EliminationsAfter benefiting from an odd-numbered field with a solo pass in the first round, South African Ken Scheepers met Jesus Padilla in the semi finals of all-motor eliminations. At the light Padilla had a small advantage, but Scheepers simply had too much horsepower for the champion. Scheepers took the win with a 10.383 at 126.35 mph against Padilla's 10.663 at 124.00. In the other semi, Scott Mohler had a single pass and tripped the beams at 10.515 at 130.13 mph, setting up a FWD vs. RWD final.
The final round saw Ken Scheepers in killer form. After nailing a .484 reaction time against Mohlers .544, Scheepers never looked back on his way to his third "Wally" of the season. His 10.324 at 127.87 was enough to take the win against Mohlers 10.541 at 131.00 mph and was also Scheepers best run of the event.
"Another great result. I can't believe it." Said an excited Scheepers. "We tried to keep the car consistent and just keep marching towards the final. I can't say enough about my crew. They are awesome. I could get used to this winning stuff!"
The Hot Rod eliminations provided some of the best action of the day. The first incident came courtesy of Kenny Tran in the Quaker State Civic. Tran, who was racing Angela Proudfoot, took a fairly easy victory with a 9.256 at 168.38 mph against Proudfoot's 10.470 at 126.12 mph. As Tran crossed the line well ahead of Proudfoot, the Quaker State Honda unloaded the rear tires and started to slide sideways. Tran corrected and the car immediately stepped out in the other direction. After swerving down the track from side to side, Tran finally came to a halt facing the wrong way in Proudfoots lane. Proudfoot did a great job of avoiding the wayward Quaker State car and despite several near misses, Tran managed to avoid contact with the wall.
Tran was surprisingly calm considering the 168mph near-miss. "That was a wild ride." He said afterwards. "The car got loose and I tried to steer through it. I thought I had caught it but then it swung back in the opposite direction and from that point on I was just a passenger."
After talking to our reporter, Tran immediately headed back to his trailer for an underwear change...
The second round saw Marty Ladwig easily beating J.J. Olsen and Gary Gardella took out Mike Crawford when Dodge Neon slowed before the mid-point. Kenny Tran had a match-up against Bruce Mortensen and a test of his nerves after the first round spin.
Tran was obviously un-fazed and beat the Venom Civic with an 8.949 against a 9.118.
The Quaker State Civic tripped the lights at 170.90 mph to become the first 170mph Hot Rod and establish a new national speed record with his 169.58 mph qualifying pass as back up.
The semi finals saw Gardella run a solo-pass at 9.091 at 163.60 mph. Marty Ladwig lined up against Tran in the other pairing and despite getting a reaction time advantage, Ladwig was unable to match him speed as Tran posted an 8.630 at 167.68 mph against an 8.872 at 165.92 mph.
Although Tran won the race to secure a final round spot, all was not well in the Quaker State pit area.
Tran's crew chief, Tony Palo, explained, "We hurt our engine on that last pass. It looks like the head gasket is blown and we haven't got time to install our back-up motor because the NHRA is trying to get the event finished before the rain comes. We will have to hope for the best at this point."
New Jersey native Gary Gardella was also frantically working on his car before the final trying to solve an elusive ignition problem. When the cars were finally called up for the final, it was Tran who would run out of luck. After struggling with the burnout with an ailing motor Tran's clutch overheated and the helpless Tran redlighted and watched as Gary Gardella posted his best pass of the event with an 8.821 at 171.13 mph.