Cruz Pedregon made it two for two for the Pedregon brothers Sunday.

The pieces all fell into place for Cruz Pedregon Sunday.
The Southern California native did his job, winning a first-round matchup with Jerry Toliver, then watched one-by-one as the two other championship contenders fell, giving the second-generation racer his second Funny Car title, but his first since 1992.
He then capped the day by winning the Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Fairplex. Other winners were Larry Dixon in Top Fuel, Greg Anderson in Pro Stock and Chris Rivas in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Eddie Krawiec, who advanced to the finals, also won the PSM season title.

Here's some videos from Saturday:

Eddie Krawiec got his opening and took the Pro Stock Motorcycle by beating teammate Andrew Hines in the semifinals. The victory eliminated Chris Rivas, who beat Craig Treble. Rivas needed to win the race and have Krawiec lose in the semfinals.

Ron Capps, who by his own admission hasn't had his best season, ended Jack Beckman's hope of a second-place finish in Funny Car by beating him on a holeshot in the semifinals. The top five is now set: 1. Cruz Pedregon, 2. Tim Wilkerson, 3. Jack Beckman, 4. Robert Hight, 5. Tony Pedregon.
But Capps, who can finish as high as seventh, just wants that trophy.
"It's been a tough year," Capps said. "I can't imagine were in the final. It's awesome. It's been tough year for this team, so i'ss nice to be in the finals."
Cruz Pedregon, who beat Mike Neff in the semifinals with a steady 4.16, is just trying add to his championship.
"It's been a nerve wracking weekend," Pedregon said. "I was feeling positive, but not too positive. Neff was tough, but we were able to get by him. Now I get to race my good buddy Capps in the finals."

Larry Dixon will wear the No. 2. He beats Cory McClenathan with a nice 4.85.
But Dixon has bigger fish to fry.
"We can still walk out of here with a trophy," Dixon said. "That's what I thought I had to do get second. Cory McClenathan has a strong team over there, but we're strong, too."
Dixon will get to race Rod Fuller, who beat little-known Ers Erbacher in the semifinals. Fuller is also pumped about winning the Wally.
"That's what came here to do," said Fuller, who upset champion Tony Schumacher in the semifinals. "Beating Schumacher is great, but we want to win this race. My dad said there's nothing like winning Pomona at the end of the year, because you are the champ all winter long."

The race for the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship took a major turn when Matt Smith lost in the second round to Chris Rivas due to mechanical problems.
Eddie Krawiec, who advanced to the semifinals with a victory over Chip Ellis, and Smith are now tied for the points lead, with the tiebreaker going to Krawiec. But Rivas is still in the running if he can win the next two rounds and Krawiec loses to teammate Andrew Hines. If Krawiec wins in the semifinals, the championship his his.
"It just broke," said Smith, who won the championship last season. "We had the best bike all weekend, and something broke on it. It's happened the past three events - at Memphis, Las Vegas and now here - and it bit us."

Well, with the fuel championships sewed up, it's back to racing for the trophy. First up is Top Fuel, and Ers Erbacher sends Tim and Kim Richards into retirement and puts Brandon Bernstein on the trailer as the Budweiser dragster's season ends in a puff of smoke.
Let's not forget that there is still a battle for second place, with Dixon can get by winning the race...and he marches on with a nice 3.86. Next up is Cory Mac, who is also still in the run for second...and Cory puts himself in position with a nice run...Now Tony Schumacher goes for history. If he can beat Rod Fuller, he sets a record for most round wins in a season with 76...Hot Rod is having nothing of it. He ends the streak, beating Schumacher on a holeshot, and the best season in the history ends with Schumacher winning 15 races and going 75-9 in eliminations.
"I just wanted to beat them one time before that team breaks up," Fuller said. "(Tony and Alan Johnson) are the best in history."
He equaled Greg Anderson, who did it in Pro Stock, with 15 victories, and nearly matched Anderson's 75-8 during eliminations. Also, Schumacher, who had won 10 the past 11 races, failed to make the finals for the first time since June, when he failed to make the final at Norwalk, Ohio.
"It was just outstanding race," Schumacher said. "It was just two guys battling. That was good, solid race. We both had good reaction times, and he won."
Now, it's time for the floppers.
Jack Beckman is still alive for second, and he keeps it going with a nice 4.14 in win over Melanie Troxel.
Ron Capps makes a solid pass, beating Ashley Force with a solid 4.11 run.
Next up is Tony P, who also is still in the hunt for second, but he has to beat top qualifier Mke Neff here. Neff says, not so fast, 'I want that Wally,' and takes out TP.
"I heard him," Pedregon said. "I needed a 600-foot track on that one."
Cruz Pedregon is not done having fun, beats John Force to advance to the finals.
"They don't come tougher than John Force," Cruz Pedregon said. "He's a tough competitor. He's a 58-year old in a 28-year olds body. This is icing on the cake. Let's see what we can do the next round."

