Winternationals : Endres Surprise Leader in Top-Fuel Qualifying

As might have been predicted, funny car driver Kenny Bernstein and pro stock driver Bob Glidden--each a defending world champion--moved to the head of his class Friday, but little-known Hank Endres gave top-fuel favorites a surprise in the second round of qualifying for the $851,000 Chief Winternationals drag racing event.

Favorable track conditions, a cool and windless day, produced records in all three professional classes as the event moved toward Sunday’s final eliminations at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona.

Endres, 48, a DuPont millwright from Pennsville, N.J., posted an event-record 5.326 seconds in his canopied streamliner in becoming the No. 1 top-fuel qualifier. Former world champion Joe Amato of Old Forge, Pa., ran at the same time as Endres and set an event speed record of 270.27 m.p.h.

“I knew Amato left on me pretty good, probably two car lengths,” Endres said. “But when my car settled down, I went after him. I think we passed him in the lights (at the end of the quarter-mile).”

Endres, who was fast qualifier at the Fallnationals last year in Phoenix, has never advanced beyond the semifinals in a National Hot Rod Assn. event.

Endres’ elapsed time bettered the 5.40 by Dick LaHaie, and Amato bested his own top speed of 269.46. Both were set last year.

Bernstein, who switched from the Ford Tempo he drove over the last three years to a Buick Le Sabre, broke both the track and Winternationals record with a quarter-mile run in 5.533 seconds. If he can post a 5.58 or better in one of today’s two qualifying rounds, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., the 5.533 will replace his own world record of 5.543.

“It’s hard to say how much more (horsepower) the track can hold,” Bernstein said. “If it can hold more, we have it. Dale (crew chief Armstrong) will make that decision tomorrow.

“Today’s run felt quick. We spun the tires coming off the line and the car got loose. When the front end lifted a little, I thought I might have to abort the run because the big hood scoop on the Buick took away all vision of the race track when it lifted, but it was only a flash of an instant.”

Glidden, whose wife Etta is his crew chief, broke his own track record with a 7.435-second run, beating the 7.474 he ran at Pomona last October.