Howard Knowles rolled out next scheduled to face John Broussard.  Broussard’s car fired up but never moved forward through the water box as the team struggled to get the car in forward while Knowles backed up and patiently waited, idling on the starting line.  The crew gave word that Broussard couldn’t make the call and signaled Knowles to proceed on a competition single.  Knowles had his “go fast” tune up in and the track couldn’t hold it as he shook very hard right off the line, pedaled it and clicked off a 4.67 at 159 mph to win the round.

Broussard got his car fired up after Knowles exited the top end and laid down a long and surely somewhat frustrating burnout to put on a show for the fans at Mo-Kan.  Broussard staged the car and launched hard with both wheels carrying to almost two hundred feet before he quickly pedaled it and blasted through the traps to a 4.06 at 174 mph.  That time slip would have not only won the round, but also advanced him to the semi-finals as one of the four quickest winners.  It was all for not, but a solid effort and impressive pass for team “Purple Haze” as they re-group for Tulsa.

Closing the first round of eliminations, Terry Brian and Aaron Leyda brought their machines to the line.  Leyda got a slight advantage at the start as the cars streaked side by side past half track.  Brian took the stripe with a nice 4.05 at 173 mph to advance over Leyda’s solid 4.21 at 171 mph.  As the four quickest winners, Marriott, Rigler, Jones and Brian advanced to the semi-final, which would be a true elimination round as the teams returned to the pits to battle for a spot in the finals.  Dodad Burton made a test hit following the first round and clicked off a strong 4.19 pass in the “Free Spirit” machine, which would have qualified him number five.