Up
Front:
THE POINTS CHASE AND MORE...
Continuing
the Up Front from November...
The following is
Jon Asher’s second Up Front this month. Click on Up
Front - Part 1 in which he analyzes the major changes we’ll
see in drag racing in 2006. -- Editor
With his POWERade Funny Car championship Gary Scelzi joined a most exclusive club in which he and his golfing buddy, Kenny Bernstein, are the only members. They’re the only drivers to have won both Top Fuel and F/C championships in NHRA history. Scelzi is a terrific driver in a top car (thanks to Mike “Zippy” Neff), and he’s got the personality to rock the media in ’06, which bodes well for the class.
Amazingly,
after championship contenders Scelzi and teammate Ron Capps both lost
in the second round of the Finals, 13-time NHRA champ John Force still
had an outside chance of adding a 14th title to his resume. Ironically
enough, the man who ended his string of 10 straight titles in 2003, former
teammate Tony Pedregon, dashed his hopes once again. To be fair, Force
did himself in with an inferior Reaction Time, negating a far superior
elapsed time by being, well, late. Such is life in the fast lane.
It was by far the best points chase in recent years, something the NHRA would obviously like to see repeated on an annual basis, but as long as there are dominant drivers and teams in some eliminators, it’s an unlikely scenario.
There were certainly some great stories in Funny Car this year, with the overall performance of John Force Racing being worthy of special recognition. Not only did Eric Medlen show vast improvement behind the wheel in only his second year of competition, rookie teammate Robert Hight astounded everyone by not only his skills, but by his thorough professionalism when he was leading the points chase in September. He handled the media onslaught like few other rookies could have, and very much deserved the Road to the Future award.
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Why
don’t they just call it what it is and avoid confusing the straight
press? It’s the Rookie of the Year, people, and what’s wrong
with that moniker?
The disappointing story in F/C was the fall from greatness experienced by Gary Densham when he left Force’s employ and went out on his own. A 15th place finish isn’t indicative of the man’s talent, and certainly not of his popularity. He’s a Top 10 guy in both areas, so here’s hoping he finds the financial support he needs to return to championship contention.
There were a number of very competitive Top Fuel teams in ’05, but before we get into specifics regarding the POWERade Series we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the absolute mastery of the IHRA Hooters Series that “Flipper” Millican and tuner Mike Kloeber once again demonstrated. There are numerous naysayers out there who consistently make negative comments about Milllican’s dominance, but they – just as consistently – ignore one immutable fact: In order to win that car has to go down the track three straight times without smoking the tires or blowing up, and they not only do that, they do much more.
In
all candor there have been numerous races in which Kloeber could have
backed up the combination and still won, but he’s never approached
the races in that manner. When he looks at the track and prevailing conditions,
regardless of what everyone else is running, if he feels the track can
produce a 4.50, that’s what he dials into their combination. In
other words, Millican, Kloeber and tuning assistant Lance Larsen don’t
just win, they annihilate the competition with vastly superior elapsed
times and staggering speeds regardless of what’s going on in the
other lane.
Also worth noting is that Peter Lehman sold the team in mid-season to Kenny Koretsky, and shortly thereafter Millican suffered a blowover in Michigan. Under the circumstances a lesser team would have folded its tent, but these guys bounced back with yet another championship.
On the NHRA side Doug Kalitta (thanks to tuner Rahn Tobler) and Larry Dixon (with the now-retired Dick LaHaie making the calls with Donnie Bender) looked like serious contenders, but when the dust finally settled Tony Schumacher and Alan Johnson won again. Their championship season included an impressive double in Las Vegas when they won the Budweiser Shootout and AC Delco Nationals.
The surprise NHRA Top Fuel performer was “Hot Rod” Fuller. Although technically not a rookie (he made limited outings in the mid-90s), Fuller hadn’t set foot in a fueler in a long time before climbing aboard David Powers’ Houston-based ride. Regardless of that, one can’t ignore the fact that with tuners Richard Hogan (who left to take over the Melanie Troxel-driven Skull Gear ride for Don Schumacher), Lee Beard and Rob Flynn, Fuller managed three final round appearances, including an impressive win in Memphis during which he left on all four opponents in eliminations. He also finished 10th in the POWERade standings while not competing at all 23 races, and could be at the other end of the Top 10 in ‘06.
Much
was made of the new rev limiter NHRA mandated at the beginning of the
season, and without going into a great deal of technical detail the system
was supposed to automatically and almost instantly retard the ignition
advance once the engine hit 8,400 RPMs. In discussions with numerous crew
chiefs the system wasn’t expected to be a problem because very few
combinations hit the 8,400 RPM mark much before the finish line.
It could be argued that Alan Johnson is the sharpest racing engineer currently displaying his skills in drag racing. The man’s record speaks for itself, from his numerous championships to the often mind-boggling numbers that his cars have produced. Despite his enviable record, during the latter part of the season rumors circulated that Schumacher’s Army-backed car may have had some technical “difficulties” with the NHRA rules, yet no formal action was taken against them. I’m making no accusations here because I don’t have all the facts. Nevertheless I’d still like someone to explain to me how that car could spit out a 4.489/336.15 MPH run in the final round of the Pontiac Excitement Nationals at National Trail Raceway, easily the shortest national event track on the circuit. Hell, my driveway’s longer! The only other car to top 330 MPH at Columbus was Larry Dixon, and that was in qualifying and was markedly slower.
