Eddie Roach

Other notable runs of the first round were LaWayne Brown at 4.43/158.12, Harry Crane from Arkansas pumped out a 4.43/166.17 and Eddie Roach impressed with a 4.44/165.50.

The first session did have one incident when Alan McCullock’s Mustang got loose coming into the lights and veered right into the wall and pancaked the right side of the red runner. McColluck was not injured, just disappointed with the result.

Session two had all but two entries improve on their first run. Paul Brandt made the biggest move up running 4.47/148.91 in his new 1996 ZR1 Corvette to make the show at number seven. Harry Crane also bettered his first attempt running 4.36/169.30, which slotted him third when things were done.

Probably the biggest surprise of the second session was the DNQ from Bengt Bloomberg. One of the most consistent runners of the TAO circuit, his 4.75/141.33 fell short.

Session two also had one incident and this one had a major impact on the points as well as one mean racecar. Domino left the line on another strong run and the Pontiac moved toward the center line and the back end came around and the hard charger went nearly head on into the HMP concrete wall, destroying the front clip and causing significant damage to the front of the frame. Domino was uninjured in the contact, and was more upset with himself than anything.