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NHRA
AAA Auto Club Finals
SUNDAY FINAL - SCELZI AND HINES WIN POWERADE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES; Schumacher, Pedregon, Coughlin and Schnitz are winners at Auto Club NHRA Finals
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d v e r t i s e m e n t
QUARTERFINALS -- K. Johnson, 6.744, 205.98 def. Smith, 9.642, 90.54; Line, 6.750, 204.14 def. Pawuk, 8.165, 115.09; Martino, 6.750, 205.16 def. Stevens, 6.743, 204.17; Coughlin, 6.742, 205.13 def. Anderson, 6.717, 205.47; SEMIFINALS -- Martino, 6.741, 205.63 def. K. Johnson,
foul; Coughlin, 6.733, 204.42 def. Line, foul; SEMIFINALS -- Hines, 7.119, 187.89 def. Ellis, 7.174,
183.02; Schnitz, 7.175, 183.84 def. Treble, 7.247, 182.43; Sandtrap Follies
(11-7-2005) - What did two of our Pomona finalists have in common? The answer is a lot of sand in the car. (Motel6 Vision)
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d v e r t i s e m e n t SUNDAY NOTES - Scelzi prevails, Hines doubles up, farewell Dick LaHaie, Coughlin leaving, Force looks ahead...'Weird moment' marks title -- Gary Scelzi said he rode "big emotional swings" before his triumphant moment during Sunday's second round.
His heart went on an emotional roller-coaster ride in a matter of six seconds. After closest contender Ron Capps, his Don Schumacher Racing teammate, was a Cruz Pedregon victim, he lost to Tommy Johnson Jr., leaving the door open for 13-time champion John Force to vault from third place to another series title. Then Force spoiled his own chances by being late on the light, with a .096-second reaction time to Tony Pedregon's .053. Force's exit gave Scelzi his first Funny Car championship to go with the three he earned in the Top Fuel class (1997, 1998, 2000). "I was numb. I never saw Tommy on the run," Scelzi said. He said he looked for the win light and didn't see it. Team track specialist Lanny Miglizzi broke the news to him: "We didn't win." Said Scelzi, "I thought we left the door open again. Those guys are dangerous. Then I sat there and watched Force get beat. I wasn't sure he really got beat. Everybody was kind of quiet. It was a weird moment." A half-hour later, Scelzi said he still was numb. He said this championship was different: "I've never had so much pressure, where everything meant so much, than this one." He said of knocking John Force from the Funny Car throne, "Everybody gets in a Funny Car to try to beat John Force. That's your whole goal. When Don Schumacher put together a Funny Car team, this is why he did it -- to go after Force and those guys, because they are the absolute best team in all of motorsports. John is hurting right now, but he's not dead." He said advice from Hawley during qualifying rekindled his competitive
passion. He said he told himself, "You'd better quit trying to
be calm and get your ass in gear and go up there and try to mow this
thing down or you're going to be calm and watching somebody else take
that trophy you want so bad. So I was pretty jacked up." He was No. 1 qualifier here with the track-record elapsed time at the Winternationals in February but Tommy Johnson won the race. "Earlier this year," Pedregon said, "there was some unfinished business. We went though a learning process after that and had a tough summer. It tested our mettle." But he said crew chief Dickie Venables is "doing everything I knew he could do. We do it together. " And she said he and teammate brother Cruz "have a lot to look forward to for next year."
He said Scelzi's Funny Car championship was even more satisfying than his son's three Top Fuel titles. "My son has won three championships, and that has been an amazing experience with the U.S. Army guys. But to unseat John Force, this is the big one, plain and simple," Schumacher said. "There's nobody out here who has been better than John. And Gary got it done." He praised Neff, calling him "the foundation of my operation, along with Alan Johnson." He said, "Gary stepped up to the plate. He's in the record book now. They've had some hiccups and had some tough times, but they've come back swinging, trying to take away the championship from the best racer out here, and that's John Force." Coughlin leaving -- For Jeg Coughlin, winning the Pro Stock final was more significant than halting a 49-race drought. It was his last race -- for at least awhile. "I made a decision earlier in the year, probably late summer,"
he said. "I wasn't up for another transition." As for crew
chief Bob Glidden and the crew, he said, "I felt I drove my heart
out for them, and they've done their best." The U.S Army Dragster driver recorded his fifth consecutive victory, made his seventh straight final-round appearance, and claimed his 20th straight elimination-round win. He also established the largest margin of victory for a Top Fuel series title (415 points). "All that work is done -- 23 times," he said, pondering the magnitude of what the group has achieved this year. "I can't wait to get started for next season. On the other hand,
I can't wait to stop," he said. "I'm going to do as little
as I have to -- not to get out of work, but I want to watch my daughter
grow up." Of his U.S. Army Dragster team, Schumacher said, "There's never been a team like it." He said fans and observers think that with such success as they have enjoyed "People think you start your own demise." But he assured that won't happen with him and his Alan Johnson-led crew. Hines likes '05 better -- Pro Stock Motorcycle's Andrew
Hines said his second straight series championship caps a weekend that
was "definitely better than the last" trip to Pomona Raceway.
