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MONDAY NOTEBOOK

 

Lining up four cars to drag race to the finish line was a spectacle fans came out to see in droves.

Husbands and wives, fathers, sons and daughters, and diehard NASCAR fans flocked to zMax Dragway to see what four-wide racing was all about.

For those at the track, the comments were almost all enthusiastic and positive.

LJ Weathers, 7, and Tucker Johnson, 6, were glued to the fence down below the main grandstands as the NHRA Pro categories roared down the lanes at zMax Dragway four at a time. The two boys, ears protected by headphones, were whopping and hollering with each pass.

The two boys were having the time of their lives courtesy of their respective fathers, Jerry Weathers and Michael Johnson.

Mr. Johnson loved the adrenaline rush of the nitro cars. “The Pro Stock cars and bikes are okay, but the nitro cars are a much bigger high,” he said, a grin across his face which clearly transferred to his son.

Mr. Weathers were even more animated, “I like the four wide because there is more horsepower on the track at the same time. I love it and my son loves it because the GROUND SHAKES!

“It's better than NASCAR,” yelled Weathers as another group roared down the track.

Further down the grandstands, Shawn Gaither of Statesville, NC was soaking in every moment. Already an avid drag racing fan, Gaither was “loving it” as four cars roared down the racetrack.

“It's a lot faster,” said Gaithers, who advises his friends and everyone to, “come and see it.”

Down close to the 1000 foot mark, Melvin Jackson, of High Point, NC was a spectator this year specifically to watch the four-wide. Last September, Jackson was racing on the track. This year, having sold his car, he was just taking in the fury of four-wide racing.

“I like it,” said Jackson, a strong conviction in his voice. “I never thought this would ever happen. I love it.”

As a competitor as well, the car he sold ran in Comp Eliminator, Jackson waffled on weather four-wide would replace two-wide in his heart.

“I don't know. I still like the heads-up stuff. I think it puts more pressure on the drivers when they have three other guys to race against. If they are trying to concentrate on the other three it puts more pressure on them.”

Ask what message he would send to other drag racing fans, Jackson never hesitated saying, “They have got to see four-wide. If you love two-wide you have got to see four-wide.”

Jeff and Linda Lecronier, Pasadena MD, brought their daughter Jessica, 22, and long time friend Rod Wilson and his date Donna, because they were determined not to miss such a historic event. They even sold off their tickets to the NASCAR race in Martinsville, just a couple hundred miles north.

Wilson, from Baltimore, who remembers attending drag racing as a teenager, loved being back at an NHRA event.

“Four-wide,” said Wilson when asked just why he came to the event. “I love it. I loved it. I wish they all went four-wide.”

Wilson has already made up his mind – he'll be back next year.

Lecronier, who works for UPS, sold off his coveted NASCAR tickets for four-wide.

“Actually, (Martinsville Speedway) is my favorite racetrack. It's where I have my best seats. But, the chance of watching them go four-wide really intrigued me. I loved it!”

Both Wilson and Lecronier were seated in the east grandstands and they hope next year the track has a second jumbotron near the scoreboards. The lone jumbotron was positioned on the east side and when fans stood in the east grandstands it was difficult to see the replays.

Lecronier also wanted to thank his boss, Norm, for letting him off on Monday so he could see the final rounds.

They would also like to see all classes run four wide, just to keep the show going and the excitement high.

Jessica Lecronier, a former pastry chef at the Speedway Club, located overlooking Charlotte Motor Speedway, got a very special treat. She was able to meet and chat with several members of the Force family courtesy of Elon Warner, Force publicist.

“I thought that the four-wide was different from what I expected,” said Lecronier. “It was far more intense.”

The tour of the Force pits by Werner opened up Jessica's eyes to the sport.

“When we got to meet John Force and the Force family, we all understand drag racing far more now.”

Lecronier, whose boyfriend David Rosage couldn't make the trip, said she was going to make sure he got to a drag race in the very near future.

Away from the track the comments about four-wide racing were not nearly as kind. The Facebook page of Attitude’s Competitionplus.com offered a mixed bag of commentary.

Joe Sherwood wrote, “Complete Waste of time! Works great for exhibitions, but for racing it's a waste of Money! Bruton's gonna ruin his tracks!

Kenny Wigington stated, “I don’t care for it. It may have been different or hopefully better, in person.

Charlie Lowe was undecided saying, “Not quite sure what to make of it. YET! Keep in mind Bruton Smith has the bank to make things happen. I do not think The NHRA will tell him no more. Not even in Vegas.”

And finally, Steve Gonzales appears to have hit the nail on the head.

“I think it's one of those things that you only get the full effect being there in person, as far as on tv, I really don’t care for it.”

The television production, like the event is a work in progress. Improve the production and the excitement of being there in person might transfer to those watching on television.

SHIRLEY UPDATE - Shirley Muldowney, a four-time Top Fuel world champion, is ready, willing and believes she is more than able to return to Top Fuel competition.

Drag racing’s iconic female racer feels she still has the competitive spirit burning to the point she’s ready to return to competition for the first time since her 2001 retirement, a retirement she contends she wasn’t really ready to make.

“I really didn’t walk away in 2001, I was pushed out,” Muldowney said. “I wasn’t ready to stop driving but the cost of it really ran me to the sidelines. Then the Zantrex deal came along and it was one of the fluke deals that turned into an $8 million dollar deal. I simply didn’t want to compete against my husband at that time. So I just went with it. The fans were great about the retirement and we went out with our quickest and fastest time.”

A month ago, Muldowney revealed to the media she had secretly been working on a marketing program with the National Guard in a team ownership role. Her driver of choice was to be past Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Angelle Sampey.

The deal fell apart at the last moment; a scenario where Muldowney believes they were led to believe a deal was in place. Recently Sampey announced her retirement from drag racing to marry Seth Drago and start a family.

Muldowney confirmed Sampey was the one who brought the deal to her.

“I had my hopes set on Angelle and she actually brought the National Guard program to me,” said Muldowney. “We worked for three months on it and they hung us out to dry on it. You would have thought we had it to listen to them. They just dropped the ball, and while Angelle didn’t get impatient, I think she was so grossly disappointed that she's moved onto other things. She's planning to get married to Seth and move on to the next chapter in her life and I can't fault her for that.”

While the Sampey-Muldowney scenario might have been a publicists dream, Muldowney gets proposals on a regular basis. In the midst of the deal, she was already looking at ways to join Sampey on the battlefield of NHRA Full Throttle competition.

“I get a lot of people who call me, with visions and ideas and they all want me to drive. I thought with Angelle, [there could have been] a chance for a second car”

If and when the “serious” call comes Muldowney will be ready to roll. She does have one stipulation.

“I’m up for the challenge as long as I can bring my Chihuahuas and don’t have to board them,” explained Muldowney. “They’ve been with me for five years and would simply not do well without me. If I can have my pups, I will do it with my chosen people.”

Muldowney’s chosen people are primarily those who were with her during the “Last Pass” tour. Her son John Muldowney will have an integral part on the team along with Dana Kimmel and Darren Capps. There will be a crew chief by committee formula in place. A crewman from her team in the 1970s, Brian Davis, will also be a part of the team.

“I have six in place and two of them have even moved their families,” Muldowney said. “We have the infrastructure in place, all we need is the cash.”

Muldowney has a team in place searching for the right marketing partner and she’s confident the venture will yield results in the near future.

In the meantime, she’ll prepare herself for the physical challenges of driving an 8,000-horsepower dragster [although she says she can still drive a Funny Car] and will re-license behind the wheel of a Doug Herbert dragster. There’s no timetable for the licensing.

“I can do that any time,” she said. “I know the necessary requirements and the drill. I haven’t licensed since 1973. I had just let the license lapse because I had no real desire to go back out there.”

She’s had a change of heart. For the last few months, she’s relived the drill of driving a nitro car in her mind. Everything else in the heat of battle, she believes, will come as second nature.

“I am pretty much a creature of habit,” said Muldowney. “My car will be the set up the same way as it used to be. We may position the parachutes in a different position. That will be Dana’s call.”

“I’m not going to say I won’t make mistakes in my driving but I promise I won’t make the same ones twice.”

This time Muldowney believes she will be able to make a respectable living as a professional drag racing.

“I think for the first time, I probably can make a good living at it,” Muldowney said with a smile. “I have scores to settle and that’s going to provide motivation. That’s going to make it fun. If it happens … wonderful. If it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world.”

But, Muldowney is betting she’ll be racing.

FORCE BEATS DSR IN A TAG TEAM FUNNY CAR FINAL - Tag-team wrestling with 8,000 horsepower was alive and well at zMax Dragway on Monday morning. In the end, a father and daughter tandem whooped them all.

John Force, 60 and a fourteen-time NHRA Funny Car champion, hoisted the Wally and Ashley Force Hood, his daughter, was runner-up in the Funny Car final round of the rain-delayed NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

On the losing end of the four abreast race was Don Schumacher Racing teammates Ron Capps and Matt Hagan.

This marks the second time Force has won a non-traditional event, dating back to 1999 when he won the Winston No-Bull Showdown, an event where Top Fuel dragsters competed against the fuel Funny Cars.

“You look back in history and Shirl Greer, who we just lost, went down in history as the first NHRA Funny Car champion … he’ll be known as the first to do that, for me this is the same kind of special,” said Force, who logged his 128th career win, and second of 2010.

“The big thing is that Bruton Smith and the NHRA gave us a chance to race four wide. I don’t know how it is all going to turn out … because there have been positives and negatives about this event. I’d like to thank Bruton and Marcus Smith for spending money to put into a track during this kind of an economy.”

Force knew he was in for a major battle headed into the final round as he faced his daughter/teammate Ashley as well as Capps and Hagan.

“Running Ron Capps is always tough because he is killer on that tree,” Force explained. “Racing Hagan now that John Medlen is over there; that will put the fear in you too.

“Through all of that … racing against my daughter.  She told me headed into the final round, ‘Dad, hey when I race you, I don’t leave anything on the table.’

“I knew I had to get that attitude. Her mom was proud of me and I joke about how she beats up on me when I beat Ashley, but this time she told me, ‘Not bad for an old guy.'”

“I was really proud of her. I knew what the pressure was … my knees were knocking waiting to run, and I’ve been doing this for 33 years.”

At first the impression might have been Ms. Force Hood was upset at losing the race but such was not the case. She had no idea who had won.

“I was frustrated because I thought I had won … there was a light flashing on my wall. No one was talking to me on the radio. The first person I yelled out to was my husband Dan to get someone to tell me what was going on. I got out thinking I had won, I was totally confused. I was relieved when I saw every one walk over to him as the winner. I was a little frustrated but in the big picture I was pumped that we were able to get the top two spots.”

Force extended his point lead to 89 points over Capps, whose third place relegated the finalist to semi-final points. On the strength of her first final round appearance Ashley ascended to the fifth spot in the championship. Hagan leaves the event as the fourth place point earner.

Force, in addition to the points lead, leaves conflicted on whether the event should return next year as a full-fledged, point-earning national event.

“I have mixed emotions about this,” Force said. “I had a lot of people come up to me before last year’s race and tell me that I was the reason we were here – that you were yelling and screaming in the press room – it’s a different story this year. Then it didn’t count for points or money. It was fun.

“This year it was a different story and it didn’t hit until I went up there and lit the first bulb. Bulbs were going off and on … blue bulbs. I went up there every session and watched Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock. I want to learn to play the game again. At the end of the day, especially in this economy, you have to look at the people who invested … Bruton and the NHRA … and you have to look at what it accomplished. Did it put more people in the stands? Will it build better TV ratings?

“There’s a lot of issues that are going to have to be addressed. Racers are going to have issues. You look at NASCAR and they race on different courses. Maybe we just need to learn to adapt to that. I’m going to go with the crowd and be positive, as long as it don’t turn into a mob. This was fun for me, but it could give me an ulcer. Next week I have to concentrate on getting the blue bulbs out of my head.”

CORY MAC: THE SPECIALIST - Who says lightning can’t strike the same place twice?

If anyone’s a believer it’s Cory McClenathan.

McClenathan, along with John Force, shared the podium as winners of the inaugural NHRA Four Wide Nationals a decade after the two were the only winners of the No Bull Showdown, a specialty drag race pitting the best Top Fuel and Funny Car racers opposite of one another.

“I didn’t figure that anyone would remember that,” McClenathan said in the post race press conference. “I went over to John and reminded him. When it comes to the specialty races, I want to get the job done.”

From the Top Fuel No. 1 qualifying position, McClenathan got the job done. Monday afternoon he left as the No. 1 driver in the points passing teammate Tony Schumacher.

That’s not a bad weekend for a driver who entered the weekend with his share of reservations of the non-traditional format.

“We came here this weekend with the opinion that we needed to go four wide, be able to understand the lights, and I had a certain way that I went about it all weekend long. I kept the same plan of my staging procedure except for a couple of things we did with the crew chiefs as far as speeding some things up. It worked out for us. I was happy with the whole thing. There was nothing cooler than watching four cars when they all went down. The fans felt the same way.

“Yes there were things that happened that were a little crazy, but none of those things happened in any pairings I was in. Nobody hung me out to dry and I staged first every single time. I never had that problem. You hear a couple of drivers here and there, but you are NOT going to make everyone happy. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and that’s long enough to know that you aren’t going to make everyone happen.

