using no form of forced induction; however, the power adder nitrous oxide is allowed. Class two is front-wheel drive turbocharged cars. Class three is for all-wheel and rear-wheel drive. Class four is called Outlaw and it is anything goes.

“It’s basically street racing made safe,” said Clough.

He explained that the genesis of the event was to get racers off the street and on to the track, in format that is more in line with what they would be more familiar with. And, having put on several of these types of events overseas, he thought given the challenges in Jamaica with street racing it was an opportunity to benefit everyone.

Clough said the racers get to compete in safe environment and the public can watch in that safe environment, and there is more than just bragging rights at the end of day.

“In this type of racing there is no second place, so first place takes everything,” he said.

At the last Battle of the Belts each class had $150,000 up for grabs, plus a belt indicating they were the champion in that class.

Clough has planned three Battle of the Belts for the year.

“Our driver turnout was a little on the low side, but the spectators really came in and showed up.”

Clough expects a better driver complement and even more spectators this Sunday as he felt that the February date meant many cars were not prepared for such an early start to the drag racing season.