Bakersfield, CA - October 6-8, 2006: The 15th edition of the NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion lived up to its star billing - record crowds, huge car counts and to say the least, exciting racing. Considering this is one of the two premier nostalgia drag racing events in the country, teams come here loaded for bear with one thought in mind - winning. The High Speed Motorsports team had a dual win in mind when they rolled through the gates on Thursday. Foremost was their unfinished business - the final round of the rain shortened National Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, KY against Adam Sorokin. This was set to happen amid the second qualifying session.

As it turned out, part one of their goal came to fruition as Bellemeur took out Soroking for the 2006 NHRR Top Fuel title - his third in a row... but the overall plan unraveled early. The HSMS team fell victim to drag racing fate - or a full moon. Take your pick. In this sport regardless of how carefully you prepare, how knowledgeable you are or how badly you want to win more often than not the unexpected will bite you in the tail. The last thing the team expected was exactly what happened Saturday night. Below is the good, the bad and the ugly....

Bellemeur got his first shot at the track at 3:45 p.m. on Friday. He was in the next to last pair of the session and had some very stout numbers to shoot at. He was paired with another young gun - second generation driver, Brett Harris.

During qualifying reaction times don't matter - you are racing the clock to get a spot in the show. Nonetheless, good drivers use the sessions to sharpen their starting line reflexes.

This was a beauty. Bellemeur carded a very nice 5.868 at 254.74. This would ultimately land Sean in the # 6 qualifying spot.  Harris stopped the clocks at a slower 5.915 but with the top speed of the event - 260.19.

Fast forward 24 hours to the second and last qualifying session. But for Bellemeur and the HSMS team this was much more than a qualifying run - it was the long awaited Top Fuel final held over from the NHRR in June

For Bellemeur the race got off to an ominous start when there was a problem with the throttle stop and the car didn't even turn a tire on the burn-out. The concern was amplified by the fact that Sorokin, after just one session. was currently sitting in the # 1 qualifying spot with a 5.806 at 255.39.

After backing up the non-burnout the lack of throttle was weighing on the entire crews minds. With the collective tension - crews and fans - built as both cars staged - the whole deal unraveled in the blink of an eye.

Sorokin's ride blew the tires at the hit and it appeared, with his clean launch, that Bellemeur would have a cake walk to the trophy and $5,000 check.

But this was a drag race and you never let your breath out until the win light come on. Although Sorokin smoked the tires at the hit he was able to recover while Bellemeur was smoking his tires down track. The end result was stunning. Bellemeur did get the win but Sorokin went by him like a freight train in the lights. Wrap your brain around these numbers - 6.838 at just 172.84 for the win and 7.070 at a stunning 246.71 to the loser.

The HSMS team heads up track to pick up Sean as the NHRA Safety Safari tend to Sorokin's oil down in the right lane.

In round one of eliminations Bellemeur was paired with Jack Harris in the Rodeck Racing entry. Sean had lane choice and under normal circumstances the HSMS team would be feeling somewhat confident. However, the four pairs of cars that ran before them had already broadcasted that this was anything but a "normal" round of Top Fuel. It was, in a word, ugly and about to get worse. If you don't believe that weird things happen on the cusp of a full moon - you should have been here.

After several mishaps and delays, Bellemeur finally got to run at 7:45 p.m. This would not be significant had the session not started a 6:45 p.m.

At the hit all was good - Bellemeur was out on Harris by a tenth (0.078 to a 0.197).

All was fine until the 900' mark when the HSMS car got out of the groove and made an abrupt move to the right. At 200 MPH this is not a good thing. In the blink of an eye Sean was into Jack's lane and going sideways. One could read the Plaza Hotel logo on the nose from the starting line - it looked very bad. Incredibly Bellemeur got the car back into his lane and avoided what appeared to be a sure roll over. Come to find out it was a combination of quick reflexes and the right canard wing keeping the car from going over. Between spinning the tires and getting a cockpit full of clutch dust Sean was "hunting" on the top end and this time it almost bit him. Full moon.

Crossing the center line erased any chance Bellemeur had of winning so Harris got a gift 9.196 at a mere 91.75 MPH win. For the record, Bellemeur went thought the lights on two wheels at a 7.038 at 131.46. There would be no double NHRA reunion wins this year.

In spite of their near disastrous loss the night before, the HSMS team were center stage during the pre-race ceremonies Sunday morning when they were awarded the 7 foot tall trophy for winning the 2006 National Hot Rod Reunion.