As is his tradition, Scruggs remained in the pits for the second qualifying period while three more cars dipped below four seconds. Bubba Stanton, already the ADRL’s third quickest driver, became the second fastest pilot in the series with a 3.85 at a booming 197.88 mph in Roger Henson’s “Widowmaker” ‘63 Stingray while the bright orange ‘68 Camaro of Wesley Jones using a GM wedge-head/PSI blower combination , which had somehow managed to avoid the wall on the most outrageous burnout of the event in the first session, recorded a stunning 3.94/191.38 to make a clean sweep of the top three spots for Mississippi-based drivers. Jones had a little tuning help from DRO Columnist and racer Will Hanna. Texan “Wild, Wild Wes” Johnston banged the supercharger on the Hannon Motorsports ’53 Corvette but still clocked a 3.99 at a mere 158 mph to qualify seventh.
Ian Tocher Photo
To open eliminations, Scruggs made the most astonishing decisions of the race. After running his 3.76 polesitter in the right lane, the Mississippian chose the left lane for his first battle. “It spun a bit on the seventy-six”, said Scruggs, “and the left side looked a little better so I decided to risk it“. While opponent Bill Doucet’s wild winged Louisiana ‘63 Stingray shook hard in the right lane, Scruggs used up every bit of the left en route to a 3.86 victory but managed to officially certify his new speed record with a 203.89 mph charge. Only three other winners were able to make full-throttle passes. Hector’s small block ‘Vette coupled a 3.97/183.82 to a 0.004-second Reaction Time to stop the 4.08/191.43 of Joe Baker’s Florida Willys and Hernandez hit a 0.971-second sixty-feet ET on his way to a 3.94/191.89 over the fouling 4.10/173.90 of Gaylon Smith’s new “Texas Bounty Hunter” ‘70 Barracuda. Unheralded Steve Wiley, who had run a career-best 4.09/178.02 to qualify, improved to a 4.06/179.83 to beat Johnston. Every other match was marked by tire shake, tire spin and crossed boundary lines much to the delight of the overflow crowd.
Darkness had enveloped HRP by the start of the second round and rapidly falling temperatures made traction an uncertainty. Wiley’s “Texas Grim Reaper” ‘68 Camaro dodged a bullet when Stanton fouled by five thousandths of a second and Hector advanced when Alabama veteran Hugh Scott’s ‘63 Stingray suffered engine damage after his first-round defeat of Wesley Jones. Hernandez hit a 0.967-second sixty-feet ET and a 3.90/193.07 against Neal’s 4.09/175.68. Scruggs and Swearingen presented the division’s best race, however, when Scruggs strapped a tenth-of-a-second holeshot on the Junkyard Willys and then desperately tried to save his own life as the red Corvette went berserk at half-track; Swearingen’s 4.08/167.76 nipped Scruggs’ 4.19/148.79 by a mere five thousandths of a second.