Son Jake had tuned their car to a first win at Sacramento one week earlier, and a 6.010 at 245.43 mph at Dragfest put Sanders in the second slot.

After a tough weekend at Funny Car Fever, Gary Densham’s ’69 Camaro-bodied flopper qualified next with a 6.041 at 233.70 mph. 2009 Dragfest winner Ed Dougan in Charlie O’Neill’s “Fighting Irish” Camaro took the fourth qualifying slot, running 6.117 at 230.59 mph, followed by a resurgent Mike Adams driving his Arizona-based ’79 Corvette to a 6.201 at 227.04 mph for fifth, and a 6.335 at 219.29 mph for Sean Dale in the “Holy Toledo” Jeep to qualify sixth.

Brian Thiel took the seventh position in his Donnie Couch-tuned ’69 Camaro at 6.377 ET at 219.29 mph with newcomer Troy Green closing out the 8-car field in the “McCain’s Bomb Squad” Duster with a 6.377 at 220.64. Unfortunately, Bob Godfrey broke his orange Z28 Camaro after his first qualifier, making Jack Wright’s ’70 Challenger the first alternate, and with Halstead’s Mustang sitting in the trailer, Wright would fill out the field against Troy Green.

Words by Darr Hawthorne
Photos by Darr Hawthorne and James Drew

Dragfest 2010, at Auto Club Famoso Raceway, was the first time this year that Nostalgia Funny Cars would race at back-to-back venues, having completed Funny Car Fever on the previous weekend at Sacramento Raceway. The action on the dragstrip was mostly non-stop, but nitro funny cars provided the main attraction. The fields were rounded out with straight axle gassers, a strong A/FX class, traditional hot rod classes, and a wheelstander and jet-powered truck.

Nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars

After two sessions, Mike Halstead in the “Nitro Stang” lead all qualifiers with his 5.868 at 246.10 mph, but apparently that was more for show than for practicality. After the 5.868, the Jeff Gaynor-tuned engine on the ’71 Mustang was done, and the team was unable to make round one on the top of the eight car elimination ladder.

“Mr. Explosive” Mark Sanders and his ’70 Nova had already returned to his Washington State home when he learned that Dragfest was back on after being postponed for possible weather issues.

#1 Qualifier Mike Halstead