Mark Hill's interesting little low deck powered NA 65 Barracuda was the 70th car down the Cordova pavement to start Drag Week 2017. The stumble at the hit was both audible, and visible when the score board showed an 11.68 at 126.2. With that mph, it was clear the orange early A had left a half second on the table but there is a huge fear for rookies of getting behind on day one, so he accepted the pass and started loading up for the drive.

Rick Callahan was competing in his 11th Hot Rod Drag Week, and after four years of Hemi powered F.A.S.T. style B-Bodies, he was back in the maroon 68 Road Runner that he brought from 2007 to 2012. He had switched the wedge car from Weld wheels to stock steel wheels and dog dish caps, but it apparently didn't slow the car down as his opening 11.42-118.9 was quicker than he could turn in without a roll bar.

Ross Dudley made his first run count in his 68 Runner, with an 11.75-112, now he would just have to wait for his running mates to get their first taste of DW action before he could start the drive. With 98 cars already collecting time slips in the first 40 minutes of track time, we couldn't have asked for a better start to the week!