2008 -- NHRA SEASON IN REVIEW, PART 2
CompetitionPlus.com attended 24 out of 24 NHRA POWERade
Championship Drag Racing events. Logging nearly 10,000 words per event,
we brought you the inside and outside of every event from February
until November. We brought you the chills, the spills, the inside
stories and the truths behind the numbers. For the next few days we
will recap the exciting 2008 championship tour in two parts. Part 2 recaps the final two phases of the championship countdown.
CompetitionPlus.com attended 24 out of 24 NHRA POWERade Championship Drag Racing events. Logging nearly 10,000 words per event, we brought you the inside and outside of every event from February until November. We brought you the chills, the spills, the inside stories and the truths behind the numbers. For the next few days we will recap the exciting 2008 championship tour in two parts. Part 2 recaps the final phase of the championship countdown.
#19 NHRA Carolinas Nationals - Charlotte, NC.
Tony Schumacher became the NHRA all-time Top Fuel wins leader Sunday at
the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway by racing to his
53rd career victory and moving past NHRA legend and longtime record
holder Joe Amato.
Jack Beckman, Justin Humphreys and Steve Johnson also were winners in
their respective categories at the first of six races in the NHRA
POWERade Series Countdown to 1, NHRA’s playoffs.
Schumacher powered his U.S. Army dragster to a final round performance
of 3.882 seconds at 317.64 mph to hold off Antron Brown, who finished
in 3.923 at 309.42 in his Matco Tools dragster. It was Schumacher’s
seventh straight victory and 12th of the year, 28th consecutive
eliminations round win and 14th final round appearance -- all NHRA
season records in his category.
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#20 NHRA O'Reilly Fallnationals - Dallas, Texas
J.R. Todd had a military salute for Tony Schumacher on Sunday, but it wasn’t the kind Schumacher’s used to.
In fact, for the first time in NHRA history the reigning NHRA POWERade
Series world champions were a stunning 0-4 in final rounds at the same
event, the O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas
Motorplex.
In Top Fuel, Todd brought back the same gesture he used at the top end
of the track in 2006, when he defeated the five-time U.S. Army-backed
world champion three times before team changes yielded a dry spell that
stretched a year and a half and ended with this win.
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#21 NHRA O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals - Memphis, Tn.
Top
Fuel pilot Tony Schumacher and Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson
strengthened their points leads as many Countdown contenders fell early
Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil.
Pro
Stock’s Mike Edwards and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Craig Treble joined
Schumacher and Wilkerson in the winner’s circle with three races
remaining in the Countdown to 1 playoffs.
Schumacher drove his
U.S. Army dragster past Countdown competitors Rod Fuller, Doug Kalitta,
Hillary Will and Doug Herbert en route to his 13th win of the season
and second since the playoffs began. Schumacher’s final-round pass of
3.880 seconds at 309.91 mph was strong enough to get past Herbert and
build his points lead to 166 on second-place Cory McClenathan.
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#22 NHRA Virginia Nationals - Richmond, VA.
Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) rounded out the No. 1 qualifiers at the 22nd of 24 NHRA POWERade Series races this season and the fourth race in the six-race NHRA Playoff, the Countdown to 1.
Pedregon entered the weekend 115 points behind Tim Wilkerson and he’ll go into Sunday with a 109-point deficit, essentially needing to win six more rounds (drivers earn 20 points for each round-win) than Wilkerson with just 12 rounds of racing left.
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#23 Las Vegas NHRA Nationals - Las Vegas, Nev.
Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon guided his car into the points lead with a win Sunday at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.
Top Fuel POWERade Series world champion Tony Schumacher, Pro Stock’s
Jeg Coughlin and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Chris Rivas joined Pedregon in
the winner’s circle at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with only
one race remaining in the Countdown to 1 playoffs.
Pedregon, driving his Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara, gained the
points lead by defeating Robert Hight. His 4.100 at 304.67 run was
strong enough to move him past Tim Wilkerson
and into the top spot in the point standings. The last time Pedregon
won a championship was 16 years ago in 1992. This is his second win of
the season and 25th of his career.
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#24 NHRA Auto Club Nationals - Pomona, CA.
Cruz
Pedregon earned his second NHRA Funny Car world championship title, and
first in 16 years, by racing to victory Sunday at the Auto Club NHRA
Finals in Southern California.
Meanwhile, Eddie Krawiec won his first POWERade Series crown in Pro
Stock Motorcycle, and did so without winning a race during the season.
He joins Rob Bruins, the 1979 Top Fuel champ, as the only drivers in
NHRA history to win a season title without earning an individual race
victory.
After Pedregon won his first round meeting against Jerry Toliver, he
secured his first title when his two closest challengers lost in the
first round. Season-long leader Tim Wilkerson fouled against John Force
and then Robert Hight lost to Pedregon's brother, Tony.
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