2008 Fuel & Gas Championships #2

Photos by: Bob Brown, Stephen Justice, Steven C. Wallace, Jason Ellis, Pam Schavrien and Darrell Conrad

Top Fuel Qualifying - Session Three
4:42 Saturday afternoon - WARM

The first pair for the last session was Rick White and Mike McClennan - two cars not running up to par.

White picked up three spots in the field with a 5.920 at 251.39 while McLennan shut off early to a 6.225 at 209.05 and remained #10.

The second pair out on what was proving to be a hot and tricky track were Brad Thompson and Shannon Stewart.

Both cars hooked at the hit but would experience problems down track.

Thompson got loose at half track and had to lift and coast through with a 7.054 at 144.46. Stuart got a full pass but the mph was down and his 6.155 left him qualified #11.

Out next was Adam Sorokin and Rick Williamson.

Sorokin was away first but his tuneup over powered the track at before the tree. He violently shook then struck the tires and was done.

Long after the weekend Sorokin said his back still hurt from what looked a lot like "Big Show" tire shake. It was fixed by a simple air pressure adjustment.

Williamson steps it up with a 5.871 at 236.15 jumping into the #4 spot.

A sore Sorokin coasted through.

With the track becoming more and more suspect because of the heat - especially the right lane, out came Jim Murphy and Rick McGee.

Like Sorokin, Murphy struck the tires hard at about 100ft and had to stand on his 5.846 from the earlier round of qualifying to stay #3.

McGee finally dipped into the 5s with a 5.980 at 234.80.

Out next was Bill Dunlap and Pete Kaiser.

Kaiser stayed in the fives and actually improved with a 5.894 at 248.00. Dunlap was stuck in the 6.5s and stayed #12.

Out for a single was Troy Green.

The car left hard but pitched a blower belt before half track slowing to a 8.792 at 102.36 but remaining #2. Needless to say, the HSMS team was glad to see this now instead of eliminations.

This was a strange one. It had a hole out on the right side # 4 and it never lit. They were also trying out something in the clutch and it didn't work as it had over .180 of wear in the first 60 feet which sent the motor up over 9,000 rpm as it crossed the 60 foot mark and as the motor came up Troy was on top of it and clicked it shortly after to save them from having a mess.

The final dose of nitro for Saturday came from the pipes of the new Cheetah IV with Terry Cox in the seat. In his two previous attempts Cox lost fire on burnout. That usually indicates a fuel surge problem in the tank. Rumor has it that was indeed the problem and the crew got it fixed. With only 14 cars in the mix, all Cox had to do was get the car from A to B.

A planned half pass did indeed get it from A to B with a 8.705 at 92.52. The field was set.

FINAL ORDER OF QUALIFYING

1 - Brad Thompson 5.780 @ 258.54
2 - Troy Green 5.813 @ 249.10
3 - Jim Murphy 5.846 @ 220.69
4 - Rick Williamson 5.871 @ 236.15
5 - Pete Kaiser 5.894 @ 248.00
6 - Rick White 5.920 @ 251.39
7 - Rick McGee 5.980 @ 234.80
8 - Adam Sorokin 5.993 @ 236.71
9 - Denver Schutz 5.998 @ 250.83
10 - Mike McLennan 6.147 @ 216.81
11 - Shannon Stewart 6.147 @ 216.81
12 - Bill Dunlap 6.569 @ 201.83
13 - Terry Cox 8.705 @ 92.52

Here's a rare site on race day - The Grove was all but empty.

Prior to TF eliminations John Bowser himself serviced the starting line.

Hoping they don't have to use it, the Safety Safari readies the invaluable Jaws of Life. The crew here at Famoso is as good as they outside the national meet circuit.

Blake Bowser hoping for a clean race day.

Top Fuel Eliminations - Round One
11:08 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 87 degrees, relative humidity 29 percent, barometer 30.00 inches.

First out on the re-prepped race day track was Rick Williamson who, on paper, was the favorite, and Shannon Stewart.

Both drivers left together without a hint of tire smoke.

Stuart took the Circuit Breaker to uncharted territory for the weekend when he picked up .35 from his best qualifying effort. Williamson gave him a race but Stuart sort of unloaded on him. A stout 5.800 at 233.94 was too much for a game 5.935 at 245.83.

Due to the odd number of cars, low quaffer Brad Thompson drew the single.

Lots of smoke in the lights to clock a 5.789 at 243.57.

Nice shot of shroud lines in action.

Next pair out featured Troy Green and Terry Cox.

Green was out first by a tenth (0.034 to 0.138) and never looked back.

Green really unloaded on Cox with both Top Speed AND low ET of the event - a sterling 5.715 at 252.80 which was also good for a bye in the next round.

Cox coasted through with a 7.582 at 115.60. All in all not a bad first outing for the car and crew.

The High Speed Motorsports team was more than a little pleased with that lap.

Up next was Jim Murphy to face Bill Dunlap.

Dunlap just left about a month early in this pairing. No idea what distracted him but the tree never came on in his lane. Murphy was there for the taking as he struck the tires multiple times in his lane.

No dummy Murphy, he made sure it hooked on the bottom and clicked it at half track to a 6.619 153.81

The next match up was Pete Kaiser and Mike McClennan.

McClennan left first and Kaiser gave chase.

The chase ended early when Kaiser struck the tires hard at about 100ft mark.

McClennan slowed from his qualifying time but a 6.337 at 189.43 was plenty good for the win.

Kaiser took a leisurely drive to a 10.311 at 92.04.

Hooking up next was Denver Schutz and Rick White.

Schutz left first (0.077 to 0.113) and he needed it!

This was a dandy. Not something you see that often in the in Nostalgia Top Fuel (a 5.903 at 246.03 beat a quicker and faster 5.878 at 254.45). Schutz took the better light and held off White on the big end. Schutz's MOV: 0.0116 seconds (approximately 4 feet).

The final pair of round one was Adam Sorokin and Rick McGee.

Very uncharacteristically, McGee left way to early (-0.247) handing the win to Sorokin.

Sorokin went on to clock a nice 5.869 at 249.44 to move into the next round.