24TH ANNUAL QUALAFAB STREET MACHINE SHOOTOUT ATTRACTS BIG TURNOUT OF RACERS Through the years the Qualafab Street Machine Shootout has been filled with quite a variety of drama and excitement. And 2011 was certainly no different. This year’s race attracted the largest number of racers in the twenty-four year history of the event on the hottest race night of the season. In convincing fashion, Paja Agatonovic from Beaverton, Oregon, delivered a number of 7-second performances to sweep his second straight Unlimited Street title. In the nighttime final, Paja drove his `69 Camaro to low e.t. and top speed of the meet at 7.39-189.83 to hammer the turbo Lumina of Shawn Miles. One round before the finals, eastern Idaho guns Rick Gray and Adam Adamson came up on the short end of the stick in each of their semi-final bouts. The heads-up index classes were very popular once again this year as nearly a hundred racers took shots to try and qualify in one of eight different categories of both Street Machine and Street Bike. The Boise Muffler Gold Cup chase featured quite an array of eliminator winners. With temperatures warming into the lower 90’s, individual champions included: Kevin Higgins (Super Pro), Randy Williamson (Pro), Jimmy Johnson (Sportsman), Craig Jensen (Sled/Bike), Casey Compton (Jr. Lightning) and Paige Harris (Jr. Thunder). But perhaps the quote of the night, which occurred in the Pepsi Winner’s Circle came from first-time winner Brent Borchers who was totally elated, “This is just the best. I’ve never won before and to tell you the truth, I’m hooked. You’ll be seeing a lot more of me in the future”, following his big victory in No Box Gambler. It’s people like Brent and many others that continue to convey to all of us within the New Crew and our Track Staff that Drag Racing is positively the BEST. In case you hadn’t heard us say it lately, “we love what we do and really enjoy the fact that many of you do, too”. We hope you enjoy a quick glimpse of the color and excitement from this year’s Street Shootout and Gold Cup point’s stop. We’d like to say thanks to Gary Himes and staff photographers for giving us an opportunity to showcase some of the cars and people attending this year’s event. Should you wish to order any of these outstanding shots or winner’s circle enlargements, be sure and drop us an email and we’ll be glad to put you in touch (via email) with the credited photographer.     Firebird Home Page 1 Page 2