“I’ve been waiting for this all my life,” Gilbertson said of his first victory on his home track. “I always thought it would be really cool to win a race here. I’ve set track records and qualified Number 1 but this is the first time we ever won at The Rock and it was pretty cool. I just wish it was the first race instead of the last.”
It was not all bad news for IHRA’s premier racing family, the Cannons, though, as son Scott won his first IHRA Pro Mod championship as a driver with dad tuning the family Pro Mod, which, like dad’s Top Fueler, is back by Evan Knoll and Torco. Cannon edged Mike Janis of Lancaster, NY, who got the Pro Modified win for the fourth time of the 2007 IHRA season and the 19th of his IHRA career, fell 15 points shy of the championship due in part to the fact he skipped one tour event this year, which cost him the bonus 41 points that IHRA awards to those racers who attend all of their national events.
Another first-time World Champ was Robert Patrick wheeling his ’07 Ford-powered Mustang to the Pro Stock title. Mark Thomas became the winningest champion in the long history of the IHRA by winning the 2007 Alky Funny title.
The final race of the IHRA season offered the fans and racers everything a “World Finals” race should: three of the four professional class World Champions were decided at this last race of the series without using a contrived “chase” to develop drama. It was a fitting end to a great season and it ended with a seminal announcement by the IHRA. After many years without one they would open the 2008 season at San Antonio with an eighth-mile national event, and the official announcement gave a hint that more short track races may be added to the IHRA national event schedule in the future.