Anyone who follows the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series knows that the 2002 Pro Stock championship saga is the most tightly competitive class in the sport -- and the most fascinating.

There have been stories tumbling from the Pro Stock fraternity week after week since the season's opening event, and yet, the intriguing twists and turns that have descended upon the Pro Stock teams flying the Dodge banner seem to be the most remarkable.

On Saturday at the 21st Rugged Liner Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn., the latest in a series of fascinating episodes of the unusual and unprecedented occurred when Sonoma winner Larry Morgan moved from low qualifier halfway through the day's first qualifying session to the 16th spot heading into the final session, then moved back into the field at No. 9 after his 6.91 pass in that concluding round. And then in a controversial ruling, Morgan suffered a disqualification when his Dodge Neon came up 5 pounds light at its post-qualifying weigh-in.

This past week, Barry Grant announced a plan to run a multi-car Dodge Pro Stock team with Morgan and Terry Adams in 2003, but the proposal has been reevaluated and he will now campaign GM-built machines without Morgan's participation.

Earlier this year, Mark Osborne was released by the David Nickens-owned Team Mopar operation and replaced by IHRA champion Gene Wilson, who engaged in a puzzling staging battle with Larry Nance two races ago in the first round in Seattle and eventually lost to the former NBA star when the staging duel ended.

Allen Johnson, the Tennessee-based privateer who runs his two-car Dodge operation with no factory support, has been mentioned as a possible recipient of a factory deal from Daimler-Chrysler as early as next year. However, this weekend Nickens stated that he has every intention of returning to his racing duties next year and has been given assurances by Mopar that he will be its factory-backed kingpin.

"There have been rumors about me not being here next year," he said Friday in Brainerd. "But I'm heavily involved in many different R&D projects with Mopar and they want me to remain in this position with them. Right now, nothing leads me to believe I'm not going to continue working within the contract I have with Mopar."

Two weeks ago in Sonoma, modern history was made when six Dodges were plugged into the Pro Stock field, something that hasn't happened in at least 20 years. Morgan's win was his first since 1994 and he won the upset victory with an enormous holeshot over Greg Anderson.

Morgan's untimely disqualification in Brainerd is only the latest in a seemingly never-ending succession of unusual and mysterious events that have shadowed this team since the infamous break-in at the Wayne County Speed Shop in 1995. Since then, new owners, drivers, body styles, engine configurations, and crew chiefs have made life interesting and occasionally entertaining in a category that, this year, seems ready to serve up yet another surprise when we least expect it.