It’s a cold, windy morning in Las Vegas, but cars are going down the track, and we’re just a few minutes away from the pros getting their third shot in qualifying. The forecast calls for a 50% chance of precip after 10AM, but right now the rain seems to be confining itself to the mountains to the South and East. The question is whether the cold track or the low density altitude and tailwind will win out and be a bigger factor in whether we see improved times this morning…

Once again, special thanks to our event coverage sponsor Mickey Thompson Tires for making this possible. You can check out their full line of wheels and tires at www.mickeythompsontires.com

FINAL QUALIFYING

With as many cars in the mix as we have this weekend, uncooperative weather, and the occasional oildown, it took more than 12 hours to get through the rest of the qualifying schedule – rain began to fall in the middle of the fourth and final Pro Street session, bringing things to a halt for more than an hour. But once the sky stopped falling and the track was dry and prepped, the remaining racers still looking to get into the show tomorrow hit it, and hit it hard.

Pro Street

We didn’t see a five, but we did get a new polesitter in Pro Street, and the bump spot moved all the way up to 6.576. There are a dozen drivers with six-second passes to their credit yesterday and today who will be spectators tomorrow – in total, 56 cars were fighting over the available 32 slots in eliminations.

Kirk Wilmes is your SCSN VI Pro Street top qualifier - a 6.025 at 243.99 in Round 4 took the lead away from Pat Musi. He will face Jay Diedrich in the opening round of eliminations Sunday morning.

Tim Henry throws a shower of sparks at the finish line in the third round of qualifying. He finished 30th in the order, giving him the unenviable position of racing Mike Maggio in round one tomorrow.

Outlaw 10.5

In the final two rounds of Outlaw 10.5 qualifying, we saw the bump fall to 7.913 for the 32 car field, and some reshuffling in the middle of the field. Kurtis Tamez remained at the top of the list, but he’s done for the weekend – his first hit turned out to be his last, and as a result, number 32 qualified Smiley Cordero gets a freebie first thing tomorrow.

Rick Snavely (in the far lane, against Rich Zehring) was poised to unseat Tamez in the final round of Outlaw 10.5 qualifying but the Mustang hung the hoops for too long and when it came down, Snavely had his hands full, deftly steering the car around the 330 foot blocks.

Hot Street

None of the other ten drivers in Hot Street managed to find the tune up to get around Robbie Blankenship in Saturday’s closing qualifying, but with the top three all running within three hundredths, and 9 out of 11 competitors solidly in the 8’s, eliminations should be a close battle.

Rod Dewild (in the near lane) bettered his time yesterday by a hundredth, with a best of 8.268 at 162.82 good for second slot in qualifying. In the far lane, Ronald Johnson's Fox Mustang shows the duct-tape battle scars earned when he lost his hood at the finish line in Thursday's test and tune.

Extreme Drag Radial

Yesterday’s top time of 7.051 in Extreme Drag Radial did indeed fall, with Mike Keenan slipping in underneath with a 7.039. Unfortunately for Mike, our other prognostication came true as well – Paul Major upped the ante and held on to top honors with a 6.856, maintaining his tenth and a half lead on the rest of the field. We’re told that he’s even running with a handicap this weekend; no intercooler due to plumbing issues. The 31 car field means Major has a bye in the opening round.

Wild Street

Bill Kinkade puts it up hard on the bumper in round three of Wild Street qualifying. Kinkade is number 16 in the 20 car field with a best effort of 9.121 at 169.08.