Marking the first time the Challenge has visited the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals, the drivers and teams were greeted with full stands of fans and treated them to a show of fast runs and close races all under the sunny skies of Kansas.

Tindle made good on his purpose when he said at the beginning of the race "I'm here to win" by besting Chip King, Danny Rowe and even number one qualifier Joe Baker en route to the final-round matchup against Jay Payne. Payne had beaten Mike Knowles and then single-handedly took out the nitrous-burning teammates Burton Auxier and Mike Castellana to earn his berth in the money round.

In the final, it was all Tindle and his Quain Stott-tuned '67 Mustang, as he led from wire to wire and won the race, 6.059/235.47 to 6.095/237.30.

"This was just awesome," Tindle said as he clutched the Get Screened America Warrior at the finish line. "Somehow, I just knew it was our weekend. We came out here with the purpose to be the first winners at this event, and sure enough, we did it.

"Quain got this ole' Mustang running so well in the heat of the day, and we were able to get down the track consistently while the other guys were just trying too hard and smoking the tires. Of course, in that last lap against Jay it was a great race -- he's always tough, but this one was just ours."

Also on a tear this weekend was Matco Tools-driver Joe Baker who earned his first No. 1 qualifying position and set Heartland Park Topeka track records for both fastest speed at 241.76 MPH and quickest ET at 5.971 seconds in his Mike Ashley Racing '68 Camaro. He was the only driver to break into the sub-six second zone all weekend.

Mike Castellana had another great performance and stayed second in the points standings, while his teammate, Burton Auxier, managed to hold on to first place despite a second-round exit.

Next up on the schedule is the June 11-14 United Association NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey.

Courtesy of Matthew Brammer