Keep up with this weekend's NHRA O'Reilly Midwest Nationals by reading our behind-the-scenes event notebook. We bring you the stories behind the numbers and win-lights throughout the course of the weekend. Tune in daily for the latest news from the pits.  

		EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK GSA PRO MODIFIED NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

 

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -

THE DIRECT APPROACH TO FIRST IMPRESSION - Antron Brown has learned that nothing makes a good first impression on a new sponsor like winning a national event on the debut weekend.

The sophomore Top Fuel racer made sure that DirecTV had a weekend they’d remember for a long time as he won the NHRA O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals in St. Louis.

DirecTV picked up one of four open races that were not taken by Matco Tools on the Mike Ashley Racing’s Matco Tools dragster.

Nothing warms a sponsor’s heart like a successful test.

“To come out here and do what we did for DirecTV is paying them back for what they did for us and our team,” Brown said. “Especially to do what they did for us in this economic time that is great and to have CBS Sports on the car to pay them back with a win is awesome. For that television exposure I couldn't be happier.”

Truth be known, Brown and company had no other choice but to load up for the final round. On the other side of the ladder was a team determined to leave St. Louis with a victory.

Brandon Bernstein was Brown’s final round opponent and racing in St. Louis was a sentimental event for the Budweiser-sponsored driver. Bernstein is racing in the final year of a thirty year association with Budweiser. Gateway International Raceway has long been considered the home track for the brewer.

Brown and the DirecTV team knew their opponent well. Last season, Brown ran as part of the David Powers Motorsports team as did Bernstein’s tuner Rob Flynn.

Flynn tuned Brown’s teammate Hot Rod Fuller to the 2008 Top Fuel crown.

“Well you know its going to be tough when you line up against that Budweiser car with Brandon Bernstein and Rob Flynn. We knew what Rob was capable of; we were with him all last year.”

Brown said the team figured they had Flynn’s game plan figured out. 

“We figured he was going to go out there and run a 3.85, 3.86 or 3.87 and run a high mph,” Brown admitted.

Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, Brown's co-tuners, both former Funny Car tuners, stayed focused throughout the day and the performance followed.

All day long the DirecTV dragster ran the big speeds.

“You have to give those guys credit for making the transition to a dragster,” Brown said. “To come out swinging like we did that was phenomenal and then we got to build up their database. I feel like there have been four or five races that we could have won this year and we slipped here and there. But I think we've followed the trend of getting better every race. We are showing that consistency every race. There are a lot of great race teams and you have to give them your ‘A’ game every race.”

Brown reclaimed the points lead with the victory but he knows this year’s Top Fuel class will go down on record as one of the toughest.

Defending champion Tony Schumacher lost in the second round to rookie driver Shawn Langdon.

Surpassing Schumacher provides a temporary boost for the team.

“It always gives us a boost because Tony Schumacher and the Army car have been real consistent and real good,” Brown said. “They've been great. So when you can stay in front of that team it just makes you that much better. “

“You can't get too excited because you know you still have to go out there and do the job time and time again. All these other guys are tough and he's not the only tough one. All these other guys might have messed up just a little bit and he got the win. We have guys like Sean Langdon and these rookies out here -- like I was a rookie last year -- are strong.

“They aren't rookies [in the sense of the word] … they are coming out here fierce competitors. Look at guys like Shawn Langdon and Spencer Massey. These guys are coming to race in every class. We're going to come out here and race every race like it's a final round. That's the way we think of every round. I want to leave the start line first and get that win light. Every round is very important to us.”

Those rounds that enable a good first impression are the most important.

NOTHING WRONG AT ALL - Del Worsham received a call from his team’s publicist following a first round loss at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Georgia. The driver was pressed with the question, “What’s wrong?”

Worsham clearly had not posted the victories commensurate with the lofty expectations that he and the team carried into 2009. At this point in the season, many expected the team would have had at least one win under their belt.

The Atlanta race gave the publicity spinner every reason to believe the team was in a slump after they used their final qualifying session just to make the field. On top of that they landed in the 16th position.

“I said, ‘Man we're good … we just had two real good runs in Atlanta and had a bad draw. Ashley was running great and it didn't work out for us.” Worsham responded.

Worsham proved his point at the next race. 

The 23-time winner vaulted his team into second place in the points with a hole shot victory over current leader and No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps.