Above: Robert Hight lost in the first round, which handed the Funny Car title to Cruz Pedregon, who went on to win Sunday's race.

First up Cruz Pedregon vs.Jerry Toliver, who had some interesting comments this morning. Toliver said: "I ate a burrito yesterday, slept with my Mexican girlfriend last night, had some chorizo and eggs this morning and now, I'm going to take out the Taco."...Toliver smokes em at 330...and Cruz marches on, with a 4.14...This eliminates Tony Pedregon and Jack Beckman...now John Force up against Tim Wilkerson...Wow....Wilk fouls out by two-hundreths of a second...Wilk after winning the most races all season, is out of the championship hunt. It's his first red light of the year...Oh, yeah. "Nobody loves Wilkerson more than me, but I got another car in Hight. He won the championship in the middle of the season, so I don't know about this new championship deal, but it is what it is."
Wilk: "I'm apoligized to our guys. I just stuck it in too deep. But this has been a great year."
Next up we have a who-cares matchup, when you consider the championship scenarios, between Ashley Force and Gary Densham. AForce marches on through, with nice low 4.
Another Force win as top-qualifier Mike Neff beats San Dimas' Jeff Arend.
Melanie Troxel wins a tire-smoking battle with Jim Head, whose parachutes come out early...Ron Capps beats Bob Tasca...next up is Tony Pedregon vs. Robert Hight. If Pedregon wins, his brother Cruz is the champion.
Both smoke the tires near half track, both back on and TP gets there first and Cruz is the champ and Tony could finish second. Wouldn't that be something?
"Four years ago when John gave me this opportunity and I never figured I'd have this opportunity to win a championship on the last day of the season," Hight said. "But we start next week for next year to try and get this title, because we are too good not to win a championship."
Former Dodger manager was at the track Sunday and he gave the Hight team, which is running a 50th Anniversary Dodgers car, a pep talk before the race. But Tommy, whose talks didn't help Gabrielino High School and UCLA two years ago, goes 0-3 in getting results after pep talks, as Hight comes up short as well.
"I didn't win (the championship), but I feel like I have," Tony Pedregon said. "We are a close family We grew up in this area. We know how tough its been. I'm happy. It feels good."
Any thoughts of Gary Scelzi going out as a winner, ends when he loses to teammate Jack Beckman.

Here we go....first up is Steve Torrance vs. Hot Rod Fuller....and its Hot Rod, who keeps 'em lit all the way down with a nice 4.83
Next up is Doug Herbert vs. Morgan Lucas. I noticed Morgan wearing an Indianapolis Colts t-shirt under his firesuit earlier this morning. Let's see if he can be as consistent as the Colts have been lately...nope. It's Herbert, who runs a nice 4.92.
Next up is La Habra's Cory McClenathan vs. Doug Kalitta. This is a key matchup in Cory's march to a second-place finish in the points race...Cory Mac marches on through with a 3.87, as Kalitta smokes the tires near half track.
"We need rounds wins. The sponsors know it, the drivers know it, the team knows it. We're going to be hard to beat," Cory Mac said. "We just want to go A to B."
There will be no win for JR Todd, who rattles the tires near half track, while Ers Erbacher takes the win with a nice 4.88. "I just want a Wally - in Switzerland," Erbacher said.
The Army marches on...Tony Schumacher runs the quickest time of the session with a 3.82...One of the best seasons in NHRA history just continues.
Next up is Hillary Will, who has shot to finish second in points, which would the highest finish by a woman in Top Fuel since Shirley Muldowney's championship run in the early 1980s..Instead, it's Hillary can't...she loses to Troy "I'm not in the" Buff.
Larry Dixon keeps his hopes for second-place finish with a victory over Clay Millican.
Brandon Bernstein beats David Grubnic to advance, despite both smoking the tires. Tim and Kim Richards can't retire just yet.

