Contributed photo Shane McAlary, in his 1977 Chevy Vega, drove past Shannon Poole on his way to the unofficial title at the inaugural Street Outlaws Takeover at Rockingham Dragway on Sunday. -

ROCKINGHAM — Despite a loss to Jeremy Rogers and his 1969 Chevy Nova, Shane McAlary and his “Blackbird” 1977 Chevy Vega were the overall winners of Sunday’s inaugural Street Outlaws Takeover at Rockingham Dragway.

Rogers (Canute, Oklahoma) broke a connecting rod, got into his own oil and hit the wall beyond the finish line after beating McAlary (Elk City, Oklahoma) in their head-to-head showdown. When he was unable to return, McAlary went on to beat Shannon Poole (Moss Pointe, Mississippi) in the popular “Big Dookie” 1967 Chevy Chevelle for the unofficial title.

The shootout lost some of its luster when Chuck Seitsinger, currently No. 1 on “The List” on the Discovery Channel’s highly-rated “Street Outlaws” series, opted not to compete for fear of damaging his engine in advance of the taping of a new segment next Saturday — in which he will be racing for a $75,000 top prize.

Instead, Seitsinger hung with the fans and signed autographs until the event’s conclusion.

In the featured 28/275 Shootout, Carlton Thompson (Tallahassee, Florida) won an all-Mustang final round over Randy Eller (Winnabow) — who was assisted by former Mountain Motor Pro Stock standout Jeff Dobbins on Sunday.

The Small Block Nitrous Shootout went to Matt Bowers (Fort Lawn, South Carolina), who beat David Brinkley (Wilmington) in another all-Mustang final. Daniel Comer beat Todd Comer in an all-New London, all-Comer Family final for the 6.0/7.0 Index title.

Rockingham regular Dell Britt (Pembroke) was the Footbrake winner and 16-year-old Kiya Elks (Marshville) beat Matthew Minter (Fredericksburg, Virginia) to prevail in the Jr. Dragster Shootout.

Results from Sunday’s inaugural Street Outlaws Takeover event at Rockingham Dragway:

28/275 FINAL – Carlton Thompson (1993 Ford Mustang) def. Randy Eller (1991 Ford Mustang).

FOOTBRAKE FINAL – Dell Britt (.040, 7.786 on a 7.560, 89.92 mph) def. Mark Soles (foul).

SMALL BLOCK CHALLENGE FINAL – Matt Bowers (Ford Mustang) def. David Brinkley (1987 Ford Mustang).

STREET CAR CHALLENGE FINAL – Chris Kenney (1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass) def. Leon Hudson (1965 Plymouth Barracuda).

JR. DRAGSTER FINAL – Kiya Elks (.121, 7.929, 79.32 mph) def. Matthew Minter (.166, 7.889 breakout, 80.90 mph).

6.0/7.0 FINAL – Daniel Comer (.020, 7.053 on a 7.000, 105.00 mph) def. Todd Comer (foul).

Contributed photo

Shane McAlary, in his 1977 Chevy Vega, drove past Shannon Poole on his way to the unofficial title at the inaugural Street Outlaws Takeover at Rockingham Dragway on Sunday. https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_blackbirdweb.jpg Contributed photo

Shane McAlary, in his 1977 Chevy Vega, drove past Shannon Poole on his way to the unofficial title at the inaugural Street Outlaws Takeover at Rockingham Dragway on Sunday.

Britt, Elks also among shootout champions