“The Smith Family brought something new and because I won it, I might be a little biased. At the same time, Marcus [Smith] got it done. I have to hand it to them. The track was prepared great. The NHRA was on their game. If we can do it, be safe in doing it, I’m fine with it. I’d like to call the event controlled chaos, but I’m not sure that’s a fitting description.”

Uncontrolled chaos would have been a four wide pedal-fest, something McClenathan was prepared for in the final round. The Top Fuel cars opened Monday’s completion of rain-delayed eliminations. McClenathan ran 3.82 seconds at 319.00 miles per hour to edge Doug Kalitta, teammate Antron Brown and Doug Herbert in the finals.

“I thought that was going to be us in the final round,” McClenathan said. “When they said we were going to be the first pair out today, I was prepared for it. If there was going to be one, I was hoping to be the one in it. I was ready for it.”

Just because McClenathan has a thing for being the man in the specialty events, don’t think he waltzed his way into the winner’s circle. He blew a tire in the first round and if his DSR teammates hadn’t jumped in, his weekend could have ended then.

“My Fram team is so good and they are giving me the kind of car it takes to go out there and win,” McClenathan said. “To have a mishap like we did first round and be able to come back the way we did was because of teamwork. We had the U.S. Army guys in there … the Yas Marina team … it was an international effort. They all made sure we got the car ready to run. Even the guys from the fab shop were put to work. That’s what it took.

“Just to come out here and know that you have something to win with as a driver, makes you confident but it also puts that fire in you to get that job done.”

It’s hard to determine if the historic value of the race or the scale of the battle he and his team fought most inspired his post-race celebration.

“I jumped out of the car like a jack-in-the-box,” McClenathan said with a smile. “I go crazy to win races.”   

RON CAPPS: MISSED NATIONAL RECORD - Prior to the Funny Car final round, Ron Capps was predicating if he couldn't win then he expected Matt Hagan or Ashley Force Hood to garner the Wally.

He was also thinking about the tree, a lot.

“You really have to think about who’s in what lane and what’s going on with staging and which guy’s where – and know their characteristics because you don’t want to get stuck in there with the pedal out,” Capps said. “One guy’s going in early, one guy takes forever to stage. We know that Ashley’s car’s been good, but I talked to Guido, and that car hasn’t really gone to the finish line like it should’ve, so that thing’s capable of running low 0s. My teammate, Hagan, big speed. This has got all the matchup stuff you want. But until you mentioned it, I hadn’t thought about teamwork.”

As it turned out, Capps should have been worried about John Force the most. Force had the lane (two) he wanted, so the team took the next best lane, one.

“We had lane two all weekend, and we thought it was a better lane for us. With the rains all night, we didn’t know what was going to happen. A lot of times the rain will get underneath the rubber and bubble it up, but the Safety Safari did a good job. This is obviously a good track to begin with. We had a second choice, and we chose lane one, but something happened with the car. It might have just pushed out a head gasket or something, but it had fire from half-track on in my left firewall window.”

Once he saw the fire, Capps did what a hired driver has to do, he clawed his way to the finish line, never giving up hope.

“I just legged it down there. It’s amazing that it still ran what it ran, to be honest with you. I was shocked because it was on fire, and I’m looking down at it, looking up, looking down, and it went right down the track. We figured we were going to run 4-flat or 4.01.

“It felt like it was our race to lose this weekend. We really felt like we had a great race car, so it’s disappointing.”

Capps, not a fan of the four wide format, nevertheless ran his race as if it was a two car, two lane struggle.

“I am glad it’s over. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast and said in my interviews how much fun and how exciting it is. But it needs to be just a special event race, with a lot of money, something like that. This format isn’t conducive to a points-earning event. It’s just not.

“It’s fun and it’s exciting and Bruton Smith deserves it, and I’m glad we were able to deliver for them. But it think the consensus is we’d rather not run a points race this way.”

“But today, no matter what – like I told you, it was on fire from half-track, and I was still driving it because you don’t know what’s going on with Ashley and Matt. I did approach that definitely differently.

“Our first thoughts are, as a hired driver, you’re paid to get that thing to the finish line.”

To further compound his disappointment, was a missed opportunity to better the 4.023 second national record he set in Phoenix last year. The lost opportunity started with a bit of possible indecision at the tree.

“Actually, I felt like I had a little bit of an advantage in the mental situation because I was in the lane next to Force. We shared the same Christmas Tree. Any driver out here will tell you Force is always one to take his time staging, so you always adjust your own routine. So I felt it was just me and Force out there racing, and I approached it that way, even though Matt and Ashley were on the other side and very capable of winning. I approached the tree that way.

“It was mixed emotions for me because I feel like we had a chance to back a record up and run quicker than our 4.02 already existing record. I didn’t want to put it in too deep. Force, this year, has been shoving his in deep every run. That’s how he beat me in Pomona. At the last minute, I’m thinking, ‘Maybe I should roll in deep on him.’ I was going back and forth in my head, but to be honest with you, we didn’t have the car for them today.”

Despite his disappointment, Capps could help but admit, he was faced with something new and overcame the obstacles.

“It was fun this weekend going up there every time. It really challenged you as a driver because you had to have your head together to use this Christmas Tree.”

EDWARDS IS BACK - Pro Stock champion Mike Edwards saw his No. 1 qualifying streak end at 12 in this weekend’s 4-Wide Nationals and zMax Dragway. So how did he respond?

Edwards cut a 0.009-second light at the start of the finals and pulled away to his third victory of the season in just four races.

Edwards, 52, isn’t exactly known for having the best reaction times, but he left Jason Line, Bob Yonke and Greg Stanfield at the starting line in Monday’s rain-delayed final.

“I must’ve been real shallow,” Edwards shrugged. “That should probably have red-lighted. Just real fortunate.”

Jeg Coughlin was the No. 1 qualifier this weekend, but he lost in the first round to Rodger Brogdon and Yonke.

Edwards, meanwhile, qualified second and easily moved into the second round on Sunday before the rains came. He and Line moved to the finals in Sunday’s second round, and then Edwards topped Line in the final, running a 6.596-second, 210.05 mph pass. Line went 6.632 second, 209.36.

“You just don’t know what to expect when you pull up there to stage.” Edwards said of NHRA’s first four-wide national event. “Every time we ran, something else was different. Lights going on, coming off.  It was just confusing for me. I don’t know. Maybe I’m too old to catch on to what’s going on.”

Obviously, Edwards is being humble.

“We were fortunate,” Edwards said. “We rolled the lights a little bit in the finals. Just real fortunate to do what we did.”

Many expected a lot of gamesmanship at the starting line this weekend as drivers jockeyed for the best spot in each four-wide round. But the final seemed to start without a hitch.

“Who played nice?” Edwards said.

Edwards, for one.

“I don’t know if they played nice or if everybody was trying to get in there first,” Edwards said. “That’s what I was trying to do.”

He not only got to the staging lights first, he took off first, too. And, of course, he finished first as well.

“It was fun, it really was,” Edwards said. “It was confusing a lot of times, but it was fun. I don’t know if I’m ready to do it again – not tomorrow anyway. It was different. You still had to do everything right. You just had a couple more lights to watch come on before you could mat the gas.

“I had a good time. Any time you can win a race, it feels great. Hats off to my guys for a great job.”

And hats off to Edwards for a terrific light at just the right time.

“That four-wide, it’s a little hard on 50-year olds, I can tell you that,” Edwards said. “My nerves are kind of shot.”

It was hard to tell.

HOMETOWN WINNER - Many figured that when Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Smith joined the powerhouse Don Schumacher Racing team last year, trophies, records and titles would soon follow.

It didn’t really work out that way, so Smith moved to Al-Anabi Racing for 2010. The hands-on Smith would have more of role in the way he ran – and he proved it with a dominant victory in the 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.

Smith was the No. 1 qualifier and rolled through the three rounds of four-wide racing. In Monday’s final, he beat Hector Arana, Steve Johnson and a red-lighting Michael Phillips for his 11th NHRA win and his first since 2008.

Not bad for a guy who couldn’t cut it at DSR.

“I really didn’t have no input on their program,” Smith said. “They have a great program, but … I got to one final round, I think. They beat me down, kinda saying it was my riding. I knew it wasn’t my riding. I knew I could do the job.

“Gainesville, we struggled the first time back out on my own stuff. We were just down a little bit. We just had to get our stuff back. I rode good, but we just had problems with the bike.”

The three-bike team tested at Gainesville after the event, with Smith’s Buell finding the right combination.

“We stayed and tested down in Gainesville and got our stuff right,” Smith said. “As a three-bike team, we all did our job down there. We found some problems. We still have some problems on the other two bikes. (There’s) a different ignition system on the bikes. We’ve got to get that off their bikes, and they’ll be equally as good.”

No one was equal to Smith this weekend, and it showed in his appearance and attitude. He had an air of confidence in racing at his home track.

“I was ready to go,” Smith said. “I just came in here with confidence, saying, ‘Nobody’s going to beat me this weekend,’” Smith said. “We were low basically every round, No. 1 qualifier. Hats off. The other guys did a great job – just glad we pulled it off.”

Smith pulled into a second-place tie with Eddie Krawiec in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings. They are 15 behind Arana after two events.

HERE COMES THE SUN ... NOT - The sun wasn’t in defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Hector Arana’s eyes before the 4-Wide Nationals final at zMax Dragway. Then again, in a way, it was.

Arana finished second to Matt Smith in the four-man final, running a 7-second flat, 190.92 mph to Smith’s winning 6.937-second, 189.84 mph pass. And the difference came early in the final.

“It bogged the engine bad and threw (the bike) to the left,” Arana said. “I couldn’t run the numbers.”

Arana said his Buell was slower at the 60-foot mark than Smith’s, and Arana couldn’t make up the speed. Why was it slower? Arana said he didn’t adjust for the sun that appeared before his run.

“On the first run, we had an excellent 60-foot (speed),” Arana said. “I didn’t want to play with the clutch. I left it all alone. I left the two-step, the rpm, the launch – I left it all alone.

“Where I failed was I didn’t pay attention to the track when the sun came out. I didn’t look at the track temperature. You’re so worried about, ‘When is your turn?’ You’ve got to be ready. That question was not in my brain.”

Still, Arana’s runner-up finish allowed him to take the Pro Stock Motorcycle points lead over Eddie Krawiec, who went out in Sunday’s first round, and Smith. After two of 17 Pro Stock Motorcycle races, Arana leads by 15 points over both Krawiec and Smith.

That helped ease the pain of a final-round loss in a weekend that was full of learning experiences for Arana.

“This was something new we had to grasp and get a hold of really quick,” Arana said. “I tried a couple different things in qualifying because I needed to know how far I could push it or what could happen. I had a couple occasions, especially in the last qualifying round, that totally got me. I got my experience lesson there quick.

“Today, I knew what to expect and how to go about it. I knew I had to be careful because there were three other drivers I’ve got to worry about.”

In the end, the driver Arana needed to worry more about was … Arana.

HERBERT RUNS ALL THE WAY TO FOUR-WIDE FINAL - Working with a near all volunteer crew, veteran Top Fuel driver Doug Herbert took it to the regulars in the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.

Just prior to final eliminations Herbert talked about what it meant to be in the finals for such a historic event.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Herbert. “We’ve got a great bunch of guys working on this car. Proud as I can be of them and what we’re accomplishing here. A lot of the Irwin Tools guys, first race that they’ve even came out to the races. So to come out here and go to the final round, I think we’re spoiling them. We’re sure liking it.”

Unfortunately Herbert finished fourth behind Cory McClenathan, Doug Kalitta and Antron Brown. Along the way, Herbert finished second to Antron Brown twice, with the second being the closest of the two battles.

Herbert, competing on a very limited schedule, admits to putting of effort into a single event.

“We've been working on the car the past month to come out here and run this race,” said Herbert. “I actually only have one full-time guy on my race team right now. The guys working on the car, I talked them into taking the day off Friday from all their NASCAR team jobs. Then, today they had to call in sick and take another day off.”

Prior to running the final round Herbert felt he had the same chance to win as his three competitors. Had, that is, until a mechanical problem ended his run. A run he refused to feel disappointed over.

“We had a linkage break on us in the final. You know what, it was a success to get to the final.

“The track has been awesome. I don't think the track has been a problem ever. It's been good enough to tear the tires off my car. I don't know if my check from NHRA will cover my tire bill. We didn't come here to worry about that. We came here to win the race and we got pretty close.

“I think it was a little bit more (equal),” Herbert added when asked if the format tilted fate in his favor. “The lanes, to me, seemed all equal. The thing I found was during qualifying I was trying to figure out the lights. Yesterday I figured out I was only running in one lane. That is really all that matter. After I did that, everything was fine. It was normal.”

Herbert has one more race he will run for sure, possibly two.

“I know for sure we're going to run the fall race here for Irwin Tools. We're going to try to run Bristol, too.”

MATT HAGAN: WE ARE GOING TO WIN - Despite blowing up everything on his race car, but the chassis, Matt Hagan, driver of the Diehard Dodge Charger Funny Car found a silver lining on a historic NHRA weekend.

“We had a good race car this weekend,” Hagan said, refusing to show anything but confidence in his words. “We had a few mishaps out there in qualifying, but that was behind us. We really wanted to go out there and finish strong. I know anybody could have won out of those four. You had that opportunity, and you hate to pass that up. But this Diehard car is going to get some wins this year. I can feel it. It’s going to happen soon enough. Just as long as we’re patient enough and persistent enough, it’s going to happen for us.

