"Dixon is so hard to beat," Schumacher said. "As a driver, he just doesn't make mistakes. He's all performance. People ask me all the time who the toughest guy to race is, and it's an easy answer: It's Dixon. You'd think making the final would take off some of the heat, but when I went up in my lounge between rounds, I was thinking how important this one single round would be. It was a 40-point swing and the difference between being up 100 or 60. That's huge right now.

"To win three races in a row at any track is so hard to do. There are so many things that can happen, and everything just has to fall into place just right. It was the same way at Indy.

"The TV guys had a pool about who was going to win, and two of them had me and two had Dixon. I thought it was strange that no one picked Kalitta, but you look at how it turned out, and I guess they were right. We still have four races and there are a lot of points on the table. We can't let up."

The U.S. Army dragster was the quickest of every eliminations round in carrying Schumacher to his 52nd final round. He beat Scott Weis with a 4.479, Dave Grubnic with a 4.510, and Morgan Lucas with a 4.515. This was Schumacher's fifth final in the last seven races. His last three ended with runner-up finishes.

Dixon's third final of the last four races came after mid-4.5-second wins over T.J. Zizzo, Kalitta, and Doug Herbert. By taking out Kalitta and beating Herbert, Dixon moved into second place in the points.

"I kept waiting for Force to tell me I was fired for beating him, but he can't do that anymore," said Pedregon, who drove for Force for eight years. "If I could pick the one opponent I would like to beat the most it's him, and to do it in a smokefest like that against a guy who’s the best ever is exciting. I know my sponsors are going to love it. I'm going to Houston this week to have lunch with all the Quaker State people, and I'm putting this trophy in the middle of the table.

"Force needs a shave. He kissed me after I beat [Gary] Scelzi in the semi’s. That was big for him because of the points deal and big for us because it gave us a chance to win. It's been a long time, a long journey, and I've learned how to be a team owner. We're still evolving, and I really believe this is just the beginning."

A mid-pack runner during qualifying, Force showed championship form Sunday by emerging from the No. 6 slot and outlasting all the other title contenders. His Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang zipped past Tony Bartone, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Whit Bazemore to place the most prolific winner in drag racing history in his 186th money round.

Q Racing's Pedregon was just as much a sleeper as Force at the beginning of the day, having not raced to a final round since the Phoenix event in 2004. This day, he beat Phil Burkart Jr., his brother Frank, and points leader Scelzi to earn his 50th chance at an NHRA victory.

Despite his tire-smoking loss to Pedregon in the semifinals, Scelzi extended his lead in the POWERade rankings to 26 points over Robert Hight. Next is Force, five points behind Hight in third. Following are Eric Medlen and Ron Capps, who trail Scelzi by 76 and 82 points, respectively.

Greg Anderson

Anderson has definitely found his groove of late, pushing his season total to seven Pro Stock wins, including the last three events in a row. This time, Yates was the victim as Anderson quickly made up Yates' .008- to .047-second headstart and arrived at the finish line first with a 6.721 at 205.19 mph to Yates' 6.771 at 204.57 mph.

The championship hopes of the other drivers in the Pro Stock chase are dimming rapidly; Anderson now holds a 176-point edge over Kurt Johnson and a 276-point margin over Warren Johnson. The two Johnsons met in the quarterfinals, where Warren posted an eyebrow-raising late .365-second reaction time, which translated into an easy win for Kurt.

"This GTO fixed us," Anderson said. "We struggled so much in the first half until we got this new car, and it absolutely saved me. It took a few races to figure it out. Despite what people say, we don't have a magic wand. But just like last year, once my guys get a car figured out, they are so darned good at adapting to each of the tracks we go to.

"It's way fun when you're way up in the points and you can just enjoy it like we were at this time last year. Even though nothing came easy back then, it was a dream deal where everything went right. But I think if we can hold on and win again this year when we've had to kick and fight for everything, it might be even more satisfying."

The Summit Racing GTO that Anderson unveiled six races ago has really made a difference in his season; he's raced to three wins in the last four national events, including the last two races in a row. He was picture-perfect Sunday, beating Greg Stanfield with a 6.68, Erica Enders with a 6.69, and a red-lighting Kurt Johnson with a 6.70. This was Anderson's 55th final and ninth of the season.

It's been exactly three years since Yates has been in a final; his last trophy-round appearance was at this event in 2002. He earned this trip, his 56th, by beating Richie Stevens Jr., Dave Howard, and low qualifier Jason Line. Both Howard and Line were disqualified due to red-light starts. Yates debuted a new GTO in Indy, but he failed to qualify there.

Angelle Sampey

The Pro Stock Motorcycle final was close for a moment; Sampey posted a .005-second reaction time with Schnitz following close behind with a .015-second start. But soon thereafter, Schnitz missed his 2nd-to-3rd gear change, which allowed Sampey to zip away for an emotional victory, 7.139 at 191.84 mph to Schnitz's 7.459 at 181.13 mph.

Sampey padded her all-time lead in the Pro win column among female competitors and took another step toward the late Dave Schultz's class record of 45 national event wins with her 37th victory. This was also her second straight in Reading and second of the season.

"I haven't cried on TV in a long time, but everyone that knows me knows that I'm an emotional person and we haven't won in a long time, plus there's been so much going on back home with the hurricane and all the mess, I think it just all came out," said Sampey, who hails from Mathews, La. "Wins are damn hard to come by these days. You have to let it out when you can. There's been a lot bottled up inside of me.

"This is my sixth win here. I remember coming in 1996 and being No. 1 qualifier, setting a national e.t. record, and winning my first race. It's been good for me here ever since. I don't know why, but I love it here.

"The semi’s were like a final. This weekend is the 20th anniversary of Suzuki's GSX-R, and to get a win for them against one of those big ol' Harleys was great. The soldiers' motto is 'Never quit,' and my guys never quit."

U.S. Army rider Sampey knocked off Tom Bradford and Craig Treble with a pair of 7.18s before uncorking a 7.11 against points leader and reigning series champion Andrew Hines of the rival Vance & Hines camp. This was Sampey's second final of the year and 57th overall.

Schnitz's Muzzys.com Buell V-Twin was quick enough for him to beat Matt Guidera, Karen Stoffer, and Chip Ellis to reach his third trophy round. Schnitz is now 2-1 when the win is on the line.

Related article(s):

• Friday: Teammates Scelzi, Schumacher front fuel fields; K.J., Ellis atop PS packs (09/16/2005)
  
• Saturday: Line and Hines move into top spots; Schumacher, Scelzi hold their No. 1s (09/17/2005)
  

---

E-mail this article   Print this article

---

Return to the Home Page