Mike Edwards is learning every aspect about being a champion.

On Sunday he learned another.

The mark of a true champion is to be able to win when you’re not supposed to. Even he will admit on Sunday, when final eliminations for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., were scheduled to begin – he believed his odds to win were a long shot at best.

Allen Johnson, a driver who proclaims Bristol Dragway as his home track, had claimed the No. 1 qualifying position in the most oppressive of conditions on Friday and Satuday and was on a collision course from the other side. Edwards merely did what he needed to do to ensure he had a spot in the last dance, going as far as recording low elapsed time.

Mike Edwards is learning every aspect about being a champion.

On Sunday he learned another.

The mark of a true champion is to be able to win when you’re not supposed to. Even he will admit on Sunday, when final eliminations for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., were scheduled to begin – he believed his odds to win were a long shot at best.

Allen Johnson, a driver who proclaims Bristol Dragway as his home track, had claimed the No. 1 qualifying position in the most oppressive of conditions on Friday and Satuday and was on a collision course from the other side. Edwards merely did what he needed to do to ensure he had a spot in the last dance, going as far as recording low elapsed time.

And in the finals, after Rickie Jones fouled, Edwards found himself having to push in the clutch prematurely. Yet, he still won when he should have lost.

Edwards considers the weekend a lesson learned.

“I think when you are not your best and you can still come away with a victory that shows you are a champion,” Edwards admitted. “We really struggled, especially yesterday. We were really, really bad when we left here last night. We were scratching our heads and just made some wholesale changes this morning. We were moving around every session. I don't know what happened in the finals but I was very fortunate to win that race. I don't know what happened but it took an immediate right.”

He may be the champion but for much of race day, and the weekend for that matter, he spent much of his time looking in the rear view mirror.

“I've been looking in my rear view mirror since we came in the gate,” Edwards said. “When you've had the success that me and my team have had this year everybody is after you and rightfully so. When I was struggling years ago and everybody else was winning I was thinking the same thing. I just never thought I would have the opportunity for this to come through. I am just very fortunate, very blessed.”

One more blessing awaits Edwards should he win next weekend in Norwalk, Ohio. He will have swept the entire month of June in Pro Stock; not an easy feat.

“That would be totally awesome,” said Edwards, when asked what the feat would mean to him. “I don't even know what to say. We go to every race and do the same thing. We evaluate our conditions, the race track and we prepare ourselves the best we know how. That is how we look at every race we go to. It's great to win these races.

“I have an awesome team. Terry Adams, Josh Robinson, Alan Lindsey and John Phillips and of course, it all starts from the boss down – Roger Stull. Him and his wife, Ann, had the vision and the passion to put this program together.”

Right now he holds a 452-point lead over second place Allen Johnson.

“That's my team,” said Edwards. “That is how dedicated these guys are and how good they are. They never give up. When we don't make the perfect run or the best run we want to know why. We want to know why it did what it did. I think that is what makes you get better. We really concentrate on the things that do go wrong; just as much as the things that do go right. That is the crux of my team, we really concentrate on every bit of the run.”

They concentrate on why they don’t have a 453 point lead.