Tom Hoffman is new to the series this year.

In the first pair Tom Hoffman pulled to the line against 2011 Champion Dan Beale in a heads up 11.25 class race. Beale and his Pontiac left with a great 0.039 reaction and ran dead on 11.250 only to come up short to Hoffman’s bright red Plymouth’s 0.014 light and 11.274 time slip. What a way to introduce yourself to the group!

Last year’s #2 in points, Dennis Diepenbrock, threw away a stellar 0.005 reaction in his loss to Jim Hagenhoff’s high flying ‘65 Hemi Plymouth. Other notable first-round pairings saw 2010 Champion Clay Kossuth over Steve Stahlschmidt’s Plymouth, and 2012 Champion Russ Berens red lighting against Jerry Kuenster’s ‘59 Chevy.

Victory NSS regular Wally Krueger had his Max Wedge Plymouth launching hard.

After an hour of cool down, the Victory cars were called back to the lanes for round two. Tim Frees led off with a strong 0.022 reaction, forcing fellow Wisconsinite Wally Krueger to break out in his Max Wedge ‘64 Plymouth. Jerry Kuenster showed Tom Hoffman the door, running a 12.01 on his 12.00 index.