ROCKINGHAM — Several bands with local ties made the cut for the Rock Around and Find Out Battle of the Bands scheduled for later this month at Rockingham Dragway.
Davis88, a rock and nu-metal artist from Rockingham, came in second when the voting ended over the weekend; and Whither the Fallacy, a deathcore band with members from Rockingham and Carthage, placed sixth.
Aftermath, a hard rock cover band that started off strong early on, landed in the 10th spot when voting ended over the weekend.
“Aftermath is honored and stoked to have squeaked into the battle for five grand,” lead singer Franklin Branch, of Rockingham, told the RO Wednesday afternoon. “Buy a ticket and come support the dragstrip, vendors and live music. Rock on!”
The band also includes: guitarist Jeremy “Woodrow” Wright of Hoffman; guitarist Matthew Davis and drummer Jerry Davis of West End; and bassist Brian Carter of Laurinburg.
Audiomelt, out of Wilmington, had the most votes. Other bands making the top 10:
- Lucky Struck Band
- The Low Down Dirty Heathens
- Midnight Row
- Love Bug Junkie Music
- FEAR STATE
- Grindhouse
Knowledge Is For Fools is listed as an alternate.
Each band will compete for a chance at winning $5,000 on June 29.
Before that, there are several other events on the Dragway’s schedule for the month.
This weekend, hundreds of bikers are expected to attend the returning Thunder at the Rock.
The local motorcycle rally is set to include “live music, Harley racing on steroids, Minibike racing, Harley bike games, and a lot more.”
Click here to see photos from the 2022 Thunder at the Rock.
While the bikes are roaring near the main track, the RC Hot Rod Association will have remote controlled cars zooming down the scaled-down track near the front parking area.
The RCHRA was founded in 2022 by Gary Rowe, a motorsports photographer and owner of web design company RaceWorks.com. Rockingham Dragway is one of his website clients.
“It’s really picked up,” Rowe said Wednesday after setting up the tree on the track. “These guys around the nation have seen the time and effort I’m putting into bringing a professional show, a safe show to any drag strip.”
This will be the fifth stop on the traveling RC racing series for the season.
As of Wednesday, Rowe said there were 72 drivers from five southeastern states registered to participate in the race. He added that there could be about a dozen more showing up for the race on Saturday.
“The same things you see on a real drag strip happen here on a one-tenth scale,” Rowe said, adding that the cars can reach 100 mph in 130 feet.
A test and tune is also slated for Friday at the Dragway, as well as June 15 and 21.
Also on the schedule for June is the second annual Lindsay’s Truck and Tire Show on June 22. Click here to see photos from the inaugural event.