Hagan's fourth place finish in the final round was as much a tribute to his driving ability as it was to his crew and the other crews at Don Schumacher Racing.

“The guys did an awesome job this weekend putting that car back together. It looked like someone took a grenade and threw it in that car. I’m just really excited to have these guys working on the race car and feel very comfortable with them. They’re just a great group of guys. We’re all growing together.”

In his final run, Hagan said it was the racetrack and not his competition which defeated the team.

“There was so much glue out there on the race track that I didn’t even get any smoke off of my burnout. I can understand why it shook the tires. It’s just too glued in. I don’t know. I think we make just as much horsepower as anybody, and when it sticks the tire that hard, it’s hard to go down.”

JASON LINE: WE’RE TIRED OF LOSING TO EDWARDS - Mike Edwards’ name has been at the top of the speed charts in the last year just a little too often for Jason Line’s taste.
 
Edwards won five races and qualified first 16 times last year, and has three wins and three No. 1 qualifiers in 2010. So after Edwards won again in Monday’s rain-delayed 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, Line’s frustration boiled over.
 
“We’re tired of it,” Line said. “We want to start beating him. Nothing personal, that’s for sure. We're just getting tired of him beating up on us. Got him in Gainesville. Hopefully, maybe it’ll be our turn again in Houston. Like to win every week, but easier said than done.”
 
Especially when the defending Pro Stock champion has a 0.009-second reaction time in the final. But that didn’t seem to bother Line too much.
 
“Mike’s certainly has his share of double-oh lights,” Line said. “Those sort of things, they just happen, I guess. In Pro Stock, if you happen to catch it just right, you can be double-oh. Mike is certainly capable of it. He’s probably had 10 times more double-ohs than probably anybody in the class. He had three triple-zeros in one year, and I’ve never had one in my life. Just one of those things. He did a great job.”
 
Line said his team may have made a small mistake with their car in the final, but it may not have mattered anyway considering Edwards’ terrific light.
 
“Hindsight’s 20/20,” Line said. “Looking at the run afterwards, we made a bad call maybe in the car. We shut the motor off when we let the clutch out. Just didn’t make a good run. I don’t think we could’ve run what Mike ran, and obviously with him being 0.009, it would’ve been tough to beat him anyway.
 
“Today was his day. I guess it was meant to be for him to beat us. But I don’t have to like it, I guess.”
 
No, he doesn’t. A racer like Line doesn’t like to lose at all.

TO PEE OR NOT TO PEE, THAT IS THE DECISION - Pat Dakin has won national events and even a world championship since he started racing Top Fuel in 1971.
 
He’s been on the flip side of fate and missed a round or two because he couldn’t get a car repaired in time or suffered catastrophic damage.
 
Saturday’s qualifying presented a new twist in his acclimation to modern day Top Fuel racing after a decades’ absence.
 
Dakin had a choice, run Saturday’s first qualifying session and face a one-year suspension or sit it out, take care of business and remain in the game.
 
Dakin’s number came up for NHRA’s mandatory drug testing on Friday.
 
“I take the blame for it,” Dakin said. “They delivered a notice to me at 1:30 on Friday afternoon letting me know that I had 24 hours to submit a sample. They also let me know the facility closes at 6:30.”
 
Dakin believed since he received the notice so late in the day that he had until closing time on Saturday to submit.
 
“I honestly got busy in the morning, let the time slip by,” Dakin admitted.
 
He was in his firesuit and going to the staging lanes when an NHRA official, according to Dakin, flagged him down with the stern warning, ‘If you make this run, you will be out for a year.”
 
Dakin double-checked the instruction from the official.
 
“He told me that he would throw me out for a year if I didn’t make it down there for the test,” Dakin explained. “I had to go take the test, which was on the other side of I-85 on the oval.”
 
Dakin drove the mile on his golf cart and missed the session.
 
“I should have looked at the paperwork and taken more responsibility,” Dakin admits. “They could have radioed ahead and let me have an extra 30 minutes to make the run.”
 
“You are on the hallowed grounds of the NHRA. This is not America, outside of these grounds, you are in NHRA Land, you have to abide by the rules. It’s their sandbox, and if you want to play, it’s all you can do.”
 
Had he elected to run, Dakin wouldn’t be the first competitor to get the boot for not submitting a specimen in the prescribed 24 hour period. Last August the NHRA suspended Pro Stock Bike rider Matt Guidera for the same offense.
 
Dakin doesn’t begrudge the NHRA for their attempt to keep the sport “clean” but does believe the series could be a little more friendly in their approach to the racers.
 
“I do believe the policy is necessary. They have to have it for their own protection. I think they should do it and it’s a good policy to have it. I think they need to start testing the ones who they know won’t pass.”

UP TO HIS ELBOWS - Off the racetrack, Matt Hagan, driver of the Diehard Dodge Charger Funny Car for Don Schumacher has been up to his elbows in Angus calves. Up until this weekend Hagan had calved 72 of his heard and has another 28 to go. In addition, he has another 100 calves to send to market between now and the Houston NHRA event in two weekends.

SOME BOBSLEDDING, NASCAR AND NHRA - The gold-medal winning four-man U.S. Olympic bobsled team stopped by zMax Dragway over the Four-Wide Nationals weekend to have a close-up look at drag racing’s best during NHRA’s 4-Wide Nationals.

But the admiration was mutual for Steve Holcomb, Steve Mesler, Curt Tomasevicz and Justin Olsen – as well as for the father of U.S. bobsledding, former NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine.

Eighteen years ago, Bodine saw that U.S. bobsledders were racing against teams with superior equipment. Americans were in Street Stock cars, while the best teams were in Top Fuel.

“We always had confidence in our athletes,” Bodine said. “But when I saw the equipment they were using and how they got that equipment – mortgaging their homes, fundraisers, buying their own equipment – and they were buying their equipment from the competition.

“I’m a competitive guy. I’ve never sold any other racer my best race cars. And after looking at what they were using, I knew it wasn’t very good equipment, and that was a problem.”

So Bodine went out and did something about it. He got engineers and car builders from racing involved to build U.S.-made sleds that could compete against the world’s best. The Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project has grown into some of the best sleds in the world.

And that was proven in Vancouver last month when Holcomb drove the four-man sled to a dominant victory.

“We didn’t just win the medal,” Holcomb said. “We stole it, we crushed it and took it away from everybody.”

A version of Holcomb’s “Night Train” sled was on display during nitro qualifying on Saturday, and several drivers and crew members stopped by to take a look at it. And they also got an up-close view of the quartet’s gold medals that were draped around each of their necks.

The real credit, Mesler said, should go to Bodine.

“Geoff still doesn’t get the amount of credit he deserves,” Mesler said.

Mesler noted that if a top-line driver should lose a sponsor, chances are good that another one will come along to replace the one that left.

“Somebody’s there to step in,” Mesler said. “If Geoff doesn’t step in 18 years ago, there’s not anybody else who’s going to step in there and do that. Honestly, we would’ve been at the Olympics this year, but we wouldn’t have medaled. And they wouldn’t have medaled eight years ago, Shauna Rohbock wouldn’t have medaled four years ago.

“I’m not sure people really get that, what he did. There wasn’t somebody else who was just going to hop in there because the void was there. He saw a void that no one else had filled before – and probably no one ever would have if he didn’t.”

Bodine appreciates the sentiment, but he doesn’t need the credit, he said. He was simply filling a need. Bodine is like a proud parent who watches his children grow up and do well.

“Seeing everyone open their arms to these athletes, that’s all I need,” Bodine said. “I don’t need a medal. Now, if one of (these) guys want to loan me one, and let me take it home with me, that’s all right. But I don’t need one.

“I saw a need. I’ve been very blessed in my life, my career. I learned quite a while back it’s pretty empty unless you give back. This was one of my ways of giving back .”

That’s a lesson we all could use.

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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK

WELCOME BACK ANNA LISA - Anna Lisa Smith intends to make a huge step forward in her recovery from injuries sustained in a non-racing automobile accident in December 2008.

Anna Lisa’s father Bruton Smith, along with his family, gave blessings for her to resume pursuit of drag racing as a driver. Prior to her critical accident, Ms. Smith had planned an eventual graduation into the Top Fuel division.  

Sunday afternoon during the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Smith’s agent, Donald Hawk and racing mentor Roy Hill announced an arrangement for her to drive James Finch’s SS/B Shelby Cobra Mustang. The car is actually production car No. 14.

“We intend to put her in the Super Stock car and make her competitive,” Hill explained. “There’s no timetable for this to happen. We are in no hurry to make this happen.”

Smith beams when discussing her future plans.

“I can’t wait,” said Smith. “I’m thankful to be alive, be healthy and be here. I’ve been dreaming of the day when I could get back out there. The desire to race never left (for even) one moment. I’m very excited to race Super Stock.”

At this time, Hill would not divulge whether the new Ford will run in a stick or automatic class.

“She’s already been in the car and her reaction times are still good,” added Hawk, who will be in charge of her endorsement and business related matters. “Believe it or not, the phone is already ringing off of the hook with opportunities. People have called to pick up where they left off last time.”

According to Hawk, interest has already come from at least one of the major automobile manufacturers.

“It’s up to her to say how fast she wants to go and up to Roy to determine how quickly she can begin competition,” Hawk explained.

Smith was once considered a Top Fuel prospect but for now, she’s content with Super Stock.

“I want to have a family one day and I don’t think I would be too comfortable racing Top Fuel,” she said. “I am happy to race Super Stock, it just not as dangerous. Super Stock provides a better life’s pace.”

Smith will run a Super Comp dragster prepared by Hill’s staff to re-acclimate herself with the sensation of speed.

“I never thought we’d have a chance to do this again together,” Hill concluded.

HI MOM! - Climbing back behind the wheel of an NHRA Top Fuel car after taking four years off is nerve-racking enough. However, attempting to return to competition at the inaugural NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway is enough to make even the most seasoned competitor a little wary.
 
“We were really excited about the prospect of being a part of this historical 4-wide event,” said Rhonda Hartman-Smith. “We have been trying to put something together with Hartley Racing since Pomona, so when this opportunity came along, it just all came together.”
 
Although Hartman-Smith’s first run of 3.982 et at 307.02 mph put her solidly in the field, merely making the race has never been enough for this female competitor. So, without skipping a beat Hartman-Smith jumped right back in for fourth round and held her own with the big boys and season-regular competitors. So much so, Hartman Smith leaped into the top half of the field with her fourth round qualifying effort of 3.888 et at 313.15 mph placing her in the eighth qualifying position.
 
“It felt great getting back into the car,” said Hartman-Smith. “I was a little nervous about being rusty and being in a different car, but the Hartley Racing team has been so great. Every round has just been as smooth as can be,” Hartman-Smith said.

Hartman-Smith not only earned a berth in final eliminations, she also reached the second round of eliminations. In the first quartet of four wide racing she advanced alongside of No. 1 qualifier Cory McClenathan.

A SERIOUS GET WELL CARD - zMAX Dragway general manager Christian Byrd's children wanted a way to let their ailing grandfather, Bristol Motor Speedway president Jeff Byrd, know they were thinking about him during the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Together they designed a message to let the elder Byrd, who they affectionately call “Thump,” know that his grandkids, Ashton, Weston and Reeves, missed him this weekend. That message, “Get Well Thump” was displayed on the East side of the center wall near the start line.

TASCA FURTHER ELABORATES - The just announced technical alliance between John Force Racing and Tasca racing is moving forward full steam ahead. Members of Tasca's organization spent time Saturday even down in the John Force pits while members of Force's operation spent time in Tasca's pits.

Additionally, Bob Tasca III further explained the new deal between the two Ford teams as it affects Tim Wilkerson.

“At this time Force isn't geared up to supply five race teams,” said Tasca. “When he can Tim Wilkerson is the first man on the list.”

First on the list to join the alliance and the only name on the list to purchase any current inventory from Tasca.

“This tractor trailer is full of Ford parts from Force,” Tasca said as he pointed to the second team hauler. “Starting tomorrow we running nothing but Boss 500 parts. In the end, this is the best deal for Force, for Bob Tasca and at the right time we hope for Tim Wilkerson.”

Tasca also revealed that his contract with Ford runs to 2014, the same length as the new deal Ford struck with Force.

 

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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK

SWING AWAY - Top Fuel racer Cory McClenathan failed to improve on his Friday No. 1 effort during the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Saturday’s qualifying. Having a pair of former Funny Car tuners in charge of his Fram-sponsored dragster, the failure wasn’t for lack of effort.

McClenathan missed the mark in the first session of the day but his low elapsed time of the final session with a 3.810, 319.82 sent a message.

“I think we have a car that they’re going to have to step up to beat us,” said McClenathan. “It’s one of those things were we’ve had that same car all year long, we’ve either gone out and really shined or we’ve taken something for granted that we shouldn’t have and it bit us. So it’s one of those things where the car ran really good and just now Todd [Okuhara] looked at me and said we’re going to try to run .79. I thought that was a little gutsy but he laughed and said if it doesn’t feel right shut it off.”

Friday’s performance assured McClenathan of his second No. 1 of the season and the 35th of his career.

His final two attempts today produced a 6.767-second lap at 86.45 mph and No other driver bettered his track-record-setting 3.790/315.93 from yesterday.

