2009 NHRA LAS VEGAS NATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -
MORGAN NAILS THE PRIZE IN VEGAS - Pro Stock racer Larry Morgan should have known when he won on the slot machine Saturday night 
that Lady Luck had something in store for him at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
Morgan was waiting on his wife to return from their room, before they headed out to a Vegas show, and before she stepped out of the elevator, Morgan’s $1 investment turned into a $1,200 payday.
“I felt relaxed at that point and believed that maybe this was going to be my weekend,” Morgan said. “I’m not allowed to do that and she took half of that money right then. I got to keep the rest.”
Sunday evening in Las Vegas, Morgan drove his Lucas Oil-sponsored Dodge Avenger to the winner’s circle by stopping a two-time world champion, the current point leader, a multi-time sportsman world champion and then an up and coming driver in the final round.
Morgan defeated 2008 NHRA Rookie of the Year finalist Rickie Jones in the final round to score his tenth career national event title in 32 career finals.
The slot machine investment wasn’t the only investment Morgan made earlier in the weekend. Morgan also loaned an engine to his final round opponent prior to the event. And when that engine broke in qualifying, he loaned another to the team.
There was one condition for the engine loan, according to Morgan. If they were to meet in competition, the engine was to come back. Morgan said he loaned the engine to prevent the team from withdrawing from competition.“He didn’t have a good engine to qualify with so I gave him one,” Morgan said. “I told him that the deal was that if we had to run each other that he had to run his own engine.”
Morgan said the only monetary arrangement for the engine loan was that he was given the qualifying money and anything after that was Jones to keep.
Jones announced recently that they will embark on a new in-house GM engine program for 2010.“I love Rickie Jones and I will do everything I can for him and throughout the year we gave him engines,” Morgan added. “Believe me respect goes both ways on these teams. I just said that I’m not going to give a guy an engine to beat me with.”
Morgan left on Jones in the final, .012 to .041 reactions, and was able to outrun him to the finish line 6.720 to 6.794.
Las Vegas is the next-to-last event on Morgan's Mopar program as he prepares for a new Ford program in 2010. Morgan will campaign a Ford Mustang, ironically built by Jones’ RJ Race Cars shop in Galesburg, Ill.
“I’ll pick my car up this week from Rick Jones and we should have one of the engines running possibly before the World Finals,” said Morgan. “We’ve got all of the parts and they are nice. Everyone talked about us copying the Hemi but if we put the Hemi valve cover on we can’t get spark plugs in it. It’s just not the same.”
Aside from giving his wife the slot machine earnings, the engine loan controversy and the rumors of copying the Hemi, Morgan smiles at the fact he ended a seven year winner’s circle dry spell.
Ending that dry spell was a win he considers one of his most magical wins since capturing the 1989 NHRA Pro Stock Shootout title.
“My family was here with me and it’s not often we get to do that,” Morgan said. “My guys have worked awful hard to get to where we are at. This is the best win I’ve had in a long time.”
HIGHT CONQUERS VEGAS - NHRA Funny Car point leader Robert Hight headed into the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals with the primary objective 
of conquering the one facility on the 24-race tour that has been the most hateful to him over his relatively short driving career.
“We've come into Vegas here a lot of times and left with a lot on the table; ran good, qualified, but did bad in first round,” Hight said. “One year we had a great shot and doing the burnout the thing just quit. And, the year Tony won the championship I lost by less than a round. All we had to do was win a round here. This place is tough.”
And the race opened by throwing him a curve with a first round match against his sister-in-law and teammate Ashley Force-Hood. She is currently second to him in the championship point standings.
“Drawing Ashley in the first round kinda knocked the sails out of me,” admitted Hight, who also beat John Force, Tim Wilkerson and Jack Beckman in the finals. “They have basically been the best car for over a year. She has had a great race car. They just don't struggle. This is so unlike them.”
Hight credits crew chief Jimmy Prock with the team’s turnaround.
“Jimmy Prock has just done a great job since the Countdown started,” Hight said. “Three wins in five races, that is stout. It has all been on performance. We've not gotten lucky. We have just out-muscled these guys. To have a 105 point lead going into Pomona gives you a lot of confidence but it’s not over.”
Hight leads Force Hood by 105 points and while he may have beaten her today, he refuses to discount their chances to win the championship. He credits her team for getting his on the right track and believes their first round match was pivotal in today’s outcome.
“I really believe that if she had beaten me in first round she would be in here today,” Hight said, addressing the Las Vegas media on Sunday evening. “That is a great race car and they are the reason we are in this Countdown. They fixed us when we were lost.”
What could be his first championship season has caused many sleepless nights for Hight, especially this weekend. Tonight he plans to relax a little more than in the past.
“We're going to have a good time tonight,” he said. “We're here in Vegas. I didn't get hardly any sleep last night. I was just nervous. I hate first rounds.
He especially hates them in Las Vegas.
MASSEY AND THE SNAKE - Don Prudhomme Racing needed a good statement with two races left on what could be their last tour for the NHRA 
Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and their rookie driver’s actions spoke loudly.
Spencer Massey, a former IHRA World Champion and current NHRA Rookie of the Year candidate, scored his second career NHRA Top Fuel title by stopping the team’s former driver, Larry Dixon, in the final round.
“It's unbelievable just being able to get to the final round,” proclaimed Massey, who defeated Shawn Langdon, Steve Torrence and Brandon Bernstein to reach his third final of the season.
“Every round was a key round,” he added. “It all meant something, because for points we are down to the wire. And not only for points, we're going for the Wally at the end of day and we're in Vegas.”
Team owner Don Prudhomme pointed out the differences of when he raced and won championships in the 1970s, to today’s big business world of drag racing.
“I said I’ve raced against a lot of rich sob's in my life, but never a country,” Prudhomme admitted. “The sport has changed so much. I never dreamed I would see the day that these multi-millionaires would be in the sport.
