Top news story of Mopar Parts World Finals is unfortunately a very sad one. Veteran independent Top Fuel racer Wayne Bailey (from Michigan) is fatally injured during a high speed crash during Friday night's final qualifying session. Cause of crash is traced back to clutch explosion which cuts down rear slick and causes car to make a hard right at 290 mph. Chassis then tumbles on top the guardwall before breaking in half. Bailey receives severe trauma and is transported to LSU Hospital but is pronounced dead early Saturday AM. Concern over the fact there was not a life flight emergency helicopter on hand at Red River Raceway facility boils over following the incident. First round of Top Fuel final eliminations is delayed by over 1.5 hours as class racer protest.

Bailey incident takes away much of the excitement in Top Fuel which sees Bruce Litton win over a tire-smoking Paul Romine in the final round. Litton's victory moves him back on top in points by a count of 6 over Romine as the IHRA tour heads to Rockingham NC for it's conclusion (Nov. 4-5th). Litton runs 308.85 mph (track record) in the final round which is top speed of the event.

Funny Car racing features "one for the little guys" as Canadian Adam Szeler, from Newmarket, ON., scores a huge upset win driving the Mad Mechanics Olds Cutlass (See: Hotzone -- feature race). Szeler's win is the first of his career and includes his first ever "five's". He uses a holeshot in the final round to take out favorite Jim Lape who had qualified on the pole. Points leader Scott Weney clinches the overall IHRA points Championship with a semi final round finish at Shreveport.

Shreveport event features a number of lucrative season-ending shootouts which are run off during Friday's action. Mopar Performance Pro Mod Shootout goes to Fred Hahn to beats fierce class rival Quain Stott in the final round. Hahn runs 6.250 secs and 228.89 mph (low ET and top speed of the meet) to nail the title. Hahn's speed is also a new IHRA national mph record. Von Smith wins the IHRA.com FC title using a holeshot to take out Jim Lape -- 5.906 secs to 5.874 secs. Tom Lee runs the quickest ET in Pro Stock history in the Sunoco Shootout finale at 6.586 secs to edge out 1999 Sunoco Shootout champion Jon Yoak who goes 6.613 secs. Lee's numbing 6.589 secs is also a new PS national ET record. Yoak gets last laugh however -- he wins the overall Mopar Parts World Finals title for the second year in a row when he reverses things against Lee on Saturday winning 6.644 secs to 6.667 secs.

Pro Modified racing sees Mitch Stott take the title driving his nitrous injected Radiac-sponsored '63 Split. Stott beats the Summit Racing Equipment '54 Corvette driven by Fred Hahn in the final round. In a strange turn of fate -- Mitch Stott takes out his brother Quain Stott in round one of PM competition. That was surprising to some and it may prove to be the death blow to Quain's 2000 PM championship hopes. Hahn's runner-up finish gives him a 67 points margin over Quain going into Rockingham.

Popular Omega Top Sportsman Quick 8 title goes to Al Matarazzo's Ford Thunderbird. Matarazzo beats Tom Savell in the final round which features the number 1 and 2 qualifiers. Matarazzo runs 6.836 secs at 199.17 mph for the title. Savell rebounds the next day however as he takes the event's overall TS title driving his Mississippi-based Chevy Lumina.

Event also features prestigious All-Star Sportsman Shootouts present by Holley. Winners were Jeff Dobbins (Top Sportsman), Tim Butler (Top Dragster), Tony Stephenson (Modified), Scott Duggins (Quick Rod 8.90), Steve Furr (Super Rod 9.90), Irene Hanes (Hot Rod 10.90), Bob Harris (Super Stock) and Mike Adams (Stock).

Second to last race ever in Pro Outlaw class sees Mick Snyder keep his slim 2000 championship hopes alive with his second victory of the season. Snyder wins easily when Mike Snyder breaks in the final. Points leader Laurie Cannister loses a 6.079 secs to 6.191 secs bout to Snyder in the semi final round but she is still 57 points ahead in the season tally. Only 9 cars show for Pro Outlaw racing -- but produce the IHRA's all time quickest 8-car field with a 6.345 secs bump.