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ONE TO GO; Funny Car title is up for grabs after Vegas event.(NEWS)
Byline: ROB GEIGER
On a weekend when Tony Schumacher secured his fifth-straight NHRA Top Fuel crown and Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. put a stranglehold on his title defense, Cruz Pedregon cracked the Funny Car race wide open with a huge win that powered him into the championship lead.
Pedregon drove his Toyota Solara past Robert Hight's Ford Mustang by a 4.100-to-4.111-second margin at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to retake the lead by a slender 12 points over former No. 1 Tim Wilkerson, who smoked his tires in round one and instantly gave life to four hungry challengers. It was Pedregon's second win in as many races and marked his first back-to-back wins in 14 years.
"I'm worn out, Pedregon said. "My circle-track friends always kid with me that we only work for five seconds at a time, and I know that's the number on the scoreboard, but the stress you go through on a day like this is tremendous.
"I barely slept last night, because I knew I had [Jack] Beckman in round one, and he was one of the guys ahead of us in the points. Then I had Gary Densham, who has been tough all year, and then John Force, who is the Dale Earnhardt of drag racing. I get by him, and I have Robert, and that car is always killer, especially when it's cooler. It was stressful all day.
"We took their best shots today and came out on top. That makes this win very special.
Aside from Pedregon and Wilkerson, Hight (39 points off the lead), Tony Pedregon (-62) and Beckman (-64) remain solid contenders for the Funny Car title with one race left.
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Source: HighBeam Research, ONE TO GO; Funny Car title is up for grabs after Vegas event.(NEWS)