BUZZ SODEMAN The Buzzman BUZZ SODEMAN / SPECIAL TO THE PVT Milt Gebo, left, stages his drag racer at The Strip in Las Vegas during last weekend’Äôs action. BUZZ SODEMAN / SPECIAL TO THE PVT Also present was motorcycle drag-race champion Angelle Sampey. Advertisement

In a sport dominated by the likes of John Force, Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher, Warren "The Professor" Johnson, and Angelle Sampey, Milt Gebo is a shining star that just happens to call Pahrump home.

He was one of 35 Nevada drivers who competed at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas. And, he was one of 13 Nevadans entered in Super Comp and the only Pahrump resident.

Gebo, as I experienced, is well known in the division he competes in -- Super Comp.

As I was interviewing him near the staging lanes at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, drivers were constantly coming by and offering words of encouragement and good luck.

Fortunately, not all 170 competitors in this class alone made their way to the Yancer-built and prepared dragster.

This class boasts competitors from as far away as Florida and Canada, as well as the likes of Force's daughters, Brittany and Courtney, who are in Force's New Generation racing team.

Gebo must also compete against the fabricator of his sleek rocket, Tom Yancer, from Chandler, Ariz.

Super Comp is the next logical step for many graduates of the NHRA Junior dragster program; it is also a division that features as many women drivers as men.

Under the tutelage of NHRA Hall of Fame photographer Rich Carlson, I soon found out that Gebo is known by more than those within the circle of Super Comp. Carlson said, "Gebo is one of the nicest guys in the sport."

Super Comp competitors race in a heads up start off the starting line but must run as close to the index established by the NHRA.

This magic number is the e.t. (elapsed time) as a predictor of performance for vehicles in this class. These indexes allow various classes of cars in the same eliminator to race competitively. NHRA takes into consideration weather conditions and altitude; for Las Vegas the index was set at 9.05 seconds. In layman's terms, this means that a racer has to run as close to the index without breaking out.

Breaking out refers to a racecar running quicker than the driver has predicted. The driver who breaks out loses the race unless his or her opponent breaks out by more or commits a more serious foul, such as leaving too soon (red lighting) or crossing the centerline.

Coming into this, the next to last event before the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., Gebo has a resume that includes the following list of accomplishments.

He was the 2003 Division 5 Super Comp Champion (the first of three straight such titles). In 2003 -- Milt's most successful season -- he scored two NHRA Divisional wins and a semi-final finish at a third Divisional. Gebo finished a best-ever fifth in National points as well, a monumental accomplishment when you consider that there are about 1,500 Super Comp racers across the nation.

In 2004, Milt took the Division 5 Super Shoot-Out Championship -- a race-within-a-race where only 16 racers out of approximately 300 qualify based on best on-track performances.

Continuing his streak, Gebo was the 2005 Division 5 Top Comp Champion, and the 2006 Summit Nationals Super Comp Champion.

Gebo is the two-time TRW Grand 900 member, a three-time Super Chevy Show Super Pro Champion, and three-time Perfectly Strange Performance Award winner. That is an award given for making a perfect 8.90 second run in the first round of eliminations and a multiple-time NHRA and E.T. Series winner.

Another memorable moment came at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in 2005. Gebo qualified first and earned his second Perfectly Strange award.

This prestigious race is the Super Bowl of drag racing and an event that everyone points to as a career-defining moment.

The 38-year old Gebo has accomplished all this in 14 years of drag racing. He has been driving a 2001 Tom Yancer Mono-Shock dragster sponsored by KD Kanopy/American Racing Wheels/Driskell Racing Enterprises/Goodyear/K&N Filters and Aeromotive.

This slingshot has a wheelbase of 225 inches and is powered by a 555 big block Driskell Racing Chevy engine. The total weight of the vehicle with the driver is 1,900 pounds, transferring all that power to huge (33.0 x 16.0) Goodyear Eagle racing slicks.

If everything works the way that Milt expects it to, this dragster will accelerate from zero to 140 miles per hour in 4.8 seconds, zero to 170 mph in 7.8 seconds, with the quarter-mile covered in 7.82 seconds.

With all this power, the ultra-competitive Super Comp class boils down to just plain, good old-fashioned driving skills. Approaching the end of the quarter-mile requires the ability to determine how close you are to the index, plus the added distraction of determining just how close you allow your opponent to get to you before eking out the win by the closest of margins.

I guess it comes down to how close you choose to run a yellow traffic light before it turns red and you're sitting alongside the road while a trooper is writing a ticket.

Another indication of just how competitive this class has become, most drivers rely on two instruments -- including a computer -- generated, hand-held instrument that links to the hauler and gives an up-to-date reading of atmospheric and track conditions.

The other instrument is a tire pressure gauge that is constantly being used to check tire pressure.

This self-employed husband (wife -- Theresa) and father (daughter -- Marina) indicated that his most memorable win came at the 2006 Summit Racing Nationals in Las Vegas last spring.

Gebo fulfilled every drag racer's dream of winning a National event when he captured the Super Comp title at his home track.

Unfortunately, a repeat was not in the roll of the dice at the fall event. Milt became the victim of the dreaded red light, fouling away a chance to continue into the second round.

So what's in store for Milt? He has slowed down his travel to just California, Arizona, and Nevada, decreasing his being on the road for five or six months at a time.

He is now competing in the Pacific Division, home of the Magnificent 7. This decision to slow down hasn't affected Gebo's racing; he is currently battling for a top three finish in the division's Super Comp.

As his biography declares, "If the past is any indication of the future, don't count him out until the final round of the final race."