2007 Lucas Oil Stock champ Michael Iacono by Kelly Wade, National DRAGSTER 11/27/2007   “If you'd have asked me two years ago which category I thought I could win my first championship in, Stock or Super Stock, I wouldn't have said Stock,” said Michael Iacono, who now owns a shiny new championship Wally and a somewhat surprising bullet point on his résumé: 2007 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Stock national champion.   The ball was rolling after a national event win over Peter Biondo at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta in April, but it's no wonder Iacono's chance at the crown was slightly unexpected before then. The 2006 Super Stock runner-up finished 50th in Stock last year with 415 points, some 207 marks behind season titlist Randy Wilkes, and since Iacono began competing in Stock in 2003, he had never finished better than 26th.   Even after winning in Atlanta, Iacono didn't fully grasp that he had a fighting chance at the title and was focusing on the debut of his newly completed Comp entry while Dan Fletcher piloted Iacono's '69 Mustang to a divisional win at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading.   A week later at the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago, Iacono notched a semifinal finish, then collected three round-wins at the Division 3 event there the following weekend, but when he runner-upped to heavy-hitter and good friend Biondo at the national event in Reading, it all started to sink in. Iacono followed his final-round finish with another runner-up to Biondo at the divisional event at Cecil County Dragway a week later to move into fourth place behind points leader Fletcher, Jody Lang, and Edmond Richardson Jr. with Biondo just seven points behind Iacono. “At that point it looked pretty good,” said Iacono. “I'd probably accumulated more points than I ever had before in Stock with a few races to go. That was the turning point, but it's the scariest thing in the world to have guys like Peter Biondo chasing you.”   After collecting two quarterfinal finishes and a few more round-wins at three divisional events, Iacono led the standings but had claimed points at eight races, the maximum events allowed. When he went out in the second round at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, all he could do was watch as two other racers, Brad Plourd and Jerry Emmons, battled to snag the championship from his hands. Emmons gave up his title hope with a first-round loss, but Plourd fought hard, keeping Iacono in anguishing suspense through four rounds until, much to Iacono's relief, Lang put together a .015-second package and knocked Plourd out of the running.   Watching from just behind the starting line with his father Michael and Biondo, who was just one round-win behind Iacono when it was all said and done, the new champion was ecstatic.   “It was a huge round,” said Iacono. “I think Brad had to win the following round, then he had a semifinal bye, so he was really only two win lights away from the championship. “Winning this was obviously the high point of the season for me, but there really wasn't a low point,” added Iacono. “I had a fabulous season in all three classes. I won a national event in Stock, I debuted my new Comp car — something I wanted to do for years — and I won the Jegs Allstars in Super Stock. I've had a great year and hope I can repeat it, but it'll be hard.”   Iacono acknowledged the support of Mickey Thompson and West Hampton True Value in West Hampton, N.Y.   “My whole family is very supportive,” added Iacono. “I'd like to thank my father Michael, my mother Maryann, my sister Carla, my brother Patrick, and my sister Raffaela. Timothy Hopkins, he's like my crew chief, and I really have to thank him a lot because without his hard work there's just no way I'd be in this position. Lee Zane has been with me the whole time. He stayed to test the car between the Orlando [Fla.] divisional race and the Gainesville national event, and without that information I would have been lost, so I really want to thank him. I'd like to thank James Perrone, who drove my truck from place to place. I could show up at a national event on Wednesday night, and the cars would be teched in already and they'd all be cleaned and serviced; he'd do all that for me. I'd also like to thank Joe Urbino, Lincoln and Ron Morehead, Bryan Valentine, Keith Ohanesian, my uncle Patrick Iacono, Jason McCormack, Joe Lisa, Byron and Bryan Worner, my engine builder Bub Whitaker, Dan Fletcher, Anthony Fetch, Sal and Peter Biondo, Zachary Sullivan, Robert Jones, Rusty Hall, Kenny Miele, the Wisecarver brothers, and Jason Silver.”   Iacono's 2007 Track Record: 643 points Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals Won event Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals Semifinals Route 66 Raceway (Div. 3) Fourth round Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals Runner-up Cecil County Dragway (Div. 1) Runner-up Old Bridge Township Raceway Park (Div. 1) Quarterfinals Atco Raceway (Div. 1) Quarterfinals Thunder Valley Raceway Park (Div. 4) Fourth round