Joe Albrecht proved one doesn't need to grab all the headlines to be the headliner in the end.

Albrecht, who made the long haul from Bellmore, NY to Valdosta, Ga., traveled a little further by racing through four grueling rounds of competition in the Radial vs. The World division to beat top speed runner Mark Woodruff in the final round.

"The winner of this race is the one who will be able to keep their car together throughout the whole week," Albrecht explained. "You don't have to be the one consistently setting the records, but you do have to be consistently quick.

"You have to make those good consistently good laps. You have to hit the tree and make those laps."

Albrecht entered eliminations as the No. 3 seed behind Stevie "Fast" Jackson (3.737) and Barry Mitchell (3.738). He opened with a 3.845, 201.46 to beat Chad Opalski.

Albrecht then pedaled his way to a second-round victory over Shane Stack before taking out Alan Pittman in the quarter-finals.

Albrecht fired a monster shot in the semis, taking out an upset-minded Tim Slavens with a 3.845, 201.40. Albrecht upped the ante in the final by taking out Woodruff with a 3.837, 202.00..

This year's triumph provides a huge measure of redemption after a heartbreaking final round last fall to DeWayne Mills.

"That was a heartbreak," Albrecht admitted. "To come back here and win is better than you can imagine for us."

"Little Country" Justin Swanstrom was the Outlaw Drag Radial championship as he outreacted and outran Tony Ridenhour. Swanstrom crossed the stripe first with a 4.202, 177.14. Ridenhour made it a close match with a 4.215, 185.21.

Scotty Gudano dominated the Pro 275 division from start to finish, first by qualifying No. 1 and then by beating Don Lamana in the final round, 4.118 to 4.167.

Dominic Augustine, of Mooresville, SC, won the Outlaw 632 division, covering the 660-foot strip in 4.403 seconds at 156.94 to beat Texan KIenny Hubbard.

Dean Marinis scored the X275 crown once again.

Tony Alm used a huge starting line advantage to win the Ultimate Street title with a 4.783 to 4.747 decision over Rodney Ragen.

Lyle Barnett drove his 1969 Dart to the Leaf Spring crown by beating the Black Beauty 1970 Nova of Panama City, Fla.'s John McDonough.

Barnett, who suffered severe burns in a racing accident at this event last year, ran a 4.410, 177.79 for the victory.

Shawn Pevlor was the Nitrous X champion with a quicker reaction and running a 4.709-second pass to beat Jeff Carpenter.

Ricky Pennington captured the 6.0 Index division, using a 6.011 elapsed time to beat Zane Owen's 6.017. Owen lost despite a .002 reaction.

Ken Grant was +.004 on his 6.604 dial-in to beat Andre Nunez in the final round.