This weekend marks the end of an era for the Rockingham Dragway and the IHRA.

This will be the last year the IHRA World Finals will be run at “The Rock” after seven years. The event will move to the Virginia Motorsports Park beginning next year. This will also mark the last time the event will be run in its current form.

According to Rockingham Dragway President Steve Earwood, change is a good thing even though the World Finals will shift north.

“The world of motorsports has changed dramatically over the last few years,” Earwood said. “I think it was smart for the IHRA to go ahead and change and adapt now, rather than waiting until things got bad.”

Before teams, drivers and the IHRA can turn their attention to next year, this season’s champions will have to be crowned. The weekend of events at the Rockingham Dragway will feature Top Fuel, Pro Modified and Pro Stock teams battling at the final race of the IHRA season. In addition, more than 400 of the best sportsman competitors will be battling in the inaugural Tournament of Champions.

“After an incredible year of racing this is what it all comes down to,” IHRA President Aaron Polburn said in a release. “When the season began, thousands of drivers across North America got behind the wheel with hopes of being crowned world champion at season’s end. We are going to see a dozen different drivers have their dreams realized on the biggest stage in all of drag racing - the legendary quarter-mile at Rockingham Dragway.”

The Top Fuel title chase will come down to just two competitors, Del Cox Jr. and Bruce Litton. Heading into the weekend, Cox has a 74-point lead on Litton entering the final race.

In the Pro Modified division, Kenny Lang has all but clinched his second straight world championship on the strength of nine consecutive final rounds. Lang leads second-place Ed Hoover by 132 points.

While the Top Fuel and Pro Modified divisions have nearly crowned its champion, the Elite Motorsports Pro Stock class is wide open, with three drivers in the hunt for the world championship.

John Montecalvo holds a 33-point advantage over Frank Gugliotta, after Gugliotta was eliminated in the first round in the previous race. Gugliotta appeared to be on pace to lockdown the title, until two first-round exits in the last three events dropped him back to second. In addition to Montecalvo and Gugliotta, two-time champion Pete Berner trails by 63 points.

In the sportsman competition, the field will have national event winners, Summit Pro-am champions and Summit Allstars.

“I expect a fantastic weekend of racing, especially from the sportsman cars” Earwood said. “The sportsman guys love running here.”

The weekend kicks off today at 9 a.m. with the sportsman time trials, with the professionals hitting the quarter-mile track at 3 and 6 p.m. The schedule will remain the same for Saturday, but will include the famous “Night of Fire.” The finals are slated to begin Sunday at 11 a.m.

Tickets begin at $25 and the gates open at 8 a.m. daily. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (910) 582-3400.