COUNTDOWN WHITTLES DOWN
Wed, 2007-10-10 19:40
There were dramatic storylines in every category on the final Sunday of
the Countdown to 4, the first round of the NHRA Playoffs, but none
moreso than what unfolded in Funny Car.
After Brandon Bernstein’s Budweiser team finally rid itself of the pesky, upstart UPS team and Richie Stevens knocked off Kurt Johnson to clear the way for Mopar teammate Allen Johnson to secure the final bid in Pro Stock, all eyes turned to Funny Car.
At the center of the chaos were the three Don Schumacher Racing cars competing for the last two Countdown to 1 spots.
For most of the day, it looked like Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps were competing for just one spot.
Jack Beckman began the day in third place and he came within a single round of clinching one of the four berths in Funny Car, but he was upset in the quarterfinals by Tony Bartone. There were dramatic storylines in every category on the final Sunday of the Countdown to 4, the first round of the NHRA Playoffs, but none moreso than what unfolded in Funny Car.
After Brandon Bernstein’s Budweiser team finally rid itself of the pesky, upstart UPS team and Richie Stevens knocked off Kurt Johnson to clear the way for Mopar teammate Allen Johnson to secure the final bid in Pro Stock, all eyes turned to Funny Car.
At the center of the chaos were the three Don Schumacher Racing cars competing for the last two Countdown to 1 spots.
For most of the day, it looked like Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps were competing for just one spot.
Jack Beckman began the day in third place and he came within a single round of clinching one of the four berths in Funny Car, but he was upset in the quarterfinals by Tony Bartone.
Still, the only way he could get bumped out is if both Scelzi and Capps advanced to the final round.
They did.
In a dramatic semifinal round that began with Beckman at 2,267 points and both Capps and Scelzi at 2,259 points, Beckman tumbled from third to fourth place when Scelzi beat Bartone and he was officially bumped from the Countdown to 1 when Capps beat Tim Wilkerson.
Safely in the Countdown to 1, Capps and Scelzi then squared off in what turned out to be an enormously important race as the winner would emerge as the No. 2 seed and the loser the No. 4 seed. That amounts to 20 points, or a round-win.
Scelzi won so he’ll start the championship trek as the No. 2 seed with 3,020 points while Capps will march on in the quest for his first-ever world championship with 3,000.
After Brandon Bernstein’s Budweiser team finally rid itself of the pesky, upstart UPS team and Richie Stevens knocked off Kurt Johnson to clear the way for Mopar teammate Allen Johnson to secure the final bid in Pro Stock, all eyes turned to Funny Car.
At the center of the chaos were the three Don Schumacher Racing cars competing for the last two Countdown to 1 spots.
For most of the day, it looked like Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps were competing for just one spot.
Jack Beckman began the day in third place and he came within a single round of clinching one of the four berths in Funny Car, but he was upset in the quarterfinals by Tony Bartone. There were dramatic storylines in every category on the final Sunday of the Countdown to 4, the first round of the NHRA Playoffs, but none moreso than what unfolded in Funny Car.
After Brandon Bernstein’s Budweiser team finally rid itself of the pesky, upstart UPS team and Richie Stevens knocked off Kurt Johnson to clear the way for Mopar teammate Allen Johnson to secure the final bid in Pro Stock, all eyes turned to Funny Car.
At the center of the chaos were the three Don Schumacher Racing cars competing for the last two Countdown to 1 spots.
For most of the day, it looked like Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps were competing for just one spot.
Jack Beckman began the day in third place and he came within a single round of clinching one of the four berths in Funny Car, but he was upset in the quarterfinals by Tony Bartone.
Still, the only way he could get bumped out is if both Scelzi and Capps advanced to the final round.
They did.
In a dramatic semifinal round that began with Beckman at 2,267 points and both Capps and Scelzi at 2,259 points, Beckman tumbled from third to fourth place when Scelzi beat Bartone and he was officially bumped from the Countdown to 1 when Capps beat Tim Wilkerson.
Safely in the Countdown to 1, Capps and Scelzi then squared off in what turned out to be an enormously important race as the winner would emerge as the No. 2 seed and the loser the No. 4 seed. That amounts to 20 points, or a round-win.
Scelzi won so he’ll start the championship trek as the No. 2 seed with 3,020 points while Capps will march on in the quest for his first-ever world championship with 3,000.
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