Resilient Effort Rewards Defending Champion Spradlin
Reynolds, GA – There was no chance for a repeat for the reigning NHRA division 2 Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales Top Dragster 
champion heading into the last race of the division 2 schedule, but Spradlin was able to pull out a win against almost insurmountable odds.
The 2015 season for the 2 time and defending NHRA Division 2 Top Dragster champion had been a season full of hard work and disheartening results. Leading into the last race of the season at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Reynolds, GA, Casey Spradlin, driver of the Southeastern Hose sponsored Top Dragster and Top Sportsman team was having a dismal season to say the least. The only highlight being a win in Top Sportsman at the NMCA All Star Nationals in Atlanta, GA early in the year. The rest of the season had been filled with several uncharacteristic “Did Not Finish” and early trips to the house. Mixed in was a quest to find lost horsepower in order to compete in the ever escalating speeds of Top Dragster and Top Sportsman.
“Where do I start?,” responded Spradlin when asked to describe the catastrophe that was his 2015 season. “From a cracked head on the very first pass of the season in the dragster, breaking a rod in ’37 Chevy Coupe, spinning a rear main bearing in the dragster, valve train issues in the Coupe, and even a DNQ in both cars at the same event. This season was probably our worst ever as far as continued struggles throughout the season.”
Heading into the final race Spradlin decided to make a major change that was geared towards the 2016 season more than the last opportunity for a win in 2015. “The last 3 races of the season the dragster was about two tenths slow, we had changed every electrical part…some twice, to no avail. We decided to try to determine if our problem was fuel related or spark related by taking the blower and fuel system off of the Coupe and racing it on the dragster. Regulating the coupe to ‘parts car’ status for the last event of the year,” joked Spradlin.
The solution revealed that the issue was not electrical as during the second qualifying round Spradlin set a personal best speed mark at 216 MPH and a resulting E.T. of 6.35 seconds in the quarter-mile! “Finally,” Spradlin exclaimed after that pass. “That told us that we had been fighting a weakening blower for most of the season. I had back to back double ‘O’ one lights in qualifying and suddenly our focus turned away from 2016 to…we have a shot at winning THIS race!”
That excitement turned to more heartache as quickly as a flash of fire during the third qualifying run. Yet another crack developed in the cylinder head as the 1600 horsepower engine reached the finish line. As the crew towed the wounded entry back to the trailer, Spradlin asked, “Do we have time to get the blower and fuel system back on the Coupe and enter Top Sportsman?” The task seemed impossible as the Top Sportsman class qualifies immediately following Top Dragster and the Coupe was not even running much less teched into the event!
The Spradlin Motorsports crew at this race consisted of Casey’s dad, his wife, his 5 year old daughter and his mother and father-in-law. The call was made to give it a shot, even though they had started racing the Top Sportsman class by the time they got back to their pits.
“Who does that? Most people come to the race to relax and have a good time and get away from work. Not the Spradlin’s, we are always having to work on something it seems. Competing and winning in the two fastest true sportsman classes really requires a tremendous amount of work and dedication,” explained Spradlin. “I can’t tell you how many times we hear at the track that we are working too hard and that “they” would just throw in the towel. That is just not the way the Spradlin’s do it. We come to race and if that means rebuilding a transmission in the trailer or staying up half the night sanding a crankshaft and rolling bearing in a motor then that is what we do.”
With wrenches in almost everyone’s hands and with help from fellow racers Michael Volkman, Larry Stott and Vince Hoda, the thrash was on! An urgent plea went out to Steve Brown, NHRA technical official, to come to the Spradlin pit area and tech the car. As Steve arrived the final nuts were being turned and the beautiful ’37 Chevy Coupe roared to life! Renegade Racing fuel provided by G.A.S Racing filled the tank and it was off to the staging lanes in amazement that the team was actually going to make it. Spradlin was the last car of the session and when he left the starting line the car faltered so he backed out of the gas and coasted to the finish line. The aborted run was fast enough to qualify due to a short field, regardless the team had got the car qualified and at least had a chance at eliminations on Sunday. “Drag racing is full of emotions and we definitely had our share of them in a span of 30 minutes. We went from feeling in the dumps after mechanical issues again to, ‘we have another shot, let’s do this!’ From questioning, ‘are we going to make it?’…to, ‘we made it!’ After all that effort and then not getting a good run. We were all drained and feeling pretty down again. But hey we at least knew we had a better shot at winning in the Coupe than we had in the dragster. All we needed was for God to bless us on Sunday.” A little fun at the ‘Track or Treat’ brought the team some much needed enjoyment.
Sunday morning began with Casey’s daughter, Summer, knocking her ‘Jesus Loves Me’ solo out of the park during the Racers for Christ Chapel Service. It was then Spradlin’s turn to make some music on the cool October morning track. “Some racers were having trouble with tire shake because of the tight track conditions that came with overnight low temperatures in the 40’s. That was what I was banking on as my only shot at getting by the recent Thunder Valley Nationals champion, Ken Ellison first round.” Sure enough Ellison shook the tires and this time Spradlin made a straight and true pass to take the miraculous first round win and giving much needed data to use the next round. The hitters kept coming as Spradlin had to go through recent Southern Nationals champion, Sandy Wilkins; recent MidWest Nationals champion, Lester Johnson; and former Jeg’s SportsNationals champion, Vince Hoda, to meet up with James Noel in a rematch of the NMCA final round earlier this year. The final round did not disappoint the fans with the drivers leaving the starting line clean and green with Spradlin’s Lucas Oil entry making a 204 MPH charge to the stripe taking the win in an epic demonstration that hard work pays off!
“I have never had such a terrible season, this year we struggled from the first qualifying session of the season to the last qualifying session of the season which makes this one of the sweetest victories I have had! My mom and dad have instilled in me a tremendous work ethic in which we just don’t quit, we work every day…at our jobs…at racing…most days both! Our running family joke is ‘we’re Spradlin’s; that is just our way of life’. I must thank God most of all and my sponsors for sticking by me and offering encouragement and especially the family and friends that helped us at this race,” a very appreciative Spradlin remarked.
