November 2008 Archives

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."

Just wanted to let everyone know that we will have several videos online later tonight. We have an interview with Gary Scelzi, who is stepping out of the seat after this event; Don Schumacher Racing introducing Matt Hagan as its new Funny Car driver; John Force accepting a Comeback of the Year award and interviews of all the top qualifiers.

Cruz Pedregon relieved the stress a little after the third Funny Car qualifying session this afternoon. The veteran, who brought a 12-point lead over Tim Wilkerson to this event, bumped his way into the field with a steady 4.167 run. He sits in the 13th hole. Tony Pedregon (4.122) and Robert Hight (4.122) continued to be sixth and seventh, respectively, with Tim Wilkerson (4.151) ninth. Fifth-place Jack Beckman, who was unqualified going into the session, jumped into the 10th slot with a 4.157.
If the numbers hold for the final session, the contenders pairings will look this way:
No. 13 Cruz Pedregon vs. No. 4 Ron Capps; No. 6. Tony Pedregon vs. No. 11 Jerry Toliver; No. 7 Hight vs. No. 10 Jack Beckman and No. 9 Tim Wilkerson vs. No. 8 Ashley Force.

Expect anything in drag racing, even if it's a Funny Car losing a wheel during a run.
Such was the case for veteran Jerry Toliver, who had his left wheel come off during a qualifying run against Ashley Force.
Toliver experienced some engine problems near half track. The rear end of the car buckled as it spun the tires, and soon the wheel came off, bounced across the left lane, missing Force's Ford Mustang, before bouncing down the track. Toliver's E.T. was over five seconds. I'm not sure what the wheel ran.
"I just tried to keep it in the middle of the race track and keep it off the wall and hurt it worse than it already is," said Toliver of the incident, which was caused when the mounting studs sheared off. "That's why these cars need experienced drivers because things happen and when they do you've got to be ready to react to them."

Jerry Toliver will drive for the SoCal-based Jim Dunn Racing team next season.

Long-time competitor Jim Dunn announced today that veteran Jerry Toliver will try his Canidae All Natural Pet Foods Funny Car next season.
Toliver, who vied for the nitro coupe title earlier this decade, has won five national events in a career that started in the late 1990s.
"Jerry is a terrific competitor who races for the same reason I do, and thats because he loves it," Dunn said. "He's been competing a long time and a we think alike when it comes to racing the car."
I wonder if Dunn remembers the last time he thought that about a driver he has just hired. I remember him signing Al Hofmann and believe he made a similar comment ... and we all know how that turned out. But I like this link between two great competitors. Dunn and Hofmann were of the same personalitly, while Toliver is well, who doesn't like Jerry Toliver.
Toliver, who has two top-10 finishes, with his last victory in 2004, believes its the perfect fit..
"I've known Jim for a long time," the Southern California native said. "He is an icon of the sport and someone that is respected by everyone in the pits. Working with Jim is something I've always wanted to do for a long time."

Tony Pedregon takes out the timing cones during a qualifying run on Friday. The 2007 champion is still in the hunt for a repeat (staff photo by Will Lester).

From the outside, Tony Pedregon's quest for a repeat championship in Funny Car looks like a dilusion of grandeur at best.
But the Southern California native isn't quite ready to throw in the towel just yet. The difference may come in qualifying, where Pedregon began the event 62 points behind brother and leader Cruz Pedregon, 50 behind Tim Wilkerson and trailed third-place Robert High by 23 points.
But he also knew if he could pick up three points on his brother, he could trim that advantage from four rounds to three rounds, and from two rounds behind Hight to one round.
So far, his plan is working, at least in chase of his brother.
Tony Pedregon, after two rounds of qualifying, is sixth and with Cruz Pedregon not yet qualified, that lead would be trimmed to 58 points and three rounds. But he would still be 22 behind Hight, who is seventh after two rounds.
"For starters, we've already achieved our qualifying positions," Tony Pedregon said. "We've gained those points on him, as long as he stays three positions behind us. Robert on the other hand, we know he's running good, but I kind of like our chances of catching Robert, even if it's two rounds. Two rounds we can make up. Three rounds is tough, because you are just asking a lot.
"Our gameplan is that we knew yesterday that it would continue to get warmer, so (Thursday) was probably going to be our best shot to be aggressive, which really is against our normal approach. We usually want to just get down the track (on the first session), we couldn't do that, and that part of it worked good. At this point, we have to get to the final and win the race and hope the other guys skip a beat. I have seen stranger things happen. We haven't conceded, yet."
Pedregon is also prepared to face his brother early, and defeat him, if necessary.
"We can only hope Cruz doesn't get in the way," Tony Pedregon said. "We have aligned ourselves with companies, like Q and Snap-On and Prestone, who pay me to win. Cruz understands that. We have both understood that over the years.
"I have that issue with Cruz; I have that issue with Bob Tasca, who is a good friend of me. As close as we are, I had to beat him. I think we do a good job of separating that and have a good understanding that if Cruz is in the way, I'm going to race him no different than any of the (John) Force cars. For Cruz's sake, he may want to stay out of my way."

