SUNDAY FINAL - TROXEL
RACES TO SECOND VICTORY OF SEASON, BECOMES FIRST TOP FUEL DRIVER IN NHRA HISTORY TO OPEN WITH FIVE CONSECUTIVE FINALS;
Pedregon and Johnson also score wins at NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals
in Las Vegas
(4-9-2006) - Season-long NHRA
POWERade Series points leader Melanie Troxel raced to her second Top Fuel
victory of the season and made drag racing history along the way Sunday
at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by becoming the first driver
in her category to open the season with five consecutive final-round appearances.
Troxel's Skull Gear/Torco Race Fuels dragster covered the quarter-mile
distance in 4.834 seconds at 285.65 mph to win the seventh annual NHRA
SummitRacing.com Nationals, the fifth of 23 races in the $50 million POWERade
Drag Racing Series. She was joined in the winners' circle by former Funny
Car champion Cruz Pedregon and Pro Stock veteran Kurt
Johnson.
One of two females currently leading the 2006 POWERade Series standings,
along with Pro Stock Motorcycle frontrunner Angelle Sampey, Troxel's dragster
was nearly flawless in the early rounds as she posted three straight 4.5-second
passes. She had to fight through some engine
problems against runner-up Dave Grubnic, but he was in bigger trouble,
sputtering through the timers in 4.987 seconds at 319.60 mph in his StriVectin-SD
dragster.
"It
seems like we can do no wrong," said Troxel, who outran David Baca,
Morgan Lucas and Doug Kalitta in earlier rounds. "Richard Hogan (crew
chief) seems to have the ability to adapt the car to whatever conditions
we face, and the guys are doing a great job of getting the car back together
the same way every time. We're not making many mistakes.
"I don't want to wake up from this. No matter how good a team you
have, you just can't think that you'll continue to go to the finals every
week. I'm surprised as anybody. We're on a team that has all the resources
and is enjoying a lot of success and that motivates you to go out there
and perform at your best."
Troxel increased her lead in the POWERade standings from 128 to 156 points
over second place Grubnic. Three-time and defending world champion Tony
Schumacher lost in the first round and fell to ninth in the standings.
Pedregon won his first Funny Car race in 126 events, which dates back
to the tour's 2000 stop in Englishtown, N.J. Like Troxel, Pedregon's final-round
pass wasn't pretty, but the 5.417 at 266.16 mph he posted in his Advance
Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo was more than enough to take out series leader
Ron Capps, whose Brut Dodge lost traction at the hit
of the throttle.
"You
can say I had a gorilla on my back because it was definitely bigger than
a monkey," said Pedregon, who moved from 10th to fifth in the points.
"My feeling in the final when I started smoking the tires out there
was, 'oh well, Ron's gonna go by me.' But when I didn't see him I just
started driving off adrenaline and instinct. I've never been so
glad to see a win light come on."
Pedregon beat Jim Head, Tony Bartone, and Tommy Johnson Jr. along the
way to his 50th career final. Capps' third final in a row -- he was coming
off back-to-back wins -- pushed his lead in the series standings to 105
over John Force.
An 18-1 underdog with the local bookmakers, Johnson hadn't won a round
all season but he collected four here, winning Pro Stock by 10 inches
in his ACDelco Chevrolet Cobalt with a come-from-behind 6.842 at 202.42
mph against Dave Connolly's 6.874 at 202.00 mph in his Skull Gear Cobalt.
It
was Johnson's 33rd career victory and he is the fifth different Pro Stock
winner of the first five races.
"We've
been slumping, no doubt," said Johnson, who suffered first round
losses in the season's first four races. "I was just glad the car
started this morning. We've had some success here and we were able to
look in the recipe book and figured out what to do. Everybody has periods
where they're not running so well. You just have to fight through it.
"I came here in 2002 and I was an 18-1 underdog so I bet on myself.
I got drilled in the second round so I said the heck with that, I'm not
gonna bet on myself any more. I guess some people made money on me today
but not me. I guarantee you I'm happier with this trophy."
The win also extends a personal streak for Johnson of winning at least
one race in each of the past 12 seasons. He moved from 16th to 10th in
the series standings.
Despite a first round upset, Greg Anderson maintained a 40 point lead
in the POWERade Pro Stock standings over Mike Edwards.
The NHRA POWERade Series continues with the sixth annual O'Reilly NHRA
Thunder Valley Nationals, April 28-30 at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway.
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Sunday's final results from the Seventh annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals
at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The $1.7 million race is the
fifth of 23 in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:
Top Fuel -- Melanie Troxel, 4.837 seconds, 285.65 mph
def. David Grubnic, 4.987 seconds, 319.60 mph.
Funny Car -- Cruz Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.417,
266.16 def. Ron Capps, Dodge Stratus, 6.474, 229.31.
Pro Stock -- Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.842, 202.42
def. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.874, 202.00.
Top Alcohol Dragster -- Sean O'Bannon, 5.454, 266.32
def. Steve Federlin, 5.495, 261.02.
Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Ron August Jr, Chevy Camaro,
5.732, 253.18 def. Cy Chesterman, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.749, 252.14.
Competition Eliminator -- Tom Mettler, Dodge Dakota,
7.606, 177.95 def. Frank Aragona, Bantam Roadster, 8.646, 151.22.
Super Stock -- Bob Mazzolini, Plymouth Barracuda, 9.197,
137.34 def. Jimmy DeFrank, Pontiac Grand Am, 9.532, 146.72.
Super Comp -- Milton Gedo, Dragster, 9.055, 161.02 def.
Chad Langdon, Dragster, 9.070, 159.83.
Final round-by-round results from the Seventh annual NHRA SummitRacing.com
Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fifth of 23 events
in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:
TOP FUEL:
ROUND ONE -- Doug Kalitta, 4.566, 330.63 def. Rod Fuller,
5.115, 275.06; David Grubnic, 5.129, 305.29 def. Cory McClenathan, 5.612,
236.42; Doug Herbert, 4.630, 318.39
def. J.R. Todd, 4.669, 315.42; Brandon Bernstein, 4.535, 328.14 def. Bob
Vandergriff, 4.601, 326.32; Alan Bradshaw, 4.685, 318.24 def. Tony Schumacher,
8.105, 93.66; Larry Dixon, 4.537, 330.23 def. Mike Strasburg, 10.210,
100.28; Melanie Troxel, 4.577, 328.14 def. David Baca, 6.991, 119.47;
Morgan Lucas, 4.580, 316.38 def. Hillary Will,
4.602, 320.81;
FINAL -- Troxel, 4.837, 285.65 def. Grubnic, 4.987, 319.60.
FUNNY CAR:
ROUND ONE -- Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.826, 302.28
def. Gary Densham, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.845, 312.13; Del Worsham, Monte
Carlo, 4.866, 317.49 def. Mike Ashley, Monte Carlo, 4.898, 326.63; John
Force, Mustang, 4.795, 323.43 def. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 8.305,
96.19;
Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.884, 292.52 def. Robert Hight, Mustang, 12.286,
30.77; Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.820, 327.27 def. Gary Scelzi,
Dodge Charger, 7.641, 111.22; Ron Capps, Stratus, 4.886, 315.27 def. Scott
Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 9.178, 89.28; Whit Bazemore, Charger,
4.833, 321.73 def. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 7.866, 114.91; Cruz Pedregon,
Monte Carlo, 4.871, 296.57 def. Jim Head, Stratus, 8.396, 94.77;
FINAL -- K. Johnson, 6.842, 202.42 def. Connolly, 6.874,
202.00.
Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
Seventh annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway, the fifth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series -
Top Fuel
1. Melanie Troxel, 483; 2. David Grubnic, 327; 3. Larry Dixon, 297; 4.
Brandon Bernstein, 289; 5. Morgan Lucas, 281; 6. Doug Kalitta, 273; 7.
Rod Fuller, 268; 8. Doug Herbert, 263; 9. Tony Schumacher, 247; 10. Cory
McClenathan, 226.
Funny Car
1. Ron Capps, 489; 2. John Force, 384; 3. Tommy Johnson Jr., 288; 4. Robert
Hight, 286; 5. Cruz Pedregon, 284; 6. Phil Burkart, 282; 7. Eric Medlen,
276; 8. Del Worsham, 269; 9. Bob Gilbertson, 236; 10. Whit Bazemore, 207.
Pro Stock
1. Greg Anderson, 369; 2. Mike Edwards, 329; 3. Erica Enders, 317; 4.
Jason Line, 297; 5. Jim Yates, 283; 6. Warren Johnson, 268; 7. Greg Stanfield,
261; 8. Rickie Smith, 239; 9. Larry Morgan, 227; 10. Kurt Johnson, 221.
SUNDAY NOTEBOOK
DEFINITELY NOT ON CRUZ CONTROL: PEDREGON 'THANKFUL' FOR WIN
Cruz Pedregon had to wait 126 races before his return to the winner's
circle -- 127 counting the International Hot Rod Association season-opener
a couple of weeks ago at San Antonio.
He said he thought, "Maybe The Guy Upstairs is paying me back, telling
me it's not that easy [to win]."
But Sunday's $40,000 victory, his first since the 2000 Englishtown, New
Jersey, event, felt simply divine for the Advance Auto Parts Chevy Monte
Carlo driver.
He shared the winner's podium with Top Fuel's Melanie Troxel, who reached
her sixth straight final in the Skull Gear/Torco Dragster, and equally
grateful Kurt Johnson, who has had some hard luck this season after being
series runner-up in 2005.
"I'm very, very thankful for this win," Pedregon said after
defeating Ron Capps and his Brut Dodge with a 5.417-second pass at 266.16
mph to 6.474/229.31 mph.
"This win means more to me than any other win," Pedregon said.
"I helped build this thing from the ground up. There was nobody there
but me and my wife, Sharon. To go through the whole process and see that
what we have now -- our rigs, our pit area -- is top-notch, and to cap
it with a success like this is really beyond words to me.
"I cherish all my wins," he said, "but this one here is
without a doubt the biggest -- especially when you struggle like I did.
Did I doubt myself? About once a week. We keep fighting and keep believing
in your people, keep working at it. I'm living proof. I thought about
giving up a long time ago."
He also said that this 23rd victory in 50 final-round appearances is "a
relief for me as an owner to finally to be able to get my sponsors a trophy.
This is a big boost for us points-wise, morale-wise.
"I felt like it's taken me this long to get it right. Better late
than never."
He said that Sunday he "wasn't counting any chickens" or rehearsing
his winning interviews, like he had in the past. That included as recently
as two weeks ago at the eMax Drag Racing Series' Amalie Oil Texas Nationals.
"We went to San Antonio, thinking, 'Hey, we'll just go there and
mow those guys down and we'll take our trophy and leave,' " Pedregon,
who was No. 1 qualifier in the reintroduction of the Nitro Funny Car class
to IHRA, said.
