{"id":98630,"date":"2025-02-05T20:18:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T20:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/king-of-the-south-set-for-second-event-at-shadyside-dragway\/"},"modified":"2025-02-05T20:18:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T20:18:50","slug":"king-of-the-south-set-for-second-event-at-shadyside-dragway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/king-of-the-south-set-for-second-event-at-shadyside-dragway\/","title":{"rendered":"King of the South Set for Second Event at Shadyside Dragway"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an incredible debut in 2024, the King of the South small-tire invitational at Shadyside Dragway in Shelby, North Carolina, is set to make history once again. Featuring a 64-car field, the event returns for its second year on May 23-25, featuring more prize money and an expanded lineup of support classes as part of the 8th annual Ronnie Buff Memorial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, event organizers Corey Stamper, Seth Buff, and Zach Buff envisioned a race that would merge two different worlds: no-prep and radial racers competing together on a \u201clightly prepped\u201d surface. The result? A final six showdown between three no-prep and three radial drivers and the highest single-day crowd in the history of Shadyside. After the success of 2024, they wasted no time in planning the 2025 edition, determined to raise the stakes even higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen we went into the event last year, we didn\u2019t really know what to expect because no one\u2019s ever tried this,\u201d said Stamper. \u201cIt\u2019s not no prep, it\u2019s not radial prep. You\u2019re taking racers from both and trying to meet in the middle. I was sitting there wondering, \u2018How\u2019s this going to work out?\u2019 Then the rounds started and I was like, \u2018You can\u2019t ask for it to be better than that.\u2019 But we know we\u2019re only as good as our last event. We paid $50,000 last year, and we knew we had to go bigger. That\u2019s when we decided to make it $75,000 to win this year \u2013 the biggest payout ever for a 28\u00d710.5 slick race.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 64-car field will once again be filled by invitation only, with selected drivers receiving a coveted \u201cGolden Ticket\u201d signifying their inclusion. Within a week of announcing the 2025 event at PRI (Performance Racing Industry) in Indianapolis, more than 250 drivers inquired about a spot. Stamper has already begun sending out invites, with more to come. He says his team heavily weighs previous accomplishments and consistency, as well as those who have supported him in the past, when constructing a field of cars that will be as competitive as possible. First-round losers will also be entered into a second-chance race, giving them an extra opportunity at winning some cash.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, the response has been insane,\u201d Stamper said. \u201cThere\u2019s hundreds of races a year, but everybody wants that golden ticket. I\u2019ve got 250 names in front of me, and I can only take 64. Sometimes I have to turn the phone off, and just look away for a minute, because it\u2019ll run you ragged in your mind trying to figure it out. You\u2019re nothing unless you get that golden ticket, because that means you\u2019re one of the best people on 28\u00d710.5 slicks. People want that bragging right.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In addition to the small-tire main event, King of the South will be bringing back the hugely popular Lil\u2019 Gangsta\u2019s class, which runs on a 5.30 index. Last year, the class only ran on Saturday \u2013 but due to the incredible response from racers, Lil\u2019 Gangsta\u2019s will compete in three separate races on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in 2025.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, Lil\u2019 Gangsta\u2019s right now is the biggest growing small tire class there is,\u201d said Stamper. \u201cWe took notice of that last year. Those guys had so much fun\u2026they were betting, throwing down. I told Seth, \u2018The sky\u2019s the limit with that class.\u2019 We\u2019re going to have them all three days and that\u2019ll push those guys, I think.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another new feature this year will be Baby Gangsta\u2019s, which features a rule set nearly identical to Lil\u2019 Gangsta\u2019s, but running on a 6.30 index. The class, which will run on Saturday only, aims to provide an entry point for a wider range of racers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go buy a modern muscle car \u2013 Challenger, Mustang, Camaro \u2013 do a couple of modifications, and you\u2019re in that mid-six second range,\u201d Stamper said. \u201cI think that\u2019s going to be one of the bigger draws in the event. We\u2019re always talking about getting the younger generation involved in drag racing and keeping it growing. A lot of guys now, your younger generation, they won\u2019t bracket race. But Baby Gangsta\u2019s is still heads-up racing \u2013 we just cap it to where they\u2019re not coming out and getting ran over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With more money, more classes, and more action, the 2025 King of the South small-tire invitational is poised to be one of the biggest events of the year, with three days of non-stop racing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Friday, May 23:<\/strong> Open testing and the first-ever Lil\u2019 Gangsta\u2019s Friday Night Shootout (free entry, $1,000 to win).<\/p>\n

Saturday, May 24:<\/strong> King of the South qualifying and first round, along with Lil\u2019 Gangsta\u2019s (5.30 index), Baby Gangsta\u2019s (6.30 index), and bracket classes \u2013 Top (Super Pro) and Mod (Pro).<\/p>\n

Sunday, May 25:<\/strong> King of the South eliminations continued, Second-Chance race eliminations continued, Lil\u2019 Gangsta\u2019s, and final rounds of bracket classes.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on February 5, 2025. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post King of the South Set for Second Event at Shadyside Dragway<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After an incredible debut in 2024, the King of the South small-tire invitational at Shadyside Dragway in Shelby, North Carolina, is set to make history once again. Featuring a 64-car field, the event returns for its second year on May 23-25, featuring more prize money and an expanded lineup of support classes as part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}