“Punisher” Dale Nilles dominated Rush Racing/Hawaya Pro Dragster, qualifying number one with a 7.42 and bettering that with a 7.40 to take out Keith Kelley in the final.

Some readers may know the Eric Clapton song “It’s in the way that you use it” from the “Color of Money” soundtrack. The term can be applied to Scott Parker and his visually challenged motorcycle. The bike will never win any awards for beauty or speedy appearance, but the combination did win two classes at the Thundernationals. Parker’s light forced Ryan Schnitz to break out in the Tsukigi/Tiger Racing Streetfighter final, and he left Randy Smith absolutely standing still in the MTC Super Comp final.

Hornish Brothers/Star Racing Top Gas went to veteran racer Mitch Brown, who co-developed and co-markets the MonStar billet cylinder head with Star Racing. Runner-up Jesse Moyar took the tree but couldn’t command the stripe in the final against Brown.