ATCHISON ACES FUNNY CAR

Canadian Rob Atchison scored the number-one position in Alcohol Funny Car qualifying with a career-best 5.831 at 238.47-mph pass. Making the accomplishment more remarkable is that it came on the completely rebuilt car's first full pass. He made a run to about the thousand-foot mark in the first session, then ran it out the back door on a picture-perfect run in the second.

The "new" car is based on the one Atchison crashed off the end of the Norwalk strip in 2001. The original chassis was built by Ed Horton, but the latest version was put together by "Gordy" in Streetsboro, OH. "It's perfect to within thousandths," Atchison said.

AND FINALLY

Although he's in his second year of competition at the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge competition, Wallingford, CT's Cody McManama had to first earn his IHRA competition license at Rockingham, but laid down a nice, straight 6.308 in the third Pro Mod session. Unfortunately for "Cody Mac" and his flamed '57, it missed getting into the field by just .002 secs.

DRO's latest project car, a B/Econo Altered 2002 Firebird, made its debut at the Rock, driven by AMS Challenge coordinator Kenny Nowling in Top Sportsman. Nowling struggled with new-car gremlins all weekend, though, and never managed a full pass under power before the rain cut short the almost-there tweaking.

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