2009 NHRA TOYO TIRES NATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -A LONG DAY OF WEEPING AND WEEPERS COMES TO AN END
READING TO MAKE FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS - It felt as if the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway
would never end, and 
as of this posting the event is not complete.
Several sportsman classes are set to run Monday morning at 9 am.
The
problem came from both rain and sunshine. Rain saturated the ground and
whenever the clouds parted, allowing the sun to heat the track, water
would come seeping up through surface. It was a no win situation for
the Safety Safari and track officials. After multiple delays on Friday
and Saturday it looked like Sunday would be perfect. It wasn't. It
didn't rain again but the sun kept peeking through the clouds drawing
the water up through the racing surface. Run after run, the day was
delayed as track workers tried to keep the track dry. Finally, with one
round of Funny Car and Top Fuel dragster eliminations complete and half
a round of Pro Stock in the books, officials were forced into another
delay that lasted over four hours.
By the time racing resumed,
track general manager Lex Dudas announced there would be a press
release issued outlining what the track would do to help alleviate the
issues. Below is the press release.
Statement regarding the 25th Annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals
“On
behalf of the Stauffer family, the management team of Maple Grove
Raceway would like to apologize to the fans and racers for what
transpired this weekend,” vice president/general manager Lex Dudas said
Sunday.
“We are committed to fixing the problem.”
The
track ownership will be extending the concrete pad from 550 feet to the
1,000-foot mark of the track. The asphalt surface will be milled 2
inches and new asphalt will be installed for 700 feet to the
quarter-mile mark and beyond.
This should prevent future
occurrences of water seepage that caused the long delays during the
course of the weekend and help to improve the performances at all
future Maple Grove Raceway events.
“We greatly appreciate the
many fans that showed their dedication to the NHRA and Maple Grove
Raceway by waiting through the long delays,” Dudas said.
“We hope you continue your patronage with us in the future.”
THE ONE I ALWAYS WANTED – Larry Dixon has won a lot of races, but until Sunday afternoon in the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals a 
victory at Maple Grove Raceway had eluded the driver of the Al Anabi Racing dragster.
“Great,” answered Dixon when asked just how this win felt. “This is such a historic race track and I've always wanted to win here. You know my dad won here, you know points meets, running Top Fuel back in the day, and I just love coming to this track. God, you know, for just one reason or another we've never been able to close the deal and finally, you know you're halfway down the track and you're still...I've been halfway down the track thinking you're gonna win and then you break an input shaft and lose and so like just to see the win light come on it was just, it was awesome.
I mean you know, obviously the amount of talent we raced today, it was strong. I told the TV guys down there we raced...I raced one of the oldest guys in drag racing. I said I raced two of the youngest guys and probably the best guy in the class. And to be able to get win lights against all of them, I'm just...I feel very fortunate right now.
The most difficult opponent Dixon faced all day was time. Water seeping through the track forced a four hour plus delay as the NHRA safety safari worked so hard to resolve the problem. In the meantime, Dixon was on “eggshells”.
“You can't do a whole lot, you're just kinda waiting,” said Dixon when asked what he did during the delay. “And, it's tough. I mean it's like...it's tough on the guys. They got all their work done and then they're hanging out watching HBO and all that. And me, I'm walking on eggshells. It's like...how you try to prepare for race day, it's almost like a boxer, you know. So you kinda like, you watch your diet, you watch your sleep and everything to get ready for the main event fight, and then we run the first two rounds or the first round and you take a TV time out for three hours. You know, it's tough.
“I hate it. You know I wish we could have (raced) earlier, but safety wise it was a great call on their part. You got better racing out of it once the track cooled down, the cars could run better and it was better racing. And they didn't have any safety issues because of the water. So I think it was a great call, it's a bold call, but it's still a great one.”
Dixon got by Chris Karamesines in the first round, Tony Schumacher in the second, Shawn Langdon in the third and then beat Spencer Massey, 3.899 to 8.691 in the final round. Massey replaced Dixon in the Don Prudhomme dragster when Dixon left to drive for Alan Johnson at the end of last year.
MAPLE GROOVE – Some drivers go into a event with trepidation if they've never won at that particular facility. Not Dixon and definitely not at Maple Grove.
“Not here,” he answered, “Cause I like...you know we went to the finals here last year. And so I like coming to this race. And so you're excited, you hope, you never know when it's your turn, you know you're only on the track three and a half seconds, so it could flip either way. But, you just hope today, you know, this is the weekend. And it was.”
ROUND AFTER ROUND AFTER ROUND - Adding the four rounds Dixon raced this weekend, he is now the leader in Top Fuel with 798 rounds raced, three more than Joe Amato's 795.
“I heard Bob Frey say that, I didn't know that,” admitted Dixon when asked about the stat. “That's...I don't even know what to say, I mean that doesn't seem like that should be about me, you know. It should be about Garlits or Amato or somebody like that. Those are the guys that I looked up to growing up and just being in the same conversation as a Joe Amato, I'm very flattered and honored at the same time.”
TASCA TAKES TWO – It was no easy trip for Bob Tasca, III as he collected his second win of his career, and second this year, beating 
Mike Neff in the final round of the Toyo Tire NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
Tasca had to get past Ron Capps, Robert Hight, John Force, and Mike Neff to collect the Wally his mother had earlier predicted was coming his way.
“My mom's my biggest fan, team photographer,” Tasca said in his post race interview. “Very fortunate to have a lot of wonderful people around me. My guys, you know...if you see what goes through a race weekend, when you're throwing rods out and almost burn a car down and fixing a body...it is an unbelievable amount of energy and concentration. You hate to see something happen to Mike, I mean obviously he doesn't cut point two lights, I mean obviously something happened, he got distracted, it's happened to me, on more than one occasion. But it does come down to every little thing means so much in what we do. The guys gave me a hot rod that put me in a position to win and I did my job and the rest is history.”
Getting his first win in pro competition at Gainesville earlier this year was important, but this win at Maple Grove is special for a lot of reasons.
“This is a pretty meaningful race for me on a multitude of levels. This is the race John Force ran my grandfather's body, he ran it at this race. This is the first race I ever hit the throttle in my Alcohol Funny Car to compete at a national event. This race I won, and I want to contest this. Manzo, if he's listening, he really doesn't have that streak at this track, that is a fallacy. He lost, at this race track, in an elimination round, granted it was for the Richmond race, to me. I beat Frank Manzo here in my Alcohol Funny Car to win the race in the third qualifying session, we won. We won the race. I don't know if that counts against Reading or not, but the man has lost on this property to Tasca. Just want to go on record about that.
“But you know, to win the race here, we were here for the marathon, the famous, the rain delay of '07 I think it was, and lost to Frankie in the finals for the national event trophy. So this is a race my grandfather and Billy Lawton raced at. This is a race I came to with Billy Lawton and John Healy. So you know, Gainesville...we like winning these historic races. We got one, what's that race next week, that's a week from now, is it Indy? That's right, Indy. So we're gonna go to Indy to compete and try to get one more trophy here before the championship run.”
Tasca credits a lot of different people for his maturing as a race car driver. He knows without their advice to win twice in just his second season would be almost impossible.
“I've been so blessed to have people such as Tony Pedregon as my mentor, and John Force, and I remember Tony telling me 'you know you sit in that car and the butterflies and the nervous energy, that energy is there for you to use'. It's there for you to, you know...for me anyways...you don't get a lot of shots at winning NHRA national events.
“This is a tough deal out here. You got some amazing competition. So when you put yourself in a position to win, you want to seize that moment. I just remember the last conscious though that went through my mind is 1000 feet to destiny. There it is, it's right out in front of you, it's right out in front of him. Fortunately for me I hit the tree, my guys gave me a race car that was gonna run with anyone out here in that final round. And we got the win light.
