Pontiac Excitement Nationals
Columbus, Ohio
(June 12-15)
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39th Annual |
| Sunday |
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suspects win in other Pro classes |
In a final-round showdown between potential first-time NHRA winners at the Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals presented by Pontiac Racing, Fred Collis collected the victory in Pro Stock Bike when Karen Stoffer red-lighted.
It was business as usual in the other three Pro classes as Larry Dixon expanded his points lead in Top Fuel with his fifth win of the season while Tony Pedregon scored his sixth win of the year and his boss, John Force, remained winless in 2003 when Force crossed the centerline in a tire-smoking final round. In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson scored his fifth win of the current campaign and extended his lead with a convincing win
Dixon scored career win No. 30 with ease when final-round opponent Darrell Russell was instantly enveloped in tire smoke at the hit of the throttle. From that point forward it was 4.655-second, 313.58-mph victory pass for the reigning series champion. Interestingly, Dixon's tuner, Dick LaHaie, remains perfect in final rounds at National Trail Raceway, having won in 1987 as a driver and the last three years in a row as Dixon's crew chief.
 Larry Dixon
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The victory, his fifth of the year, pads Dixon's lead in the POWERade standings to 268 points over second-place points earner Doug Kalitta. Dixon also improved his head-to-head final round record against fellow Rookie of the Year Russell to 5-1 and 12-3 overall. Russell took some solace in the fact he moved up to third place in the points race.
"It was a great day for us," Dixon said. "We got lucky a couple of rounds, in the second round and in the final, but we turned on four win lights. I thought we had better control of things last year because we had won more rounds at this point, but I think the car is more consistent this year. At least it seems that way to me.
"Dick is amazing here. I don't know what it is. I used to hate this place until we hooked up with Dick. He was good here as a driver, he's been good here with other teams, and now he's doing great things for us. I guess the secret to Dick LaHaie is having him on your team."
The Miller Lite rail carried Dixon through the quickest pass of both the first and third rounds in low 4.5-second wins over Bruce Litton and Tony Schumacher, respectively. He reached a top speed of 326.32 mph against Litton, which reset the track speed record. Dixon also survived a scare against Cory McClenathan in Round 2, winning with a 4.76 to C-Mac's 4.88.
Sporting Matco Tools title signage for this event, Russell took advantage of the one-piece aerodynamic body his Joe Amato-owned team unveiled earlier this year to navigate a hot National Trail Raceway throughout the day. He looked steady in 4.6-second wins over Round 1 opponent Rhonda Hartman-Smith and low qualifier Doug Kalitta, who he met in the semi's, and used the extra downforce the body affords to win a pedaling contest against Jim Head in the quarterfinals. Top Fuel results
The expected wild celebration in an all-Team Force Funny Car finale never materialized after both drivers fought mightily to control their cars with Pedregon ultimately winning when his boss, John Force, crossed the centerline and was disqualified. The official numbers have Pedregon winning in 8.449 seconds at 134.81 mph.
 Tony Pedregon
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Although the two drivers appeared inconsolable at the top end, Pedregon is now a perfect 6-0 in final rounds this year and his 25th career victory resulted in him carrying a triple-digit points lead out of Ohio.
"I've never been in a situation like that," Pedregon said. "It was a little anti-climatic but certainly I'm glad we won. I thought I was done. The car turned sideways right at the hit and it's hard to get it to recover when that happens. I was just about to get back into it when I noticed he crossed the centerline. I was really surprised I spun the tires like that because the clouds had come in and I was convinced we'd run a mid-4.8 straight down the track.
"[Whit] Bazemore said he wasn't worried about us, that he thought Force was the guy to beat this year so he got his wish and got a chance to race him. Force took care of business and I knew right then I had a good chance to pick up some points on him. We took full advantage.
"We worked real hard to get where we are. This win is a little extra special because it's Father's Day and my daughter Cecily is here with me. Plus, Ford is celebrating 100 years and we had two Fords in the final. It was a goofy ending but a great day for our team."
Pedregon's X-Men Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang seemed beatable at times leading into the final. He posted 4.99s against first-round foe Dale Creasy Jr. and semifinalist Frank Pedregon but still turned on the win light. His best pass was a 4.89 versus his other teammate, Gary Densham, in Round 2. Densham barely got off the line before shutting his car off.
