Nitro Dogs Racing

Tony Schumacher added another win to his historically dominant 2008 season by outrunning resurgent defending event champ “Hot Rod” Fuller in the Top Fuel final. Jeg Coughlin put together a wire-to-wire win in Pro Stock and all but mathematically sealed the fourth season title of his career. The Pro Stock Motorcycle title chase tightened significantly with Chris Rivas scoring a big win against second-place Eddie Krawiec in the final, and Rivas is now a mere 39 points behind leader Matt Smith.

Schumacher won his 15th event of the season to tie Greg Anderson’s single-season record. This was a hard-fought win for the U.S. Army team that culminated in a close final round with Fuller. The two drivers clearly had the best two cars Sunday, and neither disappointed in the money round as Schumacher ran a 3.806 at 314.53 mph to defeat a worthy 3.821 effort by Fuller and the Caterpillar team.

“I knew [crew chief] A.J. [Alan Johnson] was trying to run in the high .70s in the final,” said Schumacher, whose victory was the 56th of his career. ” ‘Hot Rod’ is running good, and I told myself before the final that I had to dig deep. Our cars were running so close that I was worried about getting beat on a holeshot.

“Every race we win gets harder and harder because the bar is set so high. Everybody I raced had good lights against me because they’re all trying hard. I can’t let my guard down against any of them. This is just a great win. We’ve had an outstanding season, and it would have been devastating if we didn’t close the deal at the last couple races.”

Johnson had Schumacher’s U.S. Army dragster mired in the 3.8-second range throughout eliminations. Schumacher took care of Joe Hartley in the first round with a 3.82, then fended off Clay Millican and Larry Dixon en route to the final round. The newly crowned 2008 NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world champ reached the final round for the 11th consecutive race, having advanced to the title round at every event in the 1,000-foot era.

Fuller had a strong car throughout qualifying and eliminations. The Rob Flynn-tuned Caterpillar rail got by Tim Boychuk in round one before making the quickest passes of the second round and semifinals with respective 3.813 and 3.821 laps against Hillary Will and teammate Antron Brown. The defending event champ’s performance moved him up to sixth in the points standings.

Pedregon and Robert Hight engaged in a Funny Car final round with a lot on the line. Pedregon would either take the points lead with a win or get bumped down to third in the standings with a loss. Hight was also fighting for his championship life. In a great side-by-side race, Pedregon cut an incredible .010 light and pulled away slightly in his Rahn Tobler-tuned Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara to score a meaningful win, 4.100 to 4.111.

“After [beating Jack Beckman] first round, I kind of thought that even if we lost to [

“I was worried about Robert in the final. They call that car the ‘Prock Rocket’ because it runs good, especially in these types of conditions when it’s cool and the racetrack is fast. I could hear him the whole way down the track in the final, and I was waiting for that Dodger-blue fender to stick out in front of me.”

Pedregon, who recently broke a 62-race winless drought with a win at the

After qualifying No. 1 Saturday, Hight continued to display the strength of the special-edition LA Dodgers/Auto Club Ford Mustang with runs of 4.082, 4.079, and 4.112 to advance to the final. He beat Tony Bartone in the opener before defeating teammate Mike Neff, who had helped Hight and other championship hopefuls tremendously by beating incoming points leader Tim Wilkerson in the opening round. Hight won a close one in the semi’s against Tony Pedregon, who had squeaked out a holeshot win against Ashley Force in round two.

Coughlin couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. The driver of the Jegs.com Pro Stocker watched his points lead grow as he kept going rounds and his championship rivals fell one by one. Coughlin faced Greg Stanfield in the final, which was decided on the starting line when Stanfield, whose only win against Coughlin (in the Dallas final this year) is his only Pro Stock win, red-lighted. Coughlin now has a commanding 123-point lead against Anderson and needs only to qualify in

“This definitely took a lot of pressure off our shoulders,” said Coughlin, who has 41 Pro Stock wins. “We couldn’t take anything for granted coming into this race, because Dave [Connolly] is very capable, and so are Kurt [Johnson] and Greg. We had a flawless race car with only one black eye on our scorecard with an aborted run in the third round of qualifying. This win really ices the cake for us.

“The second round against Dave was a do-or-die moment for both of us. We raced each other here last year when he was the favorite [for the championship], and we pulled off what was considered to be an upset. I knew we’d have to be up on the wheel, and we were.”

