Nick Poloson rolled out first again to start the second session with a thundering career best 4.05 at 174 mph pass. Nice. Donnie McSwain was up next in the “II N’Tense” ride and also set a career mark at 3.97 at 178 mph, his first three second pass ever. Brad Rigler stepped up the Danny Wright tuned “Toxic” machine to a 4.01 at 178 mph and Larry Reep put the “Grim Reeper” in the top half of the field with a 4.03 at 177 mph.
“Four o” passes were falling like Texas mosquitoes in a bug zapping contest. John Broussard put his Lake Charles, Louisiana based “Purple Haze” ride into the number eight spot with a strong 4.28 at 166 mph. Donnie Massey clicked off an impressive career best pass of 3.92 at 177 mph to secure his place at the top of the field performance wise. Roy Sanchez in the “Nitro Coupe” fuel Fiat and David Purifoy in the “Thrill Factor” machine missed the cut, but Purifoy got bumped in from the first alternate spot due to Jack Hodgson’s engine failure. DoDad Burton was in the house but the “Free Spirit” team never took a green light and had a few weeks to solve their gremlins before the big event July 5th at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas. Chris White won the Disciple Cycles “Luck of the Draw” qualifying bonus from the number nine spot and Nick Poloson took home the Smiley’s Racing Products bonus for qualifying fourth at the fourth event of the season. The first round ladder was a dandy and would surely result in some monster match-ups.
Final Qualifying Order:
1. Brad Rigler – 4.01 @ 177 mph
2. Donny McSwain – 4.02 (3.978) @ 178 mph
3. Larry Reep – 4.03 @ 177 mph
4. Nick Poloson – 4.05 @ 174 mph
5. Donnie Massey – 4.07 (3.926) @ 177 mph
6. Bobby Marriott – 4.09 @ 182 mph
7. J.T. Heslink – 4.22 @ 174 mph
8. John Broussard – 4.28 @ 166 mph
9. Chris White – 4.43 @ 160 mph
10. Jack Hodgson – 4.56 @ 115 mph
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11. David Purifoy – 4.66 @ 156 mph
12. Roy Sanchez – 4.82 @ 116 mph
13. DoDad Burton – No Time
What an exciting first pair to start eliminations. Rigler’s “Toxic” vs. Marriott’s “Shockwave” takes us back to the multiple final rounds these two have contested at Mo-Kan Dragway. Rigler got a slight starting line advantage and never looked back with a 4.09 at 172 mph to narrowly defeat Marriott’s 4.11 at 182 mph in the closest race of the first round. Next up Nick Poloson wheeled the Tom Wood tuned and owned “Sundown” to a stout 4.08 at 174 mph to take out Chris White.