Opening the first round action was the “Purple Haze” machine of John Broussard who had the advantage on paper over his opponent DoDad Burton in after their best pass of the season in the previous round.  Broussard, known for his quick reaction times, was off the line first with a .039 reaction time, earning Broussard the “Good Vibrations” Quick Reaction Time bonus.  As the cars passed half track Broussard had the lead but was falling off pace as Burton’s “Free Spirit” machine kept charging and took the lead just before the finish line with a 4.32 at 147 mph win over Broussard’s 4.50 at 141 mph, ending Burton’s “round winless” streak at eight events.  Way to go DoDad! 

Next out was a pair of beautiful blown alcohol machines in Keith Anglin’s “Texas Gold Rush” and Aaron Leyda’s “Hemi Hunter” owned and tuned by Dale “Lurch” Wilkens.  After side by side burnouts the cars crept into the beams and Anglin took a small advantage off the starting line.  They were side by side past the 330’ cone but as they neared the stripe Leyda pulled ahead to take the nod with a solid 4.13 at 174 mph to Anglin’s 4.46 at 149 mph.  Anglin was on a career best pass but the car started to bounce and Anglin wisely lifted to race another day, but will carry the confidence of career best early numbers into the fall swing starting in September.  Anglin also claimed the “Outside Looking In” bonus of $100 as the first alternate.    

Mary Reep proved again she could run with the big boys with the biggest upset of the round taking out number two qualifier Jimmy Jones.  Reep’s “Grim Reeper” machine went 4.23 at 179 mph to take the win over the favored Jones who smoked the tires at the hit and ran out of racetrack trying to catch up with a 4.55 at 161 mph.  Reep’s win will keep her in the Painless Performance Top 5!  This ended Jones’ streak of eight straight first round wins and made the next two pairings in the lanes very interesting.

Rich Howell and Bobby Marriott lined up next as the “Power Play III” and “Shockwave” machines lined up for battle.  Howell was out of the gate first and as the cars passed halftrack they were neck and neck.  Howell’s car again ran into shifting issues which gave Marriott the advantage at the top end as his header flaming 4.09 at 178 mph took the nod and guaranteed team “Shockwave” a spot in the final as the quickest winner so far with just one pair to go. 

With Jones out and Trussell broke, Terry Brian had an opportunity to make a big move in the points standings possibly jumping from third to first with a final round showing.  To do so, he’d not only have to take out Raymond Dawson but also advance to the final round with one of the two quickest winning elapsed times of the round, having to win with an elapsed time quicker than Leyda’s 4.13. 

Brian and Dawson crept into the beams and Dawson was out of the throttle almost immediately with tire shake.  Brian’s “II N’Tense” machine made a big swing for the centerline but Brian wheeled the car back into the groove and clicked off a wild 4.14 at 171 mph, just one hundredth of a second out of a ticket to the final round.  It was a bittersweet round win for the “II N’Tense” team but overall another strong showing to keep them in the hunt. 

(W) DoDad Burton (.158 rt) 4.32 @ 147 mph vs. (L) John Broussard (.039 rt) 4.50 @ 141 mph
(W) Aaron Leyda (.133 rt) 4.13 @ 174 mph vs. (L) Keith Anglin (.112 rt) 4.46 @ 149 mph
(W) Mary Reep (.195 rt) 4.23 @ 179 mph vs. (L) Jimmy Jones (.140 rt) 4.55 @ 161 mph
(W) Bobby Marriott (.135 rt) 4.09 @ 178 mph vs. (L) Rich Howell (.103 rt) 4.67 @ 133 mph
(W) Terry Brian (.043 rt) 4.14 @ 171 mph vs. (L) Raymond Dawson (.155 rt) 15.57 @ 24 mph