Howard Makes History with Biggest Footbrake Race Ever
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(Oct. 31, 2006) -- George Howard broke some more new ground this past
weekend with his First Annual $100,000 Footbrake Classic at Montgomery
MotorSports Park. The happiest guy in the place Saturday night was Afton,
Missouri racer Dan Smith who bested 79 other Footbrakers to take home the
big check, the lion's share of the biggest payday ever for Footbrakers.
 Smith,
driving a rare 1979 Chrysler 300 with a small block V-8, was deadly
consistent all day, staying around the 7:50 mark in a car he says weighs
over 4,100 pounds race-ready. In a field studded with at least four former
world Footbrake and NHRA champions, Smith faced down Ricky Pennington in the
finals. Pennington, from Calera, Alabama came out second best but still had
by far the biggest payday of his career. Smith used a stellar .021 reaction
time and a 7.525 at 91.77 miles per hour to take the win. Pennington ran a
dead-on 6.908 on his 6.90 dial in his Chevelle but couldn't make up Smith's
starting line advantage. One of the former world footbrake champions, Doyle
Kay of Ashville, AL was a semi-finalist along with Faulkner, Mississippi
Cavalier Ace Steve Stites.
 As
Friday's planned $5,000 to win race was rained out, George Howard just took
that purse and added it to Sunday's race. A field of over 120 cars saddled
up Sunday morning for the $10,000 to win gem and, when the dust had cleared,
only Cullman, AL racer Adam Davis was standing. Davis got all he needed
from an .008 reaction time and a 6.701 run on his 6.69 dial to beat veteran
North Carolina racer Richard Alford, Jr. of Raleigh, who took his Chevelle
to a 6.971 on a 6.97 dial but, again, couldn't overcome Davis' reaction
time.
Howard made the entire field happy by announcing that he would hold a second
$100,000 Footbrake Classic at Montgomery MotorSports Park in the fall of
2007. Often imitated but never equaled, George Howard has raised the bar
yet once again in the world of big bucks bracket racing. |
