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.

Sunday started with the looming question of whether or not there would be any racing at all in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge
because of heavy clouds and intermittent sprinkles of rain at the
United Association NHRA SuperNationals, but after a delay of nearly an
hour to dry the racing surface and start racing, the sun burned off the
fog and the track conditions at Raceway Park ripened to a day that crew
chiefs and drivers only dream of. It will long be remembered as one of
the best days ever in Pro Modified competition.
 
Records fell nearly every lap down the track, and just when you thought
it couldn't get any better or quicker, it did. In the end, R2B2 Racing
driver Raymond Commisso came out on the very top - qualifying number
one, setting the world record for quickest-ever Pro Mod ET at 5.856
seconds, and ultimately winning the event in the quickest-ever
side-by-side race.

Not even torrential rains and muggy conditions could not deter the
drivers and crews racing at this weekend’s IHRA Sooner Nationals from
putting on an absolutely spectacular day of racing.

After a lengthy delay to start the morning, the action got back
underway during the mid-afternoon hours and it was nothing but blue
skies and great racing from then on as Tim Boychuk (Top Fuel), Kenny
Lang (Pro Modified) and Pete Berner (Elite Motorsports Pro Stock)
battled through the tricky conditions to record victories at the third
annual IHRA Sooner Nationals presented by Wolverine Boots and Academy
Sports and Outdoors Sunday evening at Tulsa Raceway Park.

Tony Pedregon picked up his second consecutive win of the season in
Funny Car at the 40th annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals at
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

Larry Dixon picked up his fifth win in Englishtown, while Jeg Coughlin and Craig Treble also win in their respective categories.

Pedregon powered his Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS to a 4.246-second run
at 260.56 to grab the win. It’s Pedregon’s second consecutive win of
the season, 42nd of his career and second win in Englishtown. Pedregon
also moved past points leader Ron Capps to take the top spot in the
Funny Car points standings with the win.

 “I never thought I’d be afraid of a girl,” said Pedregon, who faced
Ashley Force Hood in the final round. “Fear of losing was in the back
of my head. I knew we had a good race car. It ran good in the heat, and
it ran good with cloud cover. Before the final, I just knew that Dickie
[Venebles, crew chief] was making a lot of adjustments and I had a
feeling it would be a close race. I heard her for a while. My car was
revving up, spinning the tires. We got after it because we had to. I
could feel the G’s falling off, and I was worried. If the track was
1,320 feet, I’d be in big trouble. I didn’t get off throttle. I just
hung on. It was just enough. You don’t know how relieved I was to see
that win light.”

Unofficial point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories
following the IHRA Sooner Nationals at Tulsa Raceway Park, the fourth
of 10 events in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series -

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
40th annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge
Township Raceway Park, the 11th of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series -

Sunday's final results from the IHRA Sooner Nationals at Tulsa Raceway
Park. The race is the fourth of 10 in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing
Series:

Final round-by-round results from the IHRA Sooner Nationals at Tulsa
Raceway Park, the fourth of 10 events in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing
Series:

Final round-by-round results from the 40th annual U.A. NHRA
SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, the eleventh of 24
events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Sunday's final results from the 40th annual United Association NHRA
SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. The race is the
11th of 24 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series: