In the semifinals, Bernstein faced off against Gary Scelzi and was in the lead until a cylinder gave up about 4.5 seconds into the run. The Bud King lost just enough power to allow Scelzi to squeeze by at the finish line, winning by .007-second.

"All in all it wasn't a bad weekend," said Bernstein. "We're happy we gained some ground in the championship chase."

Bernstein finished third at the Mac Tools Gatornationals and leap-frogged to third place in the NHRA Winston championship points. - Susie Arnold

HERBERT'S SNAP-ON DRAGSTER LOSES TRACTION IN FIRST-ROUND
Traction problems and Kenny Bernstein ended Doug Herbert's Saturday as the rain-delayed Gatornationals were completed at Gainesville Raceway.

Bernstein's 4.636-second run was the quickest of the round and tied for best of eliminations while Herbert's Snap-on Racing Top Fuel dragster spun the tires and he slowed to a 6.130 at 138.02 mph.

"He ran low e.t. of the round. How do you beat that?" Herbert asked. "We did make some changes to the combination, trying to get a hot track combination, and we noticed some improvements. We're going to keep working on it because we know we're going to need it. The weather is getting warmer." - Joe Sherk

FORCE WINS GATORNATIONALS, REGAINS POINTS LEAD

John Force didn't come close to the performance expected of him at the Mac Tools Gatornationals, an event in which his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang set the current NHRA national speed record of 324.05 miles per hour. But despite a final round time of 5.310 seconds at 273.71 miles per hour, the 10-time Winston Funny Car Champion claimed his seventh victory in 10 years at Gainesville Raceway and the 94th of his career.

En route to his second win of the current season, Force reclaimed the points lead from Bruce Sarver.

Although he never neared the 4.812 second performance that earned him his 101st No. 1 qualifying award, Force never had a close race. His smallest margin of victory was 1.233 seconds in a second round victory over arch rival Al Hoffman who he beat for the 41st time in their head-to-head series.

He beat Chuck Etchells in round one, Ron Capps and the semifinals and Dean Skuza in a final round in which Skuza lost traction and Force lost an engine. - Dave Densmore

SKUZA TEAM MORE CONFIDENT

Dean Skuza has had his fair share of match-ups against the well-funded efforts of John Force Racing. Prior to his final-round defeat in Gainesville, Skuza had not lost a round of competition (4-0) to JFR this season -- including two first-round victories against Tony Pedregon at Houston and Las Vegas.

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