Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Pedregon goes for the money in Skoal Showdown

Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004 | 9:55 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Winning Sunday's Skoal Showdown, an all-star race for the eight quickest and most consistent NHRA Funny Car drivers during the past year, would be a nice feather in Tony Pedregon's cap.

Although he won the event last year while driving for John Force Racing, a victory Sunday would be extra special for Pedregon, who left Force's camp after last season and started his own team.

But it's not the trophy that Pedregon is coveting as he prepares for the Skoal Showdown, which pays $100,000 to the winner and another $50,000 bonus if the Showdown winner also captures this weekend's 50th annual U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

"The prestige is good, but I can't eat the prestige," Pedregon said this week. "The money that they fling out there would go a long way -- as anyone can imagine.

"The start-up cost of forming a new team -- there is a lot of expense."

Pedregon qualified fourth for the Showdown and will face Gary Scelzi in the first round. Other first-round matchups are John Force vs. Phil Burkart Jr., Gary Densham vs. Del Worsham and Whit Bazemore vs. Tim Wilkerson.

Although Pedregon may be eyeing the paycheck in the Skoal Showdown, he said a trophy for winning the U.S. Nationals would be a welcome addition to his trophy case.

"This has always been our marquee event -- our Indianapolis 500, so to speak," Pedregon said of the U.S. Nationals. "Coming here for the first time as an owner/driver is pretty special. All the years that I've been coming to Indy -- being in very good, competitive cars and winning the championship last year -- I've never won the U.S. Nationals. The closest I got was runner-up in 2001.

Pedregon and his Quaker State team spent two days testing at Indianapolis Raceway Park last week and he said he is confident heading into the 50th annual U.S. Nationals, which begins Friday with the first of five qualifying sessions.

"One of our focuses in testing has been making the right changes to the Quaker State Chevy Monte Carlo," Pedregon said. "The car performs well, but I did not want to come to this event -- to race in the Skoal Shootout, to race on Monday -- battling any problems whatsoever, and that's why we came to Indianapolis Raceway Park for the two-day open test session.

"Everyone on the team is pretty upbeat and I like our chances."

ANDERSON EYES RECORD: NHRA Pro Stock points leader Greg Anderson, a two-time U.S. Nationals winner, would tie John Force's single-season victory mark of 13 with a win on Labor Day.

Anderson earned his first U.S. Nationals victory in 2001 and added a second during his NHRA championship run last season.

"I said last year that winning the championship is the main goal, but if you don't have the U.S. Nationals in your win column, the title feels a little empty," Anderson said. "Indy's just so doggone special that it's almost as important for us to win this race as it is to win the championship.

"Everything about this race feels tougher, harder, more important; it's a marathon unlike any other place we compete. After three days of trying to qualify, you come in here on Monday morning feeling absolutely wiped out. But you have to dig down deep to find enough to get up for the eliminator. It's the closest thing we have to an endurance race and if you can win the U.S. Nationals, it's a heck of an accomplishment."

Anderson, who drives for team owner Ken Black of Las Vegas, holds a commanding 552-point lead over teammate Jason Line in the Pro Stock category.

FORCE OPENS NEW SHOP: John Force Racing this week opened a 40,000-square-foot racing shop in Brownsburg, Ind., to complement the team's primary shop in Yorba Linda, Calif.

AT THE STRIP: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host two preseason test sessions prior to the start of the 2005 NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series season. The fourth annual "Nitro Blast-Off" will be held Jan. 28-30 and a second weekend of testing has been added Feb. 4-6. ... The Strip will host Pacific Street Car Association, Outlaw Super Quick and NHRA Junior Dragster (Division 7 finals) racing Saturday and Sunday. A complete schedule of events can be found at www.lvms.com.