Tony Pedregon beats Ashley Force Hood again in NHRA funny car rematch

Tony Pedregon beat Ashley Force Hood in the funny car final at Englishtown. It was a rematch of the final the previous Sunday at Route 66 Raceway in Illinois. Pedregon has won both finals against Force Hood.
“I never thought I’d be afraid of a girl,” said Pedregon who leads the funny car standings by 20 points over Force Hood. “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.”
It was the third finals appearance in a row for Force Hood and her fifth finals appearance of the season. She leads the funny drivers in final appearances.
Force Hood made three final appearances in a row in 2008. She lost the first two, but won the third in Atlanta. Her three straight final appearances in 2009 have yet to produce a win for her.
“We were hoping since last year we went to three finals in a row (Houston, Las Vegas and Atlanta) and won on our third attempt Atlanta. We were hoping that we could do that again and have the third time be the charm,” said Force Hood. “I can’t complain about getting to another final. It gives us that much more data and me more experience in the car. That will come in handy down the road. If you are losing first or second round you aren’t just losing those points you are not getting extra rounds.”

Photo: Tony Pedregon won his second straight NHRA funny car event. For the second Sunday in a row, Pedregon beat Ashley Force Hood in the final. Pedregon leads the funny car standings by 20 points over Force Hood.

Some quick notes from the NHRA and NASCAR Camping World Series West

Ashley Force Hood won her second NHRA Funny Car event of her career on Sunday.

It looks like the student became the master in the NHRA Funny Car division at Houston Raceway Park over the weekend.
Ashley Force Hood beat Jack Beckman in the finals of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series at Houston Raceway Park on Sunday.
She used to be one of Beckman’s students when he was an instructor at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.
“It was great,” Force Hood said, “especially since it came against Jack. He taught me when I first learned to drive and it’s amazing that 10 years later, we’re both driving nitro Funny Cars.”
Force Hood won the second NHRA Funny Car race of her career. For Beckman, it was the best finish he has had so far this year.
“This is just what Denver was for us last year,” said Beckman, a driver from North Hills. “We got back into a final round and we were a tear from that point on. We’ve got a hot rod back underneath us.”
The runner-up finish moved Beckman into sixth place in the Funny Car standings. He entered the Houston races in 11th place and out of the Countdown playoff hunt.
“Ashley and her crew did an awesome job, but we’re right back in this deal again, and we’re going to win, and we’re going to do it next week," Beckman said with a smile.
Force Hood moved up to third place in the Funny Car standings. Ron Capps, Beckman’s teammate at Don Schumchacer Racing, leads the Funny Car standings.
“Today was just my day,” said Force Hood, the 2007 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year and driver for John Force Racing. “Everything just fell into place for us. I was nervous about the lane because you saw what other cars had done in it. We knew the left (lane) might be a little bit better. I just wanted to go A to B and not make any mistakes.”

The NASCAR Camping World Series West will be in Roseville, Calif., on Saturday night for the second race of its season.
Greg Pursley, who won a NASCAR Weekly Racing Series national championship while racing at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, won the season opener at Thunderhill Raceway in Texas. Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, was making his first start in the West Series in nearly seven years. He has not raced a full NASCAR season since 2005. He won the Weekly Racing Series national championship in 2004.
There have been seven different winners in seven West Series races at Roseville. The West Series races at All-American Speedway now, but only since 2008. There was a 26-year gap between races in Roseville. Eric Holmes and Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, won the two races at All-American Speedway last year.