SAME DAY COVERAGE
NHRA Southern Nationals
Commerce, GA.
By Susan Wade; Photos by Roger Richards

Visit the event photo gallery at Commerce Photos.

EVENT REVIEW - Atlanta Wrap-Up: Quiet Kalitta Roars, Screaming Eagles scream, along with some thrilled and some frustrated drivers

With Georgia no longer on anyone's mind, the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals hopes it has said good-bye to rain delays, at least for awhile. While looking ahead to this weekend's Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals near Columbus, Ohio, CompetitionPlus.com salutes the faces of Atlanta: a giddy kid, an I-told-you so dad, two elite-club members, a rookie on a roll, a team turning the corner, and a stunned contender.

CompetitionPlus.com's Weekend Winners:

Biggest winner of the weekend: Doug Kalitta, who became the first three-time and only back-to-back Top Fuel winner of 2005, extended his lead over the slightly erratic Tony Schumacher. In seven races so far, Kalitta has advanced to four final rounds, worked his way to the lead in the standings from ninth place, and is 17-4 in round-wins.

Honorable mention: The Vance & Hines Screaming Eagle team, which landed the top two qualifying spots for the Harley V-Twin riders, both ends of the track record, and GT Tonglet's victory in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. No. 1 qualifier Andrew Hines set the elapsed-time record for the bikes at 7.092 seconds in qualifying, and Tonglet rewrote the speed mark in the semifinals against Geno Scali with a 7.081-second pass.

Biggest losers of the weekend: Team Checker Schuck's Kragen, whose drivers Del Worsham and Phil Burkart were eliminated in the first 10 seconds of Funny Car competition. Worsham lost in the class’ first first-round pairing, and Burkart immediately followed with a defeat by Eric Medlen. Then on Monday, Worsham stayed behind to test his Chevy Monte Carlo, and the Christmas Tree wasn't operating properly. (It had had some glitches during eliminations, too.) "We drew a line on the track and just took off," Worsham said. "And we went faster than the 6.3 we had Sunday.

"I'm not a real mood-swing kind of guy, and I usually don't get too down when things don't work out for us, but smoking the tires in Round 1 got to me," Worsham, who has taken to calling himself Mr. Frustration, said. "For weeks we've been running well and losing by inches, and I was absolutely convinced we were ready to bust loose in Atlanta. It was like a slap in the face when the car smoked the tires. . . . We made the call to get up early on Monday to make a few test laps. We made some slight changes, and it all worked just as planned. We're pretty good at winning the Monday Nationals, so in a way it's equally frustrating to go out there and run well after you've lost on Sunday. But we learned more and we ran great."

Burkart said, "We've been snake-bit, jinxed, unlucky, whatever you want to call it. We all knew we weren't that far off, we just needed to get back out there and get it done." Worsham was first and he was second in Friday qualifying, and they came full-circle: they were the first and second ones to be eliminated. They're also the first two drivers outside the top 10 in points.

The “I Wish I Weren’t Right” Award -- Gary Scelzi - The top Funny Car qualifier said Saturday night his Don Schumacher-owned Mopar Oakley Dodge Stratus was the car to beat but the best cars don’t always win on Sunday.

The “I Wish I Hadn’t Said That, Either” Award -- Allen Johnson - The Pro Stock driver who had the points lead after the Phoenix event was shrugging off his tumble to 10th place by saying, “That’s Pro Stock racing” and pointing out the tenacity and talent of his colleagues. “Warren Johnson didn’t qualify for eight races, and look what he’s doing. Greg (Anderson) and those guys are coming around.” Nodding to the team parked next to him in the pits, he added, “Mike Edwards is really good, too.”

But because he was going to run against Edwards in the first round, Johnson couldn’t resist saying, “He isn’t going to get the chance to show it.” Edwards used a nearly perfect .004 reaction time to win the match-up with a slower elapsed time of 6.819 to Johnson’s 6.807.

The “900 Club” Award -- John Force - The NHRA Funny Car icon recorded his 900th round-win with his victory over Whit Bazemore that gave him the points lead once again this season. He and his Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang also beat Pedregon brothers Tony and Cruz and finally hired teammate and son-in-law Robert Hight to earn his 116th career victory. It was his seventh in 13 final-round appearances at Atlanta Dragway. “In the first race of three-in-a-row it was important for us to make a statement,” Force said. Everyone heard it, loud and clear.

The “200 Club” Award -- Warren Johnson - Despite losing to Greg Anderson in the semifinals, the so-called Professor of Pro Stock came away with the top speed of the event: his track-record 204.54 mph in qualifying. It marked the 200th time he was fastest at an event, and that was the most by any professional driver in Pro Stock history.

“We had a good day at the office, but it could have been a great one,” the perfectionist said. “After making good runs throughout the weekend, we simply didn’t get a hold of the racetrack in the semifinals. It blew the tires off at the hit. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the GM Performance Parts Pontiac. We were just off in the set-up in the early part of the track. In the big picture, we extended our lead over second place, so it was still a productive weekend. We’ll head to Columbus and see if we can do even better.”

The "Pure Joy of Competing" Award -- Morgan Lucas - The 21-year-old Top Fuel driver was elated almost beyond words when he earned his first No. 1 qualifier award. "I'm pretty wound up. . . . I'm in awe," Lucas said. His mom, Charlotte, was on hand but dad, Forrest, who's at nearly every race, missed it. Forrest Lucas shouldn't feel too bad -- so did the local reporters, who had run off with the Saturday evening rainstorm, figuring the Top Fuel and Funny Car sessions would be washed out. But the rain moved on, at least for awhile, and Lucas took quick-qualifier honors in front of some of NHRA's most loyal fans who waited in the grandstands, come hot rods or high water.

The “I Don’t Care If It Is His Sponsor” Award -- Robert Hight - If the newest driver in the John Force Racing campful of Ford Mustangs should win the 2005 Auto Club Road to the Future Award, which identifies the most promising NHRA rookie, few could say it was handed to him because the Auto Club of Southern California sponsors his car. Hight has one victory in two final-round efforts in the last four events -- and the season is only seven races old. He improved to third in points. Had he beaten Force in the final, and he came within .0021 of a second of doing so, he would have taken the lead in the standings.

The “I Don’t Care If He Is My Son” Award -- Warren Johnson - The six-time champion was a wee bit smug after qualifying No. 1 in the Pro Stock class Saturday -- but not because he led the field. He made a distinction about how well son Kurt’s brand-new ACDelco Cobalt performed at Bristol (No. 3 qualifier, semifinal appearance, improvement from 10th to seventh in the standings) with his tune-up and how, with Kurt’s tune-up in it, it was 14th on the list of 16.

The "Noble Effort" Award -- David Baca - The No. 9 Top Fuel qualifier beat No. 8 Doug Herbert, top qualifier Morgan Lucas, and track speed-record-setter Brandon Bernstein to reach his second career final and first since Sonoma 2003. He also broke into the top 10 in the class standings. Baca called it "a great turnaround" and a "big morale boost" for his family-owned, sponsor-needy team.

He pedaled the car against Herbert for his first round-win of the year and led Lucas from start to finish to win with a 4.602 to Lucas' 4.628 before his engine expired in each of his last two runs. The team thrashed in the pits and barely made it back to the starting line for Baca's final-round run.

The "It Was Shocking But It Could Have Been Worse" Award -- Dave Connolly

The Pro Stock phenom was nonplussed when he missed the Southern Nationals -- by 13-hundredths of one mile an hour. "We never thought in a million years that we wouldn't qualify," he said. "We've never had a question about qualifying. It's usually about whether we're going to win or not."

Kenny Koretsky, operating without crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia because the latter's father had passed away, ran an identical 6.802-second E.T. to grab the final qualifying position and got the nod over Connolly because his speed was 203.22 mph and Connolly's was 203.09.

