27 “I felt like I had been treed,” Gall said. “So, I just hung on and held my foot in it as hard as I could. The car won it for me.” Gall’s own reaction time, a nearly perfect .001 start, led to a holeshot win in round one against George Coleman from Barton, N.Y. Facing drivers from all over North America, Gall defeated James Rutherford from Wembly, Alberta, Canada in round two and Greg Roberts from Whitehouse, Texas in round three. Then, he had to get by Chad McKee, a Tennessee driver who had won the Division 2 West Summit Team Finals race at MIR just weeks earlier, in the fourth round. In the semifinals, Gall matched his dial-in to down Mike Lamberson from Amarillo, Texas. For his victory, Gall won a $20,000 check from Summit Racing Equipment, an eight-day/seven-night vacation to Aruba, an IHRA Gold Card, a World Championship diamond ring and the World Champion Ironman trophy. “What you go through with your nerves, it’s not pretty,” he said. “The first round was the hardest for me. After that, the second and third rounds felt more like a normal race. When you get down to the semis and the final, I wasn’t even thinking about all the great prizes, the $20,000 check or the trip to Aruba. What was most important was that trophy that says World Champion on it.”