In another close race Paul Romine’s “Man O’ War” Mustang ran a 5.898 at 248.11 mph to best Bob Godfrey’s first five-second pass, a 5.986 ET at 223.36 mph.  (James Drew photo)

Moving onto the semifinal round, Mike Halstead in the “Nitro Angel” Duster ran a 5.984 ET at 243.06 mph to defeat Todd Lesenko’s Mustang who ran 6.093, while on the other side of the ladder Paul Romine’s 5.857 ET at 247.34 mph took out Steven Densham’s off-pace 7.388 ET. 

The final round of Nitro Funny Car would pit two of the more consistent running floppers of the event, three-time IHRA Top Fuel Champion Paul Romine in his “Man O’ War” ’79 Mustang versus Mike Halstead in McCain’s “Nitro Angel” funny car tuned by Pallo Galli.