As McClenathan headed into the final session his tuners Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler were prepared to deliver a drag racing equivalent of baseball’s upper deck shot.

“I knew they were swinging for the fence. I told Todd, ‘that’s what I love about you and he just giggled. Todd’s pretty shy, he doesn’t care about interviews or anything else, but when the car runs [down the track] that makes him smile,” McClenathan said.

Come Sunday, if McClenathan has choice of lanes, and he does, No. 2 is his personal favorite. This was the same lane from which he won last year’s event. Although he won’t be heartbroken if he lands in another lane.
 
“They’re all very raceable,” McClenathan said. “I’ve had no problems with any of them. It’s not a deal where you say this one’s got a little bump; everything is very flat and very smooth. I do like the second lane though, for whatever reason that seems to be my lane of choice. Maybe that’s because that’s the one we won in last year, could be, there might be a little bit there. But at the same time we’re good with all of them, they’re prepared fantastic.”  

McClenathan is equally prepared for the first-ever four wide eliminations on Sunday. He wants the win awful bad.

“I want this one pretty bad,” McClenathan confirmed. “I’m definitely hungry, I want the points but I want the money, I want to win here, and I want this trophy.”

He and his crew are willing to swing for the fence to get it, too.

NO RECORD TODAY FOR HIGHT - Weather conditions weren't exactly perfect during the third and four rounds of qualifying for the 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord NC for Robert Hight to secure a national record. Which meant no one came close to knocking him from the top qualifying spot heading into eliminations on Sunday.

“The first run today we were honestly trying to run like we did last night and try to set a national record,” said Hight. “There was just such a delay that it just didn't happen. We were too far into the day. If we could have run on time there might have been a chance.

“Tonight we had a fairly decent run but it still hurt the engine.”

Conditions are predicted to be good on Sunday, which means Hight hasn't given up hope on getting the national record. The call will be up to his crew chief, Jimmy Prock.

“You would have to ask my crew chief. If you just try to race safe you just risk shaking the tires. You've got to be aggressive. This race track is unbelievable. It has a lot of bite out there. Any or all four lanes, you can do it in. It's not an issue of the track.

“When we ran the four flat at Richmond it was first round.”

If Prock goes for the record it will probably come from the far right lane. However, it could come from the far left lane.

“Beckman just ran good in the left. Ashley ran good in the third lane. I don't think it matters. One thing about it, we do have lane choice,” said Hight.

One aspect of the weekend for certain is the confidence Hight has in the racetrack and the NHRA. After watching Matt Hagan and Jeff Diehl both lose bodies in the same run, Hight felt a relief over how the situation was handled.

“Like I said yesterday, NHRA has done their homework. They have done an outstanding job down there,” said Hight. “You would think with this new system first time out, with four cars, they have done a great job everywhere from start to finish. My hat's off to them.

“You saw how they responded to the two cars blowing up. Yea, it gives me confidence because with these fuel cars you never know what's going to happen.”

With the NHRA doing all they can to make the drivers feel comfortable in the Four-Wide format, Hight is doing his best to walk away from the weekend with the Wally and clearly feels comfortable he can get the job done.

COUGHLIN ENDS EDWARDS' 12 NO. 1 STREAK - The streak is over. Long live the next streak?    

Jeg Coughlin broke Mike Edwards’ stranglehold on Pro Stock qualifying on Saturday, earning the No. 1 spot for Sunday’s 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, ending a streak of 12 consecutive races where Edwards had qualified first in Pro Stock.

But lest you think Edwards is going away, Coughlin warned against it.

“He was extremely fast in Gainesville, got beat on a hole shot in the final to Jason Line,” Coughlin said Saturday. “I don’t see him slowing down any time soon. I see this as just a slight blemish through Saturday. We’ll count on him being strong tomorrow.”

Edwards was strong on Saturday, too, going to the top of the chart after the third session before Coughlin claimed the No. 1 position. Coughlin went 6.520 seconds at 212.29 mph to qualify first, with Edwards second at 6.548 second at 212.13 mph.

“It feels fantastic,” Coughlin said. “It’s quite an honor to be your first No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock for the 4-Wide Nationals.”

Greg Anderson qualified fifth at 6.570 second but set a national speed record of 212.46 mph in the final round of qualifying.

Coughlin’s time was also a track record and seems to confirm changes made to his Chevrolet before and after the race at Gainesville were the right ones. His father, Jeg, returned to help the team, and Jeg Jr. qualified second at Gainesville.

“The car still wasn’t real, real happy,” Coughlin said.”(Jeg Sr.) came to Gainesville with us and made quite a few changes going into Gainesville.”

Then the race team got together and worked on a plan for this weekend.

“We haven’t changed a whole lot since Gainesville,” Coughlin said. “To be honest with you, we’ve had a couple team meetings since then with myself, my father Jeg, Victor Cagnazzi and crew chief Roy Simmons. We’ve just worked through all the great things that we accomplished at Gainesville and some of the few things that we didn’t accomplish and how we were going to overcome those going into Charlotte.”

Coughlin knew the team would have enough distractions this weekend, from racing at their home-town track to dealing with the intricacies of racing four-wide.

“We had a lot on our plate going in, and we decided we better get the car sorted out real soon because we’ve got enough other stuff to take care of,” Coughlin said.

The car sure seems sorted out now.

BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE - Upon earning the Pro Stock Motorcycle No. 1 qualifier’s spot Saturday at zMax Dragway, Matt Smith pronounced himself the favorite to win in Sunday’s 4-Wide Nationals.

And why not? Smith’s Buell got faster in each of his qualifying runs – except one where he didn’t have sixth gear – and finished with a track record ET of 6.875 mph.

“We definitely have the bike to win as long as nothing mechanical happens,” Smith said.

Smith was atop the qualifying chart after every session, running 6.904 second in the first round before slowing for the second session. He then went 6.884 seconds in Q3 and 6.875 in Q4.

“Our Al-Anabi bike is just running superb this weekend. We stayed over in Gainesville and tested, made a lot of strides. I took a year off from doing my own team and doing my own engine program and kind of got behind the 8-ball a little bit. We struggled the first race, but we stayed and got everything right. It’s showing up here at the second race at zMax.”

Smith knew he needed to pick it up to keep the No. 1 spot.

“Them Harley guys, you can’t say enough about them,” Smith said. “They’ve got a lot of power and they’re running big speed, 195 mph. I knew if they got a hold of the track at 60 feet that they would definitely give me a run for my money, and they did.”

Eddie Krawiec was the No. 2 qualifier at 6.882 second, but he went 195.42 mph to set a track speed record.

Still, Smith has lane choice for Sunday’s first round, and he said he’ll pick the third lane in the first four-wide run. Lanes 1, 2 and 3 are all good, Smith said.

“Four’s got a little bump out there about the 200-, 250-foot mark,” Smith said.

I like lane 3 and 1. That’s probably my preferred lanes. I’m going to start tomorrow in number three and hopefully stay there all day.”

Smith seems confident he can.

“We should be in the final four here on Sunday, weather permitting,” Smith said. “We’ll see what happens there.”

FORCE AND FORD THROUGH 2014 - Ford and John Force Racing officials announced Saturday that they will partner to supply parts and pieces to all Ford teams in NHRA, with Tasca Racing and Bob Tasca III the first beneficiaries of the new program.

Force has a parts-building operation near Indianapolis that could expand to service other teams, including Tim Wilkerson’s.

“All the jointly developed parts between us and John Force, around the engine, chassis and the body are equally available to any Ford team, starting with Tasca,” said Ford North America Motorsport director Jamie Allison said.

JFR has fielded four Funny Cars in the past, and Force said he needs four cars to make his parts-manufacturing business make sense. The economy forced the 14-time champion to cut back to three cars this year. Now, with the addition of Tasca, it makes four Fords for Force to supply.

“Then in time we will evolve to the next team with Ford, which would be Wilkerson,” Force said. “I’ve got a lot of dragster guys calling me, but I had to put the brakes on: ‘Let me make sure I can supply these guys.’”

Force said his team’s job is to supply safe and competitive cars to Ford teams. He said he doesn’t mind having to race against the same teams.

“When Ford said it’s time to partner up, even though we’ve got to race against each other, we know that they data comes from Ford, and we owe that help to all of their cars,” Force said.

Tasca said his team will begin testing the “Boss platform” on Monday after the 4-Wide Nationals. He hopes to race that platform by the middle of next month.

“These parts just don’t fall out of the sky,” Tasca said. “John has invested an unbelievable amount of money in that shop in Indianapolis, building arguably the most competitive parts, with Ford’s assistance, in Funny Car racing. The numbers don’t lie.

“So to have our team be able to tap in to those resources and long-term leverage … and our program working with his program and Ford Motor Company clearly will make the Ford teams even more competitive.”

Tasca’s team had a data-sharing program with Wilkerson, but that appears to be ending. Wilkerson, though, remains in Fords and will be the next team to receive parts from JFR, should he want them.

“We’ve had numerous conversations with Tim,” Tasca said. “To convert over to a different platform is very expensive. Clearly it has an adverse affect to our data sharing because he runs all different stuff. There’s no point in sharing any more data. That element has been kind of side-stepped.

“We’ll evolve our car. John has to spool up to feed his three teams, plus ours. (Wilkerson) would be the next person, if and when he’s ready financially to make that switchover.”

FORD’S ANNOUNCEMENT: WHAT ABOUT WILK? - Ford Racing conducted a press conference on Saturday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals detailing their new alliance, a collaboration of all of their Ford teams. Headlining those at the media gathering included members of the Ford Racing management team and driver/team owners John Force and Bob Tasca III.

All were represented from the Ford family except for one.

What about Tim Wilkerson?

Simply put, Wilkerson is the odd man out, at least for now. His engine platform is totally different from Force’s and based on the differences Tasca felt now was the best time to end their arrangement.

Wilkerson knew of the decision in advance of this weekend's announcement.

“Ford just wanted its sponsored cars to collaborate more,” said Wilkerson. “And, that’s understandable. Tasca and I are still close. He’s still going to let me park next to him and hang my hospitality on his trailer. I’m still going to help him whenever I can. We’re just not going to share data anymore.”

Sunday’s announcement brings to an end a program of sharing technology that was announced in late 2008 and implemented in 2009. Wilkerson dropped his GM affiliation and began running Ford bodies in 2009 as well as utilizing Ford support vehicles.

“We’re still a Ford car and Ford is still promoting our car,” said Wilkerson. “We are still excited about that and later in the year there should be some major announcements about what’s going to happen amongst all of us. Right now, Ford is still a big part of our team and I’m happy to have them.”

When they aligned themselves in 2008, Ford was happy to have Wilkerson as he was one of three teams contending for the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car championship. Tasca wasn’t even in the top ten. Last year Tasca finished eighth and qualified for the Countdown.

Wilkerson smiles, and he understand there will be those who draw the wrong conclusions, but adamantly points out there’s no issues with the new arrangement. He bears no ill-will towards Tasca and doesn’t blame him for forging an alliance with Force.

“Bob and I had a great agreement that I fully understood,” Wilkerson said. “He did everything that he promised me he would do. I did everything that I promised. There’s no animosity here at all.

“He and I still talk every run and there’s nothing that’s changed about that at all. Just because we aren’t all looking at the RACEPAK data doesn’t mean we can’t talk. I guarantee you that if I wanted to go down there and ask [JFR crew chiefs] Jimmy Prock or Guido anything, they would answer honestly.”

Wilkerson is quick to point out he’s enjoyed a great working relationship with Force over the years.  

“I tell you what, if it wasn’t for John Force, I probably wouldn’t be racing,” Wilkerson admitted. “He’s helped me for many years. He’s given me a lot of parts. I try to pay him for them and he won’t take the money. I have to stuff the money in his pocket. He’s a good dude and has sponsored a lot of cars out here. I’ve been one of them. You’re never going to see me bash John Force.”

Changing teams and alliances is nothing new to drag racing, and certainly a change of plans of this magnitude comes as no surprise of Wilkerson. To him, there’s not much to read into this decision.

“There may be some relationships expire down the road from all of this,” Wilkerson said. “We might be able to get together with John and his team. Right now, I think it all looks like a bigger deal than it really is. It’s not really going to hurt me; I can still get data from all of those guys. Hopefully it helps Bob.”

Is Wilkerson possibly preparing for a driving gig with John Force Racing?

“Nah, not really that,” Wilkerson admitted, with a smile. “Force has plenty of family members coming up in this sport and he needs take of them. You never know. Our situation is year-to-year with Levi, Ray & Shoup, and they are a great sponsor. But, you never know what might happen. I always keep my options open because I love to race and that’s my biggest downfall. I’m addicted to this sport and I will find a way to race. I would rather much do it the way I am doing it now. I don’t necessarily want to work for John Force or Don Schumacher or somebody big, that’s not the goal. I enjoy doing what I am doing, and if it ended up that way, it wouldn’t be so bad.

“I know how all of this went down but in the end, I think it might bring us all closer together.”

Once Force gets the Tasca car up to speed as if it were a fourth Force car, then attention will focus on Wilkerson. Technically, Tasca’s car won’t be a fourth Force car per NHRA team ownership rules.

“I think it’s a deal that needed to be done to accelerate Bob’s car in a different direction. It’s not going to affect us at all. Later on in the year, you could see me with a Boss engine in my car. That’s kind of the plan and we’re working our way there. You never know what is going to happen.”

