The opening round of eliminations saw Giangrande take out Harvey 4.279 to 4.535 in the feature race. Hoyle, behind the wheel of Rickie Smith’s ex-Pro Stock Cobalt, put a slight holeshot on Harris, but came up short in a 4.314 to 4.209 decision. In a race that looked closer on paper than it really was, Gardner put away Campbell 4.200 to 4.417 while Raynor brought the house down with his second consecutive sub 4.20 pass. Raynor’s 4.197 at 171.95 put away Regenthal and established him as the man to beat going into the next round.
The semifinals, however, kept the capacity crowd on its feet as upsets ruled the day. Jason Harris put a slight .023 holeshot on Ronnie Gardner to win with a slower 4.253 against Gardner’s 4.235 for a winning margin of just .005 of a second. Matt Giangrande, driving the popular “Superman” Vette, then turned a .007 gamble at the tree into a win as he beat Raynor’s quicker but losing 4.224 with his 4.249.
It was experience versus youth in the Big Dog finale with Giangrande as the favorite going into this race, but Harris would not be denied as he turned in his best performance of the evening. Harris using nitrous oxide injection power]left first with a stellar .007 light and coupled that with the second quickest time of eliminations-a stout 4.201 to win it all against Giangrande’s slowing 5.033 at 105.78. It was his first Big Dog as well as a profitable and happy evening for Team Harris.
Happy, however, probably did not describe Todd Tutterow as he entered the consolation race. Tutterow was only able to make eliminations as first alternate after Chad Tilley wasn’t able to make the call. Tutterow came out with a vengeance as his 4.150 conquest of Wilkins turned out to be the quickest run of the evening. Chris Rini, behind the wheel of the only Dodge on the grounds, then turned back Hinshaw on a holeshot 4.273 to a 4.259 as Williams and Ward both advanced also.