Larry Dixon, Cruz Pedregon, Greg Anderson, and LE Tonglet scored victories during a wild and upset-filled O’Reilly Auto NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway.
For Dixon, Anderson, and Tonglet the wins bolstered their championship bids. Dixon extended his lead in Top Fuel a more-than-four-round advantage over nearest pursuer, Cory McClenathan. Anderson moved up to second in the Pro Stock standings and within striking distance of leader Mike Edwards, trailing the reigning world champ by just 27 markers. Tonglet once again defeated Andrew Hines in the title round to close in a little closer on the points leader; he’s now 66 back. Though he’s not in the championship hunt, Pedregon certainly spoiled the days of others who are, including Jack Beckman, who would have taken over the points lead with a final-round victory.
Larry Dixon
|
Dixon may not have won the championship just yet, but he again proved it will be difficult for anyone else to get around him and take it. Dixon ran his final-round record in 2010 to an astonishing 11-0 when he defeated Doug Kalitta, 3.85 to 3.90. The win is the 59th of Dixon’s storied career and his third straight.
“I can’t believe the amount of wins we’ve had and the amount of finals we’ve been in without losing,” said Dixon. “It’s hard to imagine when you think about all the great cars that are out here. It’s a credit to the team. They are an unbelievable bunch of guys. As a fan of this sport, I realize how hard it is.
“I guess we win ‘em every different way. The race against Tony [Schumacher] was amazing. There is a period of about two-tenths of a second when I was off the throttle and it was quiet that I could tell it was quiet in the other lane, too. I had a 50-percent chance of hitting it right. Tony is still wearing No. 1, and he’ll continue to do so until someone takes it away from him.”
Though the end result was the same as his previous victories, Dixon didn’t have the dominant outing people have come to expect of the Al-Anabi team. He started off strong with a a 3.840 that was low e.t. of the weekend to defeat Dave Grubnic, but after that he needed some lucky breaks to get by championship foes Tony Schumacher and McClenathan. Against Schumacher in round two, both cars smoked the tires at the hit, but a quick pedal got Dixon’s mount back on track, while Schumacher continued to trail smoke all the way downtrack. In the semifinals, Dixon again suffered tire smoke, but McClenathan faced the same troubles earlier in the run and was far enough back that Dixon came out on top.
Kalitta rebounded nicely from a first-round exit in Indianapolis, wheeling his special-look Rocky Boots ride to his sixth final of 2010 and the 64th of his career. Kalitta used a combination of good runs and a little luck to earn the final-round berth. He opened with a strong 3.90 to handily defeat a tire-smoking Bob Vandergriff Jr. In round two, Lady Luck stepped in to help guide his trouble-filled 4.44 past Antron Brown, who had even more problems in the other lane. In the semi’s, Kalitta went right downtrack, posting a 3.948 that got him past a red-lighting Brandon Bernstein and earned him lane choice for the final.
Cruz Pedregon
|
It’s been a long time since Pedregon had an outing like he had in Charlotte, where his Snap-on-backed ride was the dominant car from Friday evening on. After qualifying No. 1 and pacing the field in three of the four qualifying sessions, Pedregon continued to lead the way on Sunday, culminating in 4.17 to 4.21 defeat of Beckman in the final round. It was Pedregon’s first win since the final race of the 2008 season and the 27th of his career.
“I’ve had some great cars in my career when I drove for guys like Larry Minor and Joe Gibbs, but I don’t think I’ve been in a better car than I had this weekend,” said an emotional Pedregon, who was celebrating his birthday on Sunday. “I can’t say enough about the team. Me and [crew chief] Danny DeGennaro, who’s a young guy in his 30s, were both kind of on the sidelines this off-season. We worked real hard to get to this point. It took us awhile to get going, and there were times when I thought, ‘What the heck are we doing this for?’ but we stayed at it.
“Our philosophy is to look at these races like we’re in the Countdown. I’ve been a champion twice before, and I need to act like a champion. Even though some people were surprised by us, we’re not coming into races thinking we’re underdogs. We had a great weekend. I’m afraid to change the oil on it before Dallas.”
Pedregon began his march to the final with a 4.161 that would stand as the best time of eliminations to defeat John Smith, who was never a factor. Pedregon caught a lucky break against brother Tony in round two when Tony was in front until losing traction midway through his run. The elder Pedregon won despite slowing to a 4.39. Pedregon regained form in the semi’s, posting a 4.181 to beat a tire-smoking Jeff Arend.
While many of his Countdown counterparts struggled, including incoming points leader John Force, who lost in round one, Beckman hit his stride on race day. He ran back-to-back 4.23s to dispatch Ron Capps and Paul Lee, then improved to a 4.19 to handily defeat fellow Countdowner Bob Tasca III and earn a berth in Funny Car final No. 22 and the fifth this season.
