Tue, 28 Oct 2003, 10:39 PM Congratulations Tony!!

By Bob Frey Photo by:

Tony Pedregon

Well it’s finally over and Tony Pedregon is the 2003 POWERade Funny Car champion. With his 138 point lead on Whit Bazemore with only one race to go, Tony could skip the last race, Whit could win it and set the national record, get the maximum 138 points and still finish second. Did you know that, in the case of a tie, the first tie breaker in the rules is the “head to head” meetings between the two drivers for the previous year? And since Tony dominated their meetings this year (5–2) he is the champion. But Tony did more than just beat up on Whit this year, he also had a winning record against John Force, Gary Densham, Gary Scelzi and Scotty Cannon, and since that covers all of his team and Whit’s, it’s easy to see why he is the champ. Did you  know that Tony ran off a rather impressive 19- 4 mark against those five drivers this year? When you beat the best in the class that soundly it’s almost a mortal lock that you’ll be the champion. Besides those impressive round numbers did you know that Tony’s win in Las Vegas was his eighth this year in as many final round appearances? Now that’s total domination the way that very few drivers have done it in the money rounds on the NHRA tour. Eight for eight…not bad, huh? Tony also won both Las Vegas races and he beat Whit Bazemore both times in the final round. While their times weren’t spectacular this week I think you’ll admit that the final round battle was about as exciting as you can get and it gave the fans in Vegas who saw it something to talk about for a long, long while. Tony Pedregon, 2003 POWERade champion…it has a nice ring to it. Now all we need to do is find out what Tony is going to do next year. John Force’s crew member, and John Medlen’s son, Eric, tested the car in Las Vegas on Monday (if you can read anything into that) while Tony was very non-committal at the post race press conference about his plans. I will tell you this, that by the Tuesday after the last race of the season you’ll know where Tony is going and you may not know before that. His brother, Cruz, did tell me in Las Vegas that “one of my brothers will be driving my second car next year.” He didn’t tell me which one!!....Scotty Cannon is a free agent now so I wonder if his name will surface as a potential driver for one of John’s cars? Why not, everyone else with a license has been mentioned and a whole bunch of folks without a license have been, too….like Eric. Not that that won’t change in the future but it will be interesting to see who lands the job or jobs at John Force Racing….Terry Haddock and Keith Jackson both deserve props for their outings this past weekend, especially Keith who won the second round of his career when he beat Gary Densham in the first round. Keith was one of a handful of drivers who recorded their best times ever and his 4.950 is a sure sign of progress for the Colorado team. Nice job.

Kenny Bernstein

Kenny Bernstein had another marvelous weekend and he now has won three of the last four events on tour, and while not quite as dramatic as the Funny Car final, his last round match with Tony Schumacher was a good one. Did you know that Kenny’s final round appearance tied him with Pat Austin on the all-time list? Both of those great champions have been to 117 final rounds, which places them fourth behind John Force (168), Warren Johnson (142) and Bob Glidden (122). Kenny got the win when the Army car broke at about half-track which means that the “Sarge” had to be content leaving Vegas with a near slam, that is, he was the number one qualifier, he set low elapsed time and top speed and finished as the runner-up. As strong as that car has been running this year, did you know that this is only the second time that Tony has set top speed of the meet this year? He did it in Maple Grove and now in Las Vegas, while Doug Kalitta has done it nine times this year. Among the other big speed guys are Larry Dixon with six and Brandon Bernstein with three…..With his three final rounds in the last four races Kenny Bernstein has jumped all the way up to seventh place in the points and if you add in Brandon’s total from the first eight races then the Bernstein family would have a grand total of 1,627 points and they would be in second place. Not bad, huh? By the way, if I may throw in a plug here, I just got the new Brandon Bernstein 1/24^th die cast from the folks at Professional Motorsports Collectibles (PMC) and it’s amazing. The detail is great, the quantity (1,008) is small enough to make it a true “collectible” and the little extras that they toss in are really neat, like the tire covers that came in this one. If you’re a collector, check them out and look for the Greg Anderson model to come out real soon. Hey, I like folks who do things to promote the sport and that’s what PMC is doing with their line of cars. Now, where was I?...Did you see where a panel of 39 sports writers and broadcasters will select the NHRA Rookie of the Year? It’s between Brandon and David Baca and the discussions that I’ve had about it have been very heated. Either you think that Brandon did enough in his eight races to earn the honor or you don’t. Either you think that David deserves credit for his fine season and running the entire year or you don’t. It should be interesting and please, voters, please, no ties!! Take a stand and place your vote…..With Rhonda Hartman-Smith and Paul Romine both going out in the first round in Vegas the final top ten spots are pretty secure. Paul had a chance to make a move into the elite group but it looks like he’ll just run out of time. With a 68 point deficit and one race to go he may not be able to do it but Paul and the “Carrier Boyz Racing” team have done wonders over the last half-dozen races. Did you know that Paul made the fastest run of his career this weekend in Las Vegas? Give Jimmy Walsh and the crew a lot of credit and look for that team to be in the top ten next year.

