Pro Qualifying

Tony Bartone blisters the Firebird surface in his potent AA/FD

The nitro cars and Pro Mods qualified on Friday and Saturday for Sunday’s elimination rounds. In those qualifying sessions, two nitro cars looked to be odds-on favorites to land in the final round of Sunday eliminations. Tony Bartone, from Long Island City, NY, arrived with super tuner Steve Boggs and his new Murph McKinney built Top Fuel Dragster. Bartone and Boggs set low ET of the event with a 5.579 straight-as-a-string second round qualifying pass. According to Bartone, he shut the motor off at just 1,100 feet while still setting the record!

Three-time Nightfire AA/FD winner Brett Harris ended qualifying with a solid 5.82 at 248.48 mph for the second position, while San Diego’s Rick White stopped the clocks with a 5.85 ET at 241.67 mph for the number three spot.

John Hale (left)  and Roger Garten (right) just past the stripe at Firebird

Nineteen nitro burning AA/FCs fought it out for a spot in the sixteen-car field. Indiana’s Paul Romine, who won earlier this year at the Las Vegas Heritage Series event, ran a blistering 5.849/245.96 mph blast at a corrected altitude of nearly 6000 ft to lead the funny car class. The second slot was held by Heritage Series points leader Jason Rupert from Yorba Linda, CA with a 5.895/245.90. Also in the fives were #3 Mark

Sanders in his ‘Mr. Explosive’ Nova with a 5.955, and previous Nightfire winner Kris Krabill in Gary Turner’s ‘Pedaler’ Arrow with a 5.988 ET.