"We just didn't have that new tire figured out. We thought we did,
We got a rude awakening. We made six runs and only went down the track
one time. We couldn't idle that thing down the track without it shaking.
That helped us realize, 'This is not working. We need to make big changes
to the way we run the car.' I credit that event to what's helped us here.
Had we not had those six runs in San Antonio, maybe we wouldn’t
be this far along with the tire."
The win carried some sentimental value for the entire family, he said.
Younger brother and teammate Tony Pedregon couldn't recover after NHRA
disqualified him for passing the tech-inspection scales Friday night.
His best run of the four qualifying sessions was thrown out and he failed
to qualify. Elder brother Frankie, who qualified in the field with him
at San Antonio, has struggled as an independent owner/driver. He, too,
didn't make the cut this weekend.
"I felt bad for Frankie. Here he is, struggling like I did maybe
six or seven years ago. He's trying to make it work with a shoestring
budget. Then I felt bad for Tony," Cruz Pedregon said. "So I
kind of felt a little bit of pressure to represent our name."
He said Tony's crew helped him advance past intelligent and always-prepared
Jim Head, last year's runner-up Tony Bartone, hot-streaking Tommy Johnson
Jr., and finally Capps. was right over there, from helping wipe the car
down to changing cylinder heads.
Cruz Pedregon said he remembers a rainy night years ago in Topeka, Kansas.
He had lost in the final round to John Force. And he discovered Force
at 2 in the morning, rwading the newspaper, grinning and enjoying reading
about his victory in the local newspaper.
And that joy in winning just one race is what Cruz Pedregon was feeling
in the Las Vegas twilight Sunday.
NEWSMAKER OF THE DAY -- Ron Capps, driver of the Brut Dodge Stratus
Funny Car
Ron Capps, vying for a third consecutive victory in his fourth
final-round appearance of the season, found himself with an ugly tire-smoking
6.474-second run that allowed Cruz Pedregon to win with an equally subpar
5.417-second elapsed time. Nevertheless, Capps extended his points lead
to 105 over John Force.
Capps got some help from Whit Bazemore, who eliminated Force in the second
round and beat the 13-time series champion for the first time since the
Phoenix 2003 race.
Crew chief Ed "Ace" Mc Culloch has the Brut Dodge running almost
like a bracket car, with 4.87s and 4.88s against Scott Kalitta, Del Worsham,
and Bazemore, whom he eliminated in the semifinals.
"They'll wear you out with their consistency," Cruz Pedregon
said. "To see them do what they did tonight [smoke the tires in the
final] was surprising. That car is leading the points for a reason."
Said Capps, "It hadn't smoked the tires like that in a long time.
So, we'll have to take a look at it and see what happened. I pedaled it
in case something happened to Cruz, but he had enough for the win.
"Ace never worries about who's in the lane next to him. He races
what the race track will give him, but maybe we got a little too greedy
in the final. It sure would have been nice to have another win, but to
get to the final round and extend the points lead over John Force is great
for the big picture. But, we sure wanted to give the Brut people another
win," Capps said.
"It's bittersweet," he said of not scoring a third straight
victory. "It sure would have been nice to get it, but it's been a
great start to the 2006 season so far.
"Ace and Dan Olson (team consultant) are working great together.
Time and time again, we go to (different) condition to (different) condition,
from track to track, and to be able to adapt to each situation like they
do is awesome. It's a dream to drive the Brut Dodge right now. Sometimes
I'm pulling the parachutes on Sunday and I'm shaking my head because it's
so unbelievable to be driving this car right now."
Of his 105-point lead over John Force, Capps said, "It's early in
the year. If it was the Vegas race in the fall, then I'm sure we'd be
feeling a lot more comfortable. I've been around long enough to know that
the worst thing you can do is get cocky. We just have to keep our noses
down, and keep doing what we're doing. Those POWERade points are so important.
We know that from losing the championship by eight points last year. Every
round win is
important."
PIT e-PATTER:
Top dogs out early -- No. 1 qualifiers Tony Schumacher
(Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) lost
in the first round. It was the first time since the 2004 Englishtown,
New Jersey, race that has happened.
TOP FUEL
Making history -- When Melanie Troxel beat Doug Kalitta
to reach her sixth consecutive final (dating to the Finals last November)
in the Skull Gear/Torco Dragster, she became the first Top Fuel driver
to start a season with five straight final-round appearances.
Her teammate, Tony Schumacher, advanced to the finals in the last seven
events of 2005, setting an NHRA record. So that makes 12 consecutive Top
Fuel final-round appearances for Don Schumacher Racing.
Just one little wrinkle -- StriVectin-SD Dragster driver
Dave Grubnic, who was runner-up to Melanie Troxel in his second final-round
appearance in three races, moved up from fourth place to second in the
standings.
“Yeah, we’re disappointed, of course, but we did our best,”
Grubnic said. “Congrats to Melanie and that whole crew." He
said that Richard Hogan, Troxel’s crew chief and fellow Ennis, Montana,
resident, is a good friend of his, "so I’m really happy for
him."
As for his own performance, he said, "We tip-toed right on the edge
all day. Our car was just a little too aggressive in that final round.
We had a lot of VIP guests out from StriVectin-SD this weekend, and I’m
sorry we couldn’t get it done for them, but we made the final and
that’s always good. We’ll just get ready to run again in Bristol.”
Schumacher still struggling -- Tony Schumacher has
yet to convert a No. 1 qualifying position to a victory.
He earned his fourth top spot in five races, but he lost in Sunday's first
round. His U.S. Army Dragster, which put out a cylinder right at the start
of the run, wiggled and slipped all over the right lane, as No. 16 Alan
Bradshaw notched the first round-win of his professional career.
Schumacher and crew chief Alan Johnson, who met Bradshaw and the BME/Okuma
Dragster in the fourth pairing, were the first team with lane choice not
to select the left side.
"I hit the throttle and put a cylinder out right away," Schumacher
said. "To add insult to injury, I then had severe tire shake and
ultimately tire smoke. To Bradshaw's credit, he went right down the track.
They got the job done today and we didn't. That's about all you can say."
However, he put his third straight Round 1 exit in perspective. "Teams
go through slumps -- it's a fact," he said. "This sport can
be a roller coaster at times. You can be at the top for a long time and
then suddenly do a free fall for no apparent reason. Listen, we have 18
races to go on the schedule, so to be honest I'm not worried at all. This
U.S. Army team is still very much championship caliber. We'll get this
thing sorted out and be a player real soon."
Said Bradshaw, "We're always the underdog. . . . So there's nothing
better than getting your first round-win against the three-time champion."
He lost in the quarterfinals to Doug Kalitta.
Upsets -- Besides Bradshaw's feat against Schumacher,
Dave Grubnic and Morgan Lucas scored upset victories in the opening round.
No. 10 Grubnic took advantage of No. 7 Cory McClenathan's early loss of
traction. And Morgan Lucas, who started 12th, upset No. 5 Hillary Will.
FUNNY CAR
No lane choice a killer -- Reigning class champion Gary
Scelzi, 14th in points, said he's going to stay and test Monday at The
Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway "and we are going to work our butts
off until we get this Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger sorted out and get right
back into it."
Because he was No. 12 qualifier, Scelzi didn't have lane choice against
No. 5 Tommy Johnson Jr. So he had to put his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger
in the more undesirable right lane.
Scelzi's car lost traction at mid-track, although he was first off the
line with an .052-second reaction
time.
"The right lane today wasn't a good lane for the Funny Cars,"
Scelzi said, adding, "or even for the Top Fuel cars, as only two
in each class advanced to the second round out of that lane. Unfortunately,
lane choice at this track proved to be critical. The left lane was quite
a bit better today.
"With the way we've been struggling with the setup this season, it
didn't help to have
to go down a lane that was very tricky," he said. He has three first-round
losses and one DNQ.
"Just about everyone in this sport has gone through these difficult
times at some point in their careers, champions or no champions,"
Scelzi said. "Look at Robert Hight, look at (defending Top Fuel champion)
Tony Schumacher, who's had four early-round losses in five races this
season. And how about 13-time Funny Car champion John Force? He went out
in the first round 10 times in 2005, but he was still in contention for
the championship at the final event.
"Even Snake [Don Prudhomme] came over with words of encouragement
for us, because he's been there, too. It's still early in the season.
There are a lot of races left."
'My car hates me' -- Tim Wilkerson's third straight failure
to qualify has him convinced that his Levi Ray & Shoup Chevy Monte
Carlo hates him.
His performance here marks the first time since 2001 that he has had three
DNQs.
"This is just killing us," Wilkerson said. "It's hard on
everybody. I'm down, the crew's down, the sponsors are going to be down,
if they're not already. Although everyone's very understanding, they know
this thing isn't easy. Dick (Levi) knows we're doing everything we can,
and he's very supportive.
"I have beat this thing to death, and I am sick of beating on it,"
he said.. You haven't had to be fast to win -- you just have to be there,
and I'm just giving it away. I think my car hates me. So, we need to step
back and look over everything, and maybe we need to start all over again."
PRO STOCK
Building a foundation -- Rookie Shaun Carlson said minutesbefore he stepped into his Don Schumacher-owned Team Mopar/SRT
Dodge Stratus for the first time on race day, "This might sound corny
or something, but I feel like I've already won the race.
"After all the struggles through these first five races, just qualifying
is icing on the cake," he said, referring to the four DNQs he endured
after being hired just one week before the start of the season.
Carlson lost to Jim Yates when his Stratus veered hard to the right at
the launch.
He said he was unsure why the car reacted that way, leaving him with an
11.659-second elapsed time at 75.74 mph for his first result. "We'll
have to look at the data to see if I turned the steering wheel that way,"
he said, "but now that I have my hand on the wheel where I need it,
I don't think that was the problem."
"I felt comfortable out there," Carlson, who has made only 27
pro qualifying and racing rounds, said. "I was less nervous today
than any of the time when I was trying to qualify. It felt good to race
today, and it sucks to be out so early, but overall I'm looking at the
positive things from the
weekend."
He thanked his team "for sticking with me and getting this car in
the field. I wish that I could have made a better pass for them, but,
hey, it's baby steps. It was nice to be in the show finally.
"As far as building blocks go, this was more than one block, more
than a palette," he said. "I'll leave here with my head held
high. I'll drive back to California with my girlfriend, Apple, with a
smile on my face."
Carlson is 19th in the standings.
New winner -- The Pro Stock class learned after the first
round that it would crown a new winner in this fifth race of the season.
