(Don Eckert photo)

By Jeff Burk
Photos by Don Eckert, Dennis Mothershed and Matt Schramel

Veteran nitro Funny Car competitor Doc Halladay and tuner Jerry Newman got their first competition win in the season-opening DragRacingOnline.com AA/FC Challenge presented by Mickey Thompson Tires on Saturday night, June 11, at historic Cordova Dragway Park in Cordova, Ill. 

Halladay, driving his “Telstar” ’78 Plymouth Arrow, defeated first time finalist Troy Martin his “Chi-town Hustler” tribute ’73 Dodge Charger when Martin red-lighted away his chances of a win. To his credit, the veteran Halladay made a full, hard pass and ran a 6.290 at 230+ on a Cordova track that was starting to suffer from the dew that comes in at night at that historic facility.

This was Martin’s first trip to a DRO/Mickey Thompson Tire AA/FC Challenge final round and Halladay’s second.

The Minnesota-based Halladay team was named the winner of this same event in 2010 when the final round was postponed because of heavy dew on the track and their California-based opponents failed to return to finish the race at the next event. 

There were 10 AA/FC teams that showed up for the first race of the five-event 2011 season and there were some new faces and cars in the pits, including Troy Martin.

Former UDRA Pro Stock racer and rookie AA/FC driver Brian Stewart made his first appearance driving his Tom Hoover tribute ’79 Vette and qualified for the elite eight-car field.