Page Five     Semi-Finals - Sunday 2:50 p.m. As the final four rolled out of the lanes the show was on schedule. That would change.   Aside from their 5.80 quaifying rip the Nitro Thunder team had not had a sterling weekend. But going into their semi-final match up with Troy Green all that was overshadowed by the fact they had defied all odds and were officially the 2009 champs.                               At the hit Green was out first but not by much.                               By the 60' mark the cars were welded together.         Just as Harris starting smoking the tires the clutch vent filter came off. In hind sight some people thought this was something else and that it caused what followed. Not so.         Early on this had looked to be a classic drag race until Harris smoked the tires then broke an exhaust rocker stand which caused an ugly chain of events. The broken rocker caused a chunk of piston to lodge under an intake valve which banged the blower. The blower burst panel did its job but when it blew out it caught and crimped the main oil line from the dry sump system. This caused instant back pressure which blew the oil filter off. The really ugly part was a massive oil down from the 400' mark to the turn off road.       Shot an instant after the blower banged (belt gone)... Harris had not yet closed the throttle.     With Harris dead in the water Green never missed a beat and went on to clock a sterling 5.879 at just 226.35.         3:57 p.m. Synthetic oil is marvelous stuff, but it's really difficult to get out of the racing surface. During the hour and ten minute cleanup, McGee elected to switch from the just-oiled right lane to the left lane putting Rick Williamson in the right.                       After waiting all that time Williamson left before the tree was activated giving the automatic win to McGee.         McGee's staging lights were still on with Williamson a car length out.     McGee waited for green and nailed it.       It didn't matter but Williamson lit the tires just past the tree.         Williamson stabbed it again then clicked it.       Before the 330' mark McGee started skating around and almost crossed the centerline. He avoided the foul and the win was his to keep. But he didn't have lane choice against Green in the final.             Top Fuel Final 6:00 p.m. With the show running late due to the Harris oil down the finals were over an hour past their scheduled times.   With the sun going down and not wanting to take a chance of the track getting too cold for the Top Fuel cars they were moved up to the beginning of the finals opposed to their normal position at the end of the show. By virtue of getting the best of Rick Williamson in the semis Troy Green's opponent was Rick McGee in the Tedford & McGee car that calls Bakersfield its home track. Both drivers had laid down some stout numbers getting here so it was anybody's race.                       Sean Bellemeur moved Green up - Darrell Tedford did the same for McGee.         With avoiding a red light on their minds neither driver had a great light. McGee came out slightly ahead.                                 Before the 330' mark McGee was opening the gap but Green kept him in his sights.         It's true these two are good friends but that didn't mean they needed to get this close on the top end.   The purple car from Exter, CA. never missed a beat and held on for a stout 5.761 (low ET of the meet) at 247.38 to better Green's game 5.919 at 252.17.                 The first people to congratulate Darrell Tedford and the rest of the McGee crew was the guys from High Speed.   The win by McGee was not only deserved but very popular among his fans and peers. Nobody likes to lose but to a man the HSMS team agreed that if they had to finish second there was no one else they would rather get beaten by.     Sportsmanship to the max...     Tom Shelar from the High Speed team with Rick.   One happy crew.   Tedford & the McGee's - Rick and son Michael.   Rick's better half, Jennifer.   John Bowser with Rick.   Track Manager Blake Bowser.   This was a very popular win for the guys who turned Famoso into a world class drag strip.   "See you all in March!"         Page 1 - Top Fuel Quaifying Session 1 Page 2 - Top Fuel Quaifying Session 2 Page 3 - Top Fuel Elimination Round 1 Page 4 - Top Fuel Eliminations Round 2 Page 6 - Funny Cars part 1 Page 7 - Funny Cars part 2 Page 8 - Everything Else     Members Site Map || Visitors Site Map Site Copyright Ewald Enterprises, 1998-2009. All Rights Reserved. WDIFL.com is a Left Coast Graphics  Web Property. Return to Top