Damascus’ Adkinson closes in on first NHRA title
Photo by Danny Aller
Danny Aller
DAMASCUS — In 1991, Southwest Georgia’s Jeff Adkinson was in the middle of a successful racing career when one of the worst things that could happen to an auto racer — other than a fiery crash on the track — took place.
“I had my car stolen at a race in Houston,” Adkinson said Monday. “And that’s an expensive loss. It took me that long to get another car together again and get back into racing.”
But now that the Damascus native is back — he’s better than ever.
Adkinson is currently in the Top 10 in points in the NHRA’s national Lucas Oil Series points standings in both Stock (5th) and Super Stock (10th) on the strength of strong finishes throughout the early portion of the season, including a runner-up finish at the JEGS Sportsnationals event in Belle Rose, La.
He even set a national record of 8.70 seconds — breaking his own mark he set in 2008 by more than four seconds — earlier this year at an event in Bradenton, Fla.
“It’s been a really good year so far,” Adkinson said. “We really blew that record out of the water. The car we have now (a 2010 Chevy Cobalt with a 304-cubic-inch motor) is great.”
And while the season is far from over — it ends in late November – consider this: In a field of nearly 1,000 racers from around the country, Adkinson has never finished higher than 28th in the points in his career, meaning this season is shaping up to be the best in his three-plus decades in the sport.
In fact, last weekend, Adkinson broke from NHRA competition to attend an IHRA Pro-Am event at Montgomery (Ala.) Motorsports Park. He quickly proved adept within the International sanctioning body by advancing to the final round in both Stock and Super Stock competition. In Super Stock, he earned the event victory by a mere .002 of a second. Adkinson fell just one round short of an elusive double victory as he lost to defending IHRA World Champion Michael Beard in the Stock final round.
“I’m really pleased with the way this season has gone so far, and (the win in Alabama) is just an extension of that,” Adkinson said.
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Luke Bogacki of Bogacki Marketing Solutions contributed to this report
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