11:24 a.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 73 degrees, relative humidity 63 percent, barometer 29.23 inches, adjusted altitude 2,431 feet, track temperature 91 degrees. Sampey gets a little holeshot and that was enough. She goes down the groove with another good pass and takes the win.

Arana Jr is 5 – 1 against Reed in prior events. Reed had a little trouble getting his bike to run. He gets the advantage off of the line and slowly extends his lead all the way through the run.

Savoie is 10 – 1 against Smith in prior events. Smith gets out of the gate first but Savoie goes around her before they reach the 330 foot mark. Smith starts to make up ground and goes back around him by the time they reach the 1000 foot mark and pulls away for the win.

Andrew Hines is 14 – 4 in round 1 at the Nationals. Overall he is 4-1 against John Hall in round 1. Hall gets a big holeshot, stays in front for about 500 feet, then Hines powers around him and pulls away for the win.

This (#4) is the best starting spot for Steve Johnson at the Nationals since 1995. Johnson gets the advantage off of the line and extends his lead all the way through the run.  Johnson will have lane choice over Smith in the next round.

Smith is 13 – 7 against Underdahl in prior events. Underdahl hits the throttle, the bike stumbles a couple of times, then he clicks it off and comes to a stop. Smith goes right down the groove with a decent pass and takes the win. Hines will have lane choice over Matt Smith in the next round.

Eddie Krawiec is 9 – 4 in round 1 at the U.S.Nationals. Marc Ingwersen is the 56th rider to face Eddie Krawiec in eliminations. Eddie has a winning record against 53 of those riders he has raced. Ingwersen leaves a little too quickly and then the bike quits about 20 feet out. Krawiec goes down the groove with the quickest pass of the round so far and will have lane choice over Reed in the next round.

Scotty Pollacheck’s only other #1 spot was at Maple Grove in 2017. At that race he made it to the semi-finals. The last race Michael Phillips attended was Denver in 2016 and he is making his first start since the Chicago race in 2016. This is Michael’s 300th round of competition. Pollacheck is 1 – 0 against Phillips in prior events. Phillips gets the holeshot but the bike stumbles. He stays on the throttle and the engine picks back up. Pollacheck goes down the groove with another good pass and pulls away for the win.

3:52 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 76 degrees, relative humidity 64 percent, barometer 29.07 inches, adjusted altitude 29,242,950 feet, track temperature 99 degrees. Johnson and Smith have each won 7 times against the other in prior events. Smith leaves a little too soon and goes red giving the win to Johnson. Johnson makes a decent pass and moves on to the semi-finals.

Smith hits the throttle, the bike bogs and bounces around, then he backs off of the throttle. Hines goes down the groove with a good pass to take the win.

Pollacheck gets out of the gate first and extends his lead all the way through the run. Pollacheck will have lane choice over Johnson in the next round.

Reed is too quick off of the line and goes red giving the win to Krawiec. Krawiec will have lane choice over Hines in the next round.

5:19 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 79 degrees, relative humidity 58 percent, barometer 29.06 inches, adjusted altitude 3,089 feet, track temperature 99 degrees. Krawiec is 31 – 24 against Hines in prior events. Hines gets a big holeshot, Krawiec starts reeling him in, but Hines is able to hold him off and take the win.

Johnson completes his burnout and the engine develops a leak. Johnson climbs off of the bike and Pollacheck gets a single into the final round. Pollacheck will have lane choice over Johnson in the final round.

6:10 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 79 degrees, relative humidity 56 percent, barometer 29.04 inches, adjusted altitude 3,106 feet, track temperature 100 degrees. Hines is 24 – 5 against Pollacheck in prior events and this is the first time they have faced each other in a final round. This is Pollacheck’s seventh final of his career. He has no wins yet. This is Hines 97th final and he has 56 wins. Pollacheck gets out of the gate first and starts pulling away and he extends his lead at every marker, runs 200 MPH for the second time this weekend, and takes the stripe for his first career win.