Greg Anderson
|
After watching teammate Jason Line bow out in round one and quasi-teammate/brother-in-law Ronnie Humphey follow suit in round two, Anderson carried the banner for the Summit Racing team and looked strong doing so. Anderson saved the best for last, running a 6.604 that tied teammate Line for low e.t. of the weekend to defeat Greg Stanfield, whose game 6.651 wasn’t nearly enough.
“This is not how we planned it, to have all three Summit cars on one side of the ladder but that’s how it fell,“ said Anderson. “When you have three great cars on one side, you have a good shot to get one into the final, and that's what we did. We made a couple mistakes on the other two cars, and I feel bad for Jason and Ronnie.
“Today I had the best hot rod on the grounds, by far. I’m a lucky man. This is my home track, and I have struggled here, but zMax Dragway is now officially my favorite track. Heck, I didn’t even know where the press room was until this weekend, but now I want to race here 10 times a year. In the final, I made one of the most perfect runs I’ve ever made. It was so smooth. I thought, 'If I lose this race on a holeshot I’ll never be able to live with myself.' Apparently I put too much pressure on myself. Sometimes you can press too hard and make mistakes. I had to treat this like another event and it all went smooth.“
Anderson gave an indicator of things to come when he posted a 6.614 in the opening round against a red-lighting Larry Morgan that was the second-quickest pass of the round behind only Edwards. He followed it up with 6.66 and 6.63 runs that trailered Rodger Brogdon and Kurt Johnson, respectively, to go to his 92nd final, four of which have come this year.
Indy champ Stanfield continued to string together round-wins with what looked like relative ease. Stanfield got a freebie in round one when Shane Gray red-lighted, then he paired a .019 light with a 6.65 to easily stop Jeg Coughlin Jr. In the semi’s, Stanfield jumped to a .026 to .071 lead at the Tree, which led him to a 6.659 to 6.656 holeshot win over Warren Johnson. The victory earned him a trip to Pro Stock final No. 15 and the third of 2010.
LE Tonglet
|
Though his bike looked different, sporting Nitro Fish colors, the end result was the same for Tonglet, who won his second straight event, again by defeating Hines in the final. Hines got off the starting line first, .012 to .035, but Tonglet was able to ride around him and win the rematch of the Indy final on a 6.92 to 6.97 count.
“We’re not event thinking about the rookie of the year anymore,“ said Tonglet. “We’ve got a bigger thing, the championship, on our minds. With Nitro Fish behind us, we have a good shot. Hopefully, we just keep going rounds and we can run this good in Dallas.
“I’m happy to be in the final again. We said we just wanted to get to the semi’s. Anything after that is a bonus. After the semi’s, I was on the return road and GT said, 'We’re going to tune it up.' We had been spinning the tire. We leaned it out a little more and it picked up a lot for the final. I'm still trying to believe that this is all happening.I owe it all to Kenny [Koretsky]. Without him, we wouldn't be here.“
Tonglet’s dream rookie campaign continued with a trip to his fourth final and second in a row, and as was the case two weeks ago in Indy, Tonglet again looked very good making his way to the title round. He laid down a booming 6.879 in the opening round that not only turned on the win light against Mike Berry but also gave him bragging rights as quickest rider of the weekend. He followed with a 6.94 and sluggish 6.98 the following two rounds as he trailered Matt Smith and Michael Phillips.
Hines lived in the 6.9s through eliminations, posting 6.94, 6.91, and 6.93 runs in respective wins against Junior Pippin, Craig Treble, and Angie Smith and advance to his fifth straight final, his seventh of the year, and the 38th of his career. His 6.91 and 6.93 ranked as the best e.t.s of the quarters and semifinals.
NHRA fan favorite, Melanie Troxel got her first win in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.
In the finals Troxel had a single run as Scott Ray wasn’t able to make it to the line after he suffered an engine explosion in the semi-finals. Troxel still posted a strong number in the finals during a run of 5.938 seconds at 245.94 mph. Troxel now has wins in Funny Car, Top Fuel, Top Alcohol dragster and Pro Mod.
“I don’t really focus on the female aspect of things but for me to win in four different categories in the NHRA is pretty special,” said Troxel following the win. “To be honest I don’t know if I will be running Pro Mod next year and I was starting to get a little worried that I have two more races left in the season and I was getting a little nervous about getting a win in before I might not run the class. It was great for it to come today.
The championship battle is still alive as Von Smith will have to wait until the final race in Las Vegas to try to claim his first Get Screened America Pro Mod Series Championship. Smith would have needed to win the race to claim the title but was defeated by Ray in the second round of eliminations.
The final event for the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series will be at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals on Oct. 28 – 31
Related stories:
Friday: McClenathan, Pedregon, Anderson, Hines pace opening day in Charlotte
Sautrday: Tonglet, Line move to top in PS classes; McClenathan, Pedregon maintain nitro leads