O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
Madison, IL
(June 23-25)
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| Sunday |
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T. Pedregon, Edwards, Ellis also win |
By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
Reigning Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher waited until the 12th race of 2006 to score his first win of the year. His 4.565-second pass at 327 mph Sunday evening was too much for a tire-smoking Brandon Bernstein, and it gave Schumacher the trophy of the $1.3 million O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol. Funny Car winner Tony Pedregon, Pro Stock victor Mike Edwards, and Pro Stock Motorcycle titlist Chip Ellis shared the winner's circle at Gateway Int'l Raceway with the emotional Schumacher, who carried a Purple Heart medal of a deceased U.S. Marine in his firesuit pocket all day. Pedregon turned back former boss John Force with a 4.859 after Force led the race to every incremental timer. Edwards downed Larry Morgan by .008-second, and Ellis dismissed surprise finalist Michael Phillips.
This race was effectively over 100 feet down the track when Bernstein's rail smoked its tires. Just for good measure, Schumacher posted a 4.565 at 327.59 mph to secure the win. "Today would have been the birthday of a young Marine we lost," Schumacher said as he clutched a Purple Heart medal. "Chris Belchik was killed in action Aug. 22, 2004, but he was with me today. His brother came up to me Friday and asked me to carry this medal. He said Chris was a big fan, and he'd watch wherever he was overseas. I might be the Army car, but the men and women in the armed services are all together when it counts. "People have been asking me all year when we were gonna win. I don't always know. I go when the light comes on. I can't control some things. When the car doesn't work right, what am I supposed to do? Fire Alan Johnson? I'd be an idiot. All I know is we had an angel riding with us today, and that's hard to beat." This was Schumacher's 31st win in 57 final-round appearances. Bernstein falls to 2-2 on the year and 10-3 in his career when there is a trophy on the line.
Schumacher ruined a potential party for Team Budweiser as Bernstein hoped the good luck of a new Clydesdale horseshoe would get him in the winner's circle of Anheuser-Busch's home track. But instead, the rock-steady U.S. Army dragster carried three-time world champion Schumacher to the podium, running a pair of 4.5s in the final two sessions to stamp dominance on the eliminations ladder.
Tony Schumacher
Skull Shine's Melanie Troxel had her points lead cut in half Sunday. She now leads Doug Kalitta by 24 points. Kalitta beat her in the quarterfinals before losing to Bernstein in the semifinals.
The crowd was rooting for Force in the Funny Car final, and his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang led most of the way down the track, but a broken blower belt left him without power at 1,100 feet, and Pedregon's Q Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo zoomed past to take the win in 4.859 seconds at 320.43 mph to Force's 4.904 at 269.35 mph.
Tony Pedregon
Pedregon is money when there's a trophy up for grabs, winning all three finals he's raced in this year. Force is 1-5 in final rounds this year. The world champion in 2003, Pedregon now has 32 wins.
"I heard him out there, and I saw him put a fender on me at about 800 feet," Pedregon said. "In this class, that's usually not a good thing. But the cars have to run to 1,320 feet, and I guess his fuse was a little short. I really like John. I was over there with him for a long time and learned a lot from him. To beat the 13-time champ is always special.
"I love racing here. You can see the arch right there. It's unique. I'm partial to night racing just because it's so cool to see the flames. It wasn't great to see Force's header flames during the final, but it turned out okay."
Ron Capps' first-round loss, coupled with Force's runner-up finish, trimmed his lead over Force from 106 to 44 points. Pedregon moved up to fourth place, 247 out of the lead.
Edwards continues to maintain contender status in Pro Stock. Sunday's .008-second holeshot win over good friend Morgan was his second of the year and left him just 120 points, or six rounds, out of the POWERade lead with half a season remaining.
Mike Edwards
This one was a thriller, with Edwards launching in .012-second to Morgan's very competitive .022-second start. Morgan was inching ever closer at each timer, but Edwards' Young Life Pontiac GTO held him off to give Edwards the win with a 6.717 at 205.76 mph to Morgan's 6.715 at 205.82 mph. The margin of victory was 20 inches.
"What an awesome day," Edwards said. "Anytime you can get a win in this class it's very special. We're not the fastest car out here, but the fastest car doesn't always win. Today was a total team effort, and I need to thank all my guys and my sponsors.
"There's a long way to go, but I'd rather be 120 points out of the lead than 420 like we probably were at this time last year. Someone's gotta win that championship, and I sure would like to do it. It's been a lifelong goal of mine. We've gotten close in the past. Maybe this could be our year. But there are a lot of guys saying that."
Three-time and reigning world champion Greg Anderson is virtually even with teammate Jason Line in the championship chase after Line closed to within two points in the standings with a semifinal run Sunday.
Ellis remained perfect in final-round appearances, scoring his fourth NHRA victory in 26 starts. Ellis gave up a .039 to .062 starting-line advantage to Phillips, but his Drag Specialties S&S Buell V-Twin had caught Phillips' Mini Rods Suzuki by the 60-foot timer, and he marched away for an easy win, posting a 7.153 at 183.84 mph to Phillips’ 7.298 at 184.83 mph.
Chip Ellis
"I'm really pleased to be here," Ellis said. "We struggled so much in qualifying until we swapped out motors before the fourth session, and that really made the difference. Great work by my team: George Bryce, George Smith, and Ken Johnson, especially Ken. Everyone works so hard.
"It takes rounds to win the championship so I'll stay focused on that. It's important to get down the track every time. We got lucky in the first round because we burned up some wires, but luckily for us Karen Stoffer had red-lighted. After that, we had the quickest bike of every round."
Phillips' runner-up finish, the third of his career, put him into the top 10 for the first time this year. Phillips has two wins on his résumé. His last win was in
The victory lifted Ellis to within 82 points of the POWERade lead. Current leader Angelle Sampey pushed her margin over Andrew Hines from 12 to 28 points. Sampey beat Hines in round two but lost to Ellis in round three.
Two-time AMS Pro Modified champion Mike Ashley, who now drives an NHRA POWERade Funny Car, returned to his stomping grounds long enough to record his ninth victory.
Ashley established low elapsed time with a 6.100 at 233.16 in defeating teammate Joey Martin, who ran a 6.104, 232.95 in the final round.
- Friday: Fuller, Worsham, Anderson, Hines are hottest of the hot Friday at Gateway (6/23/2006)
- Saturday: Fuller, Bradford earn first career poles; Hight, Anderson also grab top spots (6/24/2006)
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