Friday’s three qualifying sessions for the Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com South Carolina Spectacular, the first of six scheduled events this year for the Coca-Cola Outlaw Doorslammer Series (ODSS) presented by Hooter’s, resulted in Tony Johnson leading the headlining Outlaw 10.5 class, Greg Godwin at the head of the Pro Modified list, Eric Dillard first in Limited Street and Wes Whittle on top of the Outlaw 275 Drag Radial field.

Johnson’s 1968 Camaro tripped the eighth-mile timers at Orangeburg Dragstrip in 4.43 seconds at 179.63 miles per hour, followed by Brian Harrell and Danny Lowry, who will be unable to compete today after crashing his 1998 Mustang in the last qualifying round.

“It just got over toward the (right) wall and I thought it was going to stick, but all of a sudden it turned left and the back end came out from under me,” Lowry recalled. “It hit pretty hard, but I don’t think there’s really that much damage other than cosmetic. It did tear up the four-link (rear suspension) pretty bad, though, which is what really bums me out because we’d just got that working perfectly.”

Drag-racing fans make heroes of certain personalities. Then often they love to cheer against them, favoring the underdog.
 
But few reveled in the performance dip of 14-time champion John Force, who rebounded from a devastating September 2007 injury but is just now starting to return to form on the track (leading the standings all season and winning three races). Off the track, he still regales anyone who will listen with his outrageous -- and outrageously funny -- stories.
 
And he was vintage Force Friday at Route 66 Raceway during a rain delay of qualifying for the United Association Route 66 Nationals. He took playful aim at teammate and son-in-law Robert Hight, his closest rival in the points chase, as well as rival team owner Don Schumacher, and even his own crew.

Robert Hight can’t help his sentimentality. The defending Funny Car world champion breathed a sigh of relief following the disqualification of Cruz Pedregon following the final qualifying session at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. Because the NHRA disallowed Pedregon’s run, which would have placed him in the field, Hight’s original opponent John Force was moved up in the qualifying list.

“It is hard for me especially to race John because it is hard to have the same ‘go for the throat’ feeling as you do for the other competitors,” admitted Hight, who retained the top spot on the strength of Friday’s 4.067. “If it wasn’t for him I would not be sitting in that race car. He gave me this opportunity. You do have to blank all that out. You have to go up there and when we race my team wants to beat his team and they want to beat us. You just have to put all that out of your mind and focus on the tree.”

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 13th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Miller Welders at Route 66 Raceway, the tenth of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.  Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

For the third time in the last four years, the team from Bob Lang’s Northeast Division (Division 1) claimed the overall team title at the Jegs Allstars. Following a heated battle, the teams from Divisions 1 and 5 finished in a dead heat with 1,300 points each. Using the tie-breaker method, the win went to the Division 1 squad, which has now won seven championships in the 26-year history of the Jegs Allstars competition. The Division 6 team finished third with 1,000 points.

Jack Beckman raced the new DSR chassis in the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car to No. 5 in qualifying for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

He recorded a 4.151-second pass at 297.29 mph in his first run down Route 66 Raceway in Friday's only session because of a rain delay. The pass was good for No. 3 at the time. In today's two rounds, he posted a 4.159/287.78 (No. 4) and finally a 5.154/147.20, to earn No. 5.

Pro Stock racer had reason to celebrate following Saturday’s first qualifying session at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. In his first race after being forced to the sidelines three years ago, the Louisiana-based Stevens was called over to speak to ESPN2’s Gary Gerould.

Veteran drag racing journalist Ian Tocher is in Orangeburg, SC., for the first event on the Outlaw Door Slammer Series promoted by George Howard and Roy Hill. He'll bring you the behind-the-scenes action throughout the weekend.

Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com is the title sponsor for this event.