Darr Hawthorne photo

Saturday brought cooler temperatures and a less humidity… the racers took advantage of the conditions and in many cases improved on their previous qualifying numbers.  Spectators steamed into Firebird Raceway again on Saturday for more nitro than a human being should be allowed to snort, this place is packed!

According to a couple of crew chiefs the adjusted altitude was somewhere near 5,200 feet with no less than six Top Fuel Dragsters moving into the 5-second zone.  The track preparation is top notch and except for a couple of large oildowns the fans saw plenty non-stop of action.

*There is no Internet connection at Firebird Raceway, so reports are difficult to post until returning back to the hotel.  Since much of this event takes place at night we are sorry for the delays.

Mike Grekul outperformed teammate Buck Austin in the final session moving into the #1 slot with his Paul Trabue-tuned 6.036/230.41 run in the Plueger & Gyger Mustang.

Final Nitro Funny Car qualifying after three rounds:

1 Michael Grekul 6.036 230.41
2 Bucky Austin 6.037 230.23
3 Terry Capp 6.070 217.12
4 Mike Halstead 6.115 237.96
5 Mark Sanders 6.122 234.43
6 Lee Paul Jennings Jr 6.147 218.87
7 Stephen Romanazzi 6.159 224.49
8 Kris Krabill 6.179 229.47
9 Dennis La Charite 6.188 205.80
10 Rick Rogers 6.229 229.18
11 Dale Pulde 6.239 199.33
12 Jack Harris 6.280 229.94
13 Jeff Bennett 6.346 215.62
14 Twig Zeigler 6.465 215.98
15 Craig Michael 6.469 218.60
16 James Day 6.483 215.00
17 Ed Dougan 6.583
18 Leah Pruett-LeDuc 6.667

Rick Rogers launched Mike McCain’s “Bomb Squad” Plymouth Duster improving to a 6.229/229.18 pass putting the AA/FC into the #10 spot, but bombing the engine and severely cracking the fiberglass body in the lights.

Jim Murphy in the WW2 top fuel dragster moved up into the #1 position with this jaw dropping 5.779/242.45 pass bumping Adam Sorokin to the #2 slot.

Final Top Fuel Qualifying after three sessions:

1 Jim Murphy 5.779 242.45
2 Adam Sorokin 5.840 233.16
3 Brett Harris 5.901 252.88
4 Rick White 5.903 234.13
5 Brad Thompson 5.922 234.61
6 Troy Green 5.999 227.38
7 Jason Richey 6.201 248.82
8 Scott Mason 6.225 210.28
9 Mark Malde 6.355 179.92
10 Terry Cox 6.524 227.38
11 Mike Cross 6.985 171.26
12 Jerry Kumre Jr7.532 132.08

Pro Mod racer Billy Harper remained #1, but stepped-up with a crushing 6.198/227.73 early evening pass to lead the field.  Dennis Radford remained #2 improving to a 6.309 with #3 being held down by Dan Vogt’s ‘63 Split Window Vette at 6.471.

Brian Losness photo

Between Saturday qualifying sessions Firebird Raceway organized a driver autograph party with loots of kids and adults getting a chance to chat with their favorite driver and grab an autograph.

Brian Losness photo

The “Dickies Girl” Mustang missed the tough 6.483 bump spot landing in the #18 position, clutch issues in the afternoon session prevented driver Leah Pruett-LeDuc from completing this pass in front of the huge Saturday crowd.

Brian Losness photo

Canadian Terry Capp, driving Ron Hodgson’s “Bubble-up” Firebird qualified #3.  The Roland Leong-led team has regained their performance ability with a 6.070 run.

Brian Losness photo

Dennis LaCharite’s GTO AA/FC launches from the Boise starting line on his way the #6 qualifying slot on his 6.188/205.80 run on Saturday.

Brian Losness photo

Mike Halstead drove Mark Stuckey’s “Nitro Charger” to a stout 6.115/237.96 pass in the evening session moving into the top half of the field into the #4 slot for Sunday eliminations.

Brian Losness photo

Brian Losness photo

Vern Mills cool ‘55 Chevy Pro Mod sits in the 7th position for Sunday eliminations with 6.617.

Lee Frank in his ‘07 Vette nailed a timing cone in the Saturday afternoon qualifying session with Tommy Johanns in the right lane.  Frank, from Missoula, Montana remained in the #4 position with a 6.495 going into Sunday eliminations.

Brian Losness photo

Brian Losness photo

Tommy Johanns from Castle Park, Colorado just missed the eight-car Pro Mod field with his ‘53 Corvette powered by a 526 cubic inch BAE Hemi.  The best Johanns could muster was 6.673 on a 6.635 bump.

Brian Losness photo

Chris Davis from Spokane, Washington is here in Boise to gain his competition license, unfortunately for the owner/driver of the nitro big block Chevy-powered Vega is there has been little time for him to complete just one aborted run.  Too many funny cars… what a problem!

Brian Losness photo

Jason Richey stepped-up, running a 6.201 in the cooler Saturday evening air with a corrected altitude of approximately 5,500 feet..

Results of Round 2 Top Fuel Qualifying (Saturday Afternoon):

1 Adam Sorokin 5.840 233.16
2 Jim Murphy 5.856 237.65
3 Brett Harris 5.901 252.88
4 Rick White 5.903 234.13
5 Brad Thompson 5.922 234.61
6 Troy Green 6.192 183.41
7 Scott Mason 6.314 190.79
8 Jason Richey 6.357 245.83
9 Mike Cross 6.985 171.26
10 Mark Malde 7.036 136.13
11 Jerry Kumre Jr 7.532 132.08
12 Terry Cox 11.720 81.45

*There is no Internet connection at Firebird Raceway, so reports are difficult to post until returning back to the hotel.  Since much of this event takes place at night we are sorry for the delays.

Darr Hawthorne photo

Brad Thompson took advantage of the cooler early Saturday afternoon temperatures with his 5.922 234.61 pass.  Thompson ended up in the fifth qualifying position behind Rick White’s 5.903 234.13 MPH finishing in the 4th slot.

Darr Hawthorne photo

Terry Cox driving the “Cheetah” Top Fuel Dragster sat in the twelfth qualifying position until the cooler evening session where he improved, carding a 6.524 at 180.36 MPH pass moving into the tenth position for Sunday Eliminations.

Darr Hawthorne photo

Adam Sorokin remained #1 Qualifier after the first round of Top Fuel on Saturday with the 5.840 run he made in the RB Entertainment dragster on Friday evening.