Coughlin had the car to beat all weekend, from an impressive qualifying performance to strong laps in eliminations in wins against Rickie Jones, Cagnazzi Racing teammate Connolly, and Allen Johnson. His triumph against Connolly in the second round was pivotal to his championship hopes as Connolly could have bitten into Coughlin’s lead with a good showing. Coughlin turned away the young driver with a game .014 light and a 6.710, low e.t. of eliminations.

Though Stanfield was only three races removed from his first Pro Stock win, he was a certified sleeper Sunday after a so-so qualifying performance. Stanfield beat Jason Line on a holeshot in the first round before unloading a strong 6.719 at 204.88 mph in the second round against a red-lighting Kurt Johnson. Stanfield, who has historically been a thorn in the sides of KB Racing teammates Line and Anderson, cruised to an easy victory in the semifinals when

With much deserved attention going to Smith and Krawiec in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points battle prior to this event, Rivas now finds himself with a very good shot at glory after scoring his third win of the season. The rider of the Drag Specialties S&S Buell V-Twin cut a great .012 light in the final and ran a 7.052 at 185.79 mph to secure a win against a very late Krawiec, who aborted his run on the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.

“I was pretty relaxed on the bike all weekend,” said Rivas, who also won at the Chicago and Dallas events this season. “I didn’t know I red-lighted in the semifinals; I got a lucky break that Andrew [Hines] red-lighted first. Eddie has been trying real hard to get his first win, and there was a small part of me that was almost rooting for him.

“I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be on a team like this. There is nothing we are really doing that is extraordinary. The guys just work real hard on the bike and don’t make mistakes. This bike never has mechanical issues because Ken Johnson is so flawless and meticulous in preparing it. I feel like we are having a blessed season.”

Rivas was steady and consistent to advance to the final round. He ran a 7.044 in the first round to overcome a perfect light by Michael Phillips. He beat Chip Ellis in the second round with a quick .015 light and a 7.052 to Ellis’ 7.150. Rivas was too quick in the semifinals with a -.015 light, but Hines left three-thousandths sooner to give Rivas a red-light win.

Krawiec had an excellent day of riding to advance to the final round. After defeating Shawn Gann in the opening round, he cut .003 and .005 lights in respective wins against Mike Berry and Smith. The latter opponent was defeated with heavy championship implications on the line by virtue of a holeshot, 7.042 to 7.039, despite cutting a quick .022 light. In his top-end interview after the second round, the hungry championship contender showed his killer instinct by saying that he wanted Smith, who had yet to win his round, in the semi’s. Krawiec is now 19 points behind Smith and could become the first Pro racer to win a season title without winning a national event since Rob Bruins did so in Top Fuel in 1979.

Newly crowned national Comp champ Dan Fletcher added an exclamation point to his title season with a win in Comp to lead the Lucas Oil Sportsman winners. Anthony Bertozzi won Super Stock, defeating Fletcher in the final to yet again prevent him from doubling up, and Tommy Phillips scored in Super Comp and Brad Pierce in Super Gas.

Friday leaders Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) remained on top of their respective categories, and Robert Hight jumped to the top of the Funny Car order with a powerful 4.043 at 309.20 mph, the second-fastest Funny Car speed to 1,000 feet. Other drivers fought to secure a place in the 16-car fields during an exciting day of qualifying that will lead into final eliminations on Sunday.

Schumacher made the quickest lap in three of the four qualifying sessions. The U.S. Army driver recorded the fastest 1,000-foot speed in history on his final lap at 318.92 mph as he celebrated winning the championship with one race left to go in a historically dominant season.

“It’s very gratifying to end up No. 1 this season,” said Schumacher. “To do it in Vegas is very special. This is an amazing racetrack with an amazing crowd. I feel blessed to have worked with such a great crew chief and outstanding crew for the past five years.”

“It’s been a great season for us,” added crew chief Alan Johnson. “We probably set some records that will never get broken. In our last season together as a team, everything just started clicking. Tony and the crew have done a great job.”