“So a big win for us, it puts us fourth in the points. Obviously we locked in by going that first round. Again, it wasn't about locking in, never has been about locking in, it's about winning the championship. We're here to compete. I don't think anyone out here doubts that. So for Ford Motor Company for believing in me, all the NHRA fans, and Ford customers out there, it was a great day for Ford.”
LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY – Bob Tasca had a little luck on his side in his semifinal run against John Force. In a rare occurrence, Force red lighted. Bad for Force, great for Tasca. As Force went roaring away Tasca's Shelby Mustang was blowing a rod into the oil pan.
“I hit the throttle and it was dead,” explained Tasca. “Then I saw the win light and I smiled.”
Both Force and Tasca pedaled down the track with Tasca's 6.783 and indication of his troubles. Force's 4.275 would have easily taken the win if he had just waited another two hundredths of a second to mash the throttle.
NUMBER ONE – When Bob Tasca beat Ron Capps in the first round of the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove it was a first for Tasca. The pairing was one of the best of the first round with Tasca leading from start to finish.
COUNTDOWN TO SHUT DOWN – The clock was ticking. The curfew at Maple Grove Raceway is 9 p.m., and the hands on the clock were 
already past the witching hour.
It was dark, cool and a the air was not yet full of moisture, near perfect conditions for Jeg Coughlin to simply outrun Johnny Gray in the final round of Pro Stock competition in the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals. For Coughlin it was all horsepower as he cut a .012 light to Gray's nearly identical .013.
“It did feel fantastic,” said Coughlin when asked about his sixth win of the season and near lock on the No. 1 spot in the Countdown to 1. “We struggled in the two qualifying rounds we had here, ended up eight. We knew we had a lot under the hood and knew we had the car to do it. We just tried to give it what it wanted.”
By the time Pro Stock ran their final round the racetrack was near perfect.
“The track was extremely good. The dew is certainly starting to pour in very very heavy right now and it was a good thing the day was at an end. Even when I pulled my chutes the car kinda cocked sideways and slid for a couple hundred yards. That's a feeling I've not felt behind the wheel of a Pro Stock car.
“The car felt like a rocket. The best it felt all day and we were rewarded with our best et of the day.”
The first round was the slowest for Coughlin, with a 6.723 at 205.54 mph being enough to get past Ronnie Humprey, Greg Anderson's brother in law. From there on Coughlin ran a 6.648 to best Mike Edwards, a 6.646 to beat Jason Line and a 6.635 to take the win over Gray.
The win against Edwards was the closest. Coughlin cut a .007 light to Edwards .028 which he needed to best Edwards 6.635.
One pair of Top Alcohol Funny Cars later, racing at Maple Grove came to a grinding halt.
LOCKED AND LOADED – Eddie Krawiec was on a mission. He needed to deliver a win for two birthday girls.
“It felt good to get this win and it was so good to be so close to home,” Krawiec said, after taking out Michael Phillips in the final round. “That’s a key point. I messed up the Englishtown win and to come here in Reading, and no matter how long the day was, the victory was still sweet at the end of the day. It was also my wife’s birthday today.”
Team manager and Harley-Davidson rep Anne Paluso had a birthday on Thursday.
“I have two Ann’s, Ann Marie my wife and Ann Paluso our team manager,” Krawiec said. “I brought both Ann’s the Wally home this weekend. I’m pretty excited about that and my family was here too. To have everyone here I can’t help but be excited.”
With the win, Krawiec clinched the top spot in the Countdown to 1.
“It’s great being secure headed into Indy,” Krawiec said. “Getting those extra points for being number one will be great and we know how valuable those points are. That could be a qualifying position and get me in there at the end of the year. I couldn’t be any more happier for Screamin’ Eagle, Harley-Davidson and Vance & Hines. We wanted to keep our noses down and get as many round wins as we could.”
WHAT RACING IS ALL ABOUT – Michael Phillips was ready to pack it in and go home. The weekend, as far as he knew, was over. He'd 
damaged the motor in his Suzuki and with no replacement on the truck there was no way he could answer the call for a final round run against Eddie Krawiec.
That's when the racing community stepped in. There was no way Krawiec was going to the line next to an empty lane. An engine was found and put in Phillip's bike with the help of several different teams, including Krawiec's when there was trouble getting it started.
Krawiec was as proud of his competitors as he was in taking the win.
“I think it says a lot for what our class is about,” Krawiec said when asked. “Our guys went over there and helped Michael out. Michael had some struggles trying to start the bike. We don’t want to race like that. I don’t want to win like that. I think it just goes to show you how good our competition is. Although there might be a bunch of guys who fight amongst themselves on the track, when you get off of it, it’s one big family. I couldn’t be any happier to have competitors out there like that.”
During the final cleanup, which delayed the final round of eliminations for both the Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycles teams, Krawiec took the time to talk with Phillips.
“I have a lot of respect for Michael. Michael is one of the most underestimated riders out there. He does this on his own budget and to see him come out here and do well, I’m really excited. He’s in the top ten and the class needs more of that. It’s a good shot in the arm and a good boost. You can’t count him out, he could win the championship. Just because he’s an underfunded team doesn’t mean he can’t win it.”
GETTING THE WRONG BREAK – Michael Phillips rolled to an easy win over Bailey Whitaker,
which ended poorly. Whitaker red-lighted at the start giving Phillips the win, his first final round of the season.
“I get a break and something breaks,” said Phillips, a look of despair on his face. “This is the only engine I have.”
Phillips joked at the top end that they only way he could win is if Eddie Krawiec red-lighted on purpose. Kraewic responded to the possibility with a quick, “No!” to the possibility.
THE NEVER ENDING RACE –
LIGHT DEFENDS DECISION - “Spin it any way you want, the bottom line is John Force Racing “did exactly what I told them to do”, said 
Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Operations during a break in the action in the Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway Saturday afternoon. “I think it's unfair for anyone to be critical of John Force.”
Light has already accepted the criticism for a mistake made on January 21, 2009 which led to the confusion coming out of events on August 17th at Brainerd Int'l Raceway.
The error, a changing of words, should have been caught in January. It wasn't. Not by Light or any others responsible for ensuring press releases concerning policy decisions are accurate. Those facts change nothing. They don't change the intent of the testing policy applied to Top Fuel and Funny Car teams by the NHRA and how it has been applied, according to Light.
The intent of the testing rule according to Light was basically, “to protect the big dollar teams from themselves”.
Most of the multi-car operations had taken to testing almost every Monday after an event. Force was testing. Schumacher was testing. The heavily funded teams were all testing and spending huge dollars in the process. Until the Hight test at Brainerd, the rule was working just fine. Then the question became, how could Hight be allowed to test for a fifth time when the policy clearly stated only four tests would be allowed without penalty.
Terry Haddock looked over the document in his hands and shook his head. He read deeper and shook his head even more.“I have never seen this,” said Haddock. “And, this is not the way the policy was explained to me.”
The document - a print out of an email sent from Graham Light's assistant to car owners, drivers and crew chiefs participating in the NHRA.
Haddock looked over a second document and shook his head again. The document, two pages from the 'NHRA Competition Policies & Procedures Manual – 2009 Professional Edition' which was assembled by Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Competition and sent to PRO (Professional Racers Organization).
“PRO wants $2000 to be a member and that's not in my budget,” said Haddock.
Haddock has been steadfast in his assertion that he went to Light after reading the press release on the test policy and told him he was committed to running the first two IHRA events of the 2009 season and a match race in Edmonton. At the time, there was no issue. Haddock says Light told him running the two events would put him over the testing limit.
Haddock claims he offered up the possibility he could drive for another team at the IHRA events, but was told he would still be over the limit. If the interpretation of the testing policy was the same then as it is now, Haddock says he would have accepted an offer from Doc Sipple to drive his dragster in the first two IHRA events.
With the water already under the bridge, Haddock is left to play a game of 'what if'; what if he had driven for another car owner in those IHRA events. Haddock, currently is not even close to getting into the Countdown to 1, but he believes he could be close had he had better information available to him earlier in the season.
