Cameron Ferre

Ferre (far lane) against Tony Schumacher (Chris Haverly photo)

Cameron Ferre from Huntington Beach, CA, made his first appearance this year at the second Charlotte, NC, event, qualifying in the No. 14 position. Ferre was on a good run against Schumacher and pitched the blower belt in the lights, but still managed a first-round win – along with a $1,000 oil-down fine.

Terry Haddock

(Ron Lewis photo)

Terry Haddock, Temple, WA, was at Atlanta, where he was the No. 16 qualifier. A fuel leak on the starting line put him out of the competition. At Topeka after his burnout, the dragster wouldn’t back up and Haddock just drove it off the top end.

At Englishtown Haddock had problems on the burnout and then was up in smoke as soon as he hit the throttle. At Bristol, Haddock pitched a blower belt and ran 4.645/173.72 to lose to Steve Torrence’s 3.823/325.14.

At Denver Haddock’s dragster dropped a cylinder, giving Clay Millican the first-round win. At Sonoma, a slow .165 RT and a 3.921/306.81 couldn’t catch Torrence’s .081/3.746/325.92. Haddock did not make the field at Seattle.

At Brainerd Haddock dropped a cylinder and lost the first round to Brittany Force. Haddock did not qualify at Indy, Reading or Dallas. In the first round at Las Vegas 2, Haddock qualified No. 16 and fell to Clay Millican in the first round with a 4.086/287.66 to Millican’s 3.751/319.45. He did not qualify for the field at the World Finals.

Chris Karamesines

(Ron Lewis photo)

The legendary Chris “Golden Greek” Karamesines from Chicago joined the tour at the Gatornationals, completing the 16-car field. First-round opponent Richie Crampton was up in smoke at the hit of the throttle and Karamesines kept driving, although his engine erupted in a fireball at the lights. In the next round he got a slow start and lost to Dave Connolly.

At Atlanta, Karamesines lost traction early and could not get it to hook, so he clicked off the engine in the first round against Richie Crampton. At Bristol, Karamesines clicked off early, handing the win to Brittany Force. At Norwalk, the Greek also race Force in the first round, but kept his foot in it this time running a game 4.035/293.35 to her winning 3.776/323.74. Karamesines also met Ms. Force in the first round at Joliet where he ran 4.188/282.30 to her 3.780/327.59.

The Greek competed at Denver for just the third time in his career, but was out in the first with a 4.089/297.02 against Steve Torrence’s 3.843/321.35. At Brainerd, Karamesines clicked off early in the first round against Antron Brown. He did not qualify for the U.S. Nationals this year.

At Charlotte in September, he again met Brittany Force but shut off after the burnout. At St. Louis he turned on the red light in the first round against Tony Schumacher. Antron Brown’s 3.709/325.53 beat the Greek’s 4.705/162.25 at Dallas.