Auto Club Finals Day 4

8:16 a.m. - I just arrived at the track a few minutes ago. How come I'm here three hours before the first round of eliminations you ask?
Very simple, I was shooting for 9 a.m., but I forgot to reset my clock last night.
Hey, it beats getting here late.
It should be a fun day. I would also like to point out that our Saturday interview with John Force has been uploaded.
Enjoy!

10:41 a.m. - I just returned from the Don Schumacher Racing pit, where Funny Car veterans Ron Capps and Gary Scelzi and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Angelle Sampey are preparing for today's eliminations. All three addressed the team's invited guests during breakfast.
The highlight was Capps, who used several Talladega Nights" references.
"Shake and bake, baby," Capps said to Scelzi. "My crew guys are always using "Talladega NIghts" lines, even on the radio when I'm in the car."

Sampey also noticed that the ladder for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, which hangs from the team's trailer, wasn't filled out.
"As I'm looking at the ladder, here, it doesn't appear that Pro Stock Motorcycle is racing today," Sampey said. "I don't even know who I have first round, so I can't tell you who I'm going to beat. But we are going to ruin somebody's day today."
11:19 a.m. - Tony Schumacher defeats a tire-smoking Alan Bradshaw to complete a run where Brandon Bernstein, Larry Dixon and Schumacher all put pressure points-leader Rod Fuller with first-round wins.
"You have three really good cars who just won," Schumacher said. "This puts a lot of pressure (on Fuller). If you are going to be Powerade champ, you have to earn it."
Fuller's race with Bob Vandergriff is coming up.
11:25 a.m. - The championship chase just got hotter. Fuller goes up in smoke just off the line. Dixon, Bernstein and Schumacher now control their own destiny.
"This is what this sport is all about," Fuller said. "We just didnt' get it done."

11:41 a.m. - Jeff Arend keeps Scelzi's and Hight's slim title hopes alive by nipping Tony Pedregon in the first round of Funny Car.
The title is still Pedregon's to win, as Scelzi and Hight, who face each other in the next pair, still must win the race while setting a national record.
"We were hoping to end it," Pedregon said. "But that's how this Countdown is . We lost a close race, but now we sit back and enjoy (the race)."
11:44 a.m. - Scelzi goes up in smoke, ending his title hopes. The win keeps Hight's title hopes alive, although he must win the next three rounds while setting a national record.
"Anytime you run Scelzi, you don't know what can happen," Hight said. "I'm not ready for the season to end. I wan to make three more runs."
11:52 a.m. - Phil Burkart Jr., driving for the injured John Force just beat Ron Capps. Capps' was eliminated from the title chase during qualifying. But he would have been in position to win the title under the old system, where he began the day 20 points ahead of Pedregon and 65 in front of Hight.
12:10 p.m. - The Pro Stock title just went up for grabs. Leader Greg Anderson just lost to Justin Humphreys, meaning the title is Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s if he advances to the semifinals. His teammate Dave Connolly saw his title hopes go away when he left the starting line early.
"It's all on me," Connolly said. "I turned the cherry on. I blew it."
1:24 p.m - This is getting exciting. It's down to three after Schumacher and Bernstein score second-round wins, while Dixon loses to Todd.
The title is Bernstein if he can find away to beat Schumacher in the next round. The U.S. Army car, meanwhile must first block Bernstein then go on to win the race. If he doesn't, the title belongs to Fuller.
"It's pretty similar (to last year)," said Schumacher, who scored the title last year after winning the race and setting a national e.t. record on the final run of the event. "(Crew chief Alan Johnson) has a handle on it. You don't want to see (Fuller) lose that way, but you also want to win the championship, and for us, it's four in a row."
1:53 p.m. - Hight continues to stay alive in the race for the Funny Car championship, beating Jerry Toliver in the second round. But to steal the title away from Pedregon, he must win the race and set a national record. Hight needs to make a run of 4.705 or quicker to have the opportunity to eclipse the national record of 4.658.
"I just keep going," Hight said. "The later it gets, who knows? I'm liking this."
2:02 p.m. - Jeg takes the trophy.

