Team Mancuso rider Steve Stordeur of Goshen, OH, went to Vegas with a lock on the Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley championship but showed little sign of slacking off as he took the race win as well. While his rivals for the #2 plate were felled by various misfortunes, Mike Romine stayed in the hunt and runner-upped to Stordeur in the race as he did on the season.

Defending Nitro Harley champion Doug Vancil (Albuquerque, NM) failed to make it down the track in all three of his qualifying attempts. Vancil and Texan Johnny Mancuso both came to Vegas seeking to battle Romine for the #2 plate. But pneumonia sidelined Mancuso and he had to settle on an Eastern Division championship while celebrating hired gun Stordeur's win.

Palm Beach, FL, H-D dealer Mike Lehman may have lost the JIMS Pro Fuel final to surprise winner Patrick Fenderson (Twin Falls, ID), but he was very pleased with his record-shattering 6.59 qualifying pass. Arizona native Jack Romine had already nailed the Pro Fuel National and Western championships on the famed Flyin' Banana, thereby giving Lehman the #2 plate and the Eastern Division title.

First-year drag racer Phil Schmidt of Orangevale, CA, beat fellow rookie John "Broken Leg" Breckenridge (Sultan, WA) in an all-West Coast Kresto Pro Drag final. Meanwhile, despite a loss to Breckenridge in the semi, Scott Truett of Wichita, KS, regained the class championship and the Western title. Chuck Jones of St. Petersburg, FL, gave Truett a close run in the points chase, finishing the season #2 nationally and first in the Eastern Division.

Like Stordeur, Phoenix S&S Cycle Pro Stock racer Rick Maney finished off his championship season with a win. Runner-up Dale Raudenbush set the stage for Maney's winner's circle celebration with a .002 red light. Raudenbush, of Old Zionsville, PA, took home the #2 plate and the Eastern Division Championship.

Last year's S&S Cycle Pro Gas champion Tom Bradford (Eagle, WI) won the Vegas race on his NHRA Pro Stock-legal bike, beating Ed Biaggi of Post Falls, ID, in the final. Young North Carolinian Brook McCabe took the championship in a wide-open, free-for-all battle with Robert Markham of Loveland, CO. Markham finished second in the national points and first in the Western Division.

Canadian Joker Machine Pro Modified racer Doug Ainsworth dominated the weekend before losing the final in the most disappointing manner possible. After beating champion Cliff Dwy through the traps, Ainsworth brushed the crossover block in the shutdown area and was disqualified.

Junior Pippin of Conyers, GA, locked up the national championship one race early in Rockingham and broke while racing Shaun Reno in the second round at Vegas. Defending champ Dwy finished the national chase in second place and grabbed the #1 spot in the Western Division.

Rivera/Primo Street Pro racer Joe Sternotti of Blackwood, NJ, also locked up his first championship at The Rock, then wheelied his way out of competition at Vegas against four-time champ Travis Lummus. Travis beat NHRA Pro Stock Bike winner Chip Ellis on a holeshot in the Vegas final and finished runner up in the national and Eastern standings. Steve Stute of Gladstone, OR, finished the '04 season with the Western Division title.

Canny racer John "The Juggler" Burdynski of Houston, TX, ran the numbers when it counted, beating #1 qualifier Mike Roberts (Akron, OH) in the Drag Masters Hot Street final and securing the '04 championship for himself. Roberts came away with the Eastern Division #1 spot and runner-up in the national points chase.

Screamin' Eagle V-Rod racer Tripp Nobles also won the Vegas race while winning the championship, his second in the two-year history of the class. Nobles, of Statesville, NC, beat season-long rival Terry "Vicious" Vaughan of Phoenix in the final. Vaughn wrapped up the season in second nationally and first in the Western Division.

With the Red Line Oil Super Gas championship already in hand, Dale "Don't Call Me Chicken, Call Me Champ" Tyson also iced the cake with a win in Vegas. Tyson, of Haymarket, VA, beat California rider Joe Rodrigues in the final. Defending champion Willie Herschberger was the #2 plate winner in the '04 national wrapup, and Greg Krenik of Placitas, NM, finished with the Western Division title.

David Hope not only took the S&S Cycle Super Sport win at Vegas, but he also leaped all the way from fifth to first in points to take the championship. Hope took the tree against Charlie Walker, who broke out chasing the champ down. Hope, of Nevada, MO, pulled off the huge championship upset over David Doremus of Loveland, OH, who left with the #2 plate. G. W. Bass of Lynchburg, VA, grabbed the Eastern Division top spot and Greg Krenik clinched a second Western Division trophy.

Multiclass competitor Charlie Walker of Brandon, MS, won the tree against Wayne Pugh (Rio Rancho, NM) in the Performance Corner Super Eliminator final, but lost the race when his bike didn't run the number. Pugh won the last two races of the season, propelling him to the #2 plate behind new champ Donnie Huffman of Lakeland, FL. Pugh won the Western Division title while Bill Lee Jr. of Ellenton, FL, finished first in the East.

Meanwhile, newly crowned Super Eliminator champ Huffman rode his Sportster to the Screamin' Eagle Performance win at Vegas and an Eastern title after beating Tommy Loredo in the final. Dan DeGood of Mt. Top, PA, grabbed consecutive national titles in the class, and J. P. Hendrzak of Creswell, OR, was the champion in the Western Division.

DeGood also won the Syn3ET championship, while season runner-up Jack Wagner won the Vegas race and the Western Division title. Wagner (of Escondido, CA) beat former champ Kim Swank (Frisco, TX) in the final.

Swank went to the semis in the $12,000-to-win Screamin' Eagle Las Vegas High Stakes Shootout, and was taken out by young Bill Lee Jr. of Ellenton, FL, who beat Jody Davis of Mesa, AZ, in the final for the big check. Davis took home a hefty $3,000 for his second-place finish.