It will have taken three weeks, but on Saturday and Sunday, the 19th Lucas Oil Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway outside Reading, Pa., will finally be decided.

It rarely happens that two national events are sandwiched between the start and conclusion of a rain-delayed race on the NHRA POWERade schedule, but such is the case this time as the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals in Memphis and CarQuest Auto Parts Nationals in Joliet, Ill., have been wrapped up in the interim.

Some scenarios will look basically unchanged in at least three of the professional classes set to go in Saturday's two qualifying sessions before final eliminations on Sunday. In the other, the situation has noticeably shifted since rain halted proceedings after one qualifying session three Fridays ago.

Here's the way things stack up going in:

Top Fuel
Three weeks ago, the picture looked dim for Doug Kalitta making a strong run at Larry Dixon for the points lead. Dixon went winless in Memphis and Joliet, but so did Kalitta, and now with a 323 points separating him from the reigning champion, Doug's hopes for a come-from-behind finish have faded. In fact, should Larry somehow score 92 more points than Kalitta this weekend, he would clinch his second straight championship.

Tony Schumacher can back up his potential national record of 4.465, which he ran in the only qualifying session completed three weeks ago. Kalitta can attempt to duplicate or improve upon his phenomenal 4.428 et during Joliet qualifying in the cool, dry air of central Pennsylvania this weekend. And Kenny Bernstein can try to tie together two straight wins after a convincing victory in Joliet last week. But there will be little discussion about the possibilities of a down-to-the-wire points race in Top Fuel. And that much hasn't changed in three weeks.

Funny Car
Tony Pedregon and Whit Bazemore have the pool to themselves, as they've gradually slid away from the rest of the Funny Car pack and swapped the points lead twice in as many weeks. When qualifying resumes in Maple Grove, Tony will be coming off his clutch win in Joliet and trying to hold on to his provisional low-qualifier slot which he left there three weeks ago. He leads Bazemore by 69 points but knows a rough outing in Reading can unravel that in a hurry.

Whit has had several opportunities to seize the points lead and add onto it since Denver, but his brief euphoria in Memphis after winning and taking the points lead was undone in Joliet six days later. The odd fact here is that neither Whit nor Tony has gotten into a real groove, especially in the season's second half, and there's no momentum right now from either team. Maple Grove will be an important thread in this year's championship stretch drive but it may also be just another shift in the see-saw between two bitter rivals.

Pro Stock
It has been a one-horse race in Pro Stock in 2003. Kurt Johnson has at times made it interesting and Jeg Coughlin's recent upswing has everyone wondering why it has taken his team so long to get on the stick, but the truth is that Greg Anderson has just been too much to handle in 2003.

While Jeggie will return to Maple Grove No. 1 on the qualifying sheet, the numbers in the POWERade standings are the only ones Anderson need concern himself with. His 286-point spread over KJ is as close to a lock as one can have, although Anderson can't clinch the title until Dallas, regardless of what happens this weekend.

We could see national record performances with conditions predicted to be cool and crisp at this near-sea level facility. But for anyone other than Greg Anderson and his talented team, it's time to play out the string, hope to pick up a victory in the year's final four events, and start planning for 2004.

Pro Stock Bike
With three races remaining on the 2003 PSB schedule, time is an even more tenuous commodity for Shawn Gann and Reggie Showers as they try to reel in points leader Geno Scali. Geno is leading Gann by 133 points, roughly seven rounds-worth of racing with 12 rounds remaining in the season. Showers is 30 points behind Gann and with two straight victories to bolster this year's most improved rider, Reggie is a real threat to overtake Gann.

Scali must avoid a costly early round loss this weekend and not give away the mathematical advantage he now holds. The championship is his to lose and outside of a total performance collapse by the popular veteran rider, he can anticipate the possibility of clinching his first career title three weeks from now in Las Vegas.

Bill Stephens covers the NHRA for ESPN and ESPN.com.