Ingle, McGee, and Warrick Head Winners List From Third Annual Carolina Drag Cruise
The drag-and-drive season starts to ramp up in April, and the Carolina Drag Cruise was completed this past weekend. The event is the third event of the 2024 drag-and-drive season, but just the second in the United States, after Sick Week kicked off the season.
The event started on Wednesday April 3rd with a tech-in party and barbeque at the site of the first track, Shadyside Dragway in Shelby, North Carolina. Thursday the 4th marked the first day of competition, also held at Shadyside Dragway, followed by Friday action at Union County Dragway in Union County, South Carolina. Saturday April 6th was a cruise day, and the final day of racing would take place back at Shadyside Dragway.
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The quickest potential class on the docket is Unlimited Street, where only basic street legal requirements, plus tag and insurance, are what’s needed. After three days of work, Chris Ingle would top the field with his 1965 Chevy Nova and a 5.40 average.
The Limited Street class brings a few more rules to the party, including no tube chassis (although back half cars are allowed), an all-steel panels requirement (except hood and bumpers), and a 275 drag radial / 28-inch-tall x 10.5-inch wide drag slick maximum tire allowed. Despite those restrictions, Scott McGee nearly matched the Unlimited Street average, with a 5.43 average from his 1963 Chevy Nova getting the top spot in class.
The Stick Shift class can always bring about interesting results, and with a H-pattern shifter requirement, all it takes is one missed shift to shuffle the results. Rob Warrick would be the lone car in the 5-second zone, using a 5.74 best run from his 1995 Chevrolet Camaro to compile a 6.24 average and secure the win.
Modern Muscle is based around the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Street Legal class rules, which necessitates a 2008 or newer vehicle that runs 6.00 or slower in the eighth-mile. A familiar name would top the class with Dustin taking the win. But instead of seeing him in his multi-time drag-and-drive winning LS-swapped turbocharged Mustang, Trance would employ his 2018 F-150 pick-up and a 6.93 average for the victory.
The True Street class features the longest list of rules, and the field featured a good chunk of classic rides, plus a pick-up truck. Rides needed to meet the rule set, including factory style panels, stock style suspension, bolt on upgrades, and a full interior. DOT tires were required for all activities, and no time slips quicker than a 7.35 would be allowed. Darrin Free would hold off the competition, with his ’72 Camaro delivering a 7.39 average for the title.
The biggest class would be a new one, Dial Your Own (DYO). This class awards the most consistent passes between the days, and as we’ve seen at other drag-and-drive events, it can come down to just a couple thousandths of-a-second. The best of the bunch was Scott Olson and his 1981 Chevy pick-up, who would collect a trio of 7.93 time slips just .0027 of-a-second apart for the class win.
Jay Bradley used a best reaction time of .024 to help compile the best reaction average time and the title of Fastest Average Reaction Time. Cole Galloway picked up the coveted “Spirit of Drag Cruise” win.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Aiden Knight, Stephen Price, Dawn Flanders, 3G Video and Sick the Magazine.
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