Yearly contestant Tom Butherus of Goodard, Kansas, and his period correct AA/FA had a very large wheelstand during Saturday qualifications and broke the right front axle spindle on his return to earth. Luckily, his precious vintage magnesium wheels were undamaged during the event. The “Rude Rat” is a true vintage fuel altered that still uses 1932 Ford rear frame rails. Butherus said the repairs would be made to the front axle and he would return in 2014.

The massive amount of sparks coming out of the clutch bell housing indicates tuner Frank Ousley was slipping the clutch a lot on this lap.

Fellow Kansan Anthony Whitfield survived an unwanted trip into the famous Iowa tall corn at the end of the track when his parachute failed to deploy on one of his qualifying passes. His car was cleaned up and his broken wheelie bar tab was re-welded Saturday morning so the white Mighty Mouse 400 cubic inch mouse motor was again ready to do battle.

There is nothing like a 15-foot drop at high speed into the mature tall corn to give you memories of the hot August nights in Iowa. Track officials took pictures of the mowed down corn and estimated that Whitfield went 30 to 40 feet into the field with the Mighty Mouse.

Veteran DRO AA Funny Car Challenge funny car driver Anthony Bronge was on hand driving the blue and yellow “Crop Duster” altered for Illinois racers Frank and Debbie Ousley this year. Bronge competed in his own altered in the 2006 and 2007 events before turning his attention to the DRO AA funny car events with his “Punisher” Camaro. It was good to see him back at the event. 

After all of the carnage and qualifying there were eight cars ready to race in the fastest “A” field and seven cars left to run in the slower “B” field.