Sitting next to Gary Densham, Haddock just kept shaking his head at what he believes might have been. It's a big “what if” and he knows it.
Densham believes the NHRA could improve on the testing rule and clear up any ambiguity if they would switch from “test days” to “test runs”.
“Let us make X number of test runs, the team, the driver, it just doesn't matter. You get X number of test runs, even if its a run in a match race or an event with another sanctioning body. That's what you get and that's it,” said Densham.
“I believe the confusion came about because of the way we worded the press release,” said Light. “On January 21st my assistant emailed the testing policy to the car owners, drivers and crew chiefs. On that same day a release was issued to the press. They didn't read the same.”
Light also put together a complete manual titled 'NHRA Competition Policies and Procedures Manual, 2009 Professional Edition' and sent it to PRO, the organization of drivers and car owners on the NHRA circuit. The manual was sent out approximately three months after the testing policy email, according to Light.
Light explained that the testing policy issued to the owners, drivers and crew chiefs didn't include the spice and fluff that typically finds it’s way into a press release. And, when the policy was reduced to a press release there was a change which had a definite effect on the meaning of the policy.
A line in the press release reads, “This policy applies to both the team and driver.”
The policy states, “This policy applied to the team, not simply the driver.”
Light explained the word “driver” was included in the policy because the NHRA does not award points to teams; they award points to drivers. If a team violates a policy or rule, and the penalty involves a reduction in points then it is the driver who is penalized.
According to Light, it was never the intention of the rule to put an unfair burden on the lesser teams, “the policy was designed for the big money teams, not the (smaller teams).” However, to prevent the bigger organizations from exploiting the IHRA the policy was written so that runs made in IHRA events and other specialty events, like Norwalk's Night of Fire, would count as test days.
The intention was never to deter drivers and teams in the IHRA from entering NHRA events, which is why the penalty was limited to points and didn't involve money.
“We welcome the IHRA guys,” said Light. “We don't want to hurt the IHRA guys. That is why there is no monetary penalty.”
According to Light, a situation exists in which a driver could run in IHRA events without penalty. If a driver runs in both series but does so with completely different equipment, different chassis and a different crew chief, Light agreed there would be no reason for a penalty. He also pointed out that such a situation would require constant supervision from the sanctioning body to ensure crew chiefs or crew members from one side were not working on the other side, as well.
What the NHRA doesn't want is the big money teams using the IHRA, or even the NHRA, to run satellite teams that have no purpose other than to test parts and pieces.
In Light's eyes, when John Force's people came to him around the time of the Norwalk Night of Fire offering up different scenarios and asking how each would be viewed by the sanctioning body, he thought about the intent of the policy and gave his blessing to Hight testing Force's Funny Car. When Force came to him again at Brainerd to ensure Light had not changed his mind Light says he told Force, “If Prock is not there, I don't care.”
Light is genuinely concerned about the confusion caused by the difference in wording between the press release and the policy statement.
“This is the first year of this rule and we tried to write it clearly, black and white. Our intent was to save money and not to injure smaller teams. We know we need the smaller operations the same as the sport needs the bigger teams.”
In the mind of the NHRA, they have the best drivers in drag racing participating at their events and testing isn't typically about improving the performance of the driver; it's about improving the performance of the car. Force racing wasn't trying to make Robert Hight a better driver and the No. 7 Castrol car had two tests left before Brainerd. Now they have one left. End of story.
NOW THIS IS PRESSURE – Clay Millican is locked in a battle with Joe Hartley for the 10th and final spot in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for
Millican couldn't get past Cory McClenathan in the first round, but holds onto a slight three point lead over Hartley after Hartley lost to Antron Brown in the second round of eliminations.
“We gave it our best shot, but the tires just got loose early in the run,” said Millican about his close race with McClenathan. “I pedaled it three times and the tires just wouldn’t hook up again. He was farther down the track and able to get his car hooked up before I did.”
McClenathan got the win light in 4.255 seconds at 236.17 mph and Millican followed in 4.597 at 207.85.
Millican said the LifeLockracing.com team plans to test Wednesday at Indianapolis during the annual pre-Mac Tools U.S. Nationals session at O’Reilly Raceway Park.
“Obviously, we want to get into the Countdown . . . and we have one more chance to make sure we do,” Millican continued. “Lance (Larsen, team crew chief) made a lot of changes going into Reading, but we weren’t able to see what worked because two qualifying runs were rained out. He plans to talk with Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, Antron’s crew chiefs, during the test session to get their input.”
THE RIGHT CALL - It was evident something was wrong, after Terry Haddock finished his burnout, while prepping to meet Spencer Massey in the first round of eliminations during the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
From several hundred feet away you could see Haddock's tires lock up as he tried to back up. While Haddock worked to free the reverser in his dragster, Massey completed his burnout and at the direction of officials continued with his normal staging procedure.
Evident that Haddock's dragster wasn't going to move, he removed himself from the driver's seat and jumped over the wall. Moments later Massey's US Tobacco dragster roared past to the second fastest lap of the round.
Well obviously,” said Massey later, “Haddock was having some problems, couldn't get it into reverse or what not and obviously they sent us with them sitting out there about 200 foot, and it's not an issue. I know there's been issues before where they haven't sent a car down the track if there is a car in the other lane, sitting out there. But he wasn't too far down to where it'd be an issue. Rick Stewart thought that it wouldn't be a problem at all and obviously that's what he's in charge of the situation and that's why he sent us.”
Haddock agreed that with him out of the car there was very little danger to Massey. Had he still been in the car or further down the track, that would have been an entirely different issue. But, he wasn't and Haddock agreed NHRA officials made the right car.
“It happens all the time in the IHRA and it was the right call,” said Haddock, agreeing with Massey's analysis of the situation. “My car was in a location where the possibility of getting hit was very low. They made the right call.”
According to Massey, had NRHA officials ordered him to shut down that would have been a much larger issue than having another dragster sitting in the opposite lane.
“That would have been a big issue cause we would have had to have gone back, back here to the pits and changed the clutch and serviced a bunch of stuff just to get back up there to make it how it was supposed to be. So it would have been a big situation right there. So I'm glad they made the decision the way they did and let us run. And we're second low this session and we're going up against Corey and got lane choice, we're ready to go.”
THAT ONE HURT - After sitting through a four-hour plus delay due to water seepage issues on the track (he had already beaten Dom Lagana in the opening round of eliminations), Schumacher recorded a 4.025-second pass at 277.66 mph, but it was far short of Dixon’s 3.961-second trip at 284.03 mph.
“That was a tough one to accept after waiting for so long to race,” said the six-time world champion. “Like our Army Strong Soldiers, we gave it everything we had, but we just didn’t get the desired result.”
With his loss to Dixon, the Chicago-area resident dropped to third-place in the driver standings. He’ll now turn his attention to preparing for the next race – the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend.
ANOTHER NUMBER ONE – Jerry Tolliver garnered his first, first round win, in 13 races when he drove past a fading Jack Beckman. Beckman was quicker off the line but the engine soured at the top end giving Tolliver the opportunity to take the victory.
NUMBER FIVE – In 17 NHRA national evens this year only five Funny Car drivers have red-lighted. It was four until Force turned on the red-light against Bob Tasca in the third round of eliminations in the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
THE WEIGHT FACTOR – Ashley Force was disqualified in the first round of eliminations. Scrambling to get the backup car ready and
“This was not one of my best weekends. We got the number one qualifier even though we didn’t get our four qualifying runs because of the weather. It ran great on that first session. The second session we had a major explosion. At least we gave a little entertainment to everybody. I can’t say enough about my team. Today did not turn out the way we wanted it to but they went through a lot last night. We were warming up the car at midnight. I got back to the hotel around 2 a.m. They were still at the track when I left,” said Force Hood.
