05/18/2026
This past Saturday, May 16th, the Carolina Classic Modified Production presented by HGR's Truck & Trailer Sales, Inc. competed at Rockingham Dragway for race #2 of our 2026 season. It was a hot May day & the racing surface was definitely on point. My shoes now have holes in the soles from the sticky traction. RDPD Cylinder Heads & Doyle Evans Realty were the title & associate sponsors for this race. For the 2nd event in a row, we had 4 cars on property. 3 of the 4 racers were also at our season opener at Coastal Plains in April. Joel Moreland E/MP, Ronald Yopp JR. C/MP, Robbie Draughon A/MP, & Darrion Houston F/MP out for the 1st time in 2026 were in attendance.
Qualifying run #1 of the day, first match up was Draughon & Houston. Darrion also tested on Friday evening were he suffered some rear window damages. The quick response of knowing people local, Tabitha, made one phone call & found him a replacement back hatch. You should have seen the delivery conditions ;-). Draughon had some stuggles at the starting line stopping the clocks at 5.4757/126.83 mph (-0.4243 under) 5.90 index. Houston went a 6.2327/115.74 mph (-0.5673 under) 6.80 index. Moreland & Yopp were the 2nd & final pair of Q1. Moreland went to the top of qualifying running a 5.8223/118.92 mph (-0.6777 under) 6.50 index while Yopp ran a 5.6493/121.92 mph (-0.5507 under) 6.20 index. For Q2, Robbie & Joel were our 1st set of cars on the track. Moreland made another nice, clean pass running a 5.8293/117.71 mph (-0.6707 under) while Draughon had worse issues at the hit & had to abort his run, only running a 9.2238/48.52 mph. Houston & Yopp lined up beside one another for the final pass for Q2. Both of these drivers bettered themselves from Q1. Houston went a 6.2194/105.63 mph (-0.5806 under) & Yopp went a 5.6365/122.88 mph (-0.5635 under). For the 2nd race in a row as well as the 2nd race of the 2026, Joel Moreland picked up the G-Force South Top Qualifier award & earning lane choice for round #1 of eliminations to come up next.
The Sportsman ladder is now set for eliminations. #1 Moreland E/MP will have lane choice onver #3 Yopp C/MP & #2 Houston F/MP will choose his lane over #4 Draughon A/MP. Our 1st match-up will have Houston in the left lane & Draughon in the right lane. Robbie's car would not stay running in the waterbox & ultimately have to forfeit the pass giving Darrion a competition break single to get his #1 round win of the 2026 season. Next pair was Moreland choosing left lane & Yopp running the right lane. Joel handed the round win over to Yopp when he dropped the clutch & left the starting line -.0017 too early. Yopp was tardy at the hit but his win light was already flashing sending him to his 1st CCMP finals. Yopp went a 5.7596/120.58 (-0.4404 under) & Houston went a 6.2054/106.06 mph (-0.5946 under) which would give lane choice to Darrion going into the finals.
We knew CCMP would have a 1st time winner at this event. Darrion had found himself in the finals last year at Farmington but Yopp had never made a final round appearance. Houston, with lane choice, opted to stay in the left lane where he had been previously. Yopp had way too much break pressure & wasn't allowing his car to stage very well (almost timed out) which resulted him him turning on the red bulb by -.1607 handing Darrion his 1st CCMP victory & 1st ever race win. Houston would have been a tough one to beat in the finals though. He was .0413 at the hit, stopping the 1/8th mile clocks at 6.2445/106.51 mph (-0.5555 under). Yopp went a career best, 5.6320/123.46 mph (-0.568 under). Darrion earned this win for sure. He had to miss the season opener waiting on parts for his new combination, then the rear window issues on Friday night. He had texted our CCMP group that "he was done". Anyone that knows this group of racers, we never quit! We are always willing to help our fellow competitors to stay in competition & that's exactly what happened Friday late night to get Darrion ready for Saturday's action. Darrion received his $1200.00 payday, the CCMP custom built trophy by Caleb Beaman with racing parts donated by PBM Performance/Erson Cams, a trailer check sponsored by MJ's Custom Printing & Graphics, Winner's hat sponsored by NC Elite RV Specialist as well as the following contingency certificates: Hippie Fabrication $250.00, Zamp Racing 50% off 1 item, Meziere Enterprises $50.00, 5 gallons of Fuel Factory F25 racing fuel, & Jesel Valvetrain Innovation 25% off. Houston also received the Dave Hunt Racecraft Bounty Hunter money for taking out the April race winner, Robbie Draughon, in round #1. Yopp received his race winnings, a smaller trailer check courtesy of MJ's Custom Printing & Graphics & the following contingency certificates: Hippie Fabrication $150.00, Altronics Inc $100.00, AutoMeter Products, Inc. $50.00, Renegade Racing Fuel-Ford’s Fuel South East Master Distributor 5 gallons of PRO 116+ racing fuel, & Meziere Enterprises $50.00.
Our 3rd stop of the 2026 season will take place at Farmington Dragway on Saturday, August 29th. We look forward to seeing y'all there.
