Hunt For Radial vs. The World Championship Heats Up After Ken Quartuccio’s Battle of The Thrones Victory
With just two events remaining in the 2024 FuelTech Radial Outlaws Racing Series (RORS), Ken Quartuccio made a strong push in the Radial vs. the World points race, winning the Battle of the Thrones April 25-28 at Rockingham Dragway.
Quartuccio defeated Luis de Leon in a great side-by-side final round, with Quartuccio’s 3.545-second pass at 209.11 mph narrowly edging de Leon’s 3.565 at 208.43. Although it was Quartuccio’s third final round in four events this season, it was his first victory.
“I knew we had a good car [at the previous event] in Alabama, but I red-lit in the finals and cost us the race,” said Quartuccio. “Going into this race, I just tried to work on me as a driver. Jamie and Johnny Miller, along with Dennis Godbout, made sure the car was good. We got a couple good breaks in eliminations and were able to come home with the win. It felt good to close the deal on this one.”
Quartuccio now sits just 63 points behind Chris Daniel, winner of both the Lights Out 15 Friday Shootout and the Bama Outlaws event. Daniel currently leads in points with 304; Quartuccio is second with 241, followed by de Leon (215) and Lights Out 15 winner “Stevie Fast” Jackson (203).
“Stevie Fast” Jackson
“I’d rather be in Chris Daniel’s place,” Quartuccio joked concerning the points situation. “But I’m very happy with where we’re at. I believe there’s a path for us to win the championship. This group knows how to win. We’re definitely going to have to win one more race, and at No Mercy, we have to go to the final round. If you don’t make it to the finals at No Mercy, I don’t see you winning a championship, no matter who it is. You can’t give up those double points.”
Radial vs. the World has seen a resurgence of elite competitors this season, with promoter Donald Long offering up $50,000-to-win at every event in 2024. After a brief hiatus from the class, Quartuccio is excited about where RvW is headed moving forward.
“Donald Duck” Long
“We decided this year that we wanted to mix things up and run more outlaw stuff,” said Quartuccio. “I won Lights Out a couple years ago and then I stopped doing radial racing for a while. It was getting where RvW was dying down, so I just did Pro Mod stuff with this car. At my age, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this stuff, so I want to race the best of the best all the time, no matter where I go. I had a feeling once Stevie Fast announced he was coming back, the competition would be where we can have 16 high-caliber cars by the end of the year.”
In addition to Radial vs. the World, the RORS runs a points series for four other classes, paying out over $100,000 to the season champions – Pro 275 ($50,000), Limited Drag Radial ($25,000), X275 ($25,000), and Ultra Street ($10,000).
Mo Hall
In Pro 275, veteran Mo Hall ran the table at Battle of the Thrones in his HFR-built Corvette, qualifying No. 1 with a 3.649 pass at 203.07 and going on to win the event. Hall defeated Brad Edwards, Roger Holder, and Jason Collins on his way to a final-round matchup with Marcus “The Axeman” Birt. Hall slowed slightly to a 4.036 at 164.41, but it was enough to take the victory over Birt, who had issues shortly after the hit.
It was Hall’s second BOTT victory in his career, and moved him into third place – and just six points out of first – in the ultra-tight points standings with two races to go. Collins sits in first with 269 points, followed by Birt (267) and Hall (263).
“I guess in the end we are all just fortunate enough to play such a game,” said Hall. “Winning Battle of the Thrones once was cool as all hell. To do it twice is really something special. Brandon Switzer, Joel Garrison, Alex Hayes, and Eric Davis all help keep this hot rod in tip-top shape. Fulton horsepower and Stacy Hall give us an edge with a super reliable and fast engine program, which has put us in a fight for the championship despite not qualifying at this year’s opener. We look forward to putting our best foot forward for the last two events.”
In Limited Drag Radial, Kenny Hubbard ran a 3.880 to defeat Ziff Hudson. Alan Felts won the X275 class over DJ McCain, while James Taal took the victory in Ultra Street against Ronny Rhodes.
The final two races of the year will be contested at the Summer Nights Shootout July 18-20 at Alabama International Dragway, and the double-points season finale at No Mercy 15 October 9-13 at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
This story was originally published on May 1, 2024.
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