(Words and photos by David Whealon) – On the weekend of what would be considered the Super Bowl of mud drag racing at the NMRO 4-Wheel and Off-Road Jamboree Nationals in Indianapolis, IN, the most badass classes of the mud drag scene was pulled off the card. The gnarly off the hook on the edge classes of 5&6 blown alcohol dirt dragsters were scratched at the start of the NMRO season and needed a place to carry on the tradition that has been going on for decades. So leave it to Darryl Jones, owner of the Lee County Mud Motorsports Complex in Sanford, NC, to provide these guys a playground to romp their 3000 HP monsters for a stand-alone event of their own. The Blown Alcohol Madness “Jeff Harris Donate Life” benefit event was created for a worthy cause. Donate Life is a national organization that manages and promotes organ donation throughout the country since 1992.
For whatever the reason, Indy’s loss was our gain. It’s not too often that we here in NC get to check out these guys’ and gals’ wheelie poppin’ rooster tailing hole shots. Fourteen die hard racers descended on our turf from nearly all four corners of the nation. From the central states of Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan to our eastern states of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and all the way out west from New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. Some of these drivers have been at it for many years and you may have seen some of them run on those old episodes of TNN’s Trucks and Tractor Power. Guys like Harry Dee, Bob Dunham and Scott Snarski to name a few.
It was an awesome action packed day with a side card of some good old muddy “Open Outlaw” Hill n’ Hole action mixed in for an appetizer. The all over the place wheel totin’ blown alcohol cars made two banzai runs at the 160’ track of freshly churned clay hovering around the 2 second mark. But it was Minnesotan Jim Lamb piloting his “Reckoning” dragster on his second pass to a track record 1.84 second blast to take the win from Texas’ Bobby Wanat’s “Silver Bullet Magnum” with a close but no cigar 1.85.
Judging by the success of this year’s show, we may have started a new yearly tradition of our own right here in the Dirty South.
