Right before Boone ran, they announced that two hours of run time was left, and we were already seeing quite a few racers on their second runs. Dale headed back to the lanes for the Gremlin, while Darren and I stayed to watch more cars.
"Oh", I suddenly looked up, "What did Grant run in the Mustang?"
" Eight forty-five", Darren answered. "You said he needed a thirty-seven, correct?"
"So close...he'll be back for another one", I nodded.

Jonathon Foster pulled around in his Gun Metal Grey 240 Z. He was in the same class as Dale and I, Modified Power Adder, and was in a tight battle for fifth with Richard Steinke's "Honk If Parts Fall Off" 67 4-door Chevelle, and Walt Masilunas' 71 Camaro. These three were no threat to the Grant/Hochbaum battle for third because all were tech limited to 8.50 and slower. Foster made a beautiful, arrow straight 8.480 at 160 which was going to do him no good whatsoever!

"So, back to back, we watch an 8.45 and an 8.48, and neither of them are going to be happy", Darren shook his head, "Drag Week is getting pretty crazy!"
Rachael scooted through the crowd to stand next to us, and gave me an elbow to the kidney, "After Dale runs, Shari and I are going to start cooking up all the brats, dogs and hamburgers."
"Cool...I'm just going to hang out here or in the bleachers, there are still quite a few battles to play out", I explained.
"I'll call you when the food is ready!"

The Aussie Valiant Charger was next, having overcome a rough start to Drag Week 2016; "melting a Predator head like a stick of butter" was the way Brian Lohnes described it over the PA as John roasted the big meats in the burnout. When you watch the heavy Pro Street style twin turbo beast make a pass, you always look for two things: Can he get through the first hundred feet without getting bucked off (not a metaphor, this thing can be as violent as anything on the PBR circuit), and secondly, does it burn anything up just past the eighth mile. When the silver monster cleared the thousand foot clock fairly clean, the crowd around us held their breath in anticipation of a good number. The 7.90-183 wasn't perfect, but it was a great way to end the most successful Drag Week for the Faraone crew to date.

#7 John Faraone Silver 72 Chrysler Valiant Charger
Day 1: 8.76-182.6
Day 2: 9.59-87.9
Day 3: 16.33-73.7
Day 4: 7.65-182.8
Day 5: 7.90-183.7
Final Average: 10.050-142.18

Looking at the Charger's numbers is a study in contrast. The 7.65 is the best pass ever for a Mopar on Drag Week, and 24th best overall. The 7.43-192 from the DNF year places the Aussie with the top 10 or 15 elite cars to ever run the event. The 10.05 is his best 5 day average however, which ranks 10th all time among Mopars, and 203rd overall. One thing is for certain, every time John brings the A-body to the line, he'll be swinging for big numbers, conservative is just not his nature!