Commisso took top qualifying honors on Saturday with a 5.894 at 244.60 mph, and never looked back. His first round of eliminations netted a 5.896 over local-favorite Dave Hance, and in round two he took the line 22 inches in front of Mike Knowles' 5.929 at 242.80 mph to Commisso's quicker 5.894 at 244.83 mph.

In the semifinals, Commisso was paired with 'Tombstone' Tommy Gray who had been burning up the track all weekend, posting 5.882 and 5.917-second efforts in eliminations and flirting with claiming the Pro Mod Challenge record himself, but Commisso left no doubt in any spectator's mind that he was not going to be out-done this day. The hype of what looked to be a monster matchup quickly disappeared as Gray suffered engine problems and coasted down the track, watching Commisso deliver a sizzling 5.881-second performance and step into the finals where he would meet Danny Rowe.

Because of the initial weather delays and several oil-downs and accidents in other classes, the final round was run at just after 9 p.m. - long past the 7:30 p.m. Old Bridge Township local curfew. The air had cooled but the track kept its heat from the sunshine, and the conditions were perfect for setting records.

Commisso took a slight starting-line advantage and pulled away from Rowe for the win and the National ET record, scoring an amazing 5.856 at 245.58 mph to Rowe's best effort of the weekend and new personal-best of 5.899 at 243.94 mph.

"It's all overwhelming right now, the adrenaline is pumping and the happiness is all coming through now from all the hard work," Commisso said.

"During race day you just try to stay calm and focused and don't let yourself get too pumped up, so I was just trying to be calm, cool and collected and just going up there and doing my thing. But now it's all here.

"I've been waiting for this since Indy of 06. I've won at IHRA three times, and this is my first one over here and I have to say this, we did it in style and great fashion.

"We qualified number one, we set the track record, we set the record period 5.856 at almost 246 mph, we ran 5.80's all day long -- it was great. Al Billes has got this thing figured out, he is just amazing, I don't know what to say but he's the man when it comes to stuff like this.

"The other person I have to thank is Roger. If it wasn't for Roger giving me this opportunity to come to this team and drive, we couldn't do what we do. Roger is the greatest. You don't find too many people like him in the world, he's just a great man. He's a wonderful friend, he's a mentor, and I love him. He's a great human being," Commisso said.

"The final round against Danny was something I'll never forget. He is one of the greatest competitors out here he's a great driver and Jimmy Rector tunes that car so well, but today was just my day. We out ran him, I got him on the tree a bit, and we won the race and brought it home.

"It was the perfect ending to a very long and tiring day, and I couldn't be happier for this entire team," he said.

Courtesy of Matthew Brammer