Melanie Troxel talks to the media after zooming to the top of the Funny Car qualifying chart on Friday.

Friday's qualifying session was a laughing matter for the five contenders for the Funny Car title.
All five struggled, with leader Cruz Pedregon and Jack Beckman still on the outside looking in. Both have yet to qualify for the 16-car field after both smoked the tires before the 330-foot mark.
Second-place Tim Wilkerson and No. 3 Robert High also smoked the tires and dropped to 10th and seventh, respectively. Tony Pedregon, who won the title last season, but is fourth coming into this weekend's event, was on a decent run before drifting to the center and knocking out the final timing cone, which disqualified his run.
"Just when you think you got these cars figured out and know how to take them where you want to go, they go where they want to go," Pedregon said. "I just tried to get it to 1,000 feet."
The leaders' struggles left the door open for nitro coupe rookie Melanie Troxel, who took the top spot with 4.105 run at 304.25 mph.
Troxel also made it known who she hopes wins the championship.
"I hope I can race Cruz in the first round and take him out and get the title for Tim Wilkerson. "You just want to see Tim win it, because he's been so conistent all year. But Cruz is hot right now, and that's what you have to do in this new format."

JR Todd talks to the media after remaining at No. 1 in Top Fuel on Friday.

JR Todd continued to hold on to the top spot in Top Fuel, and six-time champion Tony Schumacher, winner of 10 of the past 11 events, smoked the tires again, and is a dismal 20th with a less-than-stellar time of 5.132.
Todd, who is first with the 3.851 he ran Thursday, is not buying it.
"That doesn't mean anything," Todd said. "It's pretty hot out there, and I'm sure they are going for it. They have (the title) wrapped up, so why wouldn't they go for it?
"There's still tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening, so never count out Alan Johnson and Tony Schumacher out. I've seen that show before. As soon as you count them out, they come back and bite you."

Jason Line talks to the media after qualifying No. 1 in Pro Stock on Friday.

Jason Line, who won a series title two years ago, zoomed to the top of the qualifying charts with a 6.658 at 208.39 mph. Dave Connolly is second with the 6.660 he ran Thursday.
"Really, the run didn't feel that great," Line said. "We ran OK (Thursday), and we kind of tweaked it a bit and running in the left lane helped. We've always struggled in the right lane - not that it's a bad lane, it just is for us."
Jeg Coughlin Jr., who needs to just qualify for this event to clinch his fourth championship and his second-consecutive title, is ninth after two sessions with a 6.678.

Eddie "The Kraw" Krawiec talks to the media Friday after holding on to the lead in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Eddie Krawiec continued to lead in Pro Stock Motorcycle, lowing his elapsed time to 7.013 seconds. Matt Smith, who leads Krawiec by 19 points coming into this event, continues to be second at 7.024.
"Our main focus is to just stay No. 1," Krawiec said. "I know we left a little bit on the table (Thursday). We ran really fast last year, so we're hoping to repeat that Saturday morning."
Krawiec also received a boost of confidence by having the quickest time of Friday's session.
"For us, it's just good for team momentum," Krawiec said. "We look at that and say, 'That's cool.' It lets us know we are making the right decisions and we're not leaving anything on the table."