Greg Anderson (Winternationals/Pomona), Warren Johnson (Checker Schuck's
Kragen Nationals/Phoenix), and Mike Edwards (O'Reilly Spring Nationals/Houston)
were Round 1 losers Sunday. Gatornationals winner Tom Martino did not
enter this event.
Improbable final -- Finalists Dave Connolly and Kurt
Johnson were far from favorites ,although each won at The Strip at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway in 2005. Connolly, winner of this event last April,
was a 30-1 bet in his Evan Knoll-owned and sponsored Skull Gear/Torco
Chevy Cobalt. Odds on winner Kurt Johnson were 18-1.
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SATURDAY - SCHUMACHER,
HIGHT AND ANDERSON TAKE NO. 1 QUALIFYING POSITIONS AT LAS
VEGAS
(4-8-2006) - Reigning
Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher leads all qualifiers at the seventh
annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals.
Schumacher covered The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's quarter-mile
in 4.501 seconds at 327 mph in his U.S. Army dragster to post his fourth
No. 1 qualifying effort of the first five races and 26th of his career.
Robert Hight and Greg Anderson also finished qualifying at the front of
their respective categories Saturday at the $1.7 million race, the fifth
of 23 in the $50 million POWERade Drag Racing Series. Sunday's eliminations
start at 11 a.m.
Winless on the season thus far, Schumacher will now try and become the
first top qualifier in a nitro-powered category this year to convert a
No. 1 qualifying effort into a win on race day.
"You
can't win a championship eight points at a time," Schumacher said
of the extra bonus points he's earned for qualifying No. 1. "All
I know is there's nothing we can do differently to make this car better.
We've just been beaten down by stupid little things.
"I started worrying about the points race getting away from us two
races ago. You just can't post anyone too big a lead."
Current Top Fuel point leader and Schumacher teammate Melanie Troxel improved
to fourth place on the grid in the final session with a 4.543 in the Skull
Gear/Torco Fuels dragster.
Hight's track-record 4.702 at 327.11 mph in his Auto Club Ford Mustang
earned him his seventh career low qualifier award and first of his sophomore
season in Funny Car.
"It's
awesome to be No. 1 no matter when it happens," Hight said. "I
honestly think our three Fords have a distinct performance advantage at
the moment. We're just a little quicker and faster then the others. But
a performance advantage doesn't always win you races."
Hight teammates John Force and Eric Medlen finished second and fourth,
respectively. Force's Castrol GTX Ford posted a 4.715 at 326.16 mph, while
Medlen's Syntec Mustang recorded a 4.758 at 318.47 mph.
Former series champion Tony Pedregon failed to qualify for the first time
in 114 races. Pedregon's second round effort of 4.79 seconds from Friday
night was disqualified by NHRA officials after his team failed to stop
and weigh his hot rod following the run.
Anderson didn't improve on his class-leading 6.787 at 202.82 mph from
Friday night, but he did let his Pro Stock competitors know his Summit
Racing Pontiac GTO would be tough to beat by posting a pair of 6.79s Saturday
to top each of the final two qualifying sessions.
"This
remains a very important race for us," said Anderson, who earned
his fourth No. 1 qualifying effort of the year and the 44th of his career.
"Not only is it [team owner] Ken Black's home track, but we're just
not where we need to be with our entire program. We haven't found our
comfort zone, our happy place, yet. We've been able to qualify well but
we still end up guessing at things in eliminations. You're not gonna win
like that, at least not consistently."
First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
seventh annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway, the fifth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended
Saturday.
Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 4.501 seconds, 329.91
mph vs. 16. Alan Bradshaw, 4.702, 309.49; 2. Larry Dixon, 4.528, 330.80
vs. 15. Mike Strasburg, 4.631, 330.15; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 4.534, 330.23
vs. 14. Bob Vandergriff, 4.608, 326.16; 4. Melanie Troxel, 4.543, 325.92
vs.
13. David Baca, 4.606, 327.66; 5. Hillary Will, 4.559, 320.43 vs. 12.
Morgan Lucas, 4.604, 315.86; 6. Doug Herbert, 4.571, 320.97 vs. 11. J.R.
Todd, 4.590, 315.64; 7. Cory McClenathan, 4.579, 330.47 vs. 10. David
Grubnic, 4.589, 325.69; 8. Doug Kalitta, 4.580, 330.07 vs. 9. Rod Fuller,
4.586, 327.59.
Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.702, 327.11
vs. 16. Tony Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.870, 320.97; 2. John Force,
Mustang, 4.715, 326.16 vs. 15. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 4.841, 319.37;
3. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.750, 325.61 vs. 14. Mike Ashley, Monte
Carlo, 4.838, 322.81; 4. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.758, 318.47 vs. 13. Gary
Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.821, 300.33; 5. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo,
4.767, 327.82 vs. 12. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Charger, 4.813, 323.97; 6. Ron
Capps, Stratus, 4.771, 321.35 vs. 11. Scott Kalitta, Monte
Carlo, 4.804, 317.49; 7. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.773, 325.37 vs.
10. Whit Bazemore, Charger, 4.799, 327.19; 8. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo,
4.780, 319.14 vs. 9. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.785, 325.14.
Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.787, 203.31
vs. 16. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 6.832, 202.67; 2. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.790,
203.49 vs. 15. Mark Pawuk, Chevy Cobalt, 6.829, 201.82; 3. Erica Enders,
Cobalt, 6.790, 202.94 vs. 14. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.829,
202.00; 4. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.790, 202.67 vs. 13. Allen Johnson,
Stratus, 6.821, 202.58; 5. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.793, 203.19 vs. 12. Shaun
Carlson, Stratus, 6.816, 201.79; 6. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.795, 203.34
vs. 11. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.816, 203.09; 7. Dave Howard, Cobalt, 6.797,
203.28 vs. 10. Jason Line, GTO, 6.814, 202.76; 8. Dave Connolly, Cobalt,
6.806, 203.12 vs. 9. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.810, 203.09.
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK
CARLSON TO MAKE HIS
FIRST START IN TEAM MOPAR PRO STOCK STRATUS
The rookie driver, whom Don Schumacher hired during testing at The Strip
at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the week before the season opener, found his
first Pro Stock success here Saturday.
He qualified
for this first race in the Bob Glidden-tuned car, taking 12th place with
a 6.816-second elapsed time. He had the same E.T. as Mike Edwards, last
week's winner, but Carlson's 201.79-mph speed was slower than Edwards'
203.09.
In a town in which accurate hunches are at a premium, Carlson said he
had a feeling he would do well.
He said the Bruton Smith-owned facility "is kind of like one of
our home tracks, from our shop. When he tested, it's always here, because
Pomona, with the noise restriction, we never run there.
"Feeling like I know the track and, at the same time, feeling more
comfortable in the car, is going to be a good deal," the former Sport
Compact standout said. "It's the track where I got my Pro Stock license,
the first track I tested on with Darrell 's [Alderman's] car, and the
first track I tested the Mopar/SRT car, so it kind of feels like home.
I have more experience in a Pro Stock car on this track than any other
track in the world."
"It's frustrating, not only for myself but more so for the team,"
Carlson said before qualifying began Friday. Obviously, everyone's working
their butts off. The team works 10 times what I work. To come in here
and not be able to perform for them, that's what hurts the most."
He said watching Glidden's go-go-go mentality has left him feeling rather
sluggish.
"I thought I was hard worker, with the teams that I have in not
only drag racing but also drifting, working seven days a week. I feel
like a weekend warrior, compared to Bob," Carlson said. "He's
still thinking when he's sleeping."
The things that's really tough about the Pro Stock field, you have to
be a top-notch driver to be able to go rounds. You first have to qualify.
You think, "Man, I have to be as good as them without years and years
of practice."
What kept Carlson from amassing years and years of practice in a hot
rod was journalism. What most people might not know about Carlson is that
he was a magazine writer for several years when he was in his early 20s.
"I pretty much got into all this from the magazine industry. From
the sixth grade, I always wanted to be a photographer. By the time I graduated
from high school and started college, I was pretty much burned out on
it," Carlson said.
But he said he still had the "car craze" and was fascinated
by fabricating cars and building parts. He juggled writing for various
magazines for a living and working his own shop at night before. Eventually
he left the keyboard for the dashboard.
Carlson first sat in a Pro Stock car at this facility in 2004, when he
tested Alderman's Mopar entry before subbing for the injured Alderman
at the Winternationals at Pomona, California.
The Southern California driver has been making small adjustments to his
driving style and the car "Every good driver can get into any car
and can do well," he said, "but this class is so competitive
that 'well' isn't good enough. So I've been doing things inside the car,
like adjusting
the steering wheel to give myself more room, that will help my driving."
Coming into the event, he said he would be content with a No. 16 and
final starting spot.
"I want to get into the field," Carlson said. "If you
ask me, I'd say I would be happy with No. 16, but, if that happens, I
won't be happy with that. I'll want to be qualified higher."
Carlson got his wish. However, he might not have wished to face Jim Yates
in the opening round. Just the same, he'll go against the two-time series
champion who was runner-up to Mike Edwards at the Houston race last weekend.
TOP QUALIFIER QUOTES:
Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher (4.501 seconds, 329.91 mph)
"A couple of round-wins will be huge. I've always said that you can't
win championships just getting the eight points from being No. 1 qualifier.
Even if you could, it's not what it's about. After the success we had
here last year, this would be a great place to win. This would be a geat
place to get it started right now. We need to be carrying our weight.
We've had four different things that we broke. It's very hard to win these
races. It's very seldom we can put a string together. We've got to get
past that. Capps last year helped me a lot. Everybody was talking about
how sick he was before a run. I thought about that. What are you going
to think about in the next 30 minutes that's not going to mess you up?
There's nothing you can do that's not going to mess you up. All in all,
we've got the best race car out there. As I have said before, it's fine
to be number one, but you still have to do something with it. We absolutely
need to go rounds tomorrow. It's still early in the year, but you don't
want to let the people in front of you in the points run away and hide."--
Schumacher, after recording his fourth No. 1 qualifying position in five
races this season
Funny Car -- Robert Hight (4.702 seconds, 327.11 mph)
"That was a pretty good boom. The whole body lifts up -- flash of
flames. It happened to me one other time, at Bristol, testing. We're going
to have to put on a new supercharger for tomorrow, because I'm pretty
sure that one's junk." -- Hight, regarding the engine explosion just
beynd the starting line in Saturday's final qualifying session
"We made only one good run -- not looking good for tomorrow's first
round. On the first run [Saturday], it put out a head gasket. This time
it blew up. When I left the pit, they still didn't know why. Could have
been something from the first run that we didn't catch. No one in the
No. 1 spot in Funny Car has won a race yet. I'm not sure anyone has done
it in Top Fuel. There's something to be said about going down the track
every time, and that's something we haven't done. Last week, we were going
to be low E.T. but then the blower belt fell off and I always ask people
like John [Force] who are more experienced, 'Does it get any better?'
because every first round feels like the first one I ever went to."
