Darlington drag way is known as the place to go for small tire no time, pro mod, and bracket racing. The owner Russell Miller and track manager Rhett Garner have always been open for changes, though most tracks aren’t doing. Head media coordinator and owner of Spoold Media, Corey stamper, came to them with new ideas. The trend of no-prep racings isn’t going anywhere, so why not embrace it? Corey decided to start a few races dubbed the Palmetto No Prep Series, where multiple races will be held at Darlington. Corey, like many anxious racers, are always looking to race year-round. He pitched the idea to Rhett, and that’s how The Thaw Out came to be.
Lines stayed long as racers pulled in to get their program set up, followed by thousands of fans eagerly waiting for racing to start. The crew managed to sell out all of the 64 car small tire field spots within 22 min of pre-registration and 22 in the big tire category. 62 entries ended up in small tire, and the other two couldn’t get their cars ready in time.
After pairing, racing started without a hitch, with the first pair of small tire going down at a set time of noon. The weather was beautiful all-day, helping the schedule stay on time. Food vendors such as Topfuel Grill and Darlington’s Palmetto No Prep shirt merch stand excessed sell expectations.
Corey even brought down “Da Pads” own BJ “Da Flag Man” to flag the race. Both classes battled it out for the cash, and many close races had to be reviewed, with a lot of them being upsets. With 20K up for grabs in small tire and 8K in big tire, racers pushed the limits of what they could achieve on the rough surface. Resulting in some damaged cars and a few bouncing off the walls; thankfully, the emergency crew made sure nobody got hurt.
Only one team can be crowned in each category’s final, though, and the results surprised many. In Small tire, Kendall Goin got paid 20k by taking the close-call win in his nitrous-powered mustang. Big tire brought some feared AWD entries, one being Ethan Patterson’s turbo diesel Dodge Ram. Ethan was able to put all his stump-pulling torque down, taking home the 8k in cash.
No prep racing is here to stay, and big cash payouts will always bring racers. Russell, Rhett, and Corey see this and plan on riding it out with their series and look forward to seeing where this thing will go. They couldn’t be happier with the turnout, can’t thank the racers, fans, and sponsors for making it happen.
