Jay Payne (Ron Lewis photo)

In the first round of eliminations, Jay Payne and Rickie Smith faced off in a staging duel that saw Payne take the pre-stage light first and Smith waiting till he was "good and ready" to go in. As the lights turned green, Payne was off first but his ‘68 Camaro danced around the lane, almost crossed the centerline, rolled up on two wheels and then lightly tagged the left guard wall before coming to a stop. Payne was uninjured and his car was only lightly scratched, but Smith moved on to the next round.

Harold Laird (Steve Gruenwald photo)

In the very next pair, Harold Laird and Tim Tindle faced off for a great side-by-side race with Laird crossing the line first, 6.063/234.61 to 6.077/237.42. As the Pride, Louisiana, driver pulled his chutes, however, the rear end of his '63 Corvette jumped slightly to the left and aimed the car at the guard wall. Laird banged the front right of his car into the wall and slid down the track to a stop.

"It was just the craziest thing," Laird said. "It happened so fast, like the parachutes just picked the rear of the car up and headed me toward the wall."