DRAGSTERS
Top Fuel could only muster five entries when new driver Mark Mariani and his Wesco sponsored digger pulled out at the last minute. In the off season Darren Morgan had been dropped from the Lamattina team but was quickly snapped up by Jim Read for the Auto One / Snap On team to join Phil Read in the ex-Strivectin car. Joining them on the day were Luke and Bob Shepherd and Terry Sainty.
Darren Morgan has switched camps over the winter break and he is still coming to terms with his new ride, which saw him fall in the semis of the top Fuel bracket.
Luke Shepherd put out some huge flames on this qualifier, but he fell to Darren mogran in the first round.
 Prior to the final the Read team fired up the car with Phil in the cockpit. |
By the end of qualifying Phil Read topped qualifying with a 4.88 and he received a round one solo, which saw him shut off by third track. Next up Terry Sainty pulled up next two Bob Shepherd and pretty soon this turned into a sparks and fire show. Sainty seemed to have sparks emanating from the heads area of his engine while Shepherd just lit up the track with a fireball show – Sainty’s 5.22/259.96 more than covered his flaming opponent’s second best 6.49.
The final race pitted Morgan against Luke Shepherd and this saw Shepherd grab over a tenth off the line but his entry started to labour fromabout 100 feet out and this allowed Morgan to catch and pass
him. Not long after Morgan had to pedal it repeatedly and in the end his 6.45 was too much for a second best 11.44.
Into the second round and it was Sainty who got the solo but after staging he shut it down and went back to the pits. This then bought the two team mates together and there were no team orders here after both burned out. They left almost together and recorded nearly identical 60-foot times, but from then on the “black mamba” of Phil Read was on a march and cranked out a winning 4.629/322.73 while Morgan followed with an engine damaging 5.02.
