BEAR METAL

BIG CASH WAS UP FOR GRABS IN THE SWELTERING HEAT AT RADIAL BEAR SLAYER IN MONROE, LOUISIANA

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MY RECENT trip to the United States gave me the chance to check out one of the country's ever-growing number of bad-arse small-tyre drag racing events: Radial Bear Slayer at Twin City Raceway in Monroe, Louisiana. With big-hitters like Joey Hiykel's 'Beater Bomb' Fox-body Mustang and a bunch of Street Outlaws racers like Daddy Dave set to vie for the $25,000 up for grabs, it promised to be massive.

Bear Slayer is the brainchild of up-and-coming builder and tuner Rustin Ledbetter, owner of Riverside Racecraft in Glenwood, Arkansas. He spends most weekends touring the country tuning hot rods, from stock-bottom-end deals at no-prep cash events to Pro Mods that wrestle it out on Street Outlaws.

Having been to so many race meetings, Rustin couldn't help but notice that all the prize money always seemed to go to the winners, while racers who did well in the early rounds got zilch. “Small-tyre events are tough to get cars along to because racers are afraid to race when certain other cars enter,” he explains.

“We all know that if you have the baddest car on the property you are going to take home the cash, but making it to the final rounds and going out because you nicked a piston or broke a throttle cable shouldn't mean you go home empty-handed. So, we came up with an event format where you get paid for every round you win.”