Top Fuel Qualifying - Session Two
12:41 p.m. Saturday afternoon: More sunny skies and ideal track conditions set the stage for the second session of Top Fuel qualifying.

 

Editors Note: This session was very difficult to publish... especially the first pair. What started out as a good old qualifying drag race ended in the loss of a great racer and old friend. As a tribute to John we will use the bottom end shots of the run but out of respect will not publish the many photos we have from the top end.

 

Under sunny skies and nearly perfect racing weather the second session of Top Fuel qualifying opened with Jim Murphy and John Shoemaker. Both cars left good but Murphy experienced engine problems at the 900' mark and shut off - Shoemaker ran right down the groove to a 6.111 at 249.93 (a career best speed) but it was instantly apparent that something was very wrong as the car continued to accelerate with no sign of any attempt to stop it ... no chutes, breaks or fuel shut off. Going an estimated 300 mph the engine finally ran out of fuel and banged the blower but by then Shoemaker was very rapidly approaching the very end of the asphalt track. The car went off the end of the track, through the dirt field, into a berm and then into an orchard. The entire facility held its collective breath but those who have been around this sport for a long time knew this was not going to end good... and it did not. The 65 year old veteran Top Fuel driver apparently suffered a coronary event (lost consciousness) near the end of the quarter mile and never had the facilities to react to something that would normally come naturally to him.

The AAFD fraternity lost a member, Judee lost her husband, many lost a great friend and legions of fans lost a hero. John Shoemaker had been a drag racer for his entire adult life. He was a superior chassis builder, quality driver and ace mechanic. He was sorely missed in Bakersfield this weekend. RIP my friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Murphy coasted through with a 6.192 at 186.72 which was not good enough to make the show. He, like Harris, had one more shot.

 

 

1942-2008

 

 

As John would have wanted, the show went forward with Jack "The Sheriff" Harris and Rick McGee making their burnouts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both cars left hard - Harris with the better 60' time.

 

 

 

Harris experienced severe tire smoke at the 330' mark and had the throttle closed by half track.

 

McGee clicked it early as well but still managed a 6.079 at 236.96.

 

 

 

 

 

Harris coasted through with a 7.597 at 125.90 which left him with one last shot to make the show.

 

 

 

Pair three matched Howard "Fugowie Howie" Haight and Pete "Fritz" Kaiser.

 

 

 

 

Haight left like a rocket and preceded to carry the front end past the 60' mark. Kaiser's ride didn't seem to have it usual snap at the hit.

 

 

 

Kaiser had all kinds of engine problems and was done by the 900' mark. Haight was truckin'.

 

 

Clicking it at the first light Haight running solid 5.899 at 244.43.

 

 

 

 

 

Kaiser coasted through with a 6.234 at 179.64 which obviously didn't improve on his earlier 5.85.

 

 

 

 

Next out was Adam Sorokin (not in) and Rick White (solidly in).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorokin jumped from #18 to #8 with a 5.962 at 245.90. White improved his position with a 5.816 at 250.69.

 

 

 

 

The next pair out was Mike McClennan and Denver Schutz. This deal would be exciting to say the least.

 

 

 

 

 

After a decent launch all seemed well until...

 

At about the 1000' mark the Fuller car grenaded the engine and McClennan was instantly in one of the worst fires ever seen in this class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The intense flames didn't start to subside until well after the finish line.

 

 

 

The Safety Safari were all over the car before it even stopped. Incredibly, Mike only had two minor burns but his firesuit, helmet and seat belts were burnt so bad they were junk. After the incident the team was not planning to fix the extensive damage to run on Sunday but minds were changed and the car made the call for round one.

 

While McClennan was having all the fun, Schutz, who had blew the tires at the hit, coasted through with a 13.825 at 32.63. Obviously he was trying to improve on his earlier 5.85.

 

 

After an extensive clean up, poll sitter Brad Thompson and Terry Cox did their burnouts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thompson had one of his typical 1.02 60 food leaves while Cox improved his bottom end times in the slowly improving late model car.

 

 

Cox clicked it by the 800' mark and coasted to a 6.557 at 173.37.

 

 

 

 

 

Thompson ran it to ET light and clocked a super 5.746 at 253.44.

 

 

 

 

Birky and crew managed to fix the damage from Friday to allow Mark Malde make the second session paired with Jason Richey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither car had a remarkable leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither driver improved their position with Richey clocking a 6.080 at 245.96 while Malde coasted to a 6.501 at 168.69.

 

 

 

If there was a bright spot in this session it came when Troy Green met Bill Dunlap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going into this session the High Speed Motorsports team was feeling pretty good about themselves. Green's 5.88 baseline pass on Friday had confirmed that the gremlins that have been plaguing them since last season were found and exercised. From the hit they knew this was going to be a sweet pass.

 

Dunlap had a big problem at the hit and stopped the car by the 330' mark.

 

 

 

 

The run was every bit as good as it looked from the leave. Green stopped the clocks with a career best (also best for the car) 5.767 at 258.47 which planted him firmly in the #2 spot right behind Brad Thompson.

 

 

 

The next to last pair was Shannon Stewart and Ernie McClain (sorry, no bottom end shot of McClain).

 

 

Sorry, no leave shots of Stewart either so we pick him up at the 100' mark.

 

 

 

 

Shannon jumped from #20 to #8 with a clean 5.924 at 234.37.

 

 

 

 

McClain spun the tires at the hit and coasted to a 13.233 at 67.22. It was looking like the Mill Road Boys had made a very long trip only to enjoy the show from the stands.

 

 

 

Finally - the last pair out for a long and painful session two was Dan Rusk in "Power King" car of Ray Ferry out of Tucson. Ferry runs this car rarely and on a very limited budget. This would be their only run of the weekend and wiped out what little budge there was.

In the other lane was Rick Rogers (again no bottom end photos).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rogers improved a tad with a 6.059 at 235.47

 

 

Unfortunately, Rusk costed through bleeding profusely from severed arteries in his Donovan block. First and last pass of the weekend. Like I said, the low budget is even lower.

 

 

 

 

 

And so ended a qualifying round that will be indelibly etched in the memories of all of us.

 

Session One - Friday

Session Three - Saturday

Round One - Sunday

R2 - Final -Sunday

All the Winners plus Pits N' People

Funny & Other Race Cars

Media Day

 2008 March Meet Cacklefest