Funny Car elimination's--second through final round---

(W) Eric Medlen (Castrol Syntec Mustang) 0.116 4.869 315.34
(L) Ron Capps (Skoal Racing Monte Carlo) 0.026 5.990 160.86

(W) Phil Burkart (Checker Schucks Kragen Monte C0.086 4.887 310.48
(L) Gary Scelzi (Hemi Oakley Stratus) 0.079 6.652 138.10

(W) Whit Bazemore (Matco Tools Stratus) 0.088 4.836 319.22
(L) Gary Densham (AAA of So. Cal. Mustang) 0.101 4.884 315.71

(W) John Force (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.078 4.941 252.90
(L) Tony Pedregon (Quaker State Camaro) 0.079 5.335 212.83

Semi Finals

(W) Phil Burkart (Checker Schucks Kragen Monte C0.102 4.893 295.98
(L) John Force (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.080 6.269 158.11

(W) Whit Bazemore (Matco Tools Stratus) 0.065 4.882 316.15
(L) Eric Medlen (Castrol Syntec Mustang) 0.127 4.864 317.42

Funny Car Final

(W) Phil Burkart (Checker Schucks Kragen Monte C0.088 5.029 264.03
(L) Whit Bazemore (Matco Tools Stratus) 0.090 5.452 189.50

Funny Car pit notes---------Team CSK, is THE team to beat this year, as they have three of four wins already. This time, Phil Burkart got the win, and he did it by defeating Tim Wilkerson, Gary Scelzi, John Force and finally Whit Bazemore in the final round. Each victory was over one of the premier car's in the class. Burkart who qualified in the bottom half of the field at the rain shortened event did not use great lights to get to the final, he just happened to have enough race car to get the job done. It was his first race with the new Monte Carlo body, as he pulled the short straw; Team mate and team owner Del Worsham decided to keep using the Firebird body until a few laps were on Phil's car to sort out any potential bugs. John Force moved a little closer to Del Worsham with his semi final finish picking up 40 points on worsham who was first round fodder for Whit Bazemore. One look at the standings and Wilkerson has to feel like a hungry large mouth bass at a fishing derby, as he is the only single car effort in the top ten. But then again how many single car teams are there in Funny Car these days. One multi car team that is not on the radar screen is the "Snakes Skoal cars". They currently sit 11 and 12 in the standings.

Point standings after four of 23 event in the POWERade series

01 Del Worsham 331 *
02 John Force 260 -71
03 Gary Densham 242 -89
04 Whit Bazemore 240 -91
05 Phil Burkart Jr 237 -94
06 Eric Medlen 219 -112
Gary Scelzi 219 -112
08 Tony Pedregon 215 -116
09 Tim Wilkerson 201 -130
10 Jerry Toliver 196 -135

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Top Fuel elimination's---second through final round----

(W) Brandon Bernstein (Budweiser/Lucas Oil Drags0.010 4.598 318.54
(L) David Grubnic (Kalitta Air Dragster) 0.108 5.565 160.82

(W) Doug Herbert (Snap-On Tools Dragster) 0.126 6.451 126.15
(L) Cory McClenathan (Carrier Boyz/Berryman Drag-9.999(R) NT-No Show

(W) Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army Dragster) 0.068 5.095 283.55
(L) Scott Kalitta (Mac Tools/Jesse James Dragste0.070 5.582 168.87

(W) Larry Dixon (Miller Lite Dragster) 0.092 4.562 322.88
(L) Doug Kalitta (MAC Tools Dragster) 0.022 5.216 225.52

Top Fuel semis

(W) Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army Dragster) 0.074 4.666 297.55
(L) Doug Herbert (Snap-On Tools Dragster) 0.092 5.512 171.62

(W) Larry Dixon (Miller Lite Dragster) 0.097 4.754 297.35
(L) Brandon Bernstein (Budweiser/Lucas Oil Drags0.085 5.762 160.67

Final Round

(W) Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army Dragster) 0.098 4.525 331.53
(L) Larry Dixon (Miller Lite Dragster) 0.082 4.571 323.97