-- Hight, regarding his spotty performance on the way to his first No.
1 qualifying position of the season and seventh of his career
Pro Stock -- Greg Anderson (6.787 seconds, 203.31 mph)
We've been fighting the cars, Jason's and mine. It looks like mine's getting
happy. My car is happy, at least in the left lane. We've had two good
runs in that left lane and have done OK in the right lane. If we can stay
in the left lane, we'll be fine. It's a great place to do it, in my sponsor
Ken Black's hometown. When we first started [the association], he said,
'I don't care what you do the rest of the year As long as you do well
in Vegas.' It's good for job security. Morale's just a little bit down.
This team's full of perfectionists. If we don't make perfect runs all
the time, our heads are a little bit down. We have seven cars -- the top
seven -- within one hundredth of a second. -- Anderson, relying on his
best time from Friday, after earning his fifth low-qualifier award at
Las Vegas and the 44th of his career (which put him seventh on the all-time
list)
NEWSMAKER OF THE DAY -- Tony Pedregon, driver of the Q Racing
Chevy Monte Carlo Funny Car
Tony Pedregon
was qualified in the upper half of the order Friday morning, but by Saturday
evening, he was out of the event with his first DNQ since 2001.
His 4.878-second elapsed time in the opening session put him seventh.
He came back in the evening run with a 4.799 E.T. that, although it was
an improvement, was quick enough only for ninth place.
However, NHRA officials said Pedregon bypassed the scales after that
second, and they threw out his time. That left him with the 4.878 E.T.,
which was 15th quickest. He still was in the field but just barely. He
slipped to the bump spot with that 4.878 clocking.
Gary Densham, his former teammate at John Force Racing, made the 16-car
grid in his last chance. Pedregon couldn't do better than Tony Bartone's
4.870-second pass.
His brother and teamate Cruz Pedregon, who will start eighth Sunday, said
at the conclusion of qualifying, "Tony earned his way into the field.
The punishment doesn't fit the crime."
PIT e-PATTER:
TOP FUEL
Special helmet -- Maybe it was the helmet that helped
Doug Herbert qualify his Snap-On Tools Dragster in the top half of the
field for his second straight race.
Herbert,
who will start from the No. 6 position Sunday, wore a specially painted
USAF Thunderbirds-themed helmet. He will present the helmet to Thunderbird
pilot Major Rusty Keen, who took Herbert on a flight in an F-16 fighter
jet last November. Keen, who was at the race with wife Natalie, said he
plans to donate the helmet to the Thunderbirds Museum at Nellis Air Force
base, which is located across the street from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Also joining the Snap-On team in the hospitality area Saturday was Tech
Sergeant Jeremy Curbey, a crew chief for the elite Air Force Thunderbird
demonstration team.
"The Snap-on Tools car is running well," Herbert said. "We're
trying out some new stuff. Wayne (Dupuy) has the clutch changed around
a little and the car seems to be very smooth. I think we've gotten rid
of the shake problem that we developed with the new tires. I think we
have a race car that can be very competitive tomorrow."
Will ready for Lucas -- On the strength of a 4.559 second
pass, Hillary Will qualified her KB Racing LLC-owned, Kalitta Motorsports-managed
dragster fifth. That equals her highest qualifying position of her five-race
rookie season.
"I
am pleased with our qualifying runs and we should have a have a good car
for Morgan [Lucas] tomorrow," Will said. "We owe Morgan, so
to speak. We're zero and one against him, so let's hope we can make it
1-and-1 after tomorrow.
"This is the hometown of our team owner, Ken Black, and several of
our sponsors -- Findlay Automotive and the Technicoat Companies –
and is also a race sponsored by another sponsor, Summit Racing. We want
to do well in front of these folks and also for Autolite Spark Plugs,
Calico Coatings, Mac Tools and Red Line Oil."
FUNNY CAR
In and fast -- Tommy Johnson Jr., unqualified after Friday's
two sessions, not only made the field in the No. 5 spot, but he also recorded
the class' top speed of the weekend so far with a 327.82 mph early Saturday.
"We knew
we had a good race car," Johnson said. "For some reason, the
circumstances didn't allow us to show it on Friday. We were confident
we could run the numbers that we posted today. Saturday's first run was
outstanding. It was one of the best runs of the weekend so far. To run
that number with the sun out gives us the confidence that we can run well
on race day.
"On the last run," he said, "the conditions got better
really quickly and we didn't have enough time to make the changes we needed
to improve the performance. It was still a good run. Today, we showed
that it'll make it if we run aggressive or soft."
In at last -- Gary Scelzi, who failed to qualify last
weekend in Houston for the first time since 2003, had only one decent
run this weekend so far. But he drove the Don Schumacher-owned Mopar/Oakley
Dodge Charger to 12th place.
He
slipped into the field with a 4.813-second elapsed time at 323.97 mph
in the second round of Saturday qualifying. The bad news for him is that
the other three qualifying rounds weren't much help. He also ran a 10.545/74.68,
10.422/79.78, and in the final opportunity a 9.124/90.17.
"We're in the field, so we have one more shot to get this thing
fixed," Scelzi said.
He'll meet Tommy Johnson Jr. in the first round of eliminations. "We'll
just go up there and take a shot at TJ and see if we can make this thing
not shake," Scelzi said. "If it doesn't shake and it doesn't
smoke the tires at 60 feet, it will haul ass."
"But that IF is a big word right now and there's a lot of issues
that I think are coming into play. We're going to work on some things,
make some changes and hopefully it will work tomorrow."
Whit Bazemore said he's still "set on kill," although his Matco
Tools Dodge Charger is only starting to respond.
Bazemore recorded the second-quickest elapsed time of Saturday's final
qualifying round to claim the No. 1 position.
"It's good," he said of the final pass. "We're still battling
a consistency issue over here. [Assistant crew chief} Todd [Okuhara] and
Brian [crew chief Corradi] are working extremely hard, as is the whole
Matco Tools Dodge team. The attitude of the team is pretty amazing, considering
the struggles we had and the expectations that we put on ourselves and
the fact that we haven't met those at all.
"Everyone is fired up and really set on kill," Bazemore said.
"We're here to annihilate our competition the best way we can, and
we're working hard to get ourselves to where we can do that.
"I don't feel like we're really quite there yet, but, when it goes
down the track, the Matco Tools Dodge runs really quickly normally, and
it's a good-running race car. The thing that we're working on is trying
to get it to go down the race track often, and we're making progress there.
I think we are starting to turn the corner."
Bazemore will race Phil Burkart in the first round of eliminations.
Said Burkart, "We'll have our hands full tomorrow, running Whit.
That's a great team over there, and they've had their share of trouble
on Sunday this year. You know they can't go too much longer without busting
out, but we just have to do all we can do to make sure they don't do it
here. We'll be up for it, I know that. I love a challenge."
PRO STOCK
Eleven and counting -- In the 11 races since the Mac
Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis last Labor Day weekend, a Ken Black-sponsored
Pro Stock Pontiac has been No. 1 qualifier. Greg Anderson has eight and
teammate Jason Line has three.
a
d v e r t i s e m e n t
Click to visit our sponsor's
website
FRIDAY - HIGHT, SCHUMACHER AND ANDERSON LEAD QUALIFYING FRIDAY
AT LAS VEGAS
(7-7-2006) - Robert Hight raced to a track record performance
in Funny Car Friday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, covering
the quarter-mile distance in 4.702 seconds at 327 mph to lead the qualifying
action at the seventh annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals.
Three-time and reigning Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher and Pro Stock
points leader Greg Anderson also earned provisional No. 1 qualifying honors
at the $1.7 million race, the fifth of 23 events in the $50 million POWERade
Drag Racing Series. Schumacher posted a 4.501-second performance in the
first round of action, while Anderson waited until the cooler evening
session to run a 6.787-second pass.
Hight's
personal-best elapsed time of 4.702 at 327.11 mph in his Auto Club Ford
Mustang was impressive as only one other Funny Car -- that of his father-in-law
John Force -- managed to run within five-hundredths of a second of the
mark.
"That was pretty stout," Hight said. "I think it was a
little gutsy, maybe, being not qualified and going like that but Jimmy
(Prock, crew chief) told me he didn't know any other way to run it. He
said he was gonna be aggressive and get after it and that's what he did.
I was getting nervous, but it all turned out good."
Force clocked in at 4.715 at 326.16 mph in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang.
After that, the field dropped back to Checker Schuck's Kragen Chevrolet
Monte Carlo driver Del Worsham's 4.750 at 325.61 mph.
Points leader Ron Capps emerged unscathed from a huge fire at the top
end after his fifth-best 4.771 in his Brut Dodge Stratus R/T. His teammate
and the class' defending series champion, Gary Scelzi, is 12th with a
4.813. Scelzi is coming off a rare DNQ result in Houston.
Schumacher's U.S. Army dragster lost traction just a few hundred feet
into his second run, but his earlier 4.501 at 327.35 mph kept him in the
No. 1 slot.
"We're
so glad it's back-to-back races," Schumacher said. "We lost
in the first round in Houston last weekend and it's terrible to go into
a two-week break off a performance like that. We really wanted to get
back after it and redeem ourselves."
Houston winner Brandon Bernstein ran two more perfect passes Friday,
both within two-thousandths of a second of one another. His best time
was a third-best 4.534 at 330.23 mph in his Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster.
Anderson began his quest for a fifth Las Vegas title by running the quickest
pass of opening day -- 6.787 at 202.82 mph in his Summit Racing Pontiac
GTO -- to earn provisional low qualifier honors.
"We've
definitely done a good job of qualifying this year," Anderson said
of his three No. 1 qualifying efforts in the first four races. "Our
weak point has been on raceday and that's the important day. We need a
good get-well weekend and I can't think of a better place to do it than
Las Vegas Motor Speedway."
First-round leader Richie Stevens knocked seven thousandths of a second
off his opening pass, but still slipped to second overall with a 6.790
at 202.42 mph in his Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T.
The final two sessions of professional qualifying take place Saturday
at noon and 3 p.m.
Results Friday after qualifying for the seventh annual NHRA
SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, fifth
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, 4.501 seconds, 327.35
mph; 2. Larry Dixon, 4.528, 330.80; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 4.534, 330.23;
4. Hillary Will, 4.559, 320.43; 5. Doug Herbert, 4.571, 320.97; 6. Melanie
Troxel, 4.577, 322.65; 7. Cory McClenathan, 4.579, 330.47; 8. Doug Kalitta,
4.588, 321.88; 9. David Grubnic, 4.589, 325.69; 10. Morgan Lucas, 4.604,
315.86; 11. David Baca, 4.606, 323.19; 12. Bob Vandergriff, 4.608, 326.16;
13. Mike Strasburg, 4.631, 330.15; 14. J.R. Todd, 4.673, 315.64; 15. Rod
Fuller, 4.685, 303.30; 16. Scott Weis, 4.736, 311.34.
Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.702, 327.11;
2. John Force, Mustang, 4.715, 326.16; 3. Del Worsham, Chevy Monte Carlo,
4.750, 325.61; 4. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.758, 318.47; 5. Ron Capps, Dodge
Stratus, 4.771, 321.35; 6. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.773, 325.37; 7.
Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.780, 319.14; 8. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.785,
325.14; 9. Scott Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 4.804, 317.49; 10. Whit Bazemore,
Dodge Charger, 4.812, 327.03; 11. Gary Scelzi, Charger, 4.813, 323.97;
12. Mike Ashley, Monte Carlo, 4.838, 322.81; 13. Bob Gilbertson, Stratus,
4.841, 319.37; 14. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.870, 320.97; 15. Tony
Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.878, 313.58; 16. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo,
4.908, 282.01.
Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.787, 202.82;
2. Richie Stevens, Dodge Stratus, 6.790, 202.67; 3. Dave Howard, Chevy
Cobalt, 6.797, 202.88; 4. Erica Enders, Cobalt, 6.798, 202.58; 5. Kurt
Johnson,
Cobalt, 6.803, 202.94; 6. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.804, 202.67; 7. Dave Connolly,
Cobalt, 6.806, 202.70; 8. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.813, 202.61; 9. Jason
Line, GTO, 6.814, 202.76; 10. Shaun Carlson, Stratus, 6.816, 201.79; 11.
Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.823, 203.19; 12. Larry Morgan,
Stratus, 6.829, 201.94; 13. Mark Pawuk, Cobalt, 6.829, 201.43; 14. Greg
Stanfield, GTO, 6.834, 202.67; 15. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.840, 201.79;
16. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.843, 201.73.
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - WITH LAS VEGAS FOR INSPIRATION,
GEN2CRU LEADERS OF THE PACK
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. were the elite in entertainment,
the princes of postwar pop culture. Suave and scampish, debonair and devil-may-care,
they crooned nightly at The Sands on The Strip in the 1960s.
They were fresh and fun, and America was ready for glamour. Peter Lawford
was thrown in as a conduit to Camelot and the Kennedys, and Joey Bishop
exploited that new medium called television. And the Rat Pack was wildly
popular.
At the same time in California, a band of bad-boy hot-rodders was transforming
into street toughs to automotive pioneers. Wally Parks was giving them
respectability and safe venues to satisfy their need for speed -- all
while sweeping them into an irresistible entertainment package.
While the Rat Pack ruled and the rodders ran their loud cars, young John
Medlen already was racing on drag strips near Lodi, California, and even
in boats and on circle tracks. Meanwhile in Lubbock, Texas, with a half-midget
championship to his credit, teenager Kenny Bernstein became the neighborhood
ringleader. He worked on his Model A that he bought with savings from
a part-time job at his dad's department store, and his friends gathered
in his driveway to tinker with their hot rods and jalopies.
Forrest Lucas was off the family farm in central Indiana, driving a dump
truck, hauling dirt and gravel and just beginning to see that the industry
could use some help with oils and lubricants. And at the time, John Force
was transitioning from the restless young boy dreaming of being a football
player or policeman to a long-haul trucker with a desire to race Funny
Cars.
By the mid-1980s, when Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, and Molly
Ringwald, and their pals were grabbing headlines as Hollywood's so-called
Brat Pack, Medlen, Bernstein, and Force were making names for themselves
in the NHRA. Lucas was moving his family to California and planning to
blitz the market with his own concoctions of oil mixtures and blends.
By then they all were fathers, as well.
Gen2Cru not handed anything
Today their children -- Brandon Bernstein, 33; Eric Medlen, 32; Ashley
Force, 23; and Morgan Lucas, 22 -- represent the upcoming generation of
drag racing in America.
These four call themselves the Gen2Cru, a trendy tag that might suggest
privilege and pampering. But that isn't the case.
Morgan
Lucas was the only one of the four who kicked around race tracks regularly,
collecting used and broken car parts and deciding early in life to drive
quick cars for a living. But he has embraced the work-for-everything-you-have
ethic he saw his parents live. "I'm not too good for anything,"
he said.
He downplays his new Top Fuel team boss role with the Lucas Oil Dragster,
calling it "kind of an overrated situation." Said Lucas, "I'm
like a driver who's hanging out with a bunch of guys who like to race.
I'm just the guy who says, 'Yeah, it's OK to spend that much money' or
'No, it’s not OK to spend that much money.' "
Brandon
Bernstein got a clear idea of how unglamorous running a race team can
be. His father put him through a strict set of experiences by which to
learn the ropes, including earning a college education and keeping his
grades at a high level along the way. He graduated from Texas A&M
with a degree in kinesiology.
Ashley Force had to satisfy her mother's requirement that she finish
college. So the former high-school cheerleader didn't get to have a Mattel
doll produced in her likeness or a Super Comp or Top Alcohol Dragster
to drive until she completed a degree in communications from Cal State-Fullerton.
She continues to learn the craft in the Jerry Darien/Ken Meadows ride
that Brandon and Morgan drove before her.
Eric Medlen, a former California high-school rodeo roping champion, worked
alongside crew chief dad John at John Force Racing for five years as supercharger
technician on Force's Ford Mustang and two years as clutch specialist
before driving the Castrol Syntec Ford Funny Car.
Hangin' out and tellin' lies
Medlen said Darien is the common denominator in most of the Gen2Cru dynamics.
"Brandon drove that car first, then Morgan drove it and they got
to know each other. Then Morgan and Ashley raced Super Comp together,
and that's how they got to know each other. He came to help out and show
her what he was doing. Brandon and I were both working on the cars about
the same time, and everybody just kind of went out and started hanging
out. Morgan and me, we just kind of started hanging out through Ashley,
and I got to know him when I ran an A/Fuel car a couple of times."
Almost as a throwback to the 1960s, each describes the other as "super-nice"
and "cool."
Said Lucas, "We just like to hang out and talk, and at the track
we try to keep up with how each
other is doing." When Bernstein won at Houston last weekend, Lucas
came to his pit to say congratulations. Or, in Gen2Cru lingo, as Lucas
used with Bernstein in the winners circle at Seattle last July, "Shut
up! Shut up! Look at you!"
Medlen
said the group makes no set dates to get together. "If we all have
time, we say, 'Hey, let's go get something to eat' or 'I'm getting in
[to a particular town on the schedule] early. You guys want to go play
golf or you want to ride go-karts or whatever -- I don't know . . . sit
around and see who can tell the biggest lie?' "
So who tells the biggest lie?
"That'd probably be me," Medlen said, adding that the others
have him spellbound. "I don't know. I'm gullible. I believe 'em.
I don't think they're lies."
They don't necessarily talk shop. "We talk a little bit of racing,"
Brandon said, "but mostly it’s about what's going on in our
lives. We can just relax and be ourselves. That’s what's cool about
our friendship."
Medlen's pals: Unspoiled, Serious, Iceman
Brandon and Ashley live in Orange County, California, while Morgan and
Eric each have homes near their new shops along Brownsburg, Indiana's
Nitro Alley.
Bernstein said Medlen "likes to shop. He might not admit that he
loves to do it. He tries to fly under the radar, but he's usually the
one who likes to go and buy clothes."
While no one is as garrulous as Eric, each has a lively personality.
And while Eric and Brandon are about 10 years older than the other two,
age is no problem to them. In racing experience, they're about the same
"age."
"Morgan, he's a great guy. He's a great driver, and he's doing a
fabulous job," Eric, who broke in the same year," said. "It's
like he says: 'Yeah, I got a chance because my dad owns Lucas Oil, and
at least I know it and I don't act like it.' And he doesn't. He's a super-cool
guy. Brandon, he's like his dad. He's a real serious and real intense
competitor, and I really admire that about him. He's just like his dad,
and his dad was great.
"And
Ashley, you could go over there and say, 'Go get 'em,' and she just says,
'OK.' And it's like, 'Man, aren't you nervous or anything?' . . . 'Ah,
I guess. . . . I don't know. Yeah. . . . No . . . I don't know . . . '
"If anybody is the Iceman, it's her. She's as cool as it gets,"
Eric said.
"We all have some real good teachers. Morgan's got his dad and Joe
Amato, and Mike Dunn helped him a little bit. I don't know if he still
does, but in the beginning he did," Eric said. "Ashley and myself,
of course, we have John [Force], and Brandon's got his dad. So we're all
in pretty good shape."
They are, at that.
TOP QUALIFIER QUOTES:
Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Dragster (4.501
seconds, 327.35 mph)
"We're
going to race when it's sunny during the day. It's great to be No.1 qualifier,
but until we get to St. Louis, where we have a night race, it doesn't
matter. It's still good to be No. 1 We couldn't care less where we qualify.
We're not going to win a championship by eight points at a time. [Low
qualifier earns eight points.] We've got to win rounds. We're still trying
to fine-tune new tires. That hasn't been what has cost us races. We've
had little things bite us. But it's going to be fun. After the first round
loss at Houston, we're so glad it's back-to-back so we can come out and
redeem ourselves." -- Schumacher, trying to put his provisional No.
1 spot in perspective.
Funny Car -- Robert Hight, Auto Club of Southern California
Ford Mustang (4.702 seconds, 327.11 mph)
"That
was pretty stout. We tested pretty good this tire didn’t throw us
many curves [then]. It was little gutsy not being qualified and running
it that way, but [crew chief] Jimmy Prock said he didn't know how to run
it any other way. We need to be aggressive. . . . This is the first place
I ever made a run in a Funny Car, two years ago. After winning the Winternationals,
this would be the next best race to win. At Houston, we qualified 1-2-3,
and that didn't work out so good. We need to make four good runs on race
day. And we haven't done that on the new tire. That's our goal."
-- Hight, referring to his track elapsed-time record and his speed that
was tops in his class -- and the fact that the John Force Racing contingent
occupies the first, second, and fourth spots in the order after Day 1
of this race.
Pro Stock -- Greg Anderson, KB/Summit Racing Equipment
Pontiac GTO (6.787 seconds, 202.82 mph)
"We've
definitely done a good job of qualifying. Our weak point has been on race
day. We spent all day Monday, testing at Houston, trying to figure out
what mistakes we were making. Hopefully we rectified things. I need a
get-well weekend, but I've got to earn it. We picked up four-hundredths
of a second. We made a lot better un and if we can continue that progress
tomorrow and through Sunday, we'll be happy campers. [Saturday's] forecast
is a little bit warmer. What you're going to see tomorrow is going to
be closer to Sunday conditions. It will be tougher to improve on that
time. We've struggled when the sun is out and the tracks get hot and greasy.
