Hometown Heroes Hit Homeruns at Montgomery O'Reilly Super Chevy Show

(Sept. 20, 2007) -- In football, it's called the home field advantage...on the Montgomery Motorsports Park strip, it was called a win for Jerry Rhodes of Gadsden, Alabama as he took the Aeromotive Nitro Coupe  Challenge event at MMP September 15-16.

Qualifying numbers and setups went out the window as the weather did a switcheroo, leaving Aeromotive Nitro Coupe racers  on Sunday with cooler temperatures and lower humidity than Saturday's qualifying sessions.

Consistency was the name of Rhodes'  game on race day as he turned in 1/8 mile times of 4.161 in the first round, 4.183 in the semis and 4.194 at 170.84 miles per hour in the finals against Tennessee racer Jeff Balton. Balton ran a 4.69 at 117.23 mph in the finals as he failed to find the handle on the MMP track.

Rockmart, Georgia racer Jimmy Blackman and his Southern Truck Parts sponsored Firebird took  the win in a tough Outlaw 10.5 field during the O'Reilly Super Chevy Show.  Blackman roared to a 4.694 at 161.31 miles per hour in the finals to defeat Covington, Georgia racer David Sheppard, who treed Blackman with a .004 light but couldn't match Blackman's ET and speed.

O'Reilly Super Chevy fans got a thrill as Jessie Harris and her Queen of Diamonds nailed another 300-mile per hour pass down the MMP strip.  Bob Hall lived up to his "King of the Wheelstanders" title with four blistering 1/4 mile  runs  on two wheels steering with the rear brakes of his Chevy Astrovan "Airborne Express."

The sportsman racer of the event had to be Allen Reno of Gardendale, Alabama.  Reno won the Jeg's Bracket Two Battle, raced at 1/8 mile,  and was runner-up in the 1/4 mile DOT Street Wars.  Reno faced former world Footbrake champion Jared Pennington of Fultondale, AL in the finals of Bracket two and won with a sterling .014 reaction time and and an 8.133 run on an 8.10 dial.

In the DOT Street Fight finals, Reno fell to Alexander City, Alabama racer Gary Tapley, who won with a near perfect quarter mile of 12.921 on his 12.92 dial. The Aeromotive Jr. Dragster Challenge title went to Chase Mullinax of Buford, Georgia in a tough final over Brandon Thompson of Douglasville, GA.  Brandon ended the final on the starting line by turning on the reds.

In the ProCharger Bracket One Brawl, Douglasville, Georgia racer Gary Thompson was the last man standing as he did in hometown hero Cole Cousins of Millbrook in the finals.  Thompson ran a n awesome 5.053 on his 5.05 dial with a perfect .000 light. Cousins was also dead on his 6.60 dial with a 6.605 and an .011 light, but his sterling .016 package lost to Thompson's other-worldly .003 package.

The TREMEC True Street Challenge presented by Mr. Gasket was just that as Phil Cooper's '66 Chevy II came out on top after a tough trip over local roads and three back to back passes.  Runner-up honors went to a Volvo driven by Jerry Henslee.

The O'Reilly Super Chevy Show is already on the road to Thunder Valley and Bristol Dragway for a spectacular event presented by Jeg's this weekend, September 22-23.