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!

Roughly twelve minutes after Boone put the Ruster Duster in the nines, Dale idled the Gremlin into the water box at National Trail, and proceeded to do a high gear only, high rpm burnout past the sixty foot clocks! Really not a smart move for a wounded engine that was pushing out oil. As soon as he backed up across the start line, the Starter walked over and shut him off. The guy working the box grabbed a mop and started dabbing at spots behind the car, while the Starter and another member of the crew walked out to sixty foot and started dabbing spots with towels as they walked back towards the Gremlin.
"What's the deal, are they going to let him run? Rachael leaned over to ask me.
"Not sure", I shook my head, "It was pushing oil out of the valve covers at highway speeds, so I have no clue why he decided to do that wild of a burnout!"
"Guess he didn't want you badmouthing him like you did Boone", Darren interjected.
The Starter bent over and looked under the car. Dale had been holding the driver's door open since he'd been shut off, and the Starter walked over to the door for a conversation. Darren and I took a couple steps forward out of the crowd, figuring we would have to push him back, but he was given the go signal and fired the 572 back up. He purged both systems into the engine, and slowly staged while Freiburger and Lohnes relayed the story of his accident at Indy on the PA. Beside him was Randy Belehar's tank weight, 9 second, 70 Pontiac Grand Prix with it's nitroused big inch Pontiac engine. Dale actually outran Randy in the third round of the special shootout in 2014.

The Gremlin left decent, and sounded good under the heavy dose of nitrous, but at 800ft. it seemed as though it was maxed out on rpm, and just emitted more and more smoke until it mercifully made it to the finish line, the scoreboard lit up 8.913-152.19 to the Poncho's 9.976-133.13.

Rachael headed back to cook as Darren and I relocated to the bleachers. We had just sat down when I decided to go get Boone and Dale so we could turn in our slips.
"Bring them back with you so we can watch some racing!" Darren yelled at my back as I made my way to the pits.

The shadows were growing quite long, and many competitors were on their second or third attempts before David Meyer brought the "Northern Bel" 526 TT Hemi around for his first run on Friday. The brothers and I were just blown away when this six figure build showed up in the tech line. Several years ago, I remember when the first cars started showing up with beautiful paint jobs, and we would laugh and talk about how many cars were "too nice for Drag Week". Apparently that term just doesn't apply anymore, and it's a credit to guys who simply aren't afraid to drive and beat on their dream cars!

We were walking back from turning in our slips when he staged up in the right lane and started spooling the turbos.
"How slow does he have to run for Boone to get third in Super Street Big Block Power Adder?" Dale laughed and slapped Boone on the back.
"10.80 or slower", Boone shook his head, "not that I was actually doing the math or anything".
"Probably run that with a flat tire, and he's picked up ET every single day so far", I added.

The 66 left incredibly soft, but the power ramped in quickly, and it looked to really be moving by the eighth mile. When the 9.75-149 splashed on the board, Boone shook his head.
"That's an incredible car Boone", Darren commented, "no shame on the Ruster Duster for coming up short against that".
"Probably rides a heck of alot better too", I added.

#6 David Meyer Blue 66 Plymouth Belvedere
Day 1: 10.50-133.3
Day 2: 10.10-145.4
Day 3: 9.90-146.2
Day 4: 9.73-149.5
Day 5: 9.75-149.4
Final Average: 10.000-144.82

The Troy Trepanier built, original Hemi Belvedere is stunning in how understated it is. The thought of a twin turbocharged 526 Hemi capable of 200 in the standing mile, and 150 in the quarter while hauling 4500+ lbs around, instantly fills your brain with images of a snorting, over the top, monster, but this car does it effortlessly, and smoothly. Just an amazing build.

