Steven Densham now drives his father Gary’s “Teachers Pet.”

So round one featured Team Densham, as Steven would face teammate Jason Rupert. Dennis LaCharite in his very cool GTO would face the Northwest legend, Twig Zeigler. Roger Garten in the “War Horse” Mustang would take on Hentges in Uncle Bucky’s flopper, and polar opposites, Brett Harris in his first race with the “Nitro Thunder” funny car would race the quiet, unassuming, and understated Mark Sanders in the “Mr. Explosive” Nova.

Brett Harris in “Nitro Thunder” knocked out “Mr. Expolsive.”

For the most part things played out right to form in round one, with the quicker qualified cars of Rupert, Harris and Hentges advancing. However, for the LaCharite and Zeigler tango this was not the case.

Zeigler left .014 behind the GTO of LaCharite but caught him at about 330. He showed the vast experience he has had at the wheel of a fuel funny car as he did a tight rope walk down the left lane right up against the bright white Firebird Raceway retaining walls, never lifting or touching the concrete, taking the win and scoring his first ever 5-second run (5.89) at Firebird.