Lights Out 17 – “Home of the Flying Trucks?”

Every year, drag racing fans mark their calendars for Lights Out, one of the premier radial tire racing events in North America. Held at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Adel, Georgia, Lights Out 17 was the latest chapter in a long tradition of extreme small-tire competition featuring some of the quickest radial cars in the world.

“Flying cars” and massive launches have been a recurring theme at Lights Out events for years, and that’s part of what gives the weekend its reputation. Thousands of horsepower tied to relatively narrow radial tires often sends cars up on the rear tires and bouncing as drivers fight for control—the kind of airborne antics that give the impression of cars flying down the track. While Lights Out 17 isn’t specifically branded as a “truck event,” it does include a No Time Pro Truck class among its lineup, and drag trucks have become part of the scene.

The event is more than just one class. As part of the FuelTech Radial Outlaws Racing Series, Lights Out 17 featured a stacked lineup including elite Radial vs. the World competition, Pro 275, Limited Drag Radial, X275, Ultra Street, No Time 275, and Pro Truck categories, all vying for significant purses and titles. The Radial vs. the World class alone offered a $30,000-to-win purse, underlining how big and serious the event has become for competitors.

Over the weekend, racers put down record-setting passes and dramatic side-by-side runs, and the intensity of the competition naturally produced plenty of moments where cars leapt off the line and came back down in spectacular fashion—often looking like they are airborne coming off the hit. That visual drama has helped Lights Out earn a reputation as a place where cars don’t just go fast; they put on a show.

So is Lights Out 17 really the “home of the flying trucks?” Not literally in the sense of being a dedicated truck race series, but it does host powerful drag trucks alongside the heads-up radial cars, and the intense launches and tire-eating hits often make competitors seem like they’re defying gravity. The event’s mix of record-breaking runs, diverse classes, and high-stakes purse structure keeps both fans and racers coming back season after season.

In short, Lights Out 17 is one of the most exciting radial-tire drag racing events on the calendar, and its “flying” action—whether cars momentarily lift at the hit or big trucks plant hard on the hit—is part of what makes it memorable for fans.