Qualifying

Cool fall weather provided the perfect scenario for a performance showcase, but the first session was a mixed bag of results particularly from the series’ stronger teams. Presumptive champion Domino debuted his new car at this event and on his first qualifying attempt with the new car the motor backfired with some nice flame coming out of the snorkel. The official qualifying attempt locked up the title for Domino, who got a NT for his effort.

E.J. Hickl

Class runner-up E.J. Hickl also encountered issues in his first qualifying attempt as his car shook hard and coasted through the lights for a 6-plus second attempt.

Traction was at a premium in the first session and the ET’s reflected that. Hitters such as Steve Benoit 4.68/131.39, Bob Gulitti 4.52/162.81, Doug Morales 11.40/35.71 and LeWayne Brown 7.63/72.05 all were off and on the throttle.

Highlights of qualifying session one were Shane Thompson’s career best 4.36 at 172.02 for the number-two spot in his potent Pontiac and series stalwart Luis Hidalgo’s number-one qualifying 4.30/171.95 effort.

Bob Gulitti

The second qualifying session saw a significant improvement for more than half the field. Eric Stubbs stepped up and set the tone for the session running 4.19/191.08 in his blue turbocharged Vette. Newly crowned series Champion Domino was still struggling and logged just a 6.58 at 66.74 with his nitrous injected ‘68 Camaro that put him in the 16th spot. Benoit improved to a 4.45/164.41 for 10th. Gulitti showed the power we are used to seeing out of the bright green Camaro and powered to a 4.17 at 171.30 mph. Brown also showed the strength fans are accustomed to from the Twins Performance group running 4.10/178.43 in the Mike Crisp-owned nitrous ‘68 Camaro.

After Brown crossed the line the chutes were late coming out and he put the Camaro in the sand trap at the end of the HMP eighth mile. As it turned out the late chutes weren’t his only problem.