We've got a good team. And we've got a good race car. It's like John Force.
We've got to get well together." -- Anderson, who qualified No. 1
at the first three races of the year and No. 2 at Houston, talking about
improving from seventh to first place and lowering his best elapsed time
of the day from 6.827 seconds to 6.787.
NEWSMAKER OF THE DAY-- Gary Scelzi, driver of
the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger Funny Car
The
accomplished three-time Top Fuel champion and reigning Funny Car titlist
is raising eyebrows again for the wrong reasons.
After his failure to qualify at Houston last weekend, Scelzi was unqualified,
19th out of 21 drivers. Even at that, he was ahead of Robert Hight, who
stormed back to grab the tentative No. 1 position with a track-record
elapsed time (4.702 seconds), and teammate Whit Bazemore. But that was
no solace.
Scelzi rebounded with a 4.813 -- one-thousandth of a second behind Bazemore
-- to open Saturday qualifying in 11th place.
PIT e-PATTER:
All-Schumacher session -- Each of the pro-class qualifying leaders
for the first session Friday were Don Schumacher Racing teammates. Tony
Schumacher was the Top Fuel leader with a 4.501-second pass at 327.35
mph in the U.S. Army Dragster, in pursuit of his fourth No. 1 starting
position in five races. Ron Capps, the points leader and winner of the
past two races (Gainesville, Houston), was the provisional top qualifier
in Funny Car at 4.811/320.74 in his Brut Dodge Stratus. Richie Stevens
was quickest of the Pro Stock drivers, pulling a 6.797/202.67 from his
Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus. Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson
(Pro Stock) spoiled the DSR moment in the night session.
TOP FUEL
The
time is now? -- Since drag racing came to the Las Vegas Motor
Speedway in 2000, Larry Dixon and his Don Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite
team have earned four victories. He has won three of the last four spring
races, losing in the 2004 final round to Tony Schumacher. His victory
at Las Vegas last April was victory No. 100 for Prudhomme. Dixon also
won the 2002 fall event here.
So this could be the place Dixon scores the first triumph for new crew
chief Donnie Bender. The two-time series champion has yet to earn a victory
this season, a 39th that would tie him with Kenny Bernstein for second
place on the all-time Top Fuel list.
"I've got a great team, a great car, everything it takes to be able
to win," Dixon said. "Now we just have to go out there and get
it done. [Former crew chief] Dick LaHaie used to say that if you're tired
of losing, then you'd better do something about it. Well, I'm going to
do something about it."
He took a first step Friday, swiping the tentative No. 2 position and
running the class' top speed at 330.80 mph.
While Dixon hasn't made the splash on Sundays he is capable of making,
he is second in the standings, 128 points behind Melanie Troxel.
Dixon has made a smoother transition than some to the 2420 version of
the Goodyear tire that became mandatory two races ago, at Gainesville,
Florida. And the fact he has had a go on this surface, one of the best
on the Powerade Drag Racing Series calendar, can't - didn't - hurt him.
"We've tested twice at (Las) Vegas before the season and we've run
well there in the past, so I'm confident that we can go in there and run
well," Dixon said. "I also think it's important that we've already
been on [this] track with the new tire."
He consistently ran 4.5-second elapsed times at Gainesville, where he
qualified second, and at Houston. He reached the semifinals at Phoenix
but otherwise lasted only to the quarterfinals so far.
Will
new car help Lucas? -- Only 11 points separate the second- and
fifth-place Top Fuel drivers. And Morgan Lucas has a new weapon in his
Lucas Oil Products Team arsenal -- a new car. But it's untested, and that
could play a significant role this weekend in whether he climbs up from
fifth place or slips farther behind leader Melanie Troxel.
"We're 11 points out of second right now, and that's a big deal
to me," Lucas said, "because the entire top 10 is so tight.
We want to keep moving forward, not the guy falling back. After last week's
Houston race, we're looking forward to having some dry air to make more
horsepower. We're going to get serious with our racing deal, trying to
win a few rounds and stay in contention in the points.
You have to start thinking about points. Any ground you lose now makes
it just that much harder to catch up later."
The new Brad Hadman-built dragster isn't an indulgence. It was a necessity
after Lucas' dramatic wheelstand in his first-round victory last Sunday
over Tony Schumacher.
He indicated that he was pleased with the way it tested Monday, but said
that although it is identical to the damaged dragster, "no two cars
are the same, so we'll have to learn what it wants.
"We have data from the shakedown runs in testing, and now we can
try to get after it. I don't mind going to the second round, but now it's
time to try to catch Melanie."
She is 139 points ahead of him.
He put his dragster 10th on the grid Friday with a 4.604-second elapsed
time at 311.27 mph.
Lucas won the 2004 Las Vegas spring race in the Top Alcohol Dragster
class.
"Everyone says that once you get your first win, the second one
comes a lot easier," he said. "As hard as we're working for
this first one, it's only a matter of time before we see our fourth win
light on race day."
New look, new luck? -- New paint could mean new hardware
for Doug Kalitta.
"Last
year we ran two special paint schemes in Gainesville (Florida) and in
Sonoma (California) and we won both events, so we're hoping for the same
results in Las Vegas," he said, referring to the new look his Mac
Tools Dragster is sporting for this SummitRacing.com Nationals.
The bright red Mac Tools Dragster that Rahn Tobler tunes carry a design
that pays tribute to custom hot rod builder Chip Foose, host and star
of The Learning Channel's "Overhaulin’ " program. Foose
is expected to attend this weekend's event.
"We're honored to have Chip Foose join us and Mac Tools on the race
car in Las Vegas," Kalitta said. "I watch Overhaulin'. It's
a great show. I'm sure the car will be a big hit with race fans."
He's eighth with a 4.588-second elapsed time at 321.88 mph.
Kalitta was runner-up to Larry Dixon at this race last year and won the
October Las Vegas race in 2004.
Mac Tools and Foose have teamed for a "Ride to Remember Sweepstakes."
Later this month, Mac Tools and Foose will introduce a special line of
tools and accessories, including tool boxes, fender covers, and creepers.
In addition, a special diecast of the Foose/Mac Tools dragster will be
available later this year by RC2.
Sarge more at ease -- How could Tony Schumacher not
love The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway? The last time he was here,
he brought Don Schumacher Racing more than just a victory, more even than
a double-up triumph by winning the Budweiser Shootout. He clinched the
championship for the second straight time and third overall. So in a two-day
period, he earned the team $540,000 in the U.S. Army Dragster.
"That was a great weekend, for sure," Schumacher, who's tied
for seventh in the standings, said. "We could use a little luck like
that this time around."
He found some Friday, although it was more of crew chief Alan Johnson's
tuning skill than luck. Whatever the cause, he took the early Top Fuel
lead with a 4.501-second elapsed time at 327.35 mph.
Schumacher entered the weekend 159 points behind his teammate, leader
Melanie Troxel.
In the previous race, at Houston, Cory McClenathan halted Schumacher's
streak of three No. 1 qualifier awards. "That streak was nice, don't
get me wrong," Schumacher said, "but what we do on Sunday is
what we're most concerned with."
"We've definitely not had the results everyone was expecting us
to have at this point," he said. But . . . we know we'll bust out
real soon. We need to get in a groove.
"As everyone knows, things can turn around in a hurry. Look at what
happened to Brandon Bernstein. He was out in the first round for three
straight races before winning last weekend. You only need a little spark
to get going."
Now
where did I put that panel? -- Melanie Troxel is safely in the
field, in sixth place with a 4.577-second elapsed time. But she got a
scare at about 1,000 feet down the left lane while going about 304 miles
an hour Friday night. The right-side body panel flew off her Skull Gear/Torco
Dragster as the Hadman chassis flexed. Said Troxel, "I thought, 'Oh
my God, did I blow it up?"
FUNNY CAR
The Honeymooners -- Terry Haddock, driver of the H57
Hoodia Chevy Monte Carlo, had more to be joyous about Friday than grabbing
the Funny Car bump spot in the first qualifying session.
He
and Bambee Olson were married Thursday afternoon. The Lynnwood, Washington,
couple exchanged vows at a small, private ceremony at The Venetian Hotel
Chapel in Las Vegas, in front of family, friends, and a few fellow racers.
Olson, a full-time student at Bastyr University in Seattle, is working
toward a degree in nutrition. She is from a well-known Northwest racing
family and met Haddock at the 2004 Carquest Auto Parts Nationals at Pacific
Raceways.
"It was a great day when Bambee came into my life," Haddock
said. "Her love and support means the world to me. We met at a race,
so we thought getting married in conjunction with a race made perfect
sense. And what better place than Las Vegas?"
In addition, their new relationship with sponsor, H57 Hoodia has grown
from one race to four. Haddock also raced at the International Hot Rod
Association opener in San Antonio and said he plans to race later this
month at Rockingham, North Carolina.
"Everyone at H57 would like to wish Terry and his wife, Bambee,
a happy and healthy life together," H57 CEO Kelly Lockwood said.
"After meeting Bambee and spending time with her, I believe that
she and Terry will be a great team. H57 is proud to be part of the Haddock
Racing family, and we believe that Terry and his new wife will celebrate
their new marriage with a great showing at the Vegas race."
The unpleasant news for Haddock is that in the second qualifying session
Friday, he was knocked out of the field. He's 20th of 23 drivers, ahead
of more experienced Tommy Johnson Jr., Gary Densham, and Frankie Pedregon.
Jeff Arend, Bob Bode, and Jack Wyatt, all ahead of Haddock, aren't in
the field, either.
This
guy is serious -- Whit Bazemore and his Don Schumacher-owned
Matco Tools Dodge Charger are 12th in the Funny Car standings after four
events.
The defending SummitRacing.com Nationals winner understandably is upset
about that, but he has a message for his class rivals: "We're not
accustomed to even being out of the top five, much less the top 10, so
we have a lot of work to do ahead in this season. We're motivated, and
we're going to come to Vegas with our usual attitude to try to annihilate
our opponents."
Bazemore was last among the class' 21 entrants in the opening session,
smoking his tires at the hit of the throttle. He used his 4.812-second,
327.03-mph pass under the lights to jump onto the grid in 11th place and
said, "That's more like it." He moved into the 10th spot when
Tony Pedregon bypassed the tech-inspection scales, which dropped him from
ninth to 15th.
Bazemore has two more chances Saturday to climb into the top half of the
field.
Still, he said nothing satisfies in drag racing than being a winner.
