In the Top Alcohol final, Ben Bray got a slight holeshot in his ’99 Firebird, pulling a .027 light against opponent Dean Oakey’s 0.59 from his dragster before both got into tire shake. In the end Oakey’s car went silent while Bray streaked to a 6.01-seconds win.
Round one of eliminations opened with Stevens taking on Ambruosi in an all-Funny Car affair. After strapping a big holeshot on Ambrousi, Stevens ran down the track like a scalded cat, backing up his earlier 5.60 with a 5.628 for a new national record. Quite the opposite happened for the always meticulously prepared Lucas Oils dragster of Gary Phillips when he had a blower belt break at third track and had to watch Debbie Reed ran a 6.03 for the win.
The two dragsters of Newby and Oakey were next and it too proved to be a strange race. Oakey strapped a good .084 to .176 holeshot over the Gators Eyewear car and then Newby smoked the tyres. Oakey’s engine fell silent at half track, but his 8.27 still allowed him into the next round.
The best was saved for last as the two funny cars of Brew and Bray crossed swords. Bray led the way off the line with a .108 to .144 reaction time. The two cars seemed to be welded together right down track as Brew’s Deno Cranes car tried to claw back Bray’s Mack Trucks flopper. Brew sped to a 253.47 mph pass compared to Bray’s 241.54 in an effort to catch him but it was for nought as Bray’s holeshot 5.783 was enough to hold off Brew’s quicker 5.758.
Bray returned in the semis to face fellow Queenslander Debbie Reed. Reed’s husband Steve had actually qualified for the show in his Nulon Oil flopper with a 5.81, but chucked a
rod in the traps and was out for the rest of the weekend. Debbie, on the other hand, had suffered severe shake on every pass so a soft setting was dialed in (as evidenced by a 1.003 sixty foot time), but she got loose at half track while Bray just ran straight to the final with a 5.73/244.65.
In the other semi-final match, Oakey in his American Auto Parts dragster took on Brett Stevens Funny Car which was nursing a wounded bullet thanks to a torched piston. Not having enough time to swap engines, Stevens put the car through its burnout routine in a gingerly fashion. Maybe he was too worried if the engine would make it or not as he was uncharacteristically left on the start line by Oakey (.074 to .134). In an effort to run his opponent down Stevens ran another sixty—a 5.681—but it wasn’t enough to stop Oakey’s holeshot-assisted 5.735/245.27.
So, coming off the semis both cars were very even and a good tussle was on the cards. After the two came into stage it was Bray out first with a .027 to a not so shabby 0.059 light, but Oakey had the measure at the 60-foot clocks—a .987 to a soft 1.105. Despite the soft set up, both cars still shook hard in an on/off battle with Bray recovering first to record a winning 6.01 to 7.83 win.
At the post race celebrations Bray apologised to the assembled throng for the lack-lustre final. “As you know we have had a few problems with the Top Doorslammer, but the Funny Car has certainly made up for it. We have found some consistency and really the car ran perfectly. It is just a pity I’ve got to burn up Dad’s wallet to do it,” a tongue-in-cheek Bray chortled.
