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As it happened, Eaves' 1957 Chevy failed to
fire on the line, so Boland made a solo pass
that started well but ended with him on and
off the loud pedal several times. "That was
even worse," he stated later. "So now we have
to make a drastic change. With Dan
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(Nickelson)
running .20s, we have to make a big step up
anyway, so it'll either get down the track or
it won't. We have to try something."
Boland left first in the final, but aborted
the run before even reaching half-track when
flames began licking through the firewall. "It
was an electrical fire," he explained. "I thought
I'd kicked a rod out at first, but as soon as
I saw it still had oil pressure I figured it
would be okay."
AND THE REST ...
 Canadian
driver Gary Irving
ran side-by-side with Nickelson in the semis
until his '37 Coupe sashayed toward the right
guardwall about half-track and he had to pedal
it just to stay in the lane. Irving, who suffered
a dislocated shoulder, broken rib, and whiplash
in a hard crash last November at Tucson, said
his chassis was rebuilt in the off-season at
Lowdown Hot Rods in Cambridge, ON, and sports
a new Creative Glass shell.
 Mel
Eaves scored an admittedly "ugly" round-one
win over Mike Swinarski, who crossed the center
line while trying to regain control after going
up in smoke off the launch. Eaves coasted to
the win in his '57 Chevy after it also shook
hard early in the run. "I have a rule," the
RaceNSur owner said. "When it shakes, I lift."
Unfortunately, a broken starter cost him a chance
at Bruce Boland in the semis when he couldn't
answer the call to stage.
 After
bowing out in round one to Boland, Tommy
Howes admitted, "I just ain't got enough
car for these boys yet." Howes ran a few races
with Super Chevy last year, but only as a field
filler for the first round since he was then
burning alcohol in the motor of his 1992 Camaro.
Now, with 15 percent nitro in his tune-up, the
Laytonsville, MD-based racer said he hopes to
go farther in eliminations, but revealed, "this
is a real steep learning curve for me."
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