Mike Hill, one of the most popular drivers on the ORSCA circuit, placed his nitrous-assisted 2002 Mustang fourth on the qualifying list, then eliminated Chris Phillips before bowing out with a false start in round two.

With track temperatures soaring to more than 120 degrees on Sunday afternoon, no one made a major jump in the last-chance qualifying session, leaving Brainerd track operator Steve Longley to round out the 15-car field with a 5.038-secs effort in his wild, blown Dodge Stratus.

Robbins got the bye in round one, and needed it, too, as he got out of shape early in the run and had to abort the pass. Third-place qualifier Rob Hale went low for the round with a 4.772-secs win over Bryan Morris. Also looking strong was Kirk with a 4.782 against Longley, who made a real race of it thanks to a .044 holeshot and improving to a 4.887.

Despite losing in the second round, no one made more passes at Brainerd that “Outlaw” Jack Barfield. Even after being eliminated from competition, Barfield made several test runs in preparation for the double-points ORSCA race Sept. 18-19, at Huntsville Dragway in Alabama.

Brian Goethe fell to Robbins in round two, while Kirk received a redlight gift courtesy of Randy Petet. Hill also suffered an uncharacteristic redlight start against Marcus Birt, and Hale prevailed over ORSCA points leader Jack Barfield. In the semis, Kirk overcame another .044 holeshot, this time by Hale, and Robbins made another solo pass after Birt’s car broke during his burnout.

Outlaw_final.jpg CUTLINE: In a battle of Camaros, Steve Kirk (near lane) faced off against Terry Robbins for the Outlaw 10.5 win at Brainerd Optimist Dragway. Except for a redlight pass in round two, Kirk was left on in each round, but explained later that he was having trouble with the torque converter all day in his car, which prevented it from coming up hard against the transbrake for the launch.

“It felt like someone just came up and hit the (power) switch while I was doing my burnout,” Birt explained. “I don’t know if it’s shorting out or what, but it’s been doing this ever since we got flooded at Macon. It’ll run okay for a few runs and then just shut off. It’s weird. We’ve had it all checked out, but there’s obviously something wrong in there somewhere.”