He couldn’t exit his Toyota Solara Funny Car quick enough.

“There was just a huge deal of excitement,” Worsham said. “I see [my teammate] Larry [Dixon] running down here all full of excitement. The radio had been broken all day long so I didn't know who won and I would've unplugged it in a final anyway.”

Sometimes a driver just knows. He also knows when a triumph ranks in the top five of his career.

“It's in the top five and I'll tell you what else is in the top five our win here in 2003 when we beat John Force in the finals,“ Worsham explained. “He had been kicking our butts all season long and then coming out here with a new team here- I would say Atlanta one; Indy two; Houston of 2001 three; here four; and here in 2003 five.”

Eighteen years ago when Worsham won his first national event in Atlanta, his expectations weren’t as lofty as they were headed into this weekend’s event.

“When we came out here in 1991 and won Atlanta there were no expectations. No one thought we would win,” Worsham said. “We just wanted to qualify and get enough money to get some fuel and a cheeseburger so we could move on to the next race.”

For Worsham, St. Louis makes a pretty good cheeseburger and helps to fulfill some of those lofty expectations.

QUICKEST WHEN IT COUNTS - Jeg Coughlin, Jr. might not have had the quickest car in qualifying at the NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals. But, he really didn’t need to be.

Coughlin, a 44-time time winner, was the quickest on the starting line and that’s all he needed to secure his third win of the season. In the first three of his four rounds Coughlin was the quicker on the starting line and in the final round it didn’t matter because opponent Jason Line red-lighted.

Coughlin credited his team with the success in St. Louis, his second victory at Gateway International Raceway since 2002.

“The team has really gelled together well,” Coughlin said, during the post-race press conference. “We came in this year with the goal of winning more events in the regular season and we have done just that.

“We’ve been racing hard and I’ve been racing smart. I say that and we’ve lost two finals by shaking the car hard. But we are on the good end of it now.”

Coughlin has reached five final rounds in the first seven events and padded his points lead with this victory.

“It’s a great season so far and there’s a lot more to go,” Coughlin added. “We have a lot of our favorite tracks coming down the pipe. It’s not always easy keeping this roll going.”

Coughlin entered this season as the only car in the Pro Stock ranks out of the Victor Cagnazzi operation. The group has since added Rodger Brogdon to the fold.

“The Cagnazzi group has been working extremely hard,” Coughlin said. “We came in here with some items that were new that we wanted to run on the car and we were going to run on Friday but we got rained out.

“We had a brand new engine sitting under the bench that is the best one to ever come out of the Cagnazzi shop. We didn’t have it on the frame rails Saturday because we couldn’t take that chance. We have to qualify first because these Full Throttle points are extremely valuable.

“I didn’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot.”

The new engine came out on Sunday.

"We haven't had the quickest car yet but we're only a hundredth or two behind. I was looking at the data today and we had just about the slowest 60-foot and 330-foot times every round but at the top-end of the track we're the fastest. That tells me we're making plenty of horsepower; we just need to figure out the proper set-up. When we get it all together we should be flying."

Strap in, this could be one heck of a flight.

WHEN ONCE ISN’T ENOUGH - Eddie Krawiec loved the experience so much he had to have an encore.

Two weeks ago he became a first-time national event winner. Now the rider for the Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson team is a two-timer.

Krawiec used a combination of quick reactions and stellar elapsed times to work his way through the sixteen-bike field, eventually beating Craig Treble to gain another trophy for his once barren mantle.

“To get that first one out of the way was a big weight off my shoulders,” Krawiec said. “The end result of it all is you take that pressure off yourself. Now I just go out there. I'm capable of winning.”

Krawiec’s friends counseled the first-time winner and defending world champion

“Everybody has always said to me that once you get your first win it will come easy,” Krawiec said. “I didn't think it would come this easy, but I'll take it.”

There’s something about reeling off a perfect reaction time like Krawiec did in his semi-final victory over Angie McBride that made it look easy. If you ask him, he’ll likely sarcastically say that he screwed up a perfectly good light.

“That was actually cutting it a little close,” Krawiec admitted. “I was actually trying to be .015. I've been fortunate; I've been very good on the tree all year all. I probably have a real good average now from leaving on all my competitors. The main thing is focus. You need to go out there and just make a run and don't hold back. I learned that last year.”

By not holding back, based on the Harleys performances, a win, No. 1 qualifier and a world record, there are those who believe a pencil whipping from the rules makers can’t be far behind.

