Championship Drag Racing

PONTIAC EXCITEMENT NATIONALS
COLUMBUS (June 15-18)

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36th annual

Sunday

After rain stops, Pawuk and Pedregon finally break their winless droughts

After all of the rain that fell during the 36th annual Pontiac Excitement Nationals presented by Summit Racing, it was only fitting that two other significant droughts were broken at National Trail Raceway.

Long-suffering Ohio native Mark Pawuk broke a five-year winless streak at the best of places: an event sponsored by both of his major benefactors and in front of a partial hometown crowd that included his two children, making it a perfect Father's Day. Tony Pedregon's winless streak was not nearly as long, dating back just to 1999, but the Castrol GTX Ford pilot avenged Jerry Toliver's first-round conquest of his boss, John Force, defeating Toliver in the final round.

Father's Day was also a fitting scene setter for Tony Schumacher, the second-generation fuel pilot, who won his second title of the year and third of his career in Top Fuel, and for Randy Daniels, who scored again in Pro stock Truck. Both racers' fathers offer significant help and advice to their sons. Angelle Seeling won her third Pro Stock Bike title of the season aboard the Team Winston Suzuki.

In true "Take That" fashion, reigning Top Fuel champion Schumacher halted Gary Scelzi's three-race win streak by bagging his third career victory with a win over Joe Amato. Schumacher ran a stout 4.648 at 316.15 mph to take the win over Amato, who ran into trouble with tire-shake halfway down the track to the point that his parachute deployed prematurely. He slowed to a 5.165 at 178.10 mph.

Tony Schumacher

"I went out and bought my dad this 50-pound fishing scale last night for Father's Day," Schumacher said. "I thought it was a pretty cool gift. But this trophy might be better. We have been to a bunch of finals this year and it sucks to get there and not win. I'm glad we got it done today.

"The whole point of the game is have the most points at the end of the year. It was a bummer to lose the points lead a few races ago to Scelzi. They've been running so strong lately and I was thinking, 'Wow, they got a handle on this.' But we got it together and battled back today and gained a few rounds. You never know which points you earn are the one's that make the difference. Maybe these are the ones I'll be looking back at in November."

Schumacher started the day 68 points, or more than three elimination rounds of action, behind Scelzi. He successfully closed that gap to 32 points by day's end. For a moment it seemed that the two rivals would meet in the finals but Scelzi lost traction against Amato in the semi's and immediately went up in smoke.

Amato's trip to the finals began out of the No. 4 qualifying position. He then ticked off a clockwork-like journey to the finals in his Dynomax/Valvoline/Keystone dragster, beating Bobby Baldwin with a 4.66, Larry Dixon with a 4.62, and Scelzi with another 4.62. Schumacher drove his Exide machine past Rhonda Hartman-Smith, Cory McClenathan, and Kenny Bernstein. Top Fuel results

It was a Battle Royale in the Funny Car ranks with Pedregon handing team owner Force a huge Father's Day gift in the finals when he took out Toliver. Earlier in the day, Toliver had dismissed Force and eventually retook the Winston championship points lead. But Pedregon kept his boss close in the rankings with a 4.893-second holeshot win in front of Toliver's 4.876-second, 310.20-mph runner-up effort.

Tony Pedregon

"I honestly don't know how we wound up here," Pedregon said. "That was actually our first full lap down the track and it sure came at a good time. That shows you what happens when our team pulls together. We had 16-17 guys tearing around that car and (John Force's crew chief) Austin Coil had my data up on his computer working just as hard as John Medlen was.

"I really owed Toliver that one. He's gotten me a few times this year and it was nice to get one back. I actually like the guy and I celebrated in my car with my helmet on, but I really wanted to get out and jump up and down. It's a special feeling to win a race no matter what the circumstances are."

Castrol Syntec's Pedregon had some luck along the way to get to the finals. He looked sharp with a 4.984-second win over Cory Lee in Round 1 but then took advantage of Dean Skuza and Epler losing traction during their runs while he posted semi-slow laps of 5.253 and 5.081 seconds, respectively.

