Budds Creek Friday Recap

BUDDS CREEK - Friday Recap It's a Very Quick Evening in Maryland by Larry Sullivan BUDDS CREEK, Md. - SUMMIT FastNews - First-day qualifying at the IHRA President's Cup Nationals lived up to expectations at near-sea-level Maryland International Raceway, the Pro Stock field already the quickest ever and near-record fields in both Pro Modified and Super Eliminator. Daniel Seamon, Scotty Cannon, Von Smith, and Neal Parker head their respective 16-car fields after two qualifying sessions Friday, with two more rounds Saturday to set the ladders for Sunday's eliminations. Seamon was in the next-to-last pair of Pro Stock cars down the track and watched as John Montecalvo and then Tony Gillig took over the number one spot in the two pairs of cars running just before he did. Then Seamon made the run of the evening, a 6.694 second, 206.04 mph rocket shot, to take the first-day pole position away from Gillig. Jon Yoak sits on the bubble at 6.755 seconds, the quickest-ever bump time in Pro Stock. In Pro Modified, Cannon rebounded from a rules change that added 100 pounds to his swift racer to take the number one spot in Pro Modified at 6.452 and 217.00. The Pro Modified bump is also a quick one, John Bartunek sixteenth at 6.563 - just slightly slower than the quickest-ever mark of 6.54. In Super Eliminator, match racer Parker returned to IHRA competition and stunned everyone with a lightning-quick 6.217 at 219.69, taking the number one spot away from Dave Price in the evening qualifying session, the '48 Fiat-bodied altered making a very straight, smooth run to set that mark. In Alcohol Funny Car, Smith was the only driver in the eighties, clocked at 5.884 and 237.13, but like Cannon, the story was Scott Weis. After struggling with a rules change that handicapped his injected nitromethane Funny Car at the North American Nationals, Weis qualified second with a 5.902 at 239.14. Two more qualifying sessions, capped by the "Night of Fire" Saturday night, will conclude qualifying and set the fields for Sunday's final eliminations.

Results provided by the FastNews Network, courtesy of Summit Racing Equipment ** http://www.summitracing.com/ **