He lost ground -- lost 68 points -- to Warren Johnson, who entered with a 50-point lead over No. 2 Connolly in the standings and exited with a semifinal finish and a 118-point edge. Connolly remains second in points, though.

As the Elyria, Ohio, native reflected on the Atlanta weekend, in which he said "there was a little bit of everything going wrong," he looked ahead with eagerness to this weekend's Pontiac Performance Nationals at National Trail Raceway, the one he considers his home race.

KALITTA WINS SECOND STRAIGHT IN TOP FUEL, EXTENDS POINTS LEAD; Force, Anderson and Tonglet complete winner’s circle at NHRA Southern Nationals

(5-16-2005) – Doug Kalitta extended his lead in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings with his second straight win, defeating David Baca in the final round of the Summit Racing NHRA Southern Nationals Sunday at the Atlanta Dragway.

Kalitta flew down the track in 4.567 seconds at 325.69 mph in his Mac Tools Dragster to win the seventh of 23 events on the $50 million dollar NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

“I’m a lucky dog today,” Kalitta said. “To get by my two teammates (Scott Kalitta and David Grubnic) was tough and then that race against (second-place Tony) Schumacher (in the semifinals) was so close. There’s a lot of racing to do and you can’t go crazy counting points just yet but to run that team and beat them when they were running as strong as they were today is a big confidence booster.”

Joining Kalitta in the winner’s circle were John Force in Funny Car (4.772 at 202.61 to defeat Robert Hight), Greg Anderson in Pro Stock (6.781 at 202.61 to defeat Jason Line) and G.T. Tonglet in Pro Stock Motorcycle (7.106 at 186.30 to defeat Chris Rivas).

The win extended Force’s NHRA record for career victories to 116 and it was his seventh at the Atlanta Dragway. He also claimed the lead in the Funny Car standings.

In the final, he drove his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang by his son-in-law and teammate Hight’s Auto Club Ford Mustang to claim his second victory in two final rounds of 2005.

“My grandbaby is gonna be mad,” Force said. “I beat her daddy. For both of us to get to the final was exciting. I didn’t see him out there because to be honest it got so foggy and blurry down there I was doing everything I could to stay between the lights. I don’t know how far I drove it. I might have been a mile past the finish line but I figured I wasn’t gonna give up until she blew up, and she did.”

For Anderson, meanwhile, it was just his first win of 2005 in his Summit Racing Pontiac Grand Am after finding his way to the winner’s circle a record 15 times in 2004 when he was named Speed Channel’s Driver of the Year.

And to make the return to the winner’s circle even sweeter, he went through rival Warren Johnson, the man who employed him as his crew chief for many years, in the semifinals.

“I thought (racing Warren) was pretty darn neat and I bet they did too, at least until the finish line,” Anderson said. “I’m sure they were as up for that round as we were. You try to treat everyone the same but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little extra special when he’s in the other lane. Regardless of what’s said, I have a lot of respect for that man and he’s had my number all year. It was good to finally beat him.”

Tonglet’s win on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley Davidson was the first of 2005 and the second of his career and it moved him into first place in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings.

“First time leading the points is awesome,” Tonglet said. “First win on a Harley for me is awesome. I have the whole team to thank for getting me here, especially Matt Hines. He worked his butt off today and to put up that 7.08 in the semis was just phenomenal on this track.

“This hasn’t sunk in yet. Maybe when I wake up in the morning it will,” he said.

Now that's a wienee roaster...

(5-15-2005) - In his first round victory over Richard Hartman, Bristol winner Gary Scelzi refused to lift when his machine was on fire. (Motel6Vision).

Hang on Sloopy...

(5-15-2005) - Del Worsham appears to be working on his road course skills in this first round snafu. (Motel6Vision).

SUNDAY NOTES - Anderson shakes up the shop; The fire under Scelzi and Busy Coughlin

(5-15-2005) - Don’t ask that! -- Top Fuel winner Doug Kalitta said he was lucky to get past teammates Scott Kalitta and David Grubnic in the first and seconds rounds in Sunday’s eliminations of the Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. But he denied that his cousin and “Aussie Dave” had so-called team orders to hand him the victory. He said such talk was “frustrating when you’re out there, working hard to win a race.”

He did say that if he were to be in a tight race for the series championship late in the season, team owner and uncle Connie Kalitta would have no trouble directing son Scott and Grubnic to allow Doug to win -- and would admit it in public.

Kalitta masters Atlanta -- Doug Kalitta, driver of the Mac Tools Dragster, expanded his Top Fuel lead from 23 to 60 points Sunday, as he posted his first victory in Atlanta. He also became the only other Kalitta to win at the NHRA-owned facility besides uncle Connie Kalitta, who beat Eddie Hill in 1994.

“We’ve always come here and struggled,” Doug Kalitta said. “It’s nice to get the monkey off our backs here in Atlanta.”

He faced Tony Schumacher, the driver from whom he swiped the lead at Bristol and who remains No. 2, in the semifinals. And, typical of the Doug Kalitta-Tony Schumacher pairings of late, they put on a thrilling side-by-side race. Kalitta’s 4.532-second ET topped Schumacher’s 4.549.

“They ran strong today, and it was the best run of the day. Hats off to Rahn Tobler. He came up with that tune-up that we needed at the right time,” he said. “It’ll take a few more rounds like that to build your confidence.”

Games people play -- During the first of two rain delays Sunday, preceding the opening ceremonies, an improptu game of Nerf football broke out among the Checker Schuck's Kragen Funny Car team -- including driver Phil Burkart -- standing in the staging lanes and the folks standing on the third floor of the control tower balcony.

Just another round -- John Force said that he understood the hype about his opening-round match-up against Whit Bazemore. “I know Atlanta is his town. It’s only a round,” the seven-time Southern Nationals winner said. “He had the points lead, and now we have it. If Robert would have beaten me, he would have had the points lead and I would have been second. But it’s really only a round, and we’re not only a third through the season. It’s good for the fans, but I’ve got to run it like it’s another race.”

He said Bazemore constantly keeps him off-balance. After he beat Bazemore, he said, he saw Bazemore walk toward him, still wearing his helmet. “I thought, ‘Oh, man, he’s got his helmet on. He wants to fight or something again.’ He always wants to keep his helmet on when he’s mad.” But Bazemore slapped Force on the back in a gesture of good will and told Force, “Good job.”

“He threw me another curveball,” Force said.

“Tony was the same way, and Cruz,” he said, referring to Tony Pedregon, his former pupil, and Cruz Pedregon, the 1992 champion -- the brothers who interrupted his streak of series titles since 1990. “I think they were all fired up for it.”

The car’s the star? -- Force said his victory over Bazemore, for example, “is not just the drivers. We’re a big part of it. It’s the way our hot rods run.”

On certain conditions . . . -- Force learned Bazemore had remarked that he would like to meet him in Round 1 every race day. Asked if the feeling is mutual, Force said, “If he’d like it that way. I’ll keep qualifying No. 1. Let him stay No. 16."

For the record -- Brandon Bernstein equaled Top Fuel’s track speed record in qualifying with a 329.02-mph run to shares the mark with Tony Schumacher. However, he took sole possession of the record with his 329.34-mph blast in his first-round victory over Scott Weis.

Warren Johnson’s 6.749-second E.T. at 204.54 mph gave him both ends of the Atlanta Dragway record -- for awhile. He held onto the speed record, but Jason Line lowered the E.T. mark to 6.745 in Round 2 against Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Andrew Hines claimed the elapsed-time record for the bikes at 7.092 seconds in qualifying, erasing Angelle Sampey’s three-year-old standard of 7.113. But teammate and race winner GT Tonglet grabbed it in the semifinals against Geno Scali with a 7.081-second pass.

Givin' em what-4 -- The Pro Stock Motorcycle finals was just the second time in NHRA history that a total of only four cylinders powered both finalists. The first was the all-Harley-Davidson final between Tonglet and winner Andrew Hines at the 2004 Gatornationals.