NHRA announced today that the switch to a 1,000-foot drag strip for Top Fuel and Funny Cars will continue to be the rule, at least initially, during the 2009 season.
The release from the Glendora-based organization said NHRA will test various engine combinations and make a decision sometime during the season.
We will attempt to get comments from the Top Fuel and Funny Car top qualiliers later, but nitro coupe drivers Cruz Pedregon and Tim Wilkeson addressed the switch to 1,000 feet earlier this week.
"I look at it from the fans (point of view)," Pedregon said. "If you look at the fans, (the move to 1,000 feet) is not a good thing. Why? Because we've educated them for over 50 years about the numbers (at the quartermile). I think what we've done (with the switch) is a good thing for an immediate response, but I think NHRA has to do whatever they can to go back to the quartermile. I believe, in the long term, it will hurt the sport. I think fans matter, and the quartermile is what they expect.
"Look at NASCAR, they dealt with this issue, and they didn't make Talladega smaller, they didn't make Daytona smaller. If they would have done that, now you're messing with something you shouldn't play with. Do we need all that safety? Absolutely."
Wilkerson was more concerned with fixing the latter.
I thought the 1,000-foot idea was a great way to fix the problem," Wilkerson said. "I agree. I understand that. But where's the balance between the tradition and the safety. We can't knock off drivers. I don't want to see Cruz get hurt. He doesn't want to see Robert (Hight) or I hurt. It's not a good thing. It's a tremendous problem.
"I never believed it could happen (Scott Kalitta's death). I was blind to that. I got in that car every weekend thinking I was John Force, I'm superman, I'm not going to get hurt in this car. After that Kalitta deal, we went down there and stared at that, and thought, 'Wow, we are a bunch of dumb SOBs.' We need to fix this deal. But it's a tough deal. Everyone's opinion has validity. It's a problem, so how do you fix it?"

Hillary Will is trying to finish second in Top Fuel points this season.

Hi All,

11:26 a.m.: We are here in Pomona for the first day of qualifying at the NHRA Auto Club Finals.
We have a big day planned. We will have a video interview with Top Fuel driver Hillary Will, who has a chance to finish second in points, which would be the highest finish in the class by a woman since Shirley Muldowney won the championship during the early 1980s.
We will then have some live updates of the first qualifying session, which begins with Pro Stock Motorcycle at 1:30 p.m. The Funny Car session should be interesting, because with the tight points battle, positioning in the field is extremely important.

1:28: Pro Stock Motorcycles are on the line, nothing much to talk about yet. But we'll keep you updated for anything big that happens. Matt Smith comes into this session first in points, with Eddie Krawiec 19 markers back and Chris Rivas in third, 39 points behind.
By the way, we had a very good discussion with Hillary Will, who talked about her quest to finish second in the points, her reason for wanting to compete in drag racing and how her and her team have handled the pain of losing teammate and friend Scott Kalitta, who died from injuries suffered in a qualifying crash in June. I think you will enjoy the interviiew. It should be up later tonight.

1:40: Angelle Sampey, a former champion who comes here in fourth place, takes over the lead with a 7.02-second run. But leaders Smith and Krawiec have yet to run...let's see what happens....Krawiec takes the top qualifier award after the first day with 7.01. But Smith is right back of him at 7.024. This should be a fun weekend. Let's see if Funny Car can match it.

1:47: Pro Stock is up next, but not nearly the supsense. Jeg Coughlin, who won the title last year, needs just to qualify for this event to clinch his fourth championship.

2:19: Dave Connolly takes the top qualifying spot in Pro Stock, running the devil's time of 6.660. Coughlin is eighth with a 6.678. Barring a miracle, the championship appears to be his.

2:35: Gary Scelzi and Del Worsham are on the starting line. This is kind of an end of an era for both this weekend. Scezli, a four-time champion, is stepping out of the driver's seat after this race to concentrate on his family business, while Worsham is parking his family team to drive a nitro coupe for Alan Johnson's new team. Worsham stumbles to a 4.21, while Scelzi takes the quick time for now with a 4.12.

2:41: PSM top qualifier Eddie Krawiec visits the media center to dicuss his run, and he talks about how important it is to take the No. 1 spot. If he loses two points in qualifying to Smith, he would have to go two rounds further than Smith on race day. If he can finish ahead of Smith on the qualifying charts, he would just have to advance one round further.
"I can drop that point, because it could put it out of hands," Krawiec said. "We have to continue to stay ahead of him. Our main goal is to continue to stay focused and at the end of the weekend be in the winner's circle holding the Wally."

