Joey Martin's "Bulldozer" '67 Mustang,
(3.94/187.34 on Friday), and his Marcus Birt-driven Outlaw 10.5 '68 Camaro,
(4.498/162.74 on Sunday), garnered plenty of attention but Friday fans
also witnessed Martin make several passes in his Mike Ashley's AMS/TLR
NHRA World Championship-winning "Eleanor". Chuck Ford tuned
it to a legal-trim best of 4.02/184 before concentrating on the "yellow
cars".
The most disasterous weekend (without hitting
the wall) fell upon Mississippian Bubba Stanton. Wheeling the Henson Motorsports
ex-Mike Janis "Widowmaker" in PX and his own ex-Mike Edwards
Grand Am in Pro Nitrous, both cars incinerated enough parts on Friday
to keep them from making any runs during official qualifying periods.
The Stingray ran 4.04/175 before the damage.
Todd Tutterow saw flames through the windshields
of two different race cars during the event. The semi-final destruction
of the screwcharger on his PX smallblock Mustang came 36 hours after he
fireballed the manifold of his second ride, this mega- inch nitrous Mustang,
on Friday night.
Where were the turbo cars? Where were the female
pilots? Both were represented by Erica Ortiz, who took advantage of ADRL
rules revisions allowing turbocharged machines to compete in Pro Nitrous
Eliminator. Her twin-turbo Thunderbird made several Friday attempts but
succumbed before qualifying began.
