Chris Coriell wins the first ever Quick 4+4

by Harry Widelitz

After three sessions of qualifying, Paul Major found himself on top of the charts with a blistering 9.803 followed by Chris Coriell, John Carter, David Shen, Brian Miller, Rick White, Brent Grigsby and Bill Maloney on the bump spot at 10.787. Miller had qualified 5th at 10.61 but broke his transmission on his final qualifying run. Drivers 6-8 were moved up and Mike Conway was brought into the ladder in the eighth spot with a 10.91.

Eliminations were underway as Paul Major ran a 10.006 at 139 miles per hour en route to a first round victory over Mike Conway, who could only manage an 11.066 against the number one qualifier. The following pair, John Carter was tree'd by Brent Grigsby, but drove around him with a 10.405 to score a win by a margin of 10 thousandths of a second. Chris Coriell, from East Coast Supercharging, bettered his qualifying time by running a 10.050 to a victory over Bill Maloney. In the final pairing of round one, David Shen made his Quick 4+4 debut with the win light on in his lane with the help of a 10.265. Rick White had him on the line, but a 10.83 wasn't going to hold off the hard charging '65.

Q4+4 runner up and # 1 qualifier, Paul Major	Major (left lane) and Coriell take off with identical lights	Q4+4 winner Chris Coriell

For more photos of today's racing click here or visit the event gallery by Mike Moran

For video of today's Q4+4 action visit www.challengevideos.com

The lights were on at the Raceway Park ¼ mile as the round one winners were paired and coming back to see who the final round would consist of. In the first match up, Chris Coriell had the advantage off the line and pulled away with a 9.989 at 133 miles per hour, sending John Carter to the trailer. A few moments later, the next pair fired up to determine whom Coriell would face in the final. The next match up would be the silver Z06 of Paul Major against David Shen's 1965. Shen had him off the line, but Major was making up ground. This was going to be a close one! Then, trouble struck. David Shen's C2 loosened up at half track and progressively became worse and worse until he found himself adding red paint to the right lane wall and took a ride to the other side of the track where he found himself colliding with the other wall, causing extensive body and rear end damage causing the rear end to lock up. The good news was that David was fine after the biggest scare of the night. This was the first time any Quick 4 competitor has experienced such loss of control.

Later that evening, the Vette Doctors Quick 4+4 finalists emerged. Paul Major, the number one qualifier, would be taking on Chris Coriell, the number 2 qualifier. Their reaction times were identical and the winner would come down to who ran the better number. Paul Major ran a 9.951, but it wasn't enough to hold off Chris Coriell, who catapulted to a 9.812. Major had run the quickest in qualifying, but Coriell was able to run his best numbers when it would count. The debut of the Vette Doctors Quick 4+4 was a wild one, and we will hope to see this event in the near future continue as an eight car field. Thanks to a great turnout.

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modified: December 31, 1969 - 7:00 pm