Pedregon wins in Joliet

Funny Car star Tony Pedregon bounced back from a fire during qualifying to win for the second time this season and the 38th time in his career, beating Scott Kalitta on Sunday in the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet.

Racing in 87-degree heat with the track at 101 degrees, Pedregon won with a quarter-mile run of 4.818 seconds at 319.75 mph. Kalitta finished in 4.957 at 308.02.

"Someone reminded me about 24 hours ago I was on fire," Pedregon said. "I just felt good (today). I didn't feel concerned. We had a new chassis. There's always a little question mark if it's going to drive like the other one. We had zero runs on it. It was brand new. Fortunately my guys had it ready and after that first round, I kind of had that confidence that I haven't had in a while.

"I just feel, when I look at that roll cage and I look at what I'm surrounded by, and I actually feel some sense of security in the car. ... I know what's at stake and I know the risks, but we do take a lot of precautions. Hey, I'm competitive. This is what I do. I'm no different from any athlete that takes a hit or falls on the turf and twists his knee. We get back up, and this is what we do."

Kurt Johnson also won his 38th national event, beating Jeg Coughlin in the Pro Stock final with a 6.733-second run at 205.22 mph.

In Top Fuel, Tony Schumacher extended his large points lead, defeating Rod Fuller with the quickest pass of the weekend, a 4.499-second run at 329.83 mph. Schumacher has four victories this year.

Also, Chris Rivas raced to his first Pro Stock Motorcycle victory.