ACDelco NHRA Nationals
Las Vegas
(Oct. 24-27)
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Second Annual |
| Sunday |
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Savoie join Force in winner's circle |
The three new POWERade champions -- Larry Dixon, Jeg Coughlin, and Angelle Savoie -- punctuated their title-clinching days with impressive wins at the second annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.
First time Top Fuel champ Dixon won his final round over Tony Schumacher just like he won the title, with an end-to-end pounding. In Pro Stock, Coughlin used a near-perfect .401-second light to post a holeshot win over Warren Johnson, while in Pro Stock Bike Savoie used her own holeshot to win by .0014-seconds. Also, John Force's 105th Funny Car win kept him in the points lead.
An obviously pumped up Dixon posted a mind-rattling .440-second start against Schumacher's competitive .469-second launch in the Top Fuel final and never looked back, carding a 4.613 at 320.28 mph in front of Schumacher's 4.674 at 314.75 mph.
 Larry Dixon
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The victory, his ninth of the year, tied Dixon for the single season Top Fuel mark. But that fact was secondary to the POWERade championship he earned earlier in the day when his second-round win over Rhonda Hartman-Smith combined with Kenny Bernstein's first-round loss to Shirley Muldowney added up to the title.
"This was a nice ending to this day," Dixon said of his 25th career victory. "Everyone wants to win and when you win you get the most points. Today, that meant we clinched the championship. I really didn't think that was going to happen here because Kenny has been running so strong. But they had a little trouble and Shirley ran the best lap of her life and he was out.
"I'm speechless, really. As a kid you dream of this stuff. You watch Shirley Muldowney and Don "the Snake" Prudhomme win championships and you dream that you might do it one day. To actually live the dream and get it done is so huge.
"I really didn't feel much pressure today. Once Kenny went out I knew all I needed to do, regardless of what happened today, was go to Pomona and do a burnout. So I was able to concentrate on winning the race. It was a great day all the way around. One I'll never forget."
Dixon's Miller Lite machine cruised past Scott Weis, Rhonda Hartman-Smith, and Andrew Cowin to help the new champion extend another record, the one he already owned for single season final-round appearances, to 14.
Schumacher reclaimed third place in the POWERade championship points standings for his U.S. Army team just by reaching his fifth final of the 2002 campaign. He beat Yuichi Oyama, Shirley Muldowney, and No. 1 qualifier Doug Herbert along the way. Top Fuel results
It was the match-up everyone wanted in the Funny Car final as points leader Force got to race the man who's been closing in on him in the POWERade points, teammate Tony Pedregon.
 John Force
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With the points lead on the line, both men rocketed from the starting line with nearly identical .462 and .463-second lights. But the lane choice Force had secured in the semifinals seemed to make the difference as his Castrol machine held firm and pulled away at the end for a 4.820 at 305.22 mph to 4.869 at 301.94 mph victory.
With one race left, 11-time champion Force now has a 31-point advantage over Pedregon.
"It threw the belt right near the end and I thought he'd come around but I guess his [car] threw the belt a little sooner," Force said of the closeness of his 105th career victory. "We told everyone we'd race once the championship is locked up for our team and we proved it there. That was one heck of a drag race. We both wanted it bad.
"I yelled over to him and said, 'Good luck' and that I loved him. He knows I'm trying to win my 10th title in a row and, you know he's a funny guy, he says he's trying to win one in a row, but I love him and I root for him until we race.
"This wasn't the final deal. The final deal is in two weeks in Pomona. We still have some fighting to do. In fact, [crew chief Austin] Coil already made the call, we're staying here to test because there are problems with this car."
Usually maligned for his slow reaction times, Castrol GTX pro Force was a maniac at the lights today, cutting a pair of .460 starts against teammate Gary Densham and Tim Wilkerson, the latter of which helped him gain a holeshot win. He also has a respectable .498 against first-round foe Frank Pedregon.
Pedregon was even sharper at the Christmas Tree in his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang. He clicked off a .460 against Bob Gilbertson, a .437 during a holeshot win over Del Worsham, and a .466 against Ron Capps. Funny Car results
Drawing on all of his racing prowess, Coughlin overcame Johnson's lane-choice advantage with a cosmic .401-second light that translated to 6.929-second, 199.23-mph holeshot win. Johnson's fell behind with a .467-second start and his quicker 6.929-second pass at 199.23 mph left him two-hundredths of a second short.
 Jeg Coughlin
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Coughlin's victory was his eighth of the year, fourth in a row, 31st of his career, and the eighth of the last 11 races on the tour, but it still wasn't the highlight of his day. That came in Round 1 when the win light he earned secured the 2002 Pro Stock championship.
"This was such a huge team effort and the harmony of our Jeg's Mail Order crew made this possible," said Coughlin. "It was such a tough field competing today and for us to get our third win here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is just outstanding. This place is like a second home to me.
"It was amazing to be crowned the POWERade champion here. I admit I was a little nervous before the first round because there was a big pile of beans on the line. But I was a little more at ease after we got past that point and pop [crew chief Jeg Coughlin Sr.] did a great job of keeping us focused and on an even keel."
The Jeg's Mail Order driver's 10th final round appearance of the season came via victories over Scott Geoffrion, Ron Krisher, and Allen Johnson. His .422-second average reaction time in the first three rounds made most of his races appear easier than they were, including the red-light gift from Allen Johnson.
Johnson's GM Performance Parts Pontiac Grand Am was extremely consistent in carrying the six-time champion to his third final of the season. He posted identical 6.93s in wins over Tom Lee, Tom Hammonds, and Greg Stanfield. Pro Stock results
The closest race of the finals came in arguably the toughest category as Savoie used a .408 to .438-second starting line edge to win her sixth race of the season by 14-ten-thousandths of a second. At the other end, Savoie's 7.247 at 183.99 mph was just enough to beat Matt Hines' 7.218 at 190.65 mph.
 Angelle Savoie
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Savoie bagged her third straight championship, which ties her with Hines for most successive titles in the class, the round before the finals when she dismissed the last person who could catch her in the points, Craig Treble.
"I have to say that winning on a holeshot is one of the most awesome feelings in the world," said Savoie, who has now won three races in a row. "I guess because it shows without a doubt that I contributed to the win. Usually, the credit rightfully goes to Star Racing except when I mess up and we lose. So to win because of something I did makes me feel pretty special.
"The championship is big, obviously. It just didn't seem right when people would compare me to Shirley Muldowney before, even when I had passed her total number of wins. It's the championships that mean so much more and now that I have three I finally feel equal to her. I'm so thankful for what she did before me and the barriers she crossed to make it easier for women to compete out here."
New three-time champion Savoie rode her Mohegan Sun Suzuki past Karen Stoffer, Geno Scali, and Treble to reach her eighth final round of the season. On the other side of the ladder, low qualifier Matt Hines had easy trips by challengers Michael Phillips, Fred Camarena, and Shawn Gann on his Eagle One Suzuki. Pro Stock Bike results
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