Owens (far lane) took the PXM win over Eric McKinney.

“I was getting a little nervous because Eric is so good on the tree. But everybody just did a great job and worked so hard to get this done,” Owens said. “We swapped around a lot of stuff and made a lot of changes, but it worked out great.”

Owens, the No. 1 qualifier, got plenty of stiff competition, as McKinney went as quick as 4.10, Terry Schweigert ran a 4.11 and Kim Morrell had a 4.13. But his Fast by Gast bike steadily improved, capped off with a pair of 4.08s before the big finish.

“I definitely thought it would go faster. We changed some things and it was probably more like the regular combination,” Owens said. “It responded even better than we thought.”

Cary Goforth, the No. 1 qualifier in XPS, couldn’t have expected such a great start for his new Jerry Haas-built GXP, but it delivered all weekend, including a remarkable 4.116 – the quickest pass of the event – in the finals against John Montecalvo.

“This went exactly the way you would want it to. I don’t know how it could have gone any better,” Goforth said. “We knew John was going to step up, but we’re just so happy with this. I don’t even know what to say.”

In the semifinals, Goforth beat points leader Pete Berner with a 4.12, retaking the points lead and extending it with his strong run a round later.

“If we’re running with Pete, we’re where we need to be,” Goforth said. “There’s so many guys working hard in this class, but we’re working hard enough that good things should happen.”

In the Top Sportsman final, Glenn Butcher went 4.25 at 168.48 mph, knocking off Charley Whittenburg. It was a monumental win for Butcher, as he became the first winner in Top Sportsman since it was named an official class in the ADRL.