Sixteen-year-old Meghan Dillner finds herself embroiled in a tight battle for the 2009 Pro Challenge Natoinal Championship. Her victory in the most recent National Point event, June 27th at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina, solidified her place in the title fight, as did her second-place finishes in the first two National Point events of the season. The fourth and final PC National Point event was held on Saturday, August 8th at North Carolina's Orange County Speedway, and although Dillner was not able to repeat her victory from Hickory, her third second-place run of the season has her inching towards a title with one final double-points race remaining on the schedule.

"Of course I was a little disappointed that I didn't get the win - any driver would be," said Dillner. "However, I just reminded myself that second place is a good finish, something my team and I should be proud of so that's the attitude we've held on to. The Scott's Turf Builder 51 ChevStang ran great all day long thanks to my great team and I had fun so that's all I can ask for. Kyle Benjamin, our rival for the Championship, beat me out this time and I congratulate him."

Dillner put her Scott's #51 on the outside pole for the 35-lap event and ran side-by-side with Benjamin, the polesitter, through the first corners of the first lap. Benjamin eventually cleared

Dillner and the two ran bumper-to-bumper before Dillner's car began to fade late in the race due to a tight condition.

"We had gone testing earlier on in the week and did really well and ran consistently quick laps. I really had my hopes set high when we got to the track today, especially after coming off of my win at Hickory . In practice we were fast and the car felt great. Of course it was really hot so the track had slowed down some. We qualified second so I started the race on the outside of Kyle Benjamin on the front row. Benjamin got the jump off of four, but I was side by side with him when we got into the first turn. He had a little bit more than us though and pulled away. The car was a little tight and I just held my second place spot the rest of the race."

With the outside-pole qualifying effort and the second-place finish, Dillner should remain in the second position in Pro Challenge National Points when they are released later this week. There is one final double-points event remaining on the schedule in October at a track to be announced.

Before the final Pro Challenge event, Dillner will begin testing a BDI Racing-prepared Super Late Model in the coming weeks with plans to begin her SLM career down the road.