“We're working on things for next year. We're not done yet. This kid is like the greatest I've ever seen. I just hope we are able to continue.”
HINES HAS NOTHING TO LOSE IN VEGAS - Andrew Hines felt he had nothing to lose heading into the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
The three-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion from Brownsburg, Ind., entered the event fifth in the championship point standings with no realistic chance of pulling off a fourth title.
“I was relaxed today,” Hines said. “For some reason, I get all caught up into these races and the points and the battles … the rivalries. I had nothing to lose today. I knew I needed to get into the final round.”
Hines needed that final round berth to take a shot at a red-hot Hector Arana, and when the opportunity arose, he took full advantage of it, beating the points leader on a hole shot and then at the finish line. The victory cuts Arana’s lead to just 53 points over Hine's teammate, Eddie Krawiec.
“I looked past all of that [pressure] and went out there to have fun,” Hines said. “I just wanted to go out there and have fun. My dad told me to do just that.”
Hines said his Harley-Davidson was running strong all day long, almost to the point that it was too strong.
“In Memphis, we proved that a Pro Stock Motorcycle can smoke the tire off the starting line and we almost did that today in the first round,” Hines said. “Matt Hines [brother, crew chief] made a great call in the second round and we picked up almost a tenth of a second on the 60-foot”.
Prior to today, Hines has never given away one of his Wallys. Today was different, as he rewarded the efforts of his “car chief” Scott Spearman with the trophy.
“This is a bittersweet victory seeing Eddie lose in the semis but to come back in the finals and take out Hector, save some points and a glimmer of hope for our race team means a lot,” Hines said. “I can’t say enough about those who have come out and helped us.”
Hines believes the crew provided him with a bike “that might have scared Hector a little bit”.
“He must have been rattled because he did a neutral burnout at first,” Hines said. “That’s never a good thing when you’re not focusing and don’t put your bike in gear for the burnout. That’s a bad deal. I had a feeling after that we were going to get the win.”
NO DATA FROM WILKERSON CRASH - Reliable sources reported to CompetitionPlus.com that Ford Motor Company and NHRA were unable to retrieve any data from the “crash box” installed on Daniel Wilkerson’s Funny Car following his wreck in Memphis. Daniel’s father, Tim, confirmed that this was the case, blaming the problem on the fact that his team had but one charger for the system that had to be shared between the two cars. “We charged the unit completely on Thursday (of race week),” Wilkerson said, “but by Sunday it must have run down.”
The car also lost both rear wheels in the accident, leading to rumors suggesting the team had either forgotten to tighten the lug nuts, or had done so improperly. The senior Wilkerson assured us that this was not the case, stating, “I spoke to Daniel a few minutes after the accident, and the first thing he told me after he said he was all right was that he’d watched the guys torqueing down the lug nuts and that they’d done it the right way. None of us has any idea why the wheels came off.”
It may be of little consolation to Wilkerson, but this is far from the first time accidents have strangely resulted in the rear wheels separating from cars for no apparent mechanical reason. In a blowover at Pomona some years back both rear wheels came off Eddie Hill’s car – while it was still airborne and prior to impacting the ground. While this has nothing to do with that situation, a then NHRA Senior Vice President watched in total bemusement from the tower as one wheel and tire, floating like a Frisbee, went at least 100 feet in the air and floated down into the street paralleling the race track. It bounced once in the northbound traffic lane and then landed up against the race track fence. A man driving a pickup truck who’d slowed as the wheel and tire bounced in front of him, pulled to the side of the road, jumped out and threw the wheel and tire into the back of his truck and sped off. A few hours later Hill’s crew was still asking officials where the errant wheel and tire had gone. And now you know the rest of the story! - Jon Asher
LET ‘EM KNOW HOW YOU REALLY FEEL! - There were a lot of signs on display during the Las Vegas race, but none caught our attention as much as Linda Smedley’s. “The first day that Tony started whining about the Force team cheating,” she told us, “made me decide the first thing I wanted to ask him was, Is that how you won your first championship? But, he just went on and on and on and on. So, a good mother gives her babies a pacifier and a bottle, and tells them No more whining!” Smedley, who hails from Morgan, Utah, said she wasn’t sure if Tony or Cruz had seen her sign, but she knew the crew had and, in her words. “they weren’t happy!” - Jon Asher
A LITTLE RESPECT - No matter how the Full Throttle Top Fuel championship comes out, one man has certainly opened the eyes of every competitor in the class. No, we’re not talking about either Tony Schumacher or Larry Dixon. We’re talking about Schumacher crew chief Mike Green. When Alan Johnson left the Schumacher camp to run his own operation, Jason McCulloch became his car’s official crew chief, and he’s done an excellent job. But, having someone like Johnson looking over his shoulder has certainly helped. Green, on the other hand, stepped into a situation with a totally new crew and no one to turn to for guidance, although there’s a plethora of tuning talent at DSR. That might have been tough enough on a lesser team, but Schumacher’s championships and dozens of national event victories absolutely increased the pressure on Green to deliver, and he’s done just that. If you ask around the pits – and trust us, we have – every time Green’s name is mentioned there’s a new found level of respect afforded the man that is richly deserved. As the legendary “Big Daddy” Don Garlits once said, “Anything can happen in drag racing, and usually does.” So, in the case of this nail-biting battle between Schumacher and Dixon for the crown, there are no easy answers and no real way to predict the outcome. But no matter what happens, Mike Green has earned a place for himself among the sport’s sharpest tuners. - Jon Asher
CHANGE THE ADS! - With his impressive win in Las Vegas Pro Stock veteran Larry Morgan has absolutely proven the worth of his venerable Dodge, a car that clearly appears capable of making someone else a winner. Morgan says, “When I make my last run at Pomona, whether it runs 6.40 or 6.90, I want to climb out at the other end, and never look back.” Morgan picks up his new Mustang this coming Thursday, and will have his first engine together the following week, and will begin testing as soon as possible thereafter. Although some might suggest that Morgan will be a Ford man from that day forward, he is absolutely not closing the door on possibly supplying Hemi engines to rental customers. “I’m just so excited that I’m going to run a Ford Mustang next year that I can’t hardly stand it. I have to do whatever it takes to survive, and at this point, because I don’t have enough money to do things properly, I have to do whatever it takes. If that means doing Hemi engines for people, I’ll do it.” - Jon Asher
A VEGAS BRIDESMAID - Jack Beckman endured a series of mishaps, mechanical problems and parts damage to end up in his fifth final round of the 
2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, before bowing out to Robert Hight. It also marked the 17th final of Beckman’s career, and his second at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Beckman had to beat of lineup of Mike Neff, Matt Hagan and Del Worsham just to reach the final.
