While the quarter-mile world focused on the tight Winston Top Fuel championship battle between Tony Schumacher and Joe Amato, and the close Pro Stock Bike points race between Angelle Seeling and Matt Hines, Larry Dixon and Tony Mullen swept past all of them to grab the goodies and land in the winner's circle of those two classes.

Neither of the two championships that could have been determined by the outcome of this event were clinched, although high drama prevailed and caused the hair to stand up on the heads of racers and fans alike.

Larry Dixon

Defending Winston champ Gary Scelzi proved he's not ready to give up the championship crown he's worn for the last two seasons without a bitter fight to the end. Facing elimination and the prospect of relinquishing his title for good, Scelzi pulled off an improbable world-record lap of 4.480-seconds at 312.21 mph against front-runner Tony Schumacher in the semifinals.

The pass not only denied Schumacher an early champagne bath but, by virtue of the bonus 20 points awarded for setting a national record, thrust him back into championship contention. He now holds the No. 2 spot in the Winston championship points standings, just 109 points behind Schumacher.

But it was Miller Lite driver Dixon who drove his Don "the Snake" Prudhomme dragster to his second win of the season over Scelzi. Dixon used a fine .446 reaction time to jump out to an early lead over Scelzi (.482 light) and then cruised to the win in 4.595 seconds at 314.61 mph against Scelzi's 4.702 -second, 289.14-mph pass.

"I'd like to dedicate this win to my friend Greg Moore, who died today in a racing accident," said Dixon, who was following the CART race between rounds. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and teammates.

"I'm especially happy for (crew chief) Dick LaHaie. He has worked so hard to get this car where it is now. We're actually working on year 2000 stuff and I guess we're just moving ahead of schedule. He got this Miller Lite dragster down the strip eight times this weekend with every run between 4.57-4.62 seconds. That's awesome." Top Fuel results

John Force

Castrol driver John Force put the exclamation point on his ninth Funny Car Winston championship with his second win in the last seven days. This time it was WWF pilot Jim Epler who had to settle for the runner-up spot after he smoked the tires of his Undertaker car in the finals.

The victory pushed Force's win total to 81, just four shy of Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden's "untouchable" mark of 85 career wins.

"I'm pushing for that," Force said. "I negotiated a deal five years ago and my lawyer said to put in an incentive clause for a big bonus if you reach 85 wins and another one if you reach 100 wins. I said 'You're crazy, I'll never reach that.' But now I'm getting close. I'm making those Castrol people sweat.

"To be honest, and this isn't a Babe Ruth story, I won this for a kid named Matthew who was accidentally hurt today in the pits. They had him in the ambulance and I got in there with him and told him I'd win the race for him. So tell Matthew this one's for him"

Force had a great weekend; he was the No. 1 qualifier and beat Scott Weis, Tony Pedregon, and Jerry Toliver before facing Epler in the finals.

Interstate Batteries pro Tommy Johnson Jr. was denied his fifth straight final-round appearance when he went up in smoke against Epler in the semifinals. Still, he moved up a spot in the standings into the No. 8 position. Johnson has competed in just 12 events this season. Funny Car results

Rickie Smith

On a night made for Trick or Treating, Pro Stock's tricky one, "Tricky Rickie" Smith, won his first race of the season with a .442 to .501 hole-shot win over Century 21 driver Tom Martino. Martino, runner-up here last year, had the quicker car, covering the strip in 6.898 seconds at 198.55 mph against Smith's 6.928-second, 199.23-mph pass. But the starting-line advantage was enough to award the Carolinian the win.

"When you don't run all the races it's a deal where sometimes you shine and sometimes you don't," said Smith, who last won in Sonoma, Calif. in 1993. "Today, we shined.

"I have an advantage because I stay very involved with the sport even when I'm not driving. I've been Ron Krisher's crew chief for most of this year and I will be crew chief for him again in Pomona. I also spend a lot of time with Mike Thomas and Jim Yates so I know what it takes to win. Today was just our day."

Smith began the day by downing Kurt Johnson and never looked back, driving by Troy Coughlin and Mike Thomas to get to the finals. Martino, who had been running exceptionally quick all weekend, beat Jeg Coughlin Jr., Warren Johnson, and Allen Johnson to earn his final-round berth.

