ELIMINATIONS

Round one

Number one qualifier Bret Williamson would line up with the struggling Randy Walker in his El Camino, turning this one into the longest staging duel the WCHRA has ever seen. Although neither driver wanted to stage first, 37 seconds later, Williamson would finally stage with Walker following. Walker’s hesitance to stage would pay off, as when the lights flashed it was Walker away first with a .040 to Brett’s .115, and at about the 60ft. mark, Williamson had traction issues allowing Walker to take the win with a 6.428 at 219.99 to Brett’s shut-off 16.04 at 54mph.

Next on the ladder would be Joe Alsworth and Clint Hairston. Both drivers would leave the line with nearly identical R/Ts: .055 to .057. Alsworth got loose and had to lift but in the other lane Clint Hairston was on a good run, and when the boards lit up it was Hairston taking the win, with a 6.433 at a potential record, 227.84!

Next pair would be the ‘68 Camaro of Allen Bessant against Jimmy Mock in Rich Zehring’s GTO. Bessant would leave first .128 to Mock’s .715. This is a new ride for Jimmy Mock and he and his team are still trying to sort it out, as evidenced by problems in the new ride that cropped up and allowed Alan to take an easy win: 6.977 at 177.37.

Following that was the Con-Quest Firebird of Tim Henry and the RJ Monte Carlo of Kelly Bluebaugh. Kelly has a new power plant and was having trouble finding the right combination, but with the points chase being so close they were hoping they could find it on this run. On the other side things were quite the opposite: Tim Henry arguably has had the most consistent car this season. When the tree dropped it was Tim away first .055 to Kelly’s .100, and shortly after, Bluebaugh had to lift and Henry took the win with another nice pass, 6.393 at 220.96.

The final pair was to be Jay Deidrich in his “Evil 57” and Gary Soulage in his Lightning Truck, but unfortunately Gary couldn’t make the call. Jay, however, would take advantage of the single, and put down his best pass of the weekend, running a nice 6.456 at 224.77.

Round two

First would be Clint Hairston and Allen Bessant; both drivers left the line with identical .109 lights, and the race was close ‘til about the 1/8th mile when the turbocharged GTO pulled away to take the win, Bessant made a good pass clocking a 6.743 at 209.15, but it was not nearly enough for Clint Hairston’s awesome 6.277 at 230.23! This would give the Hairston crew the MPH Record and a shot at the E.T. Record. Randy Walker got a competition bye and ran a 6.443 @ 219.94.

The final pair would be Tim Henry in the Con-Quest Firebird against the “Evil ‘57” Chevy of Jay Diedrich. When the tree flashed, Jay was too quick and turned on the red light, giving the win to Tim Henry.