Fresh off a big win in a North Carolina outlaw show, Marc Dantoni carried that momentum into Columbus, OH's National Trail Raceway Sept. 26-28, where he wrapped up his 2003 NMCA Pro Outlaw championship with a victory at the season-ending NMCA Nitrous Express World Finals. The Staten Island, NY-based driver also prevailed in the special event Pro-Filer Shootout for the top four points leaders in the Pro Outlaw and Pro Street ranks.

Dantoni qualified his nitrous-breathing, 707 Musi-equipped Camaro on top of the Accel DFI Pro Outlaw ladder with a 6.711 blast at 205.22 mph, then enjoyed a single in ound one. Next, he eliminated the turbocharged '01 of Randy Eakins and the turbo-boosted 1994 Lumina of Lawrence Conley in the semis.

That set up a final-round match against James Clark, Dantoni's primary nemesis throughout the 2003 campaign. Clark, from Laurel, MS, started from the number-two spot in what used to be Dantoni's 1997 Monte Carlo, eliminated Jeff Merritt in round one, had a bye in round two, and beat Carl Rossler's '55 Chevy in the semis.

James Clark won two races, qualified on top four times, and went to the finals in every race except one in 2003, but still finished second in the points to Dantoni.

A brief rain shower interrupted the proceedings shortly afterward and lengthy track drying on National Trail's top end prompted NMCA officials to conclude all final rounds based on the 1/8-mile clocks. Clark took the lead with a .057 holeshot, but soon ran into trouble in the right lane while Dantoni streaked to the win in 4.310 seconds at 168.60 mph. Meanwhile, Clark's car swung wildly back and forth across the track before finally hitting the left guardwall at about the 1,000-foot mark.

Clark's Chevy suffered mostly cosmetic damage on both its front and rear after hitting the wall in Columbus.

Although the track temperature had dropped to about 70 degrees, Clark said neither that nor the recent rain shower had anything to do with his accident. Instead, he thought a rear axle probably broke off the launch.