Recently crowned five-time Winston Pro Stock champ Johnson continued to impress in the drag racing community. Johnson didn't win the Houston event, falling in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Martino, but he did show the world the fastest Pro Stock pass of all time, an unbelievable 202.36-mph blast in Round 1. Pro Stock results

Tony Mullen

Team 23 Pro Stock Bike rider Mullen won the first national event of his career when counterpart Dave Schultz jumped the light with a .390 red-light violation. Mullen, from Bradenton, Fla., ran an impressive 7.249-second lap at 184.09 mph in the finals. His win makes him the sixth different Pro Stock Bike rider to win this season, an NHRA record.

"Dave Schultz has been my idol since I was old enough to ride a bike," Mullen said. "To beat him in the finals, well, I don't even know how to act or what to say.

"It was a tough day of racing. I had to beat the No. 1 rider and my teammate Antron Brown. In the end it was consistency that paid off and the tune-up my crew chief (Houston native) Harry Lartigue put on the Team 23 bike.

"I couldn't think of a better race to win. Because Harry is here we test a lot at this track and the city is like a second home to me."

Both men deserved to be in the finals. Mullen beat Angelle Seeling, Antron Brown, and Chris Reuter to get to the finals while Schultz bettered Matt Hines, Fred Collis, and Greg Underdahl.

Eagle 1 rider Hines set both ends of the national record with one incredible pass of 7.154 seconds and another at 191.48 mph and was awarded 20 bonus points for his efforts. But he couldn't capitalize on a golden opportunity to pass Winston rider Angelle Seeling in the points standings when both riders lost in the semifinals.

Hines, who closed to within 14 points of Seeling, was on his bike watching when Seeling drew a .398 red-light violation against Mullen in Round 3. Then, knowing the lead was there for the taking, he gave away his race against Schultz at the starting line with a sub-par .463 light against Schultz's stellar .426 launch. Hines ran a superior 7.231-second pass at 190.83 mph against Schultz's 7.256-second lap at 184.04 mph.

Seeling could have been taken out sooner. She had a .598 light in the quarterfinals against Larry Cook but won when Cook's Suzuki broke midway through the pass. Pro Stock Bike results

In a classic Federal-Mogul Dragster battle between the class' two combinations, reigning Federal-Mogul season champ Rick Santos and his supercharged alcohol-burning dragster scored his record-tying seventh victory of the season by defeating Melanie Troxel's injected nitro burner on a holeshot, 5.439 to 5.429. Federal-Mogul Dragster results

Pat Austin, who has won four season titles in Federal-Mogul Funny Car, prevented Tony Bartone from winning his second, running a 5.634 to defeat the '96 champion's 5.640. Bartone's loss guaranteed a third straight Federal-Mogul title for Frank Manzo, who was not in attendance. The victory was Austin's second straight and the 68th of his career. Federal-Mogul Funny Car results

Joey Tanksley ended a season of frustration by winning his first career title in Comp, beating Houston-area favorite Buddy Nickens in the final round. Tanksley's B/ED ran a (-.559) 6.931 to beat Nickens' C/A Avenger, which ran a (-.515) 7.605. Comp results

Super Stock veteran Smylie Little won a heads-up GT/BA victory over Terry Pearson, who red-lighted in the final round with a .469 reaction time. The foul was fortunate for Little, who broke just off the starting line. Super Stock results

Toby Lang, winner earlier this year of the Prolong Northwest Nationals, scored again in his G/Sa entry, defeating B/SA campaigner Ronnie West, who slowed in the final round. Stock results

Steve Lambert pulled off a huge upset in the final round of Super Comp, stopping red-hot David Rampy on a holeshot, tying a .404 light to an 8.916 to defeat Rampy's .431-launched 8.909 for his first national event win. Super Comp results

Gary Don Free won his first NHRA national event, defeating Mitch Truman by just .004-second in the final round of Super Gas, catching a .436 light and running 9.937 to beat Truman's .438-launched 9.939. Super Gas results

Former E.T. racer Bryan Sandlin, competing in his first NHRA national event after years of bracket racing at the Houston track, cut a clutch .501 light in the final round and scored the Super Street victory with a 10.954 over Paul Martinez, who ran a quicker-but-later 10.924. Super Street results