Moparts vs. The Stick Fox: Small Block NA War

When Kansas' Mike Crow (69 lawndart/Moparts) showed up for Drag Week 2006 with his beautiful stick shifted small block 73 Barracuda, the ten second machine grabbed everyone's attention, and narrowly missed winning the Street Race Small Block NA class by four hundredths in average, despite having Brian Rock's GTO covered by three mph. Crow and the stunning E-body would place 4th in class in 2007, then reel off three straight class victories in 2008, 2009, and 2010, earning Mike the nickname "The Legend" an the Rallye Red beast a Hot Rod magazine cover shot! Despite the fact that the restoration quality Barracuda had improved to a best of 10.36-131.6 over the years, and was always a Drag Week favorite, she was Mike's baby, and he decided a new, more purpose built Mopar was needed for Drag Week. He debuted his 69 Dart in 2012 to a third place finish and a best of 10.10-135.

Round 1
In 2013, Mike and his Dart seemed poised to claim another SB/NA victory, but Jeff Sias showed up with a clean, maroon fox body coupe with a stick stifted 427 small block Ford. They were within hundredths of each other four of the five days, banging gears and making fans at each track with their high rpm antics. Mike's undoing was on Wednesday at St. Louis, where the Dart ran a tenth slow, and Jeff's Mustang uncorked a 9.96-135.5 which was over a tenth quicker than anything he had put down all week. The video below highlights Mike's week, with a side by side run against Jeff's Mustang at the end.

69 lawndart, 2013 Drag Week

The 2014 re-match never materialized, as Jeff was unable to return, while Mike's Dart hit a deer on the drive, and was out. Mike has repaired the Dart, and upgraded to an aluminum Ritter block under his W-9 top end, but has yet to return for another Drag Week.

At Drag Week 2006, when Mike and the Barracuda began their run, Ray Meyers (sixpackgut/Moparts) was riding shotgun in Eddie Miller's purple Duster when the nitroused, big block A-body claimed the overall win. The seeds were planted in Ray's brain during that week, that he would return to the event and claim a win of his own. To make that happen, he sold his purple big block Challenger and began constuction of a 67 Barracuda coupe he would nickname the Black Pearl. Ray and the big block, tunnel rammed, ladder barred Barracuda would burst onto the Drag Week scene in 2012, where they narrowly outran my Valiant to claim the Modified NA class win. By "narrowly", I mean a second and three tenths in average, so a more apt description may have been "dominated", but this is just a little tale among friends, right? The nine second machine was tech limited to ten flat, so Ray managed to turn in slips in the 10.0 range on three of the five days, finishing with a 10.18 average, and giving up the "Quickest Mopar" plaque to Mike and the Dart by a thousandth after turning in a lazy 10.55 on the final day. In short, it was a fantastic debut, which led one to believe with a chassis cert, the stroker big block, lightweight A-body could be a contender for several years to come.

So, when the black primered notch showed up in Bowling Green at Drag Week 2013 with a Gen III Hemi at small block legal displacement under the cowl scooped hood, everyone in the tech line looked at it with a shrug and a shake of their head. He was the butt of numerous jokes all week as his average was nearly 4 tenths slower than the previous year. Still, he finished 2nd in class, and was third in Quickest Mopar at the event, only behind Eddie Miller's Duster, and Mike's Dart once again. Ray maintained his smile and upbeat attitude throughout the hot and muggy week, explaining to everyone who would listen that he wanted a more complete and streetable car than the race bred big block could provide, steadfastly defending his position that this was a move in the right direction.

Like Jeff Sias and his 90 Mustang, Ray didn't attend Drag Week 2014, but when the Black Pearl rolled into the tech line for 2015, all the doubters who couldn't comprehend his engine switch began to understand Ray's vision. The ladder bars were gone, and with leafs under the rear, the A-body was allowed to drop out of Modified into Super Street Small Block NA.

Round 2

Jeff had also made a few changes, so his maroon Mustang moved up from Street Race to Super Street. Ray was hampered by the fact that he ran with the hood sealed, and still hadn't made the car or himself legal to go under ten flat. Jeff used four nine second time slips out of the five days to claim his second class win and defeat yet another hard running, low ten second Mopar. Ray's 10.20-132 average was only two hundredths off from the Pearl's debut numbers, but back to back class runner-ups left him with a desire to improve the Barracuda once again.

