For years, Dale's biggest down fall has been his willingness to upgrade his fuel and ignition systems. This time he heeded my advice, and added a huge 500cfm pump, and return style regulator while the car was apart. In typical Gebhart fashion, he had it ready for testing just a day before the big shootout.

He foot braked it and ran 10.40 at 130 on motor. "It leaves like a dog", he complained.
"Let's see...nine to one 440 with dash one heads, and a tight nitrous converter...I'm not surprised!" I countered back.

30 minutes later he called me back, "We've got problems!"
"What's the deal?"
"I just made a hit on one system, 9.08-146..."
"That's great right?"
"Well...yeah, but that initial wheelie it used to do for 20 feet, now it wants to carry it...quite a bit further!"
"Hmm, you better be conservative on the initial nitrous hit for a while until you figure it out", I warned.

The shootout the next day yielded at very slick track, and he struggled with traction, only managing a 9.40 and 9.28 in qualifying. First round, he was paired with an 8.70 Camaro, so he upped the second hit considerably, figuring he'd need it to make up for a lousy launch...he miscalculated slightly...