Four-time and reigning POWERade champion Tony Schumacher stormed to the No. 1 position in his last qualifying attempt at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals to add some more drama to the final day of the 2007 POWERade Drag Racing Series. Schumacher needs a big Sunday to overtake "Hot Rod" Fuller and win his fourth-straight title, but as he proved last year, nothing is impossible until a driver is completely eliminated.

In Funny Car, points leader Tony Pedregon barely made the field in the 16th and final spot, but by holding on he all but secured his second title. His rivals need him to lose in Round 1 while they go on to win the race and set a national record to steal away the crown. The Pro Stock categories -- led by Dave Connolly and Andrew Hines -- are still undecided but could be wrapped up by the semifinals if the leaders maintain their edges. 

Tony Schumacher

Schumacher took full advantage of a drawn-out final session and used the cool evening air to power his U.S. Army dragster to a 4.508 at 320.58 mph. This was Schumacher's sixth low qualifying effort of the last eight races and puts him 61 behind Fuller. He'll need to win the race and hope Fuller loses in the first round to win it all. He'll also need Larry Dixon and Brandon Bernstein to bow out early.

"We have a very good racecar, especially this weekend," Schumacher said. "It was set up for awhile where I would have been racing 'Hot Rod' in the first round and that would've been cool. Then if we win it all, we do it by beating him. It's still open -- it's a longshot, but it's still there. I don't know if we'll have the chance to determine how it all comes out.

"It hasn't been the most fulfilling year for me but after the finish we had last year it's just hard to equal that. I keep telling myself to just enjoy what we've done. We've won five races and that’s something to be proud of. I heard them introduce Brandon Bernstein and they said he had five wins this year and it's a career-best for him. We have five wins too. I guess I compare myself against some of those crazy good years we had and I shouldn't do that."

Bernstein is fourth on the ladder with a best of 4.524 at 328.54 mph in the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster. Bernstein can win his first POWERade championship by going three more rounds than Fuller and one more than Dixon.

Dixon qualified 10th after his SkyTel rail posted a 4.541 at 322.96 mph. At 52 points back, he also needs to make up three rounds on Fuller to win his third title.

Coming into Saturday unqualified, Fuller was happy just to qualify his Caterpillar dragster in the No. 11 slot with a 4.549. Fuller clinches the championship if he reaches the semifinals, unless someone sets a national record. 

Jeff Arend

Local hero Arend remained the low qualifier in Funny Car, much to the delight of his legion of fans from nearby of San Dimas, Calif. His reward for collecting his second career pole is a first-round date with current points leader Tony Pedregon, who all but clinched his second POWERade title by making the 16-car field.

"It's a heckuva draw getting the pending world champ in Round 1 but that's the way Funny Car is these days -- every car is great," Arend said. "It's our last race together with this team and this group of guys. We want to go out with a win. 

"All the guys that aren't in the Countdown deal, we all want to win just as much as ever before. It's like that every race. Those guys have their goals and we have ours. The fact this blue team is done after this just makes it all the more important for me."

Pedregon barely stayed in the field with a 4.842 that earned the 16th spot. By qualifying for the event, Pedregon essentially locked up his championship. The only way Scelzi or Hight can pass him now is if Pedregon loses in Round 1 and they win the race and collect a 20-point bonus for setting a national record.

"I've been sweating bullets for the last month," Pedregon said. "Today we had to dodge bullets. We're really happy that we stayed in and still can control our own destiny."

Gary Scelzi has the best chance to make a miracle run as the No. 3 qualifier. His best time was a 4.788 at 326.87 mph in his Mopar/Oakley Charger. Robert Hight will be Scelzi's first-round foe after qualifying 14th with a 4.827 at 316.45 mph in his Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang.

Ron Capps was eliminated from the title race when Pedregon made the field.

Dave Connolly

Connolly earned his second low qualifier award in a row with a 6.648 at 208.01 mph in his Torco/Seelye Wright Chevrolet Cobalt. Last week, despite his great qualifying effort, Connolly lost in the second round and gave up the points lead. He'll hope to reverse that result here and make up the 47-point deficit he has to leader Greg Anderson to win his first championship.

"It's definitely going to be an interesting day tomorrow," Connolly said. "For the first time in my Pro Stock career we were actually trying to slow our Chevy down so that we didn't qualify No. 1. We wanted to get seventh or eighth so we could face Greg early and try to take him out but it didn't work. We added a bunch of weight and still went faster. We even thought about skipping the scales but the 6.66 we had from before still would've placed us up there near the top so we might as well get the No. 1 bonus money.

"Basically, we're three rounds behind Greg so we're going to have to count on some of our Pro Stock brothers to help us out. It's out of our hands now. If it's meant to be, it'll happen. All we can do is race hard and try to win."

Anderson looks sharp in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO, running a 6.654 and a 6.655 Saturday. He'll start eliminations in the No. 2 spot. Jeg Coughlin, who is in between Connolly and Anderson in the points, is fourth in his Jegs.com Chevrolet Cobalt after a 6.656 at 207.85 mph.

Allen Johnson has officially been eliminated from championship contention despite qualifying seventh overall with a 6.669 in his Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T.

Andrew Hines

Hines' second low qualifier of the year and 22nd of his career came at a perfect time for the rider of the Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod as it was worth an entire round of action Sunday. By out-qualifying Chip Ellis, Hines completes time trials with a 41-point advantage over Ellis. On race day, points are earned in increments of 20 so Hines' pursuers will now need to go three rounds further than him to steal away the title.

"There is a little more comfort zone now," Hines said. "Those might have been the two biggest points I've ever earned in my career. Chip has been qualifying so well lately. I didn't know if we'd be able to get in front of him but the guys put it together for me. We knew we needed to qualify ahead of him and we did it.

"I'm just gonna go out there and race my race. Last year I was over-thinking everything and worrying about what points were going where. Last weekend in Vegas I just worried about my lane and what we needed to do to win each round and didn't think about all the other riders. That's exactly what I plan to do tomorrow."

Angelle Sampey was closest to Hines on the ladder with a 6.959 at 191.65 mph on her U.S. Army Suzuki. 

Ellis ended up third on his Drag Specialties S&S Buell V-Twin, running a best of 6.965 at 191.46 mph. Matt Smith will try to win his first POWERade title from the fourth slot after a 6.965 at 190.46 mph on his Torco Buell. He'll open eliminations against new teammate Angie McBride, who took the seat of Chris Rivas prior to the fourth round after Rivas was fired from Smith's team.

Peggy Llewellyn needs a lot of help but she can still win the title from the No. 5 spot if all the pieces fall into place for her Rush Racing Products Buell V-Twin team. She posted a best of 6.969 in Round 3.

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