"I got beat in the first round on a holeshot by my teammate here
last year," he said, referring to GT Tonglet's victory. Hines said that he "was nervous before [teammate and closest rival]
GT [Tonglet] went down the track" in the first round. He said,
"I've been wanting this championship since last year. I was like
Ron Capps -- ready to throw up at any moment. My mindset was that the
championship was wrapped up. I was ready. I knew what I had to do. All
in all, it was a good year. I wish I had done a little better, but I'll
take it."
He acknowledged that team owner Don Schumacher "took the leash off us and left us alone. You gave us a checkbook, and we used the hell out of it." But he said he had had his eye on Neff as the man he would like to have as his crew chief someday -- a year before he joined Schumacher Racing. "I was observing from the ropes and pit area, watching how everybody works and how they made their approaches. I ended up spending a lot of time with Mike after qualifying. I really came to like his philosophy. I realized how much drive he had and how bad he wants to do this and how he's not afraid. Alan Johnson showed the same traits. I saw in him the want to treat his people right, to not beat anybody down, to do the best he can do." Scelzi said Neff "is almost like a therapist, too." Neff said the championship "means everything. We've been pretty
new at this. It just didn't seem possible . . . that we realistically
had a chance to beat Austin Coil and Bernie [Fedderly]. Last year was
a pretty big confidence-booster. Coming into this year, I started to
believe we did have what it takes to do it. When he beat Force, he handed the championship to Gary Scelzi. It was almost like a "This is going to hurt me worse than it will you" moment. His voice wavering, Pedregon expressed "love till the end"
for Force and said, "I feel for John. I know what Scelzi feels
like." He said after beating Del Worsham in the first round he experienced "a big letdown" but felt that "we need to concentrate on the second round, but a lot of that [stress] was gone." He said he was "shocked" that his Brut Dodge smoked the tires. "I don't think we've done that in a long time with this Brut Dodge. Not for five or six races," he said, "so that was surprising. I wasn't ready for it. But now that everything is over, as time passes, it hurts a little worse that we were that close. On the other hand, we finished second and the Brut guys are already pumped about next year and we're already talking about how excited we are for next year. So that helps." He said that when he lost to Cruz Pedregon, "my heart sank." She said that for a fraction of a second he didn't see Pedregon, "and I was in the mode of 'OK, let's win this round,' and then he came flying by. My first reaction was like, 'Oh my gosh.' It scared the heck out of me. "When he crossed the finish line," Capps said, "I was coasting down there, and the emotions were just hard to take. I didn't want to shut the car off. I just wanted to keep it running and just drive it back here to the pit area." The most stress throughout all this championship showdown, he said, came in anticipating the match-up against Worsham. "All night and all this morning, knowing we were going to run Del Worsham, was probably the most stressful I'd been -- all night and all morning, just thinking about how good he is and how good that team is."
"I'm happy and proud for Zippy [Mike Neff] and Scelzi and that
team. They did a great job," McCulloch said. "I guess the
most gratifying thing is today when we went out the agony only lasted
about three minutes, because everybody else went out in the same
"Our car just took a violent right turn out there. There's something
really wrong with that chassis. I don't know what it is. We came here
without having tested it since it's been front-halved from Murf McKinney
(Lafayette, Indiana-based chassis builder). He said he and his team plans to have a new car next year. "That's
going to help," Bazemore said. "We're going to have to really
assess our performance this year and all aspects of it, assess it and
do what we have to do to get ourselves on the same level as our teammates." By the time Angelle Sampey came to the starting line she knew second place was within reach. She responded with a 7.210-second, 178.85-mph ride, hoping to keep her "Top-2" streak alive. The U.S. Army Suzuki rider has finished no worse than second in the previous seven seasons. Starting-line drama -- Once again, Ron Capps had a
little starting-line drama at Pomona Raceway. In the February Winternationals,
in his debut for Don Schumacher Racing in the Brut Dodge Stratus, Capps
was unable to make a first-round run because a mechanical failure triggered
an oil leak. In these Auto Club of Southern California Finals, he was
No. 10 qualifier and at the mercy of Del Worsham, who had lane choice.