“Weather conditions at the past couple of races that we've gone fast I think it's just there,” Krawiec said. “The opportunity was there. This track was a couple hundred feet better altitude-wise. We actually had a great racing surface here. I don't think it got abused as it did in Atlanta. I think if Atlanta could have had this race track we would have gone really fast there.”

Maybe the Harley-Davidsons are just scratching the surface of their potential.

DON'T TRUST OPTICAL DATA - Ron Capps knows what it looks like from the outside but he’d like to set the record straight. His season is not one of feast of famine.

“I know it looks that way on the outside but it's not,” Capps said. “You have to remember that we don't have test dates anymore. We have four and we get to test when we want. I think if you went around to all the Funny Car guys you would find the most relaxed guys with a [short] sixteen-car field. With Funny Car it's like having two weekends, you have to make the show itself and all season long it's stressful.”

On those weekends when a gaggle of Funny Cars show up, Capps says the stress level rises.

“The crew chiefs show up looking like they had no sleep … bags under their eyes,” Capps said with a smile.

Those weekends, when there’s no rain in the forecast, and you qualify well. That’s when the testing begins.

“You have to remember a lot of teams are doing their testing,” Capps explained. “That's what we did we tested in the middle of them and it cost us qualifying positions and qualifying sessions.”

“Feast or famine, it probably does look like that from the outside but I guarantee you 99% of the teams will tell you the same thing or they'll lie to you.”

TOUGH TRACK – Capps is the most successful NHRA Funny Car driver at Gateway since the NHRA first started racing the Madison, Ill.-based track in 1997.

He learned a long time ago to respect the track. Learning how to navigate it didn’t hurt either.

“This is a grueling track. Back in the day it was hot and the years they ran it in June it was hot,” Capps said. “It took a team that had their acts together because it was 100 something degrees outside and you really earned it. At the end of the day you just wanted to fall down backwards in the winner's circle. There are just some days where you are in the winner's circle and you're just like okay this was nothing but this track always makes you earn it.”
 

BAD DAY FOR JFR - Under overcast skies John Force Racing could not find many rays of sunshine at Gateway International Raceway outside of St. Louis. Three of the four team Mustangs dropped first round matches and team leader John Force was ousted in the second round by points leader Ron Capps. The 13th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol will be a forgettable event for the Force team.

Last year John Force won his 1000th round of racing by defeating Ron Capps in the opening session but this year Capps exacted his revenge in a second round race that saw his NAPA sponsored Funny Car run a round best elapsed time of 4.134 seconds to Force’s 4.178 second pass in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang. In the first round Force defeated Jack Beckman.

SCARY MOMENT - Pro Modified racer Harold Laird, of Pride, La., crashed during the second round of Get Screen America NHRA Pro Modified competition at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.

Laird was well ahead of opponent Kenny Lang when he lost control of his 1963 Corvette just shy of the finish line, crossed the centerline and made contact with the left lane retaining wall.

Laird was checked by emergency personnel and released. His run was disqualified and Lang was declared the winner.

His crash represented the third Pro Modified mishap of the weekend.

HONORARY CREMWAN - Rodney Singleton was selected as the eighth NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew Member of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series today at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Int'l Raceway.

Singleton, 42, of Brighton, Ill. (40 miles north of Gateway) owns RS Auto Repair in Brighton and was selected through the Godfrey, Ill., McKay NAPA store, where he buys parts for his business. "Earl and Jim McKay called me and asked me if I would be interested and I jumped at the chance," said Singleton. "They own 17 stores in the area and we buy from the Godfrey store."

A regular at Gateway on Tuesdays for testing and tuning sessions in his 1978 Pontiac Firebird street car, Singleton also works on "Nasty Habit," a Bantam Altered car that is driven by Mike Schuenke in National Pro Comp Association (NPCA) events.

"We go to Indianapolis, Columbus, Ohio, and Kansas City. We do Nostalgia racing like Ron Capps used to do," added Singleton. "The car has a blown big-block Chevy in it and it goes to seven seconds in 200 mph.

"I watch NHRA drag racing on ESPN2 and to be here with Ron Capps, who qualified No. 1, is pretty great. He took me through the Don Schumacher Racing trailers when I was here Friday and it was pretty neat.