"Finishing second is not acknowledged and you don't really come
away feeling too good after you're runner-up, honestly. You're just the
first loser. Our sport rewards winners, and that's it," Bazemore
said.
"If you finish second in a Formula One race, you're on the podium,
spraying champagne. If you finish third in a Formula One race you're on
the podium, spraying champagne. If you finish third or second in the Tour
de France you're a hero," he said. "The fact that we've been
runner-up so many times in Vegas to me was somewhat meaningless, although
it showed that throughout the years we had a good running car at The Strip.
"But last year we got the monkey off our backs and we won at the
first Vegas race of 2005."
LRS gets new clutch program -- Independent driver Tim
Wilkerson is counting on his Levi Ray & Shoup Chevy Monte Carlo coming
through in the clutch -- literally.
He
failed to make the fields at Gainesville and Houston, and after the Houston
disappointment, Wilkerson fumed, "We're trying to get the thing figured
out, but the engine and clutch combination just aren't happy. Then you
throw that stinking tire in the mix and the car's upside down. I thought
we were on a pretty good track on the last pass. I thought it was going
to speed up but as we sat in the staging lanes the clouds came in, and
the track got better. When I stepped on the gas, it just blew through
the clutch. It blew through it like it wasn't even there.
"I'm tremendously embarrassed at our performance," he said,
"but what can we do? We go one way with the motor and it shows tons
of potential, and the clutch can't take it. Then we go the other way to
make the clutch happy, and the car slows down. What are we supposed to
do? But I did gain some insight into what we can do. We're going to change
the program in our clutch, and I think we'll get there."
He said he decided to change the program in his clutch. "This motor
makes so much more power than we did last year that it's not acting the
same. It doesn't make any sense. The car goes slower but it makes more
power. You can see that the car has plenty of power by the way it ran
the first couple of runs in the beginning of the year. The problem is
that when the clutch and motor aren't together. It makes the clutch look
like a donkey. The clutch can handle what is going on, but when I put
more clutch in it to make it go, it smokes the tires. So we think it's
just an issue of how it's being applied."
He said he ordered some different parts for it, but those parts didn't
arrive in time for this race.
"We're going to have to use what we have and make it work for us,"
Wilkerson said.
He did Friday. He was 13th in the order in the early session. Although
he fell back three spots in the night qualifying session, he enters Saturday
sitting on the bump with a 4.908-second elapsed time at 282.01 mph.
Turn-around
time -- New year's resolutions haven't panned out for Scott Kalitta
sofar.
“We’re really struggling. It’s easy to see,”
Kalitta, who switched from the Top Fuel class back to a Funny Car and
has qualified only once, at Phoenix. “I’ve been driving a
nitro car for 25 years now and I’ve been through a lot in this sport,
but this is certainly one ofthe worst lows.
“The last two qualifying sessions in Houston showed us something
pretty good. Obviously, it was not good enough to qualify, but it’s
a step in a positive direction. Las Vegas is all about taking risks and
going big, so I’ll go out on a limb and say that Las Vegas will
be the race that we look back on at the end of the year and say that’s
the race that we turned it all around.”
He began with an 11th-place spot Friday afternoon and ended the day with
a ninth-place position. His best showingwas a 4.804-second elapsed time
at 317.49 mph.
Playing
the odds -- John Force likens the Las Vegas oddsmakers to the
TV weather forecasters. But this time, he said, "They finally got
it right. They kept making us the favorites, even though we've only won,
I think, one time." Force is right. Of his NHRA-record 119 tour victories,
only one has come at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- the fall
2002 event.
So Micah Roberts, oddsmaker at Station Casinos in Las Vegas, lists Ron
Capps the favorite at 3-1. Force is second at 7-2, just ahead of teammates
Robert Hight and Eric Medlen, who both are 5-1.
But maybe this isn't the time to bet against John Force and is quick
new Castrol GTX.
After twice breaking the 4.70-second elapsed-time barrier in January
testing at Las Vegas, Force duplicated that duplicated that performance.
In the season-opener at Pomona, California, he recorded the quickest quarter-mile
pass in Funny Car history at 4.664 seconds.
Moreover, the 13-time champion has been the No. 1 qualifier at three
of the season's first four races and twice has gone to the final round.
And he's overdue for that 120th career victory. “We've got a real
good hot rod," Force said. "It's just hard to win with the competition.
Capps and [crew chief Ed] McCulloch, they're good racers. The last two
times we've raced them, the difference is their car has gone down the
track and ours hasn't. But it's a long season."
Force entered this event 68 points behind Capps in the standings.
"Capps should be the favorite," said Force, who won't be for
the first time in 12 trips to The Strip. "He's won the last two races
and he's won a lot more at Vegas than me. I'm no ood at gambling and I
haven't been that good racing on this track – even though I love
it here."
He was ninth in Friday's first qualifying session but vaulted to No.
2 in the line-up with a 4.715 /326.16.
Kudos for the track -- Whit Bazemore expressed what
many drivers have said about The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He
said, "It is a tremendous facility and one of our favorite tracks.
We really like the people here. They do it 100 percent right, and we appreciate
that." Better than Botox? -- That's what StriVectin-SD, the
primary sponsor of Dave Grubnic's Kalitta Motorsports Dragster, calls
itself. And John Force is a believer. But the Funny Car icon had a different
application in mind. He asked the Kalitta camp if he could use some StriVectin-SD
to take the wrinkles out of his tires.
Back in control -- Robert Hight said his first-round
loss last week at Houston, where he was the defending eventchampion, was
out of his control. He said he missed out on a chance at the $40,000 winner's
share when an inexpensive supercharger drive belt snapped and left him
powerless against Bob Gilbertson.
"That was the nicest, smoothest pass of the weekend until the blower
belt gave way," Hight said. "[The car decelerated so quickly
that] my head nearly hit the dashboard. I'm just glad to get to Vegas
so we don't have to dwell on a loss that was totally out of our control.
I think we had the car to win last week and I think Jimmy Prock has a
set up that can winus a championship."
Those who know Robert Hight or have listened to him talk for any length
of time know that's pretty bold of him. But he's third in points in an
incredibly tough class -- especially with Ron Capps determined to claim
what he missed by eight points last year and Hight's own boss, John Force,
focusing intently on the chase already.
Hight is the only John Force Racing driver to have won a race this year
so far. He took the Winternationals title this February. Since then, his
Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang has undergone significant
changes.
Now in place is a new 2006 Ford Mustang body, the one that was damaged
on Hight's first qualifying run at Pomona. Without a 2006 backup, the
team was forced to pull a 2003 model out of mothballs and, when it, too,
was damaged in a second-round engine fire, to commandeer another that
was on display at the Top Eliminator Club. That body took him to the winners
circle.
Underneath the 2006 shell is an almost- new chassis. It's a freshened-up
version of the slip-tube chassis the team usedlast season. Not only was
it front-halved, but it also has been modified with "stops"
that limit that amount of slippage at certain key points.
Hight said everything is working right now. "We're a lot better
right now than we were at this time last year," he said. "If
there's a weakness, it's the driver. But I'm learning every time I go
down the track."
He learned the quickest way to navigate the Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway quarter-mile.
PRO STOCK
Reversal of fortune -- Houston winner Mike Edwards remains
unqualified with two Saturday sessions to go for the Young Life Pontiac
GTO. Also out of the field are Ben Watson, Rickie Smith, Max Naylor, Mike
Thomas, Tony Rizzo, and Barry Grant.
Off we go . . . -- Warren Johnson, who visited U.S.
troops in Germany during an offseason trip for General Motors and he USO,
said he's fascinated with Nellis Air Force Base, which is across Las Vegas
Boulevard from the track.
"I have never been fortunate enough to be on the base at Nellis,
but whenever we are in Las Vegas I certainly enjoy watching the incredible
variety of aircraft overhead,” Johnson said. "A few years ago,
I was able to see my first F-22 in the skies over The Strip at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway, and it was spine-chilling, to say the least. We certainly
can’t match that kind of firepower, but hopefully we can put on
our own impressive performance with the GM PerformanceParts GTO this weekend."
Johnson set the track speed record in Friday night's session with a 203.19-mph
run that erased Greg Anderson's previous mark of 203.09.
'I
Got You, Grump' -- Jim Yates opened his weekend in Las Vegas
hoping his hunches are right-on. He knows his decision to hire Bill "Grumpy"Jenkins,
one of drag racing’s Pro Stock legends and well-respected engine
tuners/builders, was correct.
Yates was runner-up finish at Houston last Sunday. But the journey to
only his second final-round appearance since September 2002 is what excited
him.
"It was very good for our team to get to the final atHouston,"
Yates said, "because we chased the tune-up on the engine from time
we got there. We just kept tuning on the car (Sunday) and it just kept
getting faster."
This weekend, he has to deal with dry air, a contrast to Houston. "The
air in Houston was the wettest we’ve ever had. And we were at sea
level there and the altitude is going to be about 2000 feet at Vegas.
But you know what? I’m not worried about it because I have Grump."
He was qualified sixth by the end of Friday's second session.
Because he said his organization has only so much funding, Yates had to
cut financial corners somewhere. So he drives the hauler to the races
from his Occoquan, Virginia, base. "I can save money by driving the
truck and use that money to purchase things that help improve our program
and win races," he said.
Red
and blue -- Werner EnterprisesPro Stock team has a red car and
a blue car -- and no white flag of surrender.
Driver Mike Thomas is trying the red -- backup -- Dodge Status this weekend.
He was 28-thousandths of a second slower than Erica Enders' bump time
of 6.875 seconds in the first ession. He ended the day unqualified, No.
21 of 23 drivers, but has two more chances Saturday.
"We have to run the red car," crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia said.
"We know the red car and we need to run the car we're most familiar
with at this time. We tried to get the blue car to do the right things
in low gear, but nothing worked. I don't know how many more things we
could do to get this thing sorted out. We also found a clutch problem
on the blue car. The throw-out bearing seized and it wouldn't let the
clutch work properly." Engine builder -- and "rival" owner/driver
Larry Morgan supplied the horsepower.
The Kenny Koretsky team's new blue Stratus has been unpredictable for
the past two races. It didn't carry Thomas to a full pass once in the
first three qualifying attempts last week in Houston. So Guarnaccia brought
out the red backup Dodge. It was a bold move that almost worked. Thomas
recorded a 6.760-second elapsed time, but that missed the 16-car field
by four-thousandths of a second.
Dave Northrop drove the red car at the Gatornationals in ainesville,
Florida, last month and ran four-hundredths of a second quicker than Thomas
and the blue car. Neither car qualified, although this time it was Northrop
who missed racing Sunday by four-thousandths of a second.
