10/10/2017
Keith Haney
Haney looks forward to Throwdown in T-Town
Fresh off a second-round finish with his drag radial-equipped entry at No Mercy 8 in Valdosta, Georgia, veteran driver Keith Haney now has his sights set on returning home for Throwdown in T-Town at Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park. Haney, a local new car dealer who also co-owns the Tulsa drag strip with fellow racer Todd Martin, will compete this weekend (Oct. 13-14) in two cars entered in two distinct classes for the Throwdown, which promises to be one of the biggest races nationwide this year.
With a 3.91-seconds pass at 197.36 mph over the eighth mile at South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP), Haney qualified "Enigma," his nitrous-oxide-boosted 2016 Camaro 19th for the event's top-level, 32-car Radials vs. the World field.
"No excuses, but we were trying out a whole new setup and that put us a little behind in qualifying," Haney explained. "Then, just before the final round of qualifying we realized we were nearly 150 pounds overweight with the car so we took more than a hundred pounds off, but didn't compensate enough for it and the nose came up and stayed up and I had to get out of it and that's what put us so far down the ladder."
After his first-round opponent was unable to make the call to race, Haney posted a solid 3.92 on a solo pass, but knew he'd have to step up again in round two against third-place qualifier Steve Jackson in his supercharged 2015 Camaro. With crew chief Brandon Switzer calling the tune-up, Haney opened with a stellar .013 reaction time, then made his quickest run of the weekend at 3.89 seconds, but finished just 17-thousandths of a second behind Jackson, who went on to finish runner-up in the final against DeWayne Mills
"We didn't win but we made a respectable run against Stevie and it was good to see a fellow Oklahoman take home the race win, so congratulations to DeWayne," Haney said. "I also want to thank the track owner Ozzy Moya and everyone at SGMP and Lights Out; they were all super awesome to our race team and really made us feel good about being there."
That said, Haney is very much looking forward to getting back on his home turf this weekend, where he will enter Enigma in Radial vs. the World within the Mid-West Pro Mod Series portion of the Throwdown, and "Notorious," his almost identical appearing, Larry Jeffers-built 2016 Camaro in the even quicker and faster Pro Mod class for so-called "big tire" cars.
"Brandon Pesz has been driving the radial car so far this year and right now it's number one in Radial vs. the World points, and my other car that I've been driving all year is currently third in Pro Mod points," Haney said. "The good thing is we've got an even better tune-up figured out now for the radial car now and Notorious has been good all year so we've got a legitimate chance to win both championships in one day if things just go our way. To say I'm excited about the opportunity would be a huge understatement."
In addition to Radial vs. the World and Pro Mod, which currently has 28 confirmed pre-entries for Throwdown in T-Town, the Tulsa event will feature several more eighth-mile drag racing classes, including a special MX 235 drag radial division that will pay $20,000 to the winner, headlining the largest race day purse ever for the class
ABOUT KEITH HANEY RACING
Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Keith Haney Racing (www.keithhaneyracing.com) fields two cars in the Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS), as well as for select Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) races and one-off special events. Keith Haney Racing appreciates the support of sponsors Lucas Oil, Strange Engineering, RacingJunk.com, Reher-Morrison Racing Engines, MoTeC Systems USA, Switzer Dynamics, Brandon Pesz Performance & Tuning, M&M Transmission, Menscer Motorsports, Total Seal, Mickey Thompson, Kryptonite Kustomz, and Larry Jeffers Race Cars
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