The Wildest Qualifying Run Of The Weekend

What a busy and exciting day here at Bristol Dragway! Today was extra special because I was honored to be selected as the featured driver for this event. That's a huge honor, and it made for a packed day from start to finish. We kicked things off with a walk down the mountain before heading over to an autograph session with the NHRA Legends. From there, it was straight to the Nitro Stage for a Q&A with Hannah, talking all things Top Fuel and Bristol. Before long, it was time to get focused and head back to the trailer to warm up the dragster for Q3. Everything felt right on that run. The burnout was spot on, the car was planted, and it was making a great pass down the racetrack. Then, just before the finish line... BOOM! A massive backfire lifted the supercharger right off the manifold. Even with all that excitement, the car still managed a strong 3.85 at only 308 MPH. Considering what happened, that's pretty impressive! After the run, NHRA had me stand on a set of bathroom scales, which was definitely one of the stranger moments of the day. Somehow, I even called out my weight exactly before stepping on them! We also caught up with Courtney to talk about that and everything else going on around Thunder Valley. Back in the pits, the team got to work preparing for the final qualifying session while we took a look at a cylinder head that suffered some absolutely incredible carnage from the supercharger explosion. When Q4 rolled around, the track was hot and challenging. We felt good heading to the line, but a few hundred feet into the run we drove straight into tire smoke and had to shut it off. As it turned out, that was the story for a lot of teams during the final session. The day wasn't over yet! As soon as I got out of the dragster, I was picked up and taken straight to the TV booth where I joined Courtney and Jason for color commentary during the remainder of qualifying. To say it was a busy day would be an understatement. We're qualified, we're excited, and we're ready for race day. Tomorrow we'll line up against Shawn Reed as eliminations begin here at Bristol Dragway. Let's go racing! Thank you for watching! Please LIKE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE the video if you enjoy following our journey behind the scenes with Rick Ware Racing and the Parts Plus / Rocket Doctor Top Fuel Dragster. #racing #topfuel #dragster #nitro Big Thanks To: ‪@CRCAutoUS‬ ‪@Compcams1976‬ ‪@EdelbrockUSA‬ ‪@SummitRacing‬ ‪@lutzracecarspgh‬ ‪@leighmillicanhubbard‬ ‪@sickthemag‬ ‪@CVF_RACING‬ ‪@STAINLESSWORKSNET‬