For a man who hadn't run a full NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock tour, Deric Kramer appears to be making the most of a shortened schedule.

Kramer was a day later, but not a dollar short as he picked up his second Pro Stock win of the season, capturing the rain-delayed NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals Pro Stock title.

Kramer, starting from the No. 10 qualifying position, stopped Matt Hartford in the final, another driver running a full schedule for the first time.

"There was a lot of the 'just don't screw up, make them win' mentality around our pits," said Kramer, a former Comp Eliminator racer, who runs with engines prepared by KB Racing. "We weren't super fast or stellar but forced them to have to beat us. I got to the 1320 first, and that was all she wrote."

Kramer opened with a victory over veteran Kenny Delco and scored a major victory in defeating Jeg Coughlin Jr.  He drove past an upset-minded Aaron Stanfield to reach the final round.

"Ultimately, when you have a few races like we had headed into this weekend, and you can get a win like we did today, it means you still have a chance to win this championship," Kramer said "Last race, it was disheartening with a fluke error like I had. I tried today just to go out there and erase that from my mind. I wanted to rebound with a performance like we had today. Today was exactly what I wanted to achieve."

Starting from the No. 10 seed, Kramer believes his success today says a lot about Pro Stock.

"There's about 12 cars out here which can win at any time," Kramer explained. "You have to be perfect any time you go to the starting line. If you're not, you're going home like I have in the last handful of races. I was lucky enough this time to take home the win."

Kramer entered the weekend 122 points out of the lead and understood wholly Charlotte was a make or break weekend for his championship aspirations.

"I knew with another bad showing we'd be fighting for the No. 7 spot," Kramer admitted. "No one wants to battle it out for seventh particularly. Probably the most gratifying part is that I won from the bottom half of the ladder. That doesn't happen a lot, but it is possible. That's one more achievement checked off my list."

The victory vaulted Kramer into the fifth spot in the championship points, just 88 points behind leader Erica Enders. Hartford was able to move into third with his semi-final defeat of Enders.