Worsham started in the left lane and switched to the right at the last
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d v e r t i s e m e n t
SUNDAY - SCELZI EARNS POWERADE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE IN FUNNY CAR
Scelzi and Capps each lost in the second round of the Auto Club NHRA Finals and briefly opened the door for 13-time world champ John Force to reclaim the title. However, Force lost on a holeshot to former teammate Tony Pedregon later in the same round, and instantly made Scelzi the champ in the closest margin of victory for a Funny Car world champion in NHRA history. “To win a Funny Car championship racing the guys we’ve had to race this year is just incredible,” said Scelzi, who joins Kenny Bernstein as the only drivers to win championships in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. “My big concern was not letting (my crew) down because they mean so much to me. I am just numb right now because this is so different than the other three. I’ve never had so much pressure where everything meant so much.” Scelzi drove his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus to three victories in five final rounds and claimed six No. 1 qualifying positions en route to the championship. It is the first Funny Car championship for Dodge since 1983 (Frank Hawley, Dodge Charger). It is the fourth NHRA world championship and first in Funny Car for team owner Don Schumacher, who became the first team owner to claim championships in both nitro categories in the same season. Scelzi, who won Top Fuel championships in 1997, ’98 and 2000, moved to Funny Car in 2002 in large part to be able to try and defeat Force, who dominated the 7,000 horsepower category during the 1990s. By winning the title, Scelzi is the first driver to win the championship for a team not owned by Force since 1992 (Cruz Pedregon). “We’ve had a consistent race car all year long, and a great
tuner doing it,” Scelzi said. “I can’t say enough
about Mike Neff (crew chief) and this team. It’s been a hell of
a ride.” a
d v e r t i s e m e n t SATURDAY - SCELZI, SCHUMACHER, LINE AND SMITH CLAIM NO. 1 QUALIFYING POSITIONS AT AUTO CLUB NHRA FINALS; Scelzi, Capps and Force to decide POWERade Funny Car championship Sunday
Funny Car points leader Gary Scelzi raced to the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday at Pomona Raceway and has the edge going into Sunday’s three-way chase for the $400,000 NHRA POWERade world championship. Scelzi clocked a performance of 4.696 seconds at 330.23 mph in his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus to earn his sixth No. 1 award of the season and move into position to join Kenny Bernstein as the only drivers in NHRA history to win season titles in both nitro categories. By virtue of his qualifying effort at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, Scelzi increased his series lead to eight over second-place driver Ron Capps, and 32 over third-place John Force, a 13-time world champion. Force qualified sixth in his Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang and will face Scelzi-teammate Whit Bazemore in the first round, while Capps qualified 10th in his Brut Stratus and will meet Del Worsham in the opening round. Scelzi will race Tim Wilkerson, who anchors the quickest 16-car Funny Car lineup in history. Each round of Sunday’s eliminations (11 a.m. start) is worth 20 points. The earliest Scelzi could face either Force or Capps would be in the final round. Force and Capps could meet in the semifinals. “Right now we have to worry about us,” said Scelzi, who claimed Top Fuel world championship titles in 1997, '98 and 2000. “I can't worry about what Bazemore is going to do or what Capps is going to do. If we win this race, we'll be the champions and that's what we're going to try to do, just like we went into Vegas and tried to do, and we came up a little bit short, and hopefully tomorrow we won't come up short. It's do or die now. I'm going to go up there and race Tim just like I raced everybody in qualifying. Do my best and if the car runs well and we all do our jobs, don't have any stupid breakage, hopefully we'll get some win lights.” Tony Schumacher, Jason Line and Matt Smith also were No. 1 qualifiers at the $1.7 million race, the final of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
“You look at the names on the list of guys that have earned that many poles in a year and it's a pretty stout group,” Schumacher said. “I know (my team) gets a kick out of being No. 1 and they deserve all the credit because they're the ones who gave me an awesome race car over and over again.” In Pro Stock, Line claimed his second top qualifying effort of the season and his fourth overall with a track record time of 6.677 at 206.83 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO.
“I would have felt a lot better if we'd made at least three good runs,” Line said. “We have our work cut out for us. Erica has certainly been the best and most consistent so far. She's made four good runs and I think her car looks the best right now - at least the happiest for this race track.” Smith earned the first No. 1 qualifying award of his career in Pro Stock Motorcycle by clocking a track-record time of 7.000 at 189.71 on his Red Line Oil Buell. Second place qualifier Andrew Hines will try to earn his second consecutive world championship title on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. He leads teammate GT Tonglet by 51 points entering eliminations and needs to advance to the semifinals to secure the title.
First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
41st annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona
Raceway, the final of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended
Saturday. Funny Car -- 1. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.696, 330.23 vs. 16. Tim Wilkerson, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.828, 315.12; 2. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.708, 328.94 vs. 15. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.822, 323.89; 3. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.710, 329.99 vs. 14. Frank Pedregon, Stratus, 4.816, 278.23; 4. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.715, 328.06 vs. 13. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.815, 321.88; 5. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.716, 330.80 vs. 12. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 4.803, 320.13; 6. John Force, Mustang, 4.716, 325.53 vs. 11. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.800, 323.27; 7. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.730, 331.36 vs. 10. Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.768, 326.63; 8. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.735, 324.20 vs. 9. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.751, 329.26. Pro Stock -- 1. Jason Line, Pontiac GTO, 6.677, 206.83 vs. 16. Bob Panella, Chevy Cobalt, 6.721, 205.57; 2. Erica Enders, Cobalt, 6.681, 206.70 vs. 15. Tom Martino, Dodge Stratus, 6.718, 206.13; 3. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.683, 207.62 vs. 14. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.717, 205.63; 4. Greg Anderson, GTO, 6.685, 207.08 vs. 13. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.717, 207.15; 5. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.704, 206.16 vs. 12. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.716, 204.48; 6. Rickie Smith, Cobalt, 6.705, 205.85 vs. 11. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.715, 205.51; 7. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.707, 205.60 vs. 10. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.715, 206.26; 8. Mike Thomas, Stratus, 6.708, 205.41 vs. 9. Mark Pawuk, GTO, 6.712, 205.79. Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.000, 189.82 vs. 16. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.218, 188.02; 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.039, 191.57 vs. 15. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.198, 185.89; 3. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.047, 190.30 vs. 14. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.190, 187.44; 4. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.063, 187.91 vs. 13. Tom Bradford, Buell, 7.168, 191.38; 5. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.074, 190.11 vs. 12. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.152, 186.90; 6. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.089, 188.31 vs. 11. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.146, 183.99; 7. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.129, 189.39 vs. 10. Mike Berry, Kawasaki, 7.145, 186.10; 8. Wesley Wells, Suzuki, 7.135, 188.67 vs. 9. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.139, 188.10. a
d v e r t i s e m e n t SATURDAY NOTES - The Funny Car stage is set, Schumacher No. 1 again, four in 4.4s, Smith playing spoiler...
