The too-close-to-call 2005 POWERade championship chase somehow managed to get a little tighter Sunday as three of the NHRA's four professional categories featured new points leaders at the end of the racing action at the 18th annual Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals ay beautiful Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

Top Fuel winner Doug Kalitta scored a huge holeshot win over tool rival Doug Herbert to regain the lead in his class. Gary Scelzi closed to within 16 of the Funny Car lead with his victory over teammate Ron Capps. In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson regained the No. 1 ranking early in the day and then powered forward and scored his 35th career victory, which ties him with "Big Daddy" Don Garlits on the all-time wins list. Andrew Hines set a national record in Round 1 and then won his first race of the year to get within three points of new Pro Stock Motorcycle leader Antron Brown.

Doug Kalitta

In a rematch of the 2002 Sonoma final, Doug Kalitta finally got revenge on Doug Herbert by taking this win on a huge holeshot, .059 to .125 seconds. Herbert had the better car, running a 4.603 to Kalitta's 4.665, but the starting-line deficit was too large to overcome and Kalitta managed to even his career final-round mark to 23-23.

The win put Kalitta back in the POWERade lead by 16 points. He held the lead for seven straight races before giving it up to Tony Schumacher in Denver.

"I'm just real fortunate here," said Kalitta, a five-time Sonoma winner. "Whatever it is I hope we can keep it going for a lot of years. The support from the fans and the huge crowd today was just awesome. It's almost like you’ve got to have a lucky day to pull it off in this class. The competition is so close.

"My team is working so well as a group. We're right in the thick of the battle. We're ready to win the championship. Everyone else has had their turn. I think we can do it but there's a long way to go. I know we're up for the challenge.

"Getting back in the points lead is nice because when you talk to your sponsors they like to hear that you're No. 1. They get a kick out of it as much as we do."

Mac Tools pilot Kalitta reached his sixth final of the season and 46th of his career by beating Bobby Lagana Jr., his cousin Scott Kalitta, and Larry Dixon. Doug's last win came at the Atlanta event in mid-May.

Snap-on racer Herbert cruised past Ben Marshall, a red-lighting Morgan Lucas, and Brandon Bernstein to carry him to the 19th NHRA final round of his career. Herbert was runner-up to Scott Kalitta at the season-opening Winternationals.

Gary Scelzi

Three-time Top Fuel champion Scelzi returned to the site of his first Funny Car win and did it again, leaving in front of Ron Capps and never looking back, crossing the line with a 4.984 at 295.21 mph ahead of Capps' 5.079 at 293.60 mph.

Points leader Robert Hight entered this race with the largest cushion (84 points) of any pro-category leader. He leaves town just 16 up on Scelzi, who jumped over Force Sunday to assume second place. Hight and Force both lost in Round 1.

"It's my mom's 81st birthday today -- or is it her 21st, I can't remember -- but either way this one's for you and I love you mom," Scelzi said. "The pressure is intense. When [John] Force went out and then Robert [Hight] went out we knew there was an opportunity to make up some ground but the pressure certainly grows and grows as the day goes along. They're not gonna screw up much and we've already missed a few chances to make up ground. We should probably be 100 points ahead.

"They've stumbled over there [at John Force Racing] more than I ever thought they would but believe me I know how deadly that group is and if anyone thinks they won't be in it to the end they're crazy. I know how to win championships and I know how to keep my mouth shut so that's what I'm going to do. We'll worry about the championship in Pomona. I'm done talking about it."

Scelzi's Oakley/Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T got past Frank Pedregon, Phil Burkart Jr., and Tony Bartone to carry the three-time Top Fuel champion to his fourth trophy round of the year and the 50th of his career.

Capps and his Brut crew battled 13-time champ John Force, Seattle winner Eric Medlen, and his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Whit Bazemore to earn a spot in his fourth money round of 2005. He is now 15-18 in finals.

Greg Anderson

Anderson's historic win in Pro Stock looked like his first as he eagerly clutched the coveted Wally trophy at the top end of the racetrack. This one was a nailbiter as Kurt Johnson left first with a great .016-second reaction time to Anderson's .033-second start. Anderson then began tracking down his good friend, finally catching him just before the 1,000-foot timer and edging by for the win. The final numbers showed Anderson taking the victory with a 6.732 at 205.63 mph to K.J.'s 6.760 at 204.23 mph.

"All these guys in this class are putting some serious pressure on us," Anderson said. "Kurt's been absolutely killing it lately and he was tough again today. The way everyone's running it just makes you appreciate these wins so much more because they are so damn hard to come by.

"I guess he left on me. I could see him out there. That was one heck of a drag race. It was this close (holding fingers half an inch apart) at the finish line.

"There's been different opportunities for all the guys in the top five to run away with this thing at times but instead it just keeps going back and forth. It's not that we all don't want it real bad, it's just that it's so tough out there. I bet the points lead gets swapped around four or five more times before we're done. I hope it goes down to Pomona. It's not that wins were easy to come by last year but now it's tougher than ever and it makes them so satisfying."

Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac GTO was rock-steady on the way to Anderson's sixth final of the season and the 52nd of his career. He stayed in the low 6.7-second zone against Jeg Coughlin, Jim Yates, Greg Stanfield, and Johnson.

Anderson's second-round victory over Yates, combined with Warren Johnson's first-round exit, put him back in the POWERade points lead for the first time since St. Louis. He now leads Warren by 50 markers. Kurt moved into third Sunday, 94 points out of the lead.

Johnson had little trouble guiding his ACDelco Chevrolet Cobalt to his fourth money round of the year and the 58th of his career. He dismissed Vieri Gaines, Richie Stevens, and Dave Connolly on the day. The win over Stevens was the closest race of the year with K.J. tracking Stevens down, passing him at the other end, and winning by four-thousandths of a second.

Andrew Hines

Entering the final round of Pro Stock Motorcycle with a clear performance advantage, Hines made it a little too interesting by spotting Stoffer an enormous .019- to .069-second head start. Normally, that would spell disaster in this category, but this time Hines had more than enough horsepower to track her down and he ended up winning by a fairly large four-hundredths of a second margin. Officially, Hines won with a 7.253 at 186.46 mph to Stoffer's 7.343 to 181.64 mph.

"I'm back!" Hines screamed through his helmet as he made the top-end turn. "What a big win for this Vance & Hines team. It's been over a year since we won a race and I have to thank my guys, especially Terry Vance, for helping me keep my head on straight. Terry, this one's for you.

"The bike almost shut off when I let the clutch out for some reason. It scared me. I just figured she got a jump and I could hear her out there all the way down. I didn't look over; I never do, even though I wanted to. I saw the win light come on and I didn't think I would there for awhile."

It was a memorable day for low qualifier Hines even before he became the eighth different winner in the class as he set a national elapsed time record right out of the gate, posting a 6.968 at 193.27 mph on the scoreboards during his first-round victory over Matt Smith. The Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod rider also beat Chip Ellis and new points leader Antron Brown en route to his seventh career final and first of the year.

Stoffer's career year continues as she raced from the No. 7 starting slot to her third final of the year and her sixth overall. Sunday she handled Steve Johnson, Mike Berry, and Geno Scali, who red-lighted.

Brown's semifinal run put him in the POWERade points lead for just the second time in his career. He was No. 1 after the Columbus race in 2001.

Related article(s):

• Friday: Five track records fall on opening day of 18th Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals (07/29/2005)
  
• Saturday: K.J. steals Pro Stock pole from dad; other Friday leaders remain on top (07/30/2005)
  

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