It looked like Whipple was the guy to
watch until Sunday morning when they
went to fire up the “Candae Pet Food Spl.”,
froze the motor, and without sufficient time to replace the powerplant, gave
John Gadzow a much needed dial-in single. Brown, Switzer and Rieck also advanced.
In the semi finals of Top Fuel the quickest side-by-side in Sand Drag history was was made when Rieck scored another victory with his Chevy at 2.378 to Brown’s game 2.426/151 mph. On the other side of the ladder rookie driver Switzer drove his Las Vegas-based “Spooky II” into the final at a quick 2.421/143 mph over Gadzow at 2.7852.
That set the grand finale in Top Fuel where the Hemi VS small block Chevy and Rieck were not to be denied with his “Hammerdown” entry blasting out a fine record-setting 2.327 over “Spooky II” and Switzer at 2.650 clicking it early with engine problems.|
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A tough field of Top Alcohol competitors came from as far away as Michigan and Indiana to compete at this event. Californian Dan Allen (shown) in the Allen Family TAD led the way in qualifying at a game 2.534/134. He was followed by Arizonan Shane Sanford in the “Never Satisfied” TAD at 2.64/133mph. and that is exactly how it set up for the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster.
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NSDA president Chris Ketron put on a great event with help from announcer Russ Walton and starter Alex Ramirez. Tim Marshall wants to additionally thank Jody and Steven Davis and Chachi for their help during the event. |
Sanford (shown) got a bit better light in the final round and his 2.594 got the win over Dan Allen’s better 2.590. Both ran over 130 mph for the 300 foot blast.
Twenty-two of the fastest Top Eliminator machines in the country were on hand for the Primm Nationals, and they basically let anything run in this class as long as they run on a 2.95 index. Altereds, blown alcohol dragsters and a pair of the old “Fast Four” guys were on hand of qualifying. Tim Martin’s blown dragster qualified #1 at 2.96, and it took a 3.52 to just get in this tough field.