Scelzi entered this event a mere two points in front of his own teammate Ron Capps and 28 points ahead of Force. Bazemore said, "It's what we wish for, and it's good. We're fighting our car a little bit, but we've got a great team, a great bunch of guys. It's just up to all of us on the Matco Tools team to rise to the occasion and help one of our teammates clinch the championship tomorrow. "Obviously, it's all on the line, and for me it's a perfect scenario," he said. "[When] we came into the race, we wanted to race Force. We wanted to race him in the final, but the first rounds, same difference. We'll take it. It's good." Capps was a little disappointed about drawing an opponent as strong as Del Worsham in the first round.
Capps is the No. 1 qualifier, and Worsham is No. 7. "Definitely lane choice for the first round was important. Qualifying is over. It's Sunday we concentrate on and we won't have lane choice. If you would have asked anybody on Friday, the right lane was pretty much junk, compared to the left lane and yet the right lane came around. "Hopefully nothing happens during Top Fuel and the lanes stay
pretty even like they are, because guys are running pretty good in both
lanes and we have a shot with Worsham, both having a good lane under
us."
The No. 1 Funny Car qualifier and points leader said he was "hungry." Turns out he didn't mean for the championship. "All I had a was hot dog at lunch," he wisecracked.
Scelzi's take on that was "It could, but Whit doesn't like me so I'm not going to count on it. No -- Whit and I get along fine. "But I'm not worried about what Whit's going to do, what Capps is going to do. I'm worried about what we're going to do," Scelzi said. "The Mopar/Oakley Dodge needs to win this race. If it does that, I don't give a damn about what the other ones do, to be honest with you. I'm not being rude. I'm not worried about them. I'm not going to get caught up in all the baloney. I'm going to hit the gas the best I can. If the car runs well and I do my job, we should win. If we don't, we won't." Scelzi said his routine Saturday night is have dinner at the Italian restaurant in Ontario where he has dined every night here this week, then "kiss my kids, crawl my butt to bed, wake up in the morning at 6. And I'm going to walk this whole facility, like every morning." Then, the waggish Scelzi said he will "say good morning to Rick [Stewart], the starter, and slip a hundred-dollar bill in his pocket." As Scelzi might say . . . Thank you very much. Next show at 11 a.m.
Sunday. "The 11 thing -- that's fantastic," Schumacher said. "It
has never been done before. That's amazing. Last race in Vegas, we ran
a 4.49, but it was in the second round of the Bud Shootout and didn't
count." Schumacher to Funny Car? -- Scott Kalitta made the word official that he will drive a Funny Car in 2006. Three-time and reigning Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher said he will do so, too -- but not next year. "It won't be soon, but it'll definitely happen," Schumacher said. "This is too good of a team. You don't walk away from something this good. I want to run a Funny Car, because I have my sights set on doing that. [Dragsters and] Funny Cars -- I love 'em both. They're both animals. I don’t want to leave my career and not be able to drive one." He said his U.S. Army team should be even more experienced and stronger next season. "These guys are the best," he said. "I'm proud to drive for them. No one is even thinking of leaving. So next year we're going to come back stronger." He said crew chief Alan Johnson "tried some things on that last
run. I hope I didn't cost my team 25-grand on that." He was referring
to the Full Throttle crew challenge. "My guys deserve it." He said "absolutely fun" might not be how his Funny Car teammate Ron Capps is anticipating it. "Capps is freakin' out," Schumacher said. But he said he
would tell Capps the same thing he told a group of young adults: "You
don't think about it. There's nothing you can do. There's not one thought
that could go through your head that can help your reaction time. When
the lights come on, react." He told the kids that driving a dragster
is "like survival" but that a driver should always remember
one piece of advice: "Enjoy the moment." Winning a championship is a tricky proposition, he said. "You can have the most perfect car in the world and have the blower belt pop off or [have some other mechanical problem] . . . and all of a sudden you're not the world champion." Added Schumacher, "When I crashed and it put me out (in 2000), was it fair we finished No. 2 because I had a broken leg because I flew over the wall? I don't know." Smith in spoiler mode -- Because his performance has no championship implications, Pro Stock Motorcycle low qualifier Matt Smith really has nothing to lose. "If I win this race, I still won't make it in the top 10," he said. After keeping his career-first No. 1 status with Friday's track-record
7.000-second pass, the King, North Carolina, rider indicated he would
enjoy the spoiler's role, saying he'd be happy "if we can spoil
one of them other bike's [chances]." The 204 runner-up said he isn't using this performance to learn anything that will hep him get a jump on the competition early next year. "We just want to win the race. We're probably greedy, but that's what we get paid to do." He said his No. 1 position means that "we just happened to make one decent run that was better than everybody else's, but we don't have a handle on it, by any means. "I'd have felt better if we had made four great runs or at least three of them," Line said. Then he said of No. 2 Erica Enders, "Erica has definitely run the best, as far most consistent. She has made four decent runs. Right now her car . . . certainly looks the happiest n this race track." Line and his crew had to work into the night Friday to fix the damage from his landing in the sand pit after he took the top spot. "That was kind of a mess," he said, adding that Gary Hansen of Hansen Race cars here in the area helped the team fix the new Pontiac GTO. "There was major damage to the front end," Line said.