Show of Force -- The Funny Car class marked the 23rd all-Force Racing final round with the pairing of team owner John Force and protégé and son-in-law Robert Hight.

The previous time it happened was at Englishtown, N.J., last June 20, when Force lost to Gary Densham. It was the first time in Atlanta since 1996, the year Force moved to a multiple-car team and Tony Pedregon earned his first NHRA national event victory.

Not this time -- Ashley Force lost her bid to share a second winners circle with her father. She was 17-thousandths of a second shy of beating Karen Benkovich in the Top Alcohol Dragster final round. Ashley and John Force became the first father-daughter combo in NHRA history to stand on the same winners podium last November in the season finale at Pomona (Calif.) Raceway.

All fired up -- Top Funny Car qualifier Gary Scelzi won his opening-round match-up against No. 16 Richard Hartman the hard way.

His Mopar Oakley Dodge Stratus blew up before half-track and he had to hang on to beat Hartman, despite the fact his challenger was smoking the tires on his family-owned 2002 Trans Am all the way down his left lane.

Scelzi said he was afraid Hartman would pass him up, and in a split second debated with himself about how to preserve the round-win.

“I didn’t see Richard and I said, ‘Damn, I don’t want to lose this race,’ ” Scelzi said. “The thing blew and it started getting pretty warm in there. And I thought if I pull the [fire] bottles, I might not see where
the hell I was going. And I didn’t want to hit the brakes and stop.”

He solved his dilemma by deciding not to destroy the body and applying the brakes. Hartman couldn’t catch up and Scelzi won with a 7.425-second effort at just 112.64 mph to Hartman’s 9.107/126.80.

“We’ll be fine. My guys are awesome,” Scelzi said.

The race capped a weekend of drama for Hartman, who left the race track Saturday afternoon to attend the First Communion of daughters Ashley and Alexis, bumped from the field and assuming he wouldn’t be able to return for a fourth qualifying chance if the rain let up.

He found out he might have a chance, drove at breakneck speed to get back in time from Anderson, S.C., to Commerce, drove up alongside his car, slid into it, and drove his way back into the field.

Scelzi’s day ended in Round 2 against Cruz Pedregon -- by .0256 of a second. Scelzi’s Dodge dropped a cylinder, which pulled it toward the wall. He clicked off the engine and Pedregon sailed onto win.

The fact that his Stratus was able to return to the starting line is a testimony to the work of crew chief Mike Neff and his gang.

“We had to change superchargers, fuel pumps . . . We had problems with the computer. We had a lot of things we had to change after that explosion,” Scelzi said. “It shook. I pedaled it, and for whatever reason, the bottom of the fuel pump suction broke off. It went lean, and all the fuel ignited hen it banged the supercharger. We had a lot of havoc there.”

Anderson shakes up shop -- Joe Hornick, the engine specialist who helped Greg Anderson become the dominating two-time Pro Stock champion, is gone from the organization. He and Anderson parted ways the Tuesday following the Bristol event.

The reigning series champion called letting Hornick go “the hardest thing I’ve had to do. Without him we wouldn’t have won two championships.

“He steered the ship,“ Anderson said, “and we learned a lot from him. But the team chemistry started to go away a little bit. It’s been brewing for a long time. I wish we could have all stayed happy. We had a great run, and I’m grateful to him. It‘s time to move on.”

Anderson said he had no complaints with the performance of the engines Hornick prepared.

He said he, teammate Jason Line, and Rick Kipley will collaborate to do the job they had counted on Hornick to do the last two years. “We’re going to do it as a committee,” he said. “Rick will be my new head engine man.” He added that down the road he might hire someone specifically to replace Hornick but isn’t prepared to do it or share the name of that person yet.

Anderson said since he won his second championship, two of his crew members were married and three became fathers. He said he recognized that such changes often make individuals change their priorities.

The boost in his performance, he said, is not because of Hornick’ dismissal but more of a result of extensive testing on the eighth-mile drag strip at Mooresville, N.C. -- a facility that he said isn’t more than 100 yards from his race shop. He hadn’t been able to use it for testing in the past because of the condition of the surface. But he helped pay for the cost of grinding the track and uses the small strip every day they’re at home and it isn’t raining.

It’s Doug again -- Cousins Doug Kalitta and Scott Kalitta raced against each other for the sixth time Sunday. Doug, the current Top Fuel points leader, has a 5-1 edge. The first time they met was the second round of the 1999 Brainerd race, and the previous time was the semifinals last year at St. Louis as Doug went on to win the event.

Changing of the guard - Don Schumacher waited out a raid delay dressed to the nines with his collection of crewshirts. (pictured to the right).

On the go -- As Jeg Coughlin Jr. qualified 10th the Pro Stock order Saturday afternoon, he said crew chief Bob Glidden had his Jeg’s Mail Order Dodge flying. Coughlin himself immediately was flying -- on a private jet to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

There his family was honored at a special “Celebration of Life” dinner for its contributions to the James Caner Center at The Ohio State University, one of the beneficiaries of the Jeg’s Foundation’s Racing For Cancer Research program. The affair was expected to raise more than $1 million.

"It's quite an honor for these people to hold this dinner for us," Coughlin said.

Favors facing Force -- Whit Bazemore said he wishes he could race John Force in the first round all the time. However, he surely doesn’t want the same result he got Sunday.

Bazemore entered the event as the Funny Car points leader, 58 ahead of No. 2 Force. But he smoked the tires on his Matco Tools Dodge Stratus and lost to the 13-time champion in the opening round.

“I wanted this, I really did,” Bazemore said. “It’s a championship. You’ve got to make or break your own deal. We just smoked the tires. We can’t blame anybody but ourselves. It’s a very tough defeat . We had four-hundredths [of a second] on him at the starting line, so we had to run only a 4.96 or something, and we didn’t.”

He said his rivalry with Force “is a challenge and it’s why I race.” He added, “This is what I’ve always wanted, to race that guy. I wish we could race hm in the first round all the time, even though it looks like we have a bad record against him (9-39).”

Trouble holding on -- Whit Bazemore evidently is better at getting the points lead than he is at keeping it.

When he lost to John Force in the first round Sunday, Bazemore also lost his points lead. That was the second time this year he has yielded the No. 1 spot in the standings to Force. Bazemore seized it with a victory at Gainesville, the third race of the season, but he lost it following the next race, at Houston.

Last year, Bazemore owned the lead for three races but gave it up to Del Worsham in June. The preceding season, he had it for one race before Tony Pedregon moved back in front on the way to his championship.

Some testimonial -- Eric Medlen, driver of the John Force-owned Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang, said in his top-end interview following his first-round victory over Phil Burkart Jr., “Man, I really got to go to the bathroom. I’ve been drinking all that Powerade.” Said press room veteran Larry Sullivan, “I don’t think that was exactly the kind of endorsement the sponsor was looking for.”

Rivalry continues -- The tension between six-time champion Warren Johnson and Greg Anderson, his former shophand-turned-two-time champ, hasn’t abated. That’s what made their semifinal match-up such an attention-getter.

Said Anderson of Johnson before the start of eliminations, “I don’t appreciate some of the things he said about me last year, but I respect the way he has come back [from a 12th-place finish and eight DNQs in 2004].”

Anderson had lane choice over Johnson in their semifinal showdown by three-thousandths of a second, and at the last minute switched lanes on “The Professor.” The move paid off, as Anderson got the jump on Johnson and beat him with a 6.798 to WJ’s 6.846.

SPORTSMAN FINALS

SATURDAY - WJ claims 133rd pole position; Joined on top by Lucas, Scelzi and Hines

(5-14-2005) - It was a day of records and a day of firsts at the Atlanta Dragway Saturday at the 25th Anniversary Summit Racing NHRA Southern Nationals, the seventh of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

At one end of the spectrum, you had 61-year old Warren Johnson earning his record 133rd No. 1 qualifying position in Pro Stock while at the other end of the spectrum you had 21-year old Morgan Lucas earning his first-ever No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel.

