What a difference a year makes!! Scotty Lumbert erased all memories of the top-end crash that ended his 2003 season at the recent 21st annual Coors Light IHBA World Finals at Firebird Raceway. Lumbert turned in a dominating race day performance with his Roger Way-tuned "Public Nuisance" fueler from Illinois, winning the 2004 version of IHBA’s most prestigious event.

Other professional class winners included back-to-back Top Alcohol Hydro World Champion Tim Stokes, ’04 World Champion Don Ermshar in the "Mako Force" Top Alcohol Flat, and Steve Carter’s "Ratical Proposition" in the ultra competitive Pro Mod class.

When the gates opened on Thursday, there were 10 Top Fuelers present at Charlie Allen’s facility, as well as over 150 other world class drag boats.

The quest for the 2004 World Finals began in earnest on Friday and saw outstanding qualifying performances highlighted by the Lucas Oil twin turbo alcohol hydro of Terry Newton which shot to an unheard of 241.86 mph. pass.

Greg Tedesco’s "Loose Cannon," now tuned by Del Fowler, raced to a pair of 5.20 passes, with a best of 5.23. Lumbert ended the first day as the No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel leader with an easy 5.22, while Rex Childers in Jay Hartounian’s "Whiskey River" laid down a solid 5.28.

Daryl Erlich, driving the hard-charging Texas-based "Hot Licks" fuel boat, crashed during the second session of qualifying. The all-new boat leaped from the rope with a very strong launch and crashed shortly after setting off the right sponson at about 300 feet down track. An unhurt but disappointed Erlich and crew will again have to re-group for the 2005 IHBA season.

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In other action, Tim Stokes casually rolled the dominant "Widowmaker" Top Alcohol Hydro out of the box and made consecutive passes of 5.35 and 5.36, both over 220 mph. Newton’s 241 mph blast was impressive, but his 5.63 elapsed times trailed Stokes .30’s by a bunch. Tom Wright’s "Cuckoos Nest" ended Friday as the TAH number two qualifier with a nice 5.62 at 178.76 mph..

Saturday coupled perfect weather with a huge crowd eager for a great day of final qualifying, and the IHBA racers did not disappoint. Stokes again led the way in TAH with a great and very consistent 5.34 blast. That first session run locked Stokes in as the No. 1 qualifier, but was costly as the rods exited the Brad Anderson powerplant.

Ted Faggart’s "Superstar" sat out Friday’s sessions, so he started with an easy 5.62 pass in the morning session. He then followed with a 5.56 at 207.98 mph pass that locked up the No. 2 qualifying position. Newton (5.67) and Bob Genther in "Domestic Disturbance" (5.78) also locked in solid qualifying positions. Dave Ferguson in "Big Trouble" led a tough field of Top Alcohol Flatbottoms with a 6.81, 150.36 mph. pass. TAF Championship contenders Don Ermshar and Jerry Davis with "War Party" ended up sixth and seventh.

The Pro Mod division was led by Robert Sims in "Secrets Out" with a perfect 7.000 (7.00 index) pass. The class, which boasted twenty four entries from twelve different states, again proved that they are the toughest, as well as one of the most exciting classes in drag boat racing. When qualifying was over Sims was joined by six others with 7.00 passes and all of the top twenty boats at 7.06 or better.

The TFH class as a whole had a pretty tough day but saw good runs from Lumbert (5.24), Childers (5.31) and John Irvine in Tommy Thompson’s "Megaforce" single prop (5.51). The best was saved for last, however. Following a beautiful Arizona sunset 2004 TFH World Champion Jerry Kutz ended the day blasting to a low E.T. and top speed of 4.80 at 249 in his "Plumb Crazy" twin screw. With six foot header flames trailing the big purple boat, Kutz’s pass established a leg on both the speed (245 mph.) and E.T. (4.85) records.

