It was a championship comeback for the ages.

And it was orchestrated by one of the most unlikely men in all of NHRA drag racing.

Just two years ago, Indiana native Bo Butner was gallivanting through NHRA’s sportsman ranks, racking up victories in Stock, Super Stock and Comp. He even collected a Comp national title in 2006.

But in 2015, Butner made the monumental leap to the high-performance world of NHRA Pro Stock and, 65 races later, is king of the Pro Stock world.

Butner completed an unlikely comeback Sunday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, overcoming a 40-point deficit to four-time NHRA champion Greg Anderson and stamping the weekend with a walk-off victory over upstart Tanner Gray to take home his very first championship in only his second season behind the wheel.

“It has been a long season. We were all bunched together, but that KB team, they give me the absolute best,” said Butner, referencing his partnership with KB Racing and teammates Greg Anderson and Jason Line. “It is amazing. When you are little kids you play these games like shooting basketball. You imagine there is no time left, one free throw to win the game and that is what I kept telling myself. I probably didn’t drive the best (Sunday), but when it is your day God blesses you. And He did that.”

Facing seemingly insurmountable odds, Butner had to go two rounds farther than Anderson to earn the championship against one of the largest fields of the season. After qualifying fifth, and Anderson first, the pair met in the semifinals on Sunday with Butner overcoming a small starting line disadvantage to take the win – 6.551 to a 6.564 – to set up the championship showdown.

With the title on the line, rookie Tanner Gray got away first, but slowed near mid-track when his car made a move toward the right as Butner sailed by for the win. Butner crossed the stripe with a 6.554-second pass at 210.70 mph in the Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro to Gray’s 6.653 at 208.62 mph, clinching the title and sending his team into a massive celebration.

“The semifinals were exactly how it should be. You have to put your destiny in your own hands. I don’t want to watch someone else win it for me,” Butner said. “I made a good run against Greg and, shockingly to me, actually had some butterflies before that run. But you have to get your game face back on for the final. In that race, I don’t know what happened to Tanner’s car, but Tanner is tough. He is going to be a good champion. But this year it is ours.”

Amazingly, Butner’s championship comes in the same year that he claimed his very first national event win at Houston back in April. Before that race, Butner was 0-for-6 in his career in final rounds, but finally came through with his very first win against Jeg Coughlin after falling short the previous six tries.

“When I finally won the national event in Houston, I got out of the car and couldn’t wait to get my hands on that trophy,” Butner said. “But it was right there dangling for me all along. I mean, it is four rounds on a Sunday. In Stock you go seven rounds in three days. It is just the mindset and when we finally got it done, we started clicking them off.

“I actually went through the same thing in sportsman racing. I could win all of the division races I went too, but I couldn’t win a national event. Once I started clicking them off in Super Stock, Stock and Comp, it took off. The funny thing is, it is the same people at the same tracks. It is just the mindset.”

And start winning he did.

Butner followed his Houston win with two more wins and eight total finals heading into the Countdown to the Championship cutoff at Indianapolis. Butner actually won the regular season, ending the first 18 races with a sizable gap in the NHRA Mello Yello points over Gray and Anderson.

But then a little bad luck kicked in.

Butner lost the championship lead at the very next race in Charlotte with a semifinal loss to Anderson, reclaimed the top spot following a win at Reading, but then slipped to second for good over the next three races, allowing Anderson to carve out the 40-point lead he took into Pomona.

That is, until Butner’s improbable victory.

“We actually won the main season by quite a few points, but had to give them all up,” Butner said. “We are supposedly the little team, but we are not. We are a team with KB. I have the same stuff as them. The same car, same motors, same tuners. To me this is not a surprise. It is just who went the farthest out of us three. And I always bet on myself.”

Making Butner’s win even more exciting for the sport is that Butner has a large contingent of fans – both in the stands and in the pits – cheering him on. And he felt their presence with him out on the track.

“I am still a Stock racer at heart. I had the whole weight of the world and the sportsman racer backing me and I just brought that whole life through to Pro Stock,” said Butner, referencing his strong ties to the NHRA sportsman community. “You will see more fans and more people following Pro Stock because of this win.

“Larry Morgan texted me that morning and said you need to do this, Pro Stock needs you to win. And that was pretty amazing coming from Larry. Bob Glidden and the Glidden family – all the guys I grew up watching race – were all texting me. To have the support from the old schools guys is huge. I have got a great team. Greg and Jason deserve to win also. Either way it is a win for us, we are just happy it landed in our lap.

“Greg was actually the first person to meet me down there. He is the most competitive guy, but he is also like a big brother to me. He gave me a big hug and said you deserve it this year. That is big coming from Greg.

“This whole thing, it is the biggest honor to see the return from the fans and sportsman guys. When Dan Fletcher is screaming for you – and that guy is the man – it is awesome. I feel very fortunate and blessed.”

After earning the title, Butner received an additional congratulations from the man behind the scenes as car owner Ken Black earned his eighth championship in Pro Stock thanks to Butner.

“Ken actually told me, if you win this thing, I want to sit at the head of your table. That is pretty amazing because with Greg, that is his team. Greg was going to win it if I lost. It is just a different group of people than you could ever imagine,” Butner said. “I am fortunate to be able to do this and enjoy life. This is not my job. But the guys I’m with it is their job. I have to win for them. It shows how strong this KB team is, how strong for Chevy, and for the Summit guys. They aren’t on the side of my car, but they are all inside of it. Those guys support me more than you could ever imagine.”

Butner finished the season with five total wins, tied for the class lead with his Pomona final round opponent Tanner Gray. Anderson and Drew Skillman finished the year with four wins each, with Jason Line earning the only other multiple win total this season with two.

One year after KB Racing won 16 races out of a possible 24, parity returned to the class – at least in the win column – with nine different winners, including six different winners in the season’s first six races.

But when it mattered most, KB Racing rose to the top with a 1-2-3 finish for the Ken Black-backed team.

Gray finished fourth in the championship standings, with Skillman rounding out the top five.

So who was the biggest driving force behind Butner’s surprise run to the title? The answer might surprise you.

“The biggest factor in my success is when Jack Line shows up to the racetrack to help me. Jack is Jason’s son and he is an amazing kid for 11,” Butner said. “He actually, really helps us on the car a lot. We have been in every final and one semifinal at the races he shows up at this year. So Jason kept texting me all weekend that Jack is going to come work for him and I kept telling him I will ruin him, you won’t be able to afford him when I am done with him. The boy loves racing and he will be in this seat someday.”

Another factor, Butner joked, was when Line playfully changed the name on his car from Bo Butner to Bob Utner, something that stuck with the car all season long.

“It was a good joke. We are all three like brothers. I can’t explain it, but it is what makes it work for us,” Butner said.

And it is that light-hearted, playful nature that is one of the biggest driving forces behind the success of this team.

So how will Butner respond in 2018 with the title of world champion beside his name?

“It hasn’t really sunk in just yet. Let’s just enjoy this year for now,” Butner said.