When it was time to run the final round promptly at 10 p.m., it was a pair of racers who had never won a Series race going for their first.

Mike Savage in the Candies and Hughes tribute “Cajun Cuda” was against Chicago area racer Anthony Bronge in his “Punisher” ’69 Camaro.

It was Bronge’s second final of the season and Savage’s first DRO race. Savage left first and led from light to light for the easy win over Bronge, who had a slightly sour engine. Savage turned a 5.964/235.51 that easily covered Bronge’s troubled 12.088/63.88. 

Although he was eliminated in the second round on a holeshot by Savage, points leader Paul Romine shocked the AA/FC contingent with a motor-wounding 5.799/248+ qualifying lap. Romine’s pass was the first in the 5.70 zone by a Heritage-legal Midwest-based AA/FC.