Words and photos by Jeff Burk
Layout by Marissa Gaither

For the second consecutive year the Indianapolis-based AA/FC team of owner/driver Paul Romine won the championship of the DragRacingOnline.com AA/FC Challenge presented by Lucas Oil. The fight for the championship came down to two teams: Paul Romine and his “Man O’ War” ‘79 Mustang and the Bowen family’s ’77 Firebird “Violator.”

Going into the National Finals during the Muscle Car Reunion at Kansas City International Raceway, Romine was in the lead over the Bowen team by 69.5 points. With 70 points available for qualifying, the only way for the Bowen family to win would be for them to qualify and Romine not.

The battle for the championship was settled in the first round of qualifying when the Romine and Bowen teams were paired off. Bowen out qualified Romine 6.127 to a 6.164 but it would have required the quickest field in the DRO series history for Romine’s 6.16 to be bumped. As it turned out that pass by Romine won him his second championship in the two years of the series.