Johnson, from Fayetteville, N.C., won on a double-breakout with a .002 reaction time and a 10.891, 130.13 in the 10.90 class. Johnson also had wins over Brian Crumpler, Matthew Robinson, Steve Dweck and Bill Clarke in the winning effort. Surprisingly, Johnson earned an invite to the TOC by winning at -- where else -- Virginia Motorsports Park last season.

Phil Combs, Stock winner, is from Demossville, Ky.

While Johnson is a seasoned veteran, Stock racer Phil Combs celebrated his first major IHRA victory by winning the championship behind the wheel of his ’66 Nova. Combs snuck into the tournament with a third place finish in Division 3 and then defeated Wallace Dent Jr., Nick Folk, Terry Taylor and Michael Beard – all hitters in the Stock class – before meeting Brent Darroch in the championship round.

Darroch had a much better light, but Combs caught up with a 12.728, 97.11 on a 12.70 dial to pick up the win.

In IHRA’s two quickest classes, Henrico, Virginia’s J.B. Donati defeated Austin Cowan to pick up the win in Top Dragster, while Odessa, Texas’ Glenn Wright won in Top Sportsman over Al Burkett.

Wright piloted his beautiful 2009 GXP to wins over John Benoit, Dale Freeman, Mark Payne and Rob Harvischak before meeting Burkett in the final. Surprisingly, Wright broke his car in the semifinals and planned to simply stage the car and hope for a miracle and got just that when Burkett went red by four thousandths of a second.

Wright made the tournament via a third-place finish in Division 4.

In Top Dragster Donati navigated a tough field with wins over Scott Richardson, Stacy Hall and David Barr before meeting Cowan in the final. Donati had a .003 light in the final and ran a dead-on 7.306, 180.14 on a 7.30 dial, edging Cowan by inches at the line.