Competition Plus.com - Drag Racing's Internet Magazine

We at Competition Plus can't see you when you're sleeping, unless it's at the Christmas Tree. But we do know when you're awake. And we can see who's been bad or good. So you'd better watch out. And remember: no crying in drag racing. Oh, you can pout. Or better yet, smile! And take a look this Christmas season at who made our first annual Naughty and Nice List! (Don't be surprised if you find someone on both! And don't be surprised to find your name!)

Racers and fans who helped raise more than $270,000 for Julie Russell at the Darrell Russell Memorial Auction during the Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals and in an online auction. A special thank-you goes to Ali and Larry Dixon for organizing the event and to Frank Hawley for helping with the logistics.

Top Fuel driver David Grubnic, for winning his first NHRA race, the $100,000 Budweiser Shootout at Las Vegas in October.

Chicago’s Chris Singleton, the 2004 National Street Car Association Drag Radial champion, for presenting his "Iron Man" trophy to fellow competitor John Balinsky at the recent year-end awards banquet in Indianapolis. He made the spontaneous and emotional decision, saying he thought no one had worked harder and overcome more adversity than Balinsky, New York native, had all year long. Balinsky and the entire gathering expressed appreciation for the unselfish gesture.

Pro Stock Motorcycle newcomer Chip Ellis , for his humility as he scored No. 1 qualifier positions at Indianapolis and Pomona and won the October race at Las Vegas.

Dragster veteran David Baca, for patching up differences with his father, Dennis, and teaming with him to return to NHRA Top Fuel racing.

Funny Car veteran Del Worsham, for beginning the season with a hot streak, then coming back from a slump to duke it out with Gary Scelzi and prevail for a second-place finish in POWERade points.

Longtime NHRA photographers Gary Nastase and Richard Shute and Racers For Christ chaplain Larry Smiley, for their above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty help to British shooter Andy Willsheer at the Mac Tools Gatornationals in March. Willsheer sustained a broken leg when he was struck by flying debris from Ashley Force's car during Saturday's final qualifying session. His friends went to his motel room, gathered his belongings, boxed them up, and took them to the hospital, where at least a dozen or more photographers and friends -- including John and Ashley Force -- visited him Sunday evening. Photographer Les Welch spearheaded the effort to keep Willsheer's friends updated about his condition.

John Nobile, who campaigned on the NHRA circuit before returning to IHRA last season to win the IHRA 2004 Pro Stock championship, for demonstrating at the Amalie Oil North American Nationals that friendship and loyalty take priority over racing and self-service. Nobile received a phone call the Thursday of the Epping, New Hampshire, event and learned that longtime friend Bob Losordo had lost his lengthy battle with cystic fibrosis. Nobile told his crew that one shot of qualifying Friday would have to be sufficient for the weekend. Not only did he make the field, but he established a track record. He then drove home to Long Island to pay his respects, with no intention of returning Saturday. A chartered flight opened up and Nobile made it back in time for the final session. While he didn’t maintain his No. 1 position, he did set the stage for one of the most emotional first-ever national event victories that this sport has ever witnessed. Nobile won the event, assumed the points lead and returned home in time to put his first-ever trophy in the casket of his close friend.

Angelle Savoie, for competing in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class with grittiness and grace through difficult personal circumstances to finish second in the final standings.

Doug Kalitta, who finished second in the Top Fuel points chase, for saying he was cheering for Rhonda Hartman-Smith to win at Pomona before she took her sabbatical from drag racing. That was right after he had lost to her in back-to-back races at Chicago and Reading.

The Route 66 Raceway staff in Joliet, Ill., for giving NHRA drivers a perfectly glassy race track on which they recorded so many national records, best-in-NHRA-history runs, and personal career-bests this year. Making the list, too, is Pacific Raceways general manager Russell Stevenson, who silenced complaints about the maddeningly dangerous bumps with his resurfacing effort.

Checker Schucks Kragen Funny Car driver Phil Burkart Jr. and his crew, for their honesty about whether he helped teammate Del Worsham advance in the season finale. Worsham beat Burkart in the second round, and Burkart's co-crew chief, Chris Cunningham, said, "We're not going to lie. We're not going to play games. And we're not even going to keep quiet about it. We have lane choice, but we're giving Del the left lane. We've absolutely always raced, but this is different -- and that's our decision. This is strictly our (blue CSK team) decision. We took a vote on our team, and it was unanimous." Cunningham said Worsham asked him if that's really what Burkart and his team wanted to do. "We are absolutely sure," Cunningham answered. "This is too big a deal for Del, and he has come too far to have his own team end his day. This is team racing right now. We're a part of the bigger picture, of Team CSK. What Del was trying to accomplish was way more important to Checker Schuck's Kragen and this whole operation than what we were up against. He deserved every opportunity to win the round and move on. I don't care what other teams say when this sort of thing comes up."

