In yet another blower vs. nitrous climax, Castellana left with a very slim .002 advantage off the start over Hahn and held the lead all the way to the finish 6.315 seconds and 221.02 mph later. Hahn went 6.341 at 222.99, but came up less than a car's length short.

Afterward, Castellana credited crew chief Shannon Jenkins (who missed the cut in his own Camaro) with giving him his first national event win. "It was for days like this that I joined forces with Shannon Jenkins several years ago," Castellana said. "This was just an incredible experience and this has been nothing short of outstanding. The team came together as one and on this day, we did what we needed to do. All we wanted to do was to have a chance to win and today we showed what we could when given that opportunity."

PRO STOCK

After a lengthy absence from regular competition before 2003, Mike Bell was the somewhat surprising top qualifier in Sunoco Pro Stock action at TMP with a 6.550 at 212.16. Elijah Morton was 16th at 6.627 and 209.82 mph after 21 cars attempted to make the field. The most unlikely exclusions on Sunday were Carl Baker and Jason Collins -- both race winners earlier this year -- who both took a big hit in the points chase as a result.

Bell, the 1995 IHRA Pro Stock champion, backed up his '98 Probe's qualifying performance with low ET in round one and another win in round two, but fell to 1999 series champion Chris Holbrook in the semis, who beat his teammate Chuck DeMory and Frank Gugliotta in rounds one and two. Dobbins had an even tougher challenge, though, as he made it through heavy hitters Pete Berner, defending champ Brian Gahm, and former champ Floyd Cheek before facing Holbrook in the final.

As he had in each previous round, Dobbins grabbed a holeshot in the final and led stripe-to-stripe with a 6.589/211.73 pass, while Holbrook came up just a little short with a 6.593 at 211.66. "We had been struggling with this car all year," Dobbins said. "We went through the car and undoubtedly were just down on power. We put in a new engine for this race and it went to the top real quick. The old Probe is back."

PHOTO FINISH

Johnny Rocca returned to the track where he's enjoyed great success in
the past and put his blown 1949 'Dark Horse' Mercury into the top half of the
Pro Mod field with a 6.283 at 222.25, but bowed out in round one to Pat Moore.

Gambino.jpg Cutline: Charlie Gambino's 2000 Corvette-bodied flopper received the IHRA's Best Appearing Pro Car award at Toronto Motorsports Park. (Photo courtesy of IHRA/Epps)