In the max-effort naturally-aspirated class, Hot Street, it was a nine-car affair and Robbie Blankenship led the tightly-packed qualifying field with an 8.56 at over 161 mph.  As eliminations started, Blankenship defeated Don Bowles in the second round and got a gimme in the semis when Mike Curcio couldn’t make the call. Also cutting through the elimination field was multi-time class champion Charlie Booze Jr. He defeated Max Gross and Shane Long before getting the competition bye into the final. As the tree dropped on the pair of former champions, Blankenship nailed the tree with a stellar .005 reaction time, and proceeded to flat outrun Booze to the stripe for the win.

The Real Street class was rolling six cars deep and saw a nice mix of faces in the class. Taking the top spot in the heat and humidity was Bruce Hemminger’s nitrous combo with a 9.38 at 138 mph, followed closely by Dan Baumann with a 9.41. Come eliminations time, Matherly and Hemminger were once again on a collision course for the final round. Hemminger advanced over Clair Stewart in the first round, and then got a semifinal bye. Matherly, on the other hand, took out Michael Bell and Dan Baumann to face Hemminger in the final. Matherly got the holeshot on Hemminger, but Hemminger’s front half put him in front of Matherly, where he stayed all the way to the stripe to take the Real Street win.