Martin jumped to the No. 1 qualifying spot with an impressive 3.653 to start Saturday, but struggled before delivering in a semifinal race against Mick Snyder, who advanced to his fourth straight semifinal. Snyder went 3.681, but Martin won with a 3.671, setting the stage for his win against Hamstra, who impressed with his third straight trip to the finals.

“We’re just touching the surface of this car,” Martin said. “It’s just a station wagon, but it’s a fast station wagon. To run two 3.65s today was pretty incredible. We knew we could go quick and we finally got it going from A to B.”

Castellana also came to life during the final two rounds on Saturday, putting together his best two performances of the weekend against Rickie Jones and his teammate, Al-Naemi.

By the time the final matchup rolled around, Castellana was as calm as could be.

“The team won before we even ran the race,” Castellana said. “It was the most relaxing race we ran all day. There was no pressure on me. I just went out there and had some fun. This has just been unbelievable for us this season.”

Al-Naemi qualified in the number-one spot.

In a thrilling semifinal round, Al-Naemi beat Burton Auxier by just .004 and Castellana cut it even closer, ousting Jones by a mere .002. Castellana went a track record 3.814 on that run and thanked crew chief Shannon Jenkins for saving him.

“I wasn’t really on my game (Saturday), but Shannon gave me a lot of power,” Castellana said. “That just goes to show you the hard work this team has put in and how much it’s paid off.”