Thu, 18 Oct 2007, 05:02 PM Countdown to 1 Funny Car Teleconference

Courtesy of NHRA Communications Photo copyright 2007 NHRA

TONY PEDREGON   3,030 points
GARY SCELZI     3,020
ROBERT HIGHT    3,010
RON CAPPS       3,000 

Today's teleconference which will include the finalists who have advanced to the Countdown to 1, the two-race championship that will determine the 2007 POWERade Series World Championships.

The championship races will be held on back-to-back weekends beginning with the AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals October 26th through the 28th at the strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The teams will then make the short trip to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona where the championship will be decided November 1st through the 4th at the 43rd annual Auto Club Finals.

FUNNY CAR

I'd like to introduce the Funny Car drivers. I'll begin with Tony Pedregon, who enters the Countdown to 1 in first place with 3,030 points. Tony has three wins this year and a runner-up.

Tony, I'd ask all of you to give a very brief statement first before we open up to questions on the Countdown to 1.

Tony Pedregon

TONY PEDREGON: My statement would be that we're here testing. We're in some very good company to be in the top four. It's a big achievement for me. I got my car set up and my trailer here at the track. I glanced over at Schumacher's small army of about 10 race car haulers. Right across the road is Force's. Pretty much looks like he has the whole block taken up. Then it's my rig.

Like I said, we're in good company. I think my team has worked hard and we're real privileged and pleased to be in the final four.

THE MODERATOR: Tony is one of the two drivers in the final four in Funny Car who won a championship previously, in 2003. The other former champion is Gary Scelzi, a four-time POWERade Series world champion.

Gary will enter in second place with 3,020 points. He leads the category with four wins, and two of those wins came in the Countdown.

Gary, opening statement on the Countdown to 1.

Gary Scelzi

GARY SCELZI: I had to get a box of Kleenex for Tony because he's trying to make us all feel sorry for him. Everybody knows how deadly Tony is. We're not feeling sorry for him at all.

We're doing the same thing. We know that these last two races are going to be big power races. It's going to be big power here in Vegas and big power in Pomona. Tony set the national record in Phoenix, Arizona.

Both of these facilities we're going to are better than Phoenix obviously. We need to come out here, make big numbers, we need to try some things, and then we need to go into Vegas with our guns a' blazin'. That's our plan.

(Crew chiefs)Todd (Okuhara) and Phil (Schuler) are working good together. We got Jack's car we're trying stuff on. Capps just made a great run. Shut off early. So things are good. It's going to be a war. NHRA wants fan excitement. I tell you what, they ought to see what they're doing to the drivers, they're making us a mess.

THE MODERATOR: Third place entering the Countdown is Robert Hight. He'll begin with 3,010 points. Robert has two wins and three runner-ups this year.

Robert, quick opening statement from you, please.

Robert Hight

ROBERT HIGHT: You know, when they announced the countdown I looked at it like, 'Man, it's going to be tough to make the top eight.' You look at all the cars that are out there this year, how good they are, how many cars can win at any given race they go to. Now here we are the last four. Still to be a part of that four is very exciting for me.

I look at it, it's been a tough season for John Force Racing. Had John not had his accident, one of us would have probably been out of there. Could have been me. Another one was Eric Medlen. He probably would have been in this final four, too.

I am excited to be here. It's not going to be easy. We're on our way over here to test in Vegas. I'm excited that we're going to have Phil Burkhart testing John's car and we're trying to get Mike Neff his license. Lot of things going on at John Force Racing and the NHRA POWERade drag racing. I'm excited to be part of it.

THE MODERATOR: Ron Capps enters the Countdown to 1 with 3000 points. He qualified with his semifinal win at Richmond that got him into the Countdown to 1. Ron, you want to talk about that emotional weekend in Richmond and now your thoughts moving forward with a chance to win the championship.

