2009 NHRA SUMMERNATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -DIXON WINS AGAIN, THE MCCULLOCHS MAKE HISTORY
TOP FUEL
MAKING IT RIGHT EQUALS VICTORY - “When the amber comes on, push down on the throttle. It sounds easy doesn't it?” said Larry 
Dixon in the post race interview following his victory over Clay Millican in the final round of the O'Reilly's NHRA Summer Nationals at Topeka Heartland Park. That was the way it was expected to happen when Dixon teamed up with Alan Johnson and the Al Anabi race team. Until now, expectations were not being met.
Dixon, by his own admission has struggled this season with getting it right.
“I'm not where I want to be driving the car and it peaked out (at Bristol). Alan took his crew chief hat off and put his driving coach hat on and worked on me, getting my mind right and where it needs to be. We went and ran the car at Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday after Bristol, just made a whole bunch of runs and that was just nice. They learned a lot from that test and I learned a lot from that test.”
Following the test, Dixon was pumped and ready entering Topeka. In the final round against Millican, Dixon needed to be ready.
Millican was first off the line with a very impressive .028 to Dixon's relatively slow .064. From there it was all Dixon keeping control of the Al Anabi power as he roared to a 3.971 second , 301.74 mph, pass to Millican's respectable 4.056, 293.41 mph run.
Dixon won from the second qualifying spot, while Millican made his run to the finals from the fifth spot.
So, how about the run that led to his 45th career win in 85 final rounds?
“The car was great. The car's been great all year. We tried some things yesterday that the car certainly didn't like or the track didn't like. They readjusted for it and it made four good runs down the racetrack. You go up there and if someone is going to fire a shot, let them, but we are going to go down the track as quickly as we can, safely,” Dixon said.
ONCE THERE, IT'S ALL ROSES – For all his troubles in 2009, Larry Dixon has an unbeaten record in final round appearances
MAKING HISTORY – Even though there are unwritten rules in drag racing which mandate one doesn't cheer for a rival, the fact is blood 
is thicker than nitro.
And, the blood between a father and a son is the thickest of all.
Ed and Jason McCulloch will go down in the annals of drag racing history as the first father and son nitro crew chiefs to win an NHRA Full Throttle National event on the same weekend as they guided their respective teams to victory at the O’Reilly NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kan. Three months earlier they were the first to guide their drivers to No. 1 positions during the same event, this time in Phoenix, Az.
Ed, the father, tunes Funny Car point leader Ron Capps at Don Schumacher Racing while Jason, the son, holds the same position for Top Fuel racer Larry Dixon at Alan Johnson Racing/Al Anabi, a team comprised largely of mechanics who defected from DSR.
“It was really cool for our team to win the race and then to see Jason win,” Ed McCulloch, the proud parent beamed. “We are on different teams now but I am obviously very proud of the kid. He’s got the best teacher over there in Alan [Johnson], looking over his shoulder and guiding him. It was a really cool day.”
“Not to pay attention to the stats and the firsts and everything … when we qualified No. 1 in Phoenix, I thought that was pretty cool,” Jason said, when asked about the day's accomplishment. “I always felt after that point that it would be neat for us to win at the same time. In the history of drag racing, and having this sport a part of my life for as long as I have been alive, anytime you get to be the first is special.”
Topeka marked the first time the McCullochs had the opportunity to challenge for a prestigious part of drag racing history and they didn’t let the moment pass. There was, for the most part, a bit of apprehension between themselves not to let the other down.
Ed went first and won his race, passing the pressure on to his son to deliver.
“We were joking around and I told him that it might have been easier if he ran first,” Ed admitted. “That way if he would have won the pressure might have been on us then.”
Not hardly. In fact, Jason added that having his father run ahead of them actually worked to his favor.
“Deep in your mind you don’t want to be the one to blow it,” Jason said. “Prior to our run, the NHRA had run Pro Modified and they had ripped the track up some. My dad’s team didn’t have lane choice but we did. My dad, Alan and myself talked about where to do the burnout and where to line up. It worked to our advantage in that we worked with what they were doing and ended up finding a good place on the track to run. You can’t have too many friends and obviously with him … we’re family.”
Family that plays together, works together and on this particular day, won together.
WHAT IS THE WORST WAY TO LEAVE A RACETRACK? - “Loading the car
in the side door of the trailer is a worse weekend,” said Dixon when
asked if Bristol was an especially bad weekend.
HAD TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN - Clay Millican stated emphatically before the NHRA O’Reilly
Summernationals the time for the MPE Motorsports Top Fuel team to make 
something happen was at Heartland Park Topeka. Going to the final round is making something happen.
Millican’s Topeka runner-up finish to Larry Dixon was his fourth career
NHRA final round appearance, but only his first since May 2004.
The multi-time IHRA Top Fuel champion has never won an NHRA event.
He entered the weekend as 11th in points, 105 behind Joe Hartley, his
first round opponent on Sunday. Millican is now within 38 points
(360-322) of replacing Hartley in the top ten.
Millican missed one event this season, the NHRA SummitRacing.com
Nationals in Las Vegas, after a slow start to the season. The Topeka
outing made up for the missed opportunity earlier in the season.
“It was an awesome day at the track,” said Millican. “Our car went
down the track on every run and we were very consistent with times of
4.050, 4.026, 4.020 and 4.056 seconds. And we got a lot closer to 10th
place in points.”
Millican’s 4.056-second time (293.41 mph), came against final round
opponent Dixon, who trailed Millican off the starting line (.028-second
to .064), but caught the Hope4Sudan/Motorvation dragster with a 3.971
(301.74) closing effort to take home the trophy.
“We decided before the finals that we didn’t need to beat ourselves,
that we needed to do what got us there . . . and that’s what we did,”
Millican said. “Lance (Larsen, team crew chief) came up with a tune-up
that really works in the heat. We couldn’t get much more consistent
than we were Sunday. The car was smooth as silk to drive.
“I drove the car the way I used to and had fun with it. But it was a
bit disappointing when I saw Larry’s front wheels creep past my
windshield a little bit, and I knew he had the win. Our guys have
nothing to be ashamed of. I’m very proud of them. We needed a
performance like this really, really bad.
