That’s right, you heard me – We got number one qualifier this past weekend! This past weekend was by far the best weekend we have had racing our Super Comp dragster and Chris and I are sitting on cloud nine.

The weekend started off great with afternoon racing call. Spokane County Raceways decided to start the Saturday session at 3pm to allow racers travel time that morning. It offered a great chance to rest up a little that morning and more than enough time to get our act together at the track. We said hello to old friends and met a few new ones. This group of racers are the sweetest, most generous people I’ve ever met. They make this such a wonderful experience.

Number One Qualifier Grins

We were able to have three qualifying passes before round one on Saturday. Our first pass, right off the trailer, landed us with a 9.053 (adjusted from 8.90 to an 9.05 because of altitude) in our pocket. Chris and I were stunned and even speechless when we realized this might give us the #1 position in qualifying. Our other two passes were close, but nothing could beat our fantastic run. After we finished the passes, I ran to the Woodruff’s trailer to check out the ladder and low and behold, I clinched that #1 position! Not only was I #1, but this position offered me a bye for first round. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to this weekend.

Try to Get the Friggin 4-Wheeler Started

My second round match-up was Chuck Lynne. Chuck has been racing for a number of years and as much as I tried not to be nervous, I was. I have a tendency to be so focused on the finished line that I always miss the win light at the end of the track. I rely on Chris to tell me over the radio how the race went. The only thing I heard after round two was screaming into the headset. We had beat Chuck with an .018 package! Now honestly, I could gone home right there and I would have been content. This day was the best day of drag racing that I had ever experienced. I’ve never been that high qualifying and I definitely had never seen third round! Unfortunately I was paired up against Bob Woodruff for third round. He won on a holeshot (beat me on the starting line), which made me realize I need to do some work on my lights. But honestly, nothing could ruin this day – It was perfect.

Sunday was a great day as well. We spent a little more time chasing our number and I spent the whole day chasing those lights. I got another bye first round when Tom Gresham had some engine problems and couldn’t make the call. My second round opponent was Mike Seekins (#1 qualifier this race with a perfect 9.050). Unfortunately I red lit this round. It wouldn’t have stung so bad had I not ran a 9.056 (.006 from perfect). Oops! This was about the time I came to the conclusion that we had done enough work on the car this year and I needed to do some work on the driver!

Changing the Oil - Righty Tighty...

When I first started drag racing, Chris bought me Tami Eggleston’s video set called Psyched Out! – The Psychology of Drag Racing. I have spent the past couple of days watching these videos, thinking about my driving abilities and figuring out some new ideas that I could implement this weekend at the Spokane Divisional. She also offers some workbook pages to help keep track of your progress and let you know when your driving skills are slipping. I plan to use these this weekend and focus on my driving. Hopefully this will produce some better lights and maybe even a win light!

Hope to see you all out there this weekend!
EMDUB