Mikey Rees created a huge round of applause yesterday when he came out on the winning end of an exciting first round matchup in Super Street/Pro Outlaw 10.5W with Frank Mewshaw. Both racers fought their way to the finish line, and it was Rees who kept it pointed straight longer, scoring a wild, come-from-behind 7.98 to 8.24 win.

It's hot here in Joliet. 88 degrees hot, with a forecasted high of 90 degrees and a relentless sun beating down on the crowd and the racing surface. The heat played a role in some interesting stories in the first round of eliminations, and it should once again play a role as round two takes to the Route 66 quarter-mile this afternoon.

The warm weather hasn't kept the crowd away, as the car show continues to fill up and eager muscle car fanatics fill the pit area and the vast Manufacturer's Midway.

Don Walsh Jr. appears poised for a second trip to victory lane in as many weeks after he laid down the quickest lap of the event - a 6.005 at 250.46 mph -- to defeat John Sullivan.

Davd DeMarco benefited from Tim Essicks' scant -.003 red light in the second round of Super Street/Pro Outlaw 10.5W, as Essick ran a quicker 6.83 to his slowing 7.36.

Relentless is the best term to describe Jason Lee's performance this weekend. In the heat of the day, Lee cracked off another 7.4-second lap -- a 7.47 -- to defeat Dan Kroll. Lee will meet Ronnie Diaz, who advanced when Aaron Stapleton had a small fire at the line, in the final round later this afternoon.

The semifinals of Xtreme Street, with three cars remaining, was a battle between "SpongeBob" and "Corndog" -- Bob Curran and Phil Smith (pictured). The veteran Curran got the best of Smith off the starting line, taking an .046 to .092 advantage out of the gate and parlaying it into a holeshot win, 8.14 to 8.12. Curran will meet No. 1 qualifier Bill Trovato in the final round.

Tony Nesbitt had to be pushed off the starting line in the second round of Super Street/Pro Outlaw 10.5W, allowing Steve Summers to cruise into the semis with a 6.93.

Chris Rini and Don Walsh Jr. squared off in the best matchup of the weekend thus far in Pro Street. Rini has been a bracket car with a string of 6.06 runs, and Walsh rolled to a 6.00 in the second round earlier today. Rini was first off the starting line and was ahead at half track, but the top end charge of Walsh's turbocharged machine came around him at the finish line to earn a trip to the final round, 6.02 to 6.09.

Jeff Colletta left well ahead of Dave Beeson in the semifinal round of Nostalgia Pro Street, but simply didn't have the power to hold off the hard charging Beeson, who clocked a 7.23 to Colletta's 7.41. Beeson will have lane choice over Joe Bucaro in the final round.

Eric LaFerriere had his semifinal bout with Steve Summers in the bag after Summers slowed at half track, but the No .6 qualifier ignited a collective gasp from the crowd when his machine took a hard right turn at the 1,000-foot mark. LaFerriere will have lane choice over DeMarco in the final.

Don Walsh Jr. and Clint Hairston were the two quickest cars in Pro Street this weekend, and it only seemed fitting the pair of turbocharged cars meet in the final. Walsh got away from the line quicker and was never headed in this matchup, running a 6.01 to Hairston's slowing 6.87.

Eric LaFerriere and David DeMarco were virtually dead-even out of the gate in the Super Street/Pro Outlaw 10.5W finale, but LaFerriiere steadily pulled away and took home the class hardware with a nice 6.86 to DeMarco's slowing 7.95.

As he's done so many times before, Charlie Booze Jr. drove from the pole to the Hot Street/Pro Stock title, taking more than a tenth of a second advantage at the tree and outrunning Andy Schmidt, 8.53 to 8.56.

Jeremy Gillam could've put a dial-in on his Mustang this weekend in Mean Street and saved his best performance for last, posting a 9.87 in the final round alongside Denis Marrow and his 10.13.

Jason Lee notched another victory in 275 Drag Radial, this time running an off-pace 7.80 to defeat a slowing Ronnie Diaz.

The hot racing surface, with the sun beating down it all day long, wreaked havoc on racers in the final round, including Nostalgia Pro Street frontrunner David Beeson, who struggled to get the power down off the starting line, allowing Joe Bucaro to score a big upset victory, 7.27 to a charging 7.36.

Bob Curran did what he needed to do in the final round, nailing a stellar .010 light, but he was no match for Bill Trovato, who cruised to another seven-second lap -- a 7.95 -- for the win.

The racer known as "Beefcake," Terry Reeves, put a second point on the board for team NMRA by defeating EFI winner John McPartlin, who fouled away his chances with an -.023 red bulb. Reeves cruised on to a 9.69 winning elapsed time.

Mean Street winner Jeremy Gillam was wheels-up and charging to his quickest run of the weekend, a 9.86, to chase down Factory Stock champion Matt Amrine to make it 3-2 NMCA.

Coyote Stock champ Joe Charles was too early on the tree, and that instantly handed another point to team NMCA, as Bill Trovato cruised to the win to make it 4-2 NMCA.

With the Hot Street and Pro Stock categories combined this weekend, the finalists were brought back for a re-match for the team showdown -- Charlie Booze Jr. representing the NMRA and Schmidt the NMCA. Once again, Booze denied Schmidt in an exciting drag race with side-by-side 8.51's to add a point to the NMRA total.

Only two tenths separated this pair, with Lee locked in at 7.42 and Kroll at 7.63. Kroll was away first, .078 to .151, and was too much for Lee to chase down, blasting to a 7.54 to Lee's wheels-up and charging 7.47.