AMATO IS TOPS IN TOP FUEL.

Byline: Rochelle Kaplan Daily News Staff Writer

Joe Amato became the winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history when he recorded his 36th national-event victory Sunday, beating defending champion Scott Kalitta in the Winston Select Finals in Pomona.

``It's exciting to do this, it's the great American dream,'' said Amato, who was tied with the legendary Don Garlits at 35 wins coming into the final. ``This puts me in a special league. Don Garlits was my hero growing up and to be able to say I won one more than him makes me real proud.''For Amato, a five-time NHRA Top Fuel champion (1984, 1988, 1990-92), it was his second win in four final-round appearances this year, with the last one coming at Englishtown, N.J. in May.

Although he lost in Sunday's quarterfinals, Kenny Bernstein won the 1996 Top Fuel championship, becoming the first driver in NHRA history to win both a Funny Car and Top Fuel championship.

For another multiple champion, the day proved to be anticlimactic.

Yorba Linda's John Force - who had already clinched his sixth Funny Car championship months before - was supposed to face teammate Tony Pedregon, of Gardena, in the final. Under the tight time constraints of the live television broadcast, Pedregon's crew could not get the car to start.

In an atypical finish to a spectacular year, Force smoked the tires on his single run and sputtered to the finish line in 15.07 seconds.

``If you can't give the fans a show, it's a real disappointment,'' said Force, who won 13 events this season. ``It's a real let down to me. I'd like to (make another run) tomorrow.

``Tony would have beat me. All he had to do was start.''

Pedregon, who said he wasn't sure why the car failed to start, speculated that the problem could have been electrical.

``It was nothing we planned. We wanted to beat John,'' said Pedregon, a two-time winner this season driving for car owner Force. ``If we had a little more time, we could have found the problem.''

Mike Edwards of Broken Arrow, Okla. won in Pro Stock, edging out Rickie Smith of King, N.C. ``I was getting a little down on myself, losing a little self-confidence because I hadn't won since Seattle (Aug. 4),'' Edwards said. The three-time winner also recorded his first six-second run of the year (6.993) during the semifinal round.

Jim Yates of Alexandria, Va., won the Pro Stock season title, the first of his career.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, John Smith of Minneapolis beat Dave Schultz of Fort Meyers, Fla., with a 7.424-second pass at 180.03 mph. It was Smith's first event victory in three years.

``It was a long time in coming,'' Smith said. ``They say when it's your day, it's your day.''

Schultz, however, had the championship sealed before the final.

``No matter how it came out, I was tickled pink,'' said Meyers, who has 41 career victories. ``It was awesome for one guy to set a record (Matt Hines' 7.344 run on Saturday), one guy to win the race and another to win the championship.''

Attendance for the four-day event was estimated at 112,000.