Defending event champ Rod Fuller went A-to-B on all four passes and qualified third in the Caterpillar dragster with a 3.816 at 318.39 mph, the third fastest speed of the 1,000-foot era. No. 9 qualifier Clay Millican grabbed attention in the NitroFish/Hope4Sudan dragster by making runs near the top of the pack in three out of four sessions. His qualifying position isn’t indicative of his performance, because his sole aborted run occurred during favorable nighttime conditions on Friday.

Troy Buff ran a clutch 3.935 in the final session to get the BME/Okuma dragster in the show at 15th, one spot ahead of Joe Hartley. In a large 23-car turnout, the biggest surprise outside of the field is Doug Herbert, who was sixth in the points standings entering this event.

The cool conditions that came about late in the final session set the stage for Hight to propel his Auto Club Ford Mustang to the pole for the 28th time in his career. Hight had to shut his car off after doing a burnout to due sprinkles that slightly delayed the action, but his team was unfazed by the distraction. Hight’s championship hopes will come to a head tomorrow as his teammate Mike Neff will take on points leader Tim Wilkerson in the first round, and the winner faces a potential second-round race against Hight.

“That was probably the most confusing run I’ve ever made,” Hight reflected. “I did the burnout and started to see raindrops on the windshield. [NHRA Chief Starter] Rick Stewart shut us off, and I was on the radio telling the crew guys to make sure they do everything right.

“We have to make everything count. We qualified No. 1, but that’s done and we’ll forget about it. We can do everything perfect from here on out and still not win the championship. Two years ago at this race, we were in the championship hunt with John [Force] and [Ron] Capps when the car died on the burnout because of a mistake on the crew - and we were racing [Tony] Bartone.”

The final qualifying session in Funny Car was worth the price of admission. Bob Tasca III, Tony Bartone, and championship contender Tony Pedregon got in the field with last-ditch efforts. Pedregon’s Herzog Chevy Impala SS was particularly impressive with a 4.080 to qualify fifth, although Jerry Toliver and the Rockstar Energy Dodge Charger ran an even better 4.066 in the other lane to qualify third.

Another loaded first-round matchup will be contested between Cruz Pedregon, who qualified sixth, and Jack Beckman, who is eleventh. The loser in that pair will almost assuredly kiss their championship hopes goodbye.

Coughlin remained the Pro Stock leader at the conclusion of qualifying. The three-time world champ’s Jegs Mail Order Cobalt had run a track-record 6.703 elapsed time on Friday. His first order of business on Sunday is a challenge from impressive rookie Rickie Jones.

“We’re off to a great start thus far,” said Coughlin, who qualified No. 1 for the third time this season and the 15th time of his career. “We got a little aggressive this morning trying to tickle a .60 out of it and had to abort the run, but we came out later and ran a .73 that tied Jason [Line] for low of the round. The car was on a string; I didn’t have to steer it.

“My dad [Jeg Sr.] and Roy Simmons, my crew chief, have been doing a great job with this car. Tomorrow is going to be exciting. One thing’s for sure in Pro Stock: you’re going to see some doorhandle-to-doorhandle racing on Sunday.”

Kurt Johnson, whose ACDelco Chevy Cobalt is second in the points standings, is sixth in the field with a 6.724 at 205.10 mph. His father Warren is eighth and has a tough task in racing Dave Connolly in the first round. Connolly’s Lucas Oil/Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt struggled a bit in qualifying but finished ninth with a 6.736 at 204.73 mph.

Sampey’s track record 6.993 from the opening round of qualifying was untouchable as she held on to the top spot for the first time this season and the 45th time in her productive career. The rider of the Rush Racing Products Buell is vying for her first win of the season to continue a streak of winning at least one race per season that dates back to 1996, and she will start by facing the PiranaZ Buell ridden by Junior Pippin in the first round.

“It’s been way too long,” said Sampey. “I was praying for 20-mph headwinds to make sure we stayed No. 1. The weather got worse so I thought we were safe. It’s been so long that I forgot what it feels like.

“We’re still out here struggling, scratching, and clawing. I don’t know what we have to do to get third or fourth in the points, but that’s not important. What’s important is going out and getting our first win [of the season].”

Eddie Krawiec stayed in the second spot with his previous 7.035. The title hopeful will need to get past No. 15 qualifier Shawn Gann if he is to gain ground on points leader Matt Smith. Smith, who qualified sixth and has a tough first-round matchup with Matt Guidera, failed to get down the track on both of his Saturday qualifying attempts.