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SUNDAY NOTEOOK - FRUSTRATING DAY ENDS UNDER THE LIGHTS

HAGAN WINS BATTLE OF THE GIANTS - Two giants met in the NHRA Route 66 Nationals Funny Car final – one in performance and the other

in stature.

Score one for the big fella.

Matt Hagan, who stands 6’1”, 210 pounds, showed not only was he big in person, but large in driver performance.

Hagan stopped a streaking Robert Hight at three wins and secured a national record en route to the winner’s circle. In the final round, he ran a 4.035 elapsed time to back up a 4.022 second run recorded a round earlier.

"This was (crew chiefs) Tommy DeLago and John Medlen's race,” said Hagen, whose victory marked the second of his career. “These guys put a great race car underneath me all weekend long. We've kind of been testing some stuff the last three races. It's been tough because we don't have the testing time to do that. That's why we struggled a little bit. But these guys made a decision together to come back and put back what they knew in the race car and it's just been great ever since.”

Hagan began to flex his muscles with the Diehard-sponsored Dodge Charger in qualifying.

"After qualifying (No. 3) I came back and I told Tommy that's the race car I'm used to,” recalled Hagan. “It's just great to have that confidence again that these guys are going to [get the car to] go down the race track. They sure did it today. It was great to set the national record and win the race. How better of a weekend could you have?”

While the weekend might have turned out great for Hagen in the end, getting to the point was a challenge of starts and restarts. Rain delays pushed what started as a normal race day into a drag racing survival of the fittest up until the midnight hour.

“It was tough because we had a round where they started us up and had to shut us down,” Hagen explained. “The guys had to go back and get fuel. I’m sitting in the car for about 15 minutes trying to keep my adrenalin up. I just wanted to stay focused and make sure we didn’t do anything we shouldn’t and get out of rhythm. It says a lot about out team that they can keep their composure in these situations.”

Hagan’s path to the victory went through Tony Pedregon, Jeff Arend and Ashley Force Hood before beating Robert Hight.

The points from the victory and world record moves Hagen into third place in the Funny Car point standings behind Hight and John Force.

DIXON CAPS DAY WITH HIS BEST - Imagine for a moment a pay-per-view ultimate fighter or boxer having to perform under the same conditions as an NHRA drag racer when the weather refuses to cooperate.

“It’s sort of like having a boxing match and stopping after four rounds and saying, ‘We’ll come back in maybe an hour or two,” said Larry Dixon following his fifth win of 2010 season and the 53rd of his career. “You are just walking around on eggshells the whole day. You are just waiting to do something. I am definitely glad everybody stuck it out.”

Dixon made those who stuck out a rainy race day at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals extremely proud of their decision as he defeated arch-rival Tony Schumacher in their sixth meeting of the season. They each now have three wins apiece in 2010 head-to-head competition.

Friday’s qualifying was abbreviated to just one session and Saturday’s action was delayed by early showers. Sunday appeared, early on, as the one day where rain wouldn’t affect the event.

However, moments before the drivers were to suit up for the semi-finals, severe weather sent the teams scurrying for the shelter of their pits and fans seeking dry ground underneath the grandstands. Racing resumed several hours later and just a few ticks before the midnight hour, Dixon won the Top Fuel crown.

“It was a long day but not as long as Friday,” Dixon said. “For us, it was definitely worth the wait.”

Dixon scored the win with a 3.773-second run at 321.65 miles per hour. His run captured low elapsed time of the event and the performance came as no shock to Dixon, a two-time winner at the facility.

“This place is gold,” said Dixon. “It’s the gold standard when the sun is off of it. We’ve seen all through the years how good this place can be. Now you get to see it at 1,000 feet as opposed to a quarter. It’s awesome.”

Though the stands were largely empty, the excitement of racing under the lights wasn’t lost on Dixon. The experience evoked childhood memories for the second-generation Top Fuel racer.

“It’s cool; it’s what I grew up on,” Dixon explained. “My dad raced that way enough times when I was a kid. Racing at Orange County, that’s just what you did. Our sport is so cool at night, and I am biased, with the flames coming out of the cars, I wished we raced all through the summer on Saturday nights.”

“I was just glad everybody did what they could to get it in tonight, so we didn’t have to come back on Monday with different conditions. The fans who stuck it out got to see it all.”

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR - One need only look at the final round Pro Stock stats at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals to understand just how tough it is to win in this eliminator.

Even though defending series champion Mike Edwards has made the process look easy, he’s said time and time again it's not.

