Two-time former champion Scott Kalitta scored his first win in more than seven years by beating points leader Tony Schumacher in the final round. It was the 16th national event victory for Kalitta, and the first since his return to the sport last fall after taking a combined four years off.

"I had a friend riding with me today," Kalitta said as he pulled a photo of Darrell Russell out of his pocket. "For what we went through together, running against him in his last race, and for the way I was getting to know Darrell and become his friend this year, I can't explain in words how I feel about this, but it does mean a lot to me.

Phil Burkart Jr. scored his third career victory and second since joining the CSK team almost a year ago. Burkhart took out Cruz Pedregon in the final. One round earlier, Pedregon stopped Aussie newcomer Robert Schwab who turned the category upside-down after taking out number one qualifier Whit Bazemore and then Erric Medlen en route to his first ever NHRA semi-final.

Canadian native Jeff Arend debuts his new CMKX Diaminds Pontiac Firebird, which has a special paint scheme showcasing his associate sponsor "Go Fast Sports". Unfortunately, during Saturday's qualifying session, Arend has problems stopping after going over 300 mph in the thin air. The subsequent trip through the sandtrap damages the body enough that the team is forced to return to their faithful Corvette for the remainder of the event, and possibly the full western swing.

Mopar driver Larry Morgan turns in a strong runner-up finish at his sponsor's event, coming up a little short against the virtually invincible Greg Anderson. In his first race with Summit Racing Equipment as his primary sponsor, Anderson's Pontiac Grand Am holds a clear advantage over the rest of the field even in the thin Denver air.

The Pro Stock Bike trophy went to Gann, making him just the second rider with multiple wins on the season. This one was basically over on the starting line when he tattooed challenger Craig Treble with a .009- to .048-second head start.

The drama came before the bikes were fired up as Treble fought to recover from a semifinal top-end engine explosion. Crewmen from nine other teams helped him swap powerplants in time for his showdown with Gann.

Gann rode a string of opponent red-lights to his third final of the season and 11th of his career. The Mac Tools rider got free passes against defending event champion Blaine Hale, GT Tonglet, and Antron Brown, while keeping his bike in the mid-7.6s all day.

Sportsman racing features a relatively light car count. NHRA runs the event without the alcohol categories and Stock eliminator as well. Many competitors, primarily Super Stock racers, skip the event to show their displeasure to NHRA. Nonetheless, James Kunkel walks away with his first NHRA "Wally" for his victory in Super Stock.

In the other sportsman categories, Dean Carter's A/ND beat Bill Kent in an all-dragster final in Competition Eliminator. Super Comp featured a close final round with Randy Dahlberg beating Michael Millerthat with a margin of victory of 0.0002 seconds or approximately 1 inch. Not to be outdone, Aaron Tatum wins the Perfectly Strange award in the final round for his dead-on performance of 10.530 on the altitude-adjusted Super Gas index of 10.53.