Joe Amato

Amato, the No. 1 qualifier with a track-record 4.584, fell way off his qualifying pace in round one and was vulnerable with a 4.83 but Randy Parks was long out of the picture after fireballing his engine at the 300-foot mark. Amato and crew chief Jimmy Prock got back on track with a 4.67 victory over Jim Head and a solid 4.64 to beat tire-smoking Larry Dixon before facing Doug Kalitta in the final.

Kalitta, who first broke Blaine Johnson's three-year-old 4.703 track record in qualifying but ultimately was bumped to second by Amato's pass, ran nearly that same number, a 4.702 in round one to beat returning Top Fuel racer Garth Widdison, then followed with a 4.79 to beat Tony Schumacher's engine-wounding 4.84. In the semi's, Kalitta put an end to Cory McClenathan's two-year reign, 4.73 to 4.86.

Surprisingly, both cars smoked the tires, but Amato, a five-time Winston champ, outpedaled his relatively inexperienced foe to take the win light, 5.71 to 6.02, over Doug Kalitta. Top Fuel results

Tony Pedregon

Tony Pedregon not only beat his boss, John Force, for the first time this season, he also scored his first Funny Car title since winning the Castrol Nationals in late April with a final-round victory over Whit Bazemore.

Bazemore had opened his run to the final with a pasir of easy runs as first Dale Creasy Jr.'s engine went silent before he could stage the MAD Magazine Pontiac then Jerry Toliver fouled in the WWF/Undertaker Mustang. Bazemore moved into the final, his second of the year, with a 5.13 to oust Scotty Cannon's 5.38 to make his second final of the year.

Pedregon, who also won the season-opening Winternationals, got successively quicker in every round, improving from a tire-spinning first-round 5.51 conquest of Gary Densham to a 5.11 triumph over tire-smoking Al Hofmann and then a surprising 5.041 to defeat the 5.18 of Force.

The final was over early as Bazemore smoked the tires not 30 feet into his pass, allowing Pedregon an easy 5.20 stroll to his third win of the season. Funny Car results

Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Pro Stock featured a familiar battle between the class' top two families, the Johnsons and the Coughlins. Warren Johnson had stolen the pole position late in qualifying from Jeg Coughlin Jr., and W.J.'s son, Kurt, had taken No. 3 from the elder Coughlin brother, Troy, in the same session.

Come Sunday, though, it was a different story.

All four worked their way to the semifinals that pitted Jeg against Kurt and Warren against Troy, and the Coughlin family went 2-0 against their Georgia-based foes. Jeg, who had run 7.33 and 7.30 to beat Mike Edwards and Steve Schmidt, blistered the track with a 7.28 to oust K.J.'s 7.37. Troy had run 7.37 and 7.36 to trailer Bruce Allen and Greg Anderson, then stunned W.J. with a perfect .400 reaction time and a 7.346 to hold off Johnson's .510-initiated 7.308.

The all-brother final round went the same was as their battles at the Winternationals and the Winston Showdown, with Jeg emerging victorious, this time on a 7.26 to 7.34 count. Pro Stock results

David Schultz

David Schultz, the 43-time NHRA national event champ who has not won in more than two years, since the 1997 Gatornationals, scored a pressure-relieving victory when Antron Brown fouled with a .397 red-light in the final round.

Brown had to gamble on the Tree as Schultz had been solidly in the 7.70s, running 7.72 to trailer Geno Scali, 7.75 to defeat Greg Underdahl, and a 7.71 to beat Gary Tonglet, while Brown was ticks behind on every pass, running a pair of 7.80s to beat Brian Ayers and Larry Cook and a 7.78 that proved unnecessary when low qualifier Winston champ Matt Hines, winner of three straight Mile High Nationals titles, red-lighted.

Hines did gain valuable ground on points leader Angelle Seeling, who surprisingly red-lighted in round one to C.J. Smith. Pro Stock Bike results

Darren Nicholson continued his 1999 hot streak in Federal-Mogul Dragster as he powered to a final-round 5.68 to defeat the 5.72 of David Wells, who had upset Federal-Mogul Dragster champ Rick Santos in the semifinals, 5.82 to 5.88. Federal-Mogul Dragster results

No. 1 qualifier Tony Bartone, who set a new track record of 5.87 in the semifinals, was upset in the final round of Federal-Mogul Funny Car by Sam Blue, who used a steady 5.94 to hold off the troubled 6.45 of the former season champ. Federal-Mogul Funny Car results

The Comp final featured not just a pair of previous Mile-High Nationals champs, but also a war between the eliminator's two fastest classes as local favorite Tom Snyder of Longmont Colo., and his popular Pappy's Pride A/A roadster, winner in 1996, faced off against Texan David Cook, winner of the Federal-Mogul Series event here a month ago and a winner here in 1995, at the wheel of Tom and Meredith Haner's A/D. The victory went to Cook by just .009-second, (-.60) 6.94 to Snyder's holeshot-aided (-.58) 7.19. Comp results

Reigning Federal-Mogul Super Stock champ Dan Fletcher scored another victory with his Rochester N.Y.-based Summit-backed SS/JA '69 Camaro with an easy final-round 11.89 on an 11.23 dial after Kevin Helms had troubles in his Byers Colo.-based SS/CA '67 Corvette, which slowed to a 17-second pace. Super Stock results

For the second straight year, Jody Lang made the long tow from Puyallup Wash., worth it as he powered his N/SA '79 Malibu Wagon to a 13.84 on a 13.80 dial in the final round to beat Steve Wann and his Modesto Calif.-based B/SA '70 Plymouth. Stock results

The Super Comp final was a Ford versus Chevy battle between Santa Fe, N.M.'s Michael Miller and Mesquite Texas' Frank Kohutek. Miller, brother of National DRAGSTER reporter John Miller, drove the family-owned Ford dragster to the victory, 9.47 to 9.49, after getting a slight .403 to .405 holeshot. Super Comp results

In Super Gas, Ronnie Loomis of Dickinson Texas, took his '27-T Ford to a final-round 10.56 on the 10.53 altitude-adjusted indexed to defeat local favorite Steve Johnson, who got loose and slowed in his Littleton Colo.-based '41 Willys. Super Gas results

For information about the event sponsor, visit the Mopar home page.