Mississippi’s Tim Savell, races as Allen’s teammate and started right behind him in third after going 4.187 at 179.17 mph. Savell, who went on to meet Baker in the Outlaw Pro Nitrous final, got the starting position based on going just over four mph faster than Baker, who also ran a 4.187 elapsed time.

Local hero Edmond “Mr. 5-Speed” Hall got into the show in fifth place with his 2006 GTO, but Baker ended his raceday in the opening round.

Sam Brown made it down from Winchester, TN, and put his ’68 Camaro sixth on the qualifying list, but lost to Savell in round one.

After getting by Allen, but falling to Savell, seventh-place starter Ronnie “The King” Davis said he was just “glad to qualify in our Top Sportsman car with a Powerglide and get to run with the big boys.”

Alabama racer Rex Kelley seized the eighth and final qualifying position with a 4.27 at 170.48-mph pass. Kelley again made a decent pass on raceday, but couldn’t keep up with young Hancock in the opening round, however.