This time it was Laura, the 20-year-old sister of Crate Late Model point leader Kyle Lukon, who picked up the victory in the ultracompetitive division at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.

"There are just no words to describe how I felt," said the junior at Duquesne University. "I was so proud of Kyle when he won earlier this year. It is such a great feeling to win."

Lukon's win convinced her that she did the right thing by not giving up after last season where she was upside down twice in three races.

She is the first female driver to win in the Crate Late Models and second to win at PPMS after E-mod racer Kari Gasser won for the first time May 21, 2005.

And the champions are...

On the final night of the season, Kevin Schaeffer, the defending Lernerville sprint car champion, clinched his second title by 8 points over Rod George and 27 points over Ed Lynch Jr.

"We're pretty fortunate," Schaeffer said. "I think we can be consistent, but we need to win more races."

Even though Schaeffer's team has won four championships, (Lernerville 2, Sharon 1, Challenger 1), winning races is more important. "We were not far off [from winning races]."

Before losing the 2007 Sharon Speedway point title to Bob Felmlee, Schaeffer said. "I'd still give up one of those track championships for a bunch of wins."

The second closest battle at Lernerville Speedway was in the modifieds where Brian Swartzlander held off Del Rougeux Jr., by 28 points. Swartzlander's five feature wins vs. Rougeux's lone victory was the difference in the points.

"At Lernerville you have to finish races," Swartzlander said. "All it takes is one bad night. It's hard to make up points."

Alex Ferree won the late-model title with nine wins and finished 165 points ahead of Gary Lyle.

While Mike Pegher Jr. won his first pure stock title by 33 points over Jason Fosnaught, the difference from second to sixth place in the standings was a scant 16 points.

Lugnuts

The number of cars that will compete in the Crate Late Model class at PPMS will grow by at least one more as amateur stock competitor Terry Kerr moves up in 2008. Kerr's Stinger Chassis, built in Knoxville, Tenn., will be the first at the track known for the number of Rocket Chassis in competition. ... Mercer Raceway Park will host its final weekly racing program at 7 p.m. tomorrow, with the 19th annual Western Pennsylvania Sprint Championship. ... Sharon Speedway holds the Russ King Memorial for the BRP Mod Tour tomorrow. ... Lernerville Speedway also will be in action at 6 p.m. tomorrow with Back to School bus races and kid's night.