Joe Lepone

The resulting chaos ended up putting other quarter-final winners Joe Lepone Jr. and John Durden straight through to the final, which just concluded with Lepone winning after Durden and his blown Corvette went red.

Lepone summed up his win pretty well with “I’d rather be lucky than good.” The veteran driver, who struggled all weekend long, said his engine had been running on only seven cylinders by the time he reached the final against Durden. “I feel bad for John (Durden). It’s never fun when you win a race on a redlight,” Lepone added.

In Mickey Thompson True 10.5 action Al Jimenez successfully began defense of his 2012 class championship after qualifying with a stout 6.84 at an incredible 211 mph, lowering even further his national record for a leaf spring car. In eliminations, the Sylmar, Calif., driver beat all competitors to face Roger Holder in the final. In that race, Jimenez’s blown Camaro got loose and made a move towards the centerline, almost crossing it, but officials determined he didn’t and thus his 8.07/158-mph run stood. Holder also had problems, slowing to only a 9.13.

In ProCharger 275 Drag Radial, Artis Houston impressed the 275 racers across the country as he pushed his big-block nitrous Nova to an incredible 7.41/187-mph run in his final round race against James Lawrence.