One week ago, Ashley Force lost in the final round to Tony Pedregon in the Route 66 Nationals. That race was over early. This week, Force ran Pedregon right to the line but still couldn't move her Ford past Pedregon's Chevrolet.

“I never thought I would be afraid of a girl,” Pedregon said, a smile on his face. “I think that little bit of fear, the fear of losing, the fear of failure, was in the back of my head. I knew we had a good race car. I just knew that Dickie (Venables) was making a lot of adjustments going into that final. I had that feeling that this was going to be a close race. Anytime we feel threatened we try to get any advantage that we can.”

Pedregon got an immediate advantage off the line with a strong .068 reaction time to Force Hood's relatively slow .125 to take his second win of the season, 42nd in 71 final round appearances and claimed the top spot in the point standings, pushing former point leader, Ron Capps, to third behind Force Hood.

One week ago, Ashley Force lost in the final round to Tony Pedregon in the Route 66 Nationals. That race was over early. This week, Force ran Pedregon right to the line but still couldn't move her Ford past Pedregon's Chevrolet.

“I never thought I would be afraid of a girl,” Pedregon said, a smile on his face. “I think that little bit of fear, the fear of losing, the fear of failure, was in the back of my head. I knew we had a good race car. I just knew that Dickie (Venables) was making a lot of adjustments going into that final. I had that feeling that this was going to be a close race. Anytime we feel threatened we try to get any advantage that we can.”

Pedregon got an immediate advantage off the line with a strong .068 reaction time to Force Hood's relatively slow .125 to take his second win of the season, 42nd in 71 final round appearances and claimed the top spot in the point standings, pushing former point leader, Ron Capps, to third behind Force Hood.

Force nearly made up the lost time with an extremely strong, 4.219 seconds, 272.72 mph to Pedregon's fading 4.246, 260.56.  The margin of victory a narrow .030 seconds, or just a bit more than half of Pedregon's hole shot advantage.

After making the “afraid of the girl” comment Pedregon was quick to set the record straight. His fear really was not about racing a girl.

“Hey, Ashley she is more than just a pretty girl,” Pedregon said. “I've made some comments before that she gets a lot of media just because she's female, and she does. But, she deserves it because she does a good job in the seat. It's no accident you're first or second in the points. I think sometimes as competitors we have the tendency to try to look at our competitors as the enemy. That's not what it's about.

“It was a heck of a final round. I knew she was going to be out there. I heard her for awhile. My car started revving up; it was spinning the tires because we were a little aggressive. We'd come this far, we weren't going to detune it. I think they had the same problem.

“I know I could feel the g's falling off. I could see the finish line. If it would have been 1320 feet I would have been in big trouble.”

The two competitors were forced to wait through a delay as track officials reset the sand trap fences and water barrels after two alcohol funny cars went into the trap, consecutively.

Pedregon, already comfortable with the run off, spent the time watching a little television.

“When I got here I went to look to the shutdown area and it was a big improvement and it's a lot like what we have seen at other tracks. I went to the end of the track and turned around and made a quick u-turn because that is all I needed to see. I did ask if they were okay. They said it was. So, I watched the NASCAR race, just trying to pass a little time.” 

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