2013 NTRA Finals Qualifying

Breaking news from Lions Drag Strip! After a marathon 5-hour qualifying session, the fields have been set for the NTRA Finals.

Slotfather qualifies No. 1 in Gasser Eliminator with his flamed No. 17 Willys at .639/21.78 mph.

Nosubfor3 takes the top spot in Nostalgia Funny Car with the No. 12 USA-1 Camaro at 1.077/11.88 mph.

Qualifying had its share of thrills and spills today. We'll be back with a full report and qualifying rundown a little later.

Racemaster Rick

NTRA Finals Gasser Qualifying

Pos./Car No./Entry/Best ET/Best Speed
1 17 slotfather 0.639 21.78
2 18 sukafish 0.652 22.07
3 16 slotfather 0.653 20.98
4 7 eagleracing 0.728 18.13
5 8 nosubfor3 0.733 18.53
6 10 Pceng 0.773 16.75
7 6 eagleracing 0.820 15.50
8 3 Doug 412 0.877 14.73
9 2 Phantombse 0.911 13.66
10 1 Phantombse 0.912 14.00
11 9 nosubfor3 0.968 13.34
12 23 79malibu 1.098 10.10
13 13 hemihunter 1.205 8.78
14 24 79malibu 1.225 8.98
15 20 ninjatek 1.276 9.03
16 21 ninjatek 1.411 8.18
17 15 TGM2054 1.956 8.48
18 4 chriswfo NT
19 12 stinger NT
20 14 SKR NT
21 19 sukafish NT

Hey Rick what happened on that second gasser

Gasser Qualifying Highlights

We've got a big crowd at Lions Drag Strip, and they're ready to enjoy some wild, wheelstanding Gassers in the first qualifying session for the NTRA Finals. The power is set at 18.0 volts – stand back!



Phantombse's Willys are the first pair out of the staging lanes. Big John's candy apple coupe instantly deslots; after a wheelie bar adjustment, Maz goes .912/14.00. The Mooneyes Willys is .001-second quicker at .911/13.66.



Not something you see everyday, even in California – a Volkswagen Gasser. Doug412's Bug runs .877/14.73. Folks, I don't thing that's a flat four under the blower! Chriswfo's Willys doesn't have wheelie bars, and that's a big problem on the sticky Lions track. Three consecutive deslots and unfortunately no time for the flamed Gasser.



Eagleracing's silver '33 Willys is one gorgeous Gasser! The motor is as smooth as the paint, and the eagle flies to a .820 at 15.50. Eagleracing's black-with-flames fat-fendered Gasser is even quicker, though. How about .728 at 18.13 to take the No. 1 spot for now!



Nosubfor3 is a veteran here at Lions, and he's ready to race. His purple Austin is smooth and quiet, and clicks off a .733 at 18.53 to run the top speed so far and slot in just behind eagleracing. His slick silver-and-orange entry is having arcing problems on the braids; the crew is going to have to make some adjustments after a disappointing .968/13.34 qualifying run.



Pceng is another familiar face here at Lions. His Green Falcon is flying high on the launch, causing deslots. A quick wheelie bar adjustment brings the bird back to earth and PC runs .773. In the other lane, Stinger's purple Willys gets stung by problems and doesn’t record an ET. It could be a long night in the Stinger pits.



SKR's Henry J from the Colorado high country is simply stunning, and he's certainly a contender for Best Appearing honors. Sam stages, brings the rpm up, drops the hammer – and goes backwards! Looks like he's got the magnets reversed, race fans. This Henry will need a motor rebuild before eliminations. With all of the excitement in the near lane, the Hemihunter's supercharged '57 Chevy is nearly overlooked as it runs 1.205 at 8.78.



Two more Willys roll out from the staging lanes – are you starting to see a pattern here? TGM2054's beautiful pearl orange Willys runs 1.956 at 8.40. But all eyes are on the spectator lane as the Slotfather drops the Big One: .653 at 20.98 mph to take the No. 1 spot!



You can't tell the players without a program when two identical black flamed Willys are paired up in qualifying. Fortunately our eagle-eyed reporters know the difference. Sukafish's Willys rips off a .652 at 22.07 mph, the fastest Gasser we've seen today. But it's the Slotfather's ET that really rocks the crowd: .639 at 21.78! The Slotfather has delivered a message, and he means business.



This was a wild one, race fans! Sukafish's Mooneyes Willys was really on a pass, and looked quick enough to knock the Slotfather off the top of the chart. But at mid-track, it all went wrong. The car crashed hard, took out the top end light bar, and went hard into the guardrail. Looks like the impact pitched the gearplate clip and knocked the brushes out, because the motor is dead. We'll have to get a report from the pits after they have a chance to survey the damage. Meanwhile, Ninjatek's purple Willys has a bad case of the shakes as it runs 1.280/9.54.



