Last September, Comp Eliminator racer Don Thomas was on top of the world as he took home over $30,000 by winning the inaugural Rooftec NHRA Comp Cash Clash, a race-within-a-race for the top 16 racers in the highly complex division. 

On Sunday, at the NHRA Texas Motorplex, he climbed to the peak of another mountain.

Thomas scored the Competition Eliminator victory at the second race of the NHRA Division 4 double-header at the Texas Motorplex, located outside of Dallas. 

Thomas beat a familiar foe, Rodger Brogdon, in the final round. Brogdon, the impetus behind the Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus, has organized $750,000 for the program in 2024. Sunday's race was the fourth in a ten-race series. The victory moved him into sixth in the Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus fund point standings. 

To date, in the three seasons the big-money series has existed, no driver has won more than one race in a season. Thomas believes this is a testament to the competition he and the competition face. 

"It was a long weekend, long days," Thomas said of the weekend that crammed four days into three, with 90-degree temperatures. "The competition is just so tough. Who do you want first round? There's nobody. You try to look at the ladder and there's no good spots. You got to catch some breaks, and we definitely got breaks. Two red lights in a row from [Taylor] Chomisky and [Dave] Triplett, that changes the whole race for me. 

"The parity's been so good, no one's running off with it except for Rick Brown. He just keeps getting to the semis every race we go to. Then Rodger with two runner-ups, that's going to go a long ways. But we needed this win after missing Belle Rose, that's 30 points just for showing up, so I needed to be in the 16th for Indy. So we need two good races at Kansas City and this ought to be a big help to that."

Thomas knew he would need a performance similar to his Indy triumph to get around Brogdon. He qualified No. 1 at both events and finished runner-up to the defending series champion in the first event.

"I knew he was a little faster than me going into the finals, so we did a couple things I thought would pick it up and then I knew it was going to be a great race and we were both green," Thomas said. "I'm glad we were both green. It was a great race and we didn't take any personal too, so that helped. But yeah, I knew I was a couple behind him going into the finals, so we did a couple of things, and they helped."

Brogdon’s two finals at the Texas Motorplex vaulted him to the fourth place in the CEBF points. 

In Super Stock, second-generation drag racer Hunter Pierdolla scored the win, stopping Shane Blackmon in an all-Texas match. 

"We had a pretty crazy semi-final round, heads-up," Pierdolla said. "So had to get the car ready for that and then get it all put back for the final round, and my good friend. Shane Blackmon. The Blackmons are from San Antonio, longtime family friends, even before Shane or I were even born. And luckily, he went red, and it was a good final."

Jimmy Hidalgo scored another one, following up his Laris Motorsports Insurance NHRA SportsNationals Stock Eliminator win, which resulted in a victory in the second race. He nearly made it three in a row but lost in the finals of the first race. This time, he beat Ross Ponville. 

Other winners included J.R. Baxter (Top Dragster), Henry Kindle (Top Sportsman), Landon Exner (Super Comp), Austin Williams (Super Gas), Tommy Phillips (Super Street) and Craig Pfanestiel (ET Motorcycle).