FRIDAY - SCELZI, BERNSTEIN, LINE AND SMITH LEAD QUALIFYING AT AUTO CLUB NHRA FINALS AT POMONA RACEWAY
(11-4-2005) - Gary Scelzi raced to the qualifying
lead Friday at Pomona Raceway and gained the early advantage in the
closest Funny Car championship chase in NHRA history. Results Friday after qualifying for the 41st annual Auto Club NHRA
Finals at Pomona Raceway, final of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series: Funny Car -- 1. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.696,
329.18; 2. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.710, 329.99; 3. Cruz
Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.714, 328.94; 4. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang,
4.715, 328.06; 5. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.735, 318.24; 6. Robert
Hight, Mustang, 4.745, 323.66; 7. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.750, 328.54;
8. John Force, Mustang, 4.761, 325.53; 9. Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.768,
326.63; 10. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.795, 321.81; 11. Whit
Bazemore, Stratus, 4.800, 323.27; 12. Frank Pedregon, Stratus, 4.816,
278.23; 13. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.822, 323.89; 14. Terry Haddock, Pontiac
Firebird, 4.840, 310.48; 15. Bob Bode, Firebird, 4.845, 259.21; 16.
Jack Wyatt, Firebird, 4.847, 309.77. FRIDAY NOTES - Force, Capps and Scelzi Make Early Field, Line Goes Long, Don't Talk to Zippy, Smith Looking to Settle Indy Score...Tire shake shakes Capps -- Ron Capps dropped from third to ninth Friday after the second session of qualifying, as his Don Schumacher Racing-owned Brut Dodge Stratus experienced tire shake. "When we rolled up, nobody had made it down the right lane up to that point. And it's just hard to tell whether it's the cars or the track at that point," he said. "But we still felt confident we could run a low (4).70 and improve on our (4).76, but in that run it just shook real hard and it wasn't going to make it through. "Both mine and Scelzi's [car] rattled pretty good last night but
made it through it. But that run, mine just didn't make it," Capps
said. "It rattled and went into tire shake. It's unfortunate, because
the air conditions were pretty good, but we'll be OK. He didn't reset the national record, an achievement he said he thought he would need to earn his 14th Funny Car driving championship and 15th as a team owner. However, he put his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang into the16-car field. He closed Friday in the eighth position, despite having to attempt his run twice because of a Christmas tree malfunction. "We didn't go for the record. The conditions weren't there. We set it up to get into the show," Force said. "Then it started cooling down and we had that [timing system] malfunction that put us back [in the pits]. We really didn’t know what to do. Do we put a clutch in it? No. Just get in the show. So all we did was change the oil in it, cool it down and drag it back up there. Basically, you got to be in the show to have a shot and now we're in the show. This would be a bad time for John Force not to qualify." He appears on his way to extending to 369 the record number of consecutive events for which he has qualified a Castrol GTX Funny Car. It has been 23 years since he failed to make a starting lineup. That was at the 1987 Finals. Force said that Saturday night he is "goin' hunting. It's that
simple. We're going after that record."
Line said he would spend the night helping his crew repair the body
damage and would be "cleaning the dirt out of my lungs and the
car." He said the front-end damage was fixable, "cosmetic,
for the most part," although it would take a few extra hours Friday
night. "The engine probably has to come out," he said. "We definitely don't want to go [to Hawaii]," Line said.
"If we started the year out this lousy, we need to be in the shop,
working."
"Yesterday I was nervous, because things can happen. I've seen them happen. If you go for the throat on the first run and you smoke the tires, then you start chasing. If a stupid part breaks or you have a mental lapse, you could end up not racing on Sunday. And then what kind of a championship is this?" he said. "So it was really important to get the car qualified." He said since the U.S. Nationals in September -- five races ago -- "I don't feel like I've really been on my game." The three-time Top Fuel champion said, "I've been tense, more so than all the other championships." Then along came a wise longtime friend while Scelzi and crew were in the staging lanes before this second of four qualifying runs. He's Frank Hawley, the former driver and motivational expert/driving school owner, someone who had helped Scelzi in 1998. Scelzi said he told Hawley that he had been "edgy" and "nervous."
He said, "I haven't the normal, goofy Scelzi. It just seems like
I'm putting so much into this, because you don't know when you're going
to get a chance to get a shot a championship. You've worked your whole
life for it. It makes it worse when you're going against a 13-time champion.
