K&N FILTERS PRO STOCK BIKE KLASH
INDIANAPOLIS
(Aug. 30)
PRO STOCK BIKE
QUALIFIERS
#1 Shawn Gann
#2 Angelle Savoie
#3 Geno Scali
#4 Reggie Showers
#5 Craig Treble
#6 Antron Brown
#7Andrew Hines
#8 Mike Berry
Pedregon beats Force, pockets $100 Gs in Budweiser Shootout
By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
9/6/2003
22nd annual Sept. 6 - Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
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Tony Pedregon pocketed one of the biggest paychecks in NHRA Championship Drag Racing when he beat teammate and car owner John Force in a thrilling finale to the $100,000 Budweiser Shootout at Indianapolis.
Pedregon finally joined older brother Frank Pedregon as a winner of the special race by posting a steady, if not spectacular, 4.947 at 297.48 mph against Force's tire-smoking 9.071 at 88.36 mph. Force's challenge was effectively over at the 200-foot mark.
Tony Pedregon, far lane, collected the $100,000 payday in the Budweiser Shootout final round when he defeated teammate John Force.
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"For eight years I've been trying to win this race," said Pedregon, the POWERade points leader for the last 13 national events. "To finally get it done is very satisfying. We really didn't have the performance today. We're still trying to find a way back to where we were earlier in the season. But we did enough to win and I don't think we won by accident.
"Lots of great drivers have won this race. John's won it, both of my brothers have won, Frank Hawley, even the Snake [Don Prudhomme], all the big-time guys. It's an honor to join their ranks. I really felt at ease today. I felt like I had nothing to lose, especially in the final because John had run that 4.82 the round before.
"The car dropped a cylinder about half-track and I had the wheel cocked all the way over but I was still going left. I was looking for John so hard that I didn't even look over the other way to see if I had won. They told me on the radio. I guess he turned off early and I didn't see John until we got back to the winner's circle. He took the check and most of the beer but I kept the big plastic check they gave me on TV."
Pedregon and his Castrol team celebrated their $100,000 win in the Indianapolis Raceway Park winner's circle.
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The two Castrol Ford Mustang Pros, ranked first and second in the field at the start of the special event, marched through their respective sides of the ladder with relative ease. Top qualifier Pedregon and his Syntec car breezed past a tire-smoking Dean Skuza in the first round before nudging Del Worsham 5.10 to 5.15 in the semifinal. Force somehow managed to get quicker as the heat index rose, beating Ron Capps with a 4.88 and Whit Bazemore with a 4.82. But the lane choice he earned for the finals didn't pay off when the money was on the line.
The Budweiser Shootout at Indianapolis invites the top eight Funny Car qualifiers from the last 12 months to race for the biggest cash prize in drag racing. Participants gain anywhere from 85 to 175 points at each national event based on the positions they earn during qualifying action. Failing to qualify for an event is worth no points.
Throughout the Budweiser Shootout at Indianapolis series, Anheuser-Busch pays out a whopping $239,000. Aside from Pedregon's $100,000 first prize paycheck, Force earned $15,000 for his runner-up showing, Worsham and Bazemore pocketed $6,000 each for their semifinal finishes, while Gary Densham, Tommy Johnson Jr., Capps, and Skuza were paid $5,000 apiece for their first-round losses. Additionally, Budweiser awarded $4,000 to the top qualifier at each of the last 23 national events on the NHRA tour.
Adding to the excitement of this special race, if Pedregon manages to win this weekend's 49th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, the NHRA will pay him an extra $50,000 "Double-Up" bonus, which when combined with the $75,000 winner's pot could add up to a lucrative $225,000 weekend.