“We might not have turned on the win light, but it was still a great day for us.”
EXPRESSING IT THE BEST – Clay Millican exited his Top Fuel
dragster following his first round win over Joe Hartley and said, “I
love the heat!” When he beat Brandon Bernstein in the second round,
Millican exclaimed, “My job is to drive this car!” and drive it he did
all the way to a final round loss to Larry Dixon. Not bad for a good
old boy.
THE HITS KEEP COMING – Tony Schumacher continued to add to his list of hit records with a first round win over Chris “The Greek” Karamesines, 79, in the battle for Chicago at Topeka Heartland Park.
It was the 35th consecutive first round win for Schumacher, topping the Fuel record previously held by John Force. Among dragster drivers, Schumacher passed Larry Dixon's previous mark of 30 consecutive round wins at Las Vegas, with his 31st first round win.
The last time Schumacher failed to win in the first round – Morgan Lucas beat him at Richmond in 2007.
The overall leader in consecutive first round wins, at 46, is Angele Sampey in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category.
AND THEN THE BAND DIED – One round after posting his 35th consecutive first round win, Tony Schumacher was heading home following a second round loss to Spencer Massey on a holeshot, .089 to Massey's .059.
UPSETS OR NOT, TOPEKA WAS TIGHT COMPETITION – Losing in the first round at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Topeka Heartland Park were drivers Terry Haddock, on a holeshot, Doug Kalitta, Jay Hartley, Steve Chrisman, Morgan Lucas, on a holeshot, Chris Karamesines and Scott Palmer. With the exception of Karamesines loss to Schumacher every race was extremely close.
The second round was no different. Shawn Langdon outpowered Antron Brown. Clay Millican walked away from Brandon Bernstein with a significant holeshot and finally, Spencer Massey dispatched Tony Schumacher by beating him at the tree and down the 1000 feet.
BURNOUT BOX GETS BEST OF LANGDON - When one gets beaten by the track it’s usually because something happens beyond the starting line and not behind it.
Rookie Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon acknowledges the mistake, a rare mistake, which overshadowed an otherwise impressive semi-final finish by the Lucas Oil-sponsored driver at the O’Reilly NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kan.
After displaying some expert driving in beating Terry Haddock on a holeshot and No. 1 qualifier Antron Brown by .003 of a second, Langdon experienced something in the semifinals that had never happened before in his brief nine-race tenure behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster. Ultimately, it cost him a chance to reach his first final.
"I rolled into the water box and hit the throttle and I guess it just dried up real quick because I felt the tires grab and pull the motor down," Langdon said. "I got the clutch in as fast as I could but it was so hot it had welded together and I couldn't get it into reverse. The whole thing just felt really different than any other run I've made.
"It's part of the rookie learning curve. I've only made about 50 runs so I'm still learning stuff. I feel bad. I guess the only good thing is that I feel so bad I know for sure that won't ever happen again. Next time I'll stick with the procedure and do a full burnout.
"Reaching the semifinals in four of the last five races is great and says a lot about this Lucas Oil/Dixie Choppers team but I'm having a hard time getting excited about anything right now. I'm just glad we race again next weekend so I can put this whole deal behind me."
FUNNY CAR
HE'S NOT BOASTING. HE'S WINNING - Ron Capps knows better than to boast. Spouting off will get you into trouble faster than red 
light.
“It’s weird how Sundays go when you’re a nitro driver,” Capps said. “It’s a roller coaster ride and to have a hunch that you’re going to win is way too cocky and for a nitro driver to say he is better than someone in the class … you think it … but you never say it aloud out here. When someone says that, you think, ‘That’s the stupidest thing you could say.”
Capps entered the final round with tons more experience that his opponent Ashley Force Hood and considerably less than her fourteen-time world champion dad John Force.
He’s seen first-hand how she’s developed into a driver, a proverbial force to be reckoned with … no pun intended.
That’s why he got more fired up to race her in the finals than her dad in the second round.
He was still careful of his words, even though he’s largely had the car to beat this season.
“I told my crew in the staging lanes that we were going to make a lot of fans upset if we beat her,” Capps admitted. “My daughter loves her … so I guess I upset her too.”
In beating Mrs. Force Hood, Capps scored his 29th career victory in 59 career final rounds. The Topeka triumph represented his fourth of the season in five final round appearances.
Beyond getting the best of Ashley in the final round was the incessant desire to put his “life coach/crew chief” Ed McCulloch in the position to make personal history as one-half of the first father/son tuning tandem to win titles at the same event.
McCulloch, once a storied nitro racer of three decades, won the Topeka Top Fuel title in 1992.
The two took their final round with Force Hood seriously … so serious that they had brainstormed her to run a 4.23 or 4.24 in the final round and then prepared their combination to beat that run.
Capps ran a 4.265, 286.07 as Force Hood slowed to a 4.495, 238.26.
“I knew I had to do my job on the starting line and I kept looking out of the side of my eye as we went down the track and I kept figuring she was going to come by me at any moment,” Capps said. “The win light came on and I wasn’t quite sure who had won.”
In the end, Capps was proud of his storied crew chief and the performance he turned in despite the adverse conditions he faced.
“Ed McCulloch fought the conditions all weekend long,” Capps said. “We dropped cylinders and we got put in the lane which was considered not as good as the left lane. We won two rounds in that right lane.”
That turnaround of a lane with obvious issues is something that Capps believes deserves mention.
“I gotta tell you about the staff here at Heartland Park, the Safety Safari and the NHRA,” Capps said. “It was a one groove track on Friday and Saturday. When the track temperature is 125 and you have a two lane drag strip with both lanes winning is a phenomenal job.”
Capps believes the key to his success in 2009 can be largely attributed to confidence. Because McCulloch has made changes to the way the car reacts at the hit of the throttle has enabled him to come to the line time and time again with the assurance his has a car capable of winning every time. McCulloch, Capps adds, has his driver’s focus primarily on the task at hand.
There’s not talking championships, nor are they counting points.
“(McCulloch) told me, he’s not worried about the Countdown, or the next event in Chicago, he’s concentrating on the next round,” Capps said. “That [thought process] has helped me tremendously as a driver.”
