The next pair saw defending DRO champ Shawn Bowen against former Top Fuel racer Fred Farndon. Bowen just needed to win this round to clinch his second straight DRO AA/FC Challenge National Championship. Bowen’s 5.891/235.18 easily covered Farndon’s shut-off 6.95. Unfortunately, Bowen once again seriously wounded an engine.

The last pair out had Bazz Young in the “Down-Under Thunder” Camaro racing Mark Sanders. This race was determined by driver RT. Young has a miserable .2186 RT to Sanders’ .1262. Even though the Jerry Newman-tuned Camaro ran Low ET of the first round with a 6.023/236.54, Young lost to Sanders’ motor-killing 6.078/205.23.

After that race, an obviously upset Young echoed a sentiment that most of the funny car drivers had expressed. “I can’t position myself in the seat so that I can see the tree.” More than one driver said that they had to loosen their safety gear to try and see the tree.

Young’s tuner Jerry Newman said, “I have to stage him and put him in the lights because he couldn’t see to stage the car himself.”

The semifinals found Lennon racing Mellinger in a classic David versus Goliath affair with Lennon playing the role of David. Lennon gave it his best, putting a two-tenths holeshot on Mellinger, but that was his last hurrah as Mellinger laid down a 5.890/221.11 to easily cover Lennon’s shutting off 10.62 effort.

On the other side of the semifinal ladder it was Bowen and Sanders squaring off to see who went to the final round against Mellinger.
 
Bowen had his best RT of the event with an excellent .058 to Sanders’ .084 (his best RT of the event) but his efforts were to no avail when for the third time in three laps Bowen had an engine failure and a big ball of fire that signaled the end of his day. In the other lane Sanders drove to a 6.04, good for the win and a trip to the finals.