Happy ending to Las Vegas fairy tale

LAS VEGAS - The ingredients were all there for a great story: the man who would be champ, needing a win against a big rival to clinch his first career title on a big stage.

For Tony Pedregon, the conclusion to the fairy tale was a happy one on Sunday.

Pedregon clinched his first career NHRA championship by holding off rival Whit Bazemore in a wild Funny Car finale at the AC Delco Las Vegas Nationals, edging Bazemore to the line by less than a foot.

The win gave Pedregon a 138-point lead over Bazemore heading into the NHRA Finals on Nov. 7-9; that total is equal to the exact maximum number of points available at a national event. The win Sunday technically clinched at least a tie for the flopper title, but Pedregon holds the first tiebreaker with eight wins to Bazemore's three.

Pedregon's win knocked car owner John Force from the top of the Funny Car mountain after 10 straight seasons. Pedregon joins brother Cruz Pedregon (1992) as the only other drivers other than Force to win the Funny Car title since 1989. Still, a Force car has now claimed every flopper title since '92.

"Tonight reminded me a lot about Cruz's title," Pedregon said. "A tight race going down to the next-to-last race of the year."

This is the second straight season that Pedregon has been involved in a close title fight, losing last year to Force on a hole-shot in the semifinals of the season finale.

"It's a little ironic that it went down to the wire, just like last year," Pedregon said. "I never let losing last year get me down, because I knew that I'd done some good things to get us that far."

The final was a wild affair, with Bazemore jumping off the line just before Pedregon. However, Pedregon pulled out to a short lead by the 300-foot mark, which quickly evaporated when he began to smoke the tires just after half-track. But the race was far from over, as Bazemore smoked his tires a half-second later, setting up a pedaling duel between the two drivers for the final 400 feet.

In the end, It was Pedregon's feet who won out, with the Castrol Ford edging the Matco Tools Dodge at the line to salt away the series title.

"We did almost everything that we had to do," Bazemore said. "We did the best we could. (Pedregon) deserves it. He's a very good driver and we've got a lot of respect for that team."

Pedregon gave a lot of credit to Cruz, the middle of the three racing Pedregon brothers (eldest brother Frank Jr. lost to Bazemore in the semifinals.)

"I'm glad he's here; Without him, this would just be a trophy," Tony said of Cruz who didn't qualify for the event after suffering an explosion during Saturday qualifying. Cruz was on hand, resting in Tony's motorhome and, as Tony put it, "ready to celebrate with the family tonight."

Pedregon reached the finals by knocking out Bazemore's Schumacher Racing teammate Gary Scelzi, while Ron Capps fell in the first round to Frank Pedregon.

There wasn't a fairy-tale ending in Nevada for another Tony, this time being Tony Schumacher in the Top Fuel ranks. The US Army dragster, tuned by Santa Maria's Alan Johnson, fell in the finals to a broken blower belt, allowing Kenny Bernstein to pull away for his third win in the last four events.

"I don't know if I'm getting better with age, like wine," said the 59-year-old Bernstein. "Maybe closer to aged Budweiser."

The duo had combined to win the last six events between them, each scoring three "Wally" trophies along the way.

"Those guys had established themselves as the team to beat this weekend," Bernstein said of the Schumacher team. "Going into the final, you never know if you're going to win or not, so all you can do is try to do the best you can."

Adding to the Capps disappointment with Don Prudhomme's Snake Racing, two-time and current Top Fuel champ Larry Dixon was knocked out in the first round by two-time defending IHRA champ Clay Millican.

Greg Anderson, the dominant figure of the Pro Stock scene in 2003, continued his winning ways by edging Kurt Johnson at the line by less than six inches, giving Anderson his 11th win of the year. That mark tied Darrell Alderman's 1991 mark for most Pro Stock wins in a season. It also gave Anderson 63 round wins on the year, handing him for the Pro Stock mark and putting him within three of Force's NHRA record of 65, set in 1996; Anderson also tied Alderman and Jeg Coughlin Jr. (2000) for the most final-round appearances in a season for Pro Stock, with 14.

"We've had a lot of great stories to tell this year," Anderson said. "It's just great that things keep getting better and better. I don't know if I deserve this much great fortune.

Craig Treble stayed on top in Pro Stock Bike, holding off Angelle Savoie in the finals to claim his first win of the year, and his third career victory.

The weekend's theme of famed musical acts continued on Sunday. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS were on hand as co-grand marshals for the event, while 1950s rocker Chubby Checker was on hand during mid-day action.

The day's events even included a wedding, held behind the starting line before the pre-finals ceremonies.

October 27, 2003