Dunn, the one-time Winston Top Fuel points leader who was at the front of the points pack from the season-opening AutoZone Winternationals until the U.S. Nationals, continued to sink in the standings with a stunning failure to qualify, thanks in no small part to a rain-shortened qualifying schedule that afforded racers just two shots at making the field.

Bernstein did qualify and accomplished one of his goals, beating points leader Tony Schumacher in round two, but paid for it dearly when his Bud King crashed at the top end. Bernstein was unhurt, but Jim Head got a semifinal bye, and his 5.42 in that round was easily beatable.

Doug Herbert

On the other end of that spectrum is Snap-on Tools Top Fuel pilot Doug Herbert, the pride of Cherryville, N.C., who won his second race in as many events to push his season total to four wins. Herbert bettered Jim Head in a pedaling contest in the final, crossing the stripe in 5.635 seconds at 261 mph before Head's 6.24-second, 279-mph pass. Herbert has now moved to within 75 points of the Top Fuel lead and currently occupies the No. 4 spot in the Winston points standings.

"All the ads and all the interviews I've seen on TV and in the newspapers this year have mentioned this great Top Fuel race," Herbert said. "And they all mention every driver but me. It's made me mad. Even when we were second in the points earlier this year it was like I was the forgotten man.

"Well, we used that to motivate our team. We'll force people to take notice of us if that's what it takes.

"Obviously, everything is going great for us. I told the guys to put the Snap-on dragster in the trailer and not to touch anything. We like it just how it is right now."

Herbert beat Doug Kalitta, Eddie Hill, and Terry Mullins before facing Head in the finals. Head beat Scott Kalitta and Bob Vandergriff before getting a semifinal bye when Bernstein could not continue. Top Fuel results

Tommy Johnson Jr.

Savvy 10-race Funny Car "veteran" Tommy Johnson Jr. continued his torrid pace of late with his second win in the last three events. The Ottumwa, Iowa, native, who finished as a runner-up one week ago, had a championship-caliber march for this win, beating John Force in the semi's and Tony Pedregon in the finals.

"It doesn't get any better than that," Johnson said. "Heck, I felt like I should have gotten a trophy after the semi's.

"It sounds crazy, but getting in all these laps over the last three events is really helping us over here in the Interstate Batteries pit. The feedback between the crew and me is really at a new level. Plus, all the breaks that used to go against us are going our way now.

"This whole deal has come together a lot quicker than I thought it would."

Johnson used his best reaction time as a professional Funny Car driver (.441 seconds) to beat Pedregon (.473-second start) off the line and the Joe Gibbs-owned Pontiac did the rest, blazing through the lights in 4.996 seconds at 300.33 mph against Pedregon's pedaled 5.916-second, 176.72-mph pass. Funny Car results

Mike Edwards

Dewco Camaro driver Mike Edwards has had one fantastic week. The affable Pro Stock pilot has won two races over the last seven days, which has moved him into the No. 6 spot in the Winston points standings. He beat Richie "The Kid" Stevens on this day with an incredible .420 second to .499 final-round holeshot. Stevens had the quicker machine as his Valspar Refinish car covered the track in 6.935 seconds at 197.22 mph, but the holeshot combined with a steady 6.976-second, 197.59-mph pass from Edwards was enough to take the win.

"It seems like we've really found a sweet spot with this car," Edwards said. "We were fighting this thing so hard earlier in the year. We couldn't even go 60 feet. Now it seems like we can do no wrong.

"I've been in a real nice groove cutting lights. I always say, 'If you're not on your game, don't pull up to the lights.' And today I guess I was on my game.

"Everything has come together all at once for us. This might be my last year racing if we don't find a sponsor real soon. and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this."

Edwards had a quick trigger all day at the starting lights in wins over Jim Yates, Tony Gillig, and Jeg Coughlin Jr.while Stevens used raw horsepower to get to his fourth final-round appearance of the year in wins over John Nobile, Steve Schmidt, and Kurt Johnson. Pro Stock results

Angelle Seeling

Team Winston rider Angelle Seeling screamed back into the lead of the Pro Stock Bike category with a holeshot win over upstart Fred Collis, who had downed former points-leader Matt Hines in the semifinals. Seeling, a five-time winner this season, stole the win at the starting line with a .431 reaction time against Collis' extremely slow .513 launch. She went on to post a 7.398-second pass at 178.50 mph while Collis carded a 7.370-second lap at 177.37 mph.

"I haven't had to race a teammate since John Myers," an emotional Seeling said. "This was tough. I want to be happy about the win but it's hard right now. Fred had posted a .401 light in the semi's and he said he was squeezing the hell out of the clutch against me because he didn't want to red-light.

"Believe me, we were racing. There was no dives taken and I hope people don't think that. It just worked out good for me this time."

Seeling, who now has a 35-point lead over arch-nemesis Hines, beat Ron Ayers, Tony Mullen, and David Schultz on her way to the finals. Collis, who rides for Team Winston owner George Bryce on the AMA ProStar circuit, where he recently wrapped up the 1999 championship, opened with a win over Chris Reuter and then bettered Antron Brown before dismissing Hines in the semi's. Pro Stock Bike results

Brad Jeter

Brad Jeter won his second Pro Stock Truck race of the year, closing to within seven points of second-place points-earner Mark Osborne. Jeter powered by Randy Daniels in the final with a 7.605-second lap at 176.67 mph against Daniels partially shut-off 8.786-second pass at 114.53 mph.

"This win was all about an attitude change," Jeter said. "Friday night my crew chief [Gerald Guadagnolo] sat me down and told me to get my head back into racing. He really got me going and rebuilt my confidence.

"We've been worried about sponsors and I've been having bad lights. It's been tough. But Gerald got me refocused. I was cutting good lights today and everything worked out for us and Chevrolet.

"I needed a wake-up call and this was it."

Starting from the No. 5 position, Jeter drove his Chevy S-10 past Scott Tidwell, Bart Price, and Winston points-leader Bob Panella Jr. before downing Daniels in the finals. Daniels had beaten Scott Perin, Brian Self, and Mike Coughlin to get to the final round.

Osborne, who has led the Pro Stock Truck points for much of the year, lost in the first round against Self. Pro Stock Truck results

Federal-Mogul Sportsman action finally completed at just before 1 a.m. local time Monday. Dave Hirata and Frank Manzo won Federal-Mogul Dragster and Federal-Mogul Funny Car, respectively, the win especially key in Manzo's plans for the season championship. In Comp, David Rampy continued his hot streak while Emmons brothers Terry and Harvey III won Super Stock and Stock, respectively. Brian Folk also remained on fire, scoring in Super Comp for the second time this year and for the fourth time this year, counting his two Super Gas wins. At this event, Super Gas honors went home with Rick Tuter, who tied a .401 light to 9.906 for the victory. Complete results