Johnson's top qualifying run in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac was a 6.749-second pass at 204.54 mph. That was good enough for the Buford, Ga. native, racing at his adopted "home" track, to merit favorite status entering Sunday's final eliminations beginning at 11 a.m.

"The idea is to win the race regardless of what track we're racing at on a given weekend," said Johnson, the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock points leader who entered the event 50 points ahead of Dave Connolly, who failed to qualify.

"When the closest person to you in the points doesn't qualify you certainly want to maximize the points potential you could gain," he said. "I still don't like to see it happen. They'll recover and probably be better than ever. A little adversity goes a long way in teaching you how to be mean."

The Top Fuel and Funny Car classes saw new No. 1 qualifiers emerge from an unscheduled evening session - caused by a two-plus hour rain delay - - that featured more favorably cool conditions.

In Top Fuel, 21-year old Morgan Lucas, driver of the Lucas Oil Top Fuel Dragster and the youngest driver in his class, turned in a 4.541-second pass at 326.40 mph to earn his first-ever No. 1 qualifying position.

He set the number midway through the round and then had to wait it out in his pits.

"The anticipation of waiting out those last few pairs of cars to see if we'd stay No. 1 was too much," an excited Lucas said. "I'm pretty wound up. I can't even explain it. The guys are so pumped up right now. For me watching Joe for all those years and then Wayne tuning the car, to be able to get this with them is so cool."

In Funny Car, Gary Scelzi drove his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus down the track in the ideal early-evening conditions posting a time of 4.782 seconds at 326.87 mph to vault to the top of the qualifying board.

"We're really glad it rained," Scelzi said. "We were lined up to race (teammate Ron) Capps in Round 1 if they had rained out the last sessions which would have sucked. But then it stopped raining and they came around and told us to get ready, that we were gonna run. Zippy (crew chief Mike Neff) said right away, 'We're going for the pole.' I told everyone a few years ago Mike Neff was a name everyone would know before long and it's coming true.

Scelzi will not have it easy Sunday with John Force and Del Worsham on his side of the draw, but he likes his chances.

"We just might have the best car right now. It's very, very good, as good as anybody else's car. But the best car doesn't always win on Sunday. I don't have that feeling like I did back in the day in Top Fuel when I knew we would win every race but we're getting awfully close to that."

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Andrew Hines delivered another terrific run, besting his then-track record and top qualifying run from Friday (7.094) with an even better 7.092 on Saturday afternoon in his Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson.

"As long as I can be myself at the starting line I think I have the bike to beat," Hines said. "One of the goals I set for myself this year was to be the No. 1 qualifier at all the tracks where we weren't No. 1 qualifier last year and this was the first one so I'm happy. It's just one more thing I can rub my brother's (crew chief and three-time champion Matt Hines) nose in, which is always a good thing."

SATURDAY NOTES - Run Morgan Run, Sell Zee Rules and Lagana catches a break from Evan

Career-first No. 1 -- Morgan Lucas waited calmly in his trailer in the pits during a two and a half hour rain delay late Saturday afternoon, wondering if he might get a chance to challenge Tony Schumacher for Top Fuel’s No. 1 qualifier award.

He did, as the rain cleared up and track workers dried the racing surface.

After knocking Schumacher from the top spot, Lucas returned to the pits for a few nerve-wracking minutes, wondering if his 4.541-second elapsed time at 326.40 mph in the Amato Racing/Lucas Oil Dragster would hold up. Schumacher still had one more chance to regain his No. 1 status.

Schumacher registered a 4.545 at 322.96 in the U.S. Army Dragster but ended up a surprising third, for David Grubnic and his Zantrex-3 Dragster slipped into the No. 2 position with a pass at 4.545/327.27.
“I was a nervous wreck. I’m pretty wound up,” Lucas said after learning he had claimed the first top-qualifying spot in just the 15th event of his professional career. “I can’t wait to go into tomorrow. I’m in complete awe. This is something I‘ve watched Joe and Wayne do.”

Lucas said he is excited because his car, which has experienced what he called “huge problems with the clutch” all year, is responsive. He said his crew “worked night and day to fix it and it’s showing through every bit. I’m so proud of them.”

He said the car “was hopped up. We wanted to see what it would do.”

He said he knows he can put four qualifying runs together but is eager now “to see if we can string together four runs on Sunday.”


Making progress -- Schumacher said the rain Saturday occurred in a different set of circumstances at Atlanta than it did at Bristol and consequently is having a different effect. Schumacher, who started 14th at Bristol as everybody got just one qualifying session, lost in the first round that race. Despite the showers that hit late in the day Saturday, the reigning series champion said he is satisfied with how he has performed at Atlanta.
“When I got to the Christmas Tree,” he said, “I had gone farther than I did in both runs at Bristol.”

Scelzi, Neff shock Funny Car rivals -- Gary Scelzi ruined teammate Ron Capps' brief celebration as Funny Car's No. 1 qualifier, topping a flurry of strong runs after a late-afternoon rain shower with his class-leading 4.782-second pass at 326.87 mph in the Mopar Oakley Dodge Stratus.

Capps was about to give new sponsor Brut its first No. 1 status with his 4.785/321.04. But Scelzi held off Capps and Tommy Johnson, who was third after powering his Skoal Chevy Monte Carlo to a 4.787/321.88.

Tony Pedregon (4.796/282.84) and John Force (4.817/324.28) rounded out the top five, shoving Robert Hight -- who had been the quick qualifier before the two and a half hour rain delay -- to sixth in the order.

"We were just talking about how we didn't want to race Capps, which is the way it would have been," Scelzi said of the sceanrio that would've evolved had the rain continued. "Zippy (crew chief Mike Neff)said, 'Hey, we're going to go after this thing."

He said Neff made changes to the car three times as they approached the starting line after seeing what others, most notably Capps, were running. "It got down to the last minute," he said. "He went in there for one final change. It made a quick rattle and it went right through it. It cleared up."

He said he didn't think it was going to hold as the quickest time.

He said his Dodge appears to be the car to bea right now but "on Sunday the best car doesn't always win."

He said he's "awful close" to the days when he had the toughest dragster in the Top Fuel ranks and carried a take-no-prisoners attitude into race day.

"You're going to know who Mike 'Zippy' Neff is," Scelzi said. "He's almost become a household name."


No. 1 but not gloating -- Warren Johnson took no particular glee Saturday in the fact he should can expand his Pro Stock points lead at unqualified Dave Connolly’s expense.

“I don’t wish that on anybody,” he said. You don’t want to see anyone else have misfortune. Obviously they had a mechanical problem. They’ve got enough talent that they’ll get it worked out. They’re probably back there, kicking stones, but they’ll recover. You might be surprised at how well they recover. A little adversity goes a long way in teaching how to get real mean.”

Johnson, who’ll face Kenny Koretsky in Sunday’s opening round, will start No. 1 with a 6.749-second, 204.54-mph effort in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac Grand Am.

Frustrating way to go -- Dave Connolly’s DNQ was especially frustrating because of how close he came to making to making the Pro Stock field. He and Kenny Koretsky each posted elapsed times of 6.802 seconds, but Koretsky was granted the 16th and final spot because he posted a faster speed -- 203.22 to Connolly’s 203.09. That meant he was just .13 mph too slow.

“It seemed like everything wrong that could happen happened,” Connolly said. “The one thing we were worried about coming in here was the car, and that was the only thing that cooperated. We’ll go back to the shop and get things together and come back strong next weekend at Columbus.”
His new Cobalt experienced a rear-end problem on Friday’s opening run. He aborted the final run because of tire shake and a hard move to the right.

