Drag Illustrated Issue 114, October 2016 | Page 129
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