Assisted by nearly every other Don Schumacher Racing crew member on the property to repair the car before the final round, the Valvoline/MTS team scrambled back up to the staging lines on time for his match-up against class points leader Hight.
Without lane choice, Beckman faced arguably the hottest car/driver combination in the class, and took off first with a .058 reaction time to Hight's .075. It was oh so close, but Hight nipped Beckman at the stripe by .0127 of a second (or six feet) to claim the win with a 4.125/304.46 to Beckman's 4.154/303.16.
Had Beckman won the race, he would have moved into second in the point standings, with one race remaining, in Pomona, Calif., in two weeks. Instead, he settled for fourth place, 114 markers out of the top spot.
"It was a strange day for the Valvoline/MTS car," he said. "We almost never hurt our car. And we couldn't go down the track without hurting it today. It was just a very odd day.
"But, I'm telling you, I had such a positive feeling pulling up there for the final round. I thought we were going to ambush him. We had problems fixing it after the semifinals. It blew the dash up in the car, it oiled everything, it cooked fuel lines, it cooked the air lines and we had shelor.com guys over here, we had the NAPA Funny Car guys over here. There had to be 17 people working on this car.
"We got it back together, we warmed it up, everything was fine and we had a leaking fuel tank and no time. We dug the spare tank out of the other chassis, we fixed it, we got the car up there, and we didn't hold the program up one bit.
"And, we laid down a damned respectable number. It's a tough pill to lose one when you run that good. But there's nothing to do but take your hat off and congratulate the other team. I walked over and I congratulated Robert and, for all intents and purposes that run probably was and is going to be the championship. We're going to win Pomona and race for second place unless a miracle happens.
"But we have nothing but positive to take from this. I know our Valvoline/MTS guys are frustrated, but they performed the best recovery of the day to put this car down the track quickly in the final.
"I can't thank the other Schumacher teams enough, and that's one of the hallmarks of racing for a company this professional with this kind of teamwork, because nobody had to be asked to come help us. They just came right over and lent a hand. And it's interesting enough watching eight pairs of hands work on a car without getting in each other's way. We had 12 pairs on the chassis and the other guys on other components and they got it done.
"They did everything they needed to do to get us back up there for a chance to win. Unfortunately, Robert Hight's car just was a little bit better than we were in the final."
A TOUGH ONE TO STOMACH - Tony Schumacher has become accustomed to winning the crucial rounds. On Sunday, when matched against the 
No. 3 points earner Cory McClenathan, Schumacher lost by .008 of a second.
Adding the pain is the fact that McClenathan is Schumacher’s teammate.
“Man, that was a tough way to go out,” said the defending world champion. “You have to tip your hat to Cory and his team. They did what they had to do.”
Even before he watched McClenathan cross the finish line, Schumacher had to deal with an uncharacteristic slow move off the starting line.
“I’m actually pretty upset with myself,” he added. “I probably did too much thinking out there. That’s not how you should perform when you’re going for a championship.”
Following his second round departure, Schumacher’s lead in the Top Fuel standings suddenly came under serious attack by both Larry Dixon and McClenathan.
“We just have to deal with it,” said Schumacher, who will enter Pomona with a one point lead over. “We’ll have another opportunity in a couple of weeks to take care of business.”
Schumacher will have to wait until November 12-15 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif., for that opportunity.
“We’ve had some big moments out there in recent years,” said Schumacher. “We’ll be looking to add another chapter to that book in two weeks.”
"I couldn't see where Larry was, I couldn't see if he was staged. By the time I finally said, Forget it, I have to look at my side and concentrate on that, it was too late,” McClenathan explained. “The lights were coming down, I hit the gas. I knew I was late the whole time, knew we were trailing. All of a sudden I started seeing that we were catching him, but it was too late.
"Considering I got here and ended up with the flu, not to mention not wanting to get in the race car when you feel this bad, and not being able to enjoy Vegas while (fiancee) Debi had to take care of me every single day, I guess we did OK.
"I started feeling better today and for a while we had everything going our way. We'll just have to take it to Pomona, erase what happened in the past, and deal with the future."
T-PED ON THE MIC - Tony Pedregon was next in line to race when Robert Hight defeated John Force for the second time in the Countdown to 1. Pedregon subsequently lost to Del Worsham eliminating him from the event and the last inch of championship contention.
Pedregon pointed out that they had some miscues that cost the team but didn’t pass on the opportunity to send a message.
“I want everybody in those stands who can hear me … let’s give a round of applause to Don Schumacher Racing. I heard a reaction from this crowd that I haven’t heard in a long time. Cory Mac actually raced Don’s son and that’s what this sport is all about.”
Pedregon also touched on his current status and future in the sport.
“I’m going to hold my head up high because people didn’t even expect me to be here,” he continued. “They thought we’d crumble. I don’t even know how I’m here. I’m going to hold my head, high and proud. We have great fans and sponsors, and I hope we can keep them.”
RACE DAY QUICK HITS - NEWS IN QUICK FASHION
TOP FUEL
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED – Tony Schumacher’s first round win marked his 500th round win in Top Fuel racing dating back to 1995. His first round victory came during the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, when he singled for the win. He was scheduled to race Blaine Johnson, who was killed in qualifying during the event.
