Drivers tortured their nitr- burning supercharged Hemis and Big Block Chevys to their limit, trying to win a berth into the competition and a chance for the prizes. Three cars damaged their engines or drivetrains to the point that they couldn’t be repaired and were not able to continue, which left one alternate and 16 cars that qualified. The worst damage endured was newcomer Frank Ousley’s “Crop Duster” that toasted a whole bunch of pistons in qualifying.

Previous competitors, Mike Allison’s “Hot Rod From Hell” broke a transmission and Mark Bowman’s “Blown Income” hurt the 542 KB Olds motor and were not able to make the call.

The final 16 cars were divided, putting the quickest eight cars into the “A” field and the next quickest eight into the “B” squad. It has to be noted that all of cars that had 90% or more in the tank, along with some of the alky cars, ended up in the slower “B” field. The heavy loads of nitro made too much power for the track surface and the tuners just didn’t have time to adjust.