Words by John Bisci - Photos by Tim Marshall and Paul Schmitz- 12/9/2008

The 2008 edition of the Las Vegas Bracket Nationals now is history.

SUNDAY, Nov. 30

Peter Biondo won the $42,000 winner-take-all Ultimate Gambler race during the final day of the Las Vegas Bracket Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Forty-two drivers each paid $1,000 entry fees for the opportunity to earn the winner-take-all purse.

In the end, it boiled down to two men:  Biondo and Super Comp world champion Shawn Langdon. Biondo (near lane) posted a reaction time of .006 and won the $42,000 prize. For the record books, it was Biondo over Langdon on the 1/8-mile strip, 4.806/142.61 to 4.893/135.37 mph.

James Callaway Jr. of Artesia, New Mexico, won the $7,500-to-win Super Pro finale over Val Torres Jr. Jennifer Carey won the Pro final Sunday after claiming Sportsman honors on Saturday. Jack Swanson of Yucaipa, Calif., defeated Jon Irving of Boulder City, Nev., for Sportsman honors and Jeff Zogg won the Motorcycle final.

A total of 394 teams participated: 200 entries in the Super Pro class, 140 Pro racers, 45 in the Sportsman category and nine in Motorcycle. The weekend’s participant list included NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series stars Rod Fuller and Dave Connolly.

Final-round results, indicating driver/rider, hometown, vehicle, reaction time, elapsed time (ET) and top speed:

SUNDAY $42,000-to-win ULTIMATE GAMBLER (1/8-mile)
Winner: Peter Biondo (Maspeth, NY) 2006 Racetech dragster  .006, 4.806 sec./142.61 mph.
Runner-up: Shawn Langdon (Avon, IN) 2008 TNT dragster  .018, 4.893 sec./135.37 mph.

SUNDAY SUPER PRO (1/8-mile, $7,500-to-win)
Winner: James Callaway Jr. (Artesia, NM) 2006 Undercover dragster  .003, 5.343 sec./120.27 mph.
Runner-up: Val Torres Jr. (Valinda, CA) 2006 Beckley dragster  .047, 4.574 sec./145.38 mph.

SUNDAY PRO (1/8-mile)
Winner: Jennifer Carey (Fallon, NV) 1971 Nova  .021, .7.796 sec./87.34 mph.
Runner-up: Tibor Kadar (Peoria, AZ) 1967 GTO  .015, 7.014 sec./91.46 mph.

SUNDAY SPORTSMAN (1/8-mile)
Winner: Jack Swanson (Yucaipa, CA) 1967 Camaro  .153, 7.675 sec./90.55 mph.
Runner-up: Jon Irving (Boulder City, NV) 2002 Camaro  -.011 (foul), 8.562 sec./75.75 mph.

SUNDAY MOTORCYCLE (1/8-mile)
Winner: Jeff Zogg (Corinne, UT) 1979 Kawasaki  .059, 5.909 sec./109.91 mph.
Runner-up: Curtis Pogue (Boise, ID) 2005 Suzuki  .096, 8.105 sec./87.85 mph.