Even though there were just seven entries in the Top Sportsman field the final round was as good as doorslammer racing gets. Number 1 qualifier Buck pulled to the line against number 2 qualifier Benoit. Buck had dialed a 6.94 while Benoit a 7.07. Benoit left first with a .010 light. Buck followed with a .008 light. Buck pushed Benoit to a breakout by running right on his dial with a 6.940/197.68 lap. Benoit broke out running a 7.064/193.55.

STOCK ELIMINATOR

Veteran bracket/Stock Eliminator racer Nick Folk (shown) didn’t get a win in the Top Dragster class at this event but he made up for that failure by getting his “Iron Man” with a Stock Eliminator win in his B/FIA ’99 Camaro. Folk, who qualified in the sixth spot with a 10.492 pass (1.058 under the class index), waded through a tough 29-car field to get his first IHRA sportsman win of the 2011 season defeating the number 21 qualifier, Lee Neal and his ’85 Monte Carlo.

It’s worth noting that the number 1 qualifier in Stock Eliminator was Florida racer Brenda Grubbs driving her C/SA Camaro to a 1.198 under 10.502. She went to the third round before losing a double breakout affair to fellow Floridian Manny Sousa by going under .012 more than Sousa.