Championship Drag Racing

ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
Las Vegas, NV
(October 25-28)

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Virginia NHRA Nationals
Sunday
Fuller doubles up, builds points lead; 'T-Ped,' Anderson, Hines also score

By Rob Geiger Sr., NHRA.com senior editor

Las Vegas' own "Hot Rod" Fuller completed the best weekend of his three-year Professional career by winning the seventh annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals to surge back into the POWERade points lead with one race left in the season. Fuller's third win of the season followed a thrilling victory Saturday in the Technicoat Top Fuel Shootout, moving his total winnings for the weekend to $190,000.

In Funny Car, Tony Pedregon put a near stranglehold on the 2007 title with his fourth win of the year. The other three racers in the Countdown to One lost in round one. Greg Anderson continued his love affair with The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with his sixth Pro Stock win at the facility. This one put him back in the points lead he held for most of the regular season. Three-time and reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Andrew Hines remained the man to beat in his class with another convincing victory.

 
Rod Fuller

After completing the first 17 races of the season with a commanding 184-point lead, Fuller watched his advantage reduced to just 10 points when the playoffs began in Indianapolis with the Countdown to Four. He's trailed ever since until regaining the top spot here with his impressive win in the Caterpillar dragster.

By beating a resurgent Doug Kalitta in a razor-close final -- 4.531 at 327.82 mph to Kalitta's 4.537 at 331.36 mph -- Fuller moved 52 points ahead of Larry Dixon, with Brandon Bernstein (-61) and Tony Schumacher (-67) following in the Countdown to One standings.

"It's good to be home," Fuller said. "We won a big race yesterday, but I didn't get to enjoy it because I was so focused on today. A hundred thousand is great, but it's gone fast; a world championship lasts forever. I just got in that zone, and I've been there all weekend. It's exhausting, but it's worth it now.

"They told me that under the old points system, I would have clinched the championship by now. But at the same time I'm a believer in the new deal because I've seen the excitement it's generated. That's easier to say now because we're up again, but I do like the way it's all turning out.

"I thought being at home would help me be more comfortable, but last night I went to bed at 9:45 and then I woke up at 2 in the morning and I was wide awake, ready to go. That's how much this deal means. I couldn't get back to sleep."

Fuller is 3-3 in final rounds this year and 6-8 lifetime. A winner at the last stop in Richmond, Va., Kalitta fell to 1-1 in money rounds this year and 30-24 for his career.

 
Tony Pedregon

Pedregon's win denied Ashley Force her first Funny Car victory, but she made a little history just by reaching the final as no other female participant had ever made it that far in the class. She had the car to beat as her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang posted a quicker 4.829 at 298.93 mph to Pedregon's 4.871 at 318.47 mph, but the veteran had dusted her at the starting line, leaving with a massive six-hundredths advantage. This was Pedregon's 36th win.

"There'are a lot of great memories here because this is where I clinched my championship in 2003," Pedregon said. "I don't know what happened to the track, but we smoked the tires in the first two rounds today and were lucky to win. Then we get to the final and I know a lot of people were rooting for Ashley, but the guys got it done for me.

"It was emotional to race her. She's family. I was over there for a long time. To see John [Force] back at the track after all he's been through was so great. I've had a lot of teachers, and he was definitely one of them. People are saying he looks worn out, but I think he looks great.

"I would have been happy with a one-round lead. It's a huge luxury to have a 91-point lead, believe me, I know that. But we won't change our approach. We still need to go over to Pomona and qualify this car and win some rounds. I haven't won anything yet."

It was a huge day for Pedregon and his Q Horsepower team in the Countdown to One points as the other three racers in the championship hunt bowed out in round one. He's now 91 points ahead of Gary Scelzi; Robert Hight is next, 99 off the lead, and Ron Capps needs a miracle to overcome his 113-point deficit.

 
Greg Anderson

Pro Stock winner Anderson gave up a slight lead to Jeg Coughlin at the starting line when Coughlin jumped off the pad with a .013 reaction time to Anderson's .021 launch, but the three-time world champ had made up the difference by the 60-foot timers and won convincingly with a 6.731 at 205.04 mph in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO to Coughlin's 6.771 at 204.39 mph in his Jegs.com Chevrolet Cobalt.

This was Anderson's eighth win of the year, which ties him for the class lead with Dave Connolly. It was also the 51st win of his career. Coughlin dropped to 3-4 in 2007 and 37-22 overall.

"We just haven't been A-1 lately," Anderson said. "Dave Connolly has been running so strong, and there was nothing any of us could do. But we came here and tested the wheels off this car and figured it out. The car was the star today, and my crew chief Rob Downing was perfect. I dedicate this win to him.

"I can hardly describe the pressure of this thing. All four cars in the deal are capable of winning the championship, and you know that any little mistake and you're done. No one wanted to head to Pomona with their bottom lip dragging on the ground.

"We didn't win [the championship] today, but we didn't knock ourselves out. We figured we'd need to at least get to the final to keep our hopes alive, and we did one better than that. Thank God for Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We've got work to do in Pomona or one of those other guys will take it away, I guarantee it."'

The win moved Anderson back into the points lead he held until the first Countdown cutoff, when the top eight racers were reseeded and separated by just 10 points each. He's now 34 up on Coughlin, who moved up to second place, and 48 up on former points leader Connolly. Allen Johnson, whom Coughlin beat in round one, is 103 back in fourth.

 
Andrew Hines

Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod rider Hines upped his career record versus Ellis to 7-0 with his final-round upset. After earning lane choice in the money round, Ellis dropped off pace and posted his worst pass of the day when it mattered most, bowing to Hines' 7.073 at 187.34 mph with a 7.144 at 185.41 mph.

Hines is now 5-2 in final rounds this season and 13-9 in his career. Ellis suffered his first loss in six trophy-round appearances.

"It's been pretty stressful out here," Hines said. "We've never been crazy about the second cutdown, and if it hadn't happened we'd be up by 90 points or so. But as it turns out we have the exact same lead going into the final race as we did a year ago. This time I'm not going to go in there and blow it in the first round like I did last year and have to sweat out what other people do for us to win. We want to keep control in our own hands.

"We've been working hard since the last race in Dallas," Hines said. "I think my dad made about 100 pulls on the dyno looking for more horsepower. We have five spare motors in the trailer, all ready to go, and we only used the one all weekend. We're totally prepared."

The three-time and reigning POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion, Hines earned a little breathing room in the points, moving 39 markers ahead of runner-up Ellis. Matt Smith is in third, 51 points back, and Peggy Llewellyn follows in fourth with a 93-point deficit.

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