Reigning Super Comp national champion Gary Stinnett, long one of drag racing’s toughest and most feared sportsman competitors, racked up his most recent win at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., marking the fourth such time that he’s left Brainerd victorious.

The engine builder from Emporia, Kan. marched through seven rounds of racing in the 8.90 division in his K&N Filters Undercover dragster, and on Sunday afternoon, hoisted his 22nd career national event Wally in decisive fashion.

In the second round Stinnett matched up with South Dakota’s Dustin Long and gained a comfortable margin on the tree and cruised to an 8.97 victory, advancing him on to a round three race with Craig Clark. Again, Stinnett got a sizable .008 to .046 advantage out of the gate and was able to push Clark under the index for the victory.

As Sunday dawned, Stinett remained hot on the christmas tree, although fourth round opponent Thomas Nygaard got a slight jump at the start. But with improved air conditions causing many racers to run under the index, it was Stinnett who did his overnight homework best, running right on the 8.90 target while Nygaard broke out with a too-quick 8.888. That all important round win delivered Stinnett a bye in round five and onward to a round six match with fellow K&N racer Don O’Neal.

In a matchup of sportsman racing heavyweights, both Stinnett and O’Neal sawed the tree down; O’Neal with a stellar .006 and Stinnett with a near-perfect .001. As expected, the two veterans were close all the way to the stripe, but O’Neal took a little too much, breaking out by a mere two-thousandths of a second. With his hardest fought round win of the weekend behind him, Stinnett now had a final round date with Rodney Thompson.

Both racers backed off the tree a hair in the money round, as Thompson gained a small .012 to .016 edge, but as he’s don 21 other times in his illustrious career, Stinnett’s driving prowess prevailed as he edged out Thompson in a double-breakout drag race, 8.893 to a quicker 8.888.

Stinnett is a longtime K&N Filters product user, from oil filters to air filters and even the new K&N composite air scoops. For more information on K&N Filters products and how they can help your race car perform to race-winning potential, log on to knfilters.com.