Ron Krisher returned to the NHRA Pro Stock winner's circle for the first time in five years by
defeating Larry Morgan in the final round of the 20th annual O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. It was Krisher's second victory at this event and it moved the Warren, Ohio resident from 10th place to eighth in the POWERade points standings.

"If I ever came out here with the thought I'd never win again then I'd quit," Krisher said. "We've won this one, and we're going to win some more this year, you wait and see."

Ron Krisher returned to the NHRA Pro Stock winner's circle for the first time in five years by
defeating Larry Morgan in the final round of the 20th annual O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. It was Krisher's second victory at this event and it moved the Warren, Ohio resident from 10th place to eighth in the POWERade points standings.

"If I ever came out here with the thought I'd never win again then I'd quit," Krisher said. "We've won this one, and we're going to win some more this year, you wait and see."

Krisher entered raceday with his Valvoline Chevy Cobalt qualified in the No. 2 position. He defeated Todd Hoerner in round one with the quickest elapsed time of the day at 6.732 seconds, Rickie Jones in round two with a 6.745-second run at 204.01 mph, and Kurt Johnson in the semifinals with a 6.750 e.t. at 203.83 mph. In the championship heat, Krisher's Chevrolet took the win light with a 6.758-second run at 204.70 mph. Morgan's Dodge had a slight, but brief advantage off the starting line, but lost traction almost immediately and coasted to a 12.144 second run at 62.96 mph.

"We won here at Topeka a long time ago (2001) and we have a lot of respect for this racetrack," Krisher said. "I think we know a lot about how to race it. We have a good crew chief (Tommy Utt), good people, good sponsors, Valvoline, Chevrolet - you can't beat them. They've been with me a long time through this long drought and I can't say enough about how much I appreciate them for staying with me through the drought. But we're over it.

"Nobody beat us out there today - we took every round. It had a lot to do with Tommy Utt and a whole bunch of guys who make up this team. A lot of people don't understand, but they have to get this car ready to go in 45 minutes every time and there can't be any mistakes. They don't make any. The race car was awesome today, although we were a little hot in the last run. We weren't as hot as Larry (Morgan) was, though. We had our worst 60-foot of the day but it was four hundredths better than Larry. Tommy Utt - you can't out judge him. He'll get you down the racetrack.”

It was the sixth career victory for Krisher and the 14th time that he has competed in a final round. His previous win came at St. Louis in June of 2003 and his last final-round appearance came last July at the Mile-High Nationals in Denver. It was also Chevrolet's 151st all-time win in the NHRA Pro Stock category.

"Larry Morgan is a good friend of mine, and I'd like to knock him in the head for double-bulbing me out there," Krisher joked. "We've been friends a long time and he's certainly been a big help to me and my racing career, and I wish him the best.

"We're watching the points and we're sneaking up on it. We have two races left to get into the Pro Stock Shootout and we're focused on the Countdown cut as well."