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Yuichi Oyama beat Kenny Bernstein in the King of Speed's final round.
(Tim Marshall photo)
The third pair was the one that emptied every seat in
the house -- Yuichi Oyama against Forever Red Kenny Bernstein in his
last start as driver of the Bud King. KB left first, but soon smoked
the tires as Oyama ran a fine 4.676/318.24.
The Budweiser team confers on the starting line. Brandon will be in
the seat at the next race.
(Zak Hawthorne photo)
Tim Richards shook his head as he turned to walk alone
quietly back to the transporter. Richards had seen something of concern
in the staging lanes as a flurry of activity centered on the clutch
timers, but he'd have the winter to resolve the matter. Funny, but The
Snake, Joe Amato, and now Kenny Bernstein all went out unceremoniously
in the first round of their last race.
Cory Mac is back! (Tim Marshall photo)
When the Top Fuel finals came, King of Speed slayer Yuichi
Oyama, in his first-ever final, had also taken out Doug Herbert and
Doug Kalitta, meeting Cory McClenathan. Still not sure of his ride for
2003 and with his last tune-up at the hand of crew chief Wes Cerny,
Cory Mac got out early on Oyama and took the Wally while running a tame
4.756 to his opponent's quicker 4.739.
John Force's quest for a 12th Funny Car championship came right down
to the wire.
(Ron Lewis photo)
In Funny Car the POWERade championship was still in question,
but John Force looked dominant as he beat Scotty Cannon and Cory Lee
on his way to meeting Tony Pedregon in the semi-final race. This race
brought as much if not more attention than Bernstein's final run. If
Tony beat the boss he could still mathematically be the POWERade Champ,
but Force and Austin Coil have always risen for these pivotal matches.
Force in the left, Pedregon right, Tony deep stages and then both top
bulbs are dark as both drivers deep stage. Force left first on a .447
light to Pedregon's .471, they change positions as Tony moves ahead
at mid-track, but he falls back, running 4.935 to Force's 4.954 in a
superb battle.
Tommy Johnson's final round appearance
was almost anti-climactic after Force's matchup with Pedregon.
(Zak Hawthorne photo) |
Force went on to take the Funny Car final against Tommy
Johnson by leaving first and never looking back, running 4.867 to TJ's
4.906 as the Force/Coil combo grabbed their 10th consecutive championship,
12th overall.
The Johnsons dominated Pro Stock with newly found horsepower
in their GM-backed cars as WJ picked up the number one qualifying position.
Son Kurt Johnson had all the horsepower he needed in his final round
with Mopar's Gene Wilson, who'd defeated WJ's Pontiac in the semis.
Kurt had his best reaction time of the meet and led Wilson over the
entire quarter-mile, running 6.801 to the Neon's 6.843.
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