Sunday was a very long day at O’Reilly Raceway Park, but not necessarily in mere hours.  A four hours-long shower reduced the qualifying action to a single, last-gasp final session for the professionals, one that the competitors themselves worried might be completely washed out.  But, when the water stopped falling the tireless NHRA Safety Safari set to work, having the track in racing condition in less time than seemed possible when one viewed the water collected along the racing surface. Sunday was a very long day at O’Reilly Raceway Park, but not necessarily in mere hours.  A four hours-long shower reduced the qualifying action to a single, last-gasp final session for the professionals, one that the competitors themselves worried might be completely washed out.  But, when the water stopped falling the tireless NHRA Safety Safari set to work, having the track in racing condition in less time than seemed possible when one viewed the water collected along the racing surface.

Drag racing fans are a dedicated, resourceful bunch.  The fans that showed up – and there obviously would have been a lot more of them had the forecast not been so miserable – largely stuck around during the rain.  Hundreds huddled beneath the new east side grandstands, with an equal number waiting it out on the west side.  Hundreds more retreated to their cars while others jammed the Nitro Mall to the maximum, while the bravest of the brave – you know, the ones smart enough to have brought umbrellas and rain gear -- cruised the pits eyeballing the cars.  Drivers signed autographs, crew chiefs fretted and team owners could only watch the sky in the hope that the rain would give way to drier conditions.

The result of the delay was a single pro session, but even if the weather had been perfect there would have been a hole in the day with the absence of a special race for Funny Cars.  At least a dozen fans stopped reporters from CompetitionPlus.com, asking when the Showdown would begin, or why it wasn’t being contested.  We could only reply that without a sponsor the special race wouldn’t be taking place.

The cooler conditions that resulted from the rain delay seemed to help all of the professionals, including the two-wheeled set.  Matt Smith, who came into the session Number 3, knocked the fans down with a stellar 6.918/192.38 to take over the top spot, while right beside him Steve Johnson climbed two positions to sixth with  7.014.  It was that kind of session.  Five riders ended up with six second time slips:  Smith, Hector Arana (6.936), Andrew Hines (6.957), Michael Phillips (6.971) and Shawn Gann (6.979).  Former All Harley Drag Racing Association standout Junior Pippin carded a 7.064 in the cutoff sixteenth position.  He’ll have his work cut out for himself on Monday – if the rain that’s being forecast holds off and the race can be completed.

While this certainly isn’t the first time something like this has happened, a sign of how competitive Pro Stock drag racing has become was the news that Mike Edwards team had sent a driver back to his North Carolina shop for another bullet after the engine that nailed down the Number 1 spot in the class with a 6.581 had been damaged.  Ten years ago such an undertaking would have been all but unheard of.

Despite what’s been a very good year for the Oklahoma driver, Edwards is just one of a number of Pro Stock racers who admit they’re going to be facing some hard decisions as the season winds down.  The absence of GM sponsorship is really beginning to be felt, as the parts supply out of Detroit has dried up and money is tight.  Don’t be surprised if some of this year’s stars are replaced by newcomers next season.

The stunner in Pro Stock was that neither Warren or Kurt Johnson qualified.  Digest that for a second.  Warren, making his 38th Indy start, will not be racing on Labor Day.  While it’s happened before, it still left fans – and members of the media – with their jaws hanging open in surprise.  The Johnson name – belonging to Allen, and no relation to WJ and KJ – will only reach the winners circle if the Tennessee Mopar man can make it through four tough rounds from his Number 4 position (6.633).  

In no other category is today’s hero tomorrow’s zero – or vice versa --as quickly as it takes place in Pro Stock, and that’s what helps make the class so interesting.  Mike Edwards may enter eliminations tomorrow from the Number 1 spot, but for all we know he might DNQ at zMax Dragway the next time out.  Conversely, WJ or KJ might win that big one in Charlotte.  You just never know.

There were quicker elapsed times in Funny Car, but the run of the day – heck, it might have been the run of the weekend so far – was made by Jerry Tolliver in Jim Dunn’s car.  The Canidae team is made up of mostly part-time helpers, with the tuning decisions being made by the senior Dunn, who is a very mature 75-years old!  How the man continues to be so sharp amazes many, with there being little question of his ability to outwork men a third his age.  No matter what happens in eliminations – and Tolliver is plenty good enough to win it all if things break his way – the other Funny Car teams definitely know that Dunn is still a player.

The session certainly provided some spectaculars, including Bob Tasca’s fire and Bob Bode’s body-shedding engine failure.  Tasca made the field, Bode did not, nor did Justin Schriefer in Dale Creasy, Sr.’s Camaro (of 2004 vintage!) and Brian Thiel, who had a parting of the ways with owner/tuner Paul Smith and departed yesterday – or was it Friday?  It’s easy to lose track of the days at the U.S. Nationals!

JFR Fords took the top three spots with Robert Hight (4.082), Ashley Force Hood (4.093) and Mike Neff (another 4.093) a tick ahead of Cruz Pedregon’s 4.098.  The patriarch of the Force family was fifth with a 4.107.

Joe Hartley and Clay Millican added spice to the Top Fuel session because they were battling it out for the final spot in the Countdown – but that all ended with Hartley’s 4.025 – which wasn’t good enough to make the field.  When Millican ran a 3.941 in the next pair and it hung in there for the thirteenth spot, he was in.  The six-time IHRA World Champ appeared to have been holding his breath for much of the day!

As the “long cars” marched down the track the elapsed times dropped like the stock market in ’29, with the last car out, Antron Brown’s Matco Tools rocket, putting down a resounding 3.835 to end the session.  Brown and tuner Mark Oswald are a formidable combination, but they will have their hands full on Monday.  Mike Green twisted Tony Schumacher’s Army car to an impressive 3.836, and Larry Dixon ripped off another 3.85, this one with a 7 in Alan Johnson’s car.  Schumacher and Dixon have battled for Indy supremacy on more than one occasion, and we expect them to do the same tomorrow.

Please, please, please.  Don’t rain on us on Monday!

 

 

 

 

 

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