When asked if he had a gut feeling about the final round, Capps was quick with his reply.
“I had a gut feeling alright,” Capps said. “I had a feeling in my gut that I was going to throw up.”
Capps knew he had to do well for his team, and importantly for McCulloch, to put him in a position to become the first father/son crew chief tandem to win a professional category at the same national event.
Then again, there was his pesky NAPA Auto Parts teammate Michael Waltrip ready to give him grief.
“He was going to call me to tell me that I had gotten beat by a girl again,” Capps said. “He does that every time I lose to Ashley.”
SPEAKING OF RED LIGHTS – Could it be that Cruz Pedregon might be willing to talk about the new program controlling the Christmas tree in 2009? Pedregon red lighted for the second time this season, in a first round loss to Tim Wilkerson. There has been speculation that Cruz has mastered the old tree sequence and that the new timing has taken away from his success in 2009.
OH BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A FIRST ROUND WIN – In the first ten races in 2009, Robert Hight has made it to the semi-finals twice, the quarter finals twice, lost in the first round five times and DNQ at Bristol.
Those are not good numbers, unless you look at Hight's career statistics. He averages seven first round losses a year. He also averages three wins a year. There is still time for Hight to pull his season out up to his past standards, but he needs to get the ball rolling very very soon.
WE ARE GOING TO NEED A LOT OF CANDLES – Ron Capps win over Ashley Force marked the 130th organizational win for Don Schumacher racing, including wins in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Stock, Funny Car and Top Fuel since 1998. That is 11 years of wins for the Schumacher powerhouse.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW? - John Force, who had won the Summer Nationals a record nine times previously, appeared to have a car capable of adding No. 10 until it slowed down in a second round race against Capps.
“My car hauls ass one run and the next run it won’t. Why? I don’t why. That’s what we’re trying to find out,” said the 126-time tour winner who will move on to Joliet in ninth place in the Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang.
PRO STOCK
WATCH OUT, ONE JOHNSON HAS HIS MOJO BACK - One thing Allen Johnson had working for him headed into the final round of the 
O’Reilly NHRA Summernationals is that he knew his opponent. The Mopar-sponsored driver has raced against Mike Edwards for enough years to know what to expect when the sixteen-car field whittled down to the two of them.
“Mike always makes a good run against us,” Johnson said, as he spoke to the assembled media following his seventh career NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock victory.
“In the finals he did. The right lane came around for us with the cloud cover but we didn’t take Mike lightly. We knew he had it.”
Johnson admitted that he felt a measure of pressure and for the seasoned factory-backed racer, one could assume the news of Chrysler’s bankruptcy along with a dry spell between national event victories has been overwhelming.
The second-generation drag racer makes no excuses for his failure to win a national event since winning the 2007 Mopar NHRA Mile High Nationals in Denver, Co.
“We should have won ten races in between,” Johnson admitted. “We’ve had the car to beat … I just haven’t done my job.”
On the first truly “hot” day of the 2009 season, Johnson smiled and proclaimed, “I believe I’ve got my mojo back.”
What a better way for one to get their mojo back than to beat the driver who has proven to be the hottest property in the Pro Stock ranks, this year. Edwards and Johnson entered Sunday’s final eliminations as the top two qualifiers.
“That’s the way it should be,” Edwards said. “We both drove well all day and our cars performed well too. We had a heck of a race in the final round and that’s what Pro Stock is all about.”
Johnson, who admittedly wears blinders on his helmet to prevent looking into the other line, said he peeked over at 1,000 feet into their quarter-mile drag race.
“I was about a fender ahead at 1,000 feet,” Johnson said with a smile.
He then continued, “I looked over at the finish line and I couldn’t tell who had won. He’s got a lot of power. He was coming on strong.”
Johnson, based on his past experience, expected Edwards to be coming like a runaway freight train. Thankfully, the finish line came first.
CHANGE CAN BE A PROBLEM, OR NOT – Mike Edwards got through his semi-final match up with Jeg Coughlin thanks to a strong effort by this team to change the engine and a serious wiggle on Coughlin's machine at the start finish line.
Did the engine change effect Edwards in the final round? It didn't appear so. Edwards lost by just one thousandth of a second, 6.773 to 6.774 after getting beat off the line by .010 seconds. Edwards just ran out of time on the final run, not horsepower.
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - LEADERS STAY THE SAME, THE INSPIRATIONAL HARTLEY FAMILY
BROWN HAS BYE RUN IN TOPEKA – With just fifteen Top Fuel dragsters in attendance, top qualifier Antron Brown has an easy first 
round of competition on Sunday in the O'REILLY NRHA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park in Topeka.
“It feels great to be number one qualifier,” Brown said, after tasting the hot conditions through two Saturday runs. “We came in with a little bit of a short field and luckily we get a bye run tomorrow. These are tough conditions here. These are conditions we haven't seen all year.”
Brown's Friday night run of 3.841, 315.71 mph, were easily good enough to stay out front, despite the efforts of his co-chiefs to back up the car enough to handle the hot greasy conditions.
MAYBE I SHOULD JUST KEEP MY MOUTH CLOSED – Ashley Force Hood 
started answering the first question from the media saying, “Yea, I don't that much about tracks and everything like that, but is seems if it’s hot out there, I'm actually not going to continue this because I don't know what I am talking about.”
Force knew what she wanted to say, just not at first.
“I think everyone is surprised everyone is struggling. I don't think it's the track. I just think its just the cars that are not happy with the heat.”
Force admitted her team was doing some testing during the runs because of the current NHRA testing policy. And, even though she panicked, the team quickly assured her everything was fine, which served to clarify what was seen on the racetrack.
The drivers weren't struggling with the race track, it was the tuners who were searching for the “hot” setup.
The effort was Force's third number one qualifying effort in the last four races and sixth of her career.
HERE'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT – Mike Edwards isn't going to walk through the Pro Stock field on Sunday at Heartland Park in 
Topeka. He'll have to get past Allen Johnson and Greg Anderson at some point.
