Keith, Brantley, Locklear win 30th Mopars at The Rock
At 30th annual Mopars at The Rock event, presented by Griffin Motors, Joshua Jones, of Kannapolis, N.C., repeated in the Charger Shootout, Clifton Keith, of Ruby, S.C., was the winner in the companion Challenger Shootout, James Brantley Jr., of Richburg, S.C., prevailed in the Top E.T./Footbrake bracket, and Sanford, N.C.'s Kevin Locklear won the Trophy class.
Jason Sisk, of Culpepper, Va., drove his '68 Hemi-Barracuda to an eighth-mile best of 5.292 seconds at 132.88 mph to emerge as the unofficial winner of the Super Stock Hemi Exhibition, and Rockingham’s “Turbine Terry” Rosberg used a starting line advantage to get the best of Dawn Perdue and “Wicked Sinsations” in the winner-take-all jet car exhibition.
Although Perdue had the quickest quarter-mile time of the event at 5.347 seconds, Rosberg won the feature while pushing his American Thunder entry to top speed of the meet at 290.82 mph. Defending champion Barry Nall, of Eagle Springs, N.C., was ousted in the third round of the Combo bracket event in which Top E.T. and Footbrake cars ran separately until only eight drivers remained in competition.
Brantley ultimately hoisted the winner’s check due in no small part to his starting line expertise. His reaction times in the final five rounds were .036, .015, .016, .013. and .015, although he got a free ride in the final round when Kerry Booth, of Creedmoor, N.C., was guilty of a .005 of a second foul start. Driving the same '19 Charger in which he won a year ago, Jones this time prevailed in a double-breakout final with Charlotte’s Greg Donaldson, who squandered a sizeable starting line advantage when he went under his target number by .058 of a second.
Jones also was under his target, but by only .011. Keith drove his '18 Challenger past the '19 Hellcat of Mike Brice, of Mount Holly, N.C., in the other Shootout finale after Brice had taken out defending champ Joshua Gibson, of McColl, S.C., in the previous round.
Here are the results from the 30th annual Mopars at The Rock all-Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth/Ram/Jeep car show and drag race at Rockingham Dragway presented by Griffin Motors:
SUPER STOCK HEMI EXHIBITION Round 1 – Jason Sisk, Culpepper, Va., 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, .154, 5.292, 132.88 mph, def. David Crosswhite, Meadowview, Va,, 1968 Dodge Dart, . 040, 5.499, 122.92 mph; Terry Earwood, Deland, Fla., 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, .372, 6.052, 109.56 mph, def. Mike Nelson, Fayetteville, foul. Round 2 – Crosswhite, .024, 5.481, 127.32 mph, def. Nelson, foul; Sisk, .146, 5.654, 109.17 mph, def. Earwood, foul. JET
DRAGSTER EXHIBITION Round 1 (single runs) – “Turbine Terry” Rosberg, “American Thunder” jet, 5.444 seconds, 290.57 mph; Dawn Perdue, “Wicked Sinsations” jet, 5.347, 287.90 mph. FINAL – Terry Rosberg, Rockingham, .119, 5.442, 290.82 mph, def. Dawn Perdue, Oxford, Pa., .284, 5.421, 269.51 mph.
MOPAR BRACKET CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3 (Top ET) – Mark Dudley, Winston-Salem, 1970 Dodge Dart, .010, 6.322 on a 6.270, 105.53 mph, def. Zach Pennington, Lexington, S.C., 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger, .046, 6.278 on a 6.250, 104.63 mph; Kerry Booth, Creedmoor, 1983 Dodge Charger, .031, 5.766 on a 5.500, 100.10 mph, def. Barry Nall, Eagle Springs, 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, .013, 8.364 on a 5.790, 54.18 mph; James Brantley Jr., Richburg, S.C., 1973 Plymouth Duster, .036, 6.597 on a 6.550, 102.36 mph, def. Joe Hartsell, Stanfield, 1973 Plymouth Duster, .063, 5.523 on a 5.480, 123.19 mph; Charles Davis, Fayetteville, 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, .023, 7.431 on a 7.410, 90.22 mph, def. Kevin Locklear, Sanford, 1971 Plymouth Duster, .223, 6.416 breakout on a 6.470, 102.77 mph; Vick Helms, Catawba, S.C., 1972 Plymouth Duster, bye. Round 4 – Booth, .016, 5.540 on a 5.520, 122.85 mph, def. Davis, .030, 7.462 on a 7.410, 89.17 mph; Brantley, .015, 6.589 on a 6.550, 102.14 mph, def. Helms, .080, 6.586 on a 6.540, 102.05 mph; Dudley, bye. Round 5 (Top ET plus Footbrake qualifiers) – Booth, .003, 5.512 on a 5.520, 128.31 mph, def. Art Laselle, Fayetteville, 1979 Plymouth, foul; Brantley, .016, 6.571 on a 6.580, 99.87 mph, def. George Page, Stanfield, 1972 Plymouth Duster, .040, 6.740 breakout on a 6.750, 100.79 mph; Dudley, .012, 6.286 on a 6.280, 108.57 mph, def. Tommy Dix, .152, 5.957 breakout on a 6.100, 112.25 mph; Laura Glasscock, Keysville, Va., 1971 Dodge Challenger, .037, 6.327 on a 6.320, 107.33 mph, def. Pope Sellers, Byron, Ga., 1964 Dodge Dart, .067, 6.921 on a 6.910, 97.47 mph. Semifinals – Brantley, .013, 6.570 on a 6.560, 101.83 mph, def. Dudley, .008, no time; Booth, .075, 5.520 on a 5.510, 128.36 mph, def. Glasscock, .007, 6.318 breakout on a 6.320, 108.37 mph. FINAL – James Brantley Jr., Richburg, S.C., 1973 Plymouth Duster, .015, 6.663 on a 6.560, 102.23 mph, def. Kerry Booth, Creedmoor,1983 Dodge Charger, foul (-.005), 5.516 on a 5.510, 128.42 mph.
