It’s time to start gearing up for the last leg of the drag racing season with some of the biggest races of the year still on tap. Radial Fest – The Gauntlet is set to kick off September 22-24 at Huntsville Dragway, and this radial tire extravaganza has something for everyone. For those who can’t make the trip to Huntsville for all of the exciting action, don’t worry because SpeedVideo will be broadcasting the entire event live from start to finish starting Friday September 23, thanks to the live stream sponsor, Eldelbrock, that can be accessed right here!
Limited Drag Radial (LDR) has been gaining popularity this season in the small tire racing universe due to the variety of cars and close racing action. Now, the LDR powder keg of horsepower is set to explode, according to Radial Fest promoter Zach Jones.
“We had over 20 cars at the spring race in LDR, and that’s a pretty solid number being it was the first time we had the class at Radial Fest. The class continues to grow and we expect it to be even bigger at this event.”
The racing was very close at the fall Radial Fest, with every major combination represented and extremely close qualifying with multiple passes deep in the 4.20s from several racers. “Right now the LDR record is held by Don Burton with a 4.14, but with the caliber of racers we having coming to the race in September that could easily be reset,” Jones says.
LDR isn’t the only class that Jones is expecting big numbers from, with the $10,000 purse on the line in the headlining class of Radial vs The World sparks could fly as well. “I really think that if the weather is right we should see some guys dipping into the 3.80 range. The surface at Huntsville will be on kill all weekend with Tyler Crossnoe doing the track prep for us,” Jones explains.
The X275 class has always been very tough at Radial Fest, and that tradition looks to continue at the September event. “Jared Johnson set the record here running that blistering 4.37 pass at a previous Radial Fest, and that has yet to be broken. Then you have the Bruder Brothers who are undefeated at Radial Fest when the event has not been rained out, they’re always going rounds. Mix in other racers like Shane Fisher and several other top tier guys, and you have the recipe for one heck of a race,” Jones says.
If all that racing wasn’t enough, fans will be treated to what could be one of the more fascinating match races featuring “Daddy Dave” from Discovery Channel’s Street Outlaws.
“Dave will be at Radial Fest Friday night only with Goliath 2.0 match racing Mike Jones in his LDR Cobalt. Dave’s car is a light-weight big tire car set up for No Prep, and Jones will be in full LDR trim at 3,300 pounds on radials. It should be very interesting to see how they do against each other. Derek will also be there both days with the Silver Unit, we are excited to have him at the event too,” Jones says.
With all this action packed into Radial Fest, you better make plans now to be at Huntsville Dragway from September 22-24. If you can’t make the event, remember to bookmark the SpeedVideo live stream link right here so you don’t miss any of the action! The live stream is brought to you by Edelbrock, along with ProCharger, Moser Engineering, Comp Cams, Billet Atomizer Injectors, CPR Racing, Summing Racing Equipment, Chassis Engineering, Optic Armor, Late Model Engines, and SAM Tech.