Following the first two rounds of qualifying, Edwards predicted the key to Sunday's race would be Saturday's qualifying sessions. Specifically, who could figure out the first 60 feet on a hot day.
“We're missing it down low. The first part of the track is real tricky for most of the Pro Stock cars,” Edwards reiterated, while answering questions in the media center. “Seems like everybody is having the same problem, except maybe (Allen Johnson). He's got it it figured out. He's really fast. He's like 2 faster than anybody, that time. Who ever can figure the track out tomorrow, because the track will be just as hot and the sun is going to be out. It's going to be tricky.
“If we figure that part out, we'll be just fine.”
Edwards had issues on his first pass Saturday morning because of an issue with the motor. Not the norm for this operation in 2009.
“We actually had an engine miss, checked everything out and made some adjustments, came back out and everything was fine. That is probably the first time we haven't made it down the track in a long time. But, we came back a good run.”
Edwards expected the track to be tricky in the first 60 feet, but not so tricky Johnson couldn't get down the track. Can Edwards beat Johnson?
“We can run fast too, if we can run his 60 foot times,” declared Edwards. “This is a tricky, tricky track.”
LIVING THE DREAM - After dabbling in the NHRA Funny Car division for several years, Joe Hartley made the decision last year to 
commit to a full season in 2009. Long before it was known for certain there might be less than full fields at some events.
“The decision was made before cars were pulling out because of losing sponsors. It just played into our favor making it easier to get into some of the shows,” explained Hartley, who then talked about the real catalyst behind the decision to run full time.
“It's something we always wanted to do. [In] ‘07 we stepped it up and ran 11 events that season, saw some mild success. It was one of those things where you want to see if you can really do it. We got to the point where it's tough going part time so we just decided to bite the bullet and do it.”
Hartley has become a bit of a spoiler. He's not considered a threat to win on a race to race basis, like a Schumacher. However, anyone thinking Hartley is a rollover is looking to get bit.
“Oh yes, there are times when our performance isn't up to where it should be and then conditions come just right or whatever we happen to be testing that weekend finally comes in line and there we go, we can lay one down. Like this weekend, we're testing some stuff out and I'm hoping by the time Sunday rolls around we'll be ready to go. We always like to be in the top half if we can, so we're not really trying to surprise them.”
Hartley is qualified 12th which puts him up against Clay Millican, fifth on the grid, in the first round. Given the right conditions, Hartley could easily make the second round. Any time Hartley gets past the first round, the team has met its goals.
“I've gotta say we would look at a weekend like this, Topeka, hot track, we get this thing going down there running on all eight cylinders there is no reason we couldn't win. I consider these conditions an equalizer.
“Now, you go to Chicago where you have great air all weekend, it's another story. If we can go a couple rounds, we're happy. Anymore, round one is just as tough as round two.
“I feel like we can beat them on any given day if the conditions are right. The goal is to push it to that performance level to show we can compete with any of the guys out here.”
Understanding your goals and setting reasonable expectations keeps a small, somewhat underfunding operation, like Hartley's, from getting down on themselves.
“So far so good,” Hartley said of his season to date. “I think most of us want to do a little bit better, if we can. We started the year off with a clutch we hadn't run before. It took us a little bit to get a handle on that, haven't go there yet, but about the time we started to get after it we discovered out our fuel pump had gone away on us. We really have been struggling, at Bristol and here this weekend, trying to get that sorted out. It's kinda thrown us for a curve. It's going to take a few laps. Fortunately, there are only 15 cars this weekend, so we are going to use (our qualifying laps) as test runs. I hope we get it figured out before Sunday, but at least we'll be in the show.”
After all, being in the show is everything right now.
WHICH WAS BETTER? - It was hard to tell what was more impressive -- back-to-back and reigning Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s 6.698 at 206.20 mph journey down Heartland Park Topeka or the time during Saturday's action when he posted the run.
"To me it's the time of day when we did it," the current point leader said. "Mainly because tomorrow's first round of eliminations will take place at the same time and by all indications it's going to be every bit as hot. My crew really came through for me there. I'm buzzing right now."
Coughlin entered this event with a comfortable 52-point advantage over his nearest rival in the Full Throttle standings. His three victories in five final-round showings this year in his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt are tops in the class and his career total of 44 national event wins is fourth-best all time.
"We're enjoying ourselves this season and the goal is to keep this yellow and black JEGS Cobalt out front as long as we can," Coughlin said. "The run we made today and the way this crew tracked down a little electrical problem we had Friday speaks volumes of the championship-level caliber of this entire organization."
As the No. 4 qualifier, Coughlin will enjoy lane choice over Steve Spiess, who posted a best of 6.741 at 203.71 mph to earn the No. 13 position on the grid. Coughlin and Spiess have raced twice this year with Coughlin winning both contests.
"I actually think we can improve just a hair because there was some more left in there during that 6.69 run," Coughlin said. "I'm sure the boys will have the car prepared perfectly for me and we'll be ready to go racing."
The 38-year-old Coughlin has two wins at Heartland Park Topeka. He won the Pro Stock trophy here in 2000 to help propel him to his first Pro Stock championship. He also captured HPT's Super Stock title in 1994.
ANOTHER ROOKIE LESSON - NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year contender Matt Hagan learned one of the more valuable lessons he'll need to know in the years to come. When it's summer, you lay it all on the line during Friday's evening session.
Hagan's quickest lap of 4.237 seconds at 277.20 mph came in Friday night's cooler second session, which placed him ninth at the time. His other laps were a 5.974/112.39 in the first round (No. 12), followed by today's 7.601/82.52 (No. 10) and 5.103/154.76.
He will face his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
"It's definitely been a tough weekend," said the 26-year-old Angus Cattle farmer from Virginia, "but if you look at everybody's results in Top Fuel and Funny Car you'll see that just about nobody was getting down the track. There's a few that squeaked through, but most everybody was having some real troubles out there.
"The track temperatures are 135-140 degrees. It's hot enough to cook an egg out there on the starting line. You can imagine trying to apply that much horsepower (7000-9000) and trying to run down the track.
"Basically, these crews chiefs are going to have to bring it to their knees and take a lot of timing out of these cars to try to get them to go down the track.
