When Independence Day dawned, it did so on a round of smoking action. SCPGA President Greg Ventura ran a 9.902 ET for the top spot in his ‘66 Chevy Nova, but he would fall in the third round to Saturday’s runner-up Darryl Mitchell. But in the final round it would be Paul ‘PJ’ Glacalone in his flamed 1955 Chevrolet who defeated Charlie Waggoner Jr.  This was a good race, but was won and lost on the starting line, as P.J. cut a fantastic .008 RT to Waggoner’s decent .016 light. The final times were 9.902 @ 139.23 mph to Charlie’s losing 9.947.

Asked about the race, Waggoner said, “Man, I was catching PJ but I could hear him pedal the gas each time I got fender to fender and I had my pedal floored. I was not going to be able to pass him without breaking out, so I let him take the stripe and the win.”

Don Gatlin of Bakersfield, Ca had one of those great days at the race track, winning in two different classes with the same dragster. In Lucas Oil Super Eliminator, Gatlin started  from the sixth spot to  beat Saturday’s big winner, Eddie Fischle.  Gatlin seems to know how to race, winning more than losing in final rounds. He cut a .007 light to Eddie’s .012. Gatlin ran a 7.907, taking the win light as Eddie broke out, running a 7.892 for the runner up spot.