"It's a great opportunity. I couldn't believe it. I would do it every time they were here if they let me.

"We've had the repair shop for four years now. It's just a small place but we're really busy. We're a country-oriented operation, not big-city, and we work on everything."

Singleton's non-wrenching crew-member duties included escorting the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car to the staging lanes for the first and second rounds of eliminations today. He also helped retrieve the car at the end of the track following Capps' winning runs.

He also met and chatted with the entire NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car crew, was a special guest in the NAPA hospitality area throughout the weekend, received a NAPA team jersey, experienced an up-close-and-personal view of the NAPA crew as the team worked on the car, and enjoyed a private tour of the team transporter and pit area.

The side window of the NAPA Dodge also sported Singleton's name as this weekend's NAPA Honorary Pit Crew Member.

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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

RAIN, RAIN, COME AGAIN -  Morgan Lucas might be one of the few drivers who smiles when he sees rain in a race weekend forecast. It just so happens for Lucas, when it rains the good fortunes pour.

Two weekends ago, Lucas won his first Top Fuel national event at a rain-drenched NHRA Summit Racing Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga. Friday’s qualifying at the NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in St. Louis was washed out leaving only Saturday’s two sessions in which to secure a spot in the 16-car field.

Guess where Lucas ended up? If you guessed No. 1 you’ve been paying attention.

Lucas laid down a 3.881 elapsed time at 299.46 miles per hour during Saturday’s first session to claim his first pole position of the season and the third of his career.

“This whole year has been stuck with a lot of rain,” Lucas said. “I’m just so happy and the last two races seem to be the high point of my career. I hope it just keeps getting better.”

Lucas believes the difference in this season when compared to previous troubled campaigns is two-fold. He believes both Morgan Lucas Racing teams are working in perfect sync but most importantly the positive direction has a lot to do with the new colors on the car.

Who said a pretty paint job can’t make a car run better?

“The car keeps going down the track and everybody on our two teams are doing a great job,” Lucas said. “For whatever reason, putting the colors of Geico on the car has become good luck for us. I think if we keep doing the things we are doing, we might end up leading the points chase.”

That would be a first for Lucas.

“Were on the cusp of the comfort zone,” Lucas said when asked if he’s close to finding his comfort zone. Lucas will have none of that talk.

“I think we are just going to keep working at it. I think the day that we get there we should probably hang it up because we can always be better,” Lucas added.

For the second race, Forrest and Charlotte Lucas are not in attendance.

"If we win again," Morgan said with a smile, "they're not coming back."

CHANGE OF HEART – Ron Capps had to change the way he used to think. The veteran Funny Car driver didn’t believe that qualifying No. 1 always worked out as a positive.

He’s since had a change of heart.

"For a while, No. 1 always felt like you were a little bit jinxed going into Sunday and it didn’t really matter as long as you were top four and you had lane choice," said Capps in the post-qualifying press conference.

Capps used a 4.111 elapsed time at 297.02 miles per hour run in the first session to nail down his ninth career No. 1 qualifying effort and second of 2009.

The competition should beware because Capps and his newly aggressive crew chief Ed McCulloch are consistently going for the throat.

"The more impressive thing was to be rained out yesterday and then have (crew chief) Ed McCulloch put me in a car that ran 4.11 in both lanes. The left lane (in the second session) has a slightly bigger bump and they're pretty equal. I was astounded when they told me on the radio I ran another .11. That was pretty neat.”

Back-to-back 4.11s didn’t provide a comfort zone for Capps on Saturday.

"I thought for sure Ashley (Force Hood) was going to drop an .08 or an .07 on us (she's No. 7 with a 4.162/294.95). And when all those cars were running .14s and .15s (in the final session) it showed me how good that run was in the first session."

 

ABBREVIATIONS, PLEASE – Greg Stanfield would have no problem with two-session qualifications if they all turned out like the NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in St. Louis did.

The former sportsman champion turned Pro Stock hitter captured his fourth career No. 1 qualifying effort Saturday afternoon at Gateway International Raceway when qualifying was abbreviated to just one day.

“Usually when we lose two runs, it’s trouble for our team,” Stanfield said. “We ran well in Atlanta and conditions here were similar. That helped us and only having two runs probably helped us because there are some stronger teams out there.”

Stanfield rolled down the Gateway quarter-mile, laying down his mark before the larger financed teams could get a handle of what could be an unequal track for Sunday’s final eliminations.