Round 3 2016 Super Street Small Block NA
For 2016, The Black Pearl shed over a hundred pounds, and the cage was certed to 8.50. The hood wasn't sealed, in fact Ray ran the car without the hood in competition all week. When the smoke cleared on the opening day at National Trail, the good news was that Ray's 9.960 had him leading the maroon Mustang by a full tenth, as Jeff could only muster a traction limited 10.06-139.9. The bad news was that those numbers left our two duelists at third and fifth in the class respectively! The battle really began to take shape the following day at Norwalk, when Ray's 9.86-135.6 and Jeff's 9.89-140.8 established them as the quickest cars in the class, a position they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the way.

How much does the Black Pearl weigh?

Day 3 at Martin Michigan saw all time Drag Week bests for the pair, as Sias' Ford clawed back some of the 13 hundredths he'd lost in the first two days 9.793-136.7 to the Black Pearl's equally stout 9.851-134.7. Indy was a repeat of the third day, as Ray managed another great 9.859-135.1, but the fox body went 9.841-137.2 to take back nearly two hundredths more of the deficit.

Entering the Class car session on the final day at National Trail, Ray held court in the lanes as he leaned against the front of his 67 Barracuda.
"I don't know if we can hold him off", he shook his head, "he's had two to five mph on us all week...that's horsepower, and if he gets enough shots at the track, they will find a way to make it stick!"
"Ray, it looks pretty greasy out there right now", I explained.
"Yeah, it does, but if they run us four hours, it'll be near dark when this thing wraps up, and that surface will come back around!"
Zac Ravencraft is Ray's trunk gorilla, as he towers over Ray in a size difference reminiscent of the Skipper and Gilligan. While not as animated as Ray, they share a great attitude and are usually upbeat. "We just have to match them pass for pass, and you have just as good a chance to make ET as they do", he chimed in.

"How much are they holding on the Mustang right now", Dale asked Boone as Ray and Jeff entered the water box side by side for their first pass.
"51 thousandths, still in hand", Boone replied
"These are the top two competitors in Super Street Small Block NA" Brian Lohnes explained over the speaker, "Separated by mere hundredths over the entire week, and about to go down the track side by side!"
"This could decide who will take the class win right here", Freiburger added.

Neither car left particularly well, and they appeared to be even at the eighth mile. Jeff's speed advantage was obvious as he pulled a car length ahead in the back half to turn on the win light with a 10.138-140.11 to Ray's 10.003-133.33.
"That was well above both of their averages for the week, so I have a feeling they will be back in the lanes right away", Freiburger elaborated.
"Optical illusion" Dale laughed, "Sias treed Ray so bad it looked like they were even at the eighth, but Ray's Barracuda sixty foots hard, even on a bad pass!"
"1.34 or 1.35, I think."
"Pretty stout for a stock suspension, small tire, street car", Boone agreed, "but do any of us think that ten flat is going to hold up?" We watched that pass from beside the burnout area, because none of us had ran yet. their second opportunity occurred an hour and fifteen minutes later as we were in the tower getting our final time slips turned in. Instead of racing each other they went back to back out of the same lane. The Black Pearl blew the tires off and ran 10.26-133, then the fox body coupe made a solid 9.97-134.4.
"That's not enough to topple the 10.0, but the Mustang is improving while Ray is going in the wrong direction", Dale shook his head.
"The lanes are dwindling down, I have a feeling those two will be hot lapping soon!"

We had settled into the bleachers by the time Ray idled the stroked gen 3 Hemi back into the water box. Alongside him was second generation Drag Weeker Scott Miller in his Street Race BB/NA 68 Cougar, well on his way to a runner-up behind 6 time class winner Curt Johnson. The Barracuda seemed to grab all of the line as the front tires tip-toed to the sixty foot clocks. The big inch Merc thundered by at half track as the cougar went 9.23-142, but there was little doubt Ray was on a good one too. My brothers and I leapt to our feet with cheers and fist pumps as the scoreboard lit up with 9.923 at 135.20! The guys on the front row turned to give us a dirty look, allegiances on Drag Week don't always fall along brand loyalty, often they follow geographical boundaries as well, and Jeff has quite a few of the guys from the North East in his corner. We didn't care, it was all in good fun.
"Jeff would have to go 9.871 to beat that, and I just don't see that happening", Boone smiled.
"Unless it improves right at the end of the session, the track and the air just aren't good enough", Dale agreed.