And Ron Capps, he just doesn't have the ring yet but he's more than
capable." Scelzi said he followed Hawley's advice. "Frank didn't tell me anything I didn't know," Scelzi said. "I just had forgotten what this is all about." So is Scelzi having fun? "I think I am now," he said. "You get caught up in this. Everybody gets in this whirlwind. You can't get caught up in this, because you'll make mistakes. "I'm just going to go up there and hit the gas and see if it's
my time or it's not." "When your car's overweight, that’s important. Ours isn't," he said. "So I'm eating cheeseburgers." He said Force is right, though. But he said he really doesn't concentrate on what others are doing. "I don't look at the ladder until Saturday night." He said Force's talk about lowering his own national speed record was an attempt "to get more press, because that record thing was a longshot." Said Scelzi, "I don't think you can set a national record with the rev limiter. That's the one key element. In Chicago, we were in a mineshaft. This place is good, but it's not quite as smooth. Conditions aren't as good. I'm not saying it can't happen, but it'll take an act of Congress. "John may seem like he's desperate but he's not. If John Force happens to win the Powerade championship this year, I don't think anyone would be shocked. I think the big shock is that Capps or myself can beat him. And I'm not just saying that. That guy has won too many championships. And last time I checked, he had a pulse."
Setting the record straight -- Gary Scelzi said Friday
he is not going to quit if he wins the Funny Car championship and becomes
the only driver besides Kenny Bernstein to win titles in both Top Fuel
and Funny Car. "My contract is up at the end of next year,"
he said, adding that he will evaluate his options later, around the
time of the Labor Day weekend U.S. Nationals. A matter of time -- Gary Scelzi has a 9-8 career record against John Force, who has won the championship 13 times and as owner or driver for all but one year since 1990. But Scelzi said he's not impressed with the rare feat: "If you race Force long enough you won't have a winning record against Force."
"We always like to disrupt the Harley deal," the King, North Carolina, rider said. "Being the No. 1 qualifier is a dream come true. That's what we're striving for. Hopefully tomorrow we can do that. " He said he's not certain the time will hold up. Five other riders -- Andrew Hines, top Thursday qualifier Ryan Schnitz, Antron Brown, former Pomona Raceway record-holder Chip Ellis, and Angelle Sampey -- also ran in the 7.0-second range. "We'll go the last pair out, so somebody has a chance to do that before us," Smith said. Smith, who was declared the winner at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, only to have his first victory rescinded because videotape showed Steve Johnson clearly the winner, said, "We put our Indy motor back in -- and just got it back fresh -- and our Indy tune-up back in, and we're out here flying." Winning, he said, might make up for his disappointment at Indianapolis. "Indy was a sting. It was my mess-up," he said. "But we're going to try to win this last race and end the year on a good note." He said he responded with "Cool!" to the news that he ran a 7-second-flat pass. When he found out the E.T. was 7.00 with a zero in the thousandths column, he said, "You're kidding me!" "I don't know if there's a possibility of breaking the national
record here. That'd have to be a 6.96, but we can definitely get in
the 6s, I think. We can probably run a (6.) 98 or .99. That's what we're
going to strive for tomorrow." The bikes are scheduled to run at
11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, and Smith said, "11, that's going
to be our best session." He had made the commitment to sponsor Roger McCombs RV Super Center before he finalized the Funny Car agreement with the Worsham family. McCombs reportedly plans to race in the NHRA Pro Stock class in 2006 with backing from Route 66, a national network of RV dealerships. Ashley, the two-time NHRA Pro Modified champion, announced Friday that he will campaign a 23-race Funny Car schedule in 2006. "I'm realistic and I'm new at Funny Car," Ashley said. "I have a lot learn, and our team is only five races old. However, I only know one way of thinking, whether pulling into the gates of a race or opening a season, and that is to go for the top spot. I can promise you 23 times this year we will aim to win, and our goal is to compete for a championship. Working with the Worshams has proven to be a wise choice, and I am confident that our ongoing relationship will yield performance gains for all of the team cars over the winter." Skull Gear owner Evan Knoll said Ashley "is first class by any standards. The brand recognition that he has created for our company is incredible." Mark Oswald tunes the Monte Carlo which qualified in the quickest-ever Funny Car field and carried Ashley to three personal-best outings. a
d v e r t i s e m e n t THURSDAY - SCELZI, CAPPS IN FIELD BUT FORCE FAILS TO QUALIFY ON FIRST ATTEMPT AS FUNNY CAR CHAMPIONSHIP CHASE NEARS CLOSE
Fuller, Hight, Enders and Schnitz lead qualifying at Auto Club
NHRA Finals Qualifying continues with one session Friday (2 p.m.) and two sessions on Saturday (11 a.m. and 2 p.m.). Entering this weekends event, Scelzi holds a two-point lead over Capps and is 28 in front of 13-time world champ Force. ”We know were in the show,” said Scelzi, who hopes to join Kenny Bernstein as the only drivers to win POWERade world championships in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. “Everything is good. Don’t worry about Force. He’s going to be fine, too. He’s playing with us.” Capps is looking for his first world championship title after finishing second two times. ”It was nice to go down there side-by-side and to get in the
show,” Capps said. “Force can go for the record, but over
here we wanted to get in the show, for all of us.” Top Fuel -- 1. Rod Fuller, 4.501 seconds, 316.08 mph;
2. Tony Schumacher, 4.504, 328.78; 3. Melanie Troxel, 4.534, 326.63;
4. Larry Dixon, 4.549, 324.20; 5. Doug Herbert, 4.553, 317.79; 6. Doug
Kalitta, 4.573, 324.75; 7. Morgan Lucas, 4.597, 283.49; 8. Cory McClenathan,
4.601, 323.81; 9. Brandon Bernstein, 4.672, 314.83; 10. Doug Foley,
4.673, 308.35; 11. Clay Millican, 4.696, 300.53; Pro Stock -- 1. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.696,
206.29; 2. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.699, 206.64; 3. Jason Line, Pontiac
GTO, 6.704, 206.67; 4. Greg Anderson, GTO, 6.714, 206.83; 5. Jeg Coughlin,
Dodge Stratus, 6.719, 205.41; 6. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.729, 205.57;
7. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.730, 205.10; 8. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.739, 205.44;
9. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.741, 206.35; a
d v e r t i s e m e n t
Click to visit our sponsor's website THURSDAY NOTES -
DOING IT FOR MOM, TRICKY TRACK SPOOKING SCELZI AND CAPPS, KORETSKY WATCHING,
HIGHT LEADS FUNNY CAR FIELD . . .