“That’s a nice statistic, but I have other things on my mind right now,” he said of round win No. 500. “I’m looking forward to the upcoming Pomona trip. We want to go there and finish the job that we set out to do back in February.”
NOTHING LEFT – Those drivers who selected the left lane in the first round found their decision to be a popular one for the first round losers. In fact, it was the second pair of the Funny Cars before a winner emerged from the left lane.
FUNNY CAR –
THE DREAM IS OVER - Ron Capps saw his hopes of winning his first Funny Car championship virtually dashed after losing to Tim Wilkerson in the quarters.
"We kind of put ourselves in a position where we got a little behind and I was really looking forward to today," said Capps. "I really felt great, not just because we ran the 4.04 on Friday night (to qualify No. 2), but I just knew that Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) had a good handle on the car with the temperature rising today. And, being the warmest day of the weekend, he emphasized to me the importance of keeping lane choice all day today.
"It seems like we're tested every run by the competition this year. Sometimes you get frustrated because there are guys who seem to have a horseshoe following them around. And they may smoke the tires or run terrible and the guy next to him runs worse. And we end up having to run the guy who's the quickest of the round.
"This one hurts, and it's going to hurt for a few days, for sure. What can you do? I gave it my best, that's all you can do."
THE REALITY OF IT ALL - “How can we compete against that? John Force is 30 feet from us and you can hear him over us,” said Jack Beckman, in a top end interview following his first round win over Mike Neff.
THAT’S A CLOSE SHAVE – In the second round match between Del Worsham and Tony Pedregon, the former won by .0004. Worsham was quicker on the tree while Pedregon was quicker on the track.
PRO STOCK –
THE “OTHER” BATTLE OF THE IN-LAWS – Greg Anderson and Ronnie Humphrey met in the first round as teammates and in-laws. Anderson held a mathematical chance in the championship battle headed into that first round and advanced when Humphrey fouled.
WASN’T TO BE – After a big first-round hole shot win over veteran Allen Johnson, reigning Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. suffered a second-round loss at the hands of former teammate Ron Krisher Sunday afternoon to end his run at the ninth annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.
"That race really got us fired up," Coughlin said. "We've had good luck here in the past, winning five times, and I started to get that feeling again like everything was clicking. But it wasn't meant to be."
PRO STOCK BIKE
SEMIS AGAIN - Matt Smith ended his race day in the semifinals for the seventh time this season.
Smith defeated Larry Cook in the opening round of eliminations with a 7.073-second pass at 189.04 mph, then dismissed Shawn Gann using a .001 reaction time (.000 is perfect) and a 7.037/189.44 lap. He met his match in the semifinals against the Harley V-Twin of Andrew Hines, who scored the victory with the quickest run in eliminations of 6.992/191.62 to Smith's 7.044/189.90.
Smith is now officially without a chance of winning the PSM championship, with one race remaining in Pomona, Calif., in two weeks. He stands fourth, 191 markers behind leader Hector Arana. The best he could finish the season would be in third. He's 39 points behind third-place Andrew Hines.
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -
LEADERS REMAIN UNCHANGED – The same quartet of professional drivers that dominated Friday were the same leaders on Saturday.
Larry Dixon (Top Fuel, 3.805, 318.24), Matt Hagan (Funny Car, 4.030, 313.88), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock, 6.623, 207.75) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Bike, 6.979, 192.03) will be the No. 1 seeds headed into Sunday’s final eliminations at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals in Las Vegas.
Dixon now has nine Top Fuel pole positions to his credit in 2009 and 40 over the course of his career.
“This is a great race track and you get to see those good numbers come up on the board whether it’s in the day or night,” Dixon said.
Hagan is one of four candidates for the NHRA’s Rookie of the Year award to be presented next month in Pomona, Ca. His No. 1 qualifying effort represents his second of 2009.
“We’ve had a great weekend and the only way we can top it is to win on Sunday,” said Hagan, who finished runner-up at the first 2009 Las Vegas event in April. “We’ve got a good team and a good car and proved that we could run well in the heat of the day today. I think we are going to go back to what we ran this morning for the first round on Sunday.”
Edwards clinched his 15th No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock and remains one pole position away from tying Greg Anderson’s class record mark. He’s also on the cusp of clinching his first professional world championship.
“We’re going into first round tomorrow like it’s just another race and I would like to say that, but there’s a lot riding on tomorrow,” Edwards admitted. “You have to treat it that way to have chance.”
Arana finds it hard to grasp the dream season he’s experiencing.
“It’s happening so fast, I had last qualified on the pole in 1994 and now we have seven this season,” Arana said. “We are on the same side of the ladder as Eddie Krawiec [defending world champion] and I need to remain focused and consistent.”
ARE WE THERE YET? - Top Fuel driver Antron Brown can only hope his Matco Tools has finally found a stable home. The former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout who made the jump to Top Fuel prior to 2008, has taken a rollercoaster ride of uncertainty for last two seasons and with Don Schumacher’s purchase of Mike Ashley Racing’s assets, he’s on his fourth team owner.
Brown said this kind of movement comes with the territory of a professional athlete, but even he admits four times is a bit much.
“Drag racing team members are like professional stick and ball sports players, one year he could be here and the next he could be traded,” Brown explained. “That’s the same way out here. Now I feel like we are at home.”
Home for Brown means stability and that assurance comes in the form of Schumacher’s stated intentions that his plan is to keep the team intact. As many as four potential team owners had bid for the ownership of the team but it was Schumacher who secured the team via his intentions to keep the team intact.
That was a primary concern for Brown when he was first notified last week the team was in the process of being sold.
“My main concern was not about being sold, it was about the team,” Brown said. “I was worried about our guys sticking together because we have something special. I found out the team was going to be sold before it was actually done. There were several people fighting to buy this team and Schumacher stepped in and bought it. The first thing he told us is that he would provide us with everything we needed to get the job done.”
What was the lure for Schumacher?
