The fifth set down National Trail Raceway was James Sandlin's 13 Ram beside Craig Douglas' 15 Charger HellCat. James would finish Drag Week with a 13.30 to Craig's 10.38-133. That would put Craig in the 4th qualifying spot. Gary Tallen's 62 Tempest and Ed Urcis' 15 Vette had already locked into their spots, so with 10 cars through the traps 4 of the 32 spots were already filled.

#31 Jess Neal Yellow 73 Dodge Challenger
Day 1: 13.34-101.8
Day 2: 13.32-103.5
Day 3: 13.26-102.7
Day 4: 13.44-101.1
Day 5: 13.51-101.4
Final Average: 13.380-102.01

This was Pike's Peak racer Jess' second foray into Drag Week with his ratty but dependable 73 Challenger. The small block powered E-body improved nearly a half-second and two mph in average over their 2014 effort.


#30 James Sandlin Black 13 Dodge Ram
Day 1: 13.43-98.6
Day 2: 13.17-101.8
Day 3: 13.24-100.2
Day 4: 13.25-100.8
Day 5: 13.30-100.3
Final Average: 13.284-100.36

I talked with James on registration day, and while he hasn't done much to boost the horsepower of his 5.7 Hemi truck, he did do as much as he could to get it to leave hard. Lower gear, converter swap, and short tires on 15" wheels. I thought low 13's was pretty impressive for only having 100 mph on tap!

Looking at their comparable times, James and Jess might have had more fun if they had spent all DW racing each other!