Coughlin roars to a low 6.6 run and moves ahead of Anderson to earn his third Powerade Series title.
"Wow! I love Pomona," Coughlin said. "The Countdown to the Championship format just played out unbelievable. We couldn't be happier to be champions."
2:14 p.m. - Andrew Hines leaves the door open in the chase for the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship. He loses on a red light in the second round and now Chip Ellis and Matt Smith, who both won second-round encounters can win the championship by winning the race.
"The ball is in our court now," Ellis said. "We might win this, after all."
3:19 p.m. - Schumacher does it again.
The four-time champion puts himself in position to win No. 5 when he gets by Brandon Bernstein in the semifinals. The Powerade Series title is now his if he beats Bob Vandergriff in the final.
"There's no pieces of cake in this class," Schumacher said. "This is a blessing. It's my dad's birthday and I would love more than anything to get this win for him."
Standing in the way is Vandergriff, who advanced to his 12 final when JR Todd red-lighted off the starting line.
"This is a great opportunity for the UPS team," said Vandergriff, who is 0 for 11 in final rounds. He is 2-1 vs. Schumacher with the lone loss coming in the semifinals at Sonoma this season.
"I can't say enough about the David Powers team," added Vandergriff. "They gave us a motor for the semifinals, and we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them."
3:25 p.m. - Hight beats Mike Ashley to advance to the final, but he doesn't come close to setting a national e.t. record, clinching the title for Pedregon.

"I'm a race car driver," Pedregon said. "I' was born and raised in Southern California. I noticed that there were a lot of Hispanics, a lot of Latinos at this race. I see a lot of families, a lot Hispanics who come to me and say, 'You're the reason we here. We're cheering you on.' When a person tells you that, you're emotional. When I get into the car, I want to win a race. But to me, it's beyond that. It's not about color. Minorities are minorities. But the people who don't understood that, haven't walked a mile in our shoes.

"I don't too many people who have come from where I have. It's not about just driving a race car. It's about (disproving) that a lot of people didn't think you could do it, and today I've done it. And for me that's special."
5:22 p.m. - Matt Smith gets the jump on Chip Ellis and never looks back to win the Pro Stock Motorcycle final the the series title.
"We thought if we could win the race, that would get us second," Smith said. "Then I saw Andrew (Hines) lose. I thought, 'We could win it all.'"
5:26 p.m. - Coughlin completes his perfect day, beating Justin Humphreys in the Pro Stock Final.
"This lines up with anything I've ever done in drag racing," said Coughlin, who won the series title for the third time. "I think this one is more special, because of the (Countdown to the Championship). It feels great."

5:31 p.m. - Hight beats teammate Phil Burkart Jr. to win the event and clinch second place.
"We pushed as hard as we could in the semifinals to try and at least get the back-up for a record but we broke a couple of lifters and it was a handful just to keep it off the wall," Hight said. "It would have been close but it didn't happen. If we had won the championship it wouldn't have made this a great year.

"Winning the race didn't make it a great year. We lost our teammate [Eric Medlen] this year and nothing will make up for that. We all miss him like you can't believe. I'm gonna go home and have a little ice cream, and like Eric always said, that is sure to make you happy."

5:38 p.m. - The last drag race is another coronation for Tony Schumacher, who makes history by becoming the first driver to win four consecutive Top Fuel titles, a championship that is his after defeating La Habra native Vandergriff in the final.
"My guys are just so good in crunch time," Schumacher said. "When they absolutely have to do it, they do it. It's a blessing. It was just a stunning day."
Final comments - The critics said this the Countdown to the Championship, a pseudo playoff for NHRA drag racing would never work, that it was contrived. I don't those who were in attendance at Fairplex would agree with that.
This does work. Is it fair to competitors like Fuller and Capps, who led the points most of the season, but came away with no championship? Probably not, but who said life was fair?
"Whoever at NHRA came up with this idea, it was a great thing," Pedregon said. "I witnessed it. I probably have a few ulcers from it, but what I saw different from (winning the title in 2003) was a lot more media, a lot more excitement. But really, this sport is all about entertainment."