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The crew went to work and in about an hour the car was rolling to the starting line again. Atmospheric conditions by then were almost exactly the same as they had been for the first lap. In response to questions on whether he was going to change anything for the second lap, Rector told this reporter that he had closed a couple of fuel jets at the top end of the track. That would normally feed more fuel into the engine at the top end making it "fat" and perhaps taking a little performance away from the engine. He indicated that he would open those jets for the second lap and do nothing else. He evidently had a change of heart and did change a jet in the barrel valve in the staging lanes.

On the historic 5.985 lap the car left hard again. Perhaps Rector had "softened" the tune-up a little as the 60 footer slowed a tad (.967). Chances are good that the .963 60-footer (which not too many years ago was a time that a fuel car would run) from the previous lap had made him a little nervous and he wanted to make sure the car didn't go into tire shake. It must have worked, as the car ran straight, true, and dry from the hit of the throttle and stormed to a 5.02 1,000-ft clocking and the record breaking 5.985.

"I knew that when he got past the one-two shift without shake we would run the number," Rector said later.

Stott took the 'Vette directly to the NHRA-manned scales and weighed in at 2545. The NHRA tech crew, on hand for the Sportsman event, immediately teched the car. The blower was a Kobelco Top Fuel model and the overdrive actually figured out to 28.6. It had a two-disc clutch and a 4.56 gear. Not a legal Pro Mod, but certainly a first cousin. Somehow appropriate for the Carolinas.

NHRA's Division 2 tech crew, on hand for the sportsman race, teched Mitch Stott's five-second 'slammer from the blower overdrive to the rear gear and found it to be 100-percent legal per NHRA/IHRA/AMS Pro Mod rules for overdrive, clutch discs, and rearend ratio. The only variance from those rules for this car was its weight -- it rolled across the scales at 2545 lbs after the pass. Just as a note, with a full tank of methanol the car probably pulled to the starting line at 2600 lbs.

Racer and chassis builder Tommy Mauney (who built the 'Vette that Stott broke the record with) put up $500 to the first in the fives. It didn't appear to bother him that he had to part with the "Benjamins" in this photo.

Driver Mitch Stott (right) and engine builder/tuner Jimmy Rector hold up five fingers representing their barrier-breaking five-second doorslammer lap.

There is no doubt that atmospheric conditions had a great deal to do with the performance. The following day, when temps hovered around the 70 degree mark, the corrected air was around 1200 feet, and the team had the weight back in the car, it slowed about two-tenths as did every other car except Shannon Jenkins' nitrous-powered Camaro.

So, the five-second barrier, Mitch Stott, Jimmy Rector and even ancient Darlington Dragway are a permanent part of drag racing history. And Mitch Stott can't stop grinning because, after all, the bottom line is that he is the first in the fives driving a doorslammer. Unless Mother Nature provides unique conditions again, and these cars are allowed to run with the weight out again then he may hold the title of being the only five-second doorslammer driver for a long while.

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