Ninjatek's blown Chevy has the same problem as his Willys – a lot of tire shake and bouncing, and several deslots before he keeps in the groove and runs 1.411 at 8.18 mph. 79malibu's purple Willys stops the clocks at 1.098/10.10.



We close out Gasser qualifying with 79malibu's mustard yellow Willys. There's some serious armature squeaking going on – nothing that a little oil doesn’t fix. With a little lube, the Willys runs 1.225 at 8.98 mph.



Before we wrap up Gasser qualifying, a big shout out to Lee and Brad Tinder for their help in qualifying today at Lions! Father Lee walked 10 miles retrieving cars from the top end, and son Brad was the trigger man and computer trouble-shooter throughout a marathon qualifying session. Thanks, guys!

Next up is Nostalgia Funny Car qualifying.

Racemaster Rick

Nostalgia Funny Car Qualifying Highlights

Lions is proud to have featured the Nostalgia Funny Car class since its inception. There are some legendary cars and racers in this category, so let's set the voltage at 13.8 and pound the ground!



Phantombse's Pontiac and Vega are first in line for NFC qualifying. The Can-Am stops the clocks at 1.607/7.00, but the Vega is quicker at 1.354/8.12.



Doug412's mighty Mustang sprints to a 1.233 ET at 9.02 mph – that's a thoroughbred! In the far lane, Chriswfo's Vega is pulling too much downforce and runs 1.799 at 6.48 mph.



Eagleracing is the reigning NFC champion at Lions Drag Strip, and he's planning to defend the title with his familiar Camaros. His patriotically painted Camaro runs 1.168/10.59 to take the provisional pole, and the blue F-body stops the clocks at 1.287/8.58.



Jjwallace, a.k.a. Angry Jeff, is back with his Migrane Mustang, and he's hoping to give his competitors a headache. The maroon machine runs 1.264/9.23. Jeff's Twisted Texan Pinto slots into the No. 2 spot at 1.171/10.38.



Darius has an unmistakable look on his webbed Funny Car that runs 1.758/5.97. His red Mustang in the spectator lane is quicker than the spider machine with a 1.448 at 7.31.



Nosubfor3 is another veteran at Lions, and he used his track knowledge to get the best out of his USA-1 Camaro. The red-white-and-blue Camaro goes right to the top of the NFC qualifying list with a 1.077 at 11.88 mph, the quickest and fastest run so far. His Bandit Firebird is right there at 1.173/11.34.



Sam has done it again – have you ever seen a better looking Cougar? The big cat from the High Country is a runner, too – SKR is solidly in the field at 1.216/9.12 mph. Pceng's green Cuda qualifies at 1.449/7.85.



Next up, a pair of Camaros. Hemihunter's Jungle Jim tribute car runs 1.403 at 7.55 – but where is Jungle Pam? Hopefully she'll make an appearance on race day. Stinger's purple Camaro puts down a 1.299 at 8.40 with a solid qualifying run.



A big welcome from Lions to the Escamillachicks and their pink-and-black Camaro! The chicks are racing for the first time at Lions, but they have this track figured out. A 1.293 at 8.76 will put them in contention on race day. Jimrussell's Blue Max Mustang is carrying a little too much downforce and runs 1.546 at 6.74 mph.



Jimrussell's LA Hooker Mustang is a little quicker, running 1.520/7.11 mph. 79malibu's Pontiac makes a squeaky first run, and then improves to a 1.636 at 7.50 mph with some oiling.



TGM2054 is back with his blue and silver Cuda. He's got big-time tire hop and bounces his way to a 1.699/6.84. Better check the driver's fillings after that run. 79malibu's second Can-Am has some issues, and doesn't post a qualifying time.



The Slotfather is No. 1 in Gasser – can he repeat in NFC? His blue Mustang 1.570/7.22 – not even close. His orange horse is quicker, but 1.414 at 7.81 still leaves a lot of room for improvement on race day.



Sukafish is hoping for a little less excitement in NFC qualifying than he encountered in Gasser. His purple Camaro runs 1.366 at 8.42, and the yellow and green machine runs 1.362 at 8.54. That's consistency, race fans!



We wrap up NFC qualifying tonight at Lions with one of the crowd's favorites, Ninjatek's Jungle Jim Nova. The wild man of Funny Car runs 1.598 at 6.96. As JJ would say, "Drag racing is faarrr out!"



The staging lanes are empty at Lions Drag Strip as qualifying for the NTRA Finals has concluded and the fields are set. Some racers will rest easy tonight knowing that they have fast cars; for others, it will be a long and sleepless night as they work on their machines for the battles to come on Sunday.

We'll be back tomorrow with final eliminations. Be there!

Racemaster Rick