Badir Ahli  (Jeff Burk photo)

In the semis Scruggs faced UAE racer Badir Ahli in what should have been a serious showdown. Ahli left almost before the tree activated hitting the pedal .280 of a second before the green wasting a shutoff 3.61/183.69 effort. Scruggs also had a .005 redlight but the first or worst paradigm applied here and Scruggs advanced on a coasting 4.911 101.61.

On the other side of the Pro Extreme ladder Iowa racer Randell Reid who qualified in the fourth slot was dialed into the "tree" for this race. He won his first round race with John Sullivan Jr. combining a 3.61 ET with a .008 RT.

Tommy D'Aprile ran an impressive 3.58 at 211.10 during qualifying in the debut event for the brand-new 2015 Corvette. "That was only the fourth run on the car and it was the first one we made a full pull to the finish line," D'Aprile pointed out.  (Jeff Burk photo)

In his second-round race against Tommy D'Aprile in Mel Bush's car, Reid had a .009 RT and a 3.613/212.26 bye while D'Aprile broke on the starting line and didn't race. In the semis Reid punched his ticket to the finals beating UAE racer Mustafa Buhumaid. Buhumaid never got hooked up in the race, sliding all over the 660-foot track, taking out the timing cones and giving the win and a spot in the finals to Reid.