Dale grabbed the time slip almost as soon as I opened the door of the Valiant, "3.97 to the 330, that's what I was talking about!"
"It was smooth, felt good! Congrats on a Drag Week eight, by the way", I added.
"Thanks! So 9.66-136, best ever for the Valiant?"
"Yeah, last year when it ran 9.86, I told everyone it should go sixties, or even fifties fairly easy...not quite as easy as I thought, but it was there!"

As we grabbed our time slips and pictures to head for the tower, John Faraone was staging up the Aussie Valiant Charger in the right lane, and Shane McClelland brought the Crusty Nova up in the left. At the hit, the small tire Chevy II went up in smoke, Shane pedaled it, but the pass was junk by that point. Faraone gingerly eased the silver A-body down to a 16.33-73.

"So, a ten second car posts a thirteen, and the day is an absolute failure, but a seven second car posts a sixteen...and it's a triumphant victory?" I shook my head as we walked in front of the bleachers.
"All about perspective", Boone laughed, "If you spent half the night rebuilding the engine, just having a time slip to turn in is a miracle!"