The latest update as of July 11, 2023

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Qualifying Round TWO

With the sun sinking over the horizon and lights on, the evening qualifying session got underway with a full contingent of cars waiting in the staging lanes. The blazing orange sunset made for a beautiful background as the first pair fired up and came to life. The light faded quickly and the track was in full darkness before the third pair ran.

(LEFT) The evening qualifying session opened with Wayne Hofmann making a solo pass, as scheduled opponent, Mike Buchanan, was shut off after the burnout. Hofmann wasn't able to better his afternoon 4.468 pass, and stayed in the #10 spot on the ladder, and solidly placed in the "B" field.

(RIGHT) After laying down a solid burnout, Matt Nissen shut off without making a pass.

(LEFT) He may have left first, but Danny Smith in the near lane, broke shortly after this photo and rolled to a stop before the finish line. In the far lane, Jade Cook down the run her team has been searching for all year, as she blitzed the scoreboard with a career best e.t. and speed at 4.124 - 177.24 to rocket up the ladder from "no time recorded" in the first session, to #5, and well placed in the "A" field. Unfortunately, Cook was very likely to be bumped down to the top of the "B" field.

(RIGHT) There was no improvement for either driver in this next pairing, as Jim Chase (near lane), slowed to a 4.41 - 151.00 clocking, and stayed in the #4 position, but only by a thread with some serious hitters in the lanes looking to move up. In the far lane, Michael Neal slowed a tenth from his first session effort, carding a 4.92 - 146.00 that left him in the #19 and dropping.

(LEFT) Despite laying down a strong 3.818 - 201.43 effort in the first session, good enough for #2 on the ladder, Kirk Williams (near lane) was looking to take the top spot on the ladder. He did just that, pounding out a new low e.t. and top speed of the meet with a brilliant 3.757 - 203.49 effort. On the other side it was the "Executioner" picking up nearly a tenth, at 4.529 - 157.15, as Justin Herbst managed to get back into the "B" field, at the bottom, in the in the #16 position.

(RIGHT) After an aborted first session pass, Lance Van Hauen (near lane) pushed the Van Hauen Brothers car to a very strong 3.880 - 195.87 to vault all the way to #4, and a spot in the middle of the "A" field. Also improving, marginally, was Tony Arcuri, (far lane), with a consistent 4.335 - 166.48 that moved him back to the top of the "B" field.

(LEFT) This pairing featured a pair of Missouri-based Mach 1 Mustang-bodied cars, both with drivers looking for a timeslip, as neither made it to the finish line in the first session. Chris Schneider moved first and got to the finish line first, albeit with a mediocre 5.506 - 120.10, "good" enough for only the last spot in the "C" field in the #24 position. Faring even worse was Missouri's Danny Mann (far lane), as he could only manage a 8.414 - 45.24, leaving him in the third alternate position for the "C" field.

(RIGHT) With no time on the board following his first session DQ (took out the 330' timing block), Jeff Cameron (near lane), needed to get solidly into the show. He tried hard, and pedalled, but could only muster a 4.988 - 107.73, that left him in the middle of the "C" field, in the #21 spot with one more chance to improve in tomorrow's final round of qualifying. Having trouble from half track to the finish line as the car hugged the guardwall, Clay Cunningham, in the far lane, wasn't able to better his first session 4.737, and remained in the #18 spot in the top half of the "C" field.

(LEFT) Running by himself after opponent Kris Battey broke before the burnout, Steve Griboski blasted out the first nitro fuelled pass of the evening, knocking nearly three tenths of his first session 4.382 pass, as he cranked out a 4.066 - 184.70 to jump into the "A" field in the #6 position. Griboski's run also moved the bubble for the "A" field down to Jade Cook's 4.124 pass. Without having a chance to make a run, Battey remained in the bottom half of the "C" field.

(RIGHT) There were improvements on both sides of the track in the next pair, as Shayne Lawson (near lane), bombed out a 3.816 - 197.48 to knock three hundredths off his first session 3.840, to remain in the #3 position. Showing tremendous power down low, Lawson did the 60' in .976 seconds. Picking up a bunch from her first round tire shaking 5-second effort, Christine Foster (far lane), knocked out a good 4.254 - 162.39 to leapfrog from #24 to #10, advancing from the very bottom of the "C" field to near the top of the "B" field.

(LEFT) Leaving strongly was Jesse Clark (near lane), but he shut off early again, lifting to the tune of a 4.19 pass. He did remain in the #7 spot in the "A" field courtesy of his first session 4.103 - 146.78 effort. In the far lane, Casey Geeslin put down a solid 4.483 - 173.27 in his blown alky Hemi-powered Camaro, and advanced to the #14 spot, near the bottom of the "B" field.

(RIGHT) Following a dismal 6-second pass earlier, Chuck Loftin ran into even more trouble on his second pass. Following a ragged burnout, the rear tires jumped in the air on the launch as Loftin pedalled a couple of times, dropping cylinders and finally shutting off to a slower e.t. That left him outside the show in #27 with just one chance left to get back into a field.

(LEFT) Sitting near the bottom of the "B" field with a first session 4.489 on the board, Tom Furches (near lane), failed to improve, despite a decent 4.560 - 149.56, and remained in the #15 spot at the end of the evening. In the far lane, David Hill was looking to repeat his first session 4.222 effort, but lifted early and coasted to a 5.535 at less than 90 mph. He held on to his #9 spot on the ladder, at the top of the "B" field going into the final qualifying session.

(RIGHT) Despite making an attempt earlier in the session, Kris Battey shut off before staging and was allowed to pull back into line for another try. The Miner Brothers powered entry sounded strong, but pedalled his way to a slightly better 4.893 - 141.19 to remain in the #21 spot in the bottom half of the "C" field.

The final car to run on the evening was Howard Seldon in the "Proclaimer" making another licensing pass. He pedalled it several times on the burnout, before leaving hard, pedalling twice more, and lighting up the scoreboard with a 5.35 - 136.70 time and speed. And that was a wrap for the second round of qualifying.

After the session, the "A" field e.t.'s ranged from Kirk Williams's 4.757 (#1 spot) to Jade Cook in the #8 position. On top of the "B" field was David Hill at a solid 4.222 in the #9 spot, while holding down the #16 bump spot was Mike Buchanan with his first session 4.513 pass. The "C" field started with #17 Jordan Ballew, at 4.514 and ended with Robin Rish in the #24 slot with a 5.148 elapsed time. Sitting on the outside some series regulars, with Chris Schneider and Chuck Loftin very capable of moving into the "B" field at least.