Drop The Hammer Doubles Up With a Second Event in 2025 in North Carolina, and We’ve Got Results!
Following a solid first year of the Drop The Hammer event, Michigan native and drag and drive competitor Carl Stancell III expanded the brand to two events in 2025, the first one staying in his home state of Michigan in the month of May.
The second Drop The Hammer event of 2025 invaded North Carolina this past weekend, for three days of racing between Farmington Dragway and Galot Motorsports Park, combined with a 300-mile road trip between the two.
There’s one more chance to join Sick The Mag on a drag and drive for 2025 - Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock, on October 12-19th, 2025! We’re doing seven days cruising the South, including Tail Of The Dragon, and four great drag strips! Discounted advanced spectator tickets, as well as Sick Ward / Sick Spit Show & Shine entries are available - CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE about Sick Smokies!!
The same classes used in the Michigan event would carry to North Carolina, held on an eighth-mile standard. The classes include Unlimited, 28/275 (requiring a 28-inch tall x 10.5-inch wide maximum slick of 275/60/15 radial tire), 5.45 index, 6.40 index, and Dial Your Own. Plus the eight quickest rides would have a chance to compete in the Quick 8 Shoot-Out on the final day.
For the first time in Drop The Hammer history, the best average of the event didn’t come from the Unlimited class, but instead came out of the 28/275 class. Richard Kinnison would lay down the best numbers of the event with his ’75 turbocharged Dodge Dart, averaging 5.52 to get the accolades. Adam Ward put his 2003 Mustang in the second spot.
Unlimited would have Casey Banner at the top of the ranking, rolling his 2023 Dodge Challenger to the title. The second spot went to Larry Dockins in his Cadillac CTS-V.
The 5.45 Index class would see the 2013 Chevy Caprice of Cody Thompson claim victory, while Joey Tjarks finished second.
The 6.40 Index class provided the closest competition of the event, between Robert Quinn and Justin DeWeerd. The two competitors stayed within six thousandths of-a-second of each other every day of the event, and after the result were tabulated, Quinn and his ’34 Ford would come out on top of DeWeerd’s ’67 Chevelle. The difference between Quinn’s 6.405 average and DeWeerd’s 6.405 average was just .0006 of-a-second!
The always competitive Dial Your Own (DYO) class also came down to a very close finish, with less than one hundredth of-a-second separating the top four drivers.
Stacy Batson’s class ’56 Chevy Bel Air only moved from his initial 7.376 pass on Day One by just three thousandths of-a-second, earning Batson the win in the class.
Carl Stancell varied just nine thousandths of-a-second over three days, getting him second. Shawn Marion and Brian Kozlowski matched their finishing positions at .012 of-a-second for the event, tying for third.
Richard Kinnison would score a second victory on Sunday, adding the Quick 8 title to his event results tally.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick The Magazine, Carl Stancell III, Richard Kinnison.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com