Top Fuel Notes----------- Larry Dixon finally grabbed final round points, and jumped up from 9th place to 6th in the standings. He still has a way to go though, as Tony Schumacher is basically running away with the class, and has a 120 point lead on his nearest competitor. Shoe has three wins in four races. Doug Herbert made a substantial jump as well, going from outside the top ten to the #9 spot. Herbert is expecting a much higher placing though, and with the "Ace" on the team they should be able to be a real contender before too long. Rhonda Hartman-Smith struggled again this weekend, but it looks like her car is making a lot of power. When the clutch locked up on both her qualifying runs, she wheelstood the car, particularly high in the second session and she had to abort the run. The Kalitta cars (all three of them), again perform well on Saturday but fade on Sunday. Out of twelve opportunities for the three cars to reach the final, they have only reached it twice. But they have had had low et at every event and top mph at two of the four events. Once they get the consistency blues figured out, the three amigos (Kalitta, Kalitta, and Grubnic) could be a bane for every team in the series. Brandon Bernstein is getting real comfy back in the seat and that team looks to be stronger than early season prognostication's. Darrell Russell also has a quicker car and will be more of a threat than last year. Whether or not he gets a better placing than last year's 5th, remains to be seen. Cory Mac, with new crew chief Todd Smith, looked good for two runs on the weekend, his first qualifying lap was a 4.65, but he ran back to back 4.55's in the final session and first round, but a clutch problem when they were in the staging lanes spelled the end of their weekend. A good start though. And to think I was one of many that criticized the team's firing of Bill Walsh.

Point Standings after Vegas.

01 Tony Schumacher 422
02 Brandon Bernstein 302 -120
03 Doug Kalitta 300 -122
04 David Grubnic 263 -159
05 Darrell Russell 240 -182
06 Larry Dixon 222 -200
07 Cory Mc Clenathan 191 -231
08 David Baca 190 -232
09 Doug Herbert 170 -252
10 Scott Weis 166 -256

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Pro Stock------second round through finals

(W) Larry Morgan (Mopar Stratus) 0.035 6.912 200.08
(L) Vince Fourcade (Blakeney Racing Escort) 0.026 6.937 199.23

(W) Jason Line (KB Racing Grand Am) 0.085 6.885 200.56
(L) Mark Pawuk (Summit Racing Grand Am) 0.039 6.967 198.85

(W) Kurt Johnson (AC Delco Cavalier) 0.030 6.882 200.02
(L) Jeg Coughlin (Jeg's Mail Order Cavalier) 0.031 6.896 200.44

(W) Greg Anderson (Vegas General Construction Gr0.016 6.839 201.40
(L) Dave Connolly (Bullet Motorsports Cavalier) 0.020 6.927 198.85

Semi Finals

(W) Kurt Johnson (AC Delco Cavalier) 0.028 6.912 200.17
(L) Jason Line (KB Racing Grand Am) 0.069 6.900 200.38

(W) Greg Anderson (Vegas General Construction Gr0.046 6.846 201.16
(L) Larry Morgan (Mopar Stratus) 0.009 6.946 199.52

Final Round

(W) Greg Anderson (Vegas General Construction Gr0.026 6.849 201.31
(L) Kurt Johnson (AC Delco Cavalier) 0.016 6.908 200.08

Pro Stock Pit Notes--------------Greg Anderson won his third event of the year, and he defeated Kurt Johnson to get the win. Sound familiar? You could say Greg just squeaked into the field on the last qualifier, but then that would be a stretch of the actual facts of the scenario. He did in fact get in on the last session, but it was only a two run qualifier and his got a fast first run, he just did not get a time for it due to a timing glitch. His run in the last round put him in the #1 spot by .045 over any other team. He took care of V. Gaines, Dave Connolly, Larry Morgan and then KJ to moved further in front of the field. The battle in the top ten will only be a crap shoot for #8, 9 and 10. Places #1 through 7 will be : #1 Anderson, #2 KJ, #3 Jason Line, #4 Larry Morgan, #5 WJ, #6 Jeg Coughlin, #7 Dave Connolly. Take these SpeedZone picks to the bank.

Here are the standings after four of 23 events.

01 Greg Anderson 432
02 Kurt Johnson 340
03 Larry Morgan 259
04 Jeg Coughlin 237
05 Warren Johnson 236
06 David Connolly 208
07 Jason Line 179
08 Bruce Allen 174
09 Rickie Smith 169
10 Jim Yates 142