Ron Capps

RON CAPPS: Well, it was kind of the epitome of the Countdown. We were barely hanging on. Of course, with Force being out, that put us fourth going into that weekend. It was an emotional weekend because we were fighting to get in, yet I had one teammate that was barely ahead of us (Jack Beckman), and then Scelzi was behind us.

As you know, Scelzi and I are pretty tight. I kind of wanted us both to get in. So we felt bad for Jack. But it's tough because we are teammates. We're like brothers. Yet you got to get up there and battle. It's almost like you want to try to even more so because it's your teammate.

It was an emotional weekend to get in. Gary had to remind me that Jack didn't get in at the other end. It was great TV. Got a lot of emails. A lot of fans loved the excitement. Some of them don't like -- they're a little bit old school and they don't like the Countdown. I think it's every bit of what NHRA wanted.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you for joining us to be on the call. I'll open it up to questions.

Q. Robert, how does it feel not having John there on the team right now? Do you kind of wish you had him going into the last couple races to be there, you could lean on him a little bit to get some advice?

Robert Hight

ROBERT HIGHT: Well, John is going to be at the last two races. He won't be competing, but he will be there. He's having his bus revamped right now so he can be out there and do his physical therapy on the road. As long as he's out of that hospital, there's no way you could keep him out of that last two races.

But trust me, I do want him there because he's won 14 championships. If you look at it, I'm kind of at a disadvantage here. I'm the new guy. Capps has been down to the wire a lot. Tony has won championships, so has Scelzi.

Having John in my back pocket, having won 14 championships, Austin Coil, all these guys, they really help me and take the pressure off. Mostly just go out there and make it run just like it's every other run. First, I've got to qualify. That's a big deal. A lot of Funny Cars haven't qualified this year.

In years past if you didn't qualify at a race you wouldn't even be in contention for a championship late in the year. With the way the Countdown is and everybody not qualifying, this whole season has been a little strange.

Q. Ron and Robert, when you have a couple of former champions in this field, and of course the knowledge that John is going to come back at some point, do you wonder whether this is the time to get a championship now because that window might never come up again, or do you feel the field is just such that you're to get your sooner or later?

Ron Capps

RON CAPPS: I think you've been seasoned when you've been through those situations. I know Robert, you tend to forget he was just a rookie not too long ago, and he's done everything that a veteran would do under crunch situations. I kind of don't even take that as Robert being inexperienced. I put him right there with Scelzi, anybody else, in those pressure situations.

Gary's obviously been down that road. You know he's not a guy that's going to make a mistake as a driver. So when you throw everything in there, Tony, I remember watching him clinch the championship in Vegas.

I don't know. It's going to be unique because we went down to the wire in Pomona a few years ago. It's just that feeling you get, the huge butterflies in the morning. You got to kind of take those and use them to your advantage. Anything can happen.

I guess on the Internet they said the top four right now in each category would still be the top four, maybe not in that position, but still the top four in points, which is cool. I just hope in the end the guy that won all the races at the beginning of the year, which would be us, would be the champion (laughter).

Gary Scelzi

You know, as far as the Funny Car class just on its own, I think it's just going to be a whole team that you kind of look at. I don't think you can take any of the four drivers and put them out and say this is what's going to happen or this guy might fold under pressure situations.

I think you've got -- no disrespect to any of the other teams -- I think you've got four of the best teams to duke it out for two races. It's already exciting.

Q. Robert, you mentioned earlier being in this select company. What are your thoughts going for this championship, taking advantage of this opportunity while it's there?

ROBERT HIGHT: I'm very excited about it. That's one thing I like about NHRA drag racing, is all four of us here in the final four are all friends. We're all good buddies. When you come up to the starting line, you want to win. One of the questions earlier is, is now a time to get this championship since John's out? Well, I've worked with John so many years and been on his team that I've never rooted against him, so I'm not going to start now.

Last year it was Capps and I and John fighting for the championship on the last day of the season. Obviously I wanted to finish, but next was John.

