ROCKINGHAM — Engines roared for the first time in 2024 racers sent their cars (and trucks) down the strip in the inaugural Billy Weeks Shamrock Challenge at Rockingham Dragway.
The three-day event is named in honor of the track’s late operations manager who passed away two years ago.
Dragway co-owner Dan VanHorn previously told the RO that Weeks was deserving of a memorial event, saying, “He was a big part of the track’s history.”
Weeks was a graduate of Richmond Senior High School and hired by former owner Steve Earwood in 2013 to oversee operations at the track. Weeks was later also responsible for distribution and sales of Earwood’s other venture, Rock Racing Batteries.
“Billy was ‘The Rock’s’ rock,” Earwood said in Weeks’ obituary. “He was a friend to all the racers, manufacturers, vendors and fans; the go-to guy whenever you had a problem.”
Weeks died Feb. 19, 2022 while attending Shriners Drag Racing and Hot Rod Expo at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
Around 300 racers participated in the four classes, which had new runs each day, according to VanHorn: Super Pro; Pro; Junior Dragster; and Junior Street.
“We changed to NHRA class names and rules in 2024 for our points program,” adding the latter class, VanHorn said. “We had a great juniors turnout.”
Bladen Core had four top-two finishes in the junior categories.
Core, of Benson, has been racing since 2018 and won the 2020 NHRA Southeast Division 2 National Open Series at the age of 12 and three Wallys, according to the Johnston County Report.
On days two and three, Core and Alyssa Rabon, driver of the Pink Bullet, switched places for the win in the Junior Street class.
Rabon, of Florence, South Carolina, is no stranger to winning at the Rock, having been crowned 6-9-year-old track champ in 2017 and 10-12-year-old track champ in 2019, among other accolades, according to DragChamp.com.
See the full list of winners below.
DAY 1 WINNERS
Super Pro
1st place – Connor Caulder
2nd place – Austin Brown
Pro
1st place – Ross Freeman
2nd place – Derek Varner
Junior Dragster
1st place – Bladen Core
2nd place – Charlee Omeara
Junior Street
1st place – Donald Omeara III
2nd place – Bladen Core
DAY 2 WINNERS
Super Pro
1st place – Free Hagberg
2nd place – Jeff Dobbins
Pro
1st place – Brian Cirrdon
2nd place – Michael Jackson
Junior Dragster
1st place – Lane Morgan
2nd place – Josiah Varner
Junior Street
1st place – Bladen Core
2nd place – Alyssa Rabon
DAY 3 WINNERS
Super Pro
1st place – Brent Alford
2nd place – Kevin Warwick
Pro
1st place – Jason McCandless
2nd place – Andrew Davis
Junior Dragster
1st place – Will Dotson
2nd place – Archie Tyler
Junior Street
1st place – Alyssa Rabon
2nd place – Bladen Core
VanHorn and co-owner Al Generalli plan to make the Shamrock Challenge an annual event.
This weekend, the Rock hosts Dig or Die: Flashlight Fiesta 4, which will see drivers starting at the back end of the track for no prep action.
Lizzy Musi, a star of “Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings,” is scheduled to be at Dig or Die; and the show is slated to return to Rockingham later this fall. Click here to read that story.
Click here to see photos from Dig or Die in December.
See photos below from Day 3 of the Shamrock Challenge. More photos are available on the Dragway’s Facebook page and visitrichmondcounty.com.