Sunday night under the dark skies of a rain-drenched Joliet, Ill., final round opponent Jason Line provided what he needed to prove the point, Edwards can be beat. Just not on this night.

Edwards had a .007 reaction time and left the starting line second.

In fact, Line was only .005 slower in the performance department. The .004 elapsed time advantage was all Edwards needed to score his sixth victory of the season by inches.

“That’s what Pro Stock is,” said Edwards. “We were doorhandle to doorhandle the whole way down that race track. What a great way to finish a day like this.”

Edwards had a bracket car all day long running within .004 from his first three rounds. His 6.594 in the final was his best run of the weekend.  In every round except for the semis when Line tied him to the thousandth, Edwards was the quickest car.

The field has made up some ground on Edwards but the numbers clearly show 2010 is much better than 2009 up to this point. He won the 2009 title on the strength of five wins.

“It’s hard to believe,” Edwards admitted. “I just can’t believe what is happening. I’ve been doing this for a long time. To have this kind of success and last year was phenomenal. To have this kind of a start is very humbling. It’s unbelievable. I have to give all the glory to God.

“Roger Stull, my team, Penhall, Interstate, K&N, ART and Contemporary Corvette made that possible.”

VOTE FOR WARREN – The fan vote for the K&N Horsepower Challenge has many of the drivers campaigning for the No. 8 spot. One of the drivers who isn’t campaigning has already earned the defending series champion’s vote.

“I’d vote for Warren Johnson,” admitted Mike Edwards. “I’ve grown up watching him race and he deserves to be in there.”

Of course, it’s not often a drag racer gets to choose their opponent in eliminations but in this case Edwards, the No. 1 seed, will race the fan voted driver.

VOTE FOR WARREN – The fan vote for the K&N Horsepower Challenge has many of the drivers campaigning for the No. 8 spot. One of the drivers who isn’t campaigning has already earned the defending series champion’s vote.

“I’d vote for Warren Johnson,” admitted Mike Edwards. “I’ve grown up watching him race and he deserves to be in there.”

Of course, it’s not often a drag racer gets to choose their opponent in eliminations but in this case Edwards, the No. 1 seed, will race the fan-voted driver.

SUN SHINES ON TONGLET - The inspiration of watching his father and brother win in Pro Stock Motorcycle was enough to propel LE Tonglet to experience his day in the sun albeit in the darkness of the NHRA Route 66 Nationals.

Tonglet scored his first career national event over Steve Johnson at a rain-drenched Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

“My emotions are running so high it’s indescribable,” said Tonglet during his first-ever NHRA press conference. “I’ve been waiting for this moment all of my life. Seeing my brother and my dad compete out here, and they’ve won a time or two, but in having my own is just awesome. I can’t thank my dad enough for doing this out of his own pocket. This win will provide a huge boost going into New Jersey and Norwalk.”

The win will provide a financial boost for this weekend’s Englishtown, NJ., event but Norwalk is still up in the air. The Tonglets, spearhead by patriarch Gary, and assisted by LE’s brother GT, are on a race-by-race basis and self-funded.

“This was a huge win towards our efforts,” Tonglet admitted.

Tonglet was just two races removed from his first career final round where he finished runner-up to Michael Philips. Ironically, it was Philips who provided his pre-final advice just to keep his wits on the starting line.

“I was in the finals in St. Louis and we had a quicker reaction but Mike just went around us,” Tonglet recalled. “I just did my best to stay calm and I did with an .011 light and was able to drive around Steve.”

The team has found a few performance advantages which it feels will help the bike perform better. The improved performance is what Tonglet is banking on will bring forth something equally important.

“In Atlanta we found issues and it came out here flying,” Tonglet said. “We are changing the same issue we had coming into the next race. This will boost my dad’s spirits and his itch to go racing.”

A smiling Tonglet then revealed his true desire.

“I want to be out here full time,” he conveyed.

ALMOST NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIGHT - Robert Hight didn’t win his fourth consecutive national event victory at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. Despite the loss, the defending NHRA Funny Car series champion didn’t leave the rainy event empty handed. He is now the point leader.

Hight missed out by thousandths on securing a part of drag racing history. Only four drivers including Don Prudhomme (30), Cruz Pedregon (22), John Force (21) and Kenny Bernstein (18) have longer consecutive round win streaks than Hight’s 15 in a row.

It took a national record setting performance from second year driver Matt Hagan to beat Hight.