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Schumacher
set single-season records for consecutive victories (five), consecutive
finals (seven) and consecutive round wins (20) in taking his 30th career
Top Fuel victory by outrunning Melanie Troxel in the final. Troxel fouled
at the start in her Skull Gear/Torco Race Fuels dragster and Schumacher
powered to a 4.496 at 324.36 in his U.S. Army dragster to take his ninth
victory of the season. 
Pedregon
claimed his second victory of the season in Funny Car and 29th of his
career, powering his Q-Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to a 4.751 at 319.22
to defeat Eric Medlen, whose Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang lost traction
at the start. 
Coughlin
ended a two-year winless drought in Pro Stock when Tom Martino turned
on the red light at the start of the all-Dodge final. It was Coughlin’s
34th career victory and the first Pro Stock victory for Schumacher Racing.
It was the first final round for Martino since 2001. 
“This
win is every bit as special as the first two, maybe even more, because
this is Pomona,” Schnitz said. “Winning the finals and putting
your name with the other riders who have won here is really something.
I'm excited about the performance of this team and the momentum we have.
We need a marketing partner to sponsor this bike and that's what we'll
spend our time in the off-season trying to find. I hope this win and
having more wins than everyone else in the class will get us some extra
attention.” 
The veteran
drag racer from Fresno, California, who said he left the Top Fuel class
because the dragsters "were trying to kill me," carved a rich,
new life in the Funny Car division and his name in the drag-racing records
books. He became only the second driver in sanctioning-body history
to win championships in both nitro categories and gave Dodge its first
Funny Car championship since Frank Hawley's in 1983. It also marked
the first time a team has won the Top Fuel and Funny Car titles in the
same year. 
Satisfying
day -- Tony Pedregon said, "I had a great day -- a little
irony and a lot of drama" after winning his second race this season.
Schumacher's
take -- Team owner Don Schumacher had a dominating day, with
Scelzi winning the Funny Car championship, his two dragster drivers
(Tony Schumacher and Melanie Troxel) facing off in the Top Fuel final,
and Jeg Coughlin reaching the Pro Stock final). 
Medlen
miracle -- It was thanks to an incredible thrash by the John
Force Racing mechanics and the incredible length of the program that
Eric Medlen even could bring his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang to the
starting line for his final-round match-up against Tony Pedregon. But
the Funny Car showdown between Pedregon and his former clutch specialist
who replaced him in the cockpit of the championship car was anticlimactic.
Owning
the record book - When Tony Schumacher ran a 4.496-second elapsed
time at 324.36 mph as teammate Melanie Troxel red-lit in the final,
he set three more Top Fuel records. 
'Neff
said -- Gary Scelzi was quick to give crew chief Mike Neff
full credit for making the team successful, saying, "We've had
a hell of race car and a hell of a tuner." 
Force
gracious in defeat -- Cruz Pedregon took Ron Capps out of championship
contention with a 4.756/329.26 performance to Capps' 5.456/245.27. Then
Tommy Johnson Jr., who won on this track in the season-opener, hit the
big target -- Scelzi -- and eliminated him by two-hundredths of a second
with a 4.794/327.11 to Scelzi's 4.807/326.16. 
Capps,
Ace react -- Ron Capps said after knowing he would finish second
in the final standings for the third time in his career, "There's
a big sort of relief that's come over us. It's been wearing, just wearing.
I never thought it would be as big a deal as it turned out to be. I
knew it would be a big deal. But I had no idea how big." 
Ed "The Ace
McCulloch, Capps' crew chief, said his feelings were mixed Sunday afternoon.
"One side of me, I'm really disappointed. The other side of me,
we've had a good year," he said. "I've said this all along:
We weren't supposed to be here anyway. I wish we could've gone ahead
and done it, but we didn't. 
Matched against
perennial rival John Force in the first round, Bazemore smoked the tires
early in the run and lurched to the right, across the center line for
a disqualification. Force's car also moved to the left and brushed the
center line, but he took the round-win with a 4.790-second elapsed time
at 315.34 mph.
Hines
repeats title -- Andrew Hines clinched his second straight
Pro Stock Motorcycle series championship in the first round, as Mike
Berry upset GT Tonglet, Hines' Harley-Davidson teammate, and Hines advanced
past red-lighting Chris Rivas with a 7.100-second pass. 
Enders
upset -- In one of two first-round upsets in Pro Stock, Tom
Martino eliminated No. 2 qualifier Erica Enders on a holeshot. The New
Jersey driver, making his first appearance in final eliminations since
the 2003 Gainesville event, used an .005-second reaction time en route
to a winning 6.738-second elapsed time at 205.47 mph. Enders, who had
an .053-second light, ran a 6.735/205.72.