Crew chief Terry Adams said he was startled when the car got out of shape. “I never would have expected that in 100 years,” he said. “We’d made some changes to the engine, but I don’t know why the car shook.”

On track to meet goal -- Top Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifier Andrew Hines said he has a had a personal goal this season: to qualify No. 1 at every track at which he didn’t lead the field last year, including Atlanta Dragway. “That way I can rub it in my brother’s face that I qualified No. 1 at all the national events,” he said, referring to older brother and crew member Matt Hines, a three-time champion who had 41 top spots during his riding career.

G.T. Tonglet, Hines’ teammate in the Brownsburg, Ind.-based Vance and Hines Screaming Eagle organization gave the Harley-Davidson contingent a 1-2 showing.

Somebody asked Hines who else has the bike to beat this weekend, and Hines said he couldn’t think of anyone -- “not the way my bike’s running right now,” he said.

Grumpy times -- Dave Connolly, who won at Pomona and Las Vegas and was a finalist at Gainesville, left Atlanta with his only DNQ of the year and his first in 26 races -- since the 2004 Gatornationals. The Bullet Motorsports Cobalt driver had qualified first in Bristol but, partly because of his Round 2 loss to Richie Stevens, lost his points lead to Warren Johnson. Said track announcer Bob Frey about Connolly’s engine builder and team guru, Bill Jenkins, “You want to know why they call Bill Jenkins ‘Grumpy’? Days like today. Don’t ask him now.”

Doing his best -- Bobby Lagana will be back in the Bill Miller-owned BME Dragster at the May 27-29 O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Topeka. In the meantime, Lagana recorded his best elapsed time in NHRA competition in the family-owned Lewis Garage/Twilight Zone Dragster. He did it Friday night at 5.010 seconds (at 295.21 mph) in his lone run of the day, and he eclipsed that in Saturday’s early session with a 4.923-second run at 294.95 mph.

“That 85 percent (nitro limit) hurt us,” Lagana said. He races regularly on the IHRA circuit, which has a 90 percent limit like NHRA did before last July. He said in general, the sport has seen more parts attrition at 85 percent than it did at 90 percent.

What hurt him more, though, was what he called a malfunction. But it was a mysterious malfunction, because his crew never found the problem. “The way our car was set up, we were shooting for the mid-80s. We figured the worst-case scenario was a (4.)95, and the best-case was an 82.”

Lagana and Co. came to Atlanta with only enough parts to make two qualifying runs, although he received some extra funding for this weekend from Torco Racing Fuels. “Evan Knoll, that guy is something special,” Lagana said of the Torco president.

Family has priority -- Richard Hartman was playing Beat The Clock in more ways than one Saturday. He started his Atlanta experience in ninth place but was bumped out in the Friday evening session. He recorded his best elapsed time of the weekend in Saturday’s first session but failed to make the field. He had to forfeit his last qualifying chance, because he had to leave the track by 4:10 p.m., because his daughters were taking their First Communion in Anderson, S.C., Saturday evening. When a brief rain shower interrupted activity, Hartman had no chance of making another run.

Stop the Presses - Living only 45 minutes from the track, Hartman raced back to Commerce and with divine intervention not only made it in time for the rain-delayed session, but also earned a berth in the field.

She’ll be back -- Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Connie Cohen sustained a broken toe on her left foot in Friday evening’s qualifying session. She failed to qualify, ending up 22nd among 27 entrants, but said she plans to compete next week at Columbus.

Coy Cobalts -- The Chevy Cobalts continue to be an enigma for Pro Stock drivers. Although Ron Krisher put his new car in the No. 1 spot Friday night and Kurt Johnson was ninth and Dave Connolly 15th, four other Cobalts did not make the field of 16. After Saturday’s first session, only two of the Cobalts remained on the grid, as Connolly was bumped and was 17th. In the end, No. 3 Krisher and No. 14 Kurt Johnson had the only Cobalts in the field.

Warren Johnson, the No. 1 qualifier, said of the new GM-produced body, “Aero-wise, it’s certainly better than the cars they had been driving. The front tread width is two inches narrower.” He indicated that some drivers might be dealing with a comfort issue in the cars that structurally are narrower than what they’re used to.

WJ did find a measure of self-satisfaction when recalling that son Kurt qualified third and went to the semifinals at Bristol after unveiling his Cobalt in using his set-up. Kurt Johnson tried his own set-up at Atlanta, and he will start from the No. 14 position.

Remembering Howard -- Pro Stock veteran Bruce Allen is carrying a tribute to the late Shelly Howard on his Pontiac Grand Am. Howard was killed recently in a testing accident near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Another DNQ -- Pro Stock rookie Erica Enders recorded her third straight DNQ and her fifth in seven races.

Wrong spelling, maybe?? -- With a name like Garlits, you’d expect to be in a drag race. But not so this weekend for Dick Garlets of Odessa, Texas. He was 17th in the Top Alcohol Dragster lineup. Big Daddy” Don Garlits is grand marshal of the event.

Alcohol leaders -- Frank Manzo, the newest among the 13 Lucas Oil-sponsored NHRA drivers, leads the Top Alcohol Funny Car order with a 5.644-second elapsed time at 257.97 mph, and Marty Thacker heads the Top Alcohol Dragster list with a 5.435-second E.T. at 264.03 mph.

Gibson wins first ever NHRA Top Sportsman national event in Commerce

Let the record reflect that Bill Gibson was the first driver to ever take home a Dart Top Sportsman Dash crown.

FRIDAY - SCHUMACHER LEADS AFTER DAY 1 OF QUALIFYING AT SUMMIT RACING NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS; Worsham, Krisher and Hines also are leaders at Atlanta Dragway

(5-13-2005) – Tony Schumacher is the leader after the first two rounds of Top Fuel qualifying Friday at the Summit Racing NHRA Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway.

Schumacher set the time on the final run of the day, making a pass of 4.550 seconds at 321.58 mph.

“That 4.55 was cool but the 4.63 we ran in the heat of the day shutting off earlier was cooler,” said Schumacher, who pilots the U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster. “This is a different place to race when it’s cooler. Look how many guys got down the track tonight versus how many struggled in the heat. We were a tenth better and we didn’t do anything different.”

Schumacher who sits in second place in the NHRA POWERade point standings behind Doug Kalitta, found himself more concerned with sixth-place Cory McClenathan entering the second round of qualifying Saturday and final eliminations on Sunday.

“I don’t know why any of us are bothering to race at this point. Everyone said Cory Mac was gonna win this weekend so we might as well pack it in and save the money, right? Hey, I love the competition. That’s what makes it so much fun,” Schumacher said.

Friday was a record-setting day in the Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle classes.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Andrew Hines set a new elapsed time record (7.094 seconds) riding his Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson to his top run of the day at 189.87 mph and in Pro Stock it was Ron Krisher breaking the elapsed time (6.757) and speed (203.89) records at the Atlanta Dragway.

If Krisher holds onto the No. 1 qualifying position, it will be the first No. 1 qualifier for Krisher since Dallas in 2002.

“It’s been awhile. But I think we’re gonna be a lot better now. We just have 15 passes on this new car and only the two from today in competition so we’ve still got a lot to learn about it but it’s definitely better than our old car,” said Krisher, referring to the recently introduced Chevrolet Cobalt chassis into NHRA Pro Stock competition.

Warren Johnson, a Buford, Ga. native, is in his final scheduled competition as a driver at the Atlanta Dragway and he sat No. 1 after the afternoon round.

“We saw what W.J. [Warren Johnson] did in Round 1. He just beat us to 330 feet. After that we matched him or beat him so I knew I could fix the early part of the run in the transmission. The car responded, and most importantly it went straight.”

Hines’ run was the stunner of the day as he secured the top qualifying position in the afternoon session with the track as hot as it was all day.