Ten minutes later Jeff made his third attempt, and the high rpm 427 belted out a 9.949-133.82.
"That was the run he needed to beat Ray's ten flat", Boone nodded his head, "I knew first one wasn't good enough, but that .92 is going to hold up."

Ray smoked the tires on his fourth pass, and eased to a 13.71. He hot lapped around and spun at the hit to a 10.47-133 on his 5th attempt. Jeff's 90 Mustang pulled to the line beside Matt Grant's red 07 Modified Power Adder Mustang.
"Grant needs better than an eight thirty-seven to beat the LS turbo Challenger for third right", Darren asked.
"Yep", Boone nodded, "and Sias is searching for a 9.86."
Both cars made clean, hard launches and looked to be on solid runs. Matt Grant went 8.218-166.83 to secure the third place plaque in Modified Power adder, and Jeff bang shifted to a stout 9.904-139.43 which just wasn't going to be quite good enough to get the job done.
We let out a collective sigh of relief.
"About thirty minutes of track time left", Dale noted, looking at his phone.
"Conditions are definitely coming around", I added.
"Yep, fireworks aren't over yet!"
Fifteen minutes later, Ray ran 10.01-134.81 on his 6th pass of the evening. Two minutes after that, Jeff and his 90 Fox body coupe pulled up to stage for his fifth and final attempt to steal a Drag Week Jacket off the back of a Moparts racer for the third time. From a spectator's view the rear end of the Mustang jumped around a bit too much in second gear for it to be a stellar pass, and Lohnes reported that it was down a half mph at the eighth mile. The Gebhart brothers were celebrating when the scoreboard read 9.991-138.86! Ray Meyers and the completely scuttled and re-masted Black Pearl had their second class win at Drag Week! Never one to rest on his laurels Ray brought the Barracuda back around for a victory lap just as the lanes closed. The little Hemi that could responded with a 9.918-133.8 on it's seventh pass of the day.

#5 Ray Meyers Black 67 Plymouth Barracuda
Day 1: 9.96-134.7
Day 2: 9.86-135.6
Day 3: 9.85-134.7
Day 4: 9.85-135.1
Day 5: 9.91-133.8
Final Average: 9.890-134.81

For members that have not met Ray, all I can say is, you will laugh your ass off being around him and listening to him tell stories. Great guy, and a great racer.

Video shared of Mike was done by Jeff Sias aka Billy from Spensah.LMAO!For being a Ferd gear banging Muscrat owner hes ok in my book.Rays a good guy for sure.

The Skipper and Gilligan LOL. Zach and Ray and always great to talk to.

While we are skipping DW 2017, we are going to St Louis and watch a day. We will miss seeing Ray and Zac as they are taking a year off as well.