WATCH OUT FOR GRANDPA - Should there be a problem at the finish line involving John Force and other cars, look for NHRA safety officials to attend to Force first. Well, maybe.

Force talked this weekend at zMax Dragway about how some of the games played at the starting line could cause problems at the end of a run during the 4-Wide Nationals.

“If you hang them out too long, they’ll run out of gas,” Force said. “They run out of gas, we’ve got a catastrophic (failure) down there with an explosion. And you could have multiple problems down there. One car could stir up that whole pot.”
But Force has already taken precautions.

“I’ve already talked to Safety Safari: ‘I’m the oldest, you should come for me first. Ashley (Force Hood) next, then Robert (Hight). Nobody else loves you like I do,’” Force said. “I swear to God, you ask them. I’ve already been down there. ‘Come find the old man.’

“When there’s two fires and one truck at some of our match races years ago, you’d see the truck go after the first guy on fire, and the next guy could have a big one. I’d always go down, ‘Be sure you watch for grandpa here. He’s coming.’”

KABOOM, TIMES TWO -

Four wide drag racing experienced its first multi-car explosion during the third Funny Car qualifying session during the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at

zMax Dragway in Concord, NC.

Jeff Diehl and Matt Hagan both suffered engine explosions severe enough to eject their Funny Car bodies. The other two drivers in the quartet, Bob Tasca III and Del Worsham were not affected.

According to team owner Don Schumacher, Hagan was taken to the track’s on-site care center to treat a cut on his forehead and investigate tingling in his hands. He was alert and conscious, and later released.

Hagan's crew went to work immediately after retrieving the car, stripping it to the frame and rebuilding for the fourth session. The chassis was undamaged in the incident.

Diehl was uninjured in the accident.

"It was motoring down through there," said Diehl. "The engine put a hole out and usually that's okay. But then I went into shake and I drove it through. It's my fault, I should have gotten out of it. That's the first time I've ever had a body blow off. Hopefully that will be the last time. I guess you have to experience everything at least once in Funny Car racing.

"It tore up a lot of stuff for an independent guy. It hurt me. I'll be back." 

If there was a silver lining for Hagan, his 4.104 second elapsed time launched him from the bottom of the field to the No. 9 position.

THE HOMETOWN HERO - While Sergeant First Class Wesley Catoe, Pageland, SC, has seen his share of conflict during his nearly 11 years in the Army, he was working a plumb assignment Saturday morning at zMax Dragway.

Sergeant Catoe was all smiles as he answered questions from young and old alike about what it is like to be a member of the Army family. In addition, Catoe is this week's “Hometown Hero” being honored by the US Army Top Fuel dragster team.

Just as the ARMY sponsorship is a perfect fit for Tony Schumacher, joining the Army was the perfect move for Catoe.

“I have always loved the Army since I was a kid,” explained Catoe. “You add that with a little bit of patriotism and love of country and I am right where I need to be. This is what I'm made for.”

Catoe had another love as a child. A love of drag racing. He was a regular spectator at Darlington and Rockingham Raceways and now attends the Jefferson-Pageland drag strip outside his hometown when the opportunity presents itself.

His idol as a child?

“I'd say Kenny Bernstein,” said Catoe. “I have no reason why. I just thought he was a cool driver. I liked him when I was growing up. It was something about him, the paint scheme on the car. It all just came together for me. He was my guy.”

Today, Tony Schumacher, courtesy of the ARMY sponsorship is Catoe's guy.

When Catoe isn't working the plumb assignments, he's serving his country and our freedoms. He can hardly describe how he feels about the job he does.

“Word's can't describe it,” said Catoe. “It feels great. To know that our kids and wives can go to the grocery store safely, your kids can go to school without worry; I would rather take the fight over there and the fight come to US soil. So, anything I can do over there to keep us free is okay with me.”

While Sergeant Catoe spreads the ARMY word, Tony Schumacher will take the fight to the dragstrip as he battles to win the first Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, courtesy of the freedom Sergeant Catoe so valiantly defends.

HIGHT AND PROCK HUNTING NATIONAL RECORD - They'll be crunching the numbers in the Auto Club Mustang pits as Robert Hight and crew chief Jimmy Prock take a huge swing at a possible national record.

“I think with the expected conditions tomorrow that if I don’t run better than 4.02 that may not stay No. 1. I have been in this position quite a few times making these killer runs and never backed it up for a national record. I have made the quickest runs at ¼ mile and the quickest runs at 1000 feet. I have never backed it up,” said Hight on Friday night.

“Tomorrow our goal is to back this run up. I know that (crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) is probably picking this run apart on the computer right now thinking that he can run 4.00 or 4.01. When you do that you risk smoking the tires. I would really like to go out there tomorrow and duplicate that (4.02) and get a national record. Now NHRA acknowledges national records and that is 20 more points towards this championship. That is big right now.”

If Hight and Prock can put together a run anywhere between 4.022 and 3.985 seconds in the remaining two days of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, then the Funny Car national record and 20 points will be theirs.

Hight ran a 4.024 Friday night, the third fastest elapsed time in the history of 1000' foot racing. The current record, 4.023 seconds, is held by Ron Capps. Capps set the mark in Phoenix last year. However, because the NHRA didn't start recognizing 1000 foot records until late in 2009, Capps never received the 20 bonus points. If Hight can take the record he will become the first Funny Car driver to receive points for setting a national record at 1000 feet.

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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK

COMFORTABLE IN CHARLOTTE - Even thought the drag strip includes two more lanes, Cory McLenathan is still comfortable at zMax Dragway.

McClenathan, the winner at zMax last September, roared to the top of Top Fuel the  ladder with a 3.790-second, 315.93 mph pass in Friday’s second round of qualifying.

Asked if he wanted to race at the Concord, N.C. track every weekend, McClenathan just smiled.

“I’ll just pretend it is Charlotte,” McClenathan said. “If you could put up a little screen of all the stands and all the people it’d be great. Anytime you go somewhere and you have a good weekend, you want to keep going back there. This is one of
those places.”

And this race is one of the special events that McClenathan seems to thrive in. He won the last time Top Fuel dragsters raced Funny Cars, and he’ll go for the first NHRA event victory using four lanes on Sunday.

“I look at this as being that type of deal,” McClenathan said. “You come in with that kind of attitude, and for some reason it seems to come together for you.

McClenathan earned the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot by beating two Don

Schumacher Racing teammates. Antron Brown was second at 3.819 seconds, with Tony Schumacher third at 3.830.

“(Crew chief) Todd (Okuhara), right before we started, said, ‘We’re pushing it, we’re going to push it and see what it’ll hold,’” McClenathan said. “We knew the right lane was really good. They’ve all been fantastic all day long. There’s a couple spots we’re trying to negotiate, so we came on the inside of that lane a little bit.
“But we got to about 800 foot, and I said, ‘Uh, huh, this is on a good run. It’s going to be OK.’”

McClenathan said his pass hurt the engine a little bit, but that may not be an issue.

This is Charlotte, after all.

HIGHT ON VERGE OF RECORD - John Force Racing’s Robert Hight ripped down the zMax Dragway during the second round of qualifying for the 4-Wide Nationals, setting a track record and posting the third-quickest 1,000-foot time in NHRA history.

But Hight wants more. And, he knows he might need more. Hight said Friday that his 4.024-second, 314.24 mph run may not hold up in Saturday’s qualifying sessions.

“Yeah, I believe the conditions will be good enough tomorrow that if I don’t run better than a 4.02, that may not stay No. 1,” Hight said. “I’ve been in this position quite a few times, running these killer runs, and never backed it up for a national record. I’ve never got a record. I’ve made the quickest runs at quarter-mile and quickest runs at 1,000 feet, but never backed it up. Tomorrow, our goal is to back this thing up.”

Hight’s run was the third-quickest and the second-fastest at 1,000-feet in NHRA history.

Hight ran the quickest 1,000-foot run in 2008 at Richmond, but he didn’t back it up within one percent of that time to claim a national record. Ron Capps, fastest in the first qualifying session, holds the national record of 4.023 seconds, set in Phoenix in 2009.

Hight said crew chief Jimmy Prock and the team figures that record could be broken on Saturday, with a 4-second flat or a 4.01-second run possible.

“I’d really like to go out there tomorrow and duplicate that and get a national record,” Hight said. “Now, NHRA pays attention to it and acknowledges a national record, and that’s 20 more points toward this championship, and that’s big right now.”

What about a 3.99-second pass?

“You never know,” Hight said. “If we can get this thing to run better to the 330-foot mark, a couple hundredths better, there’s a chance of that. We’ve done that in the past. It’s a tough deal putting all of those pieces together and making it run all the increments on the race track.”

TOEING THE LINE, FOUR AT A TIME – Two weeks ago in Gainesville, Fla., Jason Line was concerned with the condition of his right foot within his Pro Stock KB Racing Pontiac. To compensate for the weakness, he relied heavily on his left.

Line, of Mooresville, NC, wasn’t referring to an illness or an ache or pain to his person. His right foot was directly connected to his horsepower output while his left worked his clutch pedal near flawless.

Line was pleased to report on the first day of qualifying for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC, his right foot was feeling fine. The past Pro Stock world champion holds the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot headed into Saturday qualifying with a 6.584 elapsed time at 210.50 miles per hour.

Now if he can get a good performance out of both feet, he’ll be set for Sunday.

“The trick is going to be in getting them to work together on the same day,” said Line. “Mike Edwards will tell you that usually when the right foot is working well – the left one will struggle a little. I’m going to try and synchronize the two.”

If the run holds, it will be his first of the season and 16th career number one qualifying spot.

Getting his mojo comes at a perfect time for Line, who admits racing Pro Stockers four abreast has been a challenge.

“It has thrown us Pro Stock guys for a loop,” Line explained. “It’s going to take a little getting used to. We’re definitely enjoying it right now.”

Considering zMax is the only available location of an active four-lane drag strip, Line and his colleagues really had no opportunity to prepare for four wide racing. Last September’s four wide exhibitions were limited to the nitro classes only.

“The run itself is no different,” Line said. “To stage a car using the clutch and throttle is a little bit different than (with) the other classes. It’s a bit of a challenge but I’m sure we will have it figured out by Sunday.”

Line has more confidence headed into Sunday than in races past, due in part to successful test sessions between events.

“We did test and diagnose a few of our issues,” explained Line. “We didn’t make any performance gains. I think our big struggles have been engine related as much as they have been just struggling in making it down the race track. We are working hard to match the engine and the car together. Obviously we had a good day in matching the two together.”

DIALING BACK IN – Forget the challenges of qualifying four wide and the associated intricacies, Pro Stock rider Matt Smith is focused on getting the job done he fell short of last September at his home track of zMax Dragway.

Smith, from nearby King, NC, lost in the first round at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals and for the hometown favorite, that was a bitter pill to swallow for the last seven months.

“I wanted to win this race really bad last year and we weren’t able to pull it off,” Smith lamented. “This weekend I have another opportunity. Maybe I can stay No. 1 and win this race.”

Smith nailed the top spot in his first run of the event with a 6.904 elapsed time at 193.16 miles per hour. He admits the potential was present for an even quicker run during the second session had mechanical issues not impeded his progress.

“We went right down the track, the bike just didn’t have any high gear,” said Smith. “We would have been the quickest of the session if that hadn’t happened.”

The performance went a long way towards erasing the shortcomings of not only the 2009 race but of those two weeks ago at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. Smith tunes at least four other Pro Stock bikes in competition and in Gainesville, they all made early exits.

“We had problems with all of the bikes we were working with in Gainesville,” said Smith. “So we stayed over and found some problems and got them right. We ran fast and if I can get Doug and Angie to ride right, they will be right up there with me.”

Right up there with him constitutes being in a zone and that’s where he’s staying in the midst of the harried nature of four wide racing.

“I just concentrate on my lane and with those four blue bulbs up there telling you what everyone else is doing; it’s easier to do that,” said Smith. “It’s just like racing a traditional race. It’s very easy and self-explanatory. I was .023 [reaction] on the first run and .024 next.”



IMPACT DECERTIFICATION REACHES ZMAX DRAGWAY - One by one the competitors at zMax Dragway learned of the SFI decision to decertify certain products manufactured by Impact Racing.

Bob Tasca driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang, took a call from the manufacturer concerning their products in his use.

“They called me and told me my suit is safe,” revealed Tasca. “They have an issue with SFI that they are working on with their attorneys and that's the extent of my knowledge. I trust the product. I have used them for years and I have no apprehension at this time that it isn't what they say it is.”

Representatives of Don Schumacher Racing also had a conversation with an Impact Racing representative and opted to not make a comment on the situation at this time.

If the SFI sticks to its decision, it won't matter what assurances Impact supplies to the competitors, those products will no longer be allowed for use in the NHRA as of April 27, 2010.

This issue doesn't specifically affect the NHRA.

Phone conversations took place throughout the day between NASCAR and the NHRA, the sanctioning bodies with the most competitors affected by the SFI move.

Graham Light, NHRA Vice President of Operations, addressed the issue during a delay caused by a light rain.

“Basically, our rulebook requires certain products to be SFI certified,” said Light. “Which means as long as SFI is certifying those products we will accept them. If they are not certifying them, then they are not acceptable.”

