(Jeff Burk photo)

This race also saw the debut of the brand new Tom Hoover tribute “Showtime” AA/FC. Doc Halliday built the ‘Vette in his Minnesota shop and it will be part of a two-car team consisting of Doc’s “Telstar” Dodge Arrow and the new “Showtime” Corvette driven by former UDRA Pro Stock racer Brian Stewart.

Stewart was making his license passes at Byron. He made plenty of laps but just couldn’t get the car past about 300 feet under power. He appeared to be making the transition from doorslammer to nitro Funny Car fairly well, though. On his first pass Sunday he experienced tire shake and a broken fuel shut-off cable that prevented him from shutting down the engine. He triggered a fire bottle that shut off the engine and then made the turn at the end of the track without any drama.

(Jeff Burk photo)

The AA/FCs were entertaining as they mixed passes that were straight down the track under power with some passes that hugged the guardwall or went looking for cones – all of which delighted the nitro fans on hand. The four AA/FCs made two laps with the two quickest ETs from the first round running each other in the second round to determine a winner. A couple of cars with old histories and new drivers were part of the show.