As the first one out in the first Extreme 10.5 qualifying session on the first day of the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VII, Frankie Taylor sent a first-place message to the rest of the Extreme 10.5 class with an outstanding 3.889-seconds pass at 199.41 mph in his screw-blown 2005 Corvette.

“We’ve been constantly swapping gear ratios, swapping converters, trying everything just to go faster, but this time we went back to our old setup, the way we were running the car in Qatar (over last winter) and it worked,” said Paul Taylor, Frankie’s brother and crew chief. “We kept beating ourselves trying to hit high 3.70s or low .80s, but we decided instead we’d better go for some consistency and try to get some wins.”

As the first one out in the first Extreme 10.5 qualifying session on the first day of the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VII, Frankie Taylor sent a first-place message to the rest of the Extreme 10.5 class with an outstanding 3.889-seconds pass at 199.41 mph in his screw-blown 2005 Corvette.

“We’ve been constantly swapping gear ratios, swapping converters, trying everything just to go faster, but this time we went back to our old setup, the way we were running the car in Qatar (over last winter) and it worked,” said Paul Taylor, Frankie’s brother and crew chief. “We kept beating ourselves trying to hit high 3.70s or low .80s, but we decided instead we’d better go for some consistency and try to get some wins.”

Taylor the driver said the 3.88 surprised him a little, only because they’d set the car up for a low 3.90s pass just to gain some data on the U.S. 131 Motorsports Park eighth mile.

“I guess everything we did worked because it went even faster, but that’s okay,” he said.

The Taylor team sat out Friday afternoon’s second session, but returned that night to run another solid 3.90 pass that convinced them they’re on the right path.

“I underestimated it a little that last pass,” Paul Taylor said. “But that would be a perfect setup for racing tomorrow, so I’m not too worried about it.”

Defending class champion and current points leader Dan Millen stepped up from 10th to second place with a 3.967 pass in the third round, while 2008 XTF champ Billy Glidden recovered from a loose wheel mishap in the opening round to post a provisional third-place 3.978 in Friday’s last session with one more opportunity to improve on Saturday before eliminations begin.

With 13 XTF entries at the Martin, MI, strip the class will run off a 16-car ladder for only the second time in five ADRL events this year, meaning the top three will receive first-round byes.