Shane Gray (near lane) and Alex Laughlin in the semifinal. (Ron Lewis photo)

In the first two rounds, Gray defeated Dave River and Drew Skillman. In the semifinals, Gray raced Alex Laughlin for a chance to go to his first final of the season but was defeated on a very slight holeshot, 6.623 at 209.10 mph to 6.634 at 208.75. Laughlin's reaction time (.017) was one of the best across the class for the weekend.

"It's just one of those deals," Gray said. "I don't know where that came from (Laughlin's reaction time), but he just busted my tail. I'm pretty ticked off at myself right now, but really that's just racing, especially when the competition is so close anyway with these Pro Stock cars.

Erica Enders and Allen Johnson during qualifying. (Jeff Burk photo)

Erica Enders ripped off a .011-second reaction time in her first-round match with Jason Line, but the Pro Stock points leader was good, too, with a .009 light. Line then powered to the win light with a pass of 6.609 seconds at 209.43 mph while Enders made a run of 6.699 seconds at 206.35 mph. She now is 10th in the Pro Stock points standings.

Mopar teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. fell to Chris McGaha in a winnable first-round race Sunday with the Magneti Marelli offered by Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Dart. Neither driver was very good on the Christmas Tree, but McGaha was a tick better on the racetrack: 6.632 seconds at 208.46 mph to 6.667 at 206.70 mph. Those passes came after McGaha had a .054-second reaction time, edging Coughlin's .065 light. Coughlin is ninth in the Pro Stock points.