The 69th edition of the world’s largest, longest, and most prestigious drag race, the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals, got underway Wednesday morning at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park under sunny and seasonably-cool conditions, with qualifying in Competition Eliminator, Super Stock, and Stock, as well as the Dodge Hemi Challenge, along time trials for Super Comp and Super Gas. The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series pros don’t hit the track until Friday evening, but the hardcore fans that show up early in the week at the NHRA’s “Big Go” are served quite the treat, with sportsman drag racing action from sun-up to sun-down.
Reigning Dodge Hemi Challenge champion Steve Comella put the rest of the category on notice under ideal conditions in Thursday’s second session of qualifying, clocking low e.t. at 8.313 at 161.07 mph. Jimmy Daniels, himself a many-time winner of the once-a-year, fan-favorite event, was the only other driver to dip in the 8.30s, a full eight-hundredths back, at 8.398.Jim Pancake, the 2010 winner of the Dodge Hemi Challenge, sits third in the qualifying order with an impressive 8.41.Green Butcher leads a stacked field of 37 Top Sportsman entries with a nearly-perfect 6.107 at a 230 mph. Butcher, a perennial top qualifier in the category, leapfrogged Pro Stock racer David Cuadra and his 6.13 from the opening session of qualifying.
Eric Burnett’s turbocharged Corvette holds top speed honors thus far in Top Sportsman with a booming 234.17 mph blast he paired with a 6.244, good for fifth on the provisional sheet.Washington state native Brad Plourd, a Swiss-army knife of a sportsman drag racer with wins in several NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series classes — including three at Indy in three different categories — is back for another go with Harry Schwartz’s awesome AA/AM 23-T Ford-bodied altered. Plourd blew the supercharger burst panel out in fiery fashion during Wednesday’s opening qualifier, but returned to make representative runs in the ensuing two sessions, including low e.t of the event at 6.460, good for 43rd on the Competition Eliminator qualifying sheet. Plourd won this event in the class in 2017.
What Andrew Holt's I/Dragster gives up in engine displacement, it more than makes up for with boost. Holt's car is powered by a four-cylinder Honda engine with a single turbocharger, propelling it into the mid-sixes. After three qualifying sessions in Competition Eliminator, Holt leads the largest field in years -- 60 entries -- with a stout 6.488 at 202 mph, -0.682 seconds under his class index.
In 1978, Ray Paquet — whose racing roots go all the way back to his start in 1962 — bought one of the 100 1964 Fairline Thunderbolts purpose-built for competition. He sold the car, which came equipped with a 427 FE engine and lightweight body panels, in 1980 and reacquired it in 1985. He’s been racing it competitively in NHRA Super Stock ever since. Paquet is qualified 26th in the 138-car field with an 8.865, -1.035 seconds under his SS/B index.
Veteran Super Stock racer Mike Cotten traveled from his home in Arizona to debut his beautiful, brand new Barracuda. Cotten clocked a 9.74 in qualifying, but dropped his opening round class eliminations run in SS/IA to Fred Bartoli. Arguably one of the greatest doorslammer body styles of all-time, and still a fan-favorite, is the 1988-97 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Mike Badia brought his ’96 model in from Milford, Michigan and recorded a best of 6.76 in the opening two sessions of Top Sportsman qualifying, placing him 26th in the 32-car field.Have we ever mentioned that we miss Pro Stock Truck? Nebraska’s Shaun Vincent campaigns this six-cylinder-powered Chevy S-10 in Competition Eliminator’s C/TA class. His 8.368, -0.622 seconds under the index, is only good for 14th in a very strong field of cars (and trucks).
