In winning the Funny Car race for the sponsors of his team and the event, Del Worsham had some help from teammate Phil Burkhart as he reached the winner's circle at the suburban Phoenix quarter-mile for the second time in three years. And the Newport Beach, Calif., driver did it just three days after twin daughters Katelyn and Madelyn celebrated their second birthdays.

Kurt Johnson had a bit of a flashback to nearly one year ago, when he beat Greg Anderson in the Pro Stock semifinals of the Gatornationals. Hardly anyone has been able to stop the reigning champion since then. Six times last season, Johnson was runner-up to Anderson. K.J. said it seemed like a painfully long time since his previous victory, last June 1 at Joliet, Ill. But the Sugar Hill, Ga., resident dispatched Anderson on a holeshot in the semifinal and outran 21-year-old Dave Connolly in an equally close final.

With even hotter conditions Sunday than the ones Saturday that made the track slippery and cheated the paying customers and drivers alike, Bernstein benefited from crew chief Tim Richards' expert tune-up. By the time of the finals, about 4:30 p.m., temperatures hovered at higher than 80 degrees, and the track gauge registered 112. But Richards and Bernstein found a way around it.

"Tim and Kim (assistant crew chief Richards) and the rest of the guys did a great job of dialing this car in to the hot conditions we faced," Bernstein said after using a 4.537-second pass at 326.63 miles an hour to beat Kalitta's tire-smoking 5.837/184.85. "They just kind of finessed it down the track each round. From my standpoint, the car felt great. It just went straight down through there every time. It was easy to drive."

The Lake Forest, Calif., driver added, "To come back out and get another win at the track where I got my first career victory after being laid up and out of the car for so long is really special. Having won here before, I had a level of comfort. And once we got past the first round and I saw how we were running and how everyone else was running, I felt like we had a good chance to win this thing."

Tony Schumacher, the Winternationals winner, fell to Bernstein in the semifinals but hung onto a two-point lead over Kalitta, 194-192. Bernstein has 188 points.

Worsham's victory landed him at the top of the Funny Car standings for the first time in his career.

The No. 10 qualifier in the 16-car field, Worsham eliminated Tim Wilkerson, Whit Bazemore and Burkart, but not before his teammate knocked off heavyweights John Force and Gary Scelzi. In the final, Worsham faced reigning champion Tony Pedregon, who had beaten brother Cruz and the other two Force Racing entries -- former teammate Gary Densham and his own replacement, Eric Medlen.

Worsham got the jump off the starting line and spoiled Pedregon's idea of a day-early birthday present to himself. Worsham drove his Pontiac Firebird to a 4.970-second E.T. at 303.78 mph, while Pedregon could coax only 5.098/251.58 from his Chevy Camaro.