(11-6-2005)
- Gary Scelzi won the POWERade world championship title in
Funny Car Sunday at Pomona Raceway by eight points over teammate Ron
Capps and in the process became the second driver in NHRA history to
earn championships in both nitro categories.
Schumacher
powered his U.S. Army dragster to a performance of 4.466 at 328.78 to
take his 11th No. 1 position of the year in Top Fuel, a single-season
record. The record was previously held by Gary Beck (1983) and Blaine
Johnson (1996).
Despite
setting the track record, Line says he isn’t overconfident going
into racing tomorrow and says Erica Enders’ Slammers Ultimate
Milk Chevy Cobalt, which qualified second with a 6.681 at 206.70, is
perhaps the car to watch.
“I
know those top bikes are all fighting for the championship but if we
run into them we're just going to treat them like anyone else and try
to win,” Smith said. “I'm not in the points race. Even if
I win I can't get into the top 10 so we're just focused on winning the
race and that's it.”
"Worsham
is definitely not the guy you want to pull, but you look at any in the
top 16 and there is not one guy in there you'd rather have," Capps
said. "Ace and I talked earlier. All year long, every race we've
won it's been hard-fought, and we've had to race the best of them every
run, so I'd almost rather have it this way, I guess." 
"Tomorrow’s
game plan? We're still looking at the record if the weather’s
there, because it'll run," Force said. "It ran the fastest
half-track speed in my career tonight (268.49 mph at the eighth-mile,
better than the 268.01 he ran at half-track in setting the current NHRA
record of 4.665 seconds). It was really truckin'. It felt like it's
supposed to feel. 
Qualifying
at the top of the order, he said, carries no magic. "All it means
is that we did what we came here to do." He knows that No. 16 qualifier
Tim Wilkerson, an independent single-team owner/driver who has struggled
weekend long and made the field in his last chance Saturday night, loves
nothing more than to upset favorites. "That is a car that has beat
big dogs before," Scelzi said of Wilkerson's Levi, Ray & Shoup
Chevy Monte Carlo. 
"It
looks like the other top teams were really shooting for it tonight,
especially after they saw us go out there and run a 4.49,” Bernstein
said. “It either got too cold out or they just pushed it a little
too hard because no one was able to pass us. That kind of surprised
me.”
Line clocked a track record time of 6.677 at 206.62 in his Summit Racing
Pontiac GTO to lead Pro Stock qualifying and then took a wild ride in
the shut down area following the run.
Smith raced to the qualifying lead in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a track
record performance of 7.000 at 189.71 on his Red Line Oil Buell. The
time was the third-quickest in NHRA history.
Still
in hunting mode -- John Force got only half of what he wanted
Friday. 
New
Pomona trend -- Jason Line, driver of the Summit Racing Equipment
Pontiac GTO, is following Funny Car driver Tony Pedregon's cue. He became
the provisional No. 1 Pro Stock qualifier with a track-record 6.677
seconds at 206.83 mph and ended up in the sand pit when his parachutes
didn't open at the end of the run. Pedregon did the same -- except the
sand pit was mud when he was there during the February Winternationals.
Takes
advice to heart -- Gary Scelzi said his 4.696-second, 329.18-mph
pass in the Schumacher Racing Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus that swiped
the Funny Car low-qualifier honor from Robert Hight partly was the result
of some sage advice from Frank Hawley. 
Shirt
says it all -- Mike Neff, Gary Sclezi's crew chief on the Mopar/Oakley
Dodge Stratus Funny Car, has a message for everyone: "Don't talk
to me." He had a T-shirt made Thursday night with the slogan on
it, but the ink was too strong and the smell of it was bothering him.
So he didn't wear it Friday. 
Mr.
Smith Goes to The Top -- Matt Smith took the Torco/G-Squared
S&S Buell to the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle order Friday with
a track-record 7.000 elapsed time at 189.82 mph. 
Ashley
absent -- Mike Ashley isn't racing his Skull Gear/Torco Race
Fuels Chevy Monte Carlo for the Checker Schucks Kragen team this weekend.
He's in northern Florida, participating with local Pro Mod racers in
a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Ashley's father, Kenny,
is in treatment for prostate cancer. 
Fuller
was quickest in Top Fuel, posting a 4.501-second run at 316.08 mph in
his David Powers Homes dragster.
Hight
led Funny Car, posting a 4.745 at 323.66 in his Auto Club Ford Mustang.
“It’s
definitely awesome to be No. 1,” said Enders, also a nominee for
the Road to the Future Award. “It’s a big improvement over
the season-opener here. I’m really proud of my team for all of
the progress we’ve made since (the U.S. Mac Tools Nationals at)
Indy. We have been steadily improving our qualifying position and have
been in the top half of the field the last four or five races.
Schnitz
rode his Muzzy.com Buell to the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle order,
posting a 7.072 at 185.13.
Hurting
but here -- Kenny Koretsky said it hurts to laugh and to hiccup.
But the Pro Stock owner/driver and Top Fuel team owner was feeling well
enough to be in Pomona. The Richboro, Pennsylvania, resident is recuperating
from a devastating crash that left him with multiple injuries, including
a separated sternum and bruised heart. 
© Competitionplus 2005
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