Jim Daniels, of Bristol, Pa., drove his Ray Barton Racing 1968 Dodge Dart to the provisional No. 1
spot after two qualifying sessions today in the MoparR HEMIR Challenge Race Series event at the
JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals. Daniels posted an elapsed time (ET) of 8.540 in the first qualifying
session to claim the top spot at National Trail Raceway and then defended his position in the
second qualifying round with a Super Stock class-best ET of 8.511.
"I've worked really hard for this," said Daniels, who will aim for his first career Mopar HEMI
Challenge pole and second career HEMI Challenge win tomorrow. "Ray and David [Barton] have put some
really long hours in preparing the car and the motor. We're really pleased with the car and we're
looking forward to tomorrow.
"I did a pretty lousy job of driving at the Mopar HEMI Challenge event at Indy. Hopefully I can
redeem myself tomorrow."
Daniels was closely trailed by a pack of Mopar-powered Super Stock A/HEMI (SS/AH) Dodge Darts and
Plymouth Barracudas, led by Charlie Westcott Jr., of Parma, Mich. Westcott Jr. was No. 2 after
today's qualifying sessions, posting an ET of 8.533 paired with a class-best speed of 157.25 mph.
"The second run held some potential," said Westcott Jr., driver of the 1968 "Warfish" Barracuda and
owner of numerous Mopar HEMI Challenge event wins. "We'll see what tomorrow holds."
Rounding out the preliminary Mopar HEMI Challenge JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals field, in order,
were David Barton, Gary Wolkwitz, Stephen Herbert, John Rains, Jim Pancake, John Baughman, Don
Bales, Russ Campbell and Jerry Daily.
In the Stock Eliminator class, Charlestown, Ind., native Irv Johns steered his Dodge Challenger
Drag Pak by Mopar to the provisional No. 1 spot. Johns posted an ET of 9.976, the quickest run ever
by a Drag Pak by Mopar vehicle, during the second qualifying session of the day. Johns also earned
the top speed of the class with a run clocked at 134.46 mph.
"We have the fastest Drag Pak on the strip," said Johns. "I love it. It's really an easy car to
drive. The car rode the lights on me, which took some off our time. We can go in the low nines."
Daniels and his fellow Mopar HEMI Challenge Race Series competitors have a final qualifying session
scheduled for tomorrow morning, Sept. 26. Final eliminations for the Mopar HEMI Challenge are
tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