Good morning,

It's clear skies and sunshine here in SoCal. We have some very good racing planned, and it starts in just a few minutes with Top Fuel.
I've learned that the 8-9 matchup between Robert Hight and Tony Pedregon in Funny Car won't be the usual first off, instead, they will be the seventh pair. We will see what difference it makes.

Mike Neff will race from the top qualifier position today, but all the talk is about Sunday's matchup between Tony Pedregon and Robert Hight, who put their championship hopes on the line in the first round.

Mike Neff stole the top qualifying position from teammate Ashley Force with a stout 4.07 pass, but the real story Saturday was the positioning for the championship contenders. The highlight features an epic battle between third-place Robert Hight, who qualified ninth with a 4.122, against fourth-place and 2008 class champion Tony Pedregon, who qualified eighth with a 4.122, taking the better start on speed.
To win the championship, Pedregon also needs to win the race and hope brother Cruz Pedregon, who leads the points, loses in a first-round matchup with Jerry Toliver. He also needs second-place Tim Wilkerson to get no further than the second round.
But first he needs to beat Hight.
"I'll take (this position)," Pedregon said. "I never back down from anyone. I like this track. Tell Robert to get in line. I'm not ready to concede my championship. If someone is going to take it away, I hope it's (brother Cruz Pedregon). The others will have to fight for it."
History is in Hight's corner. The John Force Racing driver has won here three out of the past four races, including the season-opening Winternationals this past February, Hight also knows, if he wins the race, the championship is his.
"I'm ready," Hight said. "Tony Pedregon is tough, but we're going after him. This team is in this position because we are good, and we're going to win the championship tomorrow."
The rest of the field stacked up for the contenders, as Cruz Pedregon, who qualified 12th, and Time Wilkerson, who will start 13th, also know the championship is theirs if they win the Auto Club Finals.
Jack Beckman, who qualified 10th, is also still in the running. He gets teammate Gary Scelzi in the first round.
"We just have to get to work," Wilkerson said. "It doesn't matter who we race or what lane we are in, we are not going to worry about it and just see what happens."
Said Cruz Pedregon: "Whoever wins this championship, they've really earned it. If it's not me, I'm going to shake his hand."

Greg Anderson, who qualified No. 1 in Pro Stock with a 6.634, said he's yet to here if he will be running a General Motors Corporation-backed entry next season.
"We're still trying to hear from them," said Anderson, who pilots a Pontiac GXP. "It's just hard to say."
Jeg Coughlin Jr., who won his second series title this year driving a Chevy Cobalt, is under the impression that he will still be in a bow-tie next season.
"We'd like to see them continue in the sport," Coughlin said. "We feel like NHRA drag racing is a great place for General Motors, and a great value. Just look at the Chevy Colbalt - the leading selling GM car has turned on the win light a number of times on the track, so we're looking forward to having them back on board in 2009.
"As of right now, everything is a go. We're a go, with or without them. They've been good to this sport, so we look for them to stay."

Jeg Couglin Jr. is again the king of Pro Stock.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. took the No. 13 position with a 6.678, which clinched his fourth championship. He also won in back-to-back years for the second time in his career.
"We're definitely going to celebrate grand style," Coughlin said. "To win back-to-back championships, is extremely exciting for our whole team. In today's day and age, Pro Stock racing is very tough, with the cars separated by a thousands-of-a-second, so to pull that off is pretty exciting.
"Last year, we were a couple of rounds behind going into the final race. That was mentally tough, but this year was tougher because the format changed to six races to just two. To win the six-race shootout is very rewarding."

Matt Smith and Eddie Krawiec were Nos. 1 and 2 in points coming into this event, and they will race from those positions after Smith took the top qualifying position in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a 6.962-second run, with Krawiec right behind with a 6.987.
Smith increased his lead to 20 points over Krawiec, who will be on the opposite of the bracket of his rival. If they meet in the final, they will decide the championship. If Smith wins, he gets the nod by points. If Krawiec wins and forces a tie, he gets the nod by virtue of more round wins during the NHRA "playoffs."
"This is what we wanted," said Smith, who earned the top time during Saturday's early session before running a 6.99 in the afternoon. "It's going to be just like last year. We just have to win the race and close it out.
"I've got a fast enough bike to win the race. If it doesn't, it's not meant to be. The decision has already been made, so we'll just play it out from our end and see what happens."