Anderson vs Johnson

If you watched the television show from Las Vegas you saw a graphic display of why the Pro Stock field should be worried about Greg Anderson next year. The blimp shot that they had of the final round was amazing and it showed how Greg simply ran down the second best car in the class in that final round. With Kurt Johnson getting a head start, thanks to his better reaction time (.035 - .069), it looked like Greg was in big trouble. Well, he wasn’t and he caught and passed Kurt by the thousand-foot mark and won his eleventh race of the year going away. KJ has had a great year, it’s just that Greg has had a better one. Did you know that Kurt’s point’s total right now would have been enough to win the championship in either of the past two years?...Now all that remains for Mr. Anderson to do is win in Pomona and set the single season record for wins in the Pro Stock class. Greg has tied Darrell Alderman for the most wins in a year and he can hold the record all by himself if he wins in Pomona and it looks like the only one who can stop him now is, well, himself. Did you know that Greg now has been the #1 qualifier thirteen times (the record is 15 in one year), he has set low elapsed time a dozen times and his Pontiac has set the top speed at an amazing fourteen races and he has already broken the single-season record for round wins in the Pro Stock class with 63 and he has a race to go? Now I ask you, who’s going to beat that? Did you know that Greg could set the record for the most round wins in any professional class at Pomona? If he wins two rounds he’ll tie John Force’s mark from 1996 while three will establish a new record. As strong as he is it makes you wonder why anyone would want to build a new Pro Stock car, but they are building them, in fact, watch for an announcement soon about a second car from a certain “unpleasant” Pro Stock legend’s shop as well as one from a guy who looks really good in boots. You figure it out.

The Pro Stock Bike point’s chase is virtually over but it wasn’t easy for Geno Scali. Geno, who could have locked up the title in Vegas, fouled in the second round and lost to Mike Berry and that gave Angelle Savoie new life. Still, with a 117 point edge over the now second place Angelle, all Geno has to do is show up, qualify anywhere in the field and the title is his….The point’s battle further down the line is interesting, however, with GT Tonglet hanging on to tenth place (597), while Karen Stoffer (595) and Michael Phillips (541) both have a shot at making it to the big stage on Monday night. Should be interesting…..Steve Johnson had had a tough year and he won’t be on the stage on Monday night. Did you know that this will be the first time since 1994 that Steve hasn’t finished in the top ten? That’s a streak that any driver or rider should be proud of and look for Steve to bounce back in ’04.

Billy Leber

The sportsman drivers made some news in Las Vegas with Billy Leber going back-to-back twice this weekend. First, he won the AC Delco Nationals for the second consecutive year and he did it in two different classes, Super Stock this year and Super Gas in 2002. Then he made it two straight wins in Super Stock at national events and that puts him in rather select company. Anytime you can get your name mentioned with the likes of Dan Fletcher, Jimmy DeFrank and Edmond Richardson you’re doing something. Now if only Billy could “three-peat” in Pomona….Ed Cooper won Super Comp in Vegas and that was his first win in eighteen years as he ends the 6^th longest drought in NHRA history. The last time the Colorado native visited the winner’s circle was in Pomona in 1985 at the World Finals when he beat Mike Smolios in the final round. And just what was so unusual about that S/C final? Well, did you know that Ed won the ’85 race in a roadster while Mike, the runner-up, was driving a full bodied Oldsmobile? And who else won in Pomona in 1985 when Ed did? Of course, it was Kenny Bernstein who also won this weekend. What are the odds? And what are the odds that Dean Carter can win the Competition Eliminator title this year? Well, after his big win in Las Vegas over the toughest Comp field in history (a -.523 to get in) Dean has put himself in position to do just that. A semi-final appearance will make it possible this weekend and since that little dragster loves the altitude tracks, don’t bet against it happening. Of course in Las Vegas, you shouldn’t bet against anything happening.