“They all got up early and were back out here to start race day right on time. Everyone stayed really positive no one was frustrated. We had the music cranked up and they turned what could have been at terrible night into bonding experience. Dad’s team also stayed and helped us which was really cool for them to stay and do that. We were the only teams in all the pits. It was one of those nights I’ll never forget. We got the car back together and it did make an amazing lap in the first round. One detail just kind of got us. We can learn from what happened and we know for next time how we can avoid that. That is the key way to learn. We are also turning that into a positive.”
“At least it got us before the Countdown. We are trying to make sure we cover our bases. We don’t want anything weird like that to happen to us in the Countdown when each round is so critical. Next up is Indy and everybody wants to do their best there. It’s Indy. I don’t want to take anything away from Reading, we definitely wanted to win here today but we know we are clinched for the Countdown so it is not as devastating. We are going to keep doing our best and hope that we don’t find any new ways to lose,” concluded Force Hood.”
In second round action, John Force used his weight to push Arend out of competition, getting a measure of revenge for his daughter.
HOLDING ON BY A FINGERTIP – Robert Hight isn't out of it yet, the Countdown to 1, that is. Hight, with 763 points is currently 12th in the standings behind Cruz Pedregon and Matt Hagan. Hight is 38 points behind Pedregon and just seven behind Hagan. Assuming all three qualify for the U.S. Nationals, Hight would need to run at least two rounds father than Pedregon and one round farther than Hagan.
If Hight makes it to the semifinal round and Pedregon and Hagan go out in the first round, then Hight makes the Countdown to 1.
IMPORTANT ROUND WINS – As the final race to qualify for the Countdown to 1 quickly approaches drivers and teams are concentrating
The 46-year-old Buford, Ga. resident came into Sunday's eliminator at Maple Grove Raceway qualified in the No. 11 position, and a made a strong charge toward his first victory of the season before losing to Johnny Gray in the semifinal round.
Johnson defeated Greg Stanfield in round one on a hole shot with a 6.717 e.t. to a 6.710-second run for Stanfield. Johnson's nearly perfect light of .001 at the starting line gave him a winning margin at the finish line of approximately three feet.
In round two against Warren Johnson, Johnson took his second win light of the day, but suffered mechanical problems that carried over into the semifinals.
"We broke a retainer and that's the noise that I heard that kind of chewed up some stuff in the second round," commented Johnson after his winning 7.177-second run. "I pushed the clutch in, and a nut went flying and it's still down in the motor somewhere. We did some "MacGyver" stuff to get it ready for the semifinals. I filled areas with thick grease so the nut couldn't get out. I think it worked, though. It was in the cam tunnel and the grease did the job."
Against Gray, Johnson again took a big lead at the starting line, but it wasn't enough to hold off the Dodge driver who crossed the stripe with a winning 6.664-second run to Johnson's slowing 6.738.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -WEATHER AND OTHER VARIABLES AFFECT SATURDAY
IT'S THE LIGHT THAT COUNTS - When Antron Brown clicked off a 3.854 second, 315.71 mile per hour run to gather the top spot he had 
a hard time being happy. Being the fastest qualifier meant he would be going against an extremely tough opponent in the first round of eliminations – Brandon Bernstein.
“It's actually a pretty crummy draw, especially when you qualify number one,” said Brown. “You can't count that Budweiser car out and we take them serious. We have to go out their poised, I mean we have to take that round serious. And then the next round, we're just going to keep on going from there if we get past that first round.”
Brown has always said he approaches every elimination round as if its a qualifying effort. Forget the guy in the other lane, do your job and get the light. That is what counts – the light.
The two guys behind Brown on the ladder, Morgan Lucas and Larry Dixon will face Chris Karamesines and David Grubnic, respectively. If the feeling of qualifying in the top spot didn't feel so good Brown would have been in the pits trying to broker a trade.
“It was good to squeak that one out,” admitted Brown. “It feels like it's been a little while since we've qualified number one. We've been pulling off some wins, but number one's been slipping out of our reach a little bit and it feels good to grab that one back.”
IT WENT BOOM – The run looked good until the final 100 feet at which time the engine went boom, there was fire and the body of 
Ashley Force Hood's Funny Car pooped loose from the chassis.
“The car felt like everything was going good, it was going right down in the groove and wasn't moving around on me or anything and then it just banged,” said Force during his top qualifier interview. “The vision was really the issue for me. There was fire initially but then it was kinda back behind me and it was really just a matter of I couldn't see anything. The injector, the body, everything was kinda up in front of me and so I was trying to kinda gauge where I was on the track. Was I over by the wall, was I in the center, was I near Robert? And I must have been able to see the wall out of my left window because I remember thinking 'I think I'm right on the wall'. And I was literally, I think I was hitting against the wall. But I got it stopped and we brought it back.
“We were joking that the race car, when we were towing it back, looked like abstract art cause the injector was turned sideways and the windshield was cracked and it wasn't a very pretty sight.”
It might not be a very pretty sight tomorrow as Force Hood lines up against Jeff Arend sitting in a chassis that has never made a run down a racetrack.
“We're gonna kinda start from scratch tomorrow since we don't get this final session in qualifying,” said Force Hood. “But that's okay, that's what spare cars are for and you know we'll do our best tomorrow even though it's a little bit uneasy feeling to go into race day not having run the car.”
Force Hood's team, including the driver herself, were still working on preparing the back up car when the lights went down over Maple Grove, the day, by the clock, almost over.
MORE FROM BRAINERD – There is a benefit to running a body low in Funny Car. The rule book says the body on a Funny Car must be 
no lower than three inches off the ground from the nose to 12 inches past the center of the front spindle. Past that point the body can be no lower than two inches off the ground. This distance gives the timing light the space it needs to properly record when the car leaves the starting line.
Two cars failed to meet that criteria in Brainerd during a round of qualifying – the cars of Bob Tasca III and John Force. Subsequently, all the Funny Cars making passes in the second session of qualifying on Saturday were stopped at the scales and measured. Four additional cars were found to be low.
No penalties were assessed but the issue caused Del Worsham to be shown as qualifying eighth instead of sixth.
Jeff Foster with Compulink confirmed the issue saying, “At most of our racetracks it would not have been an issue but at Brainerd the left lane falls off. I need one and five eighths of an inch for the beam.”
When the driver mashes the gas at the start of a run, the front of the body is pushed downward, which is why the three inch clearance is so critical.
WHAT ELSE SHOULD HE DO - Why would a man who is three months 
from turning 80 years old strap into a Top Fuel dragster for a four second run down a 1000 foot strip of asphalt?
“What do you want me to do?,” fired back Chris Karamsines, “The Greek” as he worked on the rod bearing for the engine in his dragster. “I've been doing it for 52 years. I enjoy the people, the crowds, all my friends have been drag racing all my life, since I've been until now. So it's kind of a nice thing to have people that like to do things the same way I do. You know, in drag racing, I enjoy it.”
Karamsines first took to a drag strip in a 1936 Ford Pheaton. In 1954 he built a dragster and has driver one ever since. Both were a far cry from the Model A Ford, the first personal car he ever purchased. It was use because he couldn't afford a new car. None of those cars would have ever delivered the 299.46 mile per hour blast his current dragster ran during qualifying for the Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Dragway - 14th overall with a 4.029 et and 10th on the speed chart ahead of Tony Schumacher, Shawn Langdon, Brandon Bernstein, David Grubnic, Spencer Massey and Terry Haddock.
Still, the run was .54 miles per hour short of the coveted 300 mile per hour mark. Karamesines has gone 300 plus miles per hour in a dragster in a quarter mile run, but has yet to accomplish the feat in the 1000 foot. Can he get there? Karamesines says he can.
“Well it's only the seventh run with this engine combination. We've gone so far so we need to run some more runs on this motor combination. That's the only thing holding us back.”
From all appearances, nothing holds Karamesines back for very long and he clearly believes a 300 mile per hour run is coming very very soon.
RAIN LEADS TO CONCERN - Greg Anderson posted the second fastest run of the day, a quick 6.698-second time as well as the fastest speed of the day at 206.64 mph, and he is still very concerned.