"They'll have to figure that out. I just get strapped in and drive. I try not to worry about it too much and I know that (crew chief) Tommy (DeLago) is going to make good decisions tomorrow.
"We have Ron Capps first round. We'll get up for him. He and Ace (Capps' crew chief Ed McCulloch) are both very god competitors, but I feel like my lights (reaction times) have been pretty consistent all weekend. If I can make them a little bit better for race day, I think we'll be just fine."
THE OTHER MIKE ASHLEY RACING POLESITTER - The Get Screened America Pro Modifieds are branded as exhibition vehicles. For Mike 
Ashley Racing, the class represents a second opportunity to qualify No. 1.
MAR's driver, Joe Baker, joined teammate Andtron Brown atop his respective division. The No. 1 qualifier represented the first of his career.
Baker also advanced into the second round of eliminations.
Baker's Chuck Ford-tuned '68 Camaro has been a model of consistency all weekend, recording a 5.995, a 5.974, a 6.000 and a 6.016 in his runs thus far. After struggling to find any consistency at all in recent events, Baker said the performance is extremely encouraging.
"I'm just thanking the Good Lord that we're doing so well here this weekend. With all the changes we've made on this car, I'm really excited to be running so consistently and quickly," Baker said.
"We knew we had the car, but just couldn't get it dialed in - and now we're right where we knew we should be," he said.
"To come into a track that we've never raced at before and do as well as we're doing now really says a lot about just how good Chuck is at what he does. Of course [team owner] Mike Ashley has given us the very best parts and equipment, and I have to thank him a lot as well.
"It takes a whole team to do this, and right now we're firing on all eight and heading straight down the track to the winner's circle. We just have to take it a lap at a time, which is what we're looking to do tomorrow.
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -
WHEN IT'S SMOOTH, IT'S FAST – Atron Brown watched as Ashley Forced ran her way to the top spot in Funny Car qualifying and knew he 
needed raise the bar on his Matco Tools dragster. Brown literally blew the bar away with a 3.841 second pass, 315.71 mph, that left the field sucking the hot Topeka air.
'The run went perfect,” said Brown. “We went for a top three spot. We just put our heads down, the car was a little on the edge but it stuck right down. I felt it bow up in the middle of the race track, everything just got tight around me. My butt cheeks squirmerred up and I just held on. When I went through the finish line I just held on.”
Brown was so hyped up by his run, he hadn't given any thought to the fact the field is one shy of the 16 spots allocated; if Brown holds onto the top spot he effectively has a first round bye.
“I didn't think about that. That's huge, very huge. That's a free 20 points. You still have to do all your stuff right, but first round is always touchy. We might could use that use that first round as another test session.”
HE WISHES SHE WAS HERE – Antron Brown is in constant contact with Angelle Sampey. With the field one car short it was just another moment in time when Brown wished Sampey was driving a Top Fueler.
“I actually text messaged her yesterday. That's my sister. I'm her brother. We're family,” started Brown, who is married to Sampey's cousin.
“It's just a shame to see somebody of her status and how great she is for this sport as a whole, to be sitting on the sidelines. When you have somebody who is a three-time world champ and the fan appeal she has sitting on the sidelines tells you how tough our economy is. Somebody is really missing the boat. She is the winningest female. She is one of the full packages in our sport.
“To see her sitting on the sidelines crushing my heart.”
DAUGHTER WHIPS DAD AGAIN - It was all Forces, all the time Friday night at Heartland Park-Topeka as Ashley Force Hood snatched 
the provisional No. 1 qualifying position away from her father with a jaw-dropping 4.107 second, 295.59 mile per hour effort that put her in position to start her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang from the front for the third time in four races.
The 26-year-old phenom, who entered the 21st annual O’Reilly Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX in fourth place in Full Throttle points, had the best car by a ton in a night session that made up for Friday afternoon performance futility. Only two cars made it to the finish line under power in a Friday afternoon qualifying session run on a 120-plus degree racetrack.
With temperatures expected to climb into the 90s on Saturday, improvement, especially at the front of the pack, is very unlikely.
John Force, the defending race champion and a nine-time winner at Heartland Park, was second Friday night at 4.189 seconds in the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford and Mike Neff seventh at 4.208 in the Drive One Mustang.
Only Robert Hight’s time in the Auto Club Ford won’t transfer to Saturday. Hight in essence will start from scratch after struggling on both runs Friday, an extension of his season-long struggles with a car that has been the performance leader in the category over the last four years.
“Tonight, the track got quite a bit better (than in the afternoon),” Neff said. “We stepped it up. It spun on the asphalt but it didn't run quite as good as we hoped. We made some progress. Everything seems to be working the way it is supposed to (and) now it’s just a matter of us being aggressive when we need to.
“Tomorrow will be the key day. Tonight was just for qualifying position. Tomorrow will be the true test. It will be the most important runs of the weekend. If you are able to make a couple of runs on the hot track, then you'll have a set up that you can use to get down the track on Sunday.”
Although he still finished second, Force lost some time when he misjuddged the finish line.
“I just caught something out of the corner of my eye and I thought it was the big ol’ scoreboards,” Force said, “but (crew chief Austin) Coil told me I shut if off at 860 feet. I was way early. I went back and looked and what I saw was the big TV screen. Rookie mistake.”
As for Ashley, her car continues to flash the consistency that once was a hallmark of her father’s.
“I don’t know if there’s a secret to our recent success,” Ashley said, “but it definitely is an advantage when you can be back a few pairs (in the qualifying order). You see what the track can take and what it can’t. You can watch how the other cars are going down there. I think they were really right on the edge of ‘do we push it or not?
“‘Guido’ and Ron even asked the crew guys what they wanted to do. It was good to get them involved because usually they are so consumed with the mechanics that they aren’t a part of the decision-making. Usually the crew chiefs make those decisions on their own. I was in the staging lanes listening to all this stuff and I told myself, ‘well you better hang on because it’s probably going to be a good run’ – and it was.
“It’s such a great feeling to know your teammates are going down the track ahead of you. That gives you so much confidence. I think that (Neff’s and Force’s performances) brought up everyone’s excitement. We definitely wanted to continue (that trend).
