Locals revved up for ‘Pinks’

It’s all about fun. It’s about bragging rights. It’s about speed.

Well, it’s also about the vehicles.

When several Wiregrass residents arrive at the Montgomery Motorsports Park this week, they’ll put their muscle cars and pickup trucks to the test for “Pinks All Out,” the popular drag-racing show that airs on the Speed network.

Neil McDaniel has a bright blue 1976 Ford F-100 pickup truck. It was an old farm truck he used to haul trash until he started refurbishing it four years ago. And for McDaniel and other fans of muscle cars and racing, their hot rods are never truly completed.

“A race car is never finished,” McDaniel said. “You always want to go faster and faster.”

McDaniel and a group of his friends will among the locals traveling to Montgomery to participate in the “Pinks” race show. Drivers began arriving in Montgomery on Thursday for a series of tests and tunes, which continue today. Timed trials begin Saturday with the final 16 vehicles to begin racing Saturday night.

Jerome Buckley has had his yellow and black 1986 Mustang for two years. And despite it’s polished appearance, he’s still working on it.

“I see things I want to do, I do them.” Buckley said.

Unlike the original show, “Pinks,” where drivers race to win ownership of competing vehicles, “Pinks All Out” racers are competing for money. As fans of the show, locals said they didn’t hesitate when they found the show would begin filming its third season in Montgomery. The segment in Montgomery is expected to air in summer 2009.

There are 465 drivers registered to race in the event.

“We go down to Cottonwood and play,” said Kevin Davis, who owns and races a 1969 Dodge Dart. “We want to see who’s the fastest.”

Davis bought the yellow Dart from a friend after helping re-build it. Racing, he said, is a hobby and a chance for friends to get together with their families and have some fun behind the wheel.

“That or winning on Friday and calling your buddy on Monday to rub it in,” Davis said.

Billy Fowler has a 1994 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck that could deafen even the healthiest of ears. He bought the body for $100 in 2004. He stripped the motor, transmission and interior. Working on it in his free time — all his free time — Fowler had the truck going in four months. It will get up to 120 mph in 11 seconds.

He’ll need all the power he can get for “Pinks.”

“In this race, you have to run it all out,” Fowler said.