Eliminations on Saturday saw three of the top four qualifiers lose in the first round as Jenkins, Thomas Meyers, and Billy Harper, who had won the Battle for the Belts the night before, all went home. Of the top four only Jim Halsey made it through the first round and only Charles Carpenter’s 1955 Chevy ran a three-second time.
By the time they had finished the second round of action, though, the tune had changed. Mike Castellana found his combination and ran a 3.956 that just got by Riesterer’s 3.997. Halsey drove around Carpenter using a 3.940/189.15 to a 3.987/182.82.
Harold Martin and Johnny Pilcher also advanced. Castellana and Halsey used three-second laps to advance over those two racers in the semi setting up a final round.
In the final Castellana ran his quickest lap of the event, a 3.922 at 190.57 mph, to get the win over Halsey who had a troubled 5.460/108.87.