“We can’t seem to get any track time here in Reading, although it’s the same for everybody,” said Anderson. “The track is very tricky, and is the biggest variable we have to deal with this weekend. It was actually worse today than yesterday after getting all that rain on it. We went a little overboard thinking it would be better than it was and we missed on the set-up a little bit.
“We would have really liked to have made another run, but now it looks like we’re going to have to roll the dice and make a couple changes going into the first round tomorrow. We’re not going to stray too far from home, obviously, but we’re going to try to make the moves that will make it right, just like we would have in the fourth qualifying session. We’ll go off of that data, adjusting for whatever track and atmospheric conditions we get.”
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - RACERS CONTINUE TRADITION OF RAIN AND READING
IF IT RAINS, LUCAS WILL REIGN - The situation with the weather was perfect, at least it was for Morgan Lucas. Following up on his 
teammate in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Lucas started the day in Maple Grove on the same foot he left on in Brainerd.
Lucas vaulted to the top of the Top Fuel class with a solid 3.867 pass ahead of Larry Dixon, Antron Brown and Cory McClenathan.
But, is it going to be enough to hold onto the top spot?
“It all depends on what the weather does tomorrow as far as whether it stands or not,” Lucas agreed. “But I think that from what I've heard about the weather reports there's a good chance there's going to be some sunlight come out. Hopefully it stands, I can't promise one way or the other, but I do know that for these conditions and for the fact that we waited around all day, I really am happy with that. I had a decent light, the car ran really well. I can't say enough about my team right now. They're showing a lot of signs similar to some of the better teams out here that are just not making a lot of mistakes and just continue to progress and move forward with things and the car's just really nice to drive right now, bottom line. When you're competitive and you drive in a competitive race car it helps you in the seat and it helps everybody all the way around to just keep doing the right things.”
Lucas, like Arana, is definitely pleased to see the current performance of his team. They appear to be gelling at just the right moment in the season. However, Lucas is still pretty pumped about his win last week.
“The playoffs definitely are on everyone's mind, but, completely honest with you, after last weekend it's going to be hard to top anything like that, unless the championship is around the corner. There's a lot of good cars still, it's so long season left. I mean it's not like it's just right there around the corner for the end of the year. So we have to mind our P's and Q's, we have to keep the winds out of our head and just keep focused on what we have to do to continue to win and progress, like I said earlier.
“That's the biggest deal is just not ever taking anybody lightly and continuing to do what you're supposed to do and you know you have to do. To be honest with you, the countdown is going to be huge, I'm just happy to have made it and I'm going to be happy just to walk out on stage at the end of the year, so anything on top of this is just added, it's the cherry on top of the sundae, so we'll see how it goes.”
DISTRACTIONS? WHAT DISTRACTIONS? - It rained most of the day at Maple Grove Speedway however the storm clouds held off just 
long enough for one qualifying session and Ashley Force Hood made the best of that session by posting the quickest lap and speed of the event, an 4.114 second run at a top speed of 301.47 mph.
“It's just a great feeling to get down the first session for so many different reasons, but mainly this weekend I think because you do have that weather hanging over your head and you want to get a strong run in just in case you don't get another run,” said Force Hood. “We were very happy with that run, you know I don't know what my crew chiefs were going after but they were very pleased with it as well.”
Several pairs prior to Force Hood's run, her brother in law – Robert Hight – driving the chassis normally driven by John Force rocketed to the top spot with an impressive 4.137 second pass at 293.66 mph.
Happy with the top spot, she was almost happier to see Hight sitting right behind her on the charts when she finally found out where he had qualified.
“I didn't actually know how anyone was running because I was getting belted in when the other teams were running and you try not to get on the radio and kind of stay clear of that to let everyone do their thing,” explained Force Hood. “So I wanted to get on and ask who was that? Was that one of our guys? How did they run? But I didn't want to tie up the channel, so actually when I got back here with Elon and I asked him I'm like 'Alright, how'd everybody do?' It sounded like everyone was happy and cheerful and everything on the radio so I knew we at least had a couple of cars that ran good but it was great to have all four get down the track A to B and just have some kind of hold on this track. The conditions can all change come Sunday if the sun comes out and it's a million degrees out, it's going to change everything, but at least for the time being we have a great start to the weekend.”
Change has been the buzzword in the Funny Car and Top Fuel classes as they transition from qualifying to racing; most of the teams use one and sometimes two or three runs during qualifying to do some testing.
At Maple Grove the change most likely will be the weather. Humid conditions brought about fogging to the visor on Force Hood's helmet and created a need for additional attention to the front windshield.
:It's not something we really ran into in the summer because it's just been so hot, but this weekend and if the conditions stay similar to this it's going to be something that everyone is going to be running into, fogging up of your visor, fogging up of your windshield,” said Force Hood. “I've had problems with my visor before but I've never had any problem with my windshield and that's what the issue was out there, fortunately it wasn't dark yet.”
After doing her burn out, the haze on her windshield was cause for concern. It not only made it difficult to see the tree and down track, it also disrupted the routine.
“It just throws in a bunch more distractions from your normal routine so then I felt I didn't back up where I needed to be, because I was looking at what was on the windshield, they were trying to clean it. It just kind of was one of those fiasco runs and I thought 'I don't know how this is going to turn out'. I didn't feel comfortable like I normally do going up there, but everything worked out for us and now we'll know better next time to prepare ourselves a little. But, it was a little nerve racking. I could see, but it wasn't crystal clear like I'm used to being able to look out and see and I think Robert said he had the same issue with his windshield so we'll just be on top of it tomorrow if we run another later session.”
SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE - Mike Edwards is like the old song from the south – he just keeps rolling along.
Despite less than ideal conditions for the Pro Stockers, Edwards put his horsepower to work to claim the top spot in the lone qualifying session at Maple Grove Raceway.
“Well anytime you're in a day like today and you're just trying to, you never know what the weather's going to do, so you're just trying to go down the race track,” said Edwards. “We made another nice decision, stick with our game plan when we came up here from the trailer and made a nice run. It's unfortunate for other cars that didn't get down, but hopefully tomorrow it'll be better and every body will get a couple of chances at the race track and then it will all be good on Sunday.”
The ever humble Edwards typically predicts his Friday runs will get knocked about, however, generally speaking he's the one doing most of the knocking about in qualifying.
“Oh I don't know, I doubt it, but you never know,” said Edwards when asked if his run would hold up. “Tomorrow hopefully we'll get some good weather and everybody will get two good chances at this race track because the track is in good shape as far as everything, we just need the weather to cooperate a little bit for us and we'll be in good shape.”
With a day filled full of rain droplets, Edwards admitted the team did more tail chasing than anything else.
“Well you just watch the weather and try to keep up with the weather and that's basically all you can do, just like any other place. Kind of dodged rain drops last race we were at too.”
It has been no secret that Edwards and his start up engine program have been the class of the field, however, Edwards is quick to remind anyone and everyone that power under the hood is just one part of the equation.
“Well it don't matter what kind of power you have to make good runs. Obviously you can't sacrifice power, that's the number one game in our class. But you still have to apply it to the track and race the race track with what you've got. And we've been doing a really good job, all my guys, my hat's off to them again. I know I sound like a broken record but, they're the ones that are doing it, not me, so just real thankful and made another good decision today and see what happens tomorrow.”
And like another song, there is always tomorrow, tomorrow, it’s only a day away.
ARANA DOMINATES AGAIN - The location has changed, from the wilds of north central Minnesota to the wilds of the southeast of 
Pennsylvania but the guy on top is still the same.
Hector Arana picked up at Maple Grove where he left off in Brainerd – on top.
Fearful of the track conditions, but confident in the track prep, Arana cut a 6.98 lap to lead Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying
“I was a little bit nervous,” said Arana, adding that he was “concerned on the shutdown. I wanted to make sure that there was no water seeping through the track but NHRA did a hell of a job prepping it and to my surprise I ran a 6.98 so you know I'm really pumped.”