“In most cases drag racers can get greedy and try for more,” Stanfield said. “It’s hit or miss sometimes out there.”

Stanfield wasn’t greedy. He just wanted to ensure lane choice fell his way on Sunday.

“It looks like the left lane is better,” Stanfield said. “We’ll need to get lane choice to stay over there. I think lane choice is going to be a big deal tomorrow. I think it’s a little rough in the middle. It could change run to run.”

RIDING BY THE SEAT OF HIS PANTS – Shouldn't  a multi-time world champion would know what a world record run feels like?

Andrew Hines pleads guilty to that insensitivity as he rode his way to a new elapsed time world record with a 6.860 second pass at 192.14 mph during the final session of qualifying for the Pro Bikes at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.

The monumental run also represents his third No. 1 of the season and 25th of his career.

“It really didn’t feel like a national record,” Hines said. “It was really good going through the eighth-mile and I guess it had enough momentum that it just sailed on through there. In the shutdown area you can usually tell but I couldn’t.”

Hines said with the new four-valves per cylinder engine combination the Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson runs stronger than ever from the 60-foot to 330-foot incremental timers.

He credits older brother Matt Hines, a former world champion and now crew chief for the team for the run.

“This is just a tribute to what my brother has been doing to the chassis,” Hines said. “These are new bikes that we are running this year. We’ve been slowly lowering the wheelie bar. We lowered it before we came here and we lowered it before we made the last run.”

The team continues to refine their combination and the engines they ran today are the same two they started the season with. Two weekends ago, Hines’ teammate Eddie Krawiec won the NHRA Southern Nationals. They have identical engines.

“This is the same stuff we ran in Atlanta, it’s just getting out to the eighth-mile quicker,” Hines said. “The track is prepped perfect for us and we couldn’t be happier.

“The work our team has done in the past four months has made me feel really good.”

TESTING WITH WILKERSON - Tim Wilkerson feels honored.

The veteran Funny Car was selected by the NHRA with the blessings of his nitro peers to conduct the first of many tests in helping the sanctioning body gain a future nitro engine spec.

The test has been rescheduled for the Monday following Bristol depending on the availability of parts. The original test was scheduled for the day after the Joliet, Ill., national event and was moved up to next week in St. Louis.

Regardless of when the test is staged, Wilkerson believes it needed to happen.

“It’s clear that we have to have some thought process going forward about slowing these cars down,” Wilkerson said. “We’re obviously at the limits of a lot of things. We’ve needed to be proactive about these things and the NHRA is doing something, with or without me.”

Wilkerson is working with NHRA’s nitro liaison Dan Olson on sorting through the different proposed combinations. The scheduled test is the first of many to be conducted this season.

“Dan Olson and I have the kind of working relationship where we can freely say to one another what will work and what won’t,” Wilkerson said. “We can do that without getting mad at one another.

“The problem is that so many people have agendas, although probably unintentional,” Wilkerson admitted. “It’s so easy to have thought processes and I’m probably as guilty as the next. I may have a good reason to think that one way might work better than another. Olson may have a different. We may end up going down many different roads before this is down.

Wilkerson told CompetitionPlus.com the reason the St. Louis test was cancelled was the availability of parts and not because of a racer outcry.

“Half of the parts just didn’t get done in time,” Wilkerson said. “I still haven’t gotten pistons or a crankshaft, but they should be waiting on me when I get home. The good thing is that Dan understands that I still have to race. He hasn’t pressured me at all to get started.

“We may not even do it in Bristol. It just depends. We’ll likely have it done before Topeka or Joliet. We may have tested a couple of combinations by that time. We’re already discussing different scenarios.” 

 

 

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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -

THE ONLY ONE – Andrew Hines was the only provisional low qualifier at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.

Rains which fell following the Pro Stock Motorcycle session forced NHRA officials to cancel the remainder of Friday qualifications.

Hines was surprised that any qualifying took place on a day hampered by repeated rain delays.

“All of our guys back in the pits have iPhones and they were pulling up the radar shots … they were saying it was going to get rained out,” Hines said. “Looking at the radar I didn’t think we would (be able to qualify).”

Hines laid down a 6.920 second run at 189.73 miles per hour to beat out former world champion Matt Smith, who was in the opposite lane of the Harley-Davidson rider. Smith ran a 6.965.