“We hit the nail right on the head in the first session,” Hines said. “So we took that tune-up and put it in GT’s bike and pretty much left mine alone. Then we saw him bog big-time at the starting line so we changed the set-up on my ride, but the bike didn’t like it at all. Somehow we stayed on top so we’re very happy. It looks like we've stumbled on our hot-weather tune-up a little early this year.”

The other top qualifier Friday was Del Worsham, whose Checker Schuck’s Kragen Chevy Monte Carlo Funny Car was the fastest down the track at 4.834 seconds and 321.58 mph.

He laid down the top run just moments after teammate Phil Burkart had a 4.838-second run at 320.58 mph in his Checker Schuck’s Kragen Toyota Celica.

“How about Atlanta,” said an excited Worsham. “I’m more excited to be No. 1 with my car but I’m pretty darn happy about Phil being No. 2. That’s probably the bigger surprise of the two of us because that car is brand new. Dad and I drove home to get that body, loaded in a $400 boat trailer we bought off some guy, and drove three days straight to get it here. We never shut the bus off.”

Atlanta also has good feeling for Worsham as it was the site of his first win 14 years ago.

“Fourteen years ago I won this race and I was so inexperienced I didn’t know what to do,” Worsham said. “I thought you just went and partied with your crew. Kenny Bernstein saw me wandering around in the pits and said, ‘Come here kid, let me show you what to do.’ I didn’t know about the media or coming to the tower for interviews. He got me up here and I froze up and could barely talk."

As good a career as Worsham has had – 19 career wins including five last season – he has struggled a bit in 2005, sitting 10th in the Funny Car standings entering this seventh of 23 events as part of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

“Everyone's been asking us what’s been wrong,” Worsham said. “There’s nothing wrong. We just haven’t been getting the little breaks and we’ve lost a few by thousandths of a second. This is just qualifying but hopefully everything is working right now and we won’t have to answer that question any more.”

Results Friday after qualifying for the 25th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals presented by Pontiac at Atlanta Dragway, seventh of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.

Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 4.550 seconds, 324.98 mph; 2. Cory McClenathan, 4.559, 322.34; 3. Larry Dixon, 4.604, 319.98; 4. Brandon Bernstein, 4.611, 323.04; 5. Doug Herbert, 4.612, 319.52; 6. David Baca, 4.634, 326.00; 7. Doug Kalitta, 4.684, 314.61; 8. John Smith, 4.687, 307.02; 9. Scott Palmer, 4.712, 324.67; 10. Morgan Lucas, 4.718, 314.83; 11. David Grubnic, 4.802, 308.28; 12. Scott Kalitta, 4.813, 303.78; 13. Mitch King, 4.867, 294.43; 14. Bobby Lagana Jr., 5.010, 295.21; 15. Roger Dean, 5.033, 272.56; 16. Luigi Novelli, 5.071, 235.80.

Funny Car -- 1. Del Worsham, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.834, 321.58; 2. Phil Burkart, Toyota Celica, 4.838, 320.58; 3. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.861, 313.88; 4. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.871, 319.90; 5. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.883, 313.58; 6. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.906, 312.28; 7. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.917, 318.17; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.922, 316.45; 9. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.927, 310.05; 10. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.952, 303.37; 11. Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.964, 301.94; 12. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 4.976, 302.01; 13. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 5.013, 261.32; 14. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 5.015, 331.85; 15. Jim Head, Stratus, 5.067, 302.41; 16. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 5.145, 293.79.

Pro Stock -- 1. Ron Krisher, Chevy Cobalt, 6.757, 203.89; 2. Warren Johnson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.758, 203.55; 3. Greg Anderson, Grand Am, 6.772, 203.43; 4. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.778, 203.37; 5. Mike Edwards, Grand Am, 6.779, 203.25; 6. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.783, 204.05; 7. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.783, 203.77; 8. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.785, 204.23; 9. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.789, 204.23; 10. Rickie Smith, Chevy Cavalier, 6.790, 203.25; 11. Bruce Allen, Grand Am, 6.794, 203.37; 12. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.796, 202.58; 13. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier, 6.798, 202.58; 14. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.800, 203.34; 15. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.802, 203.09; 16. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.806, 202.70.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.094, 189.87; 2. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.159, 189.95; 3. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.159, 184.83; 4. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.159, 187.03; 5. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.191, 187.83; 6. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.213, 186.72; 7. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.214, 186.43; 8. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.217, 187.26; 9. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.237, 188.23; 10. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.238, 183.94; 11. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.251, 184.67; 12.Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.252, 185.87; 13. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.256, 183.02; 14. Wesley Wells, Suzuki, 7.265, 183.54; 15. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.269, 184.47; 16. Rickey Gadson, Suzuki, 7.275, 182.62.

FRIDAY - Worsham gets his mojo back, You can't cuss on TV and the Bud Prince does the Derby

Lost no more -- Fourteen years ago, at Atlanta, Del Worsham beat Mark Oswald in the Funny Car final round -- and had no idea what to do next.

“I was walking around, like a lost little kid. I’d never been to a winners circle before, never even been to a tower before,” Worsham said with a laugh. “Kenny Bernstein said, ’Follow me. I’ll show you what to do.’ ”

He hasn’t earned his 20th victory yet, but his 4.834-second E.T. at 321.58 mph in the Checker Schuck’s Kragen Chevy Monte Carlo seized the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot, just ahead of teammate Phil Burkart Jr. -- the only other driver to run in the 4.83-second range.

Whit Bazemore, who grew up in Atlanta, was quickest in the first session but dropped to No. 7 so far.

Worsham said if his happy luck holds out, he might not have to have the same conversation with sponsors he has had about not winning one of this year’s first six races. “They ask, ’What’s wrong?’
Nothing’s wrong. Every time we race we get beat by a few thousandths. But it looks like we’re headed in the right direction.”

In front of people, too! -- Phil Burkart Jr. had his Toyota body back on the track during Funny Car competition Friday --- and put it in the second spot, behind teammate Del Worsham.

The Checker Schuck’s Kragen driver had to revert to his Chevy Monte Carlo body at Las Vegas, after experiencing a spectacular explosion during qualifying that destroyed the only Toyota body the team had. His team drew some criticism from General Motors rep for slapping Toyota stickers on the Monte Carlo shell. The Toyota stickers were back Friday, but they were affixed to a Toyota this time.

Burkart pitched a blower belt during his first run Friday but rebounded with a 4.838-second E.T. That, Worsham said, made him feel almost as good as himself topping the field of 16.

“We test all the time,” Worsham said, “and Phil makes beautiful runs when nobody’s in the stands. Our joke is that Phil can’t run well in front of people.”

He did just fine Friday.

From riches to rags -- Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang driver Eric Medlen, the No 1 qualifier in the previous race, at Bristol, was last among the Funny Car class’ 19 entrants after two sessions.

Not impressed with No. 1 run -- Tony Schumacher qualified No. 1 in Top Fuel at three of the first four races this season. He won two of the first four and was a semifinalist at Las Vegas. But he has been known to make the lineup in the 11th hour, and he has settled for the Nos. 13 and 14 positions in the last two events. At Bristol, he dropped out in the first round and lost his points lead to Doug Kalitta, the first time his U.S. Army Dragster had done that in 2005.

But Friday he and crew chief Alan Johnson appeared to have found whatever the glitch was. Schumacher led with a 4.550-second E.T. at 324.98 mph.

“That was cool,” he said, “but we don’t race at night. Running a (4.)63 and shutting off early in the first session was much more impressive.” He clocked a 4.634-second pass at 314.46 in the afternoon heat on a surface he said isn’t his favorite. He said of it, “This one here isn’t the best.”

Schumacher said he likes the challenge of trying to carry over a No. 1 qualifying position to a victory. “It was fun to get all 10 of those wins last year, but none was easy.” He said the battle “is what makes you want to get to the track.”

Busted? -- Competition Plus columnist Scott Kalitta was a bit concerned after consenting to let an ESPN camera crew put a microphone on him Saturday and follow him around as he goes through the final day of qualifying.

