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Oct 27, 2003 (photos courtesy Brian Allio and are copyright Vipix 2003)

......Tony Pedregon wins his first ever World FC title and team Force's 11th in a row and 13th overall. And he won it with a classic side by side race against the guy challenging him for the crown, Whit Bazemore.

Only two names have won the Funny car title since 1990. Force and Pedregon. Tony Pedregon is the second Pedregon brother to win the nitro coupe world championship. Brother Cruz accomplished the feat in 1992. Other than the two Pedregon championships, John Force has won an unprecedented 12 title since 1990.

The final round, was perhaps as good of a drag race as you could have. Much like the semi final round last year between Force and Tony, which was back and forth until Force crossed the finish line first by a fender. This final round could easily have gone either way. Whit left on Tony by just over .01 but Tony had made up the difference by 300 feet. From there, Tony started to haze the tires at the 450 foot mark, and Whit looked to take control. But then Whit started smoking at 650 feet and Tony was catching him. It all seemed to be in slow motion unless the great Espn2 coverage was in slow motion during the run. Tony pedaled the car which was clear due to the dusk conditions, and then at the 900 foot mark he pedaled it again. The whole time, the car stayed straight as an arrow. Whit in the other lane and right beside him, never pedaled it one, but must have had the hand break on full, as he took was never totaling overcome by tire smoke and his ride stay nice and straight. At the finish line Tony's Ford front end was around ten feet in front of Whit for a 5.135 to a 5.183 victory. Oh ya, Tony's car gave him fireworks as he crossed the fire and came to a stop with the car in flames. His talk will Bill Stephens after the run was very emotional. He was asked about next season and all the rumours about him teaming up with his brother Cruz in a two car team, and while he never came out and said anything for sure, he did allude to trying to get into crew chief John Medlen/s head for any knowledge to rub off for next season. That seems to indicate that the announcement by Cruz at the SEMA show will in fact announce he and Tony becoming the next mufti car team. If it is so, and Tony makes this decision of his own accord and not because John let him go, then I think he is making an potentially career ending decision. While I acknowledge him wanting have control of his own racing life, why would anyone in his position, running with the most dominant drag racing team in history, want to leave the security of racing knowing you have a great chance to win the title possibly another three or four times in the next ten years. Plus the security of not having to finance your own team and looking for sponsors crew, crew chiefs all the while hoping you family is taken car of? It is just not something that this reporter would do in the same position. His driving in that final round and really all year long and and the past four years, have shown his ability to handle a race car. He has been relatively safe in the Force family behind the wheel as well. Very few fires (the one on Sunday was quite minor), or major mishaps. His brother on the other hand, suffered a huge explosion just this weekend and was burned and had his bell wrung pretty good. Look at all the Funny car boomers in the past year or two and team Force has been one team that has not had anything notable. All the other major players; Worsham, Prudhomme, Alan Johnson, Skuza, Dunn, Creasy and Schumacher (to a lesser extent) have all had pretty big explosions or mishaps over the past two seasons. The safety record of team Force since back in the mid 90's has been absolutely unprecedented. I do wish him well, in what ever decision he makes, but I certainly hope he stays with JFR. Other news in the Funny Car ranks include Arnie Karp's short lived comeback in his return to funny driving last four qualifying attempts before he called it permanent as he had a close call crossing the centre line and taking out the timing blocks in an attempt with Del Worsham in the other lane. "You've seen my last run in a Nitro Funny Car. I've worked hard to be a good driver, but it's clear that the car is ahead of me and on that run I put my teammate and my best friend in all of drag racing in peril. I can't do that again, and I won't. I'm stepping down. I did the absolute best I could, but I have to be man enough to stand up and say I'm walking away. "We turn the page a lot in our lives, and I turned the page on this when I got out of the car at the other end. I'm happy with it, in my heart, because I know it's the right decision. I'm very sorry to have hurt the car, and by doing that we also DNQ'd, which I also feel badly about. But, the key part is just doing the right thing and that's what I'm doing. There are more important things than the car and the DNQ. There are people involved and these cars can hurt you. I don't want that to happen, so we're moving on now.