“He loves the synergy this team has,” Brown said. “If you look into his stalls you can see where the good teams have been together for a while. Don knows that you need synergy and great people and this team has all of that in there. When the opportunity came up to purchase this team, it was a no-brainer for him, especially with his ties to Matco.”
Brown admits the multiple sales in a short period could give the impression that the team isn’t worth the effort. He begs to differ with those skeptics.
“The bad part isn’t that we aren’t wanted, the good part is that a lot of people want us,” Brown said. “The best part is that the team has stability. Now, we are with an efficient organization that sees talent in our team and we’re moving forward. That’s a good feeling. We can get the parts we need and not pinching pennies.”
Large budget or not, Brown’s team performed like a team on a mission by sweeping the Western Swing and clinching the No. 1 seed in the Countdown to 1 playoffs. In 18 of the 22 events this season, the Matco team made it past the second round.
Joining DSR provides Schumacher with three of the four top points earning dragsters in Top Fuel.
“We’ve been giving these race teams fits all season and now we’re a part of them,” Brown said. “His got three championship capable teams out there in this field.”
For Brown, that suits him just fine.
Schumacher told CompetitionPlus.com if the team changes next season, it won’t be by his hand. He’d prefer to keep everything intact.
“My plan now is to keep everything intact for next season,” Schumacher confirmed. “The final decision is up to Brian Corradi. If he chooses to make crew changes, I don’t get involved in that. My intention is to keep everyone in place because they are a championship-contending team. I don’t choose to change anyone over there.”
CLOSING THE GAP – Larry Dixon entered the weekend 47 points behind leader Tony Schumacher. The bonus qualifying points trimmed that to 40 
points, the equivalent of two rounds of competition.
“You can pick up the nickels and the pennies and those kinds of points but getting those 20 points on race day means a lot,” Dixon said. “At this point I’m not looking any further than Morgan Lucas.”
Dixon races Lucas in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations.
“That’s a Countdown driver,” said Dixon of Lucas, a two-time winner in 2009. “You have to take it one race at a time and you can’t get ahead of yourself.”
Dixon is on the same side of the ladder as Schumacher and they could meet in the semi-finals. They faced the same scenario three weekends ago in Richmond, Va., but lost in the second round.
Dixon cautions against pointing out a rivalry just between himself and Schumacher. The past world champion believes there are two other drivers in the mix who might challenge the importance of that rivalry.
“There’s a lot of stories between our two cars, but Cory McClenathan and Antron Brown neither one are having any of that,” Dixon admitted. “This ain’t a two-horse race for them.”
A DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC – Dixon pointed out that his autograph seekers have been a diverse crowd, this weekend.
“I’ve signed so many autographs for people from Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia and Europe … you don’t get that in Richmond.”
THE BATTLE OF THE IN-LAWS – The top two ranked Funny Cars will meet in the first round of eliminations and the championship could be on the line. Thanksgiving dinner at the Force home could be as well.
Sunday’s first round of eliminations at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals will pit in-laws Robert Hight and Ashley Force Hood against each other.
Hight rates the edge the epic battle on Sunday by virtue of qualifying performance and if not for a last ditch 4.197 elapsed time during the final session Force Hood wouldn’t have qualified for the field. Hight qualified third with a 4.065, 308.71.
“You never want to wait until the last session to get in but for some reason this weekend, our car has found a reason to not make a run each session,” Force Hood said. “You can see the frustration on my crew chiefs. We knew that if you DNQ, you are pretty much out of the Countdown unless you’re doing really good.”
And this is a dramatic turnaround for a team that dominated early in the season while Hight struggled to make the Countdown to 1 on the next to last round of the regular season.
“It’s kind of a bummer because we wanted to qualify near the top with both of our teams,” Hight said. “Besides my car, she’s got as good a car as there is out there. We are going to have to make a good run out there tomorrow.”
Hight picked up seven bonus qualifying points over the course of qualifying to add to the 13 point lead he held over Force Hood headed into the event. Each round of NHRA competition is worth 20 points.
“Those qualifying points that the NHRA came up with, good job … it definitely helped us,” he said. “We’re going to go out and give the fans a good side-by-side race and if those guy [Force Hood’s team] need help tonight, we’ll jump in and help them because without them we wouldn’t have been in the Countdown.”
THE BOTTOM LINE – Mike Edwards made a clean-sweep of the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals Pro Stock qualifying by acquiring all twelve available 
bonus points for running the quickest in all four sessions. He also qualified on top of the previous NHRA event in Las Vegas last April.
Back then, Edwards was chasing a streaking Jeg Coughlin Jr. This time he’s just hours away from clinching his first Pro Stock title and the second NHRA championship of his career. Edwards captured the 1981 NHRA Modified eliminator championship, a class that was discontinued at the end of that season.
Edwards needs to outlast either Greg Anderson or Jason Line to capture the championship.
“It’s going to be a huge day for all of us,” Edwards said. “I’m excited about it and hope we can fulfill our dreams. It’s been a long, precious season. I can say that.”
Edwards entered the event with a 128 point victory and needs only 151 points to clinch.
“No matter the outcome, this season has been extraordinary for my team,” Edwards said. “We’re in a position to do what we couldn’t before and Lord willing we can pull it off tomorrow.
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PEDREGON AND ADVANCE AUTO PARTS DONE - Advance Auto Parts announced on Friday afternoon that their sponsorship of two-time 
NHRA Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon would end after the 2009 season.
A disappointed Pedregon reflected on the loss of his sponsorship which began in 2001.
“It’s been a great eight years,” Pedregon said. “The bottom line is that they are going in a different direction and that leaves me without a major sponsor. I have some things in the works but nothing confirmed yet. I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Pedregon captured the 2008 NHRA Funny Car title, his second since winning the 1992 crown. He reached eighteen final rounds during his Advance Auto Parts tenure.