Toliver's biggest race was his first of the day when he squared off with Force. With the crowd on their collective feet and Force back in his "Nine Time Champion" Mustang body, with which he won the last four race, the two lined up with seemingly everything on the line. When the lights clicked, it was Toliver who looked dominant, posting a 4.941 at 304 .80 mph in front of Force's 5.016 at 303.23 mph. He then blew by Bruce Sarver with a 4.923 and Scotty Cannon with a 4.848. Funny Car results

It was an all-Ohio affair in the finals of Pro Stock. Pawuk, of Bath, Ohio, used a huge hole-shot advantage at the starting line -- .420 seconds compared to Ron Krisher's .495-second launch -- to take his first win since the Mid-South Nationals in 1995. Krisher, of Warren, Ohio, had the quicker 6.975-second lap at 197.51 mph, but had to settle for runner-up honors.

Mark Pawuk

"It's been over five years, which is way too long, but I'm sure glad to be back," Pawuk said. "What a place to get this done. I mean, what more could I ask for? It's a Summit Race, a Pontiac race, the folks from Matco are just up the road, it's Father's Day, and we're in Ohio, my home state. 'The Cowboy's' back, baby!

"Winning with my family here is special, too. I had pictures of my kids, Kyle and Kassandra, in the car, so they were riding with me today. They always ask me, 'Daddy, did you win a trophy today?' Now I can say, 'Yes I did.' "

With the added pressure of driving at two of his biggest sponsor's title race, Pawuk drove his Summit Racing Pontiac Firebird by frontrunners Bruce Allen, Warren Johnson, and Allen Johnson to get to the finals. Meanwhile, Krisher was a demon behind the wheel of his sleek Eagle One Pontiac until the finals. He pounded heavyweights Mike Thomas, Kurt Johnson, and Jeg Coughlin to get to the finals, using incredible reaction times on the tree and low 6.9-second laps to leave little doubt who the winner would be each race.

As if Pawuk's win were already not sweet enough, the victory also qualified him to compete in the high-dollar Winston Showdown in early July. Pro Stock results

Team Winston's Seeling saved the weekend's best Pro Stock Motorcycle lap for her final-round race with Tony Mullen and she needed every bit of it. Low qualifier Tony Mullen shot off the starting line in .413 seconds ahead of Seeling's .440, but the feisty points leader caught and passed her foe and posted a stunning 7.196-second lap at 182.28 mph to take her third win of the year by .058 seconds.

Angelle Seeling

"This was probably the most emotional I've been after a win since the first one of my career," Seeling said. "I couldn't even believe it when they told me I won with 7.19. It just blew me away.

"We figured out that I wasn't holding the gas down all the way through the lights. I was letting up at the mph stripe, so in the finals I carried it all the way through and it showed in our time and speed. It was a tough win. Every round felt like the finals to me, but we've really learned how to have fun along the way. We were laughing and dancing and carrying on all day."

Mullen, a three-time runner-up in 2000, finished the finals in 7.281 seconds at 183.00 mph.

Seeling was impressive all day with mid 7.2-second wins over Brian DeLong, Matt Hines (who red-lighted for the third time this season), and Chicago winner Antron Brown. Mall.com rider Mullen was also tough to beat. Starting from the No. 1 spot he cruised by Clarence Markham, Shawn Gann, and Dave Schultz -- all with low 7.3-second laps -- to get to the finals. Pro Stock Bike results

For the fifth time this season, Daniels and Bob Panella Jr. met in the Pro Stock Truck finals and, for the third time in those five meetings, Daniels took the win light. This time he did it on a holeshot, notching an enormous .413 to .484 advantage at the Tree and easily driving to a 7.554-second win in front of Panella's 7.546-second pass.

Randy Daniels

"Panella said something about getting the monkey off his back when he won the last race in Chicago," Daniels said. "I wanted to put that thing right back on there as soon as possible. This is really starting to be fun between him and me. It's a real dogfight, but we're enjoying ourselves.

"I dedicate this win to my dad, Garley. He's the main push behind this whole deal. He makes the motors. He does the truck. He makes it easy for me to go out there and win. I'm so lucky to be able to race with him. I'm giving him this trophy."

Daniels has now won five of eight Truck races this season with Panella bagging the other three. Panella still leads the points chase by 14 points.

Ironically, Daniels was late on the Tree all day until the finals. Despite his late starts he drove his Bailey Trucking Chevy S-10 by Larry Seay, Stevie Johns, and Brain "Lump" Self. Panella, meanwhile, simply powered his Panella Trucking Chevy S-10 past Taylor Lastor, Jeff Gracia, and Steve Farr, all with mid 7.5-second passes. Pro Stock Truck results