Congratulations to Oklahoma
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 985
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From: Cumming Georgia
Congratulations to Oklahoma
A big tip of the straw hat to forum member Oklahoma for his first bracket race win! J.D. Burford has been racing for a couple of years at Atlanta Dragway, and enjoyed the big thrill of his first victory, in the tough Footbrake class called Pro. I met him last year, and he has always been patient and very willing to talk anything Corvette. I was fortunate enough to buy his 2000 Corvette at the end of last year, and has already done better with his new 2007 Corvette. I am the track reporter for Atlanta Dragway, so following is what I have written so far for the story that will be posted later this week on www.atlantadragway.com in the results section. Again, good show!
Tim Glover
GREENVILLE FAMILY PHYSICIAN J.D. BURFORD, MICHAEL BRUCE AND JORDAN THURMOND SCORE FIRST WINS AT POWERADE NIGHT OF FIRE
(Commerce, GA – June 23) Fans came from all over Georgia and several neighboring states to Atlanta Dragway to enjoy the Powerade Night of Fire, featuring the largest fireworks display in North Georgia, the Jet racers of Elaine Larsen, Paul Miller and Les Shockley, Dixie Pro Mods, the Coca Cola cash grab, hundreds of bracket cars and much, much more. J.D. Burford, a family physician from Greenville, South Carolina, enjoyed winning the top spot in the tough Pro class for the first time with his totally stock Corvette. Joining him in the Super Pro winner’s circle for the first time was Michael Bruce. Jordan Thurmond also enjoyed his first win, in the 13-17 Jr Dragster class.
J.D. Burford, a family physician from Greenville, South Carolina, has been making the trip to Atlanta Dragway for several years now, simply enjoying bracket racing with his friends. In addition to Sportsman, he began racing the much tougher Pro class in 2007, and was thrilled to win his first ever Pro event with his completely stock (except for tires) ’07 Corvette. He added some autocross tires to his car for the Night of Fire so he could break them in, and ended up putting several heat cycles on the rubber by the end of the evening. Burford did not have an easy run, as he had to beat Jacob Rutledge, Toby Barnes and several other racers en route to his final round appearance. The final was no easier, as he faced Rickey Morris’ Ellenwood, GA based ’80 Malibu. (Rutledge, Barnes and Morris have many championships in different classes and each has been racing several decades.) In the final, Morris actually had a reaction time advantage, but his car fell off the pace a little, posting a 7.01 at 97.07mph (6.95 dial). Burford kept the hammer down in his Corvette, and took the win stripe .006 seconds ahead of Morris with an 8.72 at 83.31mph (8.71 dial). Toby Barnes (’70 GTO – Newnan, GA) and Al Hause (’72 Cutlass – Grayson, GA) were the semi-final pair. “This is fantastic! I’m thrilled to experience the victory,” exclaimed Burford.
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