IT'S ALMOST OVER
Only FC Champ is doubt after Vegas

By Susan Wade
Photos by Zak Hawthorne

LAS VEGAS -- The Beer Wars went flat for Kenny Bernstein. Pro Stock challenger Jim Yates vanished with a whimper. Craig Treble jumped the gun against Angelle Savoie and shot himself in the foot.

John Force got his licks in -- he won the race and reached a couple of career milestones. But he couldn't stop the unruly tongue of KISS mayhem-meister Gene Simmons or the wagging tongues of those who incessantly question whether Tony Pedregon is "allowed" to race the boss.

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The Oct. 24-27 ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals was a weekend for even money on the pro-class leaders. Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) clinched POWERade Series championships at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That makes the Funny Car chase the focal point of the Nov. 7-10 Finals at Pomona. Pedregon gets one more crack at dethroning Force, as the two remain separated by 31 points.

"It's good for the fans, hard on my heart," said Force, who ran his winning elimination-round mark to 801 and tied NASCAR's David Pearson for second-most career victories (105) in all of motorsports.

It was time to hoist a Miller Lite in honor of Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon, who gave Don Prudhomme his first title as a car owner and the first since The Snake's career came to a head with his fourth Funny Car crown in 1978 as a driver/owner.

With his second-round elimination of Rhonda Hartman-Smith, Dixon clinched his first championship. He and the Miller Lite Dragster dismissed the Army car of Tony Schumacher in the final round to become only the third Top Fuel driver (after Kelly Brown in 1978 and Gary Ormsby in 1989) to lead the standings the entire season. Dixon also equaled Gary Scelzi's mark of nine victories in a single year, although he did it quicker than Scelzi, who earned his ninth in 2000 at the final Pomona race.

"I think it's sweeter than all the rest," Prudhomme said. "At this point of my career, it's great. It's one of the better moments that I've ever spent and maybe the best."

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