Four-time U.S. Nationals and two-time series champion Tony Schumacher, for giving his Indianapolis trophy to Julie Russell. When he won for the third time at NHRA's marquee event in 2003, he defeated close pal Darrell Russell. He said at the time it was especially satisfying to race his friend in the final. No matter who won, he said, they could joke about it through the years. But Russell's fatal crash at St. Louis robbed him of those bench-racing moments. Schumacher said Indianapolis isn't the only place he remembers his buddy: "We all miss Darrell, and we will always remember him no matter where we race. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of my good friend." This wasn't the first Wally from Indianapolis that Schumacher gave away. His late mother, Susann had celebrated her birthday Labor Day weekends. So when he won in 2000, in his first race in the U.S. Army Dragster, he gave her his trophy.
Schumacher also fulfilled the wish of Army Specialist Kyle Wooten, of Springfield, Ohio. Wooten, stationed at Fort Lewis near Seattle, asked the Top Fuel leader to carry down the Pacific Raceways quarter-mile the wedding rings he had bought for himself and fiancee Amanda Estabrook. "I thought it would be cool," said the mechanic attached to the 21st CTC unit. "I wanted Tony to do it, and my dad always liked Tony's dad, Don Schumacher, when he was racing. We've gone to the Columbus race ever since I was three, and we've been to the races at Memphis and Indianapolis." Schumacher ran a 4.65 at 245.48, but likely hit 300 before shutting off the motor. "I don't care," Wooten said. "As long as it makes it down the track, I'm happy. How many people can say their wedding rings have been down a race track with an NHRA driver?"

Funny Car driver Eric Medlen, for stepping into a situation that was at once exciting and awkward and handling the attention and the new task with aplomb.

Medlen teammate Gary Densham, for reminding everybody that drag racing is a from-the-heart sport. He inspired not only by winning the 50th anniversary U.S. Nationals and the accompanying $100,000 Skoal Showdown (putting a cool $225,000 into John Force Racing's bank account), but also by showing pure joy and appreciation. So did Jerry Toliver, when he celebrated his return from an 18-month absence by winning the K&N Winternationals (at Densham's expense) and notching Toyota's first drag-racing victory in the Schick Quattro Celica.

Kenny Bernstein, for helping Professional Racers Organization negotiate a deal with NHRA that averted a protest at Chicago and made a small start in the effort to increase payouts for NHRA pro drag racers.

PRO2 President Steve Johnson, for being able to assemble nearly the entire Pro Stock Motorcycle class during the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis for the announcement that Ringers Gloves has signed a three-year agreement to sponsor the bonus race for its elite-eight qualifiers. Kenny Dolenak, Ringers Gloves president, said the event -- known for the past three seasons as the K & N Filters Bike Klash and will become the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle -- will carry a total payout of $51,000 ($36,000 for the Battle itself and $1,000 to the No. 1 qualifier at each of the 15 national events in which bikes run).

Ron Capps and Don Prudhomme, for handling their celebrated Funny Car split with dignity.

Carrier Boyz/Berryman Products Dragster driver Cory McClenathan, for being frank about the odds of him getting his long-awaited victory in May at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta. "There comes a time you start to doubt yourself after awhile. And today was not the day I woke up and said, 'We've got one of the better cars today and we can win.' Let's be real honest about it," he said after beating Clay Millican in the final to earn his first victory in 30 races, the first since the November 2002 NHRA Finals at Pomona.

Brandon Bernstein, for winning his second straight race at Phoenix and going on to triumph at Houston and Topeka. It signaled that he had fully recovered from a back-breaking 2003 crash at Englishtown because of diligent personal effort, that his early 2003 success wasn't a fluke, and that his Auto Club Road to the Future Award wasn't gratuitous.

NHRA Funny Car's Tim Wilkerson, for his humor following his frustration at Gainesville and for giving fans one of the oddest images they'll see on the track. Wilkerson had the distinction of giving the Chevy Monte Carlo its first No. 1 qualifier status with the Levi Ray & Shoup-sponsored car. In the second round against Cruz Pedregon, his parachutes deployed at about 200 or 300 feet off the launch. He ran the quarter-mile with them fully opened. Pedregon appeared to be an easy winner but lost traction at about the 330-foot mark, and Wilkerson beat him. Wilkerson then missed a return to the final round by five-thousandths of a second, a John Force victim. Wilkerson said that day that the Monte Carlo "looks like it's going to be a good body. We know what it does when it drags a parachute for a thousand feet, anyway."

