With two races remaining on the schedule and a 128-point lead, or just over six rounds, Mike Edwards knows the NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock championship is within his grasps, but understands the chase is not over until he finishes some business at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.

"These last couple weeks since Richmond have seemed like forever," he admitted. "I wish we could have gone straight to Las Vegas and got this over with."

Coming out of Richmond, Edwards earned every single point possible, 150 to be exact, to help extend his lead in the championship race over multi-time champion Greg Anderson.

"The toughest part has been trying to not lose the focus we have had all year," Edwards said. "We have gone about it as business as usual, except for a few distractions from the media and the like. It has helped that I have a great group around me that just keep working hard to achieve this goal."

For Edwards to mathematically clinch his first Pro Stock championship, he needs to leave the Las Vegas event with a 151 point lead, but realistically, if the rig pulls out and Edwards is more than 100 points ahead, the championship is all but over.

"We just need to go into Las Vegas and take care of the task at hand and not leave anything to chance," Edwards said. "I remember a couple years ago when Doug Kalitta seemed to have the Top Fuel title all locked up, but in Pomona, the worst-case scenario happened when Tony Schumacher won the event and set the e.t. mark in the final to steal the championship. So until nobody has a chance to catch us we will not celebrate."

The part that does make Edwards a bit nervous is he has not had a great record at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In fact, it has been the worst track on the schedule for the Young Life/A.R.T. camp. Edwards has garnered only five round wins in 17 trips to the facility and has never advanced past the second round.

"We have never done real well at that track for some reason, but in 2009 we have exorcised a few demons at a couple other tracks, so maybe stopping by during Halloween weekend, we can correct those problems as well," he said. "I hope we can scare away our past experience and spook up an absolutely perfect scene here and help create a memory that we will always love coming back to Las Vegas."

Edwards' Career Has Sparkled Throughout At the Starting Line

For one of the few times in his career, in 2009, Mike Edwards has not had to rely so much on getting the jump on the starting line and a few media outlets have pointed to that as one of his struggles this year. But in Richmond, Edwards proved why he has always been considered one of the best leavers in the sport when he stole the victory from Greg Anderson on a holeshot.

Over the course of his career, Edwards has been one of the best at stealing round wins with his starting-line prowess. In 1996, he was named the Slick 50 Driver of the Year for winning the most rounds based on a slower e.t.

Research compiled by dragracecentral.com, backs up the notion that Edwards is one of the elite at the art of the holeshot. Edwards has won a total of 59 rounds on his reaction time for his career. To put these numbers into perspective, Jeg Coughlin Jr. has a total of 72 holeshot wins to his credit.

When you dig a little deeper, is when the true numbers come out. Coughlin has competed in 634 rounds of competition, while Edwards has pulled to the line 494 times. When you take the averages based on the number of rounds competed and the total number of holeshot wins, Edwards has an average of 11.9 percent to Coughlin's 11.4 percent.

Quick Notes

In Richmond, set the Pro Stock e.t. record in the first round with a 6.509.

Has advanced to the final at 11 events in 2009, the most in Pro Stock.

In 2009, has captured 14 No. 1 Qualifier awards, the most in Pro Stock.

Captured five wins thus far in 2009 in Atlanta, Bristol, Seattle, Charlotte and the latest in Richmond.

Has qualified in the top five positions in all 22 NHRA events in 2009, with four times earning the No. 2 spot, and three times in the No. 4 position to go with his 14 poles and a single No. 5 qualifying effort.

Recorded his 20th career victory in Richmond, and has reached 40 finals over his career.

Mike Edwards has grabbed either low e.t. or top speed at 19 of the 21 events in 2009. He scored both the low e.t. and top speed of the event at seven races (Gainesville, Bristol, Topeka, Chicago, Englishtown, Denver, Seattle, Brainerd, Indianapolis, Charlotte, and Dallas), and has left with low e.t. three other events (Phoenix, Las Vegas, Memphis, and Richmond), while garnering top speed at four others (Houston, Atlanta, Norwalk, and Reading).

Edwards Holds Points Lead

After four of the six events in the NHRA Countdown to One playoff, Mike Edwards continues to hold the top spot.

Television Schedule
NHRA Las Vegas Nationals
ESPN2
Saturday, October 31
Qualifying
11:30 p.m. - 1:30 a.m. (ET)

Sunday, November 1
NHRA Race Day Show
2:30 - 3 p.m. (ET)

Sunday, November 1
Eliminations
7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. (ET)

Friday, November 13
Eliminations
2 a.m. - 4 a.m. (ET)

Courtesy of Mike Edwards Motorsports