Chris Abbey of Clovis took advantage of the Goodguys/VRA break rule to get back into eliminations after suffering an opening round defeat at the hands of Sean Renteria in AA/GAS competition. When Renteria couldn’t return for the semi-finals, Abbey was re-instated via the break rule and quickly took advantage advancing to his fourth final round of the year. He soundly defeated final round opponent Ronnie Nunes with a 6.613/209 in the trophy dash for his second event win of the season -– a season in which he dominated the class with breathtaking performances, running Low ET and Top Speed of every 2005 Goodguys/VRA event. With the win, Abbey and partner George Goshgarian won their first Goodguys AA/GAS class Championship.

The final round of Junior Fuel competition turned scary right at the hit of the throttle for veteran JD Zink of Chico, CA. Zink went into a power wheelstand at the flash of the green light, which sent his dragster all the way over backwards and then barrel rolling several times before coming to a stop against the guardrail. Opponent Stu Sandhaus, who traveled all the way from Pittsburgh, PA to compete, got his first Goodguys Jr. Fuel win running a 7.065 at 184.61, but all eyes were focused on Zink. Zink was cut from his car and taken via ambulance to Kern Medical Center for observation. He gave an emphatic waive to the crowd prior to being loaded into the ambulance and was conscious and joking with safety officials.

In a crash earlier in the day, Mike Boyd escaped serious injury when the fabled “Winged Express” AA/Fuel Altered crashed into the retaining wall during an exhibition run. The car lost the left front wheel and tie rod midway down the track which sent the car left into the retaining wall where it scrubbed off speed but eventually barrel rolled twice before coming to a stop. Boyd was out of the car before safety crews arrived on the scene but the historic race car looked to be sadly destroyed. Late word from team patriarch Al “Mousie” Marcellus is that they will rebuild the machine for next season and beyond.

Other winners at the Goodguys 7th Fuel & Gas Finals were Don Enriquez (Junior Fuel B), Steve Castelli (A/GAS), Don Taros (Nostalgia Eliminator), Dan See (Nostalgia II), Eric Christianson (Nostalgia III), Red McGuiness (B/GAS), John Contreras (C/GAS), Brian Faulk (D/GAS) and Kevin Houmard (Hot Rod Eliminator).