Larry Dixon

Dixon was the first to streak from the gates in his final-round race against Doug Herbert, .057 to .071, and he never looked back, inching away as he went down the track to win with a 4.625, 321.73 to Herbert's 4.675, 316.30.

This was Dixon's second win in a row for new sponsor SkyTel. He's now been to the final round of this race for the last seven years with four wins.

"We're going to burn up 'the Snake's' credit card at dinner tonight," Dixon said. "I'm really proud of Donnie [Bender, crew chief] and I think it's really cool to watch him come into his own as a crew chief. We have a decent car right now and I'm having fun.

"Herbert blew by me right at the finish line and I was watching him and didn't see the win light. Then I realized he wasn't going to slow down in time to make the turn-off and sure enough, he nosed into the sand trap so I knew the TV cameras were going to be on him regardless of who won. I didn't know \until I got all the way around the corner and Tommy's guys told me."

Dixon's back-to-back wins lifted him from fifth to second in the POWERade points. He now trails "Hot Rod" Fuller by just 35 points. Snap-on racer Herbert, 8-14 lifetime in final rounds, last won in Chicago in 2004, 59 races ago.

Tommy Johnson Jr.

This was a classic "get-well" weekend for Johnson, who had just two round-wins this year entering the event. He qualified No. 1, overcame a huge fire with the help of crewmembers from Bob Vandergriff Jr.'s and Mike Ashley's teams, won the event, and moved into the Countdown to the Championship field.

It wasn't easy in the final: Tony Pedregon gave him a race, leaving first by a hundredth of a second. But Johnson caught the former world champ and passed him to win with a 4.994, 305.84 to Pedregon's 5.022, 306.33.

"We had to change everything after that fire, right down to the fuel tanks," Johnson said. "That was a bad fire. It snuck up on me because the run was going fine, and then, blam, there was this huge fireball. I hit the bottles, but it was still very hot in there. I had oil on my tires and I was trying the best I could to stop and get out, but the damage was already done. We couldn't have done it without an exceptional effort by this team and all the other guys that came over and helped us out. I won't forget that." 

Johnson went from a nearly forgotten 12th to eighth in one weekend. Pedregon rose to fourth place with his second final-round showing of the year.

Greg Anderson

Trying to steal a holeshot win from KB Racing for the second week in a row, Jegs.com racer Jeg Coughlin was a little too aggressive at the Christmas Tree, leaving early by .007-second to hand Anderson his sixth win in the first 10 races of the season.

"It's not because of me; it's all those guys I'm associated with ... Ken Black," said Anderson, "I'm a lucky man, and I count my blessings every day. I'm going to ride this wave as long as I can."

Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac GTO ran a 6.617, 209.52, quicker than anything Coughlin had posted all day, but it was all academic after the red-light start.

Anderson's win, the sixth in a row for KB Racing at this facility, pushed his lead over Coughlin in the POWERade points to 201.

Dave Connolly sits 93 behind Coughlin in third place.

Craig Treble

After three runner-up finishes here, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park probably owed Pro Stock Motorcycle victor Treble this win, the 10th of his career. The final was a thriller as both men stayed within each other's shadows most of the way down the track. In the end,  Treble eked out a 6.990 win at 191.70 mph over Hines' 7.003, 190.48.

"We went for broke," said the sponsor-less Treble, who distanced himself from the pack fighting for the eighth and final Countdown playoff berth. "We won a race without a name on the tail section. I think we're the only team in the top 10 without a major sponsor."

First and second in the points, Matt Smith and Angelle Sampey both lost in round two, but Sampey did gain 24 points on Smith by outqualifying him and recording a national elapsed time record. She now trails Smith by 56 points. Hines and Treble are fourth and fifth overall, respectively.

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