Eric Stubbs

The ladder for the first round of eliminations was shuffled as a result of terminal engine damage for two qualified competitors. Richard Willett suffered a burned piston and Darren Inman pushed out a head gasket, so first and second alternates, Bengt Blomberg and Eric Stubbs filled the open positions. As the first alternate, Blomberg was paired against #3 qualifier Domino. Blomberg was way late at the light with a .316 RT and couldn’t get his Firebird down track under full power, which was good for Domino as he pedaled his way to a troubled and uncharacteristic 4.91/104.97 for the win.

The Clark Brothers pit

The next pair up saw Paul Brandt’s blown ‘88 IROC Z against Louis Hidalgo’s 2002 Camaro. Hidalgo pushed the tree and red lit with a very early  -.281 that handed the win to Brandt. Brandt caught a break as his car barely made it 200 feet off the line before he had transmission issues and idled through to a 7.06/48.19 win. The next pair was intriguing with the other substitute, Stubbs, driving his turbocharged ‘63 ‘Vette against Hickle’s blown ‘41 Willys.  Hickle got a .01 lead at the light and ran a 4.48 /130.47 as a tractionless Stubbs coasted to a losing 5.55/89.18.

The last match up featured series director, Randy Rencher and the Money Shot Firebird against Clark’s ‘68 Mustang. After the burnout Rencher was shut off on the line with an oil leak, giving Clark a single to the semis. Clark didn’t ease it down track as he ran a strong 4.22/176.96.