He's going to be back. He'll be tougher than ever, there's no doubt about that. But it's going to be fun. When this is all said and done we'll all still be friends. That's really what's cool about NHRA drag racing.

Tony Pedregon

Q. Tony, with regard to your mental approach going into these last two races, would it be your worst nightmare to be eliminated by someone that isn't in the Countdown in the early going? In other words, is it really your desire to be facing one of the other three countdown drivers when you get to the final round?

TONY PEDREGON: Well, I think that's a reality for all of us, that the focus is on the top four cars to have a chance to win the championship. But I think there's probably some pretty (ticked) off drivers that didn't make the final four that would love to, you know, make it so that they could become a spoiler.

You know, really in a sense, I think the final outcome is going to be a little different. But I really believe that going into these last two races, I mean, the approach for any of us that are in the top four, we can't discount the fact there are some other cars and some other teams. It's going to be business as usual.

Really you take away all of the pre-race and all the hype, I mean, I think the new points system has without question made it a lot more exciting. But I think for all of us that are in the top four, we've all got a lot of experience. We've all got very good teams and a lot of good backing. I really believe that we're all professionals. I bet when you get that helmet on, if you're thinking about some of those things, you're probably in the wrong place, and that's going to leave you vulnerable to mistakes.

I think before and after is probably when we're going to think about that. I think as individuals and as drivers, our focus is instinctively as drivers, we get in the car and we're competitive by nature. I think it makes it exciting for the fans and for TV that there will be other cars like Force's cars that are going to try to help influence the outcome for Robert, as is Beckman for his drivers.

There's Cruz. I've got Cruz. We've got to try to utilize him to the best we can. When it's all said and done, I really believe we're going to all race, we're going to race heads up, and I think that's what's going to make it exciting.

I hope I answered your question.

Q. Robert, with everything that you and your team have had to go through this year, what is the mood within the team right now? How would you characterize it? Is the attitude sort of that the new countdown format is just one more hurdle that we have to overcome?

ROBERT HIGHT: No, none of us have ever been against the Countdown or any of that. Actually I think the Countdown gives everybody a little chance to test throughout the year. It makes the first part of the season not quite so nervous. But the mood of our team definitely is different.

Our main motivator isn't with us. He's not over here testing. He wasn't with us at Richmond. When we started the year out with four cars, last race we were down to one, it's definitely taken a toll on us.

But we are still in this position, and we want to make the most out of it, not just about going out and doing whatever it takes to win, but also to make these cars safer and avoid some of the problems we've had throughout the year.

I believe we are still in this deal. I think we have a great shot at winning. I've got a lot of backing behind me, great sponsors. With the brain trust we have over here, if I do my job, I think we can be right with any of these guys at the end. That's what our goal is right now.

Q. Robert, being so close now coming down to the last couple races, are you starting to get a sense if you do pull off this championship it would really mean maybe a lot more to the team than the other 14 that John won? John said if you won one it would mean the most to him out of everything he's done.

ROBERT HIGHT: There's no doubt about it. You know, having overcome what we've gone through this year, if we could be lucky enough to win this championship, that would put kind of a good note on a bad year.

But I will say that it's not going to be easy. These other three guys out here, they're just as hungry. They've got great teams. It's definitely going to be exciting. But my biggest motivation is John gives all the money that we earn to all the teams and they split it up.

I think what's motivated him all these years is going out there and not screwing up. That's these guys' winter paychecks and bonus money, puts food on the table, all that stuff. That's the stuff that motivates John Force. That's what I want to learn and be able to do here because I don't want to have to look at all these 65, 70 employees and say I was the one that screwed it up.

A little pressure, but I'll have a great race car, and that takes a lot of the pressure off. Just go out there and make runs like I always have. John told me a couple weeks ago, Don't change the way you drive your race car. Go out there and do it just like any other run, test run, qualifying. You know, I think we have a shot.

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