"People are smart to look at the light on the guard rail and I'm just too dumb because I turn the corner and wait for them to tell me where to park. If I get to park in front where the cameras are I'm a happy guy."

The surprise of the day came when John Force, the second-winningest driver in all of motorsports behind only Richard Petty, red-lighted in his first-round pass against Bob Gilbertson, ending his weekend early. It was Force's third red-light of the year and seventh of his career.

That cleared the way for Densham, the other member of Force's racing team, as he beat Tommy Johnson Jr., Gilbertson and Frank Pedregon. The win over Frank Pedregon gave Densham lane choice in the finals by .002 seconds.

"John's the true professional," Densham said of Force. "He came back and told me the lights were very hard to see in the left lane. In the Funny Car class right now we've got such great competitors you can't look ahead. But if you have the choice of who do you want to race, John Force or Gilbertson?"

Wilkerson's path to the finals was paved with wins over Scotty Cannon, Bob Bode and Tony Pedregon.

Tony Pedregon, who beat arguably the hottest Funny Car racer in Gary Scelzi in the quarterfinals, gained 17 points to keep a slim 61-point lead over Whit Bazemore in the standings.

BIR has been a kind track to Densham in the past. Before his win Sunday, Densham had raced in three finals, losing them to who else? Teammate John Force.

"I've had great success here," Densham said. "I've been to the final round three times here and I lost all three times to John Force. I've contributed to three of his 10 wins here. I think he owes me."