A shocking result in the Group B “Muscle Car Monster’s Ball” on October 29 right before Halloween: the overall winner was no surprise-one of the fastest veterans at the track-but the 2nd and 3rd place finishers sure were! In a race that was full of surprises from start to finish, some of the brightest stars under performed, and some of the underdogs fought their way to glory! This is the first time that a Ford Maverick has been seen in the winner’s circle…let alone TWO! It was an amazing show!
The overall winner was one that’s familiar looking down from the 1st place podium; the 3rd member of “Club ’67 Heaven,” Alabama-born Brody “Big Beat” Banner (who earned his nickname from years of drumming with honky tonk and rock bands as he worked his way west) slam-shifted his bright yellow ’67 Malibu SS396 “The Sultan” back into first place and a tournament trophy! Banner has an uncanny ability to know when to go balls-out and when to hold back, and that skill was on full display at the 2nd round of the Monster’s Ball. If anyone know’s timing, it’s a drummer, and this was another flawless performance by Banner!
Some are already claiming that Butch “Bomber” Buchannan got lucky. His white, black-striped ’68 Maverick “Getaway Grabber” is a familiar sight to long-time fans and spectators at the track; he’s been around since not long after “the beginning,” but his heavily-built 302 powered brawler has rarely risen above the status of “also ran.” But with time and experience, both drivers and mechanics improve; this is true of the winner of the last tournament as well, and “Bomber” has clearly been making real efforts to improve his car and his times. In the final elimination, he went up against “Pale Horse,” Travis “Tank” Tucker’s ’70 Buick GS-X, which had been very fast all night. Tucker spilled in turn 7, however, deslotting momentarily before regaining traction, and although he was on his way to another winning run, this brief mishap was enough to throw the match. Criticism of Buchannan’s win seems to miss the point that he made it the final elimination round, something this driver has never done before!
It did appear, however, that faced with the prospect of an actual tournament win and going up against a legend, “Bomber” lost some of his nerve; he turned in a tepid time in The Final Battle, allowing Banner to walk it in; but even if luck was on his side, its clear his efforts at improvement have paid off, as his found himself taking the 2nd place cup!
Equally surprising was another ’68 Maverick Grabber coming in 3rd! Unlike “Bomber” Buchannan, this one was much more of an unknown quantity, a rookie running his first-ever tournament at the track. Unlike “Getaway Grabber” which is very much a “traditional” hot rod with many stock parts, Dan “Rancor” Rodman’s “Blue Meanie” is a highly modified car with a full rack & pinion front set up with no shock towers, into which he managed to shoehorn a 351 Windsor! A lot of custom fabrication was done on this car, and rumor has it that Rodman-who is something of a mystery-learned a lot of his shop and welding skills in prison. Regardless, he got to this result fair and square, showing tremendous speed on the straightaways and amazingly good grip in the turns for such a front-heavy car! He was just fast, no mystery about it! “Rancor’s” reputation may or may not be deserved, but either way, it looks like he intends to build a new one; if this impressive performance is a sign of things to come, he’ll be a track hero by the end of the year!
Another awesome race for the end of the “Secret Oktober” fall racing season, and another awesome post-race party for spectators, drivers, and personnel alike lit up the track well into the night!
And now for the final round: the GROUP C challenge coming up on all Hallow’s Eve eve!
Amazing and no doubt exciting! I bet each of these cars have their own personalities as well as gifted drivers. With all this intense racing it seems like your power supply and timing systems have been up to the challenge! The Jumbotron is a great touch!