(Pro Racing Summary Courtesy of NHRA Communications)

PEDREGON GRABS SECOND CONSECUTIVE WIN – ASSUMES FC POINTS LEAD

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.”

NHRA legend John Force moved into the seventh spot with his second-round appearance while rookie driver Matt Hagan dropped from seventh to 10th in the point standings with his first-round loss.

In Top Fuel, Dixon drove his Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing dragster past current points leader Antron Brown to grab his third win of the season. Dixon’s run of 4.553 seconds was enough to give him his fifth win at Englishtown and 46th of his career.

“We’ve had a lot of success at this race,” said Dixon. “The race used to be Father’s Day at Columbus, and we won out until they moved the Father’s Day to here. I was like, ‘Wow, I haven’t won Englishtown in a long time. It would be cool to do that,’ nonchalantly saying that at the beginning of the season. And then all of a sudden, you get to go to a bunch of finals and win here. This is a great track, and there’s so much history here. Racing on the same track as ‘Jungle’ and Garlits and Shirley and all my heroes that I grew up watching race is a great deal.”

With the win, Dixon was able to move past Top Fuel pilot Brandon Bernstein and take over the third spot, just 97 points behind leader Brown.

Defending Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin drove his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to a 6.598 at 209.49 past runner-up Mike Edwards to grab his fifth win of the season and second consecutive win of 2009. It also gave the four-time world champ his third win in Englishtown and 45th of his career.

“It’s taken some craftiness on our part,” said Coughlin, of his two wins over Edwards, who had the better performing car in both instances. “In the pits, the guys have been doing a fantastic job. We qualified eighth, which was not where we wanted to be, but when the weather mixed up Saturday, we just wanted to make sure that we got down the racetrack. Ideally, we wanted to be in the top eight for lane choice first round, and we finished eighth. We knew we had a lot to work with. We figured we could get within a hundredth and a half or two-hundredths of Mike Edwards and could probably pace with anybody else out there, and as it turned out, that’s about the way it turned out.”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle Craig Treble drove his Honda of Kingston Suzuki to a 6.955 at 193.10 past defending world champion Eddie Krawiec and picked up his second win of the season, 14th of his career and second at Englishtown.

“This track loves me, and I love it,” said Treble. “I don’t know what it is but I really like it here. The guys like Matt Smith and Eddie [Krawiec] that went 6.90 were out of my league. I did not have a .90 in my bike. Of course, I don’t feel bad about the final because Eddie whipped my butt the last time we raced. I owed that to him. I was doing okay on the starting line, but I just let it fly in the final and went .007. I should have done that other three rounds, but it worked. I’m looking forward to the west coast swing now. I’ve got a major engine overhaul coming up after Norwalk, and I can afford it now.”

With the win, Treble moved from sixth to fourth in the Pro Stock Motorcycle point standings.

Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge (Summary by Matthew Brammer)

Commisso First NHRA Win a Record-setter!

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.

Commisso took top qualifying honors on Saturday with a 5.894 at 244.60 mph, and the Toronto, Canada-based restaurant owner never looked back. His first round of eliminations netted a 5.896 over local-favorite Dave Hance, and in round two he took the line 22 inches in front of Mike Knowles who set a personal-best mark of 5.929 at 242.80 mph to Commisso's quicker 5.894 at 244.83 mph.

In the semifinals, Commisso was paired with 'Tombstone' Tommy Gray who had been burning up the track all weekend, posting 5.882 and 5.917-second efforts in eliminations and flirting with claiming the Pro Mod Challenge record himself. The hype of what looked to be a monster matchup, however, quickly disappeared as Gray suffered engine problems and coasted down the track, watching Commisso deliver a sizzling 5.881-second performance and step into the finals where he would meet Danny Rowe.

Rowe qualified No 3 with a 5.927 at 242.63 mph, and had a solo run of 5.952 at 244.16 in round one when Vinnie Budano failed to make the call. Second round, Rowe dispatched Tim Tindle 5.926 to 5.996, and then took out Al-Anabi nitrous-heavy hitter 'Tricky' Rickie Smith, 5.923 at 243.15 mph to Smith's injured and limping 6.303 at 193.71 mph.

Because of the initial weather delays and several oil-downs and accidents in other classes, the final round was run at just after 9 p.m. - long past the 7:30 p.m. Old Bridge Township local curfew. The air had cooled but the track kept its heat from the day’s sunshine, and the conditions were perfect for setting records.

Commisso took a slight starting-line advantage and pulled away from Rowe for the win and the National ET record, scoring an amazing 5.856 at 245.58 mph to Rowe's best effort of the weekend and new personal-best of 5.899 at 243.94 mph.

"What can I say," Commisso asked as he reveled in the day. "Everything just lined up for us today, and Al [Billes, crew chief] and all the team did an amazing job of tuning this car.

"Every lap just kept getting better and better, and when we reached the finals and I saw the win light come on, there aren't words to describe how I felt. It has been since 2006 that I've been racing in NHRA competition, and this is my very first win - and it feels wonderful.

"I have to thank Roger Burgess for giving me this opportunity and for putting together such an awesome team - everything is first class and the very best. He is such an amazing man and has become such a close friend and mentor to me. I'm forever grateful," Commisso said.

Brad Personett turned the fastest speed ever for a Pro Mod and the quickest-ever ET for a turbo-powered car at 5.959-seconds at a whopping 251.34 mph in his losing-effort against Tommy Gray in the first round.

For the nitrous fraternity, Al-Anabi/Speedtech/Western Beef driver Mike Castellana turned in the quickest-ever nitrous pass of 5.942 at 237.21 mph in his first-round loss to Mike Knowles.

Also notable, Melanie Troxel gave fans a glimpse at the unpredictable and thrilling side of Pro Mod racing, making a spectacular save in her first eliminations round in the R2B2 Racing Voodoo '63 Corvette, quickly recovering from a hard dive to the right when the tires shook at the hit of the throttle. She lifted and coasted past the finish line, disappointed with the loss but glad she was able to react and keep the car from damage.