“I will always look back at the Advance Auto Parts car, and as a company that took a chance on me … it wasn’t like I was a household name,” Pedregon said. “For all they knew I could have went broke in a year or two. We worked hard and had a few tough years where we sent bodies flying skyward but for the most part I had some great people work for me.”
Pedregon confirms that his plans for 2010 aren’t confirmed without a primary sponsor in place.
“I want to be back in 2010, strong as ever but my deal is cut and dry … I don’t have an outside business to run this car out of my business account. The sponsorship dollars run this car and if they’re not there, we don’t run.”
He did confirm he had a package of associate sponsors Herzog, Palms Casino, Sioux City and Snap-on Tools with multi-year contracts.
“The bottom line is we have to replace the primary sponsor,” Pedregon added. “The timing is never right for these things and I can’t imagine anyone going through what I am going through and saying the timing was right. It just sucks.”
Pedregon finds a measure of positive in what will likely turn into a negative if he cannot procure the necessary funding.
“It’s been a tough year and these things happen,” Pedregon said. “But I always think back to the guy who just lost his job and has a house full of kids. I don’t have it so bad. I race for a living and it has its tough moments as a team owner but my intentions are to race. I’ve never thought about doing anything other than racing.”
AND NOW, FOR THE REST OF THE STORY - We’ve previously reported on the acquisition of Mike Ashley’s Matco Top Fuel operation by mega-team owner Don Schumacher, but our sources report there was considerable interest in the deal from other owners. Among those said to have had serious conversations with Ashley were Forrest Lucas, Kenny Koretsky and Mark Pickens, the owner of the car driven by Clay Millican.
Pickens and Millican are not racing in Las Vegas, and apparently won’t be competing at the Finals in Pomona. One key ingredient they’re missing is a tuner, as Lance Larsen was let go due to the car’s lack of performance. However, more than one observer commented on the Larsen dismissal by stating that Pickens may have had unrealistic expectations for the car. He was apparently seeking a championship-caliber operation on a budget that reportedly guaranteed no more than mid-pack performances.
WILL THERE BE A THINNING OF THE PRO STOCK RANKS IN 2010? There’s considerable speculation among the Pro Stock regulars that 
more than a few of their peers may be sitting out next season as the economy – at least as far as corporate involvement in motorsports is concerned – appears to be tightening even more.
While Warren Johnson will retain his K&N filters sponsorship – a program insiders say is better than rumor might have it -- there’s nothing currently on the table for his son, Kurt, whose AC Delco program is at an end and will not be renewed. Alan Johnson seems set for another season with Mopar, and Larry Morgan has previously told representatives of CompetitionPlus.com that he’ll be back with Lucas Oil signage on his new Mustang next year, but others are far from set. Somewhat surprisingly, as Mike Edwards edges closer and closer to his first professional championship (he was the last Modified Eliminator champion back in the 80s), his plans for next season remain up in the air. Unless he’s able to augment his arrangements with ART and Young Life there’s at least a remote possibility that he may not return to defend the title, should he win it.
LOOK OUT FOR THE BALD GUY! It may not look like it now, but venerable Funny Car driver Gary Densham has aligned himself with an aggressive new marketing agent, Christina Kwan. Kwan’s already earned her stripes by generating world-wide publicity for Densham’s recent affiliation with Notre Dame University through a press release she managed to get picked up by the Reuters News Service. That may not mean much to you and I, but in the news and information world it’s heady stuff. Now if she can only muster up an adequate sponsorship to go with the publicity, Densham might return to the prominence he once enjoyed as a John Force Racing teammate.
EVERY POINT COUNTS - Larry Dixon pointed out the importance of the NHRA’s bonus points awarded to the top three qualifiers in each session. 
Without them, Dixon, driver of the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Top Fuel dragster believes the 2009 NHRA Top Fuel championship would have already been decided.
“Against a car like Schumacher’s you couldn’t make up seven rounds in two races,” Dixon explained. “With the bonus points you can absolutely do that. We were able to pick up a couple on him today.”
Dixon is 47 points behind Schumacher in the championship point standings. During first day qualifying at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, the bonus points enabled Dixon to cut that lead to 45.
“That was a far more outstanding run than our first one,” Dixon said of the 3.805, 318.24 he ran during Friday’s second round of qualifying at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals in Las Vegas.
“It was just a nice lap. The track conditions were perfect and the air was cool. It held up and I didn’t know it would run that well. When we spun the tires on the first run, I figured they might calm it down a little so we could get down the track and get qualified.”
Crew chief Jason McCulloch did just that.
“And it still ran a 3.80,” said Dixon with a chuckle. “That’s a great run for our team.”
With Sheik Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani in attendance this weekend, Dixon and the team are throwing out all the stops in this first of two remaining races.
“There’s a lot on the line this weekend,” Dixon said. “We’re out there trying to do our best. And if we are fortunate enough to stay up top, that will be worth a few more. We just need to keep knocking at that lead until it’s less than two rounds.”
Dixon’s run, if it holds up, could represent his ninth top qualifying effort of the season and the 40th of his career.
EDWARDS CUTTING THE COMPETITION NO SLACK - Mike Edwards may have a 128 point lead over the rest of the NHRA Pro Stock field.
He may be on the verge of a 15th low qualifying effort in 2009.
He could very well clinch the world championship on Saturday afternoon at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
But those points, as impressive as they may be, aren’t enough to inspire Edwards to cut the competition any slack.
“This is Pro Stock and there’s no quitting in any of them,” said Edwards. “I promise you this is not over. They are still out there gunning for us. We're gotta keep focused and come out and race the track on Saturday.”
If he can gain 19 more points, he will clinch his second career NHRA championship. His first championship was earned in 1981 as a driver in the Modified eliminator division.
Edwards muscled his way to the top spot in both sessions and ended the day on top through the strength of a 6.623, 207.25. His run represents both ends of the track record.
“This has been quite a season and hat’s off to my guys,” Edwards said. “Ever since Richmond, they got fired up and have been working non-stop. They’ve found more power for us and it’s unbelievable what those guys are doing.”
