Saturday - Qualifying Session Three

8:15 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 90 degrees, relative humidity 18 percent, barometer 29.95 inches, adjusted altitude 5,600 feet.

 

As is the case at most races, your Saturday crowd can make or break the bottom line. At this annual event a shortage of fans has never been a concern and once again Firebird Raceway was SRO by dinner time.

 

 

 

 

Roland Leong and Tim Beebe prior to session 3 of Top Fuel.

 

Scott New addressed the huge crowd on behalf of the New family and their track personnel.

 

 

And this is what they came to see - Top Fuel - nitro at night. The first pair was Rick White and Scott Mason.

 

 

 

 

White slowed a tad from his best with a 5.943 at 232.49 while Mason once again murdered another rack of pistons slowing to a 6.225 at 210.28. The damage was so extensive he was unable to make the call for round one on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next out was Brett Harris and Jerry Kumre Jr.

 

 

In a rare hiccup for the Nitro Thunder team, Harris lost fire at the end of his burnout.

 

Kumre yanked the front end, rattled the tires, on and off the throttle - sideways - not a pretty pass. He coasted through with a 7.532 at 132.08,

 

 

 

 

 

With the sun setting in the West Mark Malde and Jason Richey did their burnouts.

 

 

 

 

This was a very scary ride for Richey. Right at the stripe he realized that his throttle was stuck - really stuck (wedged under a broken stop). The first thing he did was pull the chutes, pull the fuel shut off and lay on the brakes. The engine blew up covering him in oil. That allowed him to blindly bring the car to a stop just before the field that serves as a "sand trap" at Boise. A great job on Richey's part to save him and the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Safety Safari rolled for Malde too as he was very soft at the hit and hurt parts of his own at the big end.

The times you ask? Richey was again soft at the hit and his ET reflected it - 6.201 at 248.82. Malde sacrificed some pistons and clicked it to a 6.355 at 179.92.

 

 

After a delay for Richey and Malde, the next pair was Terry Cox and Mike Cross.

 

 

The good news was that Cox didn't blow the tires off at the hit end but did have to pedal it early in the run. He then used up a bunch of the right lane and left a trail of oil so he could be found at the top end. Cross saw Cox coming and lifted early. Cox's 6.524 at 227.38 was his best run of the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out next was the #1 and #2 drivers in the points standings - Troy Green and Brad Thompson.

 

 

 

It's no secret that both these cars tend to be very aggressive on their tune ups and they both may have gone just a little over centered on this track - this night.

 

 

 

 

Thompson was all over the left lane and just about got sideways around half track. Green had to give the pedal at least one slap and spent some time wandering the right lane as well. In spite of his long trip, Green did improve with a 5.999 at 227.38. Thompson's 6.350 at 180.90 was no help.

 

The final pair out was Jim Murphy and Adam Sorokin.

 

With two runs under his belt, Murphy and crew chief Tim Beebe "went for it" in session three. The car left like a rocket and never missed a beat going #1 with a really stout 5.779 at 242.45 - the second quickest pass in track history.

Sorokin's car took a set and ran close enough to the wall to kick up dust from 330ft to around 600ft. Another busy driver who wisely gave up with a 9.435 at 77.65 remaining #2.

 

 

A beautiful thing to watch!

 

 

Prior to the first round of eliminations six of the elite seven members of the Top Fuel 260 MPH Club were recognized. From L to R: Jason Richey, Jack Harris, Brett Harris, Don Ewald (for sponsor WDIFL.com), Brad Thompson, Troy Green and Adam Sorokin. Missing was Pete Kaiser.
260 MPH CLUB

2:20 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 17 percent, barometer 29.95 inches, adjusted altitude 5,100 feet.

 

With the temperature at a comfortable level for the first time all weekend, the photos get ready for round one of Top Fuel.

 

Malde left first by a bunch but at about 60ft his racer rattled the tires loose and from then on he could only watch White disappear down track. White went 3.851 at 203.98 at 660ft. to clock a very nice pace setting 5.822 at 235.04.

When Scott Mason couldn't make the call for round one Brad Thompson was left with a single.

 

The next pair was a David vs Goliath deal with #2 qualifier Adam Sorokin paired with #11 Mike Cross. Needless to say, the black car was a heavy favorite.

 

This is why the Tricky Tipster tells you not to run to your bookie... Sorokin had a huge lead at the hit and seemed well on his way to a predictable win before the car went animal around 1000ft. and in an instant Adam was out of the groove and crossing the centerline. His 6.312/186.91 was nothing more than a DQ handing the win to Cross with a 6.436 at 215.15.

Sorokin's problems started early as can be seen in these photos. Focus on the right rear tire. Further, it appears that the car is loading much harder on the right tire.

Although the Boise track is very tight, its grooves are narrow - especially in the right lane. Had the RB car made this same move to the right it could have been ugly. The team has been fighting unpredictable handling problems all year and it is that factor alone that has kept Sorokin out of the winners circle. Bobby and the boys continue to seek out the problem and when they do tame this animal - watch out.

Harris took a huge lead at the hit (0.038 to a 0.139) and then had to really drive the car to keep it in his lane.

Harris carding a 5.899 at 248.00. In vane, Cox ran his best effort of the weekend (6.293 at 217.81) and may be starting to get a handle on this new car.

Lots of oil from Cox wound up on the racing surface and a clean up was in order... a long one.

After a 45 minute clean up, the next to last pair pitted #1 qualifier Jim Murphy against #12 Jerry Kumre Jr. An upset here would attach a whole new meaning to the word.

 

Kumre blazed the tires early in the run but Murphy's Beebe tuned ride was right there. Murphy's numbers: 1.046, 2.648, 3.882/202.79, 4.914 to card a final 5.788 at 255.53 which was by far the quickest pass of the session.

Both cars left together but Green pulled quickly away to a nice 5.816 at 243.77 win. Richey after yet another soft 60' time carded a 6.078 at 242.26.

 

Sessions One & Two Friday

Dan Kaplan Photos

Darrell Conrad - Pam Schavrien

Chris Graves Photos

Related Links

WW2 Racing

Thompson & Bless Racing

High Speed Motorsports

All American Fuel Dragsters

 

 

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