If the rain holds of on Saturday, Arana believes his time could easily fall.
“The weekend is not over,” said Arana. “So let's see what happens when we do this interview tomorrow, hopefully with me. I think that the gap is not as big as it seems right now. It's just that I still have to tune up and let's see what happens tomorrow. But if I do have an advantage, I want to keep it.”
With the Countdown to 1 just around the corner, Arana is quite happy with the current performance of his Buell.
“Well, it gives me more confidence definitely going into Indy and for the shootout that's the main thing we concentrated and then we start heading to the countdown. You know I see a light there. I have opportunity to win the championship too. It's an awesome feeling but from what I've learned before that if I start paying attention to that, it seems like I start going backwards.”
WILK CLINCHES - Tim Wilkerson punched his playoff ticket by making his first qualifying lap in Reading, earning the 10 points that come with an official lap in competition. That was the good news.
Unfortunately, he would've liked to have made a bigger splash in the Funny Car pool (no pun intended, after a rainy day in Reading) but his car bent an exhaust valve and he was forced to abort his run. His 6.886 was the 15th quickest time of the day. An iffy forecast for Saturday may possibly create a scenario in which his lone Friday run could be used for placement in the field.
"It must've bent the valve and hung it open on the burnout, because it was a dead cylinder at the hit," Wilkerson said. "As soon as I stepped on it, it was obvious something was wrong, and I first assumed we'd just dropped a hole over on that side. When it didn't get any better, I didn't have much choice but to shut it off. We all knew, going up there, that after a long day of rain and with a bad forecast for tomorrow, there was no telling how many sessions we'd get to run here, so you saw an awful lot of Funny Car drivers pedaling out of bad laps.
“Normally, in the first session of the weekend, if it's doing anything bad you'd just lift and come back for the next one. It didn't feel right to me, though, so I had to lift and just give it up, and that's too bad. Even pedaling it once with a healthy motor would've moved us up a few spots.
"We'll see what Mother Nature throws at us tomorrow and go from there. She wasn't too kind to us today, that's for sure, but she seems to always have a problem with us when we come to Maple Grove. I don't know how we made her mad, but she gets back at us every time we come here."
HERE'S TO YOU, THE FANS - With only one attempt, Jason Line made the field with a 6.689 second, 206.35 mph pass to place fourth heading into Saturday. The Reading spectators performed much better, most of whom stayed through the inclement weather, for their support.
“They have some diehard fans here in Pennsylvania, and we really appreciate their support,” said Line. “They wanted to see cars go down the race track, and I feel bad that we couldn’t make two runs today. Unfortunately, we have no control over Mother Nature. Hopefully we’ll get a full day in tomorrow, making two hits with our Summit Pontiac to fine-tune our set-up, while putting on a good show for them.”
THE KJ WATCH – Kurt Johnson is a three-time winner at Maple Grove Raceway scoring his second career victory here in 1993, and then again in '98 and 2000. Johnson was runner-up to Dave Connolly in '07 at a rain-soaked contest that was postponed for three days, and at last year's race he qualified the ACDelco Chevrolet in the No. 2 position, advanced to the semifinal round and set top speed of the meet at 208.91 mph.
Johnson is currently in eighth place in the Full Throttle standings and edging closer to clinching a spot in the three-year-old playoff format. The ACDelco driver needs to leave the Toyo NHRA Nationals with a 139-point margin over the 11th-place driver, and right now his current lead over 11th-place Johnny Gray is exactly 139 points.
"It was good to get the car down the race track although we had some issues – I think we blew a gasket out of the carburetor," Johnson said. "The driver was a little confused for a moment but we held our cool and punched the ACDelco Chevrolet down on through there. The motor was a little hot and I think that hurt our performance a little bit. We made it happen, though. Right now we're in and with the way the weather looks for tomorrow, we'll take it."
WHAT IS IT? – Antron Brown knows what to expect from the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals each year.
The seven-time Top Fuel winner used a tune-up from crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald to power the bright blue Matco Tools dragster to a pass of 3.895 seconds at 313.07 mph. Brown posted the fastest speed of the day at more than 313-mph. There are 16 Top Fuel dragsters competing this weekend. Morgan Lucas earned the provisional pole at 3.867-seconds.
"I don't know what the deal with this place is, but it always seems to rain here," Brown said. "This is one of my favorite tracks and a place I'd love to win at. I'm glad we got that one run in because tomorrow looks ugly from what they're saying. All we can do is show up and hope we race. I know we'd like to try and go even faster out there.”
GRANDMA WORKS THE CROWD – Brown’s grandmother Delores Brown was a hit amongst the Reading autograph seekers on Friday.
"We had fun out there today though,” added Brown. “Grandma was hanging out and signing autographs. We did a long autograph session at the NitroMall and it's always cool to mingle with the fans. And let me tell you, these fans here at Maple Grove (Raceway) are some diehards. I think my Grandma is more popular than me these days."
THURSDAY NOTEBOOK - GETTING READY FOR THE WEEKEND
LONGER IS BETTER - When the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series arrived at Maple Grove
Raceway this week, it found a significantly longer racetrack.
A total of 300 feet of pavement was added to the end of the dragstrip
over the summer. With a new 250-foot sand trap, the track, from end to
end, is 4,075 feet long. An additional 400 feet is used for runoff.
The $150,000 project was started in June and, despite persistent rainy
weather, was completed in time for the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals.
“This shows the further desire of the Stauffer family to invest in the
facility and the sport,” said Maple Grove vice president/general
manager Lex Dudas.
Other improvements included aligning the track’s pavement with Kachel
Road, which runs through the strip, and two sets of catch nets that
measure 6- and 8-feet, respectively. Concrete retaining walls measuring
52 inches tall – the highest in drag racing – were also added.
The improvements make Maple Grove the 10th longest track out of the 22
used on the Full Throttle Series. zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C., is
the longest at 6,350.
NUMBER THREE - A third Pro Stock car will run from the Ken Black Racing stable
beginning at this weekend’s NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa.
Ronnie Humphrey will pilot a Summit Racing Pontiac fielded earlier in
the season by Jason Line. This is the same ride which carried Line to
wins in Pomona and Gainesville, but was parked when Line switched to a
car run last year by Greg Anderson.
The third team is branded as a “satellite” entry.
“This weekend will be a little busy for us, as we’ll be running a third
car,” said Line. “Although that should make things a little more
exciting, we prefer to see it as another opportunity to learn. It’s my
Summit Racing Pontiac from earlier this year, so it should be just as
strong as Greg’s and mine. As such, it will give us four extra runs’
worth of data in qualifying, and should be a strong car on race day. It
might be a little extra work, but we all think it’s worth it, as the
information gathered could prove useful in the last six races.”
NUMBER THREE, PT. 2 - With two races remaining to the Countdown to 1, Allen Johnson has
already doubled his previous year's win total. He has two. Now it's 
time to get number three.
A third win, preferable at this weekend’s NHRA Toyo Tires, wouldn’t be a bad addition to a really good season.
“We’re really strong right now,” said Johnson, who lost on a hole shot
in the Brainerd semis to eventual winner Greg Anderson. “I had a little
hiccup this past weekend. I didn’t really have a hiccup; he [Anderson]
had a psychic light. I’ve got to get down to the .20s and .30s on my
lights, and I’m not there yet. I’m still practicing and trying to get
there before the Countdown starts.”
Johnson has advanced to three finals and seven semifinals in 16 events
this season and racked up a 25-15 round win record. The Mopar-sponsored
driver has already clinched his berth in the NHRA Countdown to 1
playoffs, set to begin in September at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals.
The Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T pilot is coming off an
appearance at the NHRA Brainerd event last weekend in which he
qualified No. 2 and advanced to the semifinals.
Johnson has never won at Maple Grove Raceway, but has had strong
outings at the facility in the past. He qualified No. 4 at Reading in
the 2008 event advancing to the semifinals.
