Charles Terrell takes final Pro Modified race at Orangeburg

(10-26-2010) ORANGEBURG, SC – With the 2010 drag racing season just about in the books Orangeburg Dragstrip held their final Pro Mod race of the season on October 23rd. After an exciting race the final round had two faces new to Orangeburg, Charles Terrell driving his blown Ford Mustang and Ronnie Gardner driving the Goad family’s nitrous injected Camaro.

This was the first time that Charles had been to Orangeburg Dragstrip. After making the near four hour drive to Orangeburg the Kernersville, NC native was glad that he made the trip. "I love it here at Orangeburg," said Terrell standing in victory lane "This was our first race here and we won. I will be back to race here again. We’re still making some changes to the car. The next timr that we are here we will lighter. It’s good to leave here with our pocket a little heavier, that will help by the lightweight parts."

With thirteen Pro Modified doorslammers on the property at Orangeburg only the quick eight made the field. After trying several times to get into the three second zone, Ronnie Gardner with JD Goad did just that. On their very first pass down the all concrete 1/8 mile Ronnie shot to the top of the sheets with a 3.969 at 183.29. Not only did the team run their first three second pass, the team lived in the three’s, the only round that they didn’t post a three was the final round.

"I had a good friend that kept telling me that I needed to come down here and that we would run our first three," said JD Goad "I’m glad that we finally got down here. You can’t say enough about what Buddy Boozer has done down here. It is an amazing track. Nice place, nice people, it really has taken me by surprise. We had been waiting for our first three and we came here and the first pass we ran a 3.96. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think that it would be that easy. The track was great."

The eventual winner Charles Terrell put his blown Mustang in the second spot with a 4.114 at 139.91. The man sitting in third was the living legend Sonny Tindal. Sonny posted a 4.124 at 178.08 in his Pontiac Grand Am. When Kenny Kneece arrived at Orangeburg, he had one shot to get into the field of eight. He did just that, and he qualified in the top half of the field with a 4.207 at 176.81.

The bottom half of the field was led Pro Modified veteran racer and legendary chassis builder Tommy Mauney. Tommy put the Camaro fifth with a 4.207 at 176.81. Halvor Hansen Jr. made the fourteen hour drive from Florida and got in the field with a 4.352 at 140.75. Bubba Livingston made a return to the Terri Green’s Corvette and was able to qualify with a 4.433 at 127.19. Anchoring the field was Carol Long in her Corvette with a 4.576 at 116.18.

On his way to the final round Ronnie Gardner took out Carol Long in the first round. In the semifinal round Tommy Mauney sat in the staging lanes with Ronnie. This looked to be one of the best races of the night. During first round Tommy had posted a 3.96 and Ronnie was right behind him with a 3.98. It just wasn’t meant to be though. Tommy’s Camaro wouldn’t fire and Ronnie was given the signal that Tommy had broken. Even if Tommy hadn’t broken, he would have had his hands full with Ronnie. Ronnie rocketed off the line and posted the quickest pass of the night with a 3.959 at 185.49.

On the other side of the ladder Charles Terrell began his march to the final round. His first round opponent was Bubba Livingston. Charles scored the win after both cars had tire shake problems. In the semifinal round it was Sonny Tindal that Charles had to deal with. Just the round before Sonny Tindal had posted a 4.08 so Charles knew that he couldn’t take Sonny lightly. When the tree activated Sonny’s Grand Am went into tire shake while Charles ran a 4.114 at 173.67 to get the win.

The final round was set to see who would take the bragging rights into the off season. Ronnie Gardner was heavily favored to get the win. He had been more than a tenth quicker than Charles all day. After the two did their burnouts, they were put in the beams by their team members. All that was left of the 2010 Pro Mod season at Orangeburg was one push of the button to activate the tree. With all eyes glued to the track the tree activated and Ronnie Gardner got the advantage but that was the only time he would lead. The Camaro that he pilots went into tire shake and the race was over for him. Charles in the other lane had seen Ronnie go into shake and he pulled his chutes early and just like that the 2010 season at Orangeburg was over.

"We still had a good night. We ran our first three so we’re happy. A win would have made it a little better I guess. The main person that I want to thank is my Dad W.D. Without him, we wouldn’t be racing. He supports us in everything that we do. We have a really strong motor in the car. Scott Duggins and the guys at PAR Racing Engines have supplied us with a great motor. It’s the same five-inch motor that we have had for three years now. It’s just as strong now as it was when it was new. I want Scott to know how much we appreciate him. That’s one of the fastest five inch motors that you will find," said JD.

"Ronnie and the guys at Prime Time Race Cars have built one awesome car for us." continued Goad "Look at the results, they speak for themselves. We have never really tested this car anywhere. It’s hard for us to do that because of our jobs. Our testing is race day. I really can’t say about Ronnie and Prime Time Race Cars. I want to thank Weavers Racing Transmissions. He has done a really good job for us. James T. Davis has been supporting us for a while and we really appreciate them. I also want to thank Buddy Boozer and his staff here at Orangeburg. They gave us a great track today. Even though it’s a seven hour drive for us we will be back."

Ronnie Gardner added "We’re still going home with some good results. If we would have left after the first round of qualfiying I still would been happy. To run our first three was big. The car ran great all night and it went straight. This is a very good track and it worked good all day. We really don’t know what happened in the final round. We took power away from it and it top fueled the tires. We thought that we made the right adjustments. We knew that we had a tenth and a half and we thought about that. I’m just really glad that we came to Orangeburg to race."

"I can’t thank JD and WD Goad for this opportunity." commented Ronnie "They are a great family. We have a good relationship and that shows in our performance. I also want to thank PAR Racing Engines, James T. Davis and Weavers Transmission. We build these cars at Prime Time Race Cars so if anyone needs a Pro Mod or anything else we can take care of it. Also, I want to thank Jamie, Ray, Jessica, Claudia and Denisa for their support."

After scoring the big win Saturday Charles Terrell said, "I have been sick all week and I still feel rough but getting this win makes me feel better. The track was hooking really good today. The staff here do an awesome job with the track. This style of racing is what we are going to be leaning toward. I have more room to do more stuff. We’re still not spinning the blower a lot. Also, this is was our eleventh pass on this new combo for us. We still have a lot left in the car. We built this car in 2004. When we started, it was just a bunch of tubing laying in the floor. It wasn’t a kit, and I bent every piece of the tubing. "

"First I want to thank my wife Tracy for helping us and being there every time that we need her. Also, I want to thank my little man Austin. A big thanks to Rick Moore for letting me use his shop to work on the car. I want to thank Scott, Bucky, Gary, Nathan and Ronnie. I want to thank a good friend for inviting us to race here. We will be back for more," finished Charles.

Orangeburg Dragstrip would like to let everyone know that we greatly appreciate your racing with us and supporting us in the 2010 season. We look forward to seeing you at Orangeburg in 2010!!

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Story by Buddy Trivette

Photo by Matthew Trivette