It always pays off to have a Plan B. And for Justin Bond, the Canadian from Mission, British Columbia, having an alternative option translated into victory at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Bond tested and raced the previous weekend at the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Modified in Bradenton, Fla. When a new car didn't deliver the desired results, he and his team parked the new ride and went to last season's car, aptly nicknamed Old Faithful.  

So what does an Old Faithful do? For starters, Bond took his trusty Camaro to the provisional pole on Friday, and even though he slipped to second in the final session, it was No. 1 on race day.

"It was awesome," Bond said. "I've been on the road for two weeks racing and was in Bradenton at the World Series of Pro Mod with my other car and wasn't as fortunate as I was today, and we pulled Old Faithful out. We were going to bring that screw blower car here, and we pulled it out on the last day when we gave up, and the car went straight down the track like it always did. And we decided to bring in here. And me and Old Faithful, that's what I call her, just got down today."

The opening race of the Fueltech NHRA Pro Modified series was a murderer's row of competition, so much so that the top four qualifiers all reached the semi-finals. First-time No.1 qualifier JR Gray reached the finals when Mike Castellana suffered tire shake. 

Bond reached his eighth career final round by disposing of defending event and series champion Kris Thorne with a 5.759 at 248.89 mph. 

Gray may have won the qualifying battle, but Bond won the war in the final round. Gray had a slight advantage off the starting line, but Bond quickly motored by him to a 5.732 at 250.74 mph to earn the victory and an early series points lead.

"We're all excited," Bond said. "Our crew chief Brad Personett had done a great job. I left here last night at 9:00, and they realized that the engine was blowing up from the run before, so I don't know if they worked till midnight last night, but it paid off."