Bruce Boland, the only Canadian currently on the Super Chevy tour, shook the tires on his ’53 Corvette almost immediately off the start of his first-round match against Eaves. “I was trying something new and it didn’t like it,” Boland said. “I took some weight off the clutch and I really thought it was going to go straight on down there.”

Jeff Merritt had been battling handling problems all weekend in his 2000 Trans Am, so it was no surprise when he shook again on the launch in the first round against Torkelson. What was surprising to the Merrilveille, IN-based racer, however, was having no rear brakes when he finally reached the top end of the track. “It shook so hard it broke the rearend in half and all the brake lines got twisted and broken back there. The front brakes still worked, but I had no pedal pressure,” he explained. “I’m just glad I didn’t get back into it, that’s for sure.”

Mike Swinarski came up short in a battle of ‘57s in the opening round against Adler after burning a piston near the top end. “We had the tune-up in it from running the eighth yesterday and it was a little too lean,” the Nitro Coupe rookie said. “We don’t have a lot of experience yet and it’s a tricky fuel.”