Sponsored by Crossfire & AudiobahnGetting off the airplane, I instantly noticed the humidity in the air that had to be in the range of 200%. It felt like I had just jumped into a warm pool with all of my clothes on, as perspiration dripped from my body, head to toe. We had just arrived in Alabama, home state of our own Rodney Wills, for what was to be one exciting weekend of dB Drag Racing.
The triple point event at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia brought out some of the biggest players in the industry. And why not, one of the most prominent names in the sport was hosting the event. Steve Cook, the man behind Audio X, three-time world champion, and current world record holder, called on the editors of CA&E to leave beautiful California for a show in 'Bama. Editor, Wills, was of course ecstatic to return to the green state he left behind so many years back. I on the other hand was not thrilled; but being the newbie, I was forced to go.
Qualifying on Saturday revealed that this was going to be a record-breaking weekend as the names of the attendees grew. The humid and 90-something degree weather did not intimidate the Florida crew who arrived in full force. Ali and the boys from Super Sound brought the terrorizing 5-woofer Geo Metro out to do battle. The Easons, Jethro, Ed, and JR, made the trek out along with Tommy McKinnie to demonstrate what dB Drag Racing is really about.
Others drove hundreds of miles to make the show as well. Kara Lucius, a.k.a. Redfoot, drove fifteen hours from Ohio to compete with her Pep Boys-themed Chevy Chevette. Her adversary, Superior Sound out of Erie, PA, showed as much style as one can with a 1/4-mile prepped Ford Pinto wagon painted banana yellow. Veteran and pyrotechnical expert, Eric Reid, debuted his new Chevy Astro van built for Super Street 5-8 along with his new, fully regulated battery charger complete with timer. And a newcomer on the Super Street block whose name you soon will be familiar with came from miles away to crush everyone in his path.
The SPL competition was stiff early on Sunday. Florida trooper, Scott Nelson, started the day off by popping a 150.4 dB, a score that is just off the pace of the current record, to edge out Jason Salas in Street 1-2. However, the real action was about to take place. Kicking off the first world record of the day was John Poling and his full-windowed Dodge Caravan out of Ohio. This Super Street 5-8 class winner posted an unbelievable 166.5 dB to beat Erik Reid by 1.5 dB. Directly following that, another record was to be broken in the Super Street 9+ category. Speed of Sound simply shocked the crowd and competitors as he posted a teeth shattering 168.1 dB, the second of four world records to be set this day.
As the afternoon came about, the big boys in the full-modified Extreme classes began to roll out. First up was the 1-2 class. It is mind-blowing to imagine that any two-woofer car is within 1 dB of the loudest vehicles in the circuit, and yet the Audio X event mustered up two. Kara Lucius fell four tenths short of victory to give glory to Superior Sound's 171.9 dB in a tense final round.
The next class was the one I was waiting for since I stepped off the plane. This was the Extreme 3-4. I was not expecting the competition to be stiff. Rather, my excitement stemmed from anticipating a new, overall world record. Steve Cook informed me prior to the show that his vehicle was doing some incredibly strong numbers. To no surprise, he did just that. His first burst at 68 Hz posted a 172.8 dB! This was good enough to beat the highest certified SPL score ever in any class by two-tenths of a dB.