A Gen III Hemi is an early favorite as the 2014 Amsoil Engine Masters Challenge presented by Hot Rod moves in the final round today.

Built by Tony Bischoff of BES Racing Engines in Guilford, Indiana, the 401ci Mopar clicked off an average of 688.7 horsepower with 611.7 lb-ft torque to score 2,991.1 points. That’s an incredible 90 points better than the 436ci LS engine from the School of Automotive Machinists that scored 2,902.1 points even though the dyno numbers were higher: 727 horsepower and 640.7 lb-ft torque. The third-leading qualifier is a 401ci LS built by John Lohone. Its numbers were 668 horsepower, 589.7 lb-ft torque and 2,895.3 points.

Throttle’s Performance brought a unique Pontiac to the show. See video above. Photos Courtesy Hot Rod Magazine

Under the Engine Masters format, the average peak horsepower and torque from three runs are entered into a formula that factors the engine’s displacement to reach a point total – thereby letting engines of different sizes compete against each other. A total of 25 teams qualified during the week on the dynos at the motorsports division of the University of Northwestern Ohio. The top five qualifiers advance into today’s final with a clean slate.

Another Gen III Hemi and a Ford Boss round out the top five teams. Bradley Nagel of Bradley Built Engines brought a 417ci Hemi that pulled 708.7 horsepower and 614.3 lb-ft torque for 2,892.5 points. And last year’s winner, Jon Kaase, built a 404ci Boss engine using his Boss 9 heads to record 666.0 horsepower and 591.7 lb-ft torque for 2,873.3 points.

Kaase’s other engine, a 599ci Boss 9, twisted the dyno the hardest of all 25 engines with a run of 981.7 horsepower and 863.3 lb-ft torque to score 2,833.6 points for sixth-place in qualifying. Roycroft Racing, the leader after the second day of qualifying, ended up seventh in the standings.

Semco Performance Pontiac. See video below.

Cool Ponchos!

Hot Rod posted a number of new videos showcasing some of the teams, and a pair of Pontiacs quickly caught our eye. The first is from a North Dakota team that brought a 429ci Poncho sporting Speier Racing/Edelbrock heads and a wicked Performance Design Carbon TR. intake manifold. EngineLabs has featured Performance Design’s unique products before, but this intake with a KCS throttle body and Megasquirt EFI looked impressive on an iconic platform. Mark Dalquist of Throttle’s Performance built the engine. He can also tune each cylinder individually as there is a Lambda sensor in each exhaust header pipe. The posted numbers of 685 horsepower and 596.3 lb-ft torque for 2,710.6 points and 10th place.

Another Pontiac was the 409ci bullet from Semco Performance. This traditional-looking engine with a carburetor finished 12th in the qualifying with run that produced 637.3 horsepower, 583.3 lb-ft torque and 2,680.5 points.

Hot Rod is posting hourly updates on its blog as the winner will be announced later today.