Keith Haney heard all the wisecracks; largely those from Lights Out 9 promoter Donald "Duck" Long and his cronies over the last week. The good-natured ribbing focused on everything from his physical stature to his driving ability. 

Thursday night during Radial Vs. The World's lone session, Haney shut them all up, and didn't even have to open his mouth. 

Haney, the driver of the Enigma 2016 Camaro, thundered to the provisional low qualifying position with a 3.858 elapsed time at 196.62 miles per hour.

"I really didn't do anything but let go of a button, I have the team who have done all of the work, and they made it all happen," Haney explained. "At the end of the day, it's more about them than me."

Haney's purpose-built Camaro struggled in Wednesday's open-testing which resulted in long hours for the Enigma braintrust of Brandon Switzer and Bradon Pesz.

"There was a four-hour conversation Thursday evening that I was not a part of," Haney admitted. "The Brandon's and our shop guys came together with a plan for a new combination."

Haney had one test hit on Thursday afternoon, and consensus beforehand was one of uncertainty. 

"At first I was supposed to drive it to the 330, but then I was told to go to the finish line, so I did it."

Haney lit up the scoreboards with a conservative 4.04 elapsed time, and then baseline run was enough data for the team to tune for Q-1.

"Everything worked as it was supposed to, or at least that's what they told me," Haney said. "The way it usually works, is I ask them what they did and they respond with get in the car and drive." 

Just how impressive was Haney's 3.858? The second quickest Radial vs. The World entry was former NHRA regular Taylor Lastor, who turned in a 3.926. Paulo Giust was third with a 3.998.

NHRA Pro Stock driver Alex Laughlin ended the day as fourth with a 4.158 in his drag radial debut. 

In a scary moment, Radial vs. The World/Top Sportsman racer Andrew Johnson lost control of his '57 Chevy and slammed into the retaining wall. He exited the car under his own power, and appeared uninjured.