TOP DRAGSTER

With two round wins at the PDRA World Finals, Derrik Sholar came close to overtaking Justin Melton's points lead in Top Dragster, but a dead-on-the-dial, first-round win for Melton (3.99 at 172.21 on a 3.99 dial in) over Cody Moore was just enough to ensure the title went home to Gleason, TN.

Meanwhile, in only her third PDRA appearance, Kathy Fisher made it all the way to victory lane at Virginia Motorsports Park after qualifying fifth in Top Dragster and making her way past Jantzen Melton, George Marks, Lauren Freer and Eddie Syrek in the final round. After taking out Bob Sheridan Jr. in round one, Syrek had the distinction of ousting both championship contenders from eliminations with wins over Melton and Sholar in rounds two and three, respectively.

In the all-Procharger final, Syrek launched with a .085 reaction time, but broke and stopped on the track, while Fisher left with a .049 light and ran just one-thousandth of a second above her 3.96 dial in to take the win at 172.96 mph.

"The season is ending so completely different from how it started for us and I couldn't be happier," Fisher said, though she did have an anxious moment just as the final round was about to start. "We went to fire it up and she just wouldn't start. It would fire up a little bit, but just would not keep running. Eddie had already started his car but he shut it off to wait for us and I can't thank him enough for that."

Top Jr. Dragster: Alexis Tanner (near lane), Rensselaer IN, .069 RT, (8.85), 8.846, 74.39 def Tyler Colbert, Mechanicsville VA, .051 RT, (7.94), 7.923, 80.36

Pro Jr. Dragster: Preston Tanner (near lane), Rensselaer IN, .030 RT, (7.90,) 7.915, 80.78 def. Kimberly Messer, Four Oaks NC, .078 RT, (7.90,) 7.910, 81.46