Koretsky's spectacular top-end accident with Bruce Allen at Dallas last
October triggered this car dilemma. The car Koretsky was driving was relatively
new, and Guarnaccia had it running well. But it was totaled, and Thomas
stepped in for Koretsky and drove the red car, which was the back-up before
the crash. The new blue car didn't arrive until arlier this year. Thomas
drove the new car for the first time at Gainesville.
And who wouldn't like an extra day in Las Vegas? Thomas might, but it'll
mean work. "We are going to stay and test Monday," Koretsky
said. "Eddie wants to sort out the blue car, and the only way to
do that is to test."
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"It
seems like we can do no wrong," said Troxel, who outran David Baca,
Morgan Lucas and Doug Kalitta in earlier rounds. "Richard Hogan (crew
chief) seems to have the ability to adapt the car to whatever conditions
we face, and the guys are doing a great job of getting the car back together
the same way every time. We're not making many mistakes.
"You
can say I had a gorilla on my back because it was definitely bigger than
a monkey," said Pedregon, who moved from 10th to fifth in the points.
"My feeling in the final when I started smoking the tires out there
was, 'oh well, Ron's gonna go by me.' But when I didn't see him I just
started driving off adrenaline and instinct. I've never been so
"We've
been slumping, no doubt," said Johnson, who suffered first round
losses in the season's first four races. "I was just glad the car
started this morning. We've had some success here and we were able to
look in the recipe book and figured out what to do. Everybody has periods
where they're not running so well. You just have to fight through it.
"You
can't win a championship eight points at a time," Schumacher said
of the extra bonus points he's earned for qualifying No. 1. "All
I know is there's nothing we can do differently to make this car better.
We've just been beaten down by stupid little things.
"It's
awesome to be No. 1 no matter when it happens," Hight said. "I
honestly think our three Fords have a distinct performance advantage at
the moment. We're just a little quicker and faster then the others. But
a performance advantage doesn't always win you races."
"This
remains a very important race for us," said Anderson, who earned
his fourth No. 1 qualifying effort of the year and the 44th of his career.
"Not only is it [team owner] Ken Black's home track, but we're just
not where we need to be with our entire program. We haven't found our
comfort zone, our happy place, yet. We've been able to qualify well but
we still end up guessing at things in eliminations. You're not gonna win
like that, at least not consistently."
He qualified
for this first race in the Bob Glidden-tuned car, taking 12th place with
a 6.816-second elapsed time. He had the same E.T. as Mike Edwards, last
week's winner, but Carlson's 201.79-mph speed was slower than Edwards'
203.09. 
Tony Pedregon
was qualified in the upper half of the order Friday morning, but by Saturday
evening, he was out of the event with his first DNQ since 2001. 
Herbert,
who will start from the No. 6 position Sunday, wore a specially painted
USAF Thunderbirds-themed helmet. He will present the helmet to Thunderbird
pilot Major Rusty Keen, who took Herbert on a flight in an F-16 fighter
jet last November. Keen, who was at the race with wife Natalie, said he
plans to donate the helmet to the Thunderbirds Museum at Nellis Air Force
base, which is located across the street from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"I
am pleased with our qualifying runs and we should have a have a good car
for Morgan [Lucas] tomorrow," Will said. "We owe Morgan, so
to speak. We're zero and one against him, so let's hope we can make it
1-and-1 after tomorrow.
"We knew
we had a good race car," Johnson said. "For some reason, the
circumstances didn't allow us to show it on Friday. We were confident
we could run the numbers that we posted today. Saturday's first run was
outstanding. It was one of the best runs of the weekend so far. To run
that number with the sun out gives us the confidence that we can run well
on race day.
He
slipped into the field with a 4.813-second elapsed time at 323.97 mph
in the second round of Saturday qualifying. The bad news for him is that
the other three qualifying rounds weren't much help. He also ran a 10.545/74.68,
10.422/79.78, and in the final opportunity a 9.124/90.17. 
Hight's
personal-best elapsed time of 4.702 at 327.11 mph in his Auto Club Ford
Mustang was impressive as only one other Funny Car -- that of his father-in-law
John Force -- managed to run within five-hundredths of a second of the
mark. 
"We're
so glad it's back-to-back races," Schumacher said. "We lost
in the first round in Houston last weekend and it's terrible to go into
a two-week break off a performance like that. We really wanted to get
back after it and redeem ourselves."
"We've
definitely done a good job of qualifying this year," Anderson said
of his three No. 1 qualifying efforts in the first four races. "Our
weak point has been on raceday and that's the important day. We need a
good get-well weekend and I can't think of a better place to do it than
Las Vegas Motor Speedway."
Morgan
Lucas was the only one of the four who kicked around race tracks regularly,
collecting used and broken car parts and deciding early in life to drive
quick cars for a living. But he has embraced the work-for-everything-you-have
ethic he saw his parents live. "I'm not too good for anything,"
he said. 
Brandon
Bernstein got a clear idea of how unglamorous running a race team can
be. His father put him through a strict set of experiences by which to
learn the ropes, including earning a college education and keeping his
grades at a high level along the way. He graduated from Texas A&M
with a degree in kinesiology. 
Medlen
said the group makes no set dates to get together. "If we all have
time, we say, 'Hey, let's go get something to eat' or 'I'm getting in
[to a particular town on the schedule] early. You guys want to go play
golf or you want to ride go-karts or whatever -- I don't know . . . sit
around and see who can tell the biggest lie?' " 
"And
Ashley, you could go over there and say, 'Go get 'em,' and she just says,
'OK.' And it's like, 'Man, aren't you nervous or anything?' . . . 'Ah,
I guess. . . . I don't know. Yeah. . . . No . . . I don't know . . . '
"We're
going to race when it's sunny during the day. It's great to be No.1 qualifier,
but until we get to St. Louis, where we have a night race, it doesn't
matter. It's still good to be No. 1 We couldn't care less where we qualify.
We're not going to win a championship by eight points at a time. [Low
qualifier earns eight points.] We've got to win rounds. We're still trying
to fine-tune new tires. That hasn't been what has cost us races. We've
had little things bite us. But it's going to be fun. After the first round
loss at Houston, we're so glad it's back-to-back so we can come out and
redeem ourselves." -- Schumacher, trying to put his provisional No.
1 spot in perspective. 
"That
was pretty stout. We tested pretty good this tire didn’t throw us
many curves [then]. It was little gutsy not being qualified and running
it that way, but [crew chief] Jimmy Prock said he didn't know how to run
it any other way. We need to be aggressive. . . . This is the first place
I ever made a run in a Funny Car, two years ago. After winning the Winternationals,
this would be the next best race to win. At Houston, we qualified 1-2-3,
and that didn't work out so good. We need to make four good runs on race
day. And we haven't done that on the new tire. That's our goal."
-- Hight, referring to his track elapsed-time record and his speed that
was tops in his class -- and the fact that the John Force Racing contingent
occupies the first, second, and fourth spots in the order after Day 1
of this race. 
"We've
definitely done a good job of qualifying. Our weak point has been on race
day. We spent all day Monday, testing at Houston, trying to figure out
what mistakes we were making. Hopefully we rectified things. I need a
get-well weekend, but I've got to earn it. We picked up four-hundredths
of a second. We made a lot better un and if we can continue that progress
tomorrow and through Sunday, we'll be happy campers. [Saturday's] forecast
is a little bit warmer. What you're going to see tomorrow is going to
be closer to Sunday conditions. It will be tougher to improve on that
time. We've struggled when the sun is out and the tracks get hot and greasy.
We've got a good team. And we've got a good race car. It's like John Force.
We've got to get well together." -- Anderson, who qualified No. 1
at the first three races of the year and No. 2 at Houston, talking about
improving from seventh to first place and lowering his best elapsed time
of the day from 6.827 seconds to 6.787.
The
accomplished three-time Top Fuel champion and reigning Funny Car titlist
is raising eyebrows again for the wrong reasons. 
The
time is now? -- Since drag racing came to the Las Vegas Motor
Speedway in 2000, Larry Dixon and his Don Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite
team have earned four victories. He has won three of the last four spring
races, losing in the 2004 final round to Tony Schumacher. His victory
at Las Vegas last April was victory No. 100 for Prudhomme. Dixon also
won the 2002 fall event here. 
Will
new car help Lucas? -- Only 11 points separate the second- and
fifth-place Top Fuel drivers. And Morgan Lucas has a new weapon in his
Lucas Oil Products Team arsenal -- a new car. But it's untested, and that
could play a significant role this weekend in whether he climbs up from
fifth place or slips farther behind leader Melanie Troxel. 
"Last
year we ran two special paint schemes in Gainesville (Florida) and in
Sonoma (California) and we won both events, so we're hoping for the same
results in Las Vegas," he said, referring to the new look his Mac
Tools Dragster is sporting for this SummitRacing.com Nationals. 
Now
where did I put that panel? -- Melanie Troxel is safely in the
field, in sixth place with a 4.577-second elapsed time. But she got a
scare at about 1,000 feet down the left lane while going about 304 miles
an hour Friday night. The right-side body panel flew off her Skull Gear/Torco
Dragster as the Hadman chassis flexed. Said Troxel, "I thought, 'Oh
my God, did I blow it up?" 
He
and Bambee Olson were married Thursday afternoon. The Lynnwood, Washington,
couple exchanged vows at a small, private ceremony at The Venetian Hotel
Chapel in Las Vegas, in front of family, friends, and a few fellow racers.
This
guy is serious -- Whit Bazemore and his Don Schumacher-owned
Matco Tools Dodge Charger are 12th in the Funny Car standings after four
events. 
He
failed to make the fields at Gainesville and Houston, and after the Houston
disappointment, Wilkerson fumed, "We're trying to get the thing figured
out, but the engine and clutch combination just aren't happy. Then you
throw that stinking tire in the mix and the car's upside down. I thought
we were on a pretty good track on the last pass. I thought it was going
to speed up but as we sat in the staging lanes the clouds came in, and
the track got better. When I stepped on the gas, it just blew through
the clutch. It blew through it like it wasn't even there. 
Turn-around
time -- New year's resolutions haven't panned out for Scott Kalitta
sofar. 
Playing
the odds -- John Force likens the Las Vegas oddsmakers to the
TV weather forecasters. But this time, he said, "They finally got
it right. They kept making us the favorites, even though we've only won,
I think, one time." Force is right. Of his NHRA-record 119 tour victories,
only one has come at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- the fall
2002 event. 
'I
Got You, Grump' -- Jim Yates opened his weekend in Las Vegas
hoping his hunches are right-on. He knows his decision to hire Bill "Grumpy"Jenkins,
one of drag racing’s Pro Stock legends and well-respected engine
tuners/builders, was correct. 
Red
and blue -- Werner EnterprisesPro Stock team has a red car and
a blue car -- and no white flag of surrender. 
