Well, that ought to answer a few questions. 

Ever since Tyler Hilton and his dad Bobby announced they would purchase the championship-proven dragster once campaigned by driver Tony Bartone and tuner Steve Boggs, many wondered just how well they would fare. 

After the first and lone session of Top Fuel qualifying on Friday afternoon at the 30th annual California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield, California, Hilton blistered his way to the No. 1 qualifying position. Hilton blasted out a 5.751 at 226 miles per hour out of the trailer, thus marking a career-best elapsed time for the Great Expectations driver. 

“We went .77 or .78 with the big block, so yeah, this was a lot better than that,” Hilton said. “The run was so smooth. The motor is really happy, just put everything back together, service it real good, and try and step on it tomorrow.” 

Surprisingly enough, there was more left in the tank as the run was a planned shutoff at 1000 feet.

Adam Sorokin, driving the legendary Champion Speed Shops AA/FD, slid into the number two spot after the first session with a 5.757 at 244 miles per hour.

In the lane opposite Hilton during that number qualifying run was Pete Kaiser, who was returning to the seat of a Nostalgia Top Fuel dragster after a lengthy absence and seemed to dust the rust off pretty fast. Kaiser stopped the clocks at 5.795 seconds at 248 miles per hour to round out the quick three in Top Fuel. 

Championship points leader Bret Williamson currently sits fourth with a 5.999 at 251 miles per hour. Pete Wittenberg’s off-pace 7.27 anchors the eight-car field.

Seven drivers on the outside looking on are going to try and punch their way into the show during the final two sessions of qualifying tomorrow.  

In Nitro Funny Car, Bobby Cottrell and team owner Bucky Austin continued their domination as the four-time, and reining National Championship set the provisional pace on Friday afternoon in Bakersfield. With two sessions set for the Funny Cars on Friday, Cottrell stood on his time of 5.679 at 250 miles per hour in the first session of qualifying. That number held despite Cottrell sitting out the second run on Friday. 

“Good start. We wanted to run it somewhere in the ’60s this weekend,” Cottrell said. “Bucky did what he usually does, and we came out and ran .67. So tomorrow we’ll try and step it up, which I’m sure everyone else is too, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. 

Tim Boychuck was on a heck of a pass during the first qualifying session on Friday before his 1969 Camaro z28 Funny Car ran into mechanical problems down track. He was able to come back and step right up in the second session, clocking in a 5.684 at 252 miles per hour to put him in the number two spot. 

Dan Horan also had a solid day on Friday, running a 5.708 at 253 miles per hour, putting him third headed into the final session of Funny Car qualifying on Saturday. Bill Windham sits on the bubble with a 7.083.

James Day and Jeff Gregory are on the outside looking in, with only one shot left tomorrow. 

FULL RESULTS FOUND HERE