First Run/Right Lane: 11.992/46.82
Second Run/Left Lane: 11.992/47.01
He set the front tires for an 0.020 bulb and simply closed it up in eliminations. He dialed 12.15, (just in case he ran into problems with first gear, too!), and ended up going eight rounds to both finals. The first final was tight; Dirt's 0.027 to his opponent's 0.052 and Dirt's 12.149 (-0.001) to his -0.018 taking 0.008 at the stripe. In the second final, he ran Sikeston's current killer and '07 point champ, Larry Layton and his Duster, and knew he didn't want to get in any top-end games with Layton while Dirt was baggin' almost a tenth. Dirt's game plan was simply to cut Layton loose when his head got past Dirt's brakelights. Layton was 0.010 to Dirt's 0.019; as soon as Layton got past the Marquis' back bumper, Dirt gave up the stripe. Layton went -0.007 to Dirt's +0.033 at 44.95.
That was Dirt's third career "double" and wins number 97 and 98. From what Mr. Dirt told me, the fun part was the 140-mile trip back home with the cruise set at 65 mph and the engine humming along at 5000 rpm. Dirt said he guesses 167,000 miles is the limit for a Ford tranny.
Here I am holding one of Mr. Dirt's trophies for him.
