After qualifying No. 6 in an ultra-quick field with a 5.991 at 243.59, Burgess was paired with "Tombstone" Tommy Gray in the opening stanza. Burgess' Al Billes-tuned '67 Camaro raced like a bracket car, pounding out a 5.929 at 246.12 to take the win over a tire-smoking Gray.

In round two, Burgess was matched up against the defending event champion Jay Payne. Burgess cut an .044 light to Payne's .105, but had to punch second gear early trying to eliminate tire shake and straighten his car after it had drifted out of the groove. At the stripe, it was all Payne - 5.836 at 244.43 to Burgess' 5.911 at 246.30.

"The only way to fix the shaking and drifting was to shift gears which cost me time. A 5.911 isn't a bad time at all, but it's not going to cut it against a 5.83."

"There were only two cars that ran in the 5.90's in the quarterfinals, Tim (Tindle) and I, and we were both sent home early. We've seen the quickest runs in the history of Pro Mods this weekend, it's been great for the class."

In that same round, Burgess' teammates Raymond Commisso and Melanie Troxel ran the quickest side-by-side race in Pro Mod history, with Troxel's record-breaking 5.829 at 247.79 losing to Commisso's even quicker 5.817 at 246.03. His mark now stands as the World Record in Pro Mod, resetting the 5.856-second mark he set in Englishtown earlier this year.

"It was also really exciting that one of our drivers, Mike Knowles, was awarded Best Appearing Crew by the NHRA and actually received a Wally. No driver or team that I know of has ever won a Wally in Pro Mod competition before this weekend, and I think that's really a testament to the kind of show we're putting on for the fans as well as how our relationship with NHRA has grown over the last year," Burgess said.

Burgess remains in second place in the points chase behind Burton Auxier, but he has narrowed the gap from 54 points to 32 going into the final race of the season, the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, Oct. 29-Nov 1.

Courtesy of Matthew Brammer