The result was the same with Ashley Owens picking up his fourth Pro Extreme Motorcycle (PXM) win after going to the final in each race he’s entered, but despite making the historic quickest pass in ADRL two-wheeled history, Owens almost was nipped at the finish line by a first-time finalist.

After going a career-best 4.089 at 173.54 to qualify second behind Owens’ 4.027 at 176.12 combination, Maryland’s Casey Stemper made his way through Mac McAdams, Carlos Wilkerson (whom he beat with a holeshot), and Ron Procopio to reach the runaway points leader and determine the PXM winner for the ADRL Speedtech U.S. Drags IV at Virginia Motorsports Park, near Richmond.

Owens, meanwhile, took out Dave Vantine in round one, then made history with the sport’s first three-second pass when he beat 2010 PXM champ Kim Morrell with a 3.989-seconds run to the eighth-mile stripe at 177.42 mph. It was a number Owens has been trying to reach all season long—and one thought practically impossible just a few years ago.

The result was the same with Ashley Owens picking up his fourth Pro Extreme Motorcycle (PXM) win after going to the final in each race he’s entered, but despite making the historic quickest pass in ADRL two-wheeled history, Owens almost was nipped at the finish line by a first-time finalist.

After going a career-best 4.089 at 173.54 to qualify second behind Owens’ 4.027 at 176.12 combination, Maryland’s Casey Stemper made his way through Mac McAdams, Carlos Wilkerson (whom he beat with a holeshot), and Ron Procopio to reach the runaway points leader and determine the PXM winner for the ADRL Speedtech U.S. Drags IV at Virginia Motorsports Park, near Richmond.

Owens, meanwhile, took out Dave Vantine in round one, then made history with the sport’s first three-second pass when he beat 2010 PXM champ Kim Morrell with a 3.989-seconds run to the eighth-mile stripe at 177.42 mph. It was a number Owens has been trying to reach all season long—and one thought practically impossible just a few years ago.

“We had to wait until conditions were right, the bike, the air, the track, and it all came together pretty perfectly here,” the Decatur, Alabama, native said. “I can always tell when the bike is really pulling in third gear that it’s on a pass and that time it was pulling as hard as I’ve ever felt and it felt good!”

That left only former two-time class champion Billy Vose between Owens and the final round. After qualifying fourth with a 4.095, his first time in the “ohs,” Vose ran his own career-best 4.033 in the opening round of racing, then followed up with a 4.042 in the second round before treeing Owens in the semis by .034 and going 4.056 at 166.64 mph. It wasn’t enough, though, as Owens ran 4.012 at 177.91 to take the win by one-hundredth of a second and earn his berth in the final round.

Given his typical performance advantage Owens tends not to push the tree, but an uncharacteristically slow .125 reaction time nearly cost him the win as Stemper left with a stellar .007 light. But Owens also lowered the official ET record with another “three,” going 3.977 seconds at 179.42 mph that reached he finish line a scant three-thousandths of a second ahead of the 4.098 at 173.43 in Stemper’s lane.

“He was out there on me and I thought I was going to run out of track,” Owens admitted. “I’m just happy to get the win light. We put in a lot of work and to get two 3s and win? It’s a great weekend. I can’t thank (team owner) Paul (Gast) enough; this bike is just unreal and we needed every bit of it tonight.”