DiabloSport’s EFI Renegade class had a wild weekend as well, with Bart Tobener turning in a wicked record-setting 8.301 to take the top spot in qualifying, followed by 2009 Champion Alton Clements’ 8.34 pass.  Dan Rawls put a .39 on the board, followed by Chris VanGilder’s 8.39.  Brian Mitchell, Mike Catapano, and Victor Nieblas finished out the field heading into Sunday.  Once eliminations began, Clements’ 8.60 took out Mitchell’s .61, and Rawls put Catapano on the trailer when Catapano struggled down the track.  VanGilder turned in a strong 8.47 to take out Nieblas, while Tobener took the tree and backed out.  In the semifinals, VanGilder and Clements faced off, with Clements turning in an 8.35 to VanGilder’s 8.48.  Rawls and Tobener faced off next, with Rawls’ 8.37 taking the win light over Tobener’s 8.42.  In the final round, Rawls got out of shape and had to lift, sending Clements to the winner’s circle.

In the Edelbrock Hot Street class, Charlie Booze Jr. took the top qualifying spot with a stout 8.40 at over 160 MPH, followed by Robbie Blankenship’s 8.448, identical with third-place qualifier Rob Valden’s ET (driving the SAM car), with the higher MPH of Blankenship giving him the nod.  Tim Eichhorn clicked off an 8.46, Don Bowles followed with an 8.48, and Max Gross put an 8.52 on the board to round out the field.  In the first round of eliminations, Bowles and Blankenship faced off, with Blankenship’s 8.49 getting the nod over Bowles 8.55.  They were followed by Eichhorn and Booze, who ran the closest race of the weekend – 8.462 for Booze, 8.476 for Eichhorn.  ‘Ike’ nailed the holeshot, but Booze was able to sneak by at the top end, with a MOV of .0011.  Valden had broken the engine beyond repair during qualifying, allowing Gross to take the single run and move on.  Blankenship and Gross faced off in the first semifinal, with Gross putting the car hard on the bumper  to the 200’ mark, while Blankenship put an 8.47 on the board to move on to the finals.  Booze had a single, but didn’t take it easy, putting an 8.46 up and setting up the final round.  In a final-round battle of the #1 and #2 qualifiers, Booze put the car on the bumper and drifted towards the wall  He made a valiant effort to recover but couldn’t, giving Blankenship the win.

Even more record-breaking action was up on deck for the BFGoodrich Tires Drag radial class, with Jason Lee’s 7.941 leading the pack, followed closely by Bob Kurgan’s 7.947 and Sean Lyon’s 7.98.  Dave Guy clicked off a 7.99 to take the fourth position, and Enzo Pecchini rocked an 8.00 to round out the top five.  Steven Biggs cracked off an 8.08, Chad Doyle blazed to an 8.09 (in his first weekend out with the car), Trace Meyer made eight with an 8.17, and James Urban finished off the field with a 9.41.  When elimination time came around, Guy and Meyer were up first, turning in a great pairing, with Guy coming out on top – 8.01 to 8.05.  Biggs and Kurgan took the tree next, with Kurgan pedaling the car up hard on the hit, allowing Biggs to get by and outrun him to the end of the track, 8.29 to 8.52.  Lyon clicked off an 8.19 to eliminate Doyle, while Lee had a single run.  Pecchini also took a single when Urban didn’t make the lane call.  In the third round, Lee and Guy took the tree first, with Guy annihilating the tires off the hit, allowing Lee to take the easy win and move on.  Lyon and Pecchini faced off next, with Pecchini getting the holeshot and taking the win, 7.98 to Lyon’s 8.48, and moving to the final with the bye.  Steven Biggs had a single run, moving on to the semifinals against Lee with an 8.24.  Lee and Biggs faced off in a turbocharger vs. ProCharger battle, and Biggs got loose while Lee blasted to an unreal 7.91,setting up the finals with Pecchini.    Pecchini put a killer holeshot on Lee, started to drift left, and ended grazing the wall and handing Lee the win.  Pecchini is OK and the car is repairable.