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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A little more than one-tenth of a second -- literally the time it takes for you to blink -- supplied the combined margin of victory in the four professional final rounds at the 39th AC Delco Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway on Sunday.

It was a dramatic wrap-up to a race that had begun so inauspiciously when the first two rounds of qualifying were washed out by rain Friday at the year's third NHRA POWERade national event.

The shortened qualifying program took its toll on some of the series' most accomplished teams. Such drivers as Doug Kalitta, Morgan Lucas and Bob Vandergriff failed to qualify in Top Fuel. Gary Scelzi, Tommy Johnson Jr., Melanie Troxel and Tony Bartone missed the Funny Car field. Larry Morgan, Kenny Koretsky and Tom Hammonds missed the Pro Stock cut. Craig Treble, Steve Johnson and Mike Berry all struck out in Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying.

In Top Fuel, five-time and reigning champion Tony Schumacher successfully defended his 2007 Gatornationals title and snatched the third Gators victory of his career when he edged Brandon Bernstein in the final round, 4.603 seconds at 325.37 mph to 4.665/323.37. Schumacher was dead solid at the Christmas Tree all day, never wavering more than .02 of a second in his reaction times through four rounds.

In the points race, Schumacher's six-hundredths-of-a-second victory over Bernstein gave him a little more padding over Larry Dixon -- whom he beat in the semifinals.

"Every race, every round, every time you go down the track is a challenge," Schumacher said after his second win of 2008. "When you consider how many decisions my crew chief, Alan Johnson, has to make for every pass, how perfectly my U.S. Army crew has to do their jobs and how much they depend on me to make the right decisions in the car, you can understand that winning four rounds out here against the quality of racers we have in Top Fuel means a lot.

"And to do it here in Gainesville in front of all these fans is a bonus."

Funny Car saw two John Force Racing alumni meet head to head in the final round for only the second time in their careers. Tony Pedregon and Gary Densham -- each a Gatornationals champ when he drove for Force -- roared to a razor-close photo finish Sunday in a classic matchup of age and experience against (relative) youth and enthusiasm.

Pedregon, 43, who was rocked by a ferocious engine explosion and fire at the year's first race in Pomona, Calif., squeaked past 61-year-old Densham by three-thousandths of a second, 4.921/315.27 to 4.924/309.13. For Pedregon, it was his 41st career national event win. Densham was advancing to his first final round since his memorable 2004 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals win.

In their only previous final-round matchup, Pedregon beat Densham at the 1999 Carquest Winternationals in Pomona.

"Winning is definitely the best medicine for this team right now," Pedregon said. "A little more than a month ago, I was in the hospital with a burned hand. Today, we were able to win the race and get this season turned around. We didn't get off to the kind of start [to the season] we wanted, but when you look at the quality of cars out here, you know why.

"You can't count on too many of these guys just folding up. It used to be, not that many years ago, you had one or two dominant cars; now you have a world-class field of 12 to 15 cars with all of the resources and talent. It's going to be a dogfight, and every race is going to be important."

Pedregon's older brother, Cruz, experienced a brutal engine explosion of his own in Sunday's first round, one that blew the body completely off his nitro Chevy Impala. Cruz was unhurt and was able to get his car repaired in time for Round 2, but for Tony, the incident was rattling to watch.

"Those deals are always pretty scary," Tony Pedregon said. "When I saw the explosion and the car bounce around a little bit, I was concerned, but then when I saw that there wasn't that much fire, I felt a little better. Anything can happen in those situations, but as long as there's not much fire to contend with, Cruz is one of the best out here at driving under those conditions."

Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s father, Jeg Sr., celebrated his 70th birthday Saturday, two days after team owner Vic Cagnazzi observed his 50th. Jeg Jr., the three-time and defending Pro Stock champion, gave his family, team and fans plenty to celebrate by taking over the category points lead on his way to his final-round victory over 2006 champion Jason Line in the final, 6.652/208.07 to 6.656/209.10.

The four-hundredths-of-a-second win gave Coughlin his 39th career Pro Stock event title and a 46-point lead over Line in the standings.

"It feels great, without question," Coughlin said. "It certainly feels like we earned this one. The entire weekend was a grind, from losing Friday's two qualifying sessions to rain on through to the trials and tribulations of race day. It took a toll on us all. But the reward was worth it.

"All the races are special and they're all wonderful to win, but this is the Gatornationals. It has such a history. It's one of our marquee events. I remember coming here as a boy when my pop raced here, and now I'm sitting here in the winner's circle with my son. It makes it very special."

Matt Guidera was the only winner at this edition of the AC Delco Gatornationals who wasn't a reigning POWERade champion. But with only a single national event win on his résumé -- last year's race in Reading, Pa. -- the rider of the Mohegan Sun Rocklin Motorsports Buell crushed everything in his path from qualifying through eliminations. After posting the No. 1 qualifying spot Saturday, Guidera cruised through Sunday with four consecutive sub-7-second passes and torched three-time class champion Andrew Hines in the final, 6.949/191.54 to 6.985/189.55.

In his only other career win, Guidera also rang up four straight 6-second runs -- the only rider in PSM history to do so.

"This win is so much better than our first win," said Guidera, whose victory at Reading came on a midweek afternoon after a three-day rain delay. "I'm so happy with the No. 1 qualifier and that I didn't beat myself. We ran consistent all day, but it was a lot different doing it in front of the packed grandstands.

"I was feeling it and trying to relax and stay calm with everyone waving at you and looking at you. They say the first one is always special, but I don't know how this one could have been much better. Every win is great, but to come in and run like we did and kick everybody's butt all day long is great."

And being a part of one on the NHRA's most closely fought clusters of final-round performances in national event history shouldn't be overlooked, either.

Bill Stephens covers NHRA for ESPN.com.