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PEDREGON,
KALITTA AND COUGHLIN WIN AT ROUTE 66 RACEWAY
JOLIET, Ill. - Tony Pedregon raced to his third
consecutive NHRA Funny Car victory and sixth of
the season Sunday at the second annual Craftsman
75th Anniversary Nationals presented
by Racing Champions at Route 66 Raceway.
Doug Kalitta and Jeg Coughlin also were winners
in their respective categories at the $1.9
million race, the 20th of 23 events
in the NHRA POWERADE Drag Racing Series.
Pedregon, who won in consecutive weeks at
Reading, Pa. and Memphis, Tenn., clocked a run
of 4.924 seconds at 310.84 mph in his Castrol
Syntec Ford Mustang to take the victory over a
tire-smoking Ron Capps. With the victory,
Pedregon moved within 18 points of Funny Car
points leader John Force, who is bidding for his
10th consecutive and 12th
overall NHRA championship.
"I think John (Force) understands that drag
racing isn't just about one team," said
Pedregon, who's sixth victory tied Force for the
most Funny Car victories this season.
"What makes this such a great sport is the
quality of racing. He's not like other
owners. He has to get in the car to
compete. I'm sure he feels the heat, but I
hope he doesn't feel too much because John's the
type of guy that works better under the gun.
"It's far from over, I understand that.
I'm not going to make the same mistake that I've
seen a lot of other drivers make when they've
had a little success. We're going to go to
the next event and try to repeat. It
starts in qualifying and then you worry about
Sunday."
Pedregon, who won from the No. 1 qualifying
spot, defeated Frank Pedregon, Del Worsham and
Scotty Cannon en route to the victory.
Pedregon's 18-point deficit is the closest any
competitor has been to Force this late into the
season since Cruz Pedregon led Force by 43
points in 1992 with three events to go.
Kalitta used a consistent tune-up to capture his
second win in three events in the Top Fuel
category. Kalitta blasted his Mac Tools
dragster to a run of 4.594 at 323.27 to defeat
Darrell Russell who lost traction and slowed to
a performance of 7.331 at 120.74. The
victory was the 10th of Kalitta's
career.
"What a great place to get my 10th
victory," said Kalitta. "This is
one the closest tracks to our home state
(Michigan). So, it's nice to get a win
close to home. This is probably the nicest
facility we race at.
"At the beginning of the year we couldn't
get a break. We seem to have some
consistency and we're getting a break here and
there and things are starting to work for
us."
Kalitta, who recorded top speed of the event at
326.32 mph, knocked off Jim Cavalieri, Jim Head
and low qualifier Doug Herbert before defeating
Russell in the final round.
Kalitta's victory moved him from sixth to fourth
in the Top Fuel points standings. Points
leader Larry Dixon was defeated in the second
round of eliminations by Cory McClenathan, but
extended his points lead to 127 ahead of Kenny
Bernstein who lost in the opening round for the
second time this season.
Coughlin used a run of 6.875 at 200.89 behind
the wheel of his Jeg's Mail Order Chevrolet
Cavalier to knock off Ron Krisher's Eagle One
Cavalier that recorded a run of 6.896 at 200.02.
The victory, Coughlin's sixth of the season,
moved him into third place on the all-time Pro
Stock win list with 29 career victories. The win
also moved Coughlin into first place in the
points chase.
"It's far from over, but what a weekend for
us," said Coughlin. "Jim (Yates)
going out in the first round kind of opened the
door for us. We were able to pull the win
off and go a couple of rounds into the
lead."
Coughlin, who captured his sixth victory in nine
events, used a starting-line advantage to hold
off Warren Johnson in the opening round.
He then went on to defeat Tom Martino and Kurt
Johnson.
Coughlin, who entered the event trailing Jim
Yates by 12 points, now leads Yates by 65 points
and third place Greg Anderson by 132 points.
JOLIET, Ill. -- Final finish order (1-16) for
professional categories at the second annual
Craftsman 75th Anniversary NHRA Nationals at
Route 66 Raceway. The $1.9 million race is
the 20th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series.
TOP FUEL:
1. Doug Kalitta; 2. Darrell Russell;
3. Cory McClenathan; 4. Doug
Herbert; 5. Larry Dixon; 6. Rhonda
Hartman-Smith; 7. Joe Hartley; 8.
Jim Head; 9. Jim Cavalieri; 10.
Mitch King; 11. Kenny Bernstein; 12.
John Smith; 13. Tony Schumacher; 14.
Andrew Cowin; 15. Luigi Novelli; 16.
David Grubnic.
FUNNY CAR:
1. Tony Pedregon, Ford Mustang; 2.
Ron Capps, Chevy Camaro; 3. Scotty Cannon,
Pontiac Firebird; 4. Tommy Johnson Jr.,
Camaro; 5. John Force, Mustang; 6.
Bob Bode, Firebird; 7. Del Worsham,
Firebird; 8. Bob Gilbertson, Firebird; 9.
Frank Pedregon, Firebird; 10. Todd Paton,
Firebird; 11. Whit Bazemore, Firebird; 12.
Johnny Gray, Firebird; 13. Dean Skuza,
Dodge Stratus R/T; 14. Bruce Sarver,
Toyota Celica; 15. Tim Wilkerson,
Firebird; 16. Gary Densham, Mustang.
PRO STOCK:
1. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cavalier; 2.
Ron Krisher, Cavalier; 3. Kurt Johnson,
Cavalier; 4. Tom Hammonds, Cavalier; 5.
Tom Martino, Pontiac Grand Am; 6. Gene
Wilson, Dodge Neon R/T; 7. Brad Jeter,
Cavalier; 8. Greg Anderson, Cavalier; 9.
Jim Yates, Grand Am; 10. Allen Johnson,
Neon R/T; 11. Warren Johnson, Grand Am;
12. Robert Patrick, Ford Mustang; 13.
John Geyer, Neon R/T; 14. Mark Whisnant,
Cavalier; 15. Mark Osborne, Grand Am; 16.
Greg Stanfield, Neon R/T.
The next NHRA
POWERADE Drag Racing Series event is the 17th
annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals, Oct. 10-13, in
Ennis, Texas. |