Force drove the Castrol machine to his first final of the year and 164th of his career by dismissing Bob Gilbertson, Whit Bazemore, and Ron Capps. The win against Bazemore was arguably the best race of the day with both drivers posting identical 4.980s and Force winning on a slightly better reaction time of .061 to Bazemore's .077-second start.
By eliminating Bazemore in the second session, Force helped Pedregon pad his lead in the POWERade standings to 101 points over the Matco Tools-sponsored driver, who had closed to within 36 points of Pedregon entering this race. The win also helped Force move up one more spot himself to sixth place. Funny Car results
In a day when his brand-new teammate Jason Line turned his group's second racecar over, Anderson managed to control his emotions enough to score his fifth victory of the year and ninth of his career. This one came at the expense of Scott Geoffrion, who posted a game 6.911 at 198.70 mph in the final. It wasn't enough as Anderson cruised out of a .003-second start and tripped the timers with a 6.883 at 199.88 mph.
 Greg Anderson
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"I've run the full gamut of emotions today," Anderson said. "We lost a beautiful new car because something was off with the track and I really felt like just throwing in the towel after the second round. I was scared to race. But the NHRA worked on the track and made it a lot better.
"It was tough to focus after Jason crashed. I had to dig down and push myself like never before. We had to find ways to get down the racetrack each round and my guys came through. The Lord has been looking out for me.
"Scott's car was great all day and then he got a scare in the final and got a taste of what visited all of us today at some point. I have new respect for these cars and what can happen in the blink of an eye."
Remarkably, Anderson's Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am got quicker as the day progressed despite track temperatures climbing higher each round. He opened with a 6.92 against V. Gaines, beat championship rival Kurt Johnson by .0026 of a second after a 6.91 in Round 2, powered away from Allen Johnson with a 6.89 in the semifinals, and won the trophy with a 6.88.
Geoffrion guided the Nitro Fish Ford Escort ZX2 to its second final-round appearance by beating Steve Schmidt, a red-lighting Ron Krisher, and first-time semifinalist Terry Adams. His efforts moved him into the top five of the points. Pro Stock results
Pro Stock Bike winner Collis scored his first career win at the starting line when opponent Karen Stoffer jumped the Tree by .002 of a second. He then turned in a 7.238-second pass at 183.62 mph to prove he had the better bike anyway, with Stoffer following with a respectable but losing 7.249 at 182.40 mph.
 Fred Collis
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Collis has raced to two finals in his 11 NHRA starts, both against female riders. He lost the first one to Angelle Savoie in Memphis, Tenn., in 1999, but redeemed himself here. This was also the second final-round showing for Stoffer in just her 13th race. By coincidence, she lost both times to the same motorcycle, last year to Savoie and Sunday to Collis, who bought Savoie's former bike in the off-season.
"I got sick of losing to girls. That's why I had to win that one," Collis said with a laugh. "On paper, we were supposed to win each round today so my job was to make what was on paper a reality. Before every round I'd start to get crazy thoughts about who I was racing and what changes I should make but I'd chase those thoughts out of my head and stuck to what got us here.
"I might only have a few races in the NHRA but I can tell you I've been racing a long time and I've waited a long time for this trophy. Star Racing horsepower and a lot of hard work by the boys at our shop back in Americus, Ga., made this dream of mine come true."
Starting as the No. 1 qualifier, Collis' Area 51 Suzuki posted a pair of 7.20s to start the day, which made him the quickest rider of the first two rounds. Then he used a great .005-second reaction time to holeshot Geno Scali in the semi's. Scali had just watched Angelle Savoie lose to Stoffer and knew a win against Collis would put him back in the POWERade points lead, but a .071-second light ended that quest.
Jonco Motorsports rider Stoffer raced to her first final of the year and second of her career with red-light wins over GT Tonglet and Shawn Gann as well as a convincing head-to-head semifinal showdown with Savoie, which Stoffer won straight up, 7.277 to 7.282. Her final-round showing helped push her to ninth place.
With both Savoie and Scali finishing the day in the semifinals, Savoie maintains a small 13-point lead in the championship standings. Pro Stock Bike results
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