Tom Derby found himself in a war with Pete Johnson for Drag Radial honors. After leading qualifying at 8.35/168.01, the pilot of the 622-inch nitrous-injected Camaro lost Low ET to Johnson’s Mustang by a hundredth of a second but scored the John Wellencamp/Morrow Borthers Ford Top Speed bonus with an 8.45/170.06 in round one. Losing fire after his semi-final burnout, a dead battery ended Derby’s hopes for the DR trophy.

Jason Phillips, a past NHRA Divisional Bracket GIR track champion, races his white Mustang at National Muscle Car Association events across the country in a Pro Tree/Index format similar to that used at the Outlaw All Stars. Sponsored by the Bank of Edwardsville (IL), the St. Louis area Carpenter’s District Council and Nitto Tires, Phillips survived the final round in the 14.0 division when local bracket standout Paul Hagen’s ’70 Nova broke out by a mere three thousandths of a second!