“We got snake bit in the second round when our blower seized up. We haven’t hurt any parts whatsoever the last four races. I felt that something was wrong at the top end after that second round run. When I lifted it was beating and banging. It felt like there was a belt catching. We had to change blowers to one we were running in Houston and we had to put a new case on it,” said Hight. “We put it in for the semis and it ran 4.04 but it hurt it again. We could have hauled ass that run. We tried fixing it and we hurt it again in the final. The engine was wounded.”

Hight’s semi-final and final runs of 4.044 and 4.069 seconds would have won every race in the first two rounds of racing on Sunday.

“(In the final) we were together with Hagan until the 330-foot mark and then he put about three hundredths on me to half track. It was like I was sitting still and I almost lifted. He was just marching away from me,” said an impressed Hight.

SCHUMACHER MOVES INTO SECOND - Tony Schumacher moved  into second place in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series drivers’ standings with his final-round appearance at the Route 66 NHRA.

Schumacher lost to series-leader Larry Dixon in a late-evening final round – a four-hour, 51-minute rain delay separated the second round from the semifinals. His 3.823 seconds at 323.12 miles per hour fell short of Dixon’s 3.773 seconds at 321.65 mph.
        
“It was a great race,” said the reigning and seven-time world champion. “You put two world champion drivers in two great cars, together with ideal weather conditions on a great track, and this is the kind of race you get. I think it was worth the price of admission (for the fans).
        
“Mike (Green, crew chief) and the rest of my U.S. Army team continue to give me a great car and a great chance to win every week, which is crucial because there are a lot of great cars in Top Fuel.”

This was the fourth consecutive race featuring a Schumacher-Dixon match up – the previous three occurring in the semifinal round (Schumacher winning two of the three). Overall, they have met six times this season, with three round-wins apiece.

“We love running against the best,” he said. “Like the Army Strong men and women serving around the world to protect all of us, we prepare to take on any opponent, to rise to the challenge regardless of the situation.”

KALITTA TIES 2009 WIN TOTAL – Ten races into the 2010 season, Doug Kalitta has already matched his round win total from last season.
He now has 19 elimination-round wins this season. That is one more than his total amount of round wins in the 2009 season.

The 45-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., reached the semi-final round in Sunday’s NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago. Kalitta also raced to the semifinals in Las Vegas and Atlanta. He has four final-round appearances this season in Pomona, Calif., Phoenix, Charlotte, N.C., and most recently in St. Louis.

“We had another good showing with our race car this weekend,” Kalitta said. “It was a really long today, but we can’t hold our heads down with a semi-final finish.
 
“We are having a great season so far. We haven’t picked up a trophy yet, but I’m sure we will soon. The numbers don’t lie. We’re already having a much better season than last year so we’re really happy and encouraged about everything so far.”
 
Kalitta remains in 4th place in Full Throttle Top Fuel championship points. He is 204 points away from the top spot.

INCONSISTENT TRACK PREP - For Ron Capps, the NHRA Route 66 Nationals was not one of his better outings despite a strong qualifying position.

Capps, who made the field in his last qualifying attempt, was a first round casualty opposite of Jeff Arend.

The driver of the NAPA Batteries Dodge contends the NHRA’s track prep is largely to blame for much of the unpredictability of the racing surface.

"We saw an oildown a couple of pairs in front of us and the sun started beating a little harder on the track," said Capps, "and our teammate Matt Hagan went right down that same left lane and ran a great 4.18.

"We knew the conditions were going to be tough and Jeff Arend could step up and run a low 4.20 or a high teen, so we were prepared. It got out there and when it tried to lock the clutch up it just was too much and it pulled the tires loose.

"NHRA has changed the preparation of the race track with the amount of glue and VHT they use to prep the tracks. And they're experimenting. But the crew chiefs have been frustrated going up there not knowing which direction the prep was taking, so it was throwing a curve ball to a lot of the crew chiefs.

"We were having a great weekend, we wanted to do better with the NAPA Batteries car, and we'll just go to Englishtown and see if we can stay in the top five in points and continue on."

The NHRA’s Graham Light told Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com the sanctioning body hasn’t adjusted their compound from race to race.

FORGETTABLE WEEKEND - Some race weekends are made to be forgotten. For 64-time national event winner Jeg Coughlin Jr., the Route 66 NHRA Nationals provided one of those experiences.

It wasn’t so much Coughlin’s day ended in the first round as it was the way it ended. He couldn't get his car to cooperate during his first-round staging procedure.

In one of the most bizarre race starts of the season, Coughlin executed an odd and very short burnout, backed up, tried another, and then his engine lost fire. A mad, last-second thrash didn't help and V. Gaines was given a free pass against the second quickest racecar on the property.

