This is one for the books and it is just getting fired up. John Force had an explosive near brawling confrontation with Tony Pedregon after he was defeated by Robert Hight at the US Nationals on Monday. Force’s defeat put Hight into the NHRA’s “Countdown to One” and it knocked out Cruz Pedgregon, Tony’s brother and teammate. That triggered a series of event that will now live in drag racing lore for all time.

The Pedregon’s contention is that Force is a cheater because he “took a dive” in competition and allowed Hight to defeat him, just to get him into the “Countdown”. After the two were screaming and nearly beating on each other at the top end of the track, there was an investigation made by NHRA officials regarding exactly what happened on the run. The reviewed all their data and also got car data from Force’s team. The NHRA concluded that nothing was wrong and that no penalties or fines should be levied.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, things were going haywire on television as the Pedregon’s were sharing their feelings about Force and his team, and Force was proclaiming that his friendship with Pedregon was over because of the mess they were stirring up.

Here’s a great ESPN synopsis video (and we’re just getting started). This will get you up to speed on exactly what happened and why everyone was so fried.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfhsinreXdk

So we’re having a tough time swallowing the “cheater” remarks from Cruz Pedregon. The question that we think Dave Reif should have asked Cruz was, “So would your brother dive for you in order for you to make the Countdown?” It’s quite easy to say no when not confronted with the situation directly, but we’re thinking that brotherly love would be the order of the day in that situation.

Ok, back to the video action. In this clip, things get interesting right off the bat with Robert Hight clearly saying, “I don’t believe we did this,” in a totally candid manner. It seems as though he thought the camera was off or at least not paying attention. His comment can be taken as, “I can’t believe we made the Countdown at the last possible second”, or “I can’t believe we just took the most obvious swan dive in the history of drag racing.” You choose. The clip really ramps up around the two minute mark and hits the redline once Tony Pedregon gets out of his car at the top end of the track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B3xZzO_74E

Here’s the capper. It’s a nearly 10 minute clip, and we apologize for the quality, but it has the juciest part of the whole situation. TV analyst and former nitro racer Mike Dunn pulls no punches in calling Force out as throwing the race. It also includes interviews with a still molten Force and a far more subdued Tony Pedregon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRZuvEVv4M8

Our take on the whole thing? Yes, Force threw the race but Cruz has no standing to bitch about it. He had as many rounds as everyone else to get into the Countdown. Failing to put himself in a position to make it, he was obviouly pissed off to be bumped out, but it’s hardly John Force’s fault that Cruz Pedregon’s team could not find it’s rear end with two hands and a flashlight at points this season.

We think this event will be the beginning of a serious look at team ownership in the NHRA and how those teams are operated. We don’t like meddling at all, but it seems obvious that this wild close to the weekend will ring through the halls of Glendora for some time.

All that junk aside, this is probably the best thing that could have happened to the NHRA in 2009 and it really makes this Countdown deal compellig TV now. Cruz will be out for blood oon every lap, just to ruin a Force team’s weekend. Tony will be thrashing like mad to beat the Force hydra and Force has probably already commanded Austin Coil and the cadre of crew chiefs to complete his latest death star funny car before the next race.

It sucks that Force did what he did, but it’s a business and failing to realize that makes you ignorant. Newsflash to those who are deeply offended by what went down. The days of “pure competition” in any form of “professional” racing are over. Cash is king, and in this case, it made for the best drag racing television in years.