In the three rounds of qualifying, the times improved with nearly every pass. At the end of round one, Roger Burgess was on top with a 5.936. In round two, Rick Stivers drove his Trane-backed Dodge Stratus to a 5.906 to hold the provisional top position overnight. By Saturday afternoon, the atmospheric racing conditions had improved remarkably, giving the final round of qualifying a boost that led to a flurry of record-setting times.

In the third pair down the track in the last qualifying session, Dennis Radford piloted his '70 Duster to the quickest-ever nitrous-powered lap of 5.924 at 237.13 mph. The very next pair, Jay Payne broke into the 80's with a 5.870 at 242.67. Melanie Troxel followed soon after with a 5.891 at 244.69, and then Brad Personett launched a record-passing shot of 5.843 seconds at a monster 253.28 mph. Commisso followed with a 5.891 at 243.55, and then Stivers grabbed the No. 1 spot back from Personett with a 5.837 at 245.81.

The march of 80's continued in round one of eliminations with six drivers passing the mark. Notably, Commisso took out points-leader Burton Auxier with a 5.843 and opened the door for Burgess or Danny Rowe to move into first place. Stivers took out Scott Ray with a 5.835, and Joe Baker took out Personett with a holeshot 5.873 to 5.866.

Baker used another holeshot in round two to send No. 3 Rowe packing and took away any chances for him to take advantage of Auxier's early exit, 5.865 to 5.854. Jay Payne ended Burgess' hopes of making any advances on Auxier as well, taking him out with a 5.836 at 244.43 to a 5.911 at 246.30.

In the same round, Stivers had a near-perfect .001 reaction time in his victory over Tim Tindle, running a 5.836 at 247.11 to Tindle's 5.914 at 240.81. The win put Stivers within striking distance of removing Tindle from the top eight in overall points and the chance to run for the cash in the Matco Tools $35,000 Pro Mod Clash to be contested in Las Vegas later this month.

Melanie Troxel and Commisso added even more drama to the round, running the quickest-ever side-by-side round, 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. In that round, no driver ran slower than a 5.914, and six of the eight drivers clocked times in the 5.80 zone.

Semifinal action paired Commisso against Stivers and Payne against Baker. Baker's luck ran short and he struck the tires while trying to swing for the fences, losing to Payne 5.944 to 8.411.

Baker said, "Truth be told, we got greedy. We didn't detune the car enough for the climate conditions. With everyone clocking such great times we just got carried away."

Stivers blasted to a 5.823 at 246.93 to take out Commisso, who was slowed by a broken spark plug to a 5.998 at 235.35. His win set up an all Team BAE final of Stivers versus Payne.

Adding to the drama of the round, Stivers either had to set an ET record or win the event in order to pass Tindle for the No. 8 spot overall and qualify for the Matco Tools Clash - one of Stivers' goals coming in to the weekend. As Stivers and Payne took the line, it looked like it would be an easy win for the Lexington, Ky. businessman, but at half-track, Stivers couldn't control the monster tune up Anderson put into the car and crossed the centerline, thereby forfeiting the round and handing the win to his teammate Jay Payne.

"It just wasn't meant to be," said a disappointed Stivers. "I wanted that record so bad I could taste it, and Brad gave me a tune up that would have run a 5.70-something. The air was there, the conditions were right, but when the wheels went up after I shifted, I couldn't hang on, and it just got away from me."

Payne's victory was his first of the season and his second at Virginia Motorsports Park, his first coming just last year. Stivers won the event two years ago.

Payne wasn't the only driver to leave Virginia with a trophy, however, as Mike Knowles was awarded an NHRA Wally for having the best appearing crew - the first time any Pro Mod team has ever been considered for or won that honor.

Knowles, who failed to qualify for the field, said, "It was really cool to be awarded the best appearing crew from NHRA. That made the DNQ a little easier to take. We always take pride in the way things look and how we present ourselves, so to be recognized for that, it means a lot. It's also huge, as a class, to be included in the judging for that. We've worked hard to keep the relationship with NHRA advancing, and I think this is a great sign of how things are continuing to get better and better."

Next up on the schedule for the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge is the series final race of the season at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas, Oct. 29 - Nov. 1.

OFFICIAL STANDINGS (After 9 of 10 events)
1 Auxier 610
2 Burgess 578
3 Rowe 573
4 Baker 532
5 Payne 509
6 Castellana 508
7 Commisso 501
8 Tindle 437
9 Stivers 424
10 Personett 384
11 Knowles 352
12 Smith 264
13 Lastor 200
14 Troxel 177
15 Laird 155
16 Lang 140
17 Gray 117
18 Radford 116
19 Wilmes 104
20 King 98
21 Maier 72
22 Ray 72
23 McCoy 63
24 DiStefano 51
25 D'Aprile 43
26 Gibson 42
27 Patille 41
28 Stock 32
29 Budano 31
30 Hance 31
31 Russo 31
32 Flamholc 20
33 Christoffel 10
34 Landis 10

Courtesy of Matthew Brammer