Bret Williamson  (Steven Bunker photo)

Then came the shocker: Bret Williamson’s stunning 5.98 to reclaim the Pro Mod track record and go from the very bottom of the qualifying ladder straight to the top. At last year’s Nightfire event the eight-car bump spot was a 6.47 and that was nearly be lowered by two-tenths when the bump spot just to qualify was a 6.29 this year.

Randy Walker  (Brian Losness photo)

In the first round of eliminations Williamson advanced over Diedrich with a 6.20 to a 6.31. Meadors got a lucky break after Smith left the line with a killer .007 RT on the tree and led to half track until he banged the blower allowing Meadors to get to the stripe first in 6.36 seconds. Burbage got the win over Harper with a 6.16 to Harper’s 6.30 and Maggio advanced over Dennis Radford (who was placed into the field as the first alternate for Randy Walker who couldn’t make the first round call) with a 6.18 to Radford’s 6.31. Despite losing, Radford’s 237-mph top end charge reset the WCOPMA’s speed record for nitrous oxide cars.