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Saturday's Photo Gallery
The first two shots of the day are from the staging lanes, with Terry McMillen and his crew on the left, and their Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster on the right, waiting for the first qualifying session.
On the left is one more view of the side of McMillen's car, showing the "Insta-Gator" paint scheme. Just down the lanes was this "supercharged" golf cart. Innovation still abounds in the pit transportation category.
Bernstein in blue still takes some getting used to as the Copart Top Fuel car of Brandon Bernstein is checked over in the staging lanes.
Here's two of the Don Schumacher stable of Top Fuel cars, with Cory Mac on the left and Antron Brown's car on the right. By the way, I wonder what Toyota parts (note the signage on the rear wing) are on that car?
To the left we've got a tighter view of Brown's "Top Fuel Toyota" and on the right it's Larry Dixon's "Al-Anabi" fueler.
And the passing parade continues as Doug Kalitta's car goes by, with Antron Brown's in the background. Relaxing and joking with his crew is Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher as the wait continues before qualifying starts.
Here's the car with a slightly modified paint scheme, featuring a camouflage effect on the nose and front wing. From the rear, the message is pretty bold: "Go ARMY".
In the old days you'd call this a veritable "fibreglass forest" but now it's more like a "carbon collection" or simply a "fibre forest" of Funny Cars in the staging lanes. On the right we've got Grant Downing bannering his one race deal with Oregon's "Walery's Pizza".
Parked beside Downing's car is veteran Gary Densham, out for the first time since the Las Vegas race in April. And on the right we get a look under the body of Downing's car.
With the staging lanes full and the action ready to commence, here's a view of the big new starting line grandstands. Back in the lanes the Tony Pedregon flopper waits and we can't help but notice the ADRL decal prominently displayed on the side of the rear spoiler. Hmm....
On the left it's the NAPA-sponsored funny of Ron Capps, now being tuned by John Medlen. Next to it is another Don Schumacher Racing team member, Matt Hagan, sporting Mopar colours.
It's beginning to look like the Schumacher team cars are breeding in the lanes, as yet another of their nitro floppers appears, this one being driven by "Fast" Jack Beckman. Breaking the string (on the right) is Rhode Islander Robert Tasca III with his Mustang funny car.
Another "corporate car" on the left, as the first of the Force triumvirate appears in the carbon forest. This one is the Robert Hight-driven defending NHRA World Champion. Stepping back a bit (rightside photo) we can see Hight on the left and teammate Ashley Force Hood on the right.
One of the few independents still on the tour full-time, Illinois' Tim Wilkerson waits on the left side. Erstwhile Canadian Jeff Arend occupies the seat of this Connie Kalitta-owned DHL flopper on the right.
Detouring through Nostalgia Alley on our way back to the media centre, we found an addition to the flock of oldies but goodies, in the form of Randy Bradford's Fuel Altered. This car has been running occasionally in the Northwest over the past few years, and is certainly not just a museum piece.
Another pair of views of the nostalgia AA/FA, one from the rear, looking through the roll cage, and the other from the front, down low and looking straight on at the blown fuel 392 Chrysler-powered beast.
Another late addition to the nostalgia display was the Jack Williams-built and driven "Syndicate Scuderia" A/Dragster from Vancouver. That's Jack himself sitting in the shade to the left of the car. The car was the most famous race car in Western Canada in the 1960's, won best appearing at the 1962 Winternationals and held the A/D national record in 1963.
Here's two more views of a car that was truly ahead of its time. The body was hand-formed by Jack and the blower originally was mounted in front of the engine and fed the intake manifold through two long chromed tubes. A real work of art in so many respects.
An even earlier example of Northwest automotive engineering is this Chassis Research kit car built by Jim Green and the "B-Boys to run in B/Open Gas Dragster (some rather unique class designations back then). This was state-of-the-art 50 years ago.
Here's two more looks at the B-Boys dragster, with Jim Green's later "Assassin" entry in the background on the right.
The pro pits look like a ghost town as the first qualifying session is ready to roll. On the right, back in the staging lanes, near the back of the line, wait the funny cars of Bob Tasca (left) and Jeff Arend (right).
Heading off to "work" with a smile on his face is Del Worsham, driver of the "Al-Anabi" Funny Car. To the right we've got the boss's car, John Force with his 25th anniversary (in nitro funny cars) Mustang.
Speak of the devil, here's the man himself, J. Force on his ever-present pit bike. The way this guy gets around, he must put 100 miles a race on that bike. On the right we take another look at Robert Hight's Auto Club car.
Time for some nitro funny car tech, using the Al-Anabi flopper as an example. Let's start with the very sophisticated rear spoiler assembly. Then move under the "hood" to check out some engine details.
One more look at the engine from the side before we head back towards the starting line as the Top Alcohol Funny Cars prepare for their first round of eliminations.
We finish our Saturday photo gallery with a shot of the three-quarter (or more) empty grandstands as the Top Alcohol Dragster first round winds down to a merciful conclusion.
That's it from the second day of qualifying from the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.