Wes Breiten rolled into North Star Dragway hot off his runner-up finish at Shreveport in the “Bad O-Man” blown altered sitting second in points and was joined by Dustin Johnson, Rick Grindstaff and Don Holley as the field of twelve prepared for two rounds of qualifying.

A pre-established grudge match started off the first time trial session as friendly rivals Leonard Ament (near lane) and Rich Witko laid down eardrum shattering side-by-side burnouts. Ament got the jump off the line but the funny car had the ponies as Witko clicked off a 4.72 at 148 mph to Ament’s 4.91 at 141 mph.

Willie Brainerd came out and laid down a strong 4.71 at 145 mph to claim the top spot after session number one. Shreveport top qualifier, Dustin Johnson, had his hands full in the “Fair Warning” blown altered. In his first pass since changing rear end gears, the car launched into a huge wheelstand as Johnson pedaled it back down to Earth and then crossed the centerline as he neared the traps, a true wild ride, fuel altered style.
     
Chris Stouffer wheeled the “Defiant” machine to a 4.74 at 152 mph to claim a spot in the top half early and Steve Matthews clicked off a solid 4.79 at 139 mph. Mike Wheeler rounded out the top half after first session with a 4.87 at 139 mph in the “Rapture” as the teams returned to the pits for final qualifying preparations.
     
Ament and Witko lined up again to open the final session, this time the “Black Magic” altered took the win after Witko was forced to lift as he got out of shape at the hit of the throttle. Ament improved to a 4.87 at 141 mph to qualify in the top half of the field in sixth and was now 1-1 against Witko in their grudge series.
     
Steve Matthews clicked off another strong run improving to a 4.74 at 148 mph, impressively notching the number four qualifying position in his first outing with the TBFA series. In the other lane, Dustin Johnson bested a 7.06 at 117 mph to get in at number eleven and hoped to pick up the pace in eliminations.
     
Chris Stouffer blasted to the pole position with an outstanding 4.68 at 153 mph in the “Defiant” rail and Rick Grindstaff jumped into the field with a 5.10 in the “Quarterflash” dragster after missing the first time trial with an electrical issue. Eddie Taylor improved to a 5.09 at 128 mph in the “Faded Memories” machine to claim the number seven qualifying position and Wes Breiten’s “Bad O-Man” took the number nine spot with a best of 6.70 at 141 mph. Bobby Bebout got no time in the first time trial due to a solenoid failure in the transmission and was forced to take the old school approach to backing up: send your entire crew plus a few spares out to push the car back after each burnout! Bebout took the number ten qualifying spot with a 6.78 in the “Bad Company” altered.