Darlington Thursday Qualifying Notes

Top Fuel

Bruce Litton - Litton didn't fare too well in the first qualifying attempt and smoked the tires and shut-off, slowing to an 8.45.

Nitro Harley

John Mancuso - Mancuso fired off the early shot in Nitro Harley qualifying by rebounding from his Australian crash to post a 6.690/212.39. His run was only bettered by a 6.65 and he completed the first day as the second quickest entry.

Pro Funny Car

Von Smith - Smith opened with an excellent baseline run of 5.994/238.05. The NitroFish/Jensen machine is currently in the fifth spot.

Pro Modified

Shannon Jenkins - Jenkins showed up at Darlington with the new Viper, but elected not to run on Thursday due to unfinished details on the car. He will make his first runs on Friday.

Tommy Mauney - Mauney debuted his new Willys and immediately got down to business with the quickest qualifying lap of the first session, a 6.404/222.80. He holds the quickest run by .011.

Ed Hoover - Hoover launched hard, but rattled the tires and slowed to a 10.361/84.35. He's currently in the 24th spot.

Dale Brinsfield - Brinsfield found the baseline that he was looking for and the Camaro responded with a 6.470/217.70. He holds the 10th spot.

Mike Castellana - Castellana shut-down immediately off of the line and coasted when the car drifted out of the groove. He by-passed the scales and his run was disqualified.

Pro Stock

Chris Holbrook - Holbrook's only run of the day resulted in a serious bout of tireshake which forced him to abort the qualifying attempt. He's currently unqualified.

John Montecalvo - John Montecalvo got off to a good start in qualifying be snaring the quickest run with a 6.695/207.69 lap.

Gene Wilson - Wilson, making his debut as part of the Charlie Hunt team, found a good baseline as he piloted the machine to a 6.779/203.83.

Dwayne Rice - Rice ended the first round of qualifying as the fifth quickest in his entry with a 6.746/206.80.

Pro Outlaw

Mick Snyder - Snyder picked up where his dad, World Champion Larry left off at and claimed the second quickest lap of the first session with a 6.319/214.01. Mark McElwee - McElwee was opposite of Snyder and slipped into the third spot with a 6.446/200.62.

Laurie Cannister - Cannister didn't get off to a good start and could only manage a 6.900/139.39