Many of the race teams experienced a lazy day but the same could not be said for Hines. The team encountered problems during the pre-run warm up which pressed the team into action for much of the morning.

“The long wait actually worked in our favor because we had to pull my V-Rod apart three times before we got to run,” Hines explained. “We fired it up about 10 AM and the engine was huffing a lot of smoke out of the front cylinder. We pulled the engine apart and everything seemed to look okay. We put it back together and it was still huffing smoke. We pulled the front cylinder head off and changed a few valve guide seals; they were leaking pretty badly. We got it back together and it was nothing major.”

The team finished their thrash at 1:55, five minutes prior to the original 2 PM qualifying start time.

“The rain actually allowed us to relax and have some lunch,” Hines added. “It was good to get the first run out of the way because that’s the one that always seems to stress us the most. We always want to get out there as soon as we can and lay down a number. Going to number one spot makes it only better.”
 

TOLIVER SELLS – He’s the man who could likely sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves and that’s the inspiration that keeps Funny Car racer Jerry Toliver in the hunt.

Activating a new deal is half the fun. Securing the funds to maintain a top level operation is the other.

“There’s no secret to it,” Toliver admits, when asked about his secret of success. “We have certain attributes out here that apply to certain companies. Our fan base and the direct access to them is a huge part of being able to sell the sport to sponsors. That’s why you see so many companies out here taking the recruiting approach whether it’s military or labor unions. Anytime you can reach out and touch your customer that’s a good thing. It’s basic principles and I always try to understand what that company is looking for and target that.

"You have to do your research but it always helps to know someone on the inside too.”

Toliver has settled into a role of hired driver and while he hasn’t ruled out one day returning as a team owner, he’s content with his current situation.

“I’m happy where I am at because the Dunns are wonderful people,” Toliver said. “If I can bring money to the team, I’m happy with that. I’m still working every day to find more money to bring in. We’re working together as a team and that’s how I plan to work from here on out.”

The Dunns have partnered with a master pitchman.

Toliver’s drag racing sponsorship checklist is impressive. He’s marketed comic books, pitched professional wrestling, kicked off a razor campaign and most recently an energy drink.

Each program ran its course with the exception of the energy drink program which was squelched when Coke assigned their energy drink division to the title role in NHRA racing.

Toliver now pitches Canidae pet food for team owner Jim Dunn.

“They are great company and they have 5,000 independent distributors,” Toliver explained. “This program is a great way for Canidae to reward their distributors as well as get the word out about the product.

Is there a product that Toliver is incapable of pitching? Toliver believes he’s up to any challenge, including pitching Victoria Secret underwear and lingerie, it appears.

“Oh yeah,” Toliver said, laughing. “I’d even wear the product if I had to.”

GLIDDEN’S ST. LOUIS EXPERIENCE - Bob Glidden stopped long enough from working on Larry Morgan’s Lucas Oil Pro Stock Dodge Stratus in order to take in the scenery of Gateway International Raceway. The ten-time Pro Stock driver has made as many, if not more, laps at the track located outside of St. Louis than any of the drivers currently in competition.

“The track used to run the other way,” Glidden said, pointing towards the finish line. “We raced from the finish line to the starting line.”

It can be argued that Glidden earned his nickname Mad Dog from racing at the facility that was once a crown jewel of the AHRA and later the IHRA before becoming the major racing complex that it is today.

The track was renovated in 1995 and returned to host its first NHRA national event in 1997.

Glidden won multiple times at the facility when it was called St. Louis International Raceway during the IHRA event known as the Gateway Nationals.

“I’ve never driven in the direction it’s going in now,” Glidden said. “It was tough racing at this track back when I did. The race was always in the middle of the summer and there were lots of times the temperature went over 100 degrees. The track was really slick and that’s when we were at our best.”
 

 

 

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PREVIEW NOTEBOOK - RACERS WEIGH IN ON ST. LOUIS

 

I COULD WRITE A BOOK - Every good book has an opening chapter.

For NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader Ron Capps the opening chapter in his growing bestseller began with a 1997 victory at Gateway International Raceway, the site of his first career nitro Funny Car victory.

He’s since added victories in 2005 and 2007, and with the points lead and three victories thus far in 2009, he’s looking to add another winning chapter during this weekend’s NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals.

"Any time this track across the bridge from St. Louis shows up on the schedule it's pretty exciting for me personally because it's where I got my first professional win in Funny Car," said Capps. "And it was the inaugural race at this track.

