As the defending event champion in Stroud Safety Pro Mod, Keith Haney is looking forward to getting back on track at the fall Throwdown in T-Town, Oct. 6-8, at Osage Casino & Hotel Tulsa Raceway Park. It’s a double event as the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Drag Racing Series (MWDRS) presented by J&A Service also completes the MWDRS Great Bend Nationals, so Haney is hoping to gain some ground in the points chase.
“I’m looking forward to trying to win it again,” said Haney, who is the founder of MWDRS and co-owner of Tulsa Raceway Park. “I need to win Great Bend and I need to win Tulsa to get me right up there in the points. I need to go No. 1 and win.”
Haney is confident he has what it takes to turn on win lights this weekend. Along with that, he’s setting out to blow the scoreboards down with his Brandon Switzer-tuned, Bickel-built, Musi-powered “Black Mamba” Camaro.
“I’m hoping to break my own records,” Haney said. “The quickest we’ve been is 3.65 and that was earlier in the year at Xtreme [Raceway Park]. I’d like to see us go in the low .60s if we can, or at least some good, consistent mid-.60 runs. If we can do that, then we have a chance to win it.”
The cool conditions expected all weekend will help Haney in his mission to make career-best passes, but he realizes the boosted cars will also be working with the same killer conditions.
“They’re obviously faster than the nitrous cars,” said Haney. “We just have to work on our program a little bit more and try to catch up as much as we can. The rules are close. We’re just a few numbers off. We’ll have to make that up on the tree.”
Outside of competition, it’s also going to be a big weekend in the pits for Haney, a Tulsa area businessman. He’s used to racing with the support of family and friends, but that support group will be even bigger at his home track.
“It’s awesome to have my wife, Misty, and the kids and everybody here,” Haney said. “There’s a lot going on for us because my car dealership employees are coming out, so it’s a little stressful, but in the same case it’s exciting to have everybody and my family there.”
Fans can watch the race through MAVTV on FloRacing at www.FloRacing.com.
Haney and the Summit Racing Equipment/Strange Engineering “Black Mamba” Camaro will start the weekend by completing eliminations from the MWDRS Great Bend Nationals on Thursday. The Throwdown will begin Friday with qualifying sessions at 6 and 8 p.m., followed by final qualifying at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Opening ceremonies will kick off at 4 p.m.
