DAY FOUR: MARYLAND INTERNATIONAL DRAGWAY, MARYLAND

THE turbo Barra boys were again at the front of the queue for the start of the day’s racing at Maryland International Dragway. Ben Paganoni’s Fox-body Mustang was first cab off the rank, running into the eights yet again with an 8.83@156mph. Benny Neal in the Cresta went 8.93@149mph to move one step closer to his goal of finishing with an eight-second average.

Brenton Gault in the ’55 Chev went 10.71@124mph, which was good enough for the team to pack up and move on.

Harry Haig’s Chevelle started off the day by getting a new right-front rim after a crack that had been in it for a year got bigger and sketchier on the drive from Jersey to Maryland via Delaware. Harry’s first pass was decent – an 8.70@155mph – but the crew had the smell of an 8.5 in their nostrils and so decided to have another shot. An 8.68@156mph was not quite what they were looking for, but at least it was a slight improvement.

The Malibu wagon driven by Robby Abbott and Corty Haig needed much tender loving care to make the overnight drive from Jersey. After multiple breakdowns and repairs and a whole lot of swear words, ‘Malibu Stacy’ rolled through the gates just after lunch and Robby took it out for its only pass of the day – an 11.06@109mph.

Mike Finnegan broke the transmission in the ‘Blasphemi’ ’55 gasser and lost first gear. After battling to fix it most of the day, Finnegan got it patched up and made it to the startline with roughly 15 minutes left. The blown Hemi-powered Chev looked and sounded very second-hand as Finnegan muscled it down the track to run a 10.08, a long way away from the eights it had been running all week. Finnegan was in danger of losing his lead in the A/gas class, but he came back around to the start and went for one hail-mary pass just as the clock struck two. This time it went 9.30@149mph, just enough to keep the class lead going into the final day.

In the Overall stakes, Tom Bailey extended his lead over Bryant Goldstone with a one-and-done 6.27@219mph in the ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ Camaro. Goldstone ran 7.12@204mph in his AMC Javelin, which he called “our crappiest pass in two years”, while third-placed Glenn Hunter ran a consistent 7.36@193mph in his all-steel ’56 Chev.

FINNEGAN’S ’55 GASSER LOOKED AND SOUNDED VERY SECONDHAND AS HE MUSCLED IT DOWN THE TRACK TO RUN A 10.08

A/gas winner in 2017 and ’18, Jarrad Scott’s ’62 Ranchero had to settle for second behind Mike Finnegan’s ‘Blasphemi’ ’55 this year. Jarrad, who hails from Maysville, Iowa, bought the ‘ute’ from Dennis Taylor, who campaigned it at Drag Week 2016. Jarrad has since installed the 540-cube Hemi, TBS blower and Hilborn injection stack with Holley EFI, backed by a Mcleod five-speed manual and 9in