Hundreds, possibly thousands of drivers in all forms of motorsports may well be placing orders for new uniforms and other safety equipment on the decertification list if an agreement between the SFI and Impact Racing isn't worked out within the next 30 days.

TWO CHAMPIONS' TAKES ON FOUR WIDE - Two past Funny Car champions participated in Friday’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, one from inside of the cockpit and the other from outside.

Tony Pedregon was one of the 32 nitro racers who competed in  the first national event showcasing four cars racing to the finish line simultaneously.

Kenny Bernstein participated but in a different role. Bernstein, a four-time Funny Car champion with a Top Fuel title, took in Friday’s action from a team owner role.

Both walked away from the initial experience with different feelings.

“I was taking the approach that these were two individual races and I was really trying to minimize it,” said two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon, who was 11th quickest after the first session. “It was a different experience, there’s no question about it. I didn’t know who I was racing.

“I think in the end, we have been used to not doing much in the seat other than what our routine is. When you ask us to do something new, we always tend to get concerned. I think in the end, the fans will have the loudest voice. From a driver’s perspective, I don’t mind if they took eight cars at a time. We’ll make the adjustments. The good drivers will. All we’re being asked is to do a few things differently. Whatever’s in the best interests of this sport, I am for it.”

Bernstein was more reserved in his opinion Friday afternoon.

“I have mixed feelings on this right now,” said Bernstein, who has 69 nitro national event wins to his credit. “I want to wait and see it all weekend and then determined whether it was cool or not. I really don’t know. I’m more concerned with the safety aspect. By the end of the weekend, I may change my mind and say ‘this is really cool.”

Both Pedregon and Bernstein competed in the Winston No-Bull Showdown, an event which matched dragsters versus funny cars in a special large-purse event. The format provided for a head-start given to the Funny Cars based on the world record of the time.

This was the last time professional drag racing broke from traditional competition since the course for nitro competition was reduced to 1,000 feet for safety.

“This was less confusing,” said Pedregon in defense of the four wide competition. “To be honest, I feel like this is a good thing. I found myself getting a little more motivated. Used to … I’d feel threatened by one guy, now I have three. The end goal is still the same. I still want to get there before all of them. It was a little different when I rolled out for the burnout and then it finally hit me, there’s someone on the other side of the wall. Give me another run or two and then it will be a walk in the park.”

In the past, NHRA has run specialty events but none that really brought a rise to Bernstein.

“The dragster - Funny Car things didn’t really turn my crankshaft to the point I wanted to say, ‘Let’s do it again,” admitted Bernstein. “It was good and it was fun. I would have liked to have beaten those guys. I didn’t see that as something outstanding that needed to go on. It would have been cool if you could have run the cars heads up or something. There was no way since they aren’t equal.

“It was a bit discombobulated and that’s why I am waiting to watch this play out.”

Bernstein said he wants some time to draw the proper conclusion of his opinion on the four wide competition. It was a lesson he learned when the NHRA reduced the distance from 1320 to 1000 feet after Scott Kalitta's fatal accident in Englishtown.

“When we started talking about going to 1,000 feet, I was dead set against it,” Bernstein said. “I said, ‘that’s tradition and you can’t give that up. The more I thought about it and talked to people, from a safety aspect, I realized it was a better deal. Sometimes you have to give yourself time to accumulate data and make the right decision.”



BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL - The first round of pro qualifying at zMax Dragway on Friday brought a lot of firsts in official NHRA competition. But it also brought drag racing’s first blue light special.

The first four-wide qualifying sessions brought along a set of blue lights atop the NHRA’s christmas tree, adding to the confusion of many drivers here. With normal two-lane runs, staging is fairly simple. A driver focuses on the tree and the next lane.

But for four-wide racing, there is essentially another two-lane drag strip. NHRA added a tree to the second two lanes of track, and the blue lights indicate the pre-stage and stage progress of the two opposite lanes.

So many drivers got in trouble on the start Friday watching lights and trying to figure out what they meant.

“My head’s in a cluster out there,” 14-time Funny Car champion John Force said. “I talked to my drivers, and I always joked in driving schools, the women do good. They drive their race cars like they’re going to market and they always seem to beat the men. It’s because they’re not all jacked up, and the men are thinking they know everything, and they’re trying to cut lights.

“That’s what I said to my drivers. Ashley said right off, ‘Dad, I do what you taught me: Amber, step. Doesn’t matter what everybody else is doing.’ And she’s right … to a point.”

Drivers spent the first qualifying session learning the starting system for the four cars, and clearly some didn’t have it figured out.

One driver that may have been confused was Funny Car’s Ron Capps, even as he set low ET for the first round in his NAPA Dodge..

“Capps said, ‘Well, Force, I was waiting for you to go in but the blue bulb didn’t light up,’” Force said.  “Well, the blue bulb’s for the other end. He got caught in it.”

Capps admitted as much, saying he was waiting for the traditionally long-staging Force to get to the line.

“I expected him to be last to roll in there,” Capps said. “He wasn’t. He was already in next to me, and I’m wondering why lights weren’t coming down. Jack (Beckman) and (Bob) Tasca were (to my left), so I was having a hard time seeing the little blue light.”

Capps said he planned to switch from an amber-colored face shield to a clear one to help see the lights better.
The blue lights were only one of the issues drivers faced Friday in a session Capps described as “hectic.” Force compared trying to understand running against three other cars to untangling a Rubik’s Cube.

Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon said he tried to block out the blue lights atop the tree.
“For me, those lights are a mile away from the ambers, which is what I’m looking at once you stage,” Dixon said. “You almost block it out. You just go up there like I’m racing (one guy).

“How I am and how I drive in the race car, the more I think about, the worse I am. Simple is better.”

That, Capps said, is easier said than done.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Just worry about the guy next to you,’” Capps said. “But to be honest, if a driver told you that, he or she would be lying. You’re constantly thinking about, ‘What’s going on over there?’”

The drivers who figure out the lights likely will be ones who do well this weekend. But there will be plenty of drivers who won’t figure them out.

“We have really got to focus on what we’re doing,” Force said. “You’re going to see red lights, you’re going to see people being dead late, you’re going to see a lot of confusion.

“I did it last year, and I thought, ‘I’ve got it figured out.’ But then they changed it with the two outside bulbs.”

And remember, this is after one round of qualifying. There are three left – and three more lanes to get used to.

“I want to make sure that when I go up there, my brain doesn’t start reading the bulbs backwards,” Force said.

Top Fuel driver Antron Brown also noted that the gamesmanship of staging won’t really start until Sunday.

“Everybody’s staging nice and lovely out there right now because it’s qualifying,” Brown said. “But when race day comes … it’s going to get real exciting. You guys might need to have some bodyguards at the other end to pull drivers off of each other because it’s going to be a battle royale at the other end of the track.”

But isn’t that what most fans want?



FOUR WIDE OFFICIALLY, IS HERE - The NHRA officially ushered in four wide qualifying Friday afternoon, a truly historic moment in the sport's history.

Pro Stock Motorcycle opened the professional qualifying session for the inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.

The opening quartet of riders included Douglas Horne, L.E. Tonglet, Angie Smith and Mike Berry. Three of the four riders fouled with only Smith grabbing the green light.

Tonglet scored the first win light from lane 2 with a 7.019 190.92.

The first qualifying session for the Pro Stock Motorcycle division took a lengthy six minutes to complete.

Hometown racer Matt Smith led the first session of qualifying with a track record 6.904 elapsed time. Eddie Krawiec grabbed the track speed mark with a 195.34 mile per hour blast.

THE FIRSTS - Running a four-lane national event has a way of producing firsts.

The first run winners of each professional classes were Ashley Force-Hood (Funny Car), Bob Benza (Pro Stock), L.E. Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

The first driver to go to the wrong lane was Pro Stock racer Josh Gaydosh.

The first driver to leave before the tree was activated was Pro Stock racer Vinny Deceglie.

The first driver to get "counted out" was Funny Car racer Bob Gilbertson.

Funny Car driver Jack Beckman had a bit of advice for an announcer who pointed out that drivers should have their routines down by Sunday.

“When you’re holding a microphone it’s pretty easy, when you’re holding a nitro steering wheel, it’s a different story.”

BENDER IN BLUE (FOR THIS WEEKEND) - Donnie Bender, whose last crew chief gig was with Don Prudhomme Racing last season, is at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals this weekend with a different blue uniform.

Bender is working with the Kenny Bernstein Racing Co-Part-sponsored team for at least this weekend as a consultant.

LARRY MORGAN’S DYSFUNCTIONAL WEEK - Larry Morgan has admittedly experienced “one of those weeks” leading into the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC.

Morgan’s dysfunctional days began on Tuesday, when while dyno testing a primary engine, the unit dropped two valves. The subsequent damage rendered the block and cylinder heads in need of some serious TLC.

“I could have fixed it all,” Morgan pointed out. “But not in short order.”

Morgan made the decision to elevate a second engine to the starting line-up, so he and the Lucas Oil team could travel down to Rockingham Dragway for some test laps.

The first run resulted in a severely wounded back-up engine.

Morgan then put in his “race” engine and on the very next run, broke two valves.

“That’s when I borrowed a truck from the Swedes [Jimmy Alund and crew] and drove halfway to my shop where I met one of my guys halfway,” Morgan explained. “I loaded up both engines, we took them to the shop, tore them apart. I took the best one of the two and freshened it up. I left last night at 8 PM and got here [zMax Dragway] at 4 AM.”

Morgan pointed out he’s almost afraid to start the one he’s got in the car for Friday’s qualifying.

“We’ve got an issue we are trying to resolve and it’s going to take a little beating up to do it,” Morgan said. “I don’t know whether I can take much more beating up this week. This is the only engine I have here this weekend.”

And if something happens to this one?

“I guess I’ll have to try to learn how to be a good spectator,” Morgan said smiling. “Either that, or I’ll have to become reporter for Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com this weekend.”

THE TETHERS - According to sources in the zMax Dragway pit area the NHRA approved at least three different designs of wheel tethers – two of  which were tested on the Monday following the Gatornationals in Gainesville.

The most impressive, according to one team, is the system designed by Ed “Ace” McCullough, crew chief on Ron Capps NAPA Dodge. Additional designs were submitted by Steve Chrisman, Jim Head and Alan Johnson. According to Larry Dixon, the designs of Chrisman and Johnson were tested at Gainesville by Del Worsham and Jeff Arend.

None of the teams associated with the design of a wheel tethering system are using a system this weekend at zMax Dragway. And, according to a member of the Ford camp, the issue of tethers is not the answer. The issue is the design of the wheel studs, “The real problem is with the design of the studs. If they fix the issue with the studs there is no need for tethers. Wheels shouldn't come off in the first place.”

Earlier this week, the NHRA released preliminary findings in the incident which led to the death of a spectator at Firebird International Raceway when a wheel broke loose from the Top Fuel dragster of Antron Brown.

The report states clearly there was an underlying issue with the studs holding Brown's wheels in place.

Through the team publicist, McCullough stated the NAPA team would not use the wheel tethers in competition until further testing has been done.

BERNSTEIN FLIES WITH THE AIR FORCE - “It is with a great deal of patriotic pride that we welcome the United States Air Force as an associate sponsor on our Copart/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster beginning this weekend at the Inaugural Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway,” said team owner and six-time NHRA champion Kenny Bernstein.

“Our team will be used as a marketing and recruiting tool for the Air Force for the remainder of the 2010 season and will be instrumental in working with influencers who will in turn open doors for recruiters.

"We are excited about our new partnership with the Kenny Bernstein Racing Team for the 2010 NHRA race season," said Brig Gen AJ Stewart, Commander of Air Force Recruiting Service.  "We know how professional the KBR team is and believe they reflect the standards that personify the Air Force personnel. I'm positive this will lead to an increase in exposure for our Air Force and allow us to reach out to those eligible men and women who may be interested in joining our team."

“I guess you could say that my wife Sheryl and I have had United States Air Force blood running through our veins since we were born,” added Bernstein.  “My father was a bombardier navigator in World War II and was a veteran of many missions.

“I was born in Clovis, N.M. while my dad was stationed at what is now Cannon Air Force Base, and I spent the young years of my life in an Air Force environment.  I remember going to air shows with my father and being around the buddies that he flew with.

“My wife Sheryl was delivered by a flight surgeon while her father was in the service at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona.”

“I gained a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for the Air Force when I had the opportunity to fly with the Thunderbirds two years ago,” said Copart/Lucas Oil dragster pilot Brandon Bernstein. “We went through several hours of pre-flight instruction. You couldn’t help noticing how meticulous all the flight personnel were from the airplane crew members who make sure the planes are safe, the personnel who did the flight suit fitting, the flight surgeon, and of course the pilots.

“The pilots depend on their crew members to keep the planes safe just as we depend on our crew members to go through all the systems on our race car to keep us safe.  The Thunderbirds are the epitome of pride, precision and professionalism, the same principles that we try to adhere to on our team.

“We will be proud to fly the Air Force colors and be ambassadors for the men and women in blue.”

DOUBLE EXPOSURE - NHRA isn’t the only one utilizing an increase in equipment and manpower to handle the inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway this weekend. ESPN2, the longtime television partner of NHRA, who will bring the historic NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event to millions watching at home Saturday (7 p.m. ET) and Sunday (5 p.m. ET), also has beefed up its on-site presence.

