FUNNY CAR

Medlen capped an 8-0 run over the past two weeks by capping Capps in resounding fashion. In the “Last Man Standing” contest between the John Force and Don Schumacher camps, Medlen drilled Capps at the tree (.053-.103) and never looked back (4.911, 300.13 to 4.985, 302.35). He’s now 13-1 (wins at Seattle, Brainerd and Memphis) after losing three straight first-rounds to fall to eighth in the points.

“My Dad (crew chief John Medlen) had a real comfortable setup last year that could’ve produced a 4.90 on a day like today – but we could never go lower than 4.69 with our tongues hanging out,” Eric said. “We knew we had to step up, we did and it’s been a long learning curve, but we’re getting through it and now able to compete.”

Keeping the crew’s tongue from hanging out was John Medlen’s other task. “You could see teams going out in the first round and heaving a sigh of relief,” he said. “But Dad told our guys that ‘Hey, somebody’s going to win today. Why not us?’ ”

Having the Force Armada behind you didn’t hurt either. After No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight put his father-and-law and boss on the trailer with an impressive second-round (5.067-5.086), “Force’s crew split up and went to work on Robert’s and my car.”

And both John Medlen and Jimmy Prock (Hight’s wrench) went to work on the computer – together – before Medlen and Hight tangled in the semis. “We knew that whoever came out of the round needed to have lane choice, so my Dad and Jimmy worked together on the same setup. Dad even told me to stage shallow (like Hight), and neither of us worried about reaction times. The idea was to get lane choice.”

Medlen, the No. 5 qualifier, used a 5.105 to defeat the man he replaced in the Syntec car, Tony Pedregon, in Round One. Capps had won the Schumacher intramural battle, putting out Whit Bazemore in the first round (5.143), and passed Gary Scelzi in the second (5.139) to take over the No. 2 spot in points. Capps then stuck it to former teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. (4.986) in the semifinals.

All this helped Hight, who’d already had a memorable weekend, turning 36 and making the Bud Shootout at Indy on his first try on Saturday.

“You’d have to say mission accomplished in one sense,” Hight said, “but in another, we had a chance to really put some space between us and the field, and that’s happened more than once. Everyone else on top has had that chance too, and no one seems to be able to get away. It was a phenomenal weekend – but we knew we left something on the table.”

PRO STOCK

Anderson won his second Memphis title, and 36th of his career (he’s now in 10th by himself on the NHRA pro list, passing Don Garlits). But more important, his final round win (6.801, 201.49 to 6.834, 201.88) beat the guy he figures will stand in his way of a third straight points championship.