Drag Illustrated Issue 114, October 2016

OUTLAW DRAG RADIAL ELIMINATOR QUICKEST DRIVERS while it remains the sport’s quickest and fastest single-turbo machine and one of the sport’s performance leaders in Outlaw 10.5 trim. It should also be mentioned the team’s Pro Nitrous ’69 Camaro has kept a spot on the DI PN Top 8 ET and MPH lists longer than anybody. Stock Eliminator’s Battle for a Seven-Second Timeslip! Coming into the 2016 season, Clay Arnett’s Indiana-based supercharged 2015 Camaro COPO owned the quickest and fastest run in Stock Eliminator history at 8.32/165.80. Throughout the season, however, that standard has been whittled away to the point the purest of all the sport’s categories is now standing at a precipice of performance completely inconceivable even just a few seasons ago. During the NHRA Summernationals in Englishtown, New Jersey, David Barton’s similar Camaro continued the Chevrolet dominance of the eliminator’s strongest products with an unearthly 8.25. At the Chevy Performance-sponsored NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, however, Ford superstar Chris Holbrook ruined a planned Chevy winner’s circle party by earning the prestigious Factory Stock Showdown title after defeating three consecutive Camaros in eliminations, (including Barton in the semi-finals), and setting a new Stock record at 8.23 seconds while just missing Arnett’s speed mark at 165.17. Holbrook, the past IHRA Pro Stock World Champion whose father, Carl, was one of Ford’s greatest racers, owned many of Stock’s all-time quickest and fastest marks since the Ford’s introduction of supercharged Cobra Jet Mustang products in 2008. He earned multiple PRO EXTREME ELIMINATOR QUICKEST DRIVERS (eighth-mile) RANK E.T. 1 3.485 DRIVER Frankie Taylor SITE STATE DATE Rockingham NC 4/5/2014 2 3.486 Brandon Snider Tulsa OK 3/18/2016 event titles and records in the ADRL’s SuperCar Showdown Series which was the impetus for the formation of the NHRA’s similar Factory Stock Showdown. An all-out war was scheduled between Holbrook’s Mustang and Barton’s Camaro on the Chevy pilot’s home turf at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, for the week-long class-legal festival which includes the NHRA Keystone Nationals and the track’s own forty-sixth annual Pennsylvania Dutch Classic, both of which traditionally offer phenomenal autumn conditions. During qualifying at the National Event, Holbrook’s Ford stunned the world with an 8.119 at 167.97 miles per hour. With twelve hundred horsepower going to the ground via slicks only nine inches wide, the glimmer of a seven-second timeslip from a vehicle which can be ordered at a dealership suddenly became visible on the distant horizon. Ironically, Holbrook admitted the run was not a “perfect pass” and stated there was more left. Only days after the weather-truncated National Event, Holbrook posted back-toback 8.11/167 runs but eventually retired with mechanical woes. Meanwhile, Barton seized the opportunity and produced an astonishing 8.074-second, 168.05 mph blast during “the Dutch”. He later clocked an even quicker 8.073 at a mere 151 mph when the Camaro’s automatic transmission fell out of high gear. In eliminations, Barton rolled to the starting line displaying an historic 7.99-second “dial-under” on his window but a lack of traction killed his chances to advance past round four. It’s out there, folks. Believe it. - BRET KEPNER EXTREME TURBO ELIMINATOR QUICKEST DRIVERS (eighth-mile) RANK E.T. 1 3.527 DRIVER SITE STATE DATE Jose Gonzalez Dinwiddie VA 10/23/2015 2 3.540 Kevin Fiscus Benson NC 4/5/2016 X275 ELIMINATOR QUICKEST DRIVERS (eighth-mile) (eighth-mile) RANK E.T. DRIVER SITE STATE DATE RANK E.T. Steve Jackson Denton TX 4/24/2016 1 4.372 Jared Johnston Harvest DeWayne Mills Cecil GA 10/9/2016 2 4.379 Rich Bruder Budds Creek MD 4/17/2016 3 3.781 Joe Albrecht Cecil GA 10/8/2016 3 4.396 Rob Goss Cecil GA 2/18/2016 4 3.791 Daniel Pharris Cecil GA 10/8/2016 4 4.399 Chris Groves Tulsa OK 4/1/2016 5 3.800 Rob Valden Denton TX 4/24/2016 5 4.403 Jamie Stanton Cecil GA 2/19/2016 6 3.807 Kyle Huettel Cecil GA 10/8/2016 6 4.418 Dean Marinis Cecil GA 2/18/2016 7 3.828 Mark Micke Cecil GA 10/6/2016 7 4.419 Ron Rhodes Rising Sun MD 8/5/2016 8 3.836 Jef

Drag Illustrated Issue 114, October 2016 | Page 129