BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – (June 19, 2005) – Racers from across America competed in eliminations as the 3rd Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion came to a successful conclusion at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky. Three days of beautiful weather, sell-out crowds and over 1,300 race/show cars made this an event to remember; especially for the High Speed Motorsports team who, for the second year in a row made the long tow from California to capture the coveted Top Fuel crown.

In the Top Fuel finale, Sean Bellemeur, in the Plaza Hotel sponsored dragster, won his second consecutive National Hot Rod Reunion title, with a 6.429 second and 225.03 mph victory over Brendan Murry, whose 9.295 second, 74.87 mph run reflected a parts failure. But it wasn't only Murry whose parts failed. Bellemeur said afterwards that “we blew it up on the last lap. I threw the [connecting] rods at 1,000 feet.” During earlier qualification runs, Bellemeur was off the pace, qualifying only in sixth position, but he was able to battle back and beat teammate and woman’s speed record holder Mendy Fry on his way to the win.

 
The Plaza Hotel - MasterCam team celebrate back-to-back Top Fuel titles at the NHRR.

Calm before the storm. The Barrick Gaming pit prior to the first qualifying session.

Sean Bellemeur and the Plaza Hotel - High Speed Motorsports crew move up in the staging lanes prior to the first qualifying session on Friday.

Bellemeur gets into the car and strapped in.

Bellemeur gets ready to enter the water box for his burnout.

Walt Stevens guides Bellemeur back to the line after the burnout.

The crew makes final adjustments before Sean stages.

Both cars move into the staging beams.

After a good leave, Bellemeur smoked the tires briefly, then tacked back and forth, trying to get the car to go straight down the track, finally giving it up as a lost cause. He coasted through the lights with a disappointing 7.870 at just 123.63.

The Plaza Hotel pits between the first and second sessions.

Sean heats the tires for the second qualifying session Saturday afternoon.

Bellemeur lost traction almost immediately and pedaled it at least three times to get it down the track to a slowing 7.635 @ 156.81. This was not what the team was looking for and now had their backs to the wall with only one session left.

At 8:30 Saturday night the defending event champion was down to his last chance to qualify after two tire-smoking runs.

Walt Stevens backs up Bellemeur from his burnout.

Bellemeur left soft and drove down the right edge of the groove all the way down the track, but the tires stayed hooked up and he got safely in the field with a 6.589 at 228.46.

After struggled through qualifying Bellemeur, faced David Pace in round one of eliminations on Sunday.

The race was over early when Pace two-stepped the throttle, leaving way early. Bellemeur finally got a representative run, the engine solid all the way down the track carding a 6.284 at 236.88.

Round two of eliminations would pit Mendy Fry and Sean Bellemeur which meant one of the High Speed Motorsports cars would be going to the final.

Bellemeur had lane choice and took the right.

Both cars move into the staging beams.

Bellemeur left first but Fry moved harder.

Fry was ahead at 60 feet, then went into massive tire smoke while Bellemeur was en route to his best run of the weekend (6.321 @ 240.68) and a trip to the finals.

The crew prepares the car for the final round.

The crew moves the Plaza Hotel car up in the staging lanes before the finals. He would meet fellow Californian Brendan Murry who had earlier upset # 1 qualifier, Jack Harris.

4:51 p.m. Bellemeur has been in the final round all three years of this event. Murry came all the way out from (do you know the way to?) San Jose and changed an engine after the semifinals. Both finalists qualified in the bottom half of the field.

Murry had a slight advantage on the starting line and It was close for the first 330 feet.

Then the rear of Murry's car kicked out and he had his hands full, the car fishtailing several times before he got it slowed down.

Bellemeur made it two wins in a row, but he sacrificed an engine the lights, oiling the shutdown area. Nobody really cared about that as they have ample time to fix the damage before their next event.

Brett Johansen declares its Miller time!

Bellemeur's post race interview.

The win was joyous and quite costly!