In big-league drag racing, winning a Duck X Productions race at South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP) puts a distinct feather in your cap, signifying national dominance over the best of the best in any given class.
Winning twice proves the first time was no fluke — even if it comes years later.
But after prevailing at No Mercy 15 last October, Eatonton’s C.G. Knight managed to win back-to-back events with a Lights Out 16 victory on Feb. 23 on the same track to approach legendary status.
“I told them we were coming to win it again. I knew we could do it,” Knight stated last week at his G’s Automotive repair shop on Oak Street. “But I give all the glory to God. I can never thank Him enough for what He’s done for me.”
Knight drives a 26-year-old, full-tube chassis, ex-NHRA Pro Stock Truck dubbed “STEN” in honor of its Bowtie heritage.
Festooned in red, white, and blue, the patriotic-themed truck carries a methanol-burning, twin-turbocharged big block of undisclosed displacement built by Jason Mote and Kyle Compton at Georgia Speed and Performance in Monroe.
Richard Disher serves as crew chief and tuner. Corey Blackmon, Johnny Lott, and Doug Colbert, Knight’s “riding partner,” also head to the races and round out the trackside team.
Knight won in the No Time Truck class, which means no elapsed times or speeds over the eighth mile are displayed or known to spectators or fellow competitors. Initial pairings are established through a blind draw, which means you have to bring a lot of horsepower — and hope you brought enough.
Coincidentally, in a field of 23 entries, Knight drew a first-round match against Israel Deraney, also from Eatonton. After making it past Deraney, he outran two more competitors to reach the final round, Ray Morton and “Maximus,” his twin-turboed, full-size Chevy truck.
Morton had a free pass into the final, but Knight was supposed to race someone in the semifinals. When the competition couldn’t make it, Knight and Morton agreed to decide the winner without making individual passes in the semifinals.
Though the clocks weren’t showing times, Knight said he covered the SGMP eighth mile in 4.04 seconds at 191 mph to take the win over Morton.
“It should’ve been in the 3s, too, because I had to chop it about 150 feet out because it started wheelieing,” Knight said. “And then when I sat it down again, it caught on fire. Just a flash fire, but it burned up some wiring and hoses.
“I thought it was out when I got it stopped, but then it was smoking, and someone told me it was still on fire. It burnt up the wiring harness and some vacuum lines to the turbos. A pretty good fire, really, but we’ll put a new harness on and get it fixed up and ready to go again. That’s what we do.”