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Saturday morning and we’re here in the tower – but there’s a bit of the wrinkle to today. Since the temperatures are so cold, the plan is this:
Index cars will hit the track around 10AM, weather permitting. Those cars will run two rounds of qualifying in an attempt to heat up the track to a temperature above 50 degrees. After Mike Brown’s wreck last night, the interest at the top of everyone’s mind is safety, and the radial tire cars need track temperature in that range to be safe on the track. We have confirmation that Brown is OK, but has some bumps and bruises, and his car appears to be totaled.
The plan is for the radial cars to hit the track this afternoon and qualify so that we can get to racing tomorrow with the better weather forecast.
Stay tuned to us as we bring you as much information as possible all day long. Thanks as always to our coverage sponsor, Comp Cams.
Well, index cars were going down the track just a moment ago, but now we’ve got a bit of snow coming down right now. The plan is to get all of the index cars down the track today along with a round of qualifying for the radial-tire cars, and then run the race out tomorrow. The track temp was up above 50 degrees a short while ago, but since we’re not on hold, it’s possible that it may drop again. Stay tuned..
The Radial driver’s meeting with a plan determined for the rest of the weekend.
The verdict is as follows: Heads-up qualifying will begin in one hour (2:30PMCDT). The attempt will be made to get in one round of qualifying for all classes, then go into eliminations for tomorrow. 32 car qualified field in all heads-up classes. Classes will alternate between heads-up and index until we finish for tomorrow’s sessions. Index classes will be completed today. Tomorrow’s forecast looks much better, so we’re going to do our best to get this thing finished.
A great first round of Pro Drag Radial – Jason Michalak absolutely crushed it with a killer 3.97 blast, the quickest pass ever recorded for this class in competition.
The proof – everything else is NOT just testing. That just happened.
Tyler Crossnoe’s just a bit happy about it. This kid has worked harder than anyone we’ve ever seen to keep this track in shape despite the weather – and it all just proved to be worth it.
Enzo Pecchini went for one wild ride, then motored down the left line behind Rodger Holder like nothing even happened.
Qualifying Round One
X275, Ultra Street, MX235
PDR, Outlaw 275
How about the insane 4.892 at 144.98 mph turned in by Mark Rogers in Ultra Street to top the ladder? Mark’s ’03 Mustang uses the smallest engine in the class by a large margin – only 281 cubic inches of Ford Modular four-valve pumped up by a cast-wheel 76mm turbocharger.
Butch Kemp was just a few ticks behind Rogers in Ultra Street, clipping off a 4.923 at 142 mph – and he pedaled it, from what we could tell. More in store from Kemp tomorrow?
Tim Kincaid tops the OL275 ladder by over a tenth; his 600-cube turbocharged Mustang tripped the lights with an awesome 4.192 blast at over 186 mph.
The fans came rushing up to the concrete to watch Murder Nova make his hit in qualifying tonight. Shawn Ellington is well into the Outlaw 275 field with a stout 4.516 at 178 mph, currently good for eighth in the 32-car field.
VP’s Jason Rueckert and Mickey Thompson’s Tommy Kundrik discussing track-prep strategies during a bit of downtime.
Despite the frigid mid-40s temps, the fans hung in there all night long and were rewarded with excellent racing. Today’s events were a testament to Tyler Crossnoe and the Memphis International Raceway track prep team. These guys just flat-out killed it.
On any other day, Keith Berry’s 4.061 blast would most likely lead the Pro Drag Radial class at the end of qualifying. But this isn’t any normal day with Michalak’s monster hit looming at the top of the qualifying sheet. Temperatures will be substantially warmer tomorrow – will Berry throw the kitchen sink at the track and surpass Michalak? There are also a number of other players on the property who claim to have the magic to do so. One thing is for sure – it’s going to be a hell of a race.
Little Evil is just that – evil! David Pearson is taking a shot at Pro Drag Radial this weekend and uncorked an awesome 4.123 at 173.81 mph during today’s session to land in fourth – on a 275 radial, no less. For comparison’s sake, Michalak went 194 mph, Berry 192 mph, and number three qualifier Mark Woodruff also crossed the line at 192 mph. Is Pearson hiding more power and a better ET in this beast?
Marcus Wooden’s big-block Chevy ’64 Nova is clean and mean – and leads the MX235 class into Sunday with a stout 5.04 at 142 mph. It’s astounding to us that the tiny 235 radial is capable of holding that much power, but there are six competitors quicker than 5.20 after today’s qualifying session.
On top of the X275 ladder – Rich Bruder, with a 4.469 at a whopping 161-plus mph. Need we say more?
A personal-best competition pass from Ron Rhodes today in X275 puts him in the second spot. A 4.496 at 155.65 mph, from a leaf-spring equipped, 23-degree-headed small-block Chevy on one kit. Our hat’s off to ya, Ron. Bad-ass!
A 1964 Fairlane sticks out like a sore thumb in a sea of Mustangs in Ultra Street. Greenwood, Indiana’s Jason McGrane relies on a naturally-aspirated 585-cube big-block Ford for motivation. He turned in a 5.009 to land in fourth in U/S entering tomorrow.
