Getting Soulful
Well over 200 race bikes and cars along with their drivers and a good crowd of spectators were in attendance for the Soul Brothers race at Kansas City International Raceway, despite the withering heat on June 23-24. Despite the title, this is an event open to any and all drag racers regardless of color or creed and this proved to be one of the best races in the five-year history of the event.
Pro Mod cars and Pro Mod bikes were the main attractions for the event with eight bike classes, a Pro Mod class, and a couple of bracket classes. The event is promoted by a nice guy known to all as “Mr. B” who must be in the deal for the fun, because he puts up his own money and rents the track. Several track employees mentioned that they thought that this race would finally be the one where the gentleman finally made some money. We here at DRO have a soft spot in our hearts for races like the Soul Brothers 5th Annual race at KCIR a couple of weeks. Along with the similar Black Sunday race that has been held for over two decades at Gateway International Raceway in the St. Louis area, we believe these events represent the best of what drag racing is all about.
The Pro Mod field was large compared to other special door car races put on in the past with 13 cars trying to qualify and 12 actually making the first round call on Sunday. Many of the racers told DRO that the reason was that it was eighth-mile racing instead of quarter-mile and was easier on their equipment.
Qualifying in Pro Mod was lead by Travis Swearingen of Junkyard Willys fame with a very respectable 4.059/178 timing followed by multi-time winner of the race, Zach Barklage (shown), whose 4.089/180.00 was good for the second spot as well as Top Speed of qualifying.
