Michael Phillips rode his MPR & DAM Sports Suzuki to victory yesterday in the rain-delayed NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park in Memphis, Tennessee.

Phillips topped Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines's Eddie Krawiec 6.93/193 mph to 6.94/192.22 mph in the finals to climb to third in the point standings of the Pro Stock Motorcycle Countdown. The win was Phillips' first since the 2003 Reading event and his third-ever victory.

Krawiec retained second place in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Countdown to the Championship with his 10th trip to the finals this season. With two events left in the Countdown playoffs, Krawiec is now 28 points behind Buell rider and points leader Hector Arana.

Arana, who led Krawiec by 27 points coming into Memphis, was eliminated in the semi-final round when he fouled at the starting line, but he also backed up the 6.851-second pass he made to lead qualifying in Memphis, and earned a 20-point bonus for setting a new national ET record for the class. The previous record of 6.860 seconds was set by Andrew Hines on the Screamin' Eagle V-Rod at Madison, Illinois, in May.

After three of five events in the 2009 Pro Stock Motorcycle Countdown to the Championship, Arana leads with 2420 points. Krawiec is second with 2392 points. Phillips moves up to third with 2255.

The next Pro Stock Motorcycle event on the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule is the Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, October 29-November 1, at the Strips at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.