The first sports car race in…well, in longer than I can remember!-got off to a roaring start right on schedule during the first weekend of October 1985! 32 cars comprising the “Group A” team of the sports car fleet turned up to face off in numerical order throwing down some gauntlets and putting down some times! The weather was perfect-clear, 78 degrees-and the action was lightning fast, with some real surprises in the results!
In Heat 1, Balor “Barron Blood” Baddock in his first-ever race in “Dragon Fuel”, his lime green Pantera GT5, turned in a spectacular time that everyone thought would be a win, only to be shut down by the 427 Chevy powered #18 Cheetah “King of the Hill,” again living up to its name posting the fastest race time of the tournament. Yet a far bigger upset occurred in Elimination Round 2, when “Throttlestop” Steele, who must have been off his guard, was romped by “Matador,” the #22 Maserati of Leonardo “Leadfoot” Leoni. No one expected an inline 6 based on a design from the 1950’s to beat a big block Chevy in a small light car, making Leoni and Matador true “come from behind” underdogs! Yet this amazing victory was short-lived, as Leoni himself was knocked out in the following elimination round by the tournament’s second place victor Phil “Prodigy” Phillips. His fully race-prepped white 1970 C3 Corvette L88 “Intimidator” came in just ahead of 3rd placer Wayne “Wonderkid” William’s C2 Corvette Grand Sport “Number One.” Taking the overall win was none other than Warwick “Wolf” Wagner, who’s #11 Porsche 904 “Ragnar” yet again lived up to its age-old reputation as a “giant-killer,” running away from cars with twice the horsepower and three times the displacement to take his 5th tournament trophy, an amazing performance that puts him in the upper echelons of successful drivers at Drag City!
From the Rookies report: first time out for Hannibal “Checkmate” Chapman’s gorgeous black Ferrari 250GTO went well in Heat 1 when he beat “Patriot,” Kenny “Thriller” Diller’s red Ford GT 40, but he understandably took it a little easy on this mega-valuable museum piece and was shut down in Elimination 1 by “Shotgun,” the black #3 Lola GT. And Draco “Manimal” Marino put in a very poor showing in the #32 Pantera “Felony,” showing this car needs a lot of work still to be competitive.
Next up are the Group B sports cars as the Secret Oktober series continues! Stay tuned, race fans, for more results from Banzai Runner IV-B!
Does the Pantera have to go back to the shop for some additional modifications. It looks like the new 32 car format is working out for some great racing!