"I used to hear a lot of the legends I've been able to be around - Don Prudhomme, Don Schumacher and (tuner) Roland Leong -  talk about the old St. Louis track. And when they redid the track and opened it in 1997 it was a pretty big deal. And to win the inaugural race there was something else.”

Prior to the 2007 season the event was staged during the last weekend of June in oppressive heat which could often exceed 100 degrees. Race officials adjusted the schedule of the event and instead made it an evening event with the first round staged in the late afternoon when most events would traditionally wrap up.

In 2007 the event was moved to the cooler confines of May. However, this time of the year traditionally intersects with wet conditions and thunderstorms.

This weekend’s forecast calls for thunderstorms on Friday, a clear Saturday and some rain on Sunday.

"I'm not sure what the weather is going to hold this weekend, but we've had weather changes at every race this year and I think when you look at the Full Throttle points in Funny Car right now it just shows you how tough everything is.”

Capps leads his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman by 69 points and Ashley Force Hood by 70. The competition isn’t expected to slack up this weekend.

That’s why Capps wants to make his presence known from the first day of the event.

"I don't see it getting any easier in Funny Car, believe me. To be holding the points lead right now is an amazing thing in this category because the competition level is so high, as everybody has seen. We don't expect to lose the points lead; we feel like we can win every race.

"The Friday night qualifying session is going to be critical in St. Louis," added Capps. "Even though it's still going to be light out, that 6:30 p.m. Friday night session is going to be THE session to lock yourself into that top 12 because what's more than likely to happen is the sun is going to be out on Saturday and you probably won't be able to advance your position very well, if at all."

 

KJ'S GATEWAY MAGIC - If you're an NHRA Pro Stock driver faced with a mini slump predicated on nothing more than the result of a combination of highly improbable circumstances (i.e., bad luck), it's nice to know the next stop on the race schedule is a venue that's treated you well over the years. ACDelco's Kurt Johnson's is the defending champion at the 13th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals and this week's contest at Gateway International Raceway is one that's been on his calendar for a long time.

"Besides the runner-up at Phoenix we've had five races where we've had odd stuff go wrong," Johnson said. "We haven't been consistent and that's what it's going to take to win races. Mix in some bad luck and you know that things are ready to turn around."

Rather than depending on the mystic qualities of four-leaf clovers, rubbing a rabbit's foot, or scouring the race shop parking lot for a heads-up penny to get them over this dry spell, Johnson and the ACDelco crew are depending on tried-and-true methods that have worked so well for them in the past – hard work and testing.

"We tested Monday at Atlanta and made some pretty good runs," Johnson said. "(Mike) Edwards lined up, ran a 6.64 in the finals and won the race, and we lined up behind him and ran a 6.64.

"You're not going to be down forever, and for darn sure you're not going to be on top forever. We know our time in the sun is coming, but we have to continue working hard to get there. It's not like we’re not doing that already, but it puts a little more fire underneath you when you're not winning to get back to the top, and we're going to work hard get there. I went down a list of reasons on why we've lost races this year, trying to find what we needed to change, and it's not like we need to change a whole lot of things."

The ACDelco Chevrolet driver has gone to the finals three times at St. Louis, and all three times he's walked onto the winner's podium. First in 1998, the second race in which the NHRA had returned to Gateway International Raceway, a more youthful Johnson defeated Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the championship round which just happened to be the first time the two had met for a race win.

"Some places, it's hard to figure out why you've had good success – you just seem to find the winner's circle," Johnson said. "And I don't care why, or how it happens, or how the car runs, as long as I get there – we'll figure it out later."

Fast forward seven years later to 2005, and the Northeast Georgia resident not only would capture the No. 1 qualifying position but also take the race win by defeating Greg Anderson in the final round.

"With three wins there, St. Louis is a facility that's been good to us," Johnson said. "We brought a brand-new racecar there one year and won, and we had a good race weekend there last year. I'm kind of excited to be going someplace where we've had good luck."

Johnson's most recent win at Gateway International Raceway came last year when he took out Dave Connolly in the final round. It was a significant victory for Johnson in more ways than one. Not only was it KJ's 37th career victory, but he passed the legendary Lee Shepherd for the most Pro Stock wins behind the wheel of a Chevrolet – a record that had stood for more than 20 years. It also gave Johnson at least one win every season for the last 14 years, a streak that is second only to John Force among active professional drivers.  

