"After the race I wasn't sure if I won and I just kept saying 'Did I, did I?'" the Jordan Station, Ontario-based Carl Spiering said. "When I was told I did I just couldn't believe it."

Unfortunately for Wasko, who also had never won an IHRA Pro Mod event, the dreaded red bulb came on when he left just one-thousandth of a second too soon, throwing away a 6.343 at 222.22 in the process. In the left lane, Spiering cruised to the win in 6.312 seconds and 223.65 mph.

FUNNY CAR

With only the rain-delayed elimination rounds from the Spring Nationals and the entire World Finals to be contested Oct. 16-19 at Rockingham Dragway, Atchison has all but sewn up his first IHRA championship. And it was another dominating performance in Maryland for the London, Ontario-based Alcohol Funny Car driver, starting out with a 5.757 at 242.67 mph pass that was .081 quicker than number-two qualifier John Vouros.

Atchison then fairly easily handled Melinda Green-King and Joe Comella before Neal Parker redlighted his chances away against him in the semis, setting up a showdown with five-time champion Mark Thomas, the only driver still able to catch Atchison in the points chase. On his side of the ladder, Thomas had a bye when Mark Poyser didn't show for round one, advanced past a redlighting Tony Bogolo, then won a squeaker against Canadian Larry Dobbs in the semis after both drivers left with nearly identical reaction times.

In the final, it was all Atchison, as he left first in the Erickson Manufacturing Firebird, then ran his quickest time in eliminations, a 5.802 to Thomas' 5.866.

Later, Atchison credited his crew's hard work for the win, specifically praising his parents for their support. "I have to thank my mom and dad," he said. "They have both done so much for me and he has worked so hard on this."

PRO STOCK

Perhaps it was Donna's lucky hat that solidified Carl Baker's points lead.

Like Spiering, Baker came from deep in the field to win in Pro Stock after qualifying 13th in the final session. John Montecalvo set the pace with a 6.556-secs pass, with Steve Williford rounding out the 16-car field at 6.617 after 29 cars made qualifying attempts. Larry O'Brien, from Lakeshore, ON, qualified sixth at 6.592 and won "Best Engineered" honors at the event with the first 2003 Dodge Stratus to enter the IHRA Pro Stock wars.

On raceday, Montecalvo made an early exit with tire shake in round one, while Baker advanced past Chuck DeMory, and the Dodge got its first round win courtesy of a redlight from John Bartunek.

Baker won with a holeshot against Jerry Haas in round two, while Pete Berner got the best of O'Brien. In the semis, Baker put an end to Elijah Morton's day while Berner fell to Morton's teammate Jeff Dobbins, who previously beat Charlie Peppers and 2002 class champion Brian Gahm.

Dobbins left first by .019 in the final, but Baker's Summit Racing '02 Cougar caught up by about the 330-foot mark and went on to win with a 6.579 at 213.16 compared to the 6.608 at 212.86 in Dobbins' lane.