Don and Sara Schumacher, Funny Car driver Whit Bazemore, and Bazemore crew chief Lee Beard, for pledging to the Jeg's Foundation and its "Racing for Cancer Research" program $500 each -- for a total of $2,000 -- every time Bazemore and the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus win a race.

A long list of advertisers for Competition Plus, for giving thousands of dollars worth of parts, advice, and labor to Brian Wood as he built a project Camaro. Not only did it provide a great return on the amount of money the advertisers invested in the project, it fulfilled one of the otherwise unattainable dreams of our friend, Brian.

Fernando Cuadra, for making his Pro Stock debut memorable by engaging in a burndown with veteran Allen Johnson at the fall Las Vegas race. He received his lump of coal immediately, as Johnson beat him on a holeshot. Cuadra had the quicker 6.84-second pass with a .107 reaction time to Johnson's 6.86 with an .026 light.

IHRA, for its decidedly unpopular decision to reduce the Alcohol Funny Car field from 16 to 8. The class was struggling somewhat during the last two years, but this action might cause it to collapse completely. It might hasten the demise, as the teams that used to comprise the lower half of the field might decide not to bother showing up at events if they have no strong chance to qualify.

NHRA, for creating controversy about whether Larry Dixon should be eligible for the No. 8 drawing at the Budweiser Shootout Party at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Casino and Resort.

Don Plemmons, founder and president of the Quick 8 Racers Association, for trying to thwart several events. In early 2004, Plemmons called racers associated with his organization and threatened to ban them if they participated in the CompetitionPlus.com Spring Open event in Virginia, which was scheduled for the same weekend as one of his events. He gets extra switches and coal in his stocking for his attempt to undercut the success of two high-profile events in the Carolinas this past October. Plemmons tried to schedule a last-minute race on the same weekend as Dragstock and the Big Dog Shootout. Fortunately the track operator saw the folly in it and turned down Plemmons.

David Baca, for playfully drawing horns and a mustache on a Larry Dixon poster at The Alehouse in Gainesville, Fla., during the Gatornationals.

ProMedia Publishing and the PRO Fastest Street Car Drag Racing Series, for underhanded dealings. After knocking heads with the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) for a couple of seasons, the powers that be at ProMedia Publishing decided to take a creative new approach in an attempt to disrupt the operations of their rivals. After NMCA president Tony DePillo reached a handshake agreement with the entity that owned the rights to the NMCA name to continue using it, the PRO people made a backroom deal and purchased the name out from under DePillo. Fortunately for fans of street-legal racing, and the sport in general, the ploy had no real effect other than costing ProMedia a bunch of money. DePillo’s organization simply reverted to a former name, the National Street Car Association, and carried on with a full schedule of events.

Andrew Cowin, for stealing Clay Millican's thunder at the IHRA season finale in Rockingham, N.C. Cowin set the IHRA elapsed time record at 4.550 seconds (at 314.17 mph) in Saturday qualifying for the Bethesda Softworks World Finals. Cowin's performance was a career best, and it equaled to the thousandth of a second the Rockingham track record Millican established during the 2003 World Finals.

Neighbors of Englishtown, N.J.'s Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, for complaining about noise at the drag strip that has been open since 1965 (before many of them moved into the area). Also New Jersey General Assemblymen Michael J. Panter and Robert L. Morgan, for trying to gain some political mileage from the situation and introducing a bill that would restricted operations there and at other area tracks. The discriminatory bill, which singles out race tracks and not other public gatherings such as concerts, ignores the fact that track owners and operators have self-imposed noise curfews in good-faith efforts to be compatible neighbors. Panter and Morgan withdrew their proposed measure Nov. 22. Track officials at Englishtown said they have taken steps to ensure cooperation with nearby homeowners. It is possible the issue will resurface in the legislative session that convenes in January.

Don Schumacher, Larry Morgan, and Bob Glidden, three NHRA veterans we really like, for their public NHRA Pro Stock spat this summer. Do we have to turn this Stratus around and take everybody home?!

Thieves in Michigan, who broke into NSCA competitor Mike Moran's shop and swiped not only Moran's gear but also gutted Al Suggs' trailer of all its computers and TVs and diagnostic data he had just paid Moran several thousand dollars to perform.