PUTTING THE PRO STOCK IN BIKE - Hector Arana isn’t the first Pro Stock Motorcycle racer to entrust a Pro Stock engine builder with a Buell 
engine but he is making the most of an association with Larry Morgan, his Pro Stock teammate on the Lucas Oil team.
Friday during qualifying at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals in Las Vegas, Arana claimed the provisional No. 1 with a 6.979 elapsed time at 192.03 miles per hour.
If Arana’s run holds, it will represent the seventh No. 1 of the season and eighth of his career.
So what did Arana do with the month off from racing?
He took a trip to Morgan’s shop. Arana hand-delivered the head after driving three hours from his base in Milltown, Ind., to Morgan’s Newark, Ohio shop.
“The only thing I did was to pull the rear cylinder head,” Arana explained. “In Memphis, Larry had to work on the head and we almost got it to seal up. We set a record with it. We really didn’t do much to work on this motor. Sometimes if you try too hard, you can overlook something.”
At this point in the season with the championship point lead in his favor, Arana isn’t taking chances.
“I didn’t trust shipping it,” Arana admitted.
Arana admits the association with Morgan has made a difference in his performance and he hopes it will increase in the future.
“I need for him to learn even more so he can pass it on me,” Arana said. “With this new Ford program he’s got, Larry is trying even more combinations and I hope I can reap the benefits.”
Right now, Arana’s eyes are on the prize of winning the championship.
“It’s something that I’ve wanted for 20 years,” Arana said. “I’ve wanted to do well and have the fans love me and know who Hector Arana is. I’m accomplishing that and it’s a great feeling.”
HAGAN: I HAVE STANDARDS FOR MYSELF - He might not have a chance to win a championship but that’s not enough to keep him from 
offering a championship effort.
“I feel like I have standards for myself,” said Hagan, as he addressed the Las Vegas media Friday evening. “I put pressure on myself to do well because when you go back to that pit area, you have ten guys there you have to look to. You don’t want to let those guys down and if there’s no pressure, I usually put it on myself. I don’t want to let Tommy [crew chief, Delago] or Don Schumacher down.
“I want to be the best driver I can be and Tommy and Don put a great race car under me. They do their job and I need to do mine.”
Friday night in Las Vegas, Hagan had the best car as he drove his Valvoline-sponsored Funny Car to the provisional No. 1 with a track record 4.030 at 313.08. If the run holds, it will represent his second pole position of 2009.
Hagan opened qualifying with a 4.134, 306.12, good for No. 4 at the time. His second pass overtook the 4.041 established by DSR teammate Ron Capps.
"It was just a great, smooth run,” Hagan said. “It just went out there and did what it was supposed to do. It went right down the track. I drove it a little bit far, but when it feels that good it's hard to pull your foot out of it.
"Tommy DeLago (crew chief), I can't say enough about that guy. He's really done a lot of studying up there in the lounge to make sure that all the R&D that has been put into these programs is really starting to show. That has a lot to do with it and it starts with Tommy, because he's the one in there screwing the knobs in. I’ve got the easy job, I just hang onto this thing.
"Sometimes it can be more difficult than you think, but other times it just runs right down through there. And that's what it did tonight. Some of the fastest runs, I feel like, are some of your smoothest runs.
And for Hagan, it’s sometimes the most meaningless moments that mean the most.
PAYNE CRASHES - Top Alcohol racer Jay Payne lost control of his Fire Ice Funny Car during Friday's evening qualifying session. According to Payne, the car pulled the wheels higher in the air than usual and when it came down, the car drifted slightly out of the groove. Once that happened, Payne said the car immediately moved to the left and into the retaining wall for his lane. He was uninjured.
Payne's accident and a 66 degree track temperature ended Friday's action.
NHRA SCHEDULE AT 23 AGAIN - With the announcement that Memphis Motorsports Park closed its gates on Friday, the NHRA issued a statement addressing their NHRA Midsouth Nationals scheduled for August.
"On behalf of all NHRA racers, fans and sponsors, we are very disappointed to learn about Dover Motorsports Inc.’s decision to close Memphis Motorsports Park," the statement read. "We had been in discussions with the management team at Dover Motorsports regarding the track’s future in recent weeks and were aware that this action was a possibility. We appreciate the great support we received from the fans throughout the western Tennessee region as well as the cooperation from all those who worked at the facility.
"We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Dover Motorsports group and conducting the national event at Gateway International Raceway at St. Louis. At this time, the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule for 2010 will be reduced to 23 events."
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COMMON GROUND - Tony Schumacher couldn’t help but smile when he heard NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson being interviewed following last 
Sunday’s race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
“I could definitely relate to what he was talking about,” said Schumacher as he prepared for this weekend’s Las Vegas Nationals here at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “He and I are clearly in similar positions at the moment. Neither one of us really want to talk about points right now.”
While Johnson currently leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings with a handful of races to go, Schumacher sits atop the NHRA’s Top Fuel standings heading into the final two races of the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.
“I totally understand where Jimmie is coming from,” said the six-time world champion. “He said he’s tired of talking about what ifs. I feel exactly the way he does. Everything will sort itself out on its own.”
After a two-week break in the NHRA schedule, Schumacher carries a 47-point lead over Larry Dixon out to The Strip. Other title contenders include Cory McClenathan and Antron Brown, who are 68 points and 81 points back, respectively.
“It’s real tight,” added Schumacher. “Right now, there’s absolutely no room for error. If you slip up at this point, you’re likely done. We need to be on our game from the minute we unload out in Vegas.”
Schumacher is hoping his history at The Strip will help produce positive results come Sunday afternoon. Of his four career wins there, three came in the fall event.
“That’s all well and good, but Dixon has had just as much success as I’ve had with his four wins,” he offered. “Again, one would expect all of the contenders to run well. We just have to be that much better.”
While Schumacher is seeking his sixth consecutive world championship, he’s attempting to win his first crown with crew chief Mike Green, who replaced Alan Johnson for the ’09 campaign.
