NHRA FMDRS: Fuentes, Stidam take lead at State Capital Dragway

BATON ROUGE, La. - Rookie Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Joe Fuentes of Leander, Texas, set a track record for speed as well as elapsed time today at State Capitol Dragway with a pass of 5.478 seconds at 258.39 mph. Meanwhile, in the Federal-Mogul Funny Car category, Jackie Stidham of Chickasaw, Okla., took the number one spot with his pass of 5.818 seconds at 245.76 mph. Fuentes' pass was solid from start to finish. As he crosses the stripe and the time and speed were posted, the crowd of over 3000 stood and cheered as they had just witnessed history here at the dragway. "I actually thought it was an average pass until they told me after getting out of the car," said an excited Fuentes. "Ora Vasquez has turned this team around with his ability to set the car up so well. That, combined with the team gelling together so well are the real reason why we are in this spot today." Jackie Stidham is setting his sights on his third consecutive event win of the season in only three events. Stidham clearly made the smoothest pass of the day showing why he is the man to beat in the South Central Division. "We were real optimistic on that first pass of the day," said Stidham. "We saw some of the guys in Comp do real well ahead of us and we set the car up the same way we did for the Dallas race. The track was in great condition and everything else just fell right into place." In Comp Eliminator competition, Bill Kent of Midland, Texas, posted the quickest time ever on his C/D dragster with a 6.995 second pass (0.705 seconds under index) Drivers making the most of their two qualifying attempts to take home the Sealed-Power Low Qualifier award totaling $2500 were; Joe Fuentes, Federal Mogul Dragster; Jackie Stidham, Federal-Mogul Funny Car; Bill Kent, Comp Eliminator; Scooter Anderson, Super Stock and Jeff Swanson in Stock. Gates to State Capitol Dragway open at 8 a.m. with eliminations in all categories scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

The following are Saturday's final qualifying results from the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at State Capitol Dragway:

FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER 1. Joe Fuentes, Leander, Texas, 5.478 seconds, 258.39 mph vs. 8. Erica Walsh, Lafayette, La., 6.073, 252.10

2. Shelly Howard, Tulsa, Okla., 5.518, 257.51 vs. 7. Jason Cannon, Middleburg, Fla., 5.847, 201.43

3. Troy Buff, Spring, Texas, 5.533, 257.73 vs. 6. Gene Snow, Fort Worth, Texas, 5.788, 225.28

4. Lee Callaway, Channelview, Texas, 5.754, 240.32 vs. 5. Marty Thacker, Robinson, Ill., 5,768, 240.96

Did Not Qualify 9. Karl Brunkowski, Magnolia, Texas, 6.661, 203.29

FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR 1. Jackie Stidham, Chickasha, Okla.,'00 Camaro, 5.818 seconds, 245.76 mph vs. 8. E.J. Johnson, Violet, La., '98 Achieva, 7.865, 200.21

2. Kebin Kinsley, Kennedale, Texas, '98 Achieva, 5.981, 233.34 vs. 7. Richard Shaver, San Antonio, Texas, '99 Camaro, 7.126, 163.60

3. Jimmy Jones, Cleburne, Texas, '98 Camaro, 6.137, 235.47 vs. 6. Todd Simpson, Ponder, Texas, '99 Avenger, 6.625, 156.49

4. Warren Dauzat, Baton Rouge, La., '96 Achieva, 6.271, 230.06 vs. 5. Steve Burck, Corpus Christi, Texas, '98 Avenger, 6.401, 214.79

COMP ELIMINATOR 1. Bill Kent, Midland, Texas, C/D '00 Dragster, 6.995 seconds (0.705 seconds under index) 2. Dean Howerton, Lake Havasu, Ariz., C/D '01 Dragster, 7.025,(-0.675) 3. Joe Swindoll, La Porte, Texas, B/AA '63 Corvette, 7.267, (-0.653) 4. Scott Benham, La Grande, Texas, D/AA '96 Lumina, 7.919, (-0.641) 5. Joey Tanksley, Greenwell Springs, La., B/ED '91 Dragster, 6.974, (-0.636) 6. Greg Williams, Carthage, Texas, E/SM '01 Grand Am, 8.361, (-0.609) 7. Alan Swindoll, Houston, Texas, B/AA '98 Firebird, 7.331, (-0.589) 8. Charlie Watson, Humble, Texas, F/A '96 Lumina, 8.673, (-0.547) 9. Donald Baskin, Brighton, Tenn., F/A '98 Cutlass, 8.725, (-0.495) 10. Bill Morse, Richardson, Texas, D/AA '99 Pontiac, 8.067, (-0.493)

SUPER STOCK 1. Scooter Anderson, Bartlett, Tenn., SS/G '67 Chevrolet II, 9.557 seconds, (-1.193 seconds under index) 2. Brent Johnson, Lecompte, La., SS/NA '66 Impala, 11.306, (-1.144) 3. Terry Emmons, Pasadena, Texas, SS/JA '96 Firebird, 10.264,(-1.036) 4. Joe Teuton, Gray, La., SS/AA '68 Barracuda, 8.967, (-1.033) 5. John Clegg, Victoria, Texas, SS/AM '73 Firebird, 8.544, (-1.006) 6. Ronnie Cardwell, Ruston, La., GT/HA '95 Achieva, 10.383, (-0.967) 7. Jeffrey Miller, Pearland, Texas, GT/AA '97 Firebird, 9.482,(-0.918) 8. Bobby Cassard, Donaldsville, La., SS/KA '87 Firebird,10.635,(-0.915)

9. Elisha Boyd, Sumrall, Miss., GT/BA '99 S-10, 9.654, (-0.896) 10. Buz Post, Arlington, Texas, SS/CM '98 Grand Am, 9.016, (-0.884)

STOCK ELIMINATOR 1. Jeff Swanson, Arlington, Tenn., K/S '93 Mustang,11.533 seconds,(1.317 seconds under index) 2. Ronnie Cardwell, Ruston, La., K/SA '90 Firebird, 11.720,(-1.230) 3. George Cox, Memphis, Tenn., E/SA '97 Pontiac, 10.771,(-1.229) 4. Verne Buchanan, Conway, Ark., T/SA '73 Mustang, 11.443,(-1.157) 5. Dan Sniesak, Wales, Mich., GT/SA '97 Ram, 12.795, (-1.155) 6. Jim Cimarolli, Sulphur Springs, Texas, C/SA '70 Nova,10.555,(-1.145) 7. Jimmy Hidalgo, Donaldsville, La., E/SA '97 Camaro, 10.875,(-1.125) 8. Kent La Porte, New Iberia, La., M/SA '85 Camaro, 12.037,(-1.113) 9. Andy Thornburg, Wilmer Ala., J/SA '79 Aspen, 11.661, (-1.089) 10. Billy Lynn, Searcy, Ark., GT/SA '95 S-10, 12.879, (-1.071)