"I've had a great career, with a million great memories, and this comeback was a dream for me. I'm so proud of my son Michael for making this all happen, and I could not possibly be any prouder of every member of this team. As far as I'm concerned, they're the best team in the sport. I thank everyone for giving me this chance, and now I'll be standing there with them as we move forward. The Worshams are the best, and I thank Del and Chuck from the very bottom of my heart.

"It's full speed ahead for the team, for the car, for my dear friend Keith Hughes, who has been with me just short of forever, and for our sponsors. From this moment forward, it's all about the future and putting the best possible car on the track."

The Artisan "T2" team will compete in Pomona at the season's final race, with Cory Lee in the driver's seat. It is likely Cory will be back next year in the car, or perhaps Arnie's son Michael win inherit the ride. Whatever happens, I commend Karp for his frankness and honesty in this deal. In eliminations, Force and team mate Densham went out in round one, Del moved closer to Densham with his semi final finish. Dean Skuza moved down one place into 9th place as he went out in round one.

In Top Fuel, Tony Schumacher was the odds on favorite to win as he was a 4.50 dynamo all weekend long until the final. Unfortunately the car broke at 400 feet in the final round and Kenny Bernstein won his 3rd consecutive race. With his recent string, Kenny has a slim chance to move into the top five (78 points back of Cory Mac), an outstanding feat considering he was barely a top ten guy before his three in a row. If his and Brandon's points were combined, it would total 1628 points. That would put the team in second place, but because of the transition, I bet Brandon would be challenging Larry for the championship. Kenny is currently in seventh place, 11 points behind David Baca, who has been first round fodder during the same three race stretch. Both Kalitta car ran well, and advanced to the semi finals. They will be a force in 2004. Larry Dixon finally lost in round one, the first time it has happened all year long. The Hartman-Smith duo look to be safe in the top ten by year's end. John went to the second round, but Rhonda lost in round one again. Texan, Bill Ancona made another good showing in the "Nitroshark" Top Fuel car. He made a career best 4.65 lap in round one and ended up in the #13 spot. He ran well to the 500 foot mark against Doug Kalitta, but broke sending him home early. Ancona will be at Pomona to try and qualify for his third race in a row. Doug Herbert failed to qualify for the third time in six races and is actually in danger of dropping to tenth place as Rhonda is on his heals. Shirley Muldowney (below) qualified for the race with a 4.64 but lost to Cory Mac in round one. Her final event in her storied career is in two weeks at Pomona.

In an announcement for the 2004 season, Melanie Troxel looks to be in a full time seat, as the "Snake" is actively trying to get additional sponsorship for a second car.

Will Clay Millican be in the NHRA full time or will he do double duty again.

In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson continued his evil dominant ways, as he overcame holeshots in the semis and the final round to defeat his strongest rivals, Jeg Coughlin (semis) and Kurt Johnson (final). The margin of victory in the final round was .0077 as his track record 6.837 (.069rt) was enough for Kurt's 6.878 (.035rt). With the clinching of the title last race, Greg was out to reset the single season win record. He has now tied Darrell Alderman with 11 and looks to win 12 at Pomona in two weeks. Its hard not to give him the edge at Pomona. He has been to 14 final rounds this season to go win the 11 wins. WJ failed to qualify for the second time this year. Jason Line, Anderson's rookie team mate went to the semis for his best finish. Look for him to challenge for the rookie of the year honors next year. Morgan continued his strong second half showing, with a second round finish that put him in a tie for 11th place in the standings. Unfortunately he has to win next week in order for him to get into the top ten. A feat that because of the dominance of the guy above, it is not likely to happen. Since Seattle, only Greg Anderson, Jeg Coughlin and Kurt Johnson has earned more points than Morgan. All his success according to him, is owed to Bob Glidden.