Bill

As we sat on the bleachers watching the last hour and a half of the Class car session, just four brothers enjoying what has been our favorite hobby/sport for thirty years, we discussed and debriefed each other on what had just occurred in the last whirlwind of a week.
"How was that last pass." I turned to aim the question at Dale, as he was a bleacher up and to my right.
"I put the Ruster Duster in the nines!" Boone exclaimed from my left.
"Best Dale ever ran in it was what, 10.70's or so and every pass I made this week was quicker than that. If the carb was right I would've whipped that Valiant too!"
"Geez Boone, I was trying to ask Dale about the...".
"Dave, Dave, did you hear about Boone putting the old Duster in the Nines?" Darren cut me off, and was sitting directly behind me so he was tugging on my shoulder the whole time he was speaking.
"Fine, fine, let's talk about Boone then!" I threw my hands in the air in feigned disgust. "You claim the carb was still a problem, yet it sounded clean on that pass to us, and what rpm did you cross and shift at?"
"It started popping at just past the thousand foot, and Dale still has the same tach in the car from the eighties, the face is loose and vibrates around, that thing is useless!"
"So, you are going to blame the lousy tach for that horrible burnout?" I've never been able to avoid poking the bear when Boone gets riled up, just one of those older brother things I should've grown out of but chose not to.
"The sure-grip is shot, you idiot!" He elbowed me for emphasis.
"That's the exact same way I've been doing it all week. It doesn't have a working line lock, so I didn't want to kill the brakes, besides, the tires don't need that much heat apparently, as that was my best 60' of the week!"
"So, how was little Billy as a trunk monkey/navigator?" I tried to re-direct the narrative.
"He was at his best when he was passed out, but I've had worse on Drag Week", Boone expounded.
"Yeah, you had Dad with you for three years", Dale laughed.
"I was talking about that moron that rode with me in '06", he stuck a thumb in my direction, "other than paying for gas, he was as useless as that old tach in the Duster!"
My suspicion was, that the volume of laughter after that last comment was a bit more than just my three little brothers could produce, and I'll admit, I laughed too, as it was a solid comeback!
"What did you shift the Valiant at, and what did it cross at on that 138mph pass?" Darren bent over to ask between Boone and I.
"Are you joking man? It's a small block! When the shift light comes on you count 'one thousand one' then grab the next gear, and at the finish line I was holding onto the nitrous button and screaming like a little girl, so I have no clue!"
More laughter, then Dale added, "Pretty much the same way he's driven every car down a drag strip for thirty five years!"

#4 Billy Gebhart White 62 Plymouth Valiant
Day 1: 9.91-133.2
Day 2: 10.13-127.5
Day 3: 9.66-136.3
Day 4: 10.03-135.3
Day 5: 9.65-138.0
Final Average: 9.880-134.10

2016 numbers rank the Valiant 7th all time on Drag Week among Mopars, both on the quickest run, and five day average lists. The 10.39 NA from 2015 still puts the 428 small block 7th on the all time Mopar NA list as well. We had the 73rd best five day average overall in 2016, and that places the Valiant 182nd on the quickest pass list, and 185th on the best five day averages list out of the thousand plus cars that have competed in the twelve events.

Had to laugh when I came and sat with you and the Fam at the end of the week given our discussion at the first of the week.No one was killed in the Gebhart family. LOL

When Randy Heinselman first brought his Cuda to Drag Week in 2012, he had a plate nitous system on it that allowed the big block car to run 10.24-130, and he was the third fastest Mopar behind only Mike Crow and Ray Meyers. The problem was that was only good enough for sixth place in the ultra competitive Super Street Power Adder class. That same year many of the Normally Aspirated classes were very soft, so Randy ditched the nitrous for 2013. The result was a slower 10.72-124 which dropped him to 7th among Mopars, but brought him a third place plaque in Street Race Big Block Normally Aspirated against 15 competitors.

2014 found Randy and the Cuda in Super Street Big Block NA, a class he has been in ever since. His 10.36-128 best pass improved the 70 AAR clone to 4th on that years Mopar list, and he was runner-up in class to collect yet another plaque and early invite. His wife Connie also took third place with her 69 Camaro in SSSBNA that year.

The Heinselmans would make the drive from Texas to St. Louis in 2015 with the same cars, and once again finished third in both of their classes. Both cars barely improved on their averages, with the Camaro posting a 10.96, and the Cuda finishing up at 10.58-128.

After four years with the Edelbrock Victor headed 535 wedge, Randy was looking for an improvement that would keep the Plum Crazy E-body on pace with the normally aspirated competition. So for 2016, Connie left the Camaro at home so they could concentrate on the Cuda with an all new, all aluminum, Indy 572 Hemi.

#3 Randy Heinselman Purple 70 Plymouth Barracuda
Day 1: 9.87-137.7
Day 2: 9.63-140.6
Day 3: 9.73-139.1
Day 4: 9.75-139.0
Day 5: 9.90-137.4
Final Average: 9.781-138.79

Randy made three or four hits on Friday, trying to get a grip on the tricky National Trail surface, but had to settle for his first run of the day. The seven tenths and ten mph improvement in average was a huge jump for the Cuda, but the result was the same, third place once again in SSBBNA. His 9.63-140 moved him from 7th quickest Normally Aspirated Mopar all time to second, only behind Eddie Miller's Predator headed Duster.

