CompetitionPlus.com believes that every champion has a story to tell. This past weekend, the NHRA crowned four Full Throttle Drag Racing champions during the NHRA Auto Club Finals and in doing so wrote four incredible scripts. CompetitionPlus.com believes that every champion has a story to tell. This past weekend, the NHRA crowned four Full Throttle Drag Racing champions during the NHRA Auto Club Finals and in doing so wrote four incredible scripts. One champion lost his crew before the season only to have to face them for the championship. Another champion get his first break in the sport as a crewman, who have believed one day he'd beat the best of the best? One driver used a combination of fair, persistence and a really fast race car to get his championship. Lastly one dreamer proved to his children that if you pursue your goals and never waver in your determination that you can be a champion.

These are the stories of Tony Schumacher, Robert Hight, Mike Edwards and Hector Arana.

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TOP FUEL - SCHUMACHER'S SEVENTH WAS HIS TOUGHEST

On this Sunday afternoon, Tony Schumacher looked every bit like a battle wearied soldier walking off the battlefield. The newly crowned seven-time NHRA Top Fuel champion fended off the formidable challenge from Larry Dixon and in the end, the two points he gained with Saturday evening’s No. 1 effort made the difference.

“It was probably the toughest [championship] because I had to race a group of guys that I knew how good they were and what they were capable of,” Schumacher admitted. “Larry is a two-time world champion and I know how good he was. He’s an amazing driver and they were an amazing crew. I knew the battle was going to be tough but I also know that we had the right people to pull it off. I knew that before my father or anybody.”

Schumacher was prepared to face Dixon in the final round in a head-to-head battle to determine the championship but rookie racer Spencer Massey beat him to the punch. A pair later Schumacher dropped his second round match opposite of Antron Brown to end the battle. 

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FUNNY CAR - FORCE'S INVESTMENT IN HIGHT PAYS OFF

He had never driven anything wilder than an F-150 truck.
 
But Robert Hight had that . . . something.
 
John Force saw it -- although he said Hight confused him a few years ago, asking to stay closer to home to be with wife Adria (Force's eldest daughter and company CFO), then asking to drive the organization's third Ford Mustang Funny Car. Still, Force saw the desire in Hight's bright blue eyes. A multi-time champion can recognize that in another hungry soul.
 
He already knew Hight could prepare a car -- he had helped Force earn seven of his championships and 56 event victories as clutch specialist on the Castrol GTX Mustang. And he had no doubt that Hight could tame a 7,000-horsepower, nitro-burning monster. So he chose Hight to drive the Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang.

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PRO STOCK - TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS LATER, EDWARDS IS A CHAMPION AGAIN

Zak Elcock, NHRA Publicist, introduced Pro Stock driver Mike Edwards to the assembled media at the NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, Ca. As he said, “The 2009 NHRA Pro Stock champion Mr. Mike Edwards”, the newly crowned champion smiled.

“Doesn’t that sound good?” Edwards said.

Edwards didn’t just clinch a championship; he did it with an exclamation point.

He entered the event needing only to qualify to clinch, but at the end of the day on Saturday, he did so in the same fashion that he’s done for at least 16 times this season. Edwards qualified No. 1 in what could be his final event as a driver.

At least for two days, Edwards isn’t thinking about the future.

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PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - ARANA PROVES THAT FATHER KNOWS BEST

Hector Arana always lectured his four kids from birth on the values of dedication and persistence. On Sunday in Pomona, Ca, he validated his lessons.

“I always told them that if you believe in something, you don’t give up and keep working,” Arana said. “When things were harder, I just worked even harder. My determination was even more. Quitting was never anything I considered.”

Arana has four children, and he remembered in his early years of non-competitive, sporadic participation, how they used to follow his performance.

“My kids were growing up and when I’d get home, they’d run up to me and ask, ‘Dad did you win the race?”

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