“They are going to edit this, aren’t they?” the Top Fuel drivers asked PR representative Todd Myers.

“Just don’t cuss,” Myers told him.

“It slips out every once in awhile,” Kalitta said.

If he didn’t appreciate Competition Plus editors before, he might now.

Turning it around quickly -- Andrew Hines was determined to break out of what he considered his slump after the first two Pro Stock Bike events of the season. He came out in the heat of the day at Atlanta Dragway and set a track-record elapsed time of 7.09 seconds at 189.87 mph that held up as the provisional No. 1 qualifying position.

“We hit the nail on the head the first time,” the Harley-Davidson rider said.

The reigning Powerade champion blamed himself for the fact he’s fifth in the standings. “It’s been all my fault this year,” Hines said. In Gainesville, I red-lit. In Houston, I was late. I’ve been at home on the practice tree about 1,000 times since Houston.”

He said his Vance and Hines Screaming Eagle team has had the luxury of doing “a lot more testing than we ever have in the past” because the family’s Brownsburg, Indiana, shop is no more than a couple of miles from Indianapolis Raceway Park in Clermont.

Hines said the temperatures at Indianapolis during testing were not quite as high or the conditions quite as muggy as those at Atlanta Dragway, but he said he was pleased the team has gotten a handle on its hot-weather set-up.

Still experimenting -- Ron Krisher said of his new Chevy Cobalt which has no more than 15 runs on it, “We’re still going to have to do some sortin’, huntin’, and peckin’ with this car.” What he was able to coax from it Friday was plenty to knock first-session Pro Stock leader Warren Johnson from the top-qualifying spot in the second session.

“I’ve said all year no one has more horsepower than we do. Warren has as much but not more,” he said.
“We just didn’t have a car to show it off.”

He does now. Krisher’s Valvoline-sponsored Cobalt set both ends of the track record with a run of 6.757 seconds at 203.89 mph.

“We didn’t run it (the Cobalt) in Bristol, because it was moving around on me. I don’t like to drive a car hard, unless I have a good reason to,” he said.

However, Krisher said, “There’s still a lot to learn about this doggone thing.”

If no one tops his numbers, Krisher will have the No. 1 qualifying position for the first time since the Dallas 2002 event.

Clutch worker -- Tisha Wilson has come through in the clutch for Hartman Motorsports as it is fielding a second dragster for this race only. The 16-year-old, who has blended into team owner Virgil Hartman’s training program after she “showed up and won’t go away,” is completely in charge of the clutch for Josh Starcher’s car. It is the first time she had sole responsibility for the critical component. Wilson has worked on the dragster John Smith drives.

“She has a great work ethic,” Hartman said after monitoring her progress and assigning her to the Top Fuel crew at several races, most recently the NHRA event at Bristol.

Starcher missed his first qualifying run, because he was unable to get the car in reverse after his burnout. He posted a 5.723-second E.T. at 282.01 in the evening session but was .652 seconds slow to eclipse Luigi Novelli’s 5.071-second bump time.

Starcher and Scott Weis are the only unqualified Top Fuel entrants.

Hobnobbing with NASCAR drivers -- Ron Capps will join at least eight NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers June 8 for Eldora Speedway’s Nextel Prelude to the Dream late-model stock car race.

Dave Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Petty, Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace and race-track owner Tony Stewart also will drive in the Fastrack Champions Series race. It is a special event that precedes the 11th annual Dirt Late Model Dream, a $100,000-to-win 100-lap race on the fabled half-mile clay oval in Rossburg, Ohio.

In an effort to ensure an equal opportunity for all competitors, the cars in the race in which Capps will compete are restricted to one of three General Motors crate engines, which are factory-produced and sealed.

Capps said he also will participate in the June 22 auction, golf tournament, and celebrity race in Sedalia, Missouri, that will benefit the Michael Ross Foundation. The annual affair is a project spearheaded by World of Outlaws icon Danny Lasoski and embraced by Gary Scelzi, a longtime pal of Lasoski and Stewart and current Capps Funny Car teammate at Don Schumacher Racing.

Cohen crashes -- Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Connie Cohen took a spill from her Suzuki in the shutdown area in Friday’s second qualifying session. She was walking and communicating afterward with Safety Safari officials, and Dr. David Brown, NHRA’s medical consultant, said she had no obvious injuries. Still, the Bristol, Connecticut, competitor was taken to Banks Jackson County Hospital for evaluation. No word was immediately available about her condition. She is unqualified, 21st among the class’ 27 riders.

Weather Channel storms track -- Weather conditions, as drag-racing fans were reminded April 29-May 1 at Bristol, Tenn., is perhaps the most critical element to staging a national event. The Weather Channel was on hand for three hours Friday as guests of Don Prudhomme Racing to explore how NHRA teams track atmospheric and barometric conditions and apply them to their tune-ups. The producer, reporter ,and cameraman chatted primarily with Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. and his crew chief, Mike Green. The air date for the feature has not been determined, but the Weather Channel is planning to debut in August a program that highlights unusual uses of weather-tracking.

In Eddie's absence -- Kenny Koretsky was two-thousandths of a second too slow to make the Pro Stock field of 16, but his Nitro Fish Wear Dodge Stratus did a noble job in the absence of crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia.

"Eddie's father, Edward Sr., passed away Monday in Horsham, Pa., and his funeral will be on Monday," Koretsky said. Jerry Eckman, Joe Cunningham and Koretsky are splitting Guarnaccia’s chores at the track this weekend. will take care of things at the track.

“While he won't be here,” Koretsky said, “Eddie will be communicating with us via fax, computer, and cell phone to help us run our best. Our goal is to win this race for Eddie."

Guarnaccia and Koretsky have been racing partners for many years. Guarnaccia manages the race team and Koretsky's engine development program.

Koretsky has two more chances to make the grid. Allen Johnson, the winner at Phoenix earlier this season, is on the bump spot with a 6.806-second E.T.

"We tested at Atlanta, and Eddie left a lot of good notes on the track for us," Koretsky said.

The Nitro Fish team has its eye not only on competing at Atlanta but also trying to remain among the contenders for the King Demon Crown specialty race, which is scheduled for June 11 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. Koretsky is seventh so far.

"Eddie said we've worked hard to be in this race and he doesn't want us to give up now,"
Koretsky said.

Friday 13th curse? -- Pro Stock’s Erica Enders might begin to wonder about Friday the 13th superstitions, considering what happened to her in what would have been only the second trip down a track (in a national event) in her SunCom Wireless Chevy Cobalt.

The car fired just fine in the pits before it was towed to the staging lanes. However, when the car started to roll forward for her qualifying run, the engine died. Her Victor Cagnazzi-led team took the Cobalt back to the pits, it fired without issue and the crew couldn’t identify the problem.

“Friday the 13th,” team spokesman Mark Scheierman said with a shrug.

Kaboom! - John Smith grenaded an engine during the first session of qualifying. He emerged uninjured and returned to land in the eighth qualifying position.

Pitching sensations? -- Larry Dixon and boss Don “The Snake” Prudhomme have been a great driver-owner Top Fuel tandem. But they might need to become as effective a baseball battery in the next couple of weeks. Each has been asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitches at three major-league baseball games next month. Dixon will have the honors June 8 preceding the Brewers-Yankees game at Miller Park in Milwaukee, where his Miller Lite/Ameriquest Dragster will be on display. He’ll do it again June 13 at A White Sox game at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Prudhomme will be on the mound at San Diego’s Petco Park before a June 21 Padres-Dodgers game.

Hangin' out -- Several crew members from the rock band Linkin Park are on hand this weekend, hanging out in the Joe Amato Racing pit and cheering on Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas.

