Schumacher can’t be ruled out in title chase

After Tony Schumacher made a dramatic comeback to win the top fuel drag-racing title a year ago, the sport rolled out a new system for determining the championship in 2007.

No matter. Schumacher made another stunning comeback under the new rules Sunday to win the season finale at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona and his fifth championship in the National Hot Rod Assn.’s top-level Powerade Series.

The Canoga Park native also became the first top fuel driver in history to win the title for four consecutive years.

Coming into the race, “I didn’t think we were going to pull this off,” said Schumacher, 37. But after winning the second of four elimination rounds Sunday, “I thought, ‘Boy, this is deja vu.’

“Last year it was a miracle,” he said. “This year you’ll have to come up with another name for it.”

Under the NHRA’s new Countdown to the Championship format, the title contenders in each of the NHRA’s major classes -- top fuel, funny cars, pro stock and pro stock motorcycle -- were pared to eight drivers in each class after 17 of the season’s 23 events. The field was cut again to four per class for the final two races at Las Vegas and Pomona.

In the funny car class, Tony Pedregon of Chino Hills won his second championship despite losing in the first round. His first title came in 2003 when he drove for funny car legend John Force.

“When I left John Force Racing, I don’t know if there were too many people who thought we could do this,” said an emotional Pedregon.

“We had a great weekend in Las Vegas,” which gave him a sizable points lead coming to Pomona, “and that really set the stage to try to put this to an end,” he said.

Robert Hight, Force’s son-in-law, won the funny car race by defeating another Force driver, Phil Burkart Jr., with a run of 4.731 seconds and 326.71 mph.

Force himself, recovering from serious injuries he suffered in a Sept. 23 crash in Texas, cheered from the sidelines as his drivers made their final run.

Schumacher beat Bob Vandergriff in the final round to win the top fuel race, and earn the $500,000 title, with a pass of 4.486 seconds and 328.30 mph.

A year ago, Schumacher won the race and title in dramatic fashion by setting a national record of 4.428 seconds on his final run in Pomona.

This year Rod Fuller, seeking his first championship, saw his title hopes vanish with Schumacher’s heroics.

Fuller arrived with the points lead but couldn’t protect it, thanks in part to a first-round loss to Vandergriff.

“We didn’t get it done today,” said Fuller, who led Schumacher by 67 points when the day started but finished 19 points behind.

Brandon Bernstein, son of legendary drag racer Kenny Bernstein, could have won the top fuel title in the semifinals by beating Schumacher, but failed. That would have made the Bernsteins the only father-son duo to win NHRA pro titles.

Pedregon, 42, came to Pomona with a hefty 91-point lead in the funny car class but suffered a first-round loss to Jeff Arend of San Dimas.

That opened the door for Hight, Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps to make a run at the title. But Scelzi and Capps also suffered first-round losses, leaving only Hight to challenge Pedregon.

Hight not only needed to win his semifinal race against Mike Ashley, he also needed to set a record-low time. He beat Ashley but didn’t break the record, enabling Pedregon to win the championship.

In the pro stock class, Jeg Coughlin of Delaware, Ohio, won the race and his third series championship, denying Greg Anderson his fourth consecutive title.

Coughlin came into the race 34 points behind Anderson. But after Anderson lost in the first round, Coughlin clinched the title in the second round by defeating Richie Stevens Jr., then beat Justin Humphreys in the finals.

In pro stock motorcycle, Matt Smith won the race and his first Powerade championship to deny Andrew Hines of Villa Park a fourth consecutive title.

james.peltz@latimes.com