Dale pulled up into the right lane to do his burnout, under the watchful eyes of both James and John; each clearly concerned as to whether their handy work from the night before was about to be undone. To add to the drama Bryant Goldstone and his twin turbo BBC powered, tube chassis, all steel 73 Javelin was in the left lane beside him. Dale had to double step the throttle about 80ft. out but it looked like a fairly strong run, while the Javelin was spooling up for a few seconds before giving chase. Dale can forever brag about getting to the stripe first, while carding his best Drag Week pass ever.

Once he returned to the pits, I questioned whether or not he felt the need to chase an eight second slip at this juncture.
"Oh no", he shook his head and chuckled, "I'm not leaning on the old girl again until she is back in St. Louis, within walking distance of the trailer!"