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Friday and Saturday’s beautiful sunny skies and mild mid-70s temperatures were gone as race day rolled around, replaced by high 50s and strong winds. After the 11 AM opening ceremonies, Lumbert opened Top Fuel eliminations with a strong early shut off 5.11-second pass over John Haas in Lou Osman’s "Speed Sport Special". Glen Wilson in the San Francisco-based "Toxic Rocket" then limped to a 35-second win over a broken Rex Childers. John Irvine’s "Megaforce" put down a strong 5.48, 220.48 to eliminate Tedesco.

As the crowd stood anticipating Kutz’s attempt at a world record back-up pass, "Plumb Crazy" launched and immediately went silent after exploding the motor. The wind then got a hold of the boat and pushed Kutz off course into a side buoy, automatically eliminating the World Champion, and allowing Todd Plate in Eddie Knox’s "Problem Child" boat to advance. The semifinals began with Lumbert unloading a thundering 4.86, 246 (third fastest speed ever) blast to eliminate Irvine while the other half saw Wilson limp his way past an again troubled Plate.

The final proved to be anticlimactic as the "Toxic Rocket" was unable to return. As darkness fell over Firebird Lake Lumbert proved his showmanship as he lit up the Arizona sky with a great launch and early shut off 5.40 second pass. Stokes worked his way through the TAH division to meet surprise finalist Darrin Christle in Greg Gilday’s all new "Jackyl." The "Widowmaker" opened round one against David Sharp in "Hydrotherapy." Sharp was going through a trouble plagued weekend as all three of his qualifying attempts ended at the holding rope. When the tree went green Sharp and Stokes left together, but right before half tack Sharp’s boat got out of shape and crashed, destroying the beautiful black machine. Sharp’s capsule worked to perfection, however, and he emerged unscathed from the incident.

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Stokes waltzed to the final as his semifinal opponent Genther could not start. Meanwhile, Christle upset perennial contender Faggart in the first round, then took care of Bob Pizza’s "What a Tamato" in the semis to set up a final round battle against the champ. Christle knew he needed a starting line advantage to have a chance against Stokes. When the lights came down the "Jackyl" was away first, but hit the starting beams too early, red-lighting away a 5.63, 213mph effort, which was his best pass of the weekend. Stokes final round-winning numbers were 5.46, 219 mph.

TAF saw Don Ermshar trailing Jerry Davis by less than one round as eliminations began. Ermshar came out first and quickly disposed of Don Bausher with a 6.73, low E.T. of the meet shot. This put the pressure directly on Davis who needed a win to keep pace with Ermshar. Bob Raber and his "Blurred Vision" Cole left on Davis, and never looked back, ending the "War Party" gangs title hopes. Ermshar capped his championship clinching day by easily outdistancing Ferguson’s "Big Trouble" in the final (6.80 to 7.30).

Pro Mod waged an all day war and when the final round came around, No. 19 qualifier Jim Streatch in "Pure Nasty" and twentieth qualifier Steve Carter’s "Ratical Proposition" were the two left standing. The boats launched together and were tied together for the entire liquid quarter mile, but Streatch was too quick (6.98) and Carter turned on the win light with another near perfect (7.006) run. The IHBA racers and staff finished out another great season, and by all indications 2005 looks to be even more exciting!!

World Finals notes & overheard chatter: The winning fuel hydro of Scotty Lumbert is the former "Rapid Package" display boat. Walt Ott’s return to Top Fuel ended on his second pass as his beautiful new "Performance Plus" launched, stuffed the nose and completely submerged sinking the new boat. Walt and the boat are fine and will no doubt be ready to challenge in 2005. The Canadian TFH team of McClellan / Montgomery will debut their ultra-radical "Liquid Quiker IV" at the 2005 opener. Word around the pits is that Gary Kincaid may return and shoe Bill Cooper’s all new "Rapid Package" fueler. John Irvine will join the twin prop gang in 2005. Could Tim Stokes be moving to Top Fuel??? If so, the other top fuel guys better watch out! Mark Atkinson has serious thoughts of returning with a fuel boat. Photo Ace Joe Dutra will debut his "Speedfreak" Pro Mod at the opener in ’05. The R.E.S.P. BBQ / Auction fundraiser exceeded $45,000.00, Great Job!!