With points awarded for ladder position this year, qualifying has taken on a whole new importance in Roush Performance Modular Muscle, and as is often the case, a perfect light is the cost of being number one going 
into eliminations. In Joliet, top qualifying honors went to Derek Kernodle thanks to his .000. Once eliminations had narrowed the field to just two, it was sixth-qualified Brandon Peterson going up against nineteenth-seeded Mike Zamboni. Both drivers were on a hair trigger, but Zamboni’s -.042 reaction put him on the wrong side of the clock, turning the race over to Peterson uncontested.
Crane Cams Open Comp had no fewer than three racers pulling perfect lights during qualifying, with John Voshell getting the nod ahead of Don Bowles and Dale McClenaghan of the Roush Racing camp thanks to doing it earlier in the process. In eliminations, the 41-car field eventually came down to Aggressive Andy Blackmon and Rodney Adams, fourth and sixth on the ladder respectively. At the tree, once again reaction time would be the determining factor – Blackmon’s slower index gave him the leave, and he was away with a .062 light. When Adams’ side of the tree came down, the red bulb told the tale of a reaction that was .033 too quick, handing the victory to Blackmon.
In Detroit Locker Truck & Lighting, Dave Cole was out to repeat his victory last year at the inaugural Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing, and got an excellent start with a .003 light in qualifying that gave him top rung on the ladder. Cole worked that early advantage into a final round pairing against Ray Johnson and his F-150, but when Johnson had starter problems at the head of staging and couldn’t fire up, Cole reluctantly took the broke single pass and ran unhindered to the event win.