Shawn Murphy, senior coordinating producer for ESPN2’s NHRA coverage, says seven additional cameras, a helicopter and an estimated 15 more crew members were needed to pull off coverage of NHRA’s first-ever venture into four-wide drag racing. "We needed the additional equipment to help tell the story," Murphy explained. "A single round of racing will take approximately the same amount of time, but two additional cars will be in the mix each time. We have to tell the story about four racers instead of two during each run, so we’ll have to maximize that time with more camera selections and graphics."

Murphy said ESPN2 added two additional hand-held cameras for the extra lanes at the starting line, a new crane camera positioned near mid-track just outside lane four, an extra super slow-mo camera, a helicopter-mounted camera to provide dramatic overhead visuals, a small robotic camera situated on the wall outside lane four and one additional point of view camera, bringing the grand total of cameras in use by ESPN2 at this event to a whopping 28.

"We plan to continuously remind our viewers that four cars are racing instead of two, that will be very important," Murphy said. "And we have created a lot of graphics packages that will reinforce the rules of how four-wide racing works."

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THURSDAY - WHEN NHRA INVADES NASCAR COUNTRY



Four different racers. Four different reactions. And yet they all had, as Karen Stoffer so plainly put it, “fun.”

Karen Stoffer, Hector Arana, Doug Horne and Morgan Lucas took three-lap rides courtesy of the Richard Petty Driving School at Charlotte Motor Speedway Thursday afternoon.

Arana forgot the ride wasn't over at the end of the straightaway. Horne wasn't anywhere close to wanting the ride to be over. Lucas hopped out of the car ready to purchase a Late Model dirt car and Stoffer was confident she could drive a stock car.

“I can do this,” said Stoffer, rider of the GEICO Powersports Suzuki. “You'll probably see on the video I was smiling all the way. I had fun. I could do that, definitely.

Stoffer, who set a national elapsed time record on her motorcycle just two weeks ago, admitted she felt the speed in the car more so than she does on her bike.

“It felt fast. I think because I am so used to my bike; my bike doesn't feel fast. It's quick and there's something going on. This one, because you are moving so much you get the perception of speed.

“It was a fun feeling. It wasn't oh my god slow down; it was I want to go faster.”

Sporting the same huge smile as the others Lucas spoke of his new found appreciation for stock car drivers. He loved the ride, but then he loves his ride, a Top Fuel dragster.

“I gotta say that was a lot of fun,” started Lucas. “Feeling that thing stuck in the corner like that is just really impressive. It gives you a whole new appreciation for what these guys do. I hope I get the opportunity to drive something where you have to turn a little bit.”

Lucas felt forces he doesn't typically feel in his Top Fuel dragster, but bottom line, “a race car is a race car is a race car. There is a reason it's a race car – because it's fast.”

Lucas who is teammates with open wheel veteran turned stock car driver Mike Pappis expressed the desire “to switch seats with him just once.”

For Arana the experience was something he never expected.

“It was totally different from what I am used to, especially when it came to the turns. I kept looking at the rpm. I wanted to see how fast he was going. It got close to 6000, steady speed. Steady rpm's.
“It's fun. I wish I could have a chance to drive one.”

Arana felt okay going down the straightaway, but as the car approached the corner Arana was questioning just when the car would slow down.

“On the straightaway, it felt good. What was tricky was, I was letting off in my mind, as it came to the turn and he's still on it. I was looking for the stripe on the wall and he was still going. I would have slowed down already.

“It was a great feeling the power. I do love it. I love the speed.”

Arana had an interesting thought after his ride. What if he could swap places and put the driver of the stock car on the back of his Buell and run him down the quarter-mile.

“Who knows, that sounds interesting,” said Arana before stating the obvious for all those who had on the opportunity to ride along in a stock car.

“I am blessed.”

FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE - Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher spent part of Wednesday morning sitting in a race car, talking to drivers and touring the garage area.

But the smell of nitromethane wasn’t in the air. Instead, there was the smell of high-octane Sunoco racing gasoline as Schumacher wandered around the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage during testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Schumacher spoke with team owner/driver Tony Stewart and even crawled in Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet.

“Those machines are pretty awesome,” Schumacher said. “I told Tony, ‘I’m lighter. I could go around that track, too.’ The only problem I have is the ADD. I get around the second turn, and I start looking at the squirrels and stuff.”

Schumacher later talked with Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon, but NASCAR wasn’t all that was on his mind. He even spoke with Gordon about lane choice when it comes to racing four cars in the Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at nearby zMax Dragway.

NHRA is staying with their traditional four rounds of qualifying, with each car getting one pass on each of zMax’s four lanes. Schumacher, though, wishes it were more.

“Qualifying, I wish we had 10 of them (runs) because this is something new,” Schumacher said. “As much as I say it’s fun, we do get points here, so you want to go out and win this thing. It is very important that we don’t see any rain, that we get those four runs – I wish they’d give us five or six.”

Schumacher does have five teammates at Don Schumacher Racing among Top Fuel and Funny Car to gather information about each lane, but qualifying is only one of the many unknowns in this weekend’s event.

Two drivers in two of the first three elimination rounds advance to the second round, which means a driver can “win” even if didn’t get the win light. Schumacher hopes NHRA can figure out a way to let drivers quickly know if they’ve advanced in those first two rounds.

“We didn’t think about this,” Schumacher said. “I called Jerry Archambeault from NHRA the other day and said, ‘OK, I just thought of something. This is so cool and unique that I don’t know if anyone’s come up with this. When I cross the finish line, there ought to be a big, huge, lit-up thing that says, 1, 2, 3 or 4 in my lane.’

“We’re going to get out and kind of look at each other … did I? … I don’t … how? … nice job. We need to know what we did so we know if we’re moving on or not.”

Schumacher said that with two cars, an official points one car one way and the other another way, letting drivers know who won.

“Now, there’s four cars,” Schumacher said. “We can’t all even get around the corner.”

Another issue is visibility going down the track. In regular races, if the other driver smokes the tires, a driver can see it and coast to the finish. Now, with three other cars, a driver can’t see all the lanes.

“Now that I can’t see two lanes over, I’ve got to get back in it,” Schumacher said. “I don’t have a choice.”

Everyone will be learning this weekend, including NHRA, Schumacher said. But he also understands it’s a work in progress and will simply do the best he can.

For instance he didn’t know until last week that the finals will include four cars.

“To me, I didn’t need to know,” Schumacher said. “I’m going to show up, they’re going to tell me what lane to go in, I go to watch the lights, and when the lights go on, I’m going to push the pedal down. I’ve always been the keep it simple, stupid guy. The more I try to figure out and understand, the worse you do because you get overcomplicated.”

Whatever the procedure, Schumacher has a singular focus – hoisting the Wally high over his head at the end of the day on Sunday.

 

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THURSDAY - ON THE EVE ON UNCERTAINTY

Creating drag racing history will generate more than an average share of challenges, according to the NHRA’s leading professional drivers scheduled to participate in this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC.

This will be the first national event in NHRA history in which teams will compete in four lanes instead of the traditional two. Drag racing’s basic rules will be in place, except this time four professional vehicles will roll to the starting line for each round.

All four will perform their burnouts side-by-side-by-side-by-side and launch the same in each qualifying session and elimination round; Sunday’s eliminations will consist of three rounds instead of the traditional four.

Many drivers are accepting the  weekend as a means of creating further interest in the sport while others hope the break from tradition doesn’t make a reasonably simple sport of racing to the finish line too complex.

“I think the whole weekend is going to be a trial and error process, especially for me,” said Shane Gray, a rookie driver in the NHRA Pro Stock car division. “I don’t know what to say about it and I don’t know if anybody really does because it’s the first time for all of us.  That really puts us all on an equal playing surface, so in a way, I won’t be the only newbie.”

Two-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion Larry Dixon didn’t participate in last September’s four-wide exhibition because he reached the later rounds of competition during the Carolinas Nationals. The participants for the exhibition were comprised of teams which lost in the first round.

“The four-wide format is something that I don’t think anybody seriously ever considered 20 years ago or even two years ago but it’s here, and we’re racing it.  Leave it to Bruton Smith to come up with a format that nobody ever imagined for a points race. We go into it with a lot of questions, and hopefully will have all of the answers by the end of the weekend.

“Not having done this before, I’m going into it with the mentality that I’m only racing one other car.  I don’t think we’ll be able to see the other two cars because they’ll be on the other side of the wall, so I really don’t know what it’ll be like.  This is the kind of format you’d expect to see in a Winston all-star race, but with this thing, there are points on the line so it’s not an exhibition, it’s for real.  It’s gonna be interesting, I can promise you that.”

The NHRA broke from tradition back in the earlier part of the decade with a non-point earning event sponsored by Winston which pitted the two nitro classes against one another. The Top Fuel division gave the Funny Cars a head start based on the difference in world records.

Giving a head-start is one thing but racing four-abreast is another believes Funny Car racer Matt Hagan, speed record holder in his class.

"It's one thing to race the guy beside you, but when you have to race three others, you don't know what's going on two lanes over," said Hagan. "Now, you're going to have to put yourself in a situation where you have to make it go to the end no matter what, because you can't see what's going on in the other lanes, versus just racing the guy beside you.

"It puts you in a tough situation to make the decision of whether you have to pedal at the top end or not, because you can't see what's going on and you have a real good chance of the car blowing up. But, that's the official decision, so we just have to deal with it as drivers."

Unlike Hagan, who was still in competition last year when the exhibition ran, Funny Car racer Del Worsham took part and quickly drew the conclusion that to a driver placed in lane four, or far right, the experience will be no different from a standard competition.

“It was really no different because I was all the way in the far right lane, and the only other car I saw was the one next to me,” Worsham explained. “What I did notice most was the excitement level among the fans and the other competitors.  At the top end of the track everyone was so excited after the run because we were the first Funny Car drivers to do it.  Since I was on the far right, I only noticed the car right next to me so I don’t have the perspective of what it will be like in lanes two or three.  I just know that being in the outside lane is pretty much normal.”  

Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher believes the largest obstacle will be to orchestrate the staging of the four cars.

 “You just don’t know what’s going to happen,” Schumacher said. “Of course, I’m hopeful there won’t be any issues. I’m just going to go out and do my usual thing. I’m going to stay focused on my car and my lane. That’s really all you can do.”

Rodger Brogdon, a Pro Stock driver and owner of multiple businesses in Houston, Tex., understands the reason why Bruton Smith is attempting an unproven professional format.

“In the business world you need to constantly be waving your own flag and creating awareness of your product to drive the consumer to your door,” said Brogdon. “That being said, the concept of racing four-wide this weekend will generate awareness and the press should be able to go nuts with what’s going to transpire.”

And that, Brogdon believes, is well worth the investment of time and effort from the teams.

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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK - TEAMS PREPARING FOR HISTORIC INAUGURAL EVENT

A CHANCE TO BE PART OF DRAG RACING HISTORY - There’s a first time for everything.

However, in the world of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, those milestone opportunities come and go at rapid speed, often at more than 320 mph. Those drivers who are able to break through and become the first to accomplish a feat are long-remembered for their achievements.

Drag racing fans remember Kenny Bernstein as the first to eclipse the 300-mph barrier in official NHRA competition.  Shirley Muldowney achieved legendary status for becoming the first female to win an NHRA Top Fuel race and world championship crown. Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson was the first to post a 200-mph speed in his category. Two years ago 14-time Funny Car champ John Force became the first driver to record 1,000 round wins in NHRA competition. Earlier that same year he watched his daughter Ashley become the first female to win a Funny Car race.

So now, the big question looms as to who will be the first drivers to win four-wide races in their respective categories?

The inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, one of the most anticipated NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events in NHRA history, will be held at the spectacular zMAX Dragway, March 25-28. The track is the only drag racing facility in the world to feature four all-concrete lanes for racing. The historic race will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD.

Not only is a solid place in the record books waiting for the four winners of the inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, but also critical NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championship points will be up for grabs. This is no exhibition. This event will be important for teams who are working to position themselves for a strong finish in the Countdown to 10, NHRA’s 17-race regular season.

In Top Fuel, seven-time defending world champ Tony Schumacher moved back into the series lead with a victory at the tradition-rich Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals two weeks ago in Florida. The U.S. Army dragster driver will certainly be one of the favorites for this event, along with teammate and driver of the FRAM dragster, Cory McClenathan. Schumacher’s arch-rival, Al-Anabi Racing’s Larry Dixon, also will be a major threat to win the race, as will Matco Tools dragster pilot Antron Brown, runner-up at the Gatornationals. Others to watch include Doug Kalitta, who has advanced to two finals in three races this year, Brandon Bernstein, Morgan Lucas, Shawn Langdon and upset-minded Steve Torrence.

Force comes into the event as the Funny Car series leader based on a victory at the season-opening 50th Winternationals and a runner-up finish in Phoenix. The 60-year-old Funny Car icon is back on his game and will be hungry to win at his old pal Bruton Smith’s “Bellagio” of drag strips. His daughter Ashley Force Hood finished second in the series standings last year and will be in the hunt to get her season on track after a slow start has her mired in ninth place. Defending world champ Robert Hight also will be in the mix in his Auto Club Ford Mustang, as will veteran driver Ron Capps in his NAPA Dodge Charger, second-year star Matt Hagan, who set the national speed record at 316.15 mph in Florida in his DieHard Charger, and Gainesville winner Tim Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang, and one of the hardest working drivers in the business.

