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Kirk was the epitome of consistency in eliminations, establishing a baseline of 4.727 in an opening-round bye, then going exactly the same time right down to the thousandth in each subsequent round to defeat Lance Styck, Jimmy Blackmon, and Barfield. Considering the conditions, it has to go down as one of the most remarkable performances in outlaw racing history. “That was something,” Kirk agreed. “The car was so perfect we didn’t even touch it after the first round.”
 Mike Hill finished on top, but also eclipsing the old track record in qualifying were Kirk at 4.610/162.44 and Jimmy Blackmon (shown), who was the first to reset the mark with a 4.629-seconds blast at 159.77 mph in his 1992 Trans Am. |
After making his third-straight ORSCA semi-final appearance this season, Blackmon said his car had good 60-foot and half-track times against Kirk, but lost traction in the second half of the course, slowing him to a 5.021 at just 114.16 mph in the right lane. “It just smoked the tires when we hit the bumps,” he said. “The heat’s not so bad for us; it was the bumps that caused us all our problems.”
Following a solo first-round pass, Barfield made it to the final by overcoming a Craig Miller holeshot in round two, then laid down a holeshot win of his own over Robinson in the semis. Barfield left with a .065 light to Robinson’s .084, allowing his 4.771-secs pass to barely capture the win over the 4.756 in Robinson’s lane. Robinson said he didn’t realize Barfield got the jump on him and when they reached the far end, “neither one of us knew who won.”
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 In a final-round clash of Camaros, Kirk (far lane) prevailed over Pembroke, GA’s Jack Barfield for the Outlaw 10.5 title at Albany. |
In the final round, Kirk, from Monroe, GA, moved first with a .058 light to the .080 by Barfield, then raced to a 4.727/153.65 finish against Barfield’s off-the-pace 4.923 at 132.85 mph. It marked Kirk’s second trip to ORSCA’s victory lane this year in team owner John Ferguson’s 2000 Camaro, after winning the season opener at Atlanta Dragway.