“I didn’t know what I ran,” she said. “It’s hard when it’s only the second session and the first session was so crazy. Nobody was really getting down the track the first session and I haven’t been here enough times in my life to really know what a decent run feels like or a great run.
“I thought the 4.20 was amazing that Mike ran. I was thinking that if someone could break into the teens, that would be really spectacular. Then dad ran 4.18 and I said ‘maybe I’ve underestimated the track.’”
A TYPICAL PERFORMANCE - On a day typical of the deep Midwest, one of the region’s finest Pro Stock drivers turned in what has been 
a typical performance for him this season.
Mike Edwards ran a 6.674 elapsed time at 206.29 miles per hour. If his numbers hold, it will mark his fourth consecutive No. 1. Including eliminations, Edwards has been the quickest car in ten consecutive rounds of qualifying and eliminations.
“Any time we can come to the racetrack and have two runs with sunshine that’s a good thing,” Edwards said. “We made a really nice run tonight. We made a nice run the first pass too.”
That first run, a 6.692, 207.08, was made tricky by a starting line that he described as complex for the first car length.
“I think everybody has been trying to adapt to that and once they do, the runs are going to be even quicker,” Edwards admitted. “We made some adjustments and we feel like we got a little bit better. Hopefully we can build on that and run better on Saturday.”
If anyone can figure out the troublesome starting line, it’s Edwards who has qualified on the pole three times this season and considers Heartland Park Topeka to be his NHRA home track.
Edwards lives in Broken Arrow, Ok., a small town located 244 miles south of HPT near Tulsa.
“I have all my family here and I’ve never really done well with them here,” Edwards said. “It would be nice to win in front of my family.”
The last time Edwards won at HPT was in 1999.
But, then again, Edwards hasn’t had the kind of car he’s got now. Most importantly, it’s powered by an engine from his in-house engine program. Prior to last season, Edwards had bought or leased horsepower.
Now he makes his own.
“I’m really living a dream, once you and your team begin to gel you go up to the starting line with a lot of confidence,” Edwards explained. “I think you’re always going to have a little bit of doubt but if you can go up to the line with 75% confidence … it beats going up there with 25%.
“You have to keep the wheels on this thing because they can come off quickly. There are lots of good teams out there and we plan to race the track tomorrow and see what happens.”
Edwards has a monumental challenge ahead of him if he hopes to improve on Friday’s run with Saturday’s forecast showing equally warm temperatures. Those conditions are expected to challenge even the most seasoned tuners.
The silver lining in that dark cloud is that Pro Stock will run their third session overall and first on Saturday at 11:30 AM, CST.
“If someone is going to step up from today, it will come during that season,” Edwards proclaimed. “It all depends on the weather because we race naturally aspirated race cars. The car breathes what we breathe. If it’s nice and cool outside then … then they run really well. If it’s muggy and hot, it’s just like us … it doesn’t run so well.”
GIVING BACK – Edwards continues to devote time before each race to local Young Life programs and on the Thursday before the event, Edwards entertained 51 inner city children from Kansas City, Mo.
“My Young Life program is the first and foremost for me out here,” Edwards admitted. “We live and breathe those kids. It’s all about Christ and it’s all about those kids … the racing is just a plus. I give God all of the glory.”
FORCE GETS SNAKE BIT - John Force should have known better.
If you’re going to talk to the Snake … Don Prudhomme … don’t expect any
sympathy and most of all, don’t expect any sugarcoating of the obvious.
Force ran into Prudhomme, a team owner and drag racing legend whom
Force has idolized throughout his storied career, as he watched Ashley
make her run. The two legends struck up a conversation while waiting to
see if his daughter Ashley Force Hood’s provisional No. 1 run at the
NHRA Summernationals would hold up to the challenge of Ron Capps.
Force admitted that Prudhomme has always taken potshots at him over the
years but for some reason, the fourteen-time champion believed he’s
earned a pass.
“I never had the value he did … couldn’t walk the walk … never had any
of the $#** Snake has,” Force admitted. “Him and Bernstein got
everything and I got nothing.”
When Mrs. Force Hood ran the 4.10, Force said Prudhomme piped up, “Pretty nice run by your kid.”
Force should have stopped while he was ahead but instead believed the time was right to drop a joke.
“She talks like me … she drives like me … if only she looked like me then she’d have everything,” Force quipped.
“Real cute,” Prudhomme responded. “That’s a pretty quick run … no one was close.”
Force should have known over the years that if you extend too far, you will get snake bit.
“Our cars are identical … you’d think I could run just as quick,” Force offered.
Force confided that he waited for a measure of sympathy from Prudhomme, possibly a comment citing that no two cars are alike.
Force continued, “I think I am just going to drive that car one time and see what it will do.”
Prudhomme paused and looked directly at Force, “I wouldn’t do that.”
Force responded, “Why?”
“You ever think that maybe she’s just better than you?” Prudhomme asked.
Force knew at that moment he should have stopped a while earlier,
saying as he walked away, “Ya know Snake … (pause) … we’re done
talking.”
WILK, THE NEXT GENERATION - Daniel Wilkerson has been getting ready for this moment in time for all his life. More specifically, he's 
been chomping at the bit for the last five years to get behind the wheel of a nitro Funny Car.
The moment has finally around.
“I’ve been looking forward to this moment since I got my first Super Comp car when I was 16,” Wilkerson said. “I’ve just been taking steps to get to this point. It took five years worth of work to get here. It’s a huge relief to be here now.”
Over the course of those five years, Daniel Wilkerson, 21, spent time honing his skills in the sportsman ranks before moving up to the Top Alcohol Funny Car division. Last spring, he made his nitro debut at the IHRA Motor City Nationals and after completing licensing that same weekend, drove to the event runner-up spot.
Running at Topeka just made sense. Looking forward, father and son, noted the event had a short field, almost a guarantee to get into the show, get some experience and make a few dollars.
However, the team wasn't wasting parts, which is why they opted to make just two qualifying runs, the night run on Friday and the third round run Saturday morning.
“I believe there are only sixteen cars here and no matter what we’ll make it in if that’s the case,” Wilkerson said.