CHALLENGER SHOOTOUT Round 2 – Joshua Gibson, McColl, S.C., 2016 Challenger, .058, 12.132 on a 12.030, 112.21 mph, def. Unknown #499, .199, 11.665 breakout on an 11.720, 115.63 mph; Philip Scott Kimrey, Indian Trail, 2020 Challenger, .354, 11.573 on a 10.900, 126.54 mph, def. Misty Kimrey, Indian Trail, 2017 Hellcat, .402, 12.609 breakout on a 12.800, 118.37 mph; Julian Heitz, Lincolnton, 2019 Challenger, .107, 11.460 on an 11.430, 112.57 mph, def. Alfonzo Watkins, Southern Pines, 2019 Challenger, .163, 13.327 on a 13.300, 102.68 mph; Brian Corsonaro, Seagrove, 2019 Challenger, .121, 12.186 on a 12.100, 114.17 mph, def. Turk Bates, 2018 Demon, .351, 10.694 breakout on a 10.800, 133.99 mph; Clifton Keith, Ruby, S.C., 2018 Challenger, .088, 9.906 on a 9.900, 133.74 mph, def. Howard Stewart, Godwin, .186, 12.986 on a 12.700, 97.81 mph; Jerry Mason, Florence, S.C., 2009 Challenger, .085, 11.220 on a 10.310, 126.35 mph, def. Jordon Taylor, Oxford, 2020 Challenger, .729, 12.163 breakout on a 12.300, 112.48 mph; Mike Brice, Mt. Holly, 2019 Hellcat, .068, 9.713 on a 9.750, 135.40 mph, def. Dan Leonard, Waxshaw, 2019 Challenger, foul. Round 3 – Keith, .063, 10.601 on a 9.890, 101.68 mph, def. Corsonaro, .678, 12.485 on an 11.900, 112.75 mph; Heitz, .184, 11.427 on an 11.380, 118.89 mph, def. Mason, .166, 10.331 breakout on a 10.350, 127.59 mph; Brice, .308, 10.050 on a 9.650, 140.94 mph, def. Leonard, foul; Gibson, bye. Semifinals – Brice, .142, 9.918 on a 9.650, 140.66 mph, def. Gibson, .085, 12.002 breakout on a 12.020, 113.52 mph; Keith, .194, 9.919 on a 9.890, 133.24 mph, def. Heitz, .350, 11.454 on an 11.380, 118.72 mph. FINAL – Clifton Keith, Ruby, S.C., 2018 Challenger, .116, 10.054 on a 9.890, 133.59 mph, def. Mike Brice, Mt. Holly, 2019 Hellcat, .325, 9.914 on a 9.850, 139.03 mph.
CHARGER SHOOTOUT Round 2 – Jose Rinck, Lincolnton, 2019 Charger, .307, 11.015 on a 10.900, 123.77 mph, def. Unknown #00, .209, 12.037 breakout on a 12.420, 111.56 mph; Joshua Jones, Kannapolis, 2019 Charger, .124, 11.853 on an 11.780, 109.69 mph, def. Unknown #766, .080, 10.108 on a 9.890, 140.12 mph; Greg Donaldson, Charlotte, 2016 Charger, bye. Semifinals – Donaldson, .067, 11.719 on an 11.600, 108.19 mph, def. Rinck, .429, 11.016 on a 10.990, 123.28 mph; Jones, bye. FINAL – Joshua Jones, Kannapolis, 2019 Charger, .217, 11.829 on an 11.840, 115.65 mph, def. Greg Donaldson, Charlotte, 2016 Charger, .103, 11.742 breakout on an 11.800, 101.04 mph.
TROPHY Round 4 – Thurman Warren, Dunn, RAM truck, .112, 14.252 on a 14.200, 89.19 mph, def. Unknown #510, .127, 13.001 on a 12.700, 103.21 mph; Unknown #69B, .084, 15.474 on a 15.430, 83.00 mph, def. Daniel Furr, Salisbury, 1969 Dodge Coronet, .119, 14.485 on a 14.450, 92.80 mph; Holly Smith, Rocky Mount, Dodge Ram truck, .113, 17.168 on a 17.130, 74.69 mph def. Jose Rinck, Lincolnton, 2019 Dodge Charger, .342, 11.040 on a 10.990, 123.80 mph; Kevin Locklear, Sanford, 1971 Plymouth Duster, .003, 12.486 on a 12.800, 107.21 mph, def. Jeff Minnick, Delta, foul. Semifinals – Thurman Warren, Dunn, RAM truck, .092, 14.335 on a 14.200, 95.40 mph, def. Unknown #69B, .042, 15.403 breakout on a 15.430, 84.16 mph; Locklear, .058, 12.728 on a 12.750, 89.45 mph, def. Smith, .116, 17.068 breakout on a 17.100, 80.69 mph. FINAL – Kevin Locklear, Sanford, 1971 Plymouth Duster, .034, 12.775 on a 12.750, 93.41 mph, def. Thurman Warren, Dunn, RAM truck #52, .052, 14.267 on a 14.250, 91.41 mph.