“I’d love to get that first one with Mike,” he said.
THROWING OUT ALL THE STOPS - Pro Stock Allen Johnson has nothing to lose headed into this weekend's NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
Because of his DNQ at the last event on the tour three weeks ago, the NHRA Virginia Nationals in Dinwiddie, Va., Johnson is changing his approach from cautious to cutting-edge and planning to throw everything but the kitchen sink at his Mopar in an attempt to capture their third win of the season and first-ever at Vegas.
“We’re not going to be conservative anymore,” said Johnson. “We’re going to go for the gusto on every run. I know dad [Roy Johnson, Allen’s father and engine builder] has got some race motors apart. We’re throwing in some experimental stuff we’ve been working on for next year.
“We’re going to use all of our test technology on two or three motors and have a new approach at Vegas. We feel the changes will be for the better, but we don’t know if they’re going to last or not. We’ll have a backup motor on hand that is proven, just in case.”
Johnson has captured two wins in 2009, at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka and the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver. The Greeneville, Tenn., native has already surpassed his previous career high for wins in a season and is looking to add even more.
“Our goal is to win the last two races,” said Allen Johnson, currently sixth in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs standings. “Just having two wins this year is double our previous season-high, but we want more. My goal this year was five wins and to settle out at four, with wins at Vegas and Pomona [Calif., the final race of the year], would be close to our goal.
“We would also like to get up to about third or fourth in the points and get a Top-five finish in the standings for Mopar. We’ll be going into these last two events with guns a-blazing and try to win ’em.”
SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR AWAY - Cory McClenathan sure would love to win his first world championship as he career winds down as his career 
comes to a close.
"It's funny. You can be so close to winning a championship, but it can also feel so far away," said McClenathan, the 2008 Las Vegas1 titlist. "Three rounds of eliminations can feel like an eternity, but, at the same time, when one weekend goes your way it's a whole different story.
"We've had a lot of success in the past in Vegas before (including a runner-up finish in 2002), but so has my teammate Tony Schumacher. I cannot discount his success at this track at all.
"I still feel like our chances are good. We’ll try to do the same thing we've always done: get in there, qualify well, and try to take the ladder one at a time on Sunday. We have to try to win every race we go to.
"It looks like there's a pretty large car count for Vegas, so there may be some spoilers out there who could take out some of the guys to help us in the points. If not, we're going to have to count on ourselves to do it.
"It's down to these last two races, so we'll have to make sure we make no mistakes and continue running as well as we have, if not better.
"It looks like the weather will cooperate, and the track is always good there. And I know (crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara) and Phil (Shuler) have a good setup for the FRAM Tough Guard car."
SLIM CHANCE - Greg Anderson is certainly a realist. Facing a 128-point deficit with only two races left in the NHRA’s Countdown to One 
championship playoff, the three-time champion knows he faces an uphill battle in his pursuit of a fourth title, one which will require some assistance outside of his control. Even so, entering this weekend’s NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, Anderson isn't about to throw in the towel.
“This is definitely a different situation for us, but the old girl isn’t singing quite yet, so we’re not about to give up,” said Anderson. “We know our chances might be a little slim, and we’re going to need some outside help, but this Summit Racing team is still going to keep fighting.
“Looking at things realistically, Mike (current points leader Edwards) will have to suffer some misfortune along the way for us to have a chance. I certainly don’t wish it on him, and I don’t expect it to happen, but, if it does, we have to be ready to make the most of it. That’s why we’re going into Las Vegas with the same mindset, doing everything we can do to win.
“Besides, with all the talk about the championship, people tend to forget there’s still a race to be won, and it’s in our team owner’s hometown. Any way you look at it, we have a lot on the line this weekend, and we’re not looking to finish second.”
However, before Anderson even takes to the track, he will participate in an event of extra significance, playing in the Sixth Annual Cards for Kids Poker Tournament. Held on Wednesday night at the Cannery Hotel & Casino, Anderson and his Summit Racing teammate Jason Line will be among a host of NHRA drivers playing against the fans in an evening of high-stakes fun benefitting the Speedway Children’s Charities.
“We’ve taken part in the poker tournament for the last four or five years, and it’s always a lot of fun,” said Anderson. “It’s a great deal supporting the tremendous work done by the Speedway Children’s Charities. I don’t consider myself a card shark, but I enjoy watching it on TV, as well as playing once a year in this event.
“Fortunately, since we are such novices, the dealers usually help us out so we don’t look too bad, and everyone ends up having a great time. This year, I’m going to get Jason in it with me, so it will be a fun way for us to kick off the weekend, all while helping out a great cause. After that, it will be game on.”
HIGH GOALS - Jack Beckman has set high goals for himself and his team despite sitting sixth in the Countdown to 1 playoffs point rankings, 86 markers 
out of first place.
"I'm done with our mini-vacation," said Beckman of his cross-country trip to the last few races with wife Jenna and son Jason in their motor coach. "After Richmond we went to Delaware and visited Jenna's family, then went to Maryland and visited my family. We're heading back West and we stopped at the shop at Brownsburg, Ind. I just wanted the Valvoline/MTS guys to know that even though I'm not there every day working on the car, I'm as eager to get to the next race as they are.
"It's interesting. We’re actually excited about Vegas this weekend. We have an enormous uphill battle. We really need to win seven of the next eight rounds to have a legitimate shot at the championship. Everybody on the team knows that and we're plugging away with that as the goal.
"We don't want to finish fifth or fourth or third; we want to finish first. We still have a shot, and we need to hope that the two John Force cars (Robert Hight and Ashley Force Hood in first and second place) stumble at both races.
"At this point in the game we can only control our car and our team. And I think everybody realizes that these are two pretty good tracks for us (the Strip and the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif.), and if it were going to end on a positive note I think that we would want to be at these two facilities."
Beckman is the 2006 Las Vegas 2 champion.
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