'And he's off! -- Brandon Bernstein knows all about horsepower but got a close look at a different kind last weekend at Louisville. Taking advantage of a rare Kentucky Derby Day off, the Top Fuel driver joined friends from Indianapolis and Chicago at Churchill Downs for the classic Thoroughbred race that’s the first leg of the Triple Crown.

“It was an experience like no other,” Bernstein said. “People were dressed to the hilt. I would go again if I could. Every year I’ve had invites, but we’ve raced on that weekend for the past 10 or 15 years.”

Bernstein said he benefited from the “total Who’s Who spectacle,” chatting for about 10 minutes with basketball’s Michael Jordan and spotting such celebrities as Cuba Gooding Jr., Kid Rock, “Lost” star Matthew Fox, and actresses Tara Reid and Rebecca Romeijn.

He also attended the Kentucky Oaks the day before the Derby and watched Jerry Bailey ride Summerly to the mile-and-an-eighth race for 3-year-old fillies.

As for his luck at the betting window, Bernstein did well -- because he placed a bet on every horse in the field.

Pomp and Circumstance -- Mick Snyder, the reigning Division 3 Top Alcohol Funny Car champion, traded his helmet for a mortar board this past Tuesday. He was graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., with a Bachelor’s degree in business.

Editorial comment -- Among those who advanced to Saturday’s second round of Super Comp was John DiBartolomeo, editor of Drag Racing Action magazine. Also a driving instructor, he shares the Ed Quay-built dragster with son Franklin, who competes when Franklin isn’t attending classes at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

PREVIEW - Calling Commerce Home Nothing New For The Johnsons

(5-13-2005) - The adage goes that familiarity breeds contempt.

For the Pro Stock father-son tandem of Warren and Kurt Johnson, they’re hoping that it breeds competitiveness as they race this weekend at their “hometown” track in Commerce, Ga.

The transplanted Minnesotans, who live in the Sugar Hill-Buford area, are plenty familiar with Atlanta Dragway. What they aren’t as familiar with are their new race cars.

Warren Johnson, the so-called “Professor of Pro Stock,” will make his final Commerce appearance as a fulltime driver this weekend as his “School’s Out” farewell tour continues with the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals. This time he comes in as class leader in the Powerade points standings, with two victories in the last three events.

However, he said he has, in the poet’s lines, miles to go before he sleeps. “It took us an entire year to put the plan together, but so far this year, things have fortunately gone our way,” he said. “In essence, we are reaping the rewards of our efforts from the last year and a half. However, we’re not about to stand still. Our program is constantly in flux, searching for ways to hopefully improve our program, while simultaneously shoring up our equipment to maintain our current pace.”

He tested immediately following the Bristol, Tenn., race and said he “learned a few things that could help our GM Performance Parts Pontiac in the future. Since then, we’ve been back at the shop, freshening up what we have and building up our DRCE III inventory to prepare for these next three races, which are run on consecutive weekends. Certainly, we’ve gotten off to a good start, but that’s all it is – a start. I’ve never gone forward by looking back, so our focus right now is on winning Atlanta in front of our home crowd.”

Bristol was an exciting but slightly exasperating time for son Kurt as he debuted his ACDelco Cobalt. He and his crew finished their prep on the sleek new Chevy just days before the race and consequently got in a minimal amount of testing. Rain also turned out to plague all teams there, giving them only one session Saturday.

In spite of it all, Kurt Johnson’s team responded, finishing third in qualifying and on race day, outperforming even those who had elected to use their older, proven race cars. He, too, tested afterward but said despite making “quite a few runs,” he isn’t sure what to think as he heads down the road for a half-hour’s drive to this weekend’s event and his 13th appearance there.

“We made quite a few runs, some good and some bad, and tried a variety of things. It’s hard to say just how successful we were,” he said, “because we had to deal with a few issues that cropped up during the test. The good part is that with every pass we accumulated more data on this new car. It’s all part of the process of sorting out a new race car. We really won’t know how effective we were until we let the
clutch out on Friday, but I suspect we’ll be just fine.”

Kurt Johnson said he doesn‘t think he and his dad have any real advantage, “as often as everyone else tests in Commerce. Besides, Atlanta Dragway is not a good track to test on, because it is prepared so differently for a national event. This past week, however, the track was pretty good, so hopefully we gathered some valuable information. The cooler temperatures we had made for ideal conditions. Of course, the forecast is calling for much warmer temperatures this weekend, reducing the effectiveness of the data they collected.

“At this point, we will use anything we can get. This ACDelco Cobalt is radically different from its predecessor, so we are limited in the tuning information we can use from the last car, using it more as a guideline. Fortunately, after one race, the new car has already shown the potential of being very fast, so it’s up to us to quickly determine its tuning window, which will allow us to adapt to the conditions. Right now, our main concern will be making sure the car goes straight, and until we get that trophy, it will be just another tool we need to keep working on.”

This is Warren Johnson’s silver anniversary at the Georgia track. He said he moved to Atlanta 25 years ago “simply because you could race almost all year round, and it was centrally located for the drag racing circuit. It was a decision based purely on logistics. In Minnesota, you have a five-month season, and you would be on the road for seven.

“I also chose Atlanta over other locations, because it offered the best balance of the weather. I enjoy the change of the seasons, but without the severity we saw in Minnesota, where you can see temperatures of up to 108 degrees in the summer and 30- to 40-below in the winter. It’s been the home of the GM Performance Parts team since 1980, and I’d say it’s worked out to be a good choice.”

Indeed it has. WJ has five victories in eight final-round appearances there to lead all Pro Stock drivers. He also used a win at Atlanta to boost him to his first IHRA championship in 1979.

“I came into that race needing to qualify No. 1, win the race and get some help,” recalled Johnson. “Well, Lee Edwards went out in the first round and John Brumley in the second, and I beat Roy Hill in the final to win the championship by 38 points. From that point on, Atlanta Dragway has treated me well.”

He’s the “top dawg” in this territory where football is popular and so are the University of Georgia Bulldogs. At this track, WJ has a 41-19 elimination-round record, along with nine No. 1 qualifying positions, as well as 19 starts in the Top Four and only one outside the top half of the field.

Overall, he has 94 national-event victories, most ever in the history of the Pro Stock division. That puts him second to Funny Car’s John Force on the all-time NHRA victories list.

Be looking as our Competition Plus staff of Susan Wade and Roger Richards provides pit notes and photos all weekend.


FRIDAY, May 13, 2005
Pit and Spectator Gates Open 7:30 AM
Final Registration and Tech Inspection (Pro's & TAD/TAFC only) 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Sportsman Qualifying/Eliminations 9:00 AM
TAD/TAFC Qualifying Session 2:00 PM
Pro Stock Qualifying Session (PS Motorcycle / PS Car) 3:30 PM
Nitro Qualifying Session (Funny Car / Top Fuel Dragster) 4:30 PM
TAD/TAFC Qualifying Session 5:30 PM
Pro Stock Qualifying Session (PS Motorcycle / PS Car) 6:30 PM
Nitro Qualifying Session (Funny Car / Top Fuel Dragster) 7:30 PM
Secure Track 8:45 PM

SATURDAY, May 14, 2005
Pit and Spectator Gates Open 7:00 AM
Sportsman Eliminations 8:00 AM
Pro Stock Qualifying Session (PS Motorcycle / PS Car) 11:30 AM
Nitro Qualifying Session (Top Fuel Dragster / Funny Car) 12:30 PM
TAD/TAFC Qualifying Session 1:30 PM
Pro Stock Qualifying Session (PS Motorcycle / PS Car) 2:30 PM
Nitro Qualifying Session (Top Fuel Dragster / Funny Car) 3:30 PM
TAD/TAFC - Round 1 4:30 PM
Secure Track 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, May 15, 2005
Pit and Spectator Gates Open 7:00 AM
Pre-Race Ceremonies 10:00 AM
Final Eliminations 11:00 AM
Secure Event 4:30 PM

Schedule subject to change

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