 

 

Oct. 12, 2003

O'Reilly Fall Nationals. Ennis, Texas. (photos courtesy of Guy Van Syckle)

More photo highlights here

Dixon and Anderson clinch world championships in Pro Stock and Top Fuel. Bernstein gets his first Top Fuel win in his home state. Could Force finish in second place.

Kenny Bernstein got his second win of the season at Ennis, Texas this past weekend, and jumped into 7th place in the standings. He defeated Scott Kalitta, who ran 333.95 in the second round, in the final round. The Kalitta team with two cars for next year, looks to be a force as both Doug and Scott have been running huge numbers. Jim Head made the semi finals this weekend go give him seven rounds in the last two races. If he continues to get help from Alan Johnson next year, he could be a top 5 finisher. He could very well finish in the top ten, as Rhonda Hartman is really struggling. What is with the Hartman team-Smith? Since the first half of the season, they have almost dropping off the radar. Since Joliet's first event, John Smith has only gone to the second round twice (eleven races). Rhonda has only four races better than the first round exits in the same time period. And two DNQ's to go along with it.

 

 

With the semi final finish by Larry Dixon, he clinched his second consecutive TF championship.

 

 

 

 

01 Dixon Jr 1916
02 Doug Kalitta 1542
03 Tony Schumacher 1347
04 Darrell Russell 1216
05 Cory Mc Clenathan 1032
06 David Baca 978
07 Kenny Bernstein 881
08 John Smith 876
09 Doug Herbert 871
10 Rhonda Hartman-Smith 807
11 Paul Romine 747
12 Jim Head 717

In Funny Car, Force is in the mix to really put the screws to Whit Bazemore and the Schumacher camp. With the win by John on Sunday and the first round loss by

Bazemore, John only trails by Whit 63 points with two races remaining. If John was to finish three rounds better in the last two races he will finish in second place. That would be a major blow to the Schumacher camp who actually lead the points only two races ago. I will go out on a real limb (a real stretch) and say John will win at least one of the two remaining races. Dean Skuza with his second r/u in the last three events, should win an award for the team doing the most with the least this season as they have persevered through more adversity than any professional team deserves to. Even in this past weekends event, the team went through a bunch of bullets (due to a fuel system gremlin), to make the final. Instead of packing it in, they went out and kept blowing up pieces in their goal to win. Any sponsors out there, take notice man. They deserve the full meal deal. Tony P picked up only 20 points more then Whit with his second round loss. The last two races he could of put the series away from Bazemore. Look for him to wrap it up either at Vegas or by qualifying at Pomona. The 'Snake' Funny Car team has been really struggling in the back half of the season. Ron Capps has only gone pack round one twice in the last nine events and Tommy Johnson has only gone to round two four times in the last eleven. They will announce an all new body style for 2004 (it will probably be the Monte Carlo body). This will not be the savior they are looking for though. Maybe 'Snake' will rehire 'Ace' like he did with Mike Green. I dunno, but there has to be a shake up of some sort. Maybe he will drop one of the funny cars and go with two TF cars, not likely as I think he is going to two TF'ers anyway. Melanie Troxel will probably get the job.

Tony Pedregon 1592
Whit Bazemore 1478
John Force 1415
Gary Densham 1269
Del Worsham 1221
Ron Capps 1062
Gary Scelzi 1013
Dean Skuza 1007
Tim Wilkerson 990
Tommy Johnson Jr 986
Cruz Pedregon 954

