Edwards wins in Virginia, closes in on title

DINWIDDIE, Va. — Pro Stock driver Mike Edwards went wire-to-wire at the NHRA Virginia Nationals on Sunday, earning the maximum 150 points to all but clinch his first career NHRA Full Throttle Series world championship.

Del Worsham (Funny Car) and Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel) also won at Virginia Motorsports Park in the fourth of six races in the NHRA playoffs, the Countdown to 1.

Edwards qualified No. 1, earned the maximum 12 per-session qualifying bonus points, and the 20-point bonus for setting a national record (6.509 seconds) to become the first driver to record the maximum 150 points at a single race.

“This day was near-perfect,” said Edwards, who beat Greg Anderson in the final on a slight holeshot, 6.526 at 211.43 (with a 0.019 reaction time) to 6.522 at 212.03 (0.027). “It’s unbelievable what I did here today, what my team did here today. My team was phenomenal. I’m going to enjoy it while I can because my daddy always told me, ‘One day it will start raining, so get ‘em while you can.’”

Edwards extended his lead from 78 points to 128, meaning he has more than a six-round cushion (a round win is worth 20 points) with only eight rounds left.

In Top Fuel, Brandon Bernstein ended a more than two-year winless streak that spanned 52 races when he blew away Antron Brown, 3.844 at 307.09 to 9.099 at 75.99. Brown, the regular-season champion who is now fourth, cut his deficit behind points leader Tony Schumacher from 120 to 81.

In Funny Car, Del Worsham played spoiler with his milestone 25th career win over still-in-contention Tim Wilkerson, 4.091 at 305.98 to 4.179 at 81.13. Wilkerson moved up from eighth to fifth place on the day, but he still trails first-place Robert Hight by 82 points. Ashley Force Hood slipped to second, 13 points behind Hight.