2:46: Connolly drops by after taking the top spot in Pro Stock. Connolly missed the first five races, but worked his way into the top 10 and is in position to finish as high as No. 2.
"Jeggie looks like he's going to clinch," Connolly said. "But we have shot to finish second, and for the season we've been through, would be a great way to end the season."

2:55: Oh, this is going to be interesting. Mike Neff takes the top spot in Funny Car with a 4:102. Tony Pedregon, who trails by 62 points, and Robert Hight, who is in third 39 points back. Both run 412s and into the top half of the field. Points leader Cruz Pedregon slumps down the track and is 15th with a 4.77, while No. 2 Wilkerson is eighth at 4.15. Tony Pedregon is third, meaning if the eliminations field was set today, he would move to within 58 points, or three rounds of his brother. Hight, who is fourth, stayed with in two rounds.

3:39: Neff drops by the media center and says its all about Robert Hight for the Force Team.
"We want to get all four of our guys in the top five," said Neff, who is seeking his first victory. "We need Robert to get up there. He's our shot at the championship, so we have to get up there to be able to knock this guys off for him.
"We want to have all our cars running good, so we can have a good chance to eliminate these guys who are challenging Robert."
3:49: JR Todd, whose won here before, takes the provisional top spot in Top Fuel, running a 3.851, with his Lucas Oil teammate Morgan Lucas in second at 3.586.
Hillary Will is third at 3.86. Tony Schumacher, who clinched his sixth championship two weeks ago in Las Vegas and has won 10 of the past 11 races, smoked the tires before half track and is 18th at 6.449.
"This is how we planned it," Todd said. "The two cars are set to run the same, and you can't get much closer than (Nos. 1-2). That was great run for us. We've been struggling all year, so to come out of the box and make a good strong run is great. I don't know if that's going to hold, but it will keep us in the show, and that's what matters - to play on Sunday."
Todd also said the performance wasn't as good as he was expecting. But he also said he's not going to give it back.
"I didn't expect it. It kind of got out of the groove down track, but we'll tear it down, and come back ready for tomorrow."
Todd, though, doesn't plan on staying in SoCal long after Sunday's race.
"I used to dream of coming out here," he said. "But after coming out here for a few races, I hate this place. There's no way I'd live out here. It's fun to race here, the weather, the fans are great and the race track is awesome. I love coming here to race, but that's about it."
That's it for today. I'm told we should have the Hillary Will video up sometime tonight, along with video interviews of the top qualifiers from all four pro classes.
And here they are:

Tim Wilkerson, above, is one of three drivers who have a solid shot at winning the Funny Car title this weekend. The others are Cruz Pedregon and Robert Hight.

What is it about the NHRA Funny Car class that causes another down-to-the wire finish?
This will be the fourth time in four seasons that the nitro coupes will decide their season title at Pomona. Part of the reason is the NHRA's playoff - the Countdown to One, but two years before NHRA deciding on a NASCAR copycat formula to decide its champion, the floppers brought excitement to the season-ending Auto Club Finals at Fairplex.
NHRA invited members of the media to lunch to talk to the top three Funny Car competitors coming into this weekend, and all three - leader Cruz Pedregon, second-place Tim Wilkerson and No. 3 Robert Hight - made it clear why, and the answer was simple and to the point.

Cruz Pedregon took a big step toward the Funny Car title Sunday in Las Vegas.

The late "Flamin" Frank Pedregon, a hall of fame racer who competed during the 1960s, used to sell t-shirts that read, "Pedregon Racing: Built on good 'ol Mexican Parts."
Those pieces continue to work for the Pedregons.
Last season, they carried his youngest son, Tony, to the Funny Car title, and Sunday older brother Cruz took his turn, winning the ACDelco Nationals in Las Vegas and will come to the season-ending Auto Club of Southern California Finals at Fairplex in two weeks with the points lead.
He beat John Force Racing entry Robert Hight in the final.
"I (hardly slept) at all last night," Cruz Pedregon said. "I went up there and just tried to maintain my emotions (during the final round against Hight). It seems like every round was like a championship round. We got the win the against Robert. It was a good race. I was afraid I might see the Dodger Blue of his (Hight's) fender. I was praying for the win light to come on because that was a tough race."
Pedregon's win sets up quite a final event in two weeks. He leads with 2,449 points, with Tim Wilkerson 12 markers off the lead followed by Hight, who is 39 back, Tony Pedregon, who is 62 behind, and Jack Beckman, who trails by 64.