Are there plans to enter more races in the near future?
“There are no plans after this weekend … actually there were no plans for this weekend. When we found out three weeks ago that there wasn’t likely to be a full field is when we decided.”
Wilkerson is running an older Chevrolet Impala body owned by his father and not a Ford, which appeared to be a something he would have preferred to do.
No matter how well the younger Wilkerson runs, as of late he's been getting some real attention from both his father and the NHRA. Daniel was place in the spec test car at the last minute in Bristol, two weeks ago.
How did that happen?
“I really don’t have a clue how that came together because that was my dad’s deal for quite a while,” Wilkerson said. “We were just talking about the test and I made the offer to drive and it just kind of happened from there.”
It may have been the NHRA's new testing limits that made putting Daniel in the car a no brainer, maybe.
“There’s a possibility that’s what happened, but I think it more or less came from a ‘why not’ kind of deal.
The test, was just that, even though the data collected, while valuable, was hampered by issues on both runs.
“I went to do my burnout and it just fell off,” Wilkerson confirmed, speaking of the throttle stop that fell off during the burnout. “I caught it in a decent amount of time. I just tried to do my burnout the way I normally do and about a second into the burnout I saw the thing flopping around over there. That’s not supposed to happen.”
With the first run quickly aborted the second run went out about 150 before smoking the tires.
“At least we made enough power to smoke the tires,” Wilkerson said, smiling.
While the NHRA go their data, the driver also got his.
“Basically it helps me to get smoother on my burnouts and practice backing up and staging,” Wilkerson explained. “It’s just the little things I can work on like not running the clutch pedal too much. It helps me on procedure.”
As for the next session, tentatively scheduled for the day after Norwalk, Daniel doesn't know if he will drive.
“They keep me in the dark on that,” Wilkerson admitted. “He might call me from Englishtown and say to get ready. I might not even be the driver in the next one.”
LANGDON REBOUNDS FROM FIRE - Top Fuel rookie Shawn Langdon's large fire put the Lucas Oil sponsored team into overdrive between rounds as they completely swapped out powerplants in their car. It also made the group extra cautious in the second session.
"We used all the advantages of a two-car team today because after that explosion we had no data," said Langdon, a top candidate for rookie of the year. "It was nice for Stewie (crew chief John Stewart) to be able to look at Morgan's data and tune from there because we knew how important it was to make a decent pass tonight.
"I guess we could have gotten after it in Round 2 but we didn't want to run the risk of smoking the tires and not being in the top half. Lane choice here could be huge and if you're not in the top half, it could really hurt you. I just don't think anyone will be able to run much quicker tomorrow because both rounds are going to be in full sunshine."
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WEDNESDAY NOTEBOOK -
HEAT, THE GREAT EQUALIZER - Morgan Lucas believes the Top Fuel program at this weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA Summernationals will heat up both literally and 
figuratively.
This weekend’s event, 10th on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag
Racing Series tour, is expected to present the warmest conditions the
tour has faced thus far in 2009. That factor is certain pose a tuning
challenge to even the most seasoned decision makers.
Lucas speaks with authority when he says the weather will separate the contenders from the also ran operations.
"Topeka is going to be the first consistently hot conditions we're
going to face this year," said the 25-year-old from Indianapolis. "As
we've seen in the past, the teams that transition the best from cool
weather racing to hot weather racing are usually the ones in the hunt
for the championship at the end of the year. We want to be in that
group.
"When it's cooler outside, you can really get after it and usually the
race tracks will take pretty much anything you throw at them. When it
starts warming up and the tracks get a little tricky, that's when the
crew chiefs earn their pay because they have to dance that fine line
between getting from A-to-B and over-powering the track. In a sense,
they have to de-tune the engines because we're making way more power
than we need."
Bristol provided a hint of the challenges to come. On Saturday, of the
three day event, many teams struggled to navigate the complex racing
surface.
Forecasters predict the temperatures could climb as high as 90 degrees
for Saturday’s qualifying, the warmest of 2009. That could provide a
less than stellar Saturday of qualifying mimicking Bristol’s troubled
efforts.
"Everyone was struggling big-time," Lucas said. "I think that one day
really caught a lot of people off guard. Plus, it's hard when you go
from cool and tight to hot and slippery in less than half a day.”
While Bristol fluctuated between cool and hot, Topeka appears to be
consistent throughout the two days of professional qualifying and
Sunday’s eliminations.
"Racers are part-time weathermen and we've all been looking at the
long-range forecasts for Topeka,” Lucas said. “It certainly appears
that it's going to be hot but the good news is that it's going to be
hot all weekend. As long as we don't get any rogue tornados blowing
through, we should all be on a level playing field.
"One thing you can count on at Heartland Park is that the track will be
perfect. The crew at that track is really proud of their facility and
it shows. Plus, the fans are always fired-up and that makes it exciting
for the drivers. I can't wait to get there.”
The crash and the rehab were hell on the soul, but the missing wins were worse on the spirit.
NOT SITTING IDLY - After winning eight consecutive rounds of competition resulting in
back-to-back national event victories, guess 
what Del Worsham did?
If you guessed made more runs, then you are correct.
Worsham, 39, of Chino Hills, Ca., and the Alan Johnson/Al Anabi team
packed up the hauler one day after their NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
victory and headed south to Commerce, Ga., for two days of extensive
testing aimed at preparing themselves for the impending hot weather
months of the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing tour.
“After winning eight straight rounds, we tested for two days right
after Bristol to work on some different set ups,” Worsham explained.
“That showed the commitment to winning this team has, and it’s great to
be a part of it. We learned a lot in those two days, and we are
confident about the rest of the season.”
Worsham’s Bristol triumph, the 24th of his career, represented his
second with the first year team comprised of a veteran crew. He is
currently second in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car point standings;
he trails first place Ron Capps by 57 points.
“It’s just unreal the way this team has come together in the last three
races; we’ve won two in a row, but the turnaround really started at
Atlanta,” Worsham admitted. “The last round of qualifying got us into
the race, and then we lost in the first round as the No. 16 qualifier.
Those were two pretty strong runs that showed us we were headed in the
right direction.”