“I’ve always loved Reading, the weather, the mountains, everything
about it,” remarked Johnson. “We’ve had a lot of good things happen to
us there in the past. That place has always been good to us.”
Johnson said he still holds out hope to move up one spot in the
standings and solidify his spot in the Countdown. He is currently in
fifth, 99 points behind fourth-place Anderson. The points will reset
when the Countdown begins, with the points leader assuming a 30-point
lead over the second-place driver, a 40-point lead over the third-place
driver, and so on in 10-point increments for each of the remaining
drivers in the top 10.
“Well, it would probably be pretty hard, but we’re still going to be
trying for it,” said Johnson. “We go to Reading, he [Anderson] gets
beat first round and we go to the final, and we’ve caught him. It might
be a long shot, but you can’t rule it out. You’ve got to keep fighting.”
DRIVEN TO WIN - Greg Anderson has never had to seek motivation when it comes to drag racing, on or off the track. If he could, Anderson would find
Last weekend’s 58th career victory in Brainerd raised the bar that much higher for Anderson.
“That win in Brainerd gives me a completely new outlook heading into Reading,” said Anderson. “I know it sounds strange, but I had started to wonder if I could still get the job done. In fact, the day after it happened, I had to check the paper to make sure I actually had won.
“Now that I’ve broken the ice, I’m just going to go out there and have fun, seeing what I can do to put a few wins together. To be honest, the next race can’t come soon enough. I’m definitely going to have more energy going into this weekend than I have had at any other race this year, and hopefully this Summit Racing team can have a lot more fun.”
Adding to Anderson’s elation is the fact he and teammate Jason Line scored an all-Ken Black final round at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals.
“Right now, everything is going great for this Summit Racing team, with everyone excited and working even harder than normal,” stated Anderson. “I see this win as being similar to when we brought out last year’s car out for Jason before Norwalk. There was really nothing wrong with the other car – in fact, we’re bringing it back out this weekend with Ronnie Humphrey driving. It’s just that we couldn’t get it to run the way we wanted it to.
“Knowing we needed to do something to turn things around, we made the decision to switch and Jason’s been to the final round every race since. That’s what can happen when you have one good thing – it can usually snowball, and I’m looking forward to that continuing this weekend in Reading.”
With two wins in three final round appearances, the Rob Downing-led crew certainly has a handle on what it takes to succeed at the Pennsylvania quarter-mile, information they hope to put to good use.
I saw on the internet where the NHRA has re-upped with Maple Grove for the next few years, which I was happy to see,” said Anderson. “When the conditions get really cool and overcast, you can set records there. But the weather isn’t the only factor - the surface is good, too, and they pay attention to it when it needs it. It can get a little rough, but they try and address it as quickly as possible. It was very good last year, and we hope it will be again this year.
“Those are the type of tracks you enjoy going to. After all, we’re racers – we love running fast, and we’ve definitely run some of our best e.t.’s there in the past. Although the forecast for this weekend may not lend itself to record time, just knowing that potential exists and the fact that the crowd really enjoys Pro Stock really pumps you up. Between the track and my Summit Racing team, my outlook for this weekend is pretty darn positive, almost better than it has been all year. We’re ready to race.”
TURNING UP THE WICK - Mike Neff and his Ford Drive One Mustang team dodged a bullet in
Brainerd, Minnesota. They went into Sunday’s elimination rounds as 
the
No. 1 qualifier but an overly aggressive tune-up cost them a round win.
Fortunately the two drivers, Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon, directly
behind them in the Full Throttle point standings had to race each other
in the first round and the winner, Pedregon, lost in the next round.
Ninth place Neff has a tenuous ten point lead over Pedregon and a 40
point lead over rookie Matt Hagan who is in 11th place.
After the round one mishap Neff and crew chief John Medlen both
realized their aggressive tune up was too much for Brainerd
International Raceway. They will continue to be aggressive for the next
two races and into the Countdown but they will also keep in an eye on
going rounds.
“It is a double edge sword (being overly aggressive or not aggressive
enough) right there (in first round of Brainerd) we just didn’t need to
try to run as hard as we did. We felt that we could run a little better
and the car did everything we wanted it to do it was just the track
would not take it. The other guy runs a 4.19 and we are up there trying
to run a 4.09 or a 4.10 we made a mistake. That is just the way it
goes. We try to run as hard as we can every run. That time we just
pressed a little too hard and shot ourselves in the foot. The positive
is the Mustang is running good. The crew is doing a great job.
Everything is working really good we just made a little error in our
call that time,” said Neff.
Heading into the 25th annual TOYO Tires NHRA Nationals Neff is excited
about the prospects and the challenge in front of the Ford Drive One
team.
“The positive is we know our car runs as good as anybody. We’ll go to Reading and try it again next weekend,” said Neff.
“I
do think about (2005) when I start getting stressed and feeling the
pressure. I know that I have been through actually more pressure, about
as much pressure as anybody can image. That championship season
experience of going to the last day of the season racing two other
teams, Ron Capps and John Force, for the world championship where every
round and every run counting like it was. I have been through this
before and it is tough. I don’t let that bother me too much. I just try
and stay relaxed. I want to go up there and be ready,” said the 2005
world champion crew chief.
Last year in Reading Neff was also feeling the pressure as he was
battling for a spot in the Countdown. A strong qualifying performance,
No. 3, and a semi-final finish clinched his spot in the elite field. He
and crew chief John Medlen battled a tricky track smoking the tires in
their first and second round victories before dropping a close race to
drag racing instructor and two-time world champion Frank Hawley.
This year Neff is entering the race off a No. 1 qualifying performance
in Brainerd. This was Neff’s second No. 1 qualifying effort in 2009
equally his total from the 2008 season.
“There is no doubt our performance has gotten better this season. John
Medlen and the crew have been doing a great job. I am getting better as
a driver. I feel great in this Ford Drive One Mustang and I know
Reading will be an important race for us. I want to go rounds and I
want to be able to help my teammates John Force and Robert Hight,” said
Neff.
CLOSER AND CLOSER - Kurt Johnson heads into for this weekend's 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway more resolute than ever to 
put
his ACDelco Chevrolet on a winning pace. With two events remaining
before the Countdown to 1 for the top 10 in the standings, the veteran
driver is leaving no stone unturned.
"Everyone on this race team is working hard to put this ACDelco
Chevrolet in the winner's circle," Johnson said. "We're going over the
entire car with a fine-toothed comb and making the necessary changes to
make that happen."
Johnson is in eighth place in the Full Throttle standings and edging
closer to clinching a spot in the three-year-old playoff format.
Johnson could do so with a strong performance at Maple Grove where he
needs to leave the Toyo NHRA Nationals with a 139-point margin over the
11th-place driver. Right now his current lead over 11th-place Johnny
Gray is exactly 139 points.
"We want to earn our spot in the Countdown, but right now we're also
looking ahead," Johnson said. "We're not satisfied with eighth-place.
We need to move up in the standings, start winning some rounds and some
races, and then we'll be a legitimate contender. If we can make that
happen over the next couple of weeks then anything is possible when the
Countdown starts."
If Johnson goes on to claim a spot in the Countdown, either at Reading,
or two weeks later at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, it would lock
in the 17th consecutive top-10 finish for the veteran driver. That is
the longest top-10 streak among active Pro Stock drivers and second
only to John Force (25 straight years) among all professional
competitors.
"The top-10 streak is certainly something we want to keep alive,"
Johnson said. "We also have a winning streak of 14 years going that is
just as important – if not more so. All we need to do is go out there,
do our job and win a race, and the rest will fall into a place. If we
can put some round wins together, the streak will continue, and then
hopefully we'll have a shot at this championship. We're positive,
that's for sure."
