“We’ve never broken a reverser in six years,” Belcher’s crew chief lamented.

In the first round of eliminations number one Bob Rogers and his supercharged ‘Vette faced number 5 qualifier Mark Grace and his supercharged Camaro. Rogers went right down the track putting a 4.085 up, which not only got him a round win but also set the first official ET record for the series at 4.053 for the eighth mile.

Mike Chitty’s nitrous oxide-injected Camaro continued to improve with a 4.350 that easily beat a struggling Micetich. The Coffmans’ turbocharged Ford continued to improve, recording a 4.188/175.23 that covered Harger’s 4.682. Adler was in the last pair out and his 4.115/170.13 easily covered Wittenburg’s 4.829/122.85. All wins in the first round were in the left lane.

In the semi-finals the left lane prevailed again and both Adler and Rogers got the wins. Adler made his best pass of the event in winning in the semi-finals with a 4.079/182.78 that was
good for top speed of the meet. His opponent
was nitrous racer Mike Chitty. Chitty
put a five-hundredths holeshot on
Adler but almost immediately
went into tire shake
and lifted.