In the first round, contested on Saturday evening, Burgess faced his teammate, Raymond Commisso, and continued his round-winning streak with a 5.938-second shot to Commisso's off-pace 11.137. The victory advanced him to the quarterfinals on Sunday where he met No. 3 qualifier Rick Stivers. As the pair lined up and waited for the green light, Burgess left the line early and fouled out, handing Stivers the win before the race had been run.

"That was my first ever red-light start. My first EVER," Burgess said. "I'm usually pretty good on the tree, but, that time, it just got me.

"I've looked at the video tape of the start several times, figured out what I did wrong, and I can assure you, I'll never do that again. This one was just driver error, because Al (Billes, crew chief) had given me a great car all weekend and the race would have been really close had I cut my normal light.

"My hat's off to Rick and that whole Brad Anderson team, he definitely had a great car all weekend long, and he really earned the win, in that round and in the final against (R2B2 Racing teammate) Melanie (Troxel). It was a great weekend for the entire series as well - we had a good turnout, and the cars that were here were definitely the very best. I'm extremely positive about the way we've been able, as a group, to advance the whole Pro Mod Challenge, and it's exciting to see where everything goes," Burgess said.

With his finish at Charlotte, Burgess is now 54 points out of first place and the world championship, with two events remaining to be run. At 20 points per round, He is confident of his chances to break into the top spot.

"We'll take the laps one at a time, but I am very confident with our whole team and where we're going," he said.

Next up on the calendar for Burgess and the R2B2 Racing team is the Virginia NHRA Nationals in Richmond, Va., October 9-11.

Courtesy of Matthew Brammer