Pro Stock was settled this past weekend as well, as Greg Andersen got the championship everyone knew he would before Seattle even. As well, he got his 10th win of the season. He has to win the last two races to tie the old record of 12 wins in a single season. Don't bet against it. The battle for second place is the surprising one as Kurt Johnson is in danger of losing it to Jeg Coughlin. He leads by only 83 points right now, when he had a 234 point advantage only three races ago. Two runner-ups and a win in the last three races for Jeggie compared to three second round losses for KJ is a whooping 151 point differential. What's going on? Warren is as big of a surprise as he has been to four finals and won them all, and four times he has been a semi finalist. The rest of the time he has been a second round or first round loser. In the hummmmm department, what is with Larry Morgan, he goes 11 races in a row without qualifying, sitting back in around 20-25th place, and enlists Bob Glidden, and now sits in 12th place. He has a slim chance of getting into the top 10 after that start. Maybe Mark Pawuk or Steve Schmidt should be looking at their decision not to keep him around all year long. Or maybe, Mopar should look at Bob as the guy to run their program. Rusty and Billy could drive the cars, doncha think? The Dodge team has failed to qualify at a total of 33 events this year with their four drivers. They are likely to shake thing up again.

01 Greg Anderson 1981
02 Kurt Johnson 1564
03 Jeg Coughlin Jr 1481
04 Warren Johnson 1300
05 Allen Johnson 940
06 Ron Krisher 883
07 Mike Edwards 881
08 Jim Yates 793
09 Bruce Allen 789
10 Scott Geoffrion 783
11 Darrell Alderman 683
12 Larry Morgan 641

Oct. 5, 2003 Reading Lucas Oil Nationals Part II (All photos courtesy Greg Gage)

The Re-Scheduled Lucas Oil Nationals saw Tony Schumacher crush the field with back to back 4.44 runs and gets his fourth win of the year, this time over Jim Head. Tony qualified #1 with a 4.46 three weeks ago and did not get the chance to back up the record when rain forced the rescheduling of the event to this weekend. At last weeks Chicago national event four drivers had a chance to reset the record (including himself) before he even had a chance to back up the run from Reading, but no on was able to. He made two more qualifying laps yesterday, but could not run the number. Today his first round opponent was the worlds quickest top fuel driver Doug Kalitta who was a surprise #16 qualifier. Kalitta had a bad backfire when he went to fire the car, so Schumacher got a freebie. He needed it as he smoked the tires. His second round opponent was Doug Herbert, and that's when the first shot was made. Tony went a stunning 4.441 to reset the national record. Herbert was on a mid 4.50 run but slowed at the 1000 foot mark and went 4.68 at only 256 mph. Tony's speed was 332. In the semis, Schumacher was again dominant, as he blasted out another 4.40 run, with a 4.449/331 blast that defeated IHRA champ Clay Millican, who went 4.95/220. So the final was set, with Jim Head (right) in his first NHRA final round in a number of years. Head defeated Rhonda Hartman, Scott Weis and Paul Romine on his way to the final. It was a very close final round, but Tony led from start to finish, with a .015rt advantage and a 4.58/315 lap compared to Head's 4.603/322 shot. Tony solidifies his third place in the standings. He has a slight chance to catch Doug Kalitta but he would have to continue his winning way in the last three events and have Kalitta go out in the first or second round at all three remaining events.

In Funny Car the biggest news was the DNQ by Whit Bazemore. With only two sessions due to rain, the Matco Flopper was unable to make a full pass and ended up outside the field for the first time this year. His team mate Scotty Cannon also failed to make the field. Tony Pedregon could not capitalize on Bazemore's misfortune as much as he would like though, as he went out in round one. Tim Wilkerson got his second win this year at the expense of Cruz Pedregon, who was in his second final round. Wilkerson used 4.80 numbers and consistent lights throughout the four rounds of eliminations. The Cruzer was just about as consistent, as he had a 4.80 pass, a career best 4.79 and a 5.80 tire smoker in the semi finals before blazing the hides to an 11 second final round run that was not match for the 4.86/317 pass by Wilkerson. Three of the four semifinalists made big point gains in the 7-11 point standing. Dean Skuza and Gary Densham were the other semi finalists. Force was also an early round casualty, as he lost in round one to Terry Haddock. Pro Stock and Pro Stock bike will be posted tomorrow. Top Alcohol is covered in the alky zone. Sunday and Saturday pictures are at the bottom of the page.