"We had an electrical system malfunction there," a puzzled and dejected Coughlin said. "It appears the combination of starting a burnout, stopping it, backing up, then restarting the car, redoing another burnout, and backing up again just wore the system out. It must have had a short of some sort, which, I've got to say, is another first in my career.
 
"We'll get to the root of it, make our systems stronger, and keep our car running well."

Entering this event, Coughlin had fought through to the final round in three of the last five races, taking two wins and putting himself squarely in the championship hunt. He says this setback won't take long to overcome, especially with the breakneck pace of the upcoming schedule.
 
"Fortunately, we do have four races in a row here so we can rebound quick," the fine-time world champion said. "We were looking to get some momentum going here in the first race and we were so pumped up after qualifying so well, but it came apart a touch today.

"We're just going to have to turn our attention to the second race. I love Englishtown. It's one of my favorite places to stop on the tour, and we'll be there in a few days. I'm already looking forward to getting back in the car."

 

QUICK HITS – RACE DAY REPORTING IN RAPID FASHION

TOP FUEL

NOT BAD AT ALL - Steve Torrence continued his performance comeback in excellent fashion Sunday when he advanced to the semifinals of NHRA’s Route 66 Nationals.

Torrence beat Shawn Langdon and Cory McClenathan before losing to Tony Schumacher.
 
“This has been a good weekend for us,” said Torrence. “We are improving as a team and we are looking forward to our next race at Englishtown (N.J.).”

PREMATURE DEPLOYMENT - Shawn Langdon seemed a certain winner in the opening round of Top Fuel until his parachutes prematurely deployed around 800 feet, which knocked off enough speed to allow lower-ranked Steve Torrence to take the win.

"Last year it was a throttle cable, this year it was a parachute cable," Langdon said. "It's just so unfortunate because after struggling from changing our tune-up around we've finally started to move in the right direction.

"We were on pace to run a low 3.82 (second ET)."

MAC ATTACKED – Cory McClenathan lost to Steve Torrence on a holeshot in the second round.

“You just hate to get beat on a hole shot, no matter where you go," said McClenathan, who slipped from second to third place in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series point standings. “But when it’s (team owner) Don Schumacher’s hometown (Chicago) and we had the better car, you just feel like you let the team and Don down. We’re better than that, I’m better than that. We’re going to have to pick it up and go on.

"It's tough to lose this way but, at the same time, we just keep going down the track with consistent and quick runs. Our competitors have to step up to beat us, and that's what they did today. The 'kid' (27-year-old Torrence) took a shot at it, and that's how he got it."

FUNNY CAR

BEST NOT GOOD ENOUGH - Tim Wilkerson saved his best for last but even that was not enough to get him past round two, the point at which he has departed at six out of the past seven races.  After a frustrating couple of rainy days, a thrilling last ditch qualifying effort, and a much-needed win in round one over the always-tough Del Worsham, Wilk ran into the Robert Hight buzz saw in the second stanza, when his very good 4.186 came up short to Hight's terrific 4.111-second blast.  It was Hight's 14th consecutive round win.

"I'm very happy with that run, and it felt good to get out there and make a good full lap when the three cars ahead of us in the right lane all smoked the tires," Wilkerson said.  "We gave it our best shot, we hit it pretty much right on the button, and we got beat by the best car out here right now.  That was a beat-down they put on us, but we held our own and I'm proud of the guys for hanging in there until we got the car sorted out.  Even though we lost, it makes you feel better going into next week coming off a lap like that.  Hopefully that will help us hit the ground running in a few days, when we get to Englishtown."

PRO STOCK -

LEARNING PROCESS CONTINUES - Starting ninth, Anderson’s day got off to a good start as he was the beneficiary of a red-light start by opponent Johnny Gray, punctuating his win with a 6.642-second, 208.26 mph pass.  This set the stage for a second-round encounter with defending Pro Stock champion, and No. 1 qualifier Mike Edwards.  Although Anderson was able to once again better his performance, stepping up to a 6.634-second, 208.68 mph run, his opponent used the quickest run of the weekend at 6.603 seconds to advance to the next round.
 
“Our Summit Racing Pontiacs received a little help from Mother Nature today, with Jason’s (teammate Line) car really responding,” said Anderson.  “However, you have to have both the car and the engine right to run fast, and my car started the day a little off in low gear.  We made a few adjustments to compensate, but could have used one more run to get it to perform as well as Jason’s.
 
“We still need to get faster.  Although today showed us that we’re making sufficient power, we need to pinpoint how to duplicate this performance in hot and humid