MOHNTON, PA (May 6, 2011) – On a day filled with firsts and record runs, it was only fitting that Frankie Taylor had the final say.
The 2010 American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Pro Extreme World Champion made the final pass during Friday's second qualifying session of the Penske Truck Leasing Inaugural Northeast Drags at Maple Grove Raceway and it turned out to be one for the history books.
Just moments after Joey Martin's Lowmad made the quickest run in PX history with a 3.584, Taylor topped him, going an incredible 3.581 at 210.11 miles per hour to finish the day with the quickest pass in Pro Extreme history on a historic ADRL debut at Maple Grove.
"That was pretty sick," Taylor said. "I thought Joey could run in the .50s and we said if he went faster than our (first qualifying run), we were going to try to beat him. We turned on an extra one for him."
Taylor and his Nitro Fish-themed Corvette sent the fans home happy, but he was far from the only highlight on the lightning-quick track.
There was a flurry of firsts on one remarkable pass in Pro Nitrous as Mahana Al-Naemi and Khalid Al-Balooshi combined for the quickest and fastest side-by-side run in PN history.
Al-Naemi put up the quickest pass in the history of PN racing, going 3.776, while Al-Balooshi's 200.38 mph made him the first-ever PN car to break the 200 mph barrier.
"We knew when the sun went down it was going to be fast," said the legendary Shannon Jenkins, who is Al-Naemi's crew chief. "The conditions were real close to what they were in Doha (Qatar).
"Mahana came out today and made two consistent runs, so that was good."
Al-Naemi's, Al-Balooshi's and Taylor's runs will all need to be backed up on Saturday for each to stand as official records.
After two qualifying sessions, Chuck Ulsch's 3.95 put him atop Extreme 10.5, while Ashley Owens' 4.05 left him with the familiar top spot in Pro Extreme Motorcycle.
Dean Goforth is the No. 1 qualifier in Extreme Pro Stock after one day, going 4.06.
Friday's first qualifying session was wiped away after moisture at the top end of the track pushed back the start of the event nearly three hours.
The final qualifying session on Saturday starts at 11 a.m., with eliminations to follow.
Taylor will need a 3.616 to back up his amazing run on Friday night, but he was very much looking forward to running under the lights at Maple Grove.
It didn't appear it would happen after a light rain forced a short delay, but Taylor made it count when racing resumed.
"That felt pretty good," Taylor said. "We're having a great time. It's a nice track and facility.
Martin's impressive 3.584 puts him at No. 2, while teammates J.R. Todd and Alex Hossler are third and fourth with a 3.641 and a 3.650, respectively.
After going 3.79 last month, Al-Naemi of Al-Anabi Racing had an even better run at Maple Grove in a Pro Nitrous qualifying session Friday night that was one for the ages.
Seven cars ended up 3.83 or quicker, with Burton Auxier's 3.804 putting him second. Mike Castellana's career-best 3.822 has him third, while Al-Balooshi's evening run puts him fourth (3.823). Crew chief Brandon Switzer admits the Speedtech team was going for the 200 mph mark.
"That 200 mph is something that was really hard to get to. It was almost elusive," Switzer said. "It feels good to get that done, but now that we've accomplished that, we want to get a good E.T. to go along with it."
In Ulsch's first ADRL event of the year, the Extreme 10.5 world-speed record holder went 3.95 and that was good enough for it to stand up.
Billy Glidden is second with a 3.97, while Dan Millen, whose car went up in flames last month, is third with a 4.00 after his Mustang was quickly pieced back together following the fire.
Ulsch has a new motor and blower in his '68 Camaro, and he will be shooting even higher on Saturday.
"I'm surprised it stood up," Ulsch said. " It's nice for us to be here and I love racing in the ADRL.
"We're pretty satisfied so far, but this car potentially has 3.70s in it. A (3.95) isn't going to win these races and that's what we're here to do."
The much-ballyhooed 3-second run didn't come for Owens in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, but the Fast by Gast bike did continue to dominate the class on Friday.
His 4.054 came during his first pass and then he broke a motor shooting for a 3-second run during the second qualifying session.
"We tried to push it a little bit there, but I felt it going away and I got out of it," Owens said. "It was as good a time as any to try to go for it, but it's not like we haven't tried before.
"You never know what's going to happen. A lot of people thought it was a given it would happen at Maple Grove, but it doesn't always work out like that."
Ronald Procopio impressed in jumping to the No. 2 spot with a 4.142, while Terry Schweigert's 4.143 has him in third.
After a forgettable first pass where he had trouble with his radio, Dean Goforth rebounded with a 4.064 in Extreme Pro Stock.
He doesn't think it will hold up in a loaded field that currently has a qualifying bump of 4.16, but Goforth remains impressed with how his new Jerry Haas Race Car continues to perform.
"We went up there in the first round and had 2-3 things go wrong," Goforth said. "To be able to come back and go to the No. 1 spot is a pretty good sign. That was pretty cool.
"It's a good time, but I'm not too surprised. Sonny's given us an awesome engines and this is the best car Jerry Haas has ever given us. This car is really good."
Anthony Stanco was the No. 1 qualifier through two rounds in Pro Junior Dragster after posting an incredible .000 reaction time. Right behind him is Alexander Oppen, who had a strong .001 reaction time.
