(Ron Lewis photo)

Pro Stock Champion Mike Edwards put the exclamation point on his season with the quickest pass of the weekend, a 6.562 at 210.64 mph, in his A.R.T./Young Life Pontiac. It was Edwards’ 16th No. 1 this season, matching Greg Anderson’s 2004 all-time single-season high in NHRA history.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling. I’m surrounded by a great bunch of guys. I feel like there’s times I’ve let them down and they’ve never given up on me,” said Edwards, who made his pro debut in 1982 after winning the 1981 Modified Eliminator Championship.

There was a mathematical chance that Hector Arana and his Lucas Oil-backed bike wouldn’t win the championship despite qualifying number one at four of the final five races and winning two more times in three final-round appearances. His nemeses were teammates Eddie Krawiec and three-time champ Andrew Hines, who had a mathematical chance to over take Arana at the final event. Hines red-lighted against Krawiec in the semi and even though Krawiec won the final against Doug Horne, he couldn’t pull off the championship this year.

We pick up the action in the semi-finals

Spencer Massey played spoiler by knocking Larry Dixon out in the semi.  (Rich Carlson photo)

The first pair to roll into the water box were Championship chaser Larry Dixon in the Al-Anabi Top Fuel Dragster and Auto Club “Road to the Future” award favorite Spencer Massey in Don Prudhomme’s U.S. Smokeless Tobacco-sponsored entry. Massey had lane choice by virtue of running a thousandth of a second quicker than Dixon in the previous round. Dixon smoked the tires early in the lap and Schumacher’s team, ready to fire in the same lane, started high-fiving all over the place knowing that the 2009 Top Fuel Championship would be in possession of Don Schumacher Racing. The Snake hugged a few of his former crewmen, now wearing U.S. Army uniforms, and shook hands with Don Schumacher.