|
|
 |
Incoming points: 1. Tony Pedregon, 3,147; 2. Gary Scelzi, 3,056 (-91);
3. Robert Hight, 3,048 (-99); 4. Ron Capps, 1,449 (-113);
|
2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champ Tony Pedregon enters the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals with a comfortable 91-point edge on his closest rival, former Top Fuel and Funny Car Champion Gary Scelzi, with 2006 championship runner-up Robert Hight and four-time title runner-up Ron Capps in third and fourth. This NHRA.com POWERade Funny Car Countdown to the Championship Notebook will keep fans abreast of the latest developments, quotes, and stats during the season finale.
|
|
|
| Sunday, November 04, 2007 (5:30 p.m.)
Funny Car final points Pedregon: 3178 Hight: 3159 Scelzi: 3092 Capps: 3067 |
|
| Sunday, November 04, 2007 (3:22 p.m.)
Funny Car semifinals It's pretty simple for Robert Hight: He needs to beat Mike Ashley AND run quicker than 4.705 to get the backup needed for the final round to get the record topass Pedregon. The weather ain't exactly cooperating as the sun is out... He gets the win but his 4.87 is not even close, crowning Tony Pedregon as the champion for the second time. At the top end, T-Ped hoists the champion's trophy in celebration. Hight: "Number two is nothing to sneeze at [with] how good this class is. We're still in the race and I really want to win. I gotto the final of the Winternationals and got out of the groove and gave it to Scelzi. I want to win this and end it on a high note for all the guys who worked so gard this year." Pedregon: "This wasn’t easy. I have so much respect for those other guys in the final four and for all the guys in Funny Car. It’s so tough to win even a race it hard to comprehend how hard it is to win a championship. To bring in home in Pomona with all the drama of this weekend is very special, but I'm sure I've developed ulcers this weekend. I won the championship with Force in 2003 and that was great but to do it with a team you built yourself is even more special." |
|
| Sunday, November 04, 2007 (1:55 p.m.)
Funny Car round two  |
Robert Hight is in the final pair and must win to keep his hopes of passing Pedregon. He'll be in the left lane against Jerry Toliver, who had lane choice. Hight needs to win the race and set the record, so it's a good bet they're thinking backup already. Ironically, Pedregon has the record at 4.659. Pedregon is camped out at the top end, watching, but we're down for oil as Burkart slimed the top end in beating Jeff Arend. Oddly, crew chief Dickie Venables and the rest of the Q gang are on the starting line. If Hight wins, he faces Mike Ashley, who ran 4.795. As if on cue, cloud cover closes in on Pomona, no doubt increasing the liklihood of that backup. It's been a long delay, about 10 minutes, but the cars finally cackle to life. Gary Scelzi is another interested spectator on the starting line, diplomatically standing between both lanes. Then he drifts over behind Toliver's lane. Here comes Mike Ashley and Jack Beckman, to watch, too. Plus most of the Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle guys. The crowd rises to its feet .... Hight keeps it alive with a 4.796 victory but loses lane choice to Ashley by a thou. He's going to have to win the semifinals and run at least 4.70 to get a backup for a final-round record. Hight: "I'm not worried about lane choice; we just won from that lane and so did Ashley. The later it goes, the more cloiuds we get. I'm liking it. We have no choice but to get after it now." Pedregon: "I'm in suspense and it looks like it's going to be around for another hour. They have two rounds to make and win them both and set a national record and the backup. I'm seeing the clouds roll in but I'm not sure it's going to get that good." Current points: Pedregon: 3178 Hight: 3119 (-59) |
|
| Sunday, November 04, 2007 (11:52 a.m.)
Funny Car round one The first Countdown race comes in the round's fifth pairing, with Tony Pedregon, without lane choice, in the left lane, and he watches Del Worsham smoke the tires directly ahead of him. If he wins, he'll face the winner of the Ron Capps-Phil Burkart match and,more importantly, he'll clinch the championship, his second.He'll have to wait. Arend, the low qualifier, puts him on the trailer, 4.849 to 4.853. Pedregon: "We wanted to end this thing ourselves. We wanted to win that race and we thought we could because weve been winning those races all year. For some reason I hesitated at the starting line. There's a a lot of pressure. It was still a good race; I could hear him at the three-quarter mark. Now we'll just have to sit and wait and watch." Directly behind him, Robert Hight, in the left lane, and Gary Scelzi smile in their helmets. The door is open; can they drive through it?Hight is awesome at the Tree with an .025 light and drives away to a 4.90 win as Scelzi buttons off early, shutting down at halftrack. With Capps mathematically eliminated in qualifying, it's all down to Hight and Pedregon. Hight, who moves into second place, needs to win the race and reset the national record; a tall chore. He'll face Jerry Toliver in round two, without lane choice. Current points: Pedregon: 3178 Hight: 3099 (-79) Scelzi: 3092 Capps: 3067 |
|
| Saturday, November 03, 2007 (4:25 p.m.)
Funny Car qualifying session No. 4 Gary Densham's 4.829 bumped Tony Pedregon's 4.847 down one spot to 15th, but as the cars still not in the field fail to improve, the nervousness ratcheted up with hitters like Tommy Johnson Jr., Jerry Toliver, Scott Kalitta, and even his own brother Cruz capable of knocking him down and out.T.J. goes 4.849 to bump back in and bump Toliver out, but T-Ped is not affected. The Toyotas of Kalitta and Toliver came up with the chance to blast him to the sidelines in one fell swoop. Pedregon is in the water box behind Kalitta watching it all unfold. Both are strong early but Kalitta's machine gives up the ghost at halftrack; good thing for Pedregon, as Toliver's stout engine-blowing 4.820 breezes into the field and knocks T.J. back out. Pedregon is now secure in the field. Pedregon would love to go midpack and for an easier first-round draw, but follows with a 4.842 that improves only the elapsed time next to his name in the 16th spot, meaning a date with the No. 1 qualifier … still to be determined. Hight also can’t improve, mixing up the cylinders on the top end and it again goes silent before the stripe, coasting to a 4.91 at just 284 mph. The fact that Pedregon is qualified means he'll have to have Pedregon lose in round one, then win and set the national record if he's to take the title. Capps pulls to the line, but with Pedregon in the field, Capps has been eliminated from the championship race. To make matters worse, he droves through tire shake and into smoke at 300 feet en route to a 10.03. When it rains … Scelzi belts out a 4.788, his best run of the meet, but doesn't improve position and, as the No. 3 qualifier, is slated for a first-round date with No. 14 Hight. Pedregon will race No. 1 qualifier Jeff Arend and Capps, No. 8, will take on, for the second weekn in a row, Phil Burkart in John Force's car. The scenario is pretty simple; if Pedregon wins round one, he's the champ. If he loses, Scelzi or Hight would have to win the race and set the national record to surpass him. Let's not forget that Jack Beckman set the national record last Sunday in the final round at this event ... Provisional adjusted points: Pedregon: 3178 Scelzi: 3092 (-86) Hight: 3079 (-99) Capps: 3067 (-111) Quick quotes: Tony Pedregon: "We've been sweating bullets for the last month, which is okay; dodging them makes me uneasy. On that run the car had much clutch dust it stopped running at 1000 feet, but we're happy to be in the show and happy that we can control our own destiny." Robert Hight: "I'm not ready to give it up yet; Jimmy Prock is my crew chief and you can't him out." |
|
| Page 1 :: Next Page >> |
|
|
|
|
|
|