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GANN WINS HOLLEY DOMINATOR DUEL FOR PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLES Shawn Gann won the $15,000 Holley Dominator Duel for Pro Stock Motorcycles rode his Suzuki to the Duel victory, joining Matt Hines (1996) and Jim Bernard (1991) as the only Pro Stock Motorcycle riders in NHRA history to win the Duel in their first start. He used a 7.258 second run at 184.80 mph to overcome a quicker start by defending Duel winner Antron Brown, who fell off the pace near the finish line and ran 7.334 at 180.55. "This was no easy victory," said Gann. "I had to beat Matt (Hines) in the first (round), Angelle (Savoie) in the second and Antron in the final. This was my first win and there's a lot more to come." PEDREGON WINS $100,000 BUD SHOOTOUT By Jeff Romack Frank Pedregon is $100,000 richer tonight after driving the Checker
Schuck's Kragen Pontiac Firebird to victory in the Budweiser Shootout. Described as a race within a race, the "Shootout" features a starting field of eight Funny Cars with running order determined by an accumulation of qualifying points which began with last year's U.S. Nationals. Pedregon entered the Shootout in the No. 6 qualifying position, defeated No. 3 qualifier Bruce Sarver in round one, and younger brother Tony in round two before racing Whit Bazemore in an all-Firebird final round. In the money round, both cars hazed the tires at half track, but Pedregon successfully gathered up car and sprinted to a 5.072 elapsed time at 282.48 mph. Bazemore crossed the finish line in 6.290 seconds at 222.99 mph. "Winning this money is so important for our team," said Pedregon. "This is a perfect example of how you have to win the big races and we showed today that we could. We've had two DNQs this season and that just shows you how tough this class is. But to rebound back like we did after Brainerd really says a lot about this team. Tomorrow's another big day and I'm going to approach it just like I did today. "When I first started racing the only thing I wanted to do was drive a Fuel Funny Car. Then I wanted to win a race. After winning two in a row, my next goal was to win Indy. I'll be darned if I didn't win it my second year. Now my next goal is to win the world championship and I think I'm with the right team to get that done." DIXON GIVES FIRST INDY WIN TO LAHAIE Larry Dixon used consistent 4.6-second runs to claim his fifth victory of the season and second at the U.S. Nationals. He powered his Miller Lite dragster to a 4.609-second run at 315.93 mph to defeat Mike Dunn's Yankee dragster, which covered the same distance in 5.149 at 199.79. "This race means a lot to everybody and we are real fortunate to win," said Dixon, who gave much of the credit to veteran crew chief Dick LaHaie, who had never won the U.S. Nationals during his legendary career. "In the beginning it was just Indy," Dixon added. "This was the one. (Don) Garlits and Shirley (Muldowney) didn't come back to Atlanta, they (made their comeback) at Indy." In his march to victory, Dixon defeated Bruce Litton, Darrell Russell
and most importantly for his chances at a first Winston championship,
Kenny Bernstein. He inched 45 points ahead of rival Bernstein in the
chase for the 2001 crown. |
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