Critchley went on to prove his qualifying speed was no fluke and officially set a new AMS record against Seward with an even faster 5.924 at 245.81 mph in the opening round of eliminations. The incrementals were: 60 feet = 0.999 sec; 330 feet = 2.621; 660 feet =
3.913/193.18 mph; 1,000feet = 5.005; 1/4-mile = 5.924/245.81 mph.
“I'm kind of speechless, really,” the normally loquacious Critchley said. “I mean, setting the record that high is awesome, [but] I knew this 'Cuda had it in her, and with that Dr. Moon Horsepower under the hood, she's definitely one to beat,” he added, referring to his Larry Jeffers-built ride.
Not to be outdone, Hernandez promptly ran the quickest pass ever in an AMS Pro Mod with 5.912-seconds blast at 242.63 mph to beat Rick Stivers and his ’67 Camaro.
"It's one thing to set a record, it's another to do it so soundly, and it's yet another to do it in a winning eliminations round,” Hernandez said. “My hat is off to Howard Moon and the entire crew for working so hard to make it possible. I really can't think of how else to describe how I feel other than amazingly happy. You can pick your favorite superlative and it might come close to how I really feel.”
Raymond Commisso
Also in round one, number-six qualifier Ray Commisso (5.986/242.63) and Janis (5.964/237.67) earned wins over the Barklage brothers, Cody and Zach, respectively, to also earn places in the AMS Pro Mod Five Second Club—an honor reserved for the first five drivers to make a five-second pass in official series competition. 
Zach Barklage
“Although we were on the bottom half of the field, I ran my career best. We were able to step things up each round of qualifying, so I felt good about the power we had,” said Zach Barklage, who qualified his ’57 BelAir 13th with a 6.084 at 232.43 mph. “This has been a crazy weekend with all the five-second runs, but a 6.09 is very good,” he added of his first-round effort against Janis.