In winning, Worsham added, the team took two different routes to the winner’s circle.
“Our two wins were pretty different,” Worsham said. “At St. Louis, we
were getting outrun throughout the day, but we got better each round
and were able to step it up enough to beat Ron Capps in the final. At
Bristol, it felt like we were the car to beat all day. In the
semifinals, we blew up but still advanced. I saw our whole race team
really come together that day when the Top Fuel crew jumped in with our
Funny Car guys to replace everything before the final round. The result
of that team effort was low ET of the weekend, and our second straight
win.”
A third win would suit Worsham fine considering he’s never won Topeka and last year failed to qualify.
CALLING ON A HIGHER POWER, IF NECESSARY - It had been almost 10 months since John Force’s last visit to winner’s
circle. That’s a long time for anyone to wait, much less a 14-time
world champion.
For Force, a man that has the most world championships, most round wins
(1,021 currently) and most event wins (126) in NHRA history, the wait
was almost unbearable.
“I didn’t know if I could win again,” Force said. “I believed it, but
we just couldn’t get that magic to win a race.” That all came to an end
when Force drove past runner-up Tim Wilkerson at the 20th annual
O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Heartland Park Topeka just one year
ago and grabbed his first win since Brainerd 2007.
The win not only gave Force the confidence he needed to continue to
stay competitive in arguably one of the most talent-stacked categories
in NHRA history, but it shot the former champ from fifth to a strong
third in the point standings, a position that helped keep the NHRA
legend within the top 10 point standings at the mid-point of the
regular season of the 2008 Countdown to the Championship, ultimately
leading to a Countdown to 1 playoff appearance later that year.
“Just give me a race car and I’ll pray this thing to the winner’s circle,” said Force.
For Force, who is currently ninth in the Funny Car point standings, a
win in Topeka could propel the driver further up in the point standings
and give the NHRA legend a 10th win at the track, the most of any other
driver at Heartland Park Topeka.
OF DOGS AND SCENERY - 
Unless you’re the lead dog the scenery never changes.
In the dog-eat-dog world of NHRA Pro Stock, five-time world champion
Jeg Coughlin Jr. has grown fond of the view as his 714 championship
points ranks the highest of any NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
professional category.
Coughlin has reached the final round in five of the first eight of the
10 national events of 2009. He’ll be looking for more as he enters
this weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kan.
Coughlin, 38, of Delaware, Ohio, is one of only four professional
competitors who has qualified for every race this season and advanced
past the first round of eliminations.
"Everything has been going very well for us, without question,"
Coughlin said. "You like to think the majority of our good fortune is
the result of hard work. I know I've never been around a group as
dedicated as this Victor Cagnazzi Racing organization.
"The driver always gets the accolades but I wouldn't have a chance
without this talented group behind me. From having my pop, Jeg Sr., at
a lot of the races this year, to our crew chief Roy Simmons, the guys
on the crew, and everyone back at the engine and chassis shop in
Charlotte, we're all part of a great, great team."
Coughlin enters Topeka as a two-time winner, once in Pro Stock and
another as a sportsman competitor. He also has a pair of runner-ups at
the Heartland Park facility.
"I like the track," Coughlin said. "Even more so, I like the people of
Kansas. The city absolutely opens its arms to the NHRA when we get
there and it seems everyone in town is tuned into what we're doing.
That's makes Topeka a very special place.
"That event always seems to attract a real diverse crowd also, maybe
because it's at the start of summer. I've met people from all over the
world that built their vacations around the Topeka race. It's a neat
deal."
Coughlin brings a 16 -8 eliminations record into this weekend’s event.
"It's been a few years since we've won at Topeka so maybe we can return
to the winner's circle this time through," he said. "I certainly feel
like we have the car and the team to get it done. The way this class is
running, we just about have to get to the finals every week to stay out
front, and we do like being the lead dogs."
REPEAT WOULD BE NICE -
Antron Brown hopes that what worked well for the boss will eventually funnel down to the employee.
In 2007, team owner Mike Ashley won his first national event at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.
Brown has yet to win in Topeka but a semi-final finish last year has
success so close for the sophomore Top Fuel driver he can taste it.
"I'm excited to get back out there to Topeka. We came up just short
last year,” Brown said. “I always like performing at Topeka because one
of the guys I looked up to growing up, Gary Ormsby, has a great legacy
at Heartland Park. Topeka is a fun little town and we're ready to get
back to racing and to keep this Matco Tools dragster up there in the
standings."
The common denominator for Brown and Ashley is the tuning personnel.
Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald tuned Ashley to that monumental Funny Car
title.
Topeka marks the second race for the tuning duo that they enter with a
win together in previous years. They entered the recently completed
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals as defending Funny Car champion tuners
having directed Melanie Troxel to the Bristol title.
"We always look forward to go to Topeka,” Corradi said. “We can make
some good power at Topeka and it's always a good race track. We got to
run on a hot track at Bristol and that should help us to be more
consistent. As always, the goal is to be consistent and go down the
track."
Two weeks ago at Bristol Dragway, Brown made NHRA history recording the fastest 1,000-foot speed, 319.75 mph.
The Matco Tools flagship driver qualified his Matco Tools rail seventh
at 3.898-seconds. In his opening round match against Troy Buff, Brown
blasted to a lap of 3.838 seconds at 319.75. He has clocked the two
fastest speeds this season, 318.02 (St. Louis) and 319.75 (Bristol). He
was defeated by 17-time winner Brandon Bernstein in round two 3.862 to
3.873.
Brown made his first career start at Heartland Park Topeka last May.
The veteran racer had never competed at the Topeka track as the Pro
Stock Motorcycle class doesn't compete at every race. Brown qualified
his Matco Tools rail fourth at 4.584 seconds at 292.77 mph. He posted a
semifinal finish falling to two-time series champion Larry Dixon.
After eight of 24 races on the 2009 NHRA schedule, Brown ranks second
in the Top Fuel standings, trailing six-time series champion Tony
Schumacher by 45 points. Brown has not ranked lower than second this
season.
The four-time Top Fuel winner has two wins in three final round appearances and two No. 1 qualifying awards this season.
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