DRAGRACINGONLINE.COM SPORT TUNER SHOWDOWN RESULTS -- 6/7/2005

W: Patrick Jacobsmeyer, St. Louis, MO; 1991 122 Talon, 0.201, 11.980/117.43
RU: Justin Bondurant, Fenton, MO; 2004 146 Neon, 0.332, 12.250/115.68

It finally happened! With the majority of the fans' attention still squarely on the DRO Sport Tuner Showdown and the $50 cash bonus from DragRacingOnline.com editor Jeff Burk for the first driver to record an 11-second elapsed time during a qualifying or final round pass, the anticipation of the continuing battle between Patrick Jacobsmeyer and Justin Bondurant was heavier than the air which threatened to kill any chances of the magic number appearing on the scoreboards.

Bondurant's gleaming blue '04 Neon SRT-4 hit the track in the eighth pair of timed trials and, despite the heat, clocked a 12.20 at 117.44 mph. The Fenton, MO racer returned in the first ten minutes of the official qualifying period but slowed to a 12.41/112.71. Although temperatures were dropping from an 88-degree peak, it suddenly appeared that the cash bonus would remain unclaimed for yet another week.

When Jacobsmeyer's white All-Wheel-Drive Eagle Talon finally hit the track with a 12.58/113.48, it became a foregone conclusion among the fans in the stands that the $50 bill would not be collected during event number ten although the intense rivalry between the two would still be the topic of qualifying. Then, at 7:10 PM, Bondurant wheeled out from under the tower for his third shot.

The Neon launched hard but its 1.95-second 60-foot ET was still a tenth from Bondurant's best. However, when the JMB Performance Dodge hit the eighth-mile in 7.86 seconds at 96.14 mph, announcer Jason Phillips yelled, "Wait a minute! This COULD BE IT!" When the scoreboard lit up, the crowd response was the loudest of the 2005 Tuesday night season. At 11.996 seconds and 117.51 miles per hour, Justin Bondurant got the money, the new FWD and 4-Cylinder DRO track records, and a place in Gateway International Raceway history.

Incredibly, the run was just the beginning of the night's drama. Jacobsmeyer, who had arrived late and was only six pairs back in line when Bondurant hit "the number", made his second pass with an improving 12.11/116.32, only a quarter of a mile-per-hour shy of his best speed ever. Within 30 minutes, Jacobsmeyer made yet another pass while Bondurant's Neon sat in the pits. This time, the Talon screamed to a career-best 12.03 at 116.80!

That run prompted Bondurant to return to the track, but a missed gear change resulted in a sub-par 12.50/111.12. Ten minutes later, Jacobsmeyer pulled to the line with Bondurant now only five pairs behind and watching closely. The Talon charged to an incredible eighth-mile ET of 7.72/92.20 and the fans once again let out a roar when the scoreboard lit up an 11.954 at 117.15 mph! Bondurant's subsequent pass of 13.12/104 had everybody thoroughly confused as to the status of the blue Dodge. While Jacobsmeyer was content to remain in the pits, Bondurant made one last effort at the conclusion of the qualifying period, hitting a still-unsatisfactory 12.95/113.15. Nobody, however, was leaving before the two met in the final round.

It would be the fifth time the two had battled in the DRO Sport Tuner Showdown; Jacobsmeyer had scored all but one of the wins. In fact, the Talon had consistently reset the record for Tuesday night wins in any category, with five victories to Bondurant's two during the nine completed events in 2005. When the Talon left the starting line with a holeshot of thirteen-hundredths of a second, it quickly appeared that Jacobsmeyer's domination would continue. With a quarter-second advantage at every progressive timing point to 1,000 feet, the Eagle surged ahead even farther for a four-tenths finish line win margin (70.9 feet) and a phenomenal 11.980 at a career-best 117.43 mph. The Dodge's 12.25/115.68 was never in the hunt.

"I broke a solenoid switch on the 11-second run," Bondurant admitted while collecting the $50 bonus, "and without nitrous oxide it just wasn't going to go in the elevens again in this air. That was the one good pass I was able to get out of it and it obviously came at the best possible time. If I hadn't gotten into the elevens on that run, PJ would've gotten it, no problem."