   At 3:20 p.m. the first pair of round one rolled through the water box. # 8 qualifier Jason Richey is paired with # 9 Bob Hallock.   In a rare double red light start, Richey's -0.031 was just slightly less offensive than Hallock's -0.316. So, with a 6.112 at 205.33 Jason takes the Smith car to round two.   Next pairing was # 7 qualifier Lee Jennings Sr. and from the # 10 slot, Brett "The Sheriff" Harris.   Harris' weekend was over in a hurry when the steering arm snapped in two just as he started backing up. Track monitor, Gary Edwards gets him out of the car and over the wall so Jennings can leave.  Jennings took it all in stride and singled with a 6.090 at 243.96.     Upon further inspection it was noted that the aluminum arm had previously cracked and the new (complete) break didn't take much. It's a very lucky thing it gave up when it did. This could have been ugly at 250. Needless to say, Big Red will have a steel arm next time out.   Sean Bellemeur, meet Rick McGee again. The third pair of round one would pit two young guns in evenly matched cars. It would be the closest race of the event.   Bellemeur in the Plaza Hotel and Casino car cut and incredible 0.029 light and he needed every bit of it.  McGee in the "Overtime Special" (and trust me, that is a very deserved name for the Tedford & McGee team) with a sub-par (for him) 0.104 green played catch up the entire quarter mile.    At the stripe it was Bellemeur's 6.003 at 244.43 just (and I mean just) nipping McGee's 5.948 242.70. Sean's margin of victory: 0.0200 seconds (approximately 9 inches). This is not the first, nor will it be the last, holeshot win for the former A-Fuel champion. His reaction times are second to none.  Next pair was the other High Speed Motorsports car with Mendy Fry in the seat. She would face an uphill battle with # 3 qualifier, Bill Dunlap. Or would she?   To everyone's shock, this was over at the hit. Dunlap can't wait and turns on the red so Fry (aka Nitro Kitty) moved on with a shut off 6.357 at 178.14.  The reaction of Dunlap's crew says it all.   Fire the next pair - # 8 Howard Haight meets # 11 Denver Schutz.   Both cars left together but Haight's 5.949 @ 244.96 was too much for Schutz's game 6.095 at 239.04.    The next pair would pit Terry Cox and Rick White.   Cox was second off the line but drives around White early in the run. Cox takes the win and a trip to the second round with a stout 5.911 at 246.03.  White's off pace 6.557 at 225.45 made it no contest.   Next out was Jim Murphy and Brendan Murry. Although the two are friends, I have a feeling that over the last few years Brendan is tired of looking at back end of the WW2 Racing car. Murphy seems to have his number.   This time Murry had .04 in the bank at the hit but Murphy drove right around the Chevy car and took the win with a 5.973 at 247.52.   Never one to give up, Murry hung in with a 6.220 at 222.00 and got a good view of Murphy nipping three more pistons but moving to round two.   The final pair of round one matched the # 1 qualifier (Brad Thompson) and the # 16 car of Scott Mason.  Thompson was in trouble from the fire up. His burnout didn't even lite the tires. He staged anyway but there was nothing when he hit the throttle.  Mason singled to a shut-off 6.412 at 182.00 - eating a bunch of aluminum in the process.   Pre race ceremonies included the introduction of Grand Marshall Gary Beck and hot rod legend “Blackie” Gejeian.  Beck getting a trophy from Goodguys COO Marc Meadors.  The guys that make it happen - the starting line crew and of course, Geno.   The first pair of round two was supposed to be Jason Richey and Scott Mason but Richey was broken so the quick loser of the first round (Rick McGee) got a second bite of the apple. McGee and Mason were running under totally different conditions today with clouds and 20 degree cooler temps.  Seeing he was solidly beat and not wanting to hurt any more parts, Mason clicked it early to a 7.888 at 117.57.  McGee takes full advantage of the break rule and cards a solid 6.046 at 227.90 to move on.    Round two, pair two matched Mendy Fry and Howard (Fugowie Howie) Haight.   The Speed Channel crew was everywhere including in-your-face starting line footage.  Haight left first but Fry had made up most of the time by half track. Then her tires started to spin and she wisely clicks it. Haight gets the win and a trip to the semis with a 6.063 at 224.21.   Pair three pitted Sean Bellemeur and Terry Cox.   Bellemeur left first by a bunch but it didn't matter as Cox just blew the tires off right at the hit. He pedaled several times but nothing was going to hook the M and H's.  Bellemeur hurt some parts on the top end and wisely shut off to a 6.347 at 194.13.   The final pair of round two featured Jim Murphy and Lee Jennings Sr.   Both drivers left together and Murphy held on to win a great drag race 5.927 at 247.66 to Jennings 5.997 at 226.58.    Any one of the four cars left in the semis could go all the way. Pair one was, for the third time in three days, Rick McGee and Sean Bellemeur.   In round one Bellemeur beat McGee on a holeshot but Sean needed more than that here as the Plaza Hotel fueler didn't sound (or look) like its usually ground pounding self.  As expected Bellemeur left first but the car was puffing death smoke out of the left bank at the hit and it never cleaned up. McGee motored away for a stout 5.929 @ 238.85 win and a trip to the finals.    Semis, pair two was Howard Haight and 4 time March Meet champion, Jim Murphy who wanted badly to make it number five.   Haight left first but Murphy was already half a tenth at the 330' mark. But due to the fact he needed just another 10 lbs. on the front end the front wheels came up and Murphy couldn't steer the car. It carried the wheels just a little above the ground to past the 400" mark driving the car out of the groove. When Murphy brought it down it got loose and spun the tires. That's all Haight for the win as his 5.954 at 237.71 would have been hard to catch.  
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