After seeing Chris Little dump the laundry at 1,000 feet and still run an 8.70 in the brutal Texas heat, we asked him if he was going to take it easy on his competition and just use the nitrous for half his pass. He responded that as long as the rules are what they are, he's going to keep piling it on. You can imagine the other DR racers waking up in a cold sweat with visions of Chris trashing the whole field like the Hulk-Chris smash turbo cars, Chris smash blower cars. With only two cars in the field, Chris didn't even have to get angry at Ennis, but he scored the top qualified spot with an 8.78/160.51. Then he took it a little easy on Phillip Clemmons, running only an 8.95 to Phillip's 9.25.
You have to hand it to Drag Radial stalwart Phillip Clemmons for not giving up in the face of Chris Little's onslaught. He has always been in the mix, pushing his '88 Mustang into the high 8s with a nonintercooled ProCharger and a 342ci small-block. Unfortunately, the heat was just too much for Phillip's ride at Ennis. Even though he picked up some power from a cam change, he was off his usual pace. Still, he hopes to have something for Chris in Maple Grove. At Ennis, Phillip managed only a 10.37/126 qualifying pass. Even after stepping up to 9.25 in the finals, it just wasn't enough.
If you weren't sure things were heating up in Real Street, all you'd have to do is talk to Chris Tuten. Between Columbus and Ennis, he got his 9-second NHRA license and had his car certified to break the RS barrier. We've yet to see anyone do it in competition, but Chris is right there on the doorstep. In the blistering Ennis heat, he called out all the blower boys with a 10.18/133 number-one qualifying pass. He said the hot track was killing his 60-foots and pumping up the mph, but the e.t.'s were impressive nonetheless. Chris could have taken it easy on a bye run and versus a struggling Justin Burcham, but he ripped off a 10.22 and a 10.15 just to let Brian Meyer know he was coming. In the final, Chris got Tree'd, but Brian missed a gear and handed him the easy win, 10.18 to 15.25.
Brian Meyer couldn't run one of those trick new T5s as he did at WFC, but it didn't really seem to hurt him. Even in the heat, he scored the number-two qualified spot thanks to an impressive 10.22/133. Brian had the easy road to the finals with a free ride thanks to a broken Robin Lawrence and a bye, so the AFM team was able to run the car without heating it up too much. It looked to be a clash of the two most consistently quick cars in RS action. Brian got the early jump off the Tree, but tranny troubles and a missed gear had him loafing to the finish line, while Chris Tuten was already counting his points.
You have to feel for Justin Burcham. Coming off one of the most impressive runs in Factory Stock since his pal Michael Washington took over the mantle, Justin scored Latemodel Restoration Supply as a sponsor and was running his first race in LRS' backyard. However, even after spending considerable time on the chassis dyno, Justin is still struggling to get the engine to rev. He says it's killing him, and we believe it. At least Ennis lasted more than one round for him. In round one Justin squared off against John O'Brien and they held a battle royale of 11-second Real Streeters. Justin Tree'd John and took his first RS round with an 11.10 to John's 11.60. It was a short celebration, though, as Chris Tuten came calling in round two.
It's been a rough go of it for John O'Brien. He jumped into Real Street last season, then pulled back to rev up his program. We think he's tried just about every blower out there. These days he's running Vortech hardware, but he's fighting the rev monster too. After making it all the way to Ennis from Georgia, John landed in the third qualified spot with a 10.79/ 126 pass that shows he's headed in the right direction. But, a missed Second gear in round one let Justin Burcham go by, so John and his crew hit the road to escape the Texas heat.