The ACDelco driver is a three-time winner at Maple Grove Raceway
scoring his second career victory there in 1993, and then again in '98
and 2000. Johnson was runner-up to Dave Connolly in '07 at a
rain-soaked contest that was postponed for three days, and at last
year's race he qualified the ACDelco Chevrolet in the No. 2 position,
advanced to the semifinal round and set top speed of the meet at 208.91
mph.
"It seems like we always run pretty good at Maple Grove," Johnson said.
"Before the race was moved to the middle of August there was always the
chance that someone might set either a national-record time or speed,
and that added some excitement to the event. You probably won't see
those kind of record runs now, but with so much on the line as far as
getting into the Countdown, there's still that added drama – it's just
a different kind.
"There's a lot of history at this event and a lot of great racers in
this part of the country. Drag racing fans come out in full force from
just about every state in the Middle Atlantic, and from up and down the
Eastern Seaboard to support this event. The stands are always packed,
and to see all those race fans lining the fence for every single run,
whether it's a Pro or a Sportsman pair on the track, that just adds to
the excitement of being a competitor at Maple Grove Raceway."
CONTRACT EXTENSION - NHRA announced in the day leading into the event it has extended its long-term relationship with
Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., ensuring that a full complement of
NHRA Drag Racing series programs, including the NHRA Full Throttle Drag
Racing Series, will be conducted at the historic facility well into the
future.
Maple Grove Raceway will celebrate its 25th anniversary as host of an
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event this weekend.
“The ownership of Maple Grove Raceway, the Stauffer Family, is proud of
the relationship that has been built with NHRA over the years and we’re
looking forward to partnering with NHRA for years to come,” said Lex
Dudas, vice president and general manager of Maple Grove Raceway.
The facility has a long and illustrious history in drag racing, hosting
its first NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisional race in 1964.
Maple Grove has hosted a divisional event every year since 1969. The
only other tracks in the NHRA Member Track network to have continuously
hosted divisional events as long as Maple Grove are O’Reilly Raceway
Park at Indianapolis, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown,
N.J., Bandimere Speedway in Denver and Beech Bend Raceway Park in
Bowling Green, Ky. For 29 straight years, Maple Grove has hosted the
famed Pennsylvania Dutch Classic, an NHRA National Open.
THE SCHOOL IS SWIMMING IN - Kenny Koretsky’s expanded Nitro Fish team resumes NHRA Full Throttle
Series competition at his home track of Maple Grove Raceway 
near Reading, Pa., Aug. 20-23.
The apparel company’s multi-hued logos will be on his Pro Stock Pontiac
GXP, driven by Dave Northrop; Tony Pedregon’s series-leading Impala
Funny Car; Matt Smith’s Don Schumacher Racing Suzuki; and a 2005 G
Super Modified Chevy Cavalier that Kyle Koretsky – Kenny’s youngest son
– will drive in his Competition Eliminator debut.
Kenny Koretsky, who also answers to Captain Chaos, was proud of Kyle’s
performance last week when he earned his Comp Eliminator license at
Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond. “I’m real proud of ‘Kid
Chaos’,” he said. “I was impressed with how well he did in his first
runs in the car.”
Car owner Mike Iacono felt the same way. “The car is a five-speed and
I didn’t think he would be that smooth shifting gears so soon,” he
said.
“I’m excited to be racing at a national event with my dad,” said Kyle.
“I want to follow in his footsteps. We are planning to use Comp
Eliminator as a learning curve for me to eventually move into Pro
Stock.”
"Tony Pedregon and his team did a great job Sunday winning the race in
Brainerd (Minn.) after his crew chief and assistant crew chief
resigned,” said Koretsky. “That put him in the lead by 28 points.
Tony will be driving the same Nitro Fish car that was a winner at
Englishtown (N.J.) earlier this year and we’re hoping to get the same
results at Maple Grove.”
Northrop and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia are eager to get back on the
track after sitting out the last four races, including NHRA’s
traditional Western Swing.
“It is going to be nice to go to Maple Grove again,” Northrop said.
“It’s my home track, too – the first one I ever raced on and where I
got my competition license.
“There was a good side to the time off. Eddie and I had the
opportunity to go through the car. We found a few things that needed
fixing, and we think we may have helped improve our 60-foot times.”
“We are looking forward to this weekend,” added Guarnaccia, another
team member with strong ties to Maple Grove. “We are using a Steve
Spies motor and it looks like we’ll have something to work with. Steve
ran well at Brainerd over the weekend and qualified 12th.”
Northrop, meanwhile, would be pleased to have his qualifying numbers
improve enough to break into the starting lineup. “We wound up 17th a
lot this year, missing out by only thousandths of a second too many
times,” he remarked. “It’s time for a change.”
MEMORIES OF 2008 - Asked to recall some of his most memorable moments at Maple Grove Raceway, Clay Millican responded immediately.
“I know I usually don’t remember what we’ve done at tracks over the
years,” he said, “but the last time I raced there, I went to the
semifinals and lost to Tony Schumacher by seven-thousandths of a
second.”
When was that? In 2008, after Millican was forced to sit out most of
the year before his solid, late-season Top Fuel debut with new team
owners Mark and Lauren Pickens and MPE Motorsports.
There’s no question he and the Hope4Sudan/Motorvation Top Fuel crew would be thrilled with a repeat performance on Sunday.
They are seeking valuable NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series points
to pad their slim lead in the quest for the 10th and final starting
position in the Countdown to the Championship. “The more we get, the
better off we’ll be,” said Millican. He has 24 more than Joe Hartley
(651-627) going into the regular season’s penultimate event.
“We were disappointed with our first-round loss Sunday at Brainerd
(Minn.), but Lance (Larsen, crew chief) and the guys continue looking
for ways for us to pick up the pace this weekend. We know one thing
for sure . . . there is no room for error. We must win more rounds
than Hartley at Reading and the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis (Sept.
4-7). We do that and we’ll be in the Countdown.”
The top 10 professional drivers move into the six-race Countdown and
the points standings are revised prior to the opening event at zMax
Dragway at Concord, N.C., Sept. 18-20.
“I do have one more Maple Grove moment to share,” Millican added. “It
came in 1999, my first year in Top Fuel, when I met John Force. It was
on a Monday testing day and I went off the track and into the sand
trap. While I was waiting to get the car out of there, John came
walking down the track. I wasn’t sure if he was coming down to meet me
or tell me to get out of the way because I was holding up testing.”
ON THE WISH LIST - A simple repeat of last year is on Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s
wish list as he arrives at Maple Grove Raceway for this weekend's 
25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals.
One year ago, the five-time world champion came into Pennsylvania's
Dutch Country and won the race, spring-boarding his way into the NHRA
playoffs where he won his second Pro Stock title in a row and fourth
overall. He's also the '92 Super Gas world champion.
Last year's Reading final was the first of four down the stretch that
put Coughlin out of reach in the championship chase, making the
intimate facility in the rolling hills an hour outside of Philadelphia
one of his favorite tracks.
"I've been racing Maple Grove for a long time," Coughlin said. "When I
was competing at the Sportsman level this was always one of the tracks
we liked to come to and race. It was close enough to home (in Delaware,
Ohio) where we could race on the weekend and still make it back to work
on time Monday morning.
"Since I've been racing Pro Stock I've come to realize how fervent and
knowledgeable the Reading fans are for this class. There are fans of
Pro Stock everywhere we go but for whatever reason the folks on the
east coast take it up a notch higher. I don't know if they realize how
much the racers appreciate their support. It really picks us all up."
Aside from last year's victory, Coughlin has two other wins at this
event, claiming another Pro Stock title in 1999 and the Super Gas crown
in 1996.
This time through, Coughlin is hoping to maintain his top ranking in
the Full Throttle championship point standings. He's been No. 1 after
the last 12 races in a row, fighting off numerous challenges from a
small handful of contenders. Currently, he's 27 points ahead of Jason
Line.
"We've enjoyed fairly large leads and we've had them breathing down our
necks so we're in familiar territory," Coughlin said. "There are always
challenges in this class, that's what makes it so exciting."
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