I’m even more curious about how the team came up with a 337.58 MPH charge at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, when no other cars even came close to 330 MPH. The second fastest car was some 9 miles per hour slower.
Talk of an electronic malfunction isn’t going to satisfy the half dozen Top Fuel crew chiefs who have, behind the scenes, been asking these same questions since June – with no answers coming from anyone in authority.
There’s
not much to be said about Pro Stock other than to offer our congratulations
to Greg Anderson on another stellar season. He came, he saw and he definitely
conquered, but one has to wonder: Will his continued domination of the
class ultimately drive more competitors away? Anderson, teammate Jason
Line and team owner Ken Black have done nothing wrong, but as Warren Johnson
said during the Nationals, “We used to have Indy with 50 (Pro Stocks).
Now we’re at Indy with about 20. Clearly, something’s wrong.”
An unlimited budget will certainly help win races and championships, but at what price for the class?
Anderson may have also awakened a sleeping giant by making a very disparaging remark about iconic racer Warren Johnson during the season-ending awards ceremony. Anderson’s off-the-mark comment reportedly elicited complete silence from the audience. He should have known better.
Erica Enders is a superstar in the making, something I wouldn’t have written six months ago. She struggled to get a grip on her car, but now appears to be on her way. She’s competitive and may become drag racing’s next female superstar – although Hillary Will and a few others will probably give her a run for that honor. Let’s hope that she’s able to maintain her individuality and doesn’t fall into the trap of suppressing her feelings to tout her sponsors in every finish line interview.
The
class of the Pro Stock Motorcycle field is unquestionably Steve Johnson
– although Andrew Hines won the championship. Johnson handled his
Indy “defeat” as no other competitor would have, and it’s
clear from talking with NHRA insiders that despite the overwhelming visual
evidence that he was ahead of rookie Matt Smith at the finish line, they
weren’t about to overrule their own electronic gear, nor did they
want to find themselves in the position of “Let’s go to the
tape, Bill” in the future. Albeit reluctantly, NHRA did the right
thing in awarding Johnson the victory, and in staging a belated winners
circle ceremony at the following race.
Johnson deserves praise for not only winning Indy and the Gatornationals, but for the manner in which he heads PRO2, the motorcycle owner’s organization that mirrors the group representing the other three pro categories. Johnson has fought long and hard to get NHRA to re-write the rules for the class, rules that were clearly tipped in favor of the Harley-Davidsons. He accomplished that through constructive, not confrontational lobbying, yet few outside the two wheel corral are aware of his efforts. The result will hopefully be a more level playing field in 2006.
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THE MEDIA
I make a lot of mistakes as a journalist, mistakes I instantly regret when the errors of my ways are pointed out, although I’ll never stop writing about sometimes painful subjects merely because someone in authority would rather I didn’t. An editorial, which Up Front is, reflects my personal opinion, and should never be misconstrued as a factual article. There’s a big difference between an editorial and a story, which must include both sides of any issues raised, and I hope you’ll remember that.
I’m becoming increasing concerned that “editorial integrity” seems to have gone out of fashion in publishing, and that definitely includes some of those covering drag racing. “Editorial integrity” means just what it implies – that reporting the truth should take precedence over any other consideration – including advertising. In today’s magazine world advertising revenues are critically important to a publication’s survival – but advertising and advertisers should not determine the editorial direction or content of the publication. Ållowing advertising to control editorial content immediately turns the publication into little more than a shill for the advertisers. One NHRA national event winner in 2005 was told face-to-face by a magazine representative that if his sponsor expected to see him in the magazine they’d better start buying ad space. Never mind that the racer in question was a very good story regardless of advertising placements.
The NHRA was also responsible for at least two major editorial gaffes in 2005, and in both instances the embarrassment that resulted could have been avoided through more efficient fact-checking. At the U.S. Nationals a “cub reporter” posted an item on nhra.com about a prominent race team without ever seeking confirmation from, or even speaking with, the team owner, the driver, the sponsor or the team PR person. Never mind that an hour later the item was pulled from the site, because the damage had already been done. In the lightning-fast world of the internet, pulling an item 60 minutes after it’s posted is akin to trying to excise an article from a newspaper after it’s published. Better research could have avoided the problem.
The second incident also involved nhra.com, in which a writer alleged nasty words had been exchanged between two Pro Stock drivers at the finish line in Reading. Despite the interjection of a highly respected factory representative who pointed out that the driver accused of the bad-mouthing wasn’t present when the words were reportedly exchanged, and despite later denials by others allegedly there and/or involved, the story remained online when it should have been pulled. The fact that it remained online for a considerable period of time was an embarrassment to all parties – including the NHRA.
NHRA’s media efforts, including National Dragster and nhra.com, are important to the sport. At the same time no one should expect these efforts to feature totally unbiased reporting, because the object of these exercises is to promote the organization. They are, in effect, propaganda arms, and should be viewed thusly. Every house organ publication and web site, regardless of the activity it’s covering, is nothing more than a glorified propaganda effort, and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as you understand it going in. But, in these instances, NHRA had an obligation to report factually, and by failing to do so they created problems for everyone involved.
And then there’s Torco’s Competitionplus.com. We are undoubtedly
as guilty as anyone when it comes to making a mistake or two. We try to
get it right every time out of the box, and I think we hit the bullseye
more often than not. We’ll keep on sharpening our aim in the future.
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