Defending Pro Stock world champ Mike Edwards continues to be the class of the field in his category. He has two victories, a runner-up finish and three No. 1 qualifying performances in three races this season and has built a 132-point lead over the second place driver in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP.  North Carolina resident Jason Line and his teammate Greg Anderson will be Edwards’ toughest competition in their identically-prepared Summit Racing GXPs. Line used a holeshot start at the last race to snag the victory away from Edwards in the final round. Other favorites in the category include Tennessee’s Allen Johnson, who has posted three semifinal finishes in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger, four-time world champ Jeg Coughlin, who drives the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt, and the always-tough Greg Stanfield, who can run with anyone in his NitroFish Gear GXP.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, 2008 world champ Eddie Krawiec opened the season with a victory at the Gatornationals aboard his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. His final round opponent was surprising Shawn Gann, who hadn’t advanced to a final round since the 2004 season. Meanwhile, Karen Stoffer powered her GEICO Powersports Suzuki to the No. 1 qualifying position and the national E.T. record with an amazing 6.847-second run during the first round of eliminations. Defending world champ Hector Arana is currently fourth on his Lucas Oil Buell, while new Don Schumacher Racing rider Craig Treble anchors fifth place on his Valvoline Motorcycle Oils Suzuki. The King, N.C.-based husband and wife tandem of Matt and Angie Smith will be huge favorites among the Carolina locals.

WELCOMING OLYMPIC GOLD - Five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will be welcoming the U.S. men's bobsled team to zMax Dragway for this weekend's inaugural NHRA 4-Wide Nationals and he's hoping his friends bring some of the Olympic magic they used to win the first four-man gold medal for our country in the last 62 years.

"We're very excited to show the bobsled guys what we do in our world," Coughlin said. "They've been so gracious with us over the years, teaching us all about bobsledding. Now it's time to return the favor. I think they're going to have a lot of fun."

Coughlin became friends with many members of Team USA over the past few years as he's taken part in the Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering, a charity event partially sponsored by JEGS Mail Order that raises money for the BoDyn Project. Started 18 years ago as the brainchild of Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine, the BoDyn Project makes state-of-the-art bobsleds for the men and women of Team USA, who have since driven BoDyn bobsleds to the top of the world rankings.

As part of a special tribute to the team, Coughlin's JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt will be adorned with the "Night Train" logo (the nickname the men's four-man team gave their sled), the BoDyn Project emblem, and replicas of the gold and bronze medals the team captured at the Vancouver Games.

"These guys and girls are heroes," Coughlin said of the U.S. bobsled team members, who will serve as grand marshals of the event. "Steve Holcomb, Steve Mesler, Justin Olsen, and Curt Tomasevicz, they're on top of the world right now and that's exciting. We're also recognizing Erin Pac and Alana Meyers for the bronze medal they won in women's two-man. We were actually on hand to see that happen and let me tell you, it was as exciting as it gets. Winning something for your country is extraordinary.

"Having the Olympic team there will be very cool. Charlotte also is home to Victor Cagnazzi Racing so the entire staff from the shop will be out there helping us. It's exciting for them to come to the races and this event offers a great chance for their family and friends to come along as well.

"We have lots of reasons to be fired up about this race."

TROXEL DRIVING THE NIGHT TRAIN - Funny Car superstar Melanie Troxel will give the gold-medal-winning USA men's four-man bobsled team the ride of its life this weekend at zMax Dragway when she drives a special "Night Train"-themed racecar down the strip at speeds in excess of 300 mph.

"Night Train" is the nickname the men's four-man team gave its bobsled after it was delivered to them from the BoDyn Project, the non-profit organization started by Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine that makes U.S. athletes the most competitive bobsleds in the world. Led by pilot Steve Holcomb, the "Night Train" crew broke a 62-year Olympic drought in February when they rode their BoDyn sled to gold in at the Vancouver Games.

Holcomb and pushers Steve Mesler, Justin Olsen, and Curt Tomasevicz were recently named grand marshals of the inaugural NHRA 4-Wide Nationals and will be in attendance at this weekend's drag race.

"We're very proud to salute Steve and the rest of our Olympic bobsledders and their incredible effort in Vancouver," Troxel said. "Our car will be draped in an American flag and will have big 'Night Train' and Bodyn Project logos on there to drive home the 'Made in America' theme my buddy Geoff Bodine has worked so hard at portraying over the past 18 years. I have a feeling this car is going to be a crowd favorite."

Troxel should gain some good mojo from Holcomb and crew. In her first attempt at the annual Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering this past January, Troxel beat all the boys and took home a gold medal of her own in the charity event, which pits NASCAR drivers against their NHRA counterparts.

"We've been getting quicker every race and that's very encouraging," Troxel said. "We're ready to break into the 4.0-second range and as smooth and quick as zMax is this weekend could be the perfect time to make it happen.

"Running consistent 4.0s will make us competitive with the top cars. If we can get in that range we'll most likely qualify in the top half of the field and have a better draw on Sunday. We're definitely ready to go some rounds and put ourselves in position to win one of these things."

The Night Train Dodge Charger R/T will be unveiled for the first time Friday during the two professional qualifying sessions slated for 2 and 4:30 p.m.

Joining Troxel in honoring Team USA this weekend will be fellow Bodine Bobsled Challenge participants Morgan Lucas, Shawn Langdon, and Jeg Coughlin Jr.

BROWN GOES VALVOLINE FOR CHARLOTTE - Antron Brown and the Don Schumacher-owned Matco Tools/U.S. Army Top Fuel team will sport a new look for the inaugural Four-Wide NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway at Concord, March 25-28. The 24-time NHRA winner’s dragster will fly the colors of Valvoline during the first-ever four lane NHRA drag race at the Bruton Smith-owned facility.

The team’s customary blue and red 2010 Matco Tools paint scheme will return for the O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, the site of Brown’s first career Top Fuel win in 2008. Brown’s Matco Tools/U.S. Army team will shed its 2010 paint scheme four times this season beginning with the spring Charlotte race at zMax Dragway. Valvoline is an official DSR sponsor and backs the Valvoline/MTS Dodge Funny Car of “Fast Jack” Beckman and the Valvoline Suzuki of Craig Treble.

"We at DSR are proud to showcase Valvoline on all the cars we race,” team owner Don Schumacher said. “We have had a long relationship with this iconic brand that provides high-quality performance-enhancing products. Featuring Valvoline on the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Antron Brown at the upcoming NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is just one way of showing our loyalty to them for their continuing support."

Brown, the only driver in NHRA history to win races and lead the standings in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle, currently ranks fifth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings following three of 23 races on the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule. The Matco Tools flagship driver earned his 22nd career No. 1 qualifying award and 11th in Top Fuel at the last race in Gainesville, Fla. and advanced to his 49th career final round where he fell to DSR and U.S. Army Racing teammate Tony Schumacher. Brown also raced to a career-best 1,000-foot speed (321.04 mph) at the Gatornationals.

“It’s great to represent Valvoline at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals, along with Matco Tools and the U.S. Army,” Brown said. “It’s cool to see Valvoline in the primary sponsorship location for such an exciting race. This is a really big deal for NHRA drag racing and Valvoline is a product that is not only the choice of top mechanics, but it’s the choice of Antron Brown. I run Valvoline in my personal Toyota Sequoia and we couldn’t put a better product in our 7,000 horsepower nitro motors than Valvoline oil.”

YOU AGAIN? - Top Fuel racer Steve Torrence’s best finish after three of 17 regular-season events was a semifinal appearance at Phoenix (Feb. 21).  He ran well at Gainesville, Fla. (March 14) but lost a close race to Antron Brown in the opening round of eliminations.

“I will say I’m getting tired of racing Antron because every time we do, he just kicks our rear,” Torrence said.  “I don’t know how many times I’ve raced him, but it seems like he beats me at every race.  Maybe one of these times we’ll get lucky or something.”

“It’s kind of like gambling; eventually the odds are bound to catch up with you,” Torrence concluded.

For the record, Torrence and Brown squared off twice this year, once in 2009 and once in 2008. Brown got to the finish line first each time.

ONE MORE ROUND - The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will make history at the Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, but for Team Mopar® NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson, it’s all about making the final at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.

Johnson will gladly accept the three semifinal appearances and the second spot in the point standings he has claimed following the first three events on the 2010 NHRA schedule, all while breaking in his new HEMI®-powered Mopar Dodge Avenger. But after coming up short in three consecutive semifinal showdowns with defending NHRA Pro Stock champ Mike Edwards, Johnson is itching to advance one more round and make his first final appearance of the season and 18th of his 15-year NHRA career.

“We have to at least get one step farther and get to the final,” said Johnson, driver and owner of the J&J Racing team, based in his hometown of Greeneville, Tenn. “I’d like to be able to qualify in the top three and get on the opposite side of the ladder so we don’t have to meet Mike until the final. But he has shown he can be beaten, too [Edwards lost to Jason Line on a holeshot in the NHRA Gatornationals final]. You always have to be primed and ready to take advantage when the opportunity presents itself. ”

Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals attendees will witness for the first time in NHRA history four-wide racing during qualifying and eliminations. The two drivers to cross the finish line first in each of the four first rounds of eliminations will advance to the second round. The two drivers to cross the finish line in each of the two second rounds of eliminations will advance to the final, which will feature four drivers going head-to-head, with the first to cross the stripe claiming the event win.

“It’s certainly different. It should be exciting for the fans,” Johnson said. “I can roll with it as well as anybody can. It’s all the same thing—you have to make excellent runs and drive great, be it on two lanes or four. You’ve got to run your own race. When you’re just racing one person that’s what you have to do, and with this deal here it’s even more important to block out everybody else out there.

“I feel like I’m one of the top veteran drivers out there and hopefully I can adapt easily to the situation. We did pretty well at Concord last September, almost making the final. Maybe we can take that and build on it. Hopefully the format will play to our advantage and we can come out on top.”

JOHNSON PARTICIPATES IN B.R.A.K.E.S FUNRAISER - Allen Johnson will once again lend his support to the non-profit organization B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible and Keep Everyone Safe) at the Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Johnson will donate the jacket of his racing firesuit for a B.R.A.K.E.S. silent auction at the event and will also appear as one of many NHRA special guests at a B.R.A.K.E.S. pancake fundraiser scheduled to take place Saturday morning, March 27, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

B.R.A.K.E.S. was founded by NHRA Top Fuel driver Doug Herbert in memory of his two sons who were killed in a car accident. By training and educating teenage drivers and their parents, the foundation aims to promote safe driving in an attempt to prevent injuries and save lives.

“I’ve been a huge supporter of B.R.A.K.E.S. ever since the organization was founded,” said Johnson. “The group’s mission to educate teens about the need to be responsible and safe while driving helps save lives. I’m proud to participate and help B.R.A.K.E.S. in whichever way I can.”

Tickets for the fundraising event may be purchased in advance for $10 at http://www.charlotte.speedwaycharities.org or for $15 at the door. For more information on B.R.A.K.E.S., visit http://www.putonthebrakes.org.

A UNIQUE HOME GAME - As a North Carolinian born into a racing family, Matt Smith decided he preferred racing without doors and on two wheels instead of four.

And he is very good at it.  He has an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series championship trophy (2007), 10 national event title trophies and 11 runner-up finishes for verification.

Right now, what he covets most is the opportunity to add another victory to his total at this weekend’s Inaugural Four-Wide Nationals at Bruton Smith’s zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C., near Charlotte.  It is only track that has four lanes.

“I’d really love to win the Charlotte race . . . or at least go to the finals,” said Matt Smith, the son of Pro Modified driver Rickie Smith.  “It’s our home track and the first of the four-wide races.”

He definitely feels better prepared for the season’s second race.  A mechanical malfunction precipitated an unexpected first-round exit at Gainesville, Fla.  Smith responded with a test session the following day that he deemed very successful.

“We ran really well and I’m excited about my chances this weekend,” he commented.  “I’m looking forward to the race.  I think it’s going to be very interesting, and fun.  I know Bruton has thought about four-wide racing for a long time and it should turn out to be a neat deal.

“This is a historical moment, not only drag racing, but for North Carolina and Charlotte hosting.  It will be different.”

A HOMETOWN RACE, KINDA SORTA - For Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team, this weekend’s race at zMAX Dragway marks the first of several homecomings for the team. 

Concord, North Carolina, is home to Tasca Racing, the first Funny Car race shop in the heart of NASCAR country and located minutes from zMAX Dragway.  All crew members live in Charlotte and are eager to race not only at their home track, but to make history as event champions of this weekend’s Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

“I’m excited to get to the track for the four-wide racing because this is the first time it’s ever been done,” said Tasca.  “Whenever you can be a part of history, whether you’re a fan, a spectator, a driver or a crewmember, I think there’s a lot of nostalgic value about it.  This weekend will go down in the history books as a significant moment in NHRA competition.”

A resident of Hope, Rhode Island, Tasca has logged many hours in the race shop and embraces the Charlotte community.  Determined to make his second home proud, Tasca looks to check “Win Charlotte” off his drag racing to-do list.

“Last year we finished building our Tasca Racing shop, so I’ve spent a lot more time in Concord,” said Tasca.  “On top of Charlotte being one of our team’s home track, it is one of the premier facilities for NHRA.  You want to win no matter where you race, but I want to win at Charlotte, especially since it is in our backyard. That’s my goal looking this weekend – win the four-wide race at Charlotte.”

 

 

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