April 23-24, 2005, Sonoma, CA - The Goodguys 17th Nitro Nationals was marked with iffy weather conditions, a record number of oil downs and some of the closest Top Fuel racing in memory. The teams came in Friday to overcast and rainy skies and a chance of rain over the weekend. Being just a two day event scheduling would be tight at best with two qualifying sessions Saturday for all classes so any interference from Mother Nature or unforeseen on-track incidences would, and in this case did, throw everything off. Because of a weather delayed start and TF engine carnage, most (if not all) classes only got one shot to make the show. With 24 TF cars on the grounds that meant if you missed your tune-up, you would be one of the eight cars going home. However, that was not the case with the WW 2 Racing entry as Murphy made his one shot count with a 6.147 @ 245.32. Here's how it went....

For his one and only qualifying attempt Jim Murphy in his WW 2 Racing fueler was paired with Bill Dunlap in Mike Fuller's "Bat Car".

Murphy and Crew Chief, Tim Beebe played it safe on the tune-up (making sure they got into the show) and carded a nice 6.147 @ 245.32.

Bellemeur left first cutting an almost superhuman light and carded a 6.007 @ 247.57 to Murphy's quicker and faster 5.965 @ 252.05. Bellemeur's Margin of Victory: 0.0350 seconds (approximately 13 feet). Bellemeur's 0.017 reaction time is unheard of in Top Fuel and Murphy's 0.094 light would be considered good any other time. A disappointing loss for the WW 2 team for sure.