John Urist

The Ten-Inch Tire Freakshow – Super Street Outlaw – brought out a killer group of cars. Sitting atop the field was none other than four-time SSO champion John Urist, by virtue of his 7.40 at a blazing 197 miles per hour.

Slotting in just behind Urist was Chris Tuten with his first pass in the 7.40 zone ever; 7.44 at 192, showing that a turbo and stock suspension can hang in the class. John MacDonald was the last of the seven-car field to qualify in the forties, with a 7.47.

In eliminations Urist was hitting the tree like it owed him money, cracking off .016- and .010-second lights in the first two rounds of eliminations to advance to the finals. Chris Tuten went red in the second round against Don Burton, setting up a rematch of the Florida final round, and making it Burton’s third consecutive final round appearance. However, Urist bettered his reaction, cutting a double-oh-two light and motoring down the track to a 7.48 at 194 mph to take the win over a limping Burton.

EFI Renegade has been an insane class to watch this season as the competitors are running into the low 8.40-zone consistently, although you wouldn’t know that until eliminations. Dan Rawls put his nitrous-huffing Foxbody in the top spot with an 8.50 at 165 mph, followed closely by Alton Clements with an 8.51 from his blown Modular combination. Brian Mitchell rounded the top half of the qualifiers with another different combo, clicking off an 8.57 pass.

Eliminations saw Rawls advance on a double redlight in the first round to a semifinal bye into the finals, while Bart Tobener went through Alton Clements and Brian Mitchell en route to meeting Rawls in the finals. However, Tobener had issues and it was apparent after a lackluster burnout that he wasn’t going to have anything for Rawls in the final. The ETs confirmed it as Rawls took the win with an 8.43.