All Hale had to do then was to win the race and set either a speed or ET record and he could win his third straight AA/FC National Championship.

The final car down the track in the first round was number one qualifier Brian Stewart in his Jim Stanke-tuned ‘76 Mustang. After his third low qualifier effort of the year and because of a short field of seven cars, Stewart had a bye and just made a 300-foot checkout squirt.

After a ninety-minute break for the crews to rebuild their cars they were called into the lanes promptly at 8 p.m. The first semifinal was an all-Texas affair with arch-rivals Ronny Young and John Hale. In order to have a chance to retain the championship Hale and Tipton had to beat Young and run quick or fast enough to get the first half of a new national record. It was Young’s last chance to get his elusive first win in Nostalgia FC competition. Hale’s .094 light was way better than Young’s .118, but it wasn’t good enough to win this night.

Hale ran his best of the meet with a 5.856 at 249.16 mph but a determined Ronny Young ran the Champ down in the lights with a 5.812/252.05 to get the win by .020. Not only did Young get the win he needed but in doing so ensured that the Bowen family would win the 2013 DRO National Championship.

On the other side of the ladder Stewart got his second straight bye run when Bazz Young was unable to return because of the exploded motor in the first round. Stewart again just launched the car and shut it off at 300 feet.

The final came at 10:36 p.m. with a majority of the crowd still in their seats.

Young and Stewart and their crews were amped up for the final. For number-one qualifier Stewart and his freshman tuner it was their first final round appearance in the DRO series. For Ronny Young it was a chance to put a “Blue Max” Funny Car in a winners circle for the first time in nearly thirty years.

Perhaps the pressure got to Stewart as he left -.252 before the green light, but he probably would have needed a great light to have a chance to win as Young had a spectacular .033 light and recorded another 5.812 lap at 252.80 mph.

Young gave much of the credit for the win to crew chief Kebin Kingsley, who in both the semi and final rounds took three degrees of timing out of the engine while in the staging lanes to make sure they didn’t beat themselves.