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The No. 2 qualifier behind Jim Head of Columbus, Ohio, Litton's biggest
win of the day came at the expense of Millican, the 2000 IHRA Rookie
of the Year who, in the first round, recorded the quickest quarter mile
in series history at 4.621 seconds. In round two, however, the Werner
Enterprises dragster lost traction and slowed to14.750 seconds while
Litton raced to victory in 4.723 seconds.
Pro Stock Winner Gene Wilson got not only his first professional win
but also the first win in Pro Stock for a Mercury since the days of
AHRA, Lee Hunter and Animal Jim Feurer's "Mammoth Merc". Wilson's average
reaction time for eliminations, driving his Jerry Haas-built, Jon Kaase-powered
Cougar, was an incredible .422. His performance included an otherworldly
.401 in the second round. Wilson won two rounds in eliminations including
the final on hole shots, which may be a record of sorts for a professional
category.
Top Fuel winner Pro Romine won the war but lost the points battle at
Rockingham. Despite winning the event in a close race in the finals
against Bruce Litton Romine left the event in second place. That curious
situation occurred due to the IHRA "black flag" rules, which deduct
points for oiling the track.
Clay Millican's 4.621 pass during eliminations was the quickest pass
in IHRA history pass by over five-hundredth's of a second. He ran the
lap in the first round against Jim Bailey driving the "Havoc" Top Fuel
dragster (above). Millican was so far in front of Bailey that he lifted
way before the lights and only ran a 289.57 speed on the pass. He did
run the Mike Klober-tuned car to the eighth-mile in 3.104/265.95 against
Bailey's 3.33/237 for the same distance.
Pro Mod winner Alan Pittman attributes some of his success to a new
engine program. He is now running a supercharged Alan Johnson Olds built
and tuned by Brian Robbins and Darren Mayer of Redline Designs.
The bump for Pro Modified was an unbelievable 6.340! Forty-five Pro
Mods were on hand to qualify for the 16-car field. The sixteenth qualifier
was one William Rojas from San Juan, Puerto Rico. DRO believes he is
the first Caribbean-based professional racer to qualify for a Pro Mod
field.
For the first time in IHRA Nitro Harley history a racer qualified
with a Lenco transmissions instead of the B&J trans that most riders
have been using. But the big news was that some of the racers are looking
at a "Jackshaft" direct drive unit that, if used, will take 50 lbs off
the bikes which have no minimum weight rule. Can a five second injected-nitro
Harley pass be too far off?
Mike Romine made it to the semi's of the bike class, but was defeated
by eventual final round winner Johnny Mancuso with a 6.878/299.88 to
Romine's 6.946/201.40.
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