Four-time and reigning Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous world champion Jim Halsey closed out Friday qualifying at the DeCerbo Construction PDRA American Doorslammer Challenge presented by Callies with a weekend-best pass to qualify No. 1 going into Saturday eliminations. Halsey’s 3.639-second pass at 207.66 MPH gave the points leader his second consecutive low qualifier award at the PDRA’s third race of the season.
Points leader Jim Halsey went into the final Pro Nitrous qualifying session qualified third in his Brandon Switzer-tuned “Daddy Shark” ’68 Camaro. But with a first-round bye run up for grabs for the No. 1 qualifier, Halsey and team went for it. The result was a 3.639 at 207.66, the quickest of eight 3.60-second passes on the final qualifying order.
“With struggling on the first run and not running what we thought we should run on the second run, it’s pretty rewarding,” Halsey said, thanking his tight-knit crew. “The track here is different from day to night. It’s a big swing and you’ve got to be careful, and that’s what bit us this morning. It was pretty hot – 120 degrees I think it was. We just missed it a little bit.”
The final qualifying session also counted as the final round of the Structural Concrete Nitrous Wars race-within-a-race, which saw Halsey defeat engine builder Billy “The Kid” Albert and his 3.694. It was Halsey’s third consecutive Nitrous Wars win for engine builder Gene Fulton and Fulton Competition Engines.
Halsey will have a bye run to start Saturday eliminations.
“That’s a big plus for us,” Halsey said. “That’s one reason why we wanted to do what we did tonight. And then after that, I think it will be OK because the sun will be off the racetrack some and we’ll be fine.”
Jay Cox fired off a 3.663 at 206.92 in his Musi-powered Butner Construction ’69 Camaro known as “The Pumpkin” to qualify second. Just a few thousandths of a second behind Cox, fellow North Carolina resident Chris Rini ran a 3.668 at 204.35 in his Buck-powered ATI Performance ’69 Camaro to claim the third spot.
This story was originally published on May 27, 2023. 
