PRO NITROUS

Pat Stoken claimed the number-one starting position in his bright orange 2014 Camaro during Friday qualifying by going an unprecedented 3.69 seconds at 201.07 mph in the third round of Pro Nitrous qualifying. For being the first to dip below 3.70 seconds he also won a $5,000 bonus paid by Bryant Crane and Rigging.

Close behind Stoken qualifying with a 3.70/201.70 lap was Steve "Fast" Jackson, Stoken's eventual rival in the final round. To get there, though, Stoken first had to get around Bob Gulitti, Jim Sakuvich and in the semi-finals, Mike Castellana.

On the opposite side of the ladder Jackson had a free pass from round one when Keith Haney was unable to answer the call for eliminations, but on his bye run his '69 Camaro had a nitrous backfire at the end of his run and launched the scoop off the motor. With repairs made for round two, Jackson won a tight race against Jay Cox before ousting two-time and defending NHRA Pro Mod champ "Tricky" Rickie Smith in the semis.

In the final round Stoken left first with a .029 RT to Jackson's .063 and cruised to the win with a 3.75/199.03 while in the other lane Jackson was spinning and shaking and had to shut off early to avoid crossing the centerline.

"Wow, what a weekend. It's like a dream; only dreams end like this," Stoken, a logging company owner from Eureka, Mont., said. "To become the quickest nitrous car in the world and then to win the race, geez, it's just unbelievable. I'm not even sure I could believe if we hadn't just lived through it.
"Between Brandon Switzer and Reher-Morrison motors and Rick Jones at RJ Race Cars, everything just worked perfect this weekend; everything just came together. Everybody did an excellent job," Stoken said.

The win vaulted Stoken from 12th to eighth in Championship points, with Jackson moving up from seventh to third, trailing only Smith and leader Tommy Franklin in the points chase.