Beautiful Cuda. Didn't get a chance to see much of it though. Wondering if they were early morning risers, and one and done?

Darren went back to the pits to make sure Dad wasn't eating all the food as fast as Rachael and Shari could fix it, so Dale moved down on the same bleacher as Boone and I.
"What was with the big burnout? I thought you were going to get backed off!"
"Well, I haven't had the best luck hooking this engine up on a small shot, and the track has been greasy all day, so I just felt I had to put some rubber down", Dale explained.
"And put down some oil, I saw the starter talking to you...what did he say?"
"Well, he shut me off, and then they went about their cleanup. When they finished he walked over to my door and explained that it was oil, and asked if I had an issue."
"What did you tell him?" Boone asked, leaning over to hear the answer.
"I told him yes...it was pushing out some oil and the engine was less than a hundred percent, but we would make it down just fine!"
"He was good with that?" I asked, a little incredulous.
"He looked at me for a second, then explained that it was on me. I nodded to him and told him I appreciated it, and he waved me into the beams!"
"Dang, you know that would have never happened at an NHRA event!" I exclaimed with a shake of my head.
"No, but these guys got it. They knew what we were trying to accomplish and worked hard to accommodate us. If you think about it, we've been at this track three days, and from tech on Sunday, through all the problems on Monday, to trying to keep this surface good in the afternoon heat today, they've done a killer job!"
"Agreed. I was talking with Brian Meyer, MFR440 on Moparts, and he was explaining that we were racing at three premier tracks, and the host track was actually the worst of the group!"
"Where did you meet him at?"
"Uhh, Norwalk...I think, or maybe Indy, but I think it was most likely Norwalk!"
"The guy with the brain that remembers everything, and can write a story months later, can't remember where he met and talked with a Moparts member", Boone shook his head, mocking me.
"Whats MFR stand for?" Dale asked.
"Meyer Family Racing", I replied, "They have a 64 and a 65 that they race in NSS."
"Wonder if they are related to Craig Meyer?"
"The D-3 Super Street racer with the Black 62? I don't know, I'll have to research that when I get home."
Boone rolled his eyes, "Everything comes back to NHRA Super Street with you two!"
"He's right", Dale changed the subject, "National Trail doesn't match up with those other three facilities, but this is a top notch crew, you have to give them that!"
"So..." I hesitated to ask the next question.
"How did the 572 fare? It did make it to the stripe."
Dale chuckled, "oh, she's most definitely done!"
"You made it back to your pit spot", Boone added.
"Barely, we will have to push it on the trailer. When I let off at the finish line, it burbled and died. I had a hard time re-firing it at the top of the track, and had to keep it above 2500 to get to the time slip booth, where I kicked it in nuetral. It died about fifty feet later and I coasted in!"
"So, you improved your average!" I was trying to be positive.
"Yeah, by two hundredths over the 440!"
"So, why didn't you see more improvement with an extra hundred and thirty-two inches?"
"Still has 4.10 gears, still the same converter, still the same unported Indy -1 heads. I mean, at 7500 rpm with those heads I bet that 572 is a hundred horsepower under it's peak...it had no business being treated like that!"

#2 Dale Gebhart White 76 AMC Gremlin X
Day 1: 9.83-152.5
Day 2: 9.18-155.1
Day 3: 8.97-151.6
Day 4: 9.15-138.5
Day 5: 8.91-152.1
Final Average 9.212-150.02

All three years that it has finished, the Gremlin has been in the top two "Quickest Mopars". The final 8.91-152 puts the little beast as the fifth quickest on the "Mopars single pass" list, and is ranked 120th on the overall all time list.

Thanks Billy I was waiting for the "and then" on Dales Gremlin.

Sounds like alot of what goes up and down or round and round was hurt, but at lest it got to the stripe.

And #1 is........

it took me a second to figure it out but I think I am right.

I thought I knew but, looking back I was wrong as that person had one bad day and overall average was only enough to crack the top 10. Now I'm at a loss as to who had the fastest average.