 

ANGIE'S BACK - Angie McBride will be among the Pro Stock Motorcycle riders seeking a starting berth in the 13th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill., May 1-3, thanks to co-sponsorship from Haltech Engine Management Systems and XXX Racing Fuel.

“We are very excited because this was unexpected,” said McBride.  “I was prepared not to race, but Matthew (Smith, her fiancé and team owner) talked with Steve Nichols at Haltech and Thomas Goss at XXX Racing Fuels and they were able to put something together for this race.”

“Haltech Engine Management Systems, in conjunction with XXX Racing Fuel, is proud to announce the co-sponsorship of the Haltech XXX Buell, driven by Angie McBride,” said Nichols.  “This is our first foray into pro motorsports as far as a sponsor is concerned.  We are a supplier to a lot of race teams and we will be interested to see how our dealers and the public respond to the sponsorship.”

McBride plans to compete at selected Full Throttle Racing Series events this season on the same Buell Smith rode to four race victories in 2008.  This will be McBride’s third 2009 race.  She recorded personal performance bests in her first race at Gainesville, Fla., when she qualified fourth and ran 6.963 seconds at 189.50 mph.  She advanced to the quarterfinals.

“I’m excited to be able to race at St. Louis because Matthew has done really, really well there (runner-up in 2008, winner in 2007 and No. 1 qualifier in 2007-8), and I get to ride the bike he’s done so well there this weekend,” said McBride.  “We have some good motors we’re taking to St. Louis.

“We started really well at Gainesville but our last race (at Atlanta) wasn’t so good because we had transmission problems.  That’s drag racing.  You just have to put those problems behind you and learn from your mistakes.  That’s what we’ve done.”

Haltech has been a success in the high quality, high performance world of tuning and Engine Management Systems and also offers a full line of EFI accessories to assist with the tuning needs of everyone, from the daily driver to the professional racer.  This is the beginning of Haltech’s journey into bringing high quality, affordable engine management systems and EFI accessories to the motorcycle racing industry.

 

COME ON BY - Five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. and his JEGS.com teammates are encouraging drag racing fans attending this weekend's 13th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway to stop by the Victor Cagnazzi Racing pit area to take part in a special live radio program.
 
Popular radio personality Rik Anthony will be broadcasting his "Back in the Pits" show Friday and Saturday, interviewing many of the NHRA's top stars live from the in-pit hospitality area. Drivers scheduled to appear include Coughlin, Brandon Bernstein, Cory McClenathan, Morgan Lucas, Shawn Langdon, Antron Brown, Clay Millican, Matt Hagen, Jack Beckman, Ron Capps, Jeff Arend, Matt Smith, and Karen Stoffer. 

 

A GOOD CAUSE - David Hope will ride at this weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals to bring awareness of the Breast Cancer of the Ozarks (BCFO). His Vroom Racing Buell will carry the traditional pink ribbon insignia at Gateway International Raceway and beyond.

“My dad and I have been talking about becoming involved in a good cause for quite a while,” explained Hope, “and as we thought of the important ladies in our lives that we care about we decided that we needed to do something to help keep them safe.  There is my mother, my sisters, my special lady, Sonia, aunts, cousins, friends, the women working at our dealership, and they all can be struck down by this deadly killer, breast cancer.  Fortunately, none of them are dealing with the disease at this moment in time, and we’d like to do everything we can to keep it that way.”

The Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks provides local resources for those affected by breast cancer, promotes breast cancer awareness, and provides resources and support for individuals and their families in the southwest Missouri area who are and have been affected by breast cancer and are concerned with women's health issues.  It is the only local organization that provides financial assistance for individuals with breast cancer and their families.

Hope is working to design programs both on and off the race track that will promote breast cancer awareness and education, and already has a Nevada Auto Mall fundraiser planned for August.

“Our family business will be having a fundraiser in August,” Hope said, “which is a time when contributions are traditionally low, to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.  We will be contributing a portion of the cost of every oil change during the entire month.  We will also be selling pink ribbon magnetic decals for the BCFO.  And we are currently looking to develop a program with the race team that will also benefit BCFO.”

The Vroom Racing team will make a stop at the BCFO office in Springfield, MO. on the way to the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals to display the team’s new bike graphics.

 

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