We are down to the finals in AA/FC at the Drag Racing Online AA/FC Challenge here at the Goodguys Indy race and we will have a different winner and runner-up for the second straight race. Paul Romine and Shawn Bowen have each won their semi-final races to advance to the final round. Paul Romine' Mustang with Mike Cavalieri  tuning was matched up against St. Louis Semi-finalist John Dunn in his '73 Duster. The other semi-final round matched up Michigan racer Shawn Bowin and his "78 Firebird agains Kevin Lennon's "Saturday Night Special" who races out of Merrillville, IN.

The first pair out were Bowin and Lennon. Bowen who runs an Arias/Chevy had burned four pistons on his bye run in the first round. His opponent was supposed to be California racer Randy Walls who had wounded his Chevy motor on Friday and couldn't get it fixed. Bowen told me that he had backed the timing way down for the semi-finals to keep from burning any more pistons. Lennon on the other hand had just three laps on this car and was still learning so he wasn't trying to run a five. Bowin left first and Lennon was never a threat to him. Lennen ran a shut-off 7.162/141.55. In the other lane Bowen eased down the track to a 6.183/223.17. The Aries'  pipes were dry the entire lap. No damage.

The next pair out were Romine and Dunn. Dunn told me he had tuned his car up because he knew he would have to run his best ET of the event to have a chance against Romine. Romine's crew and tuner Mike Cavalieri had done the same with a  new clutch and a fresh mag. Romine's RT was almost two-hundreths better than Dunns. Romine rocketed down the track while in the other lane Dunn had his hands full with some tire shake that drove his car to his the 1/8th mile timing cone. Romine in the other lane lite the boards with a 5/960/237.21. His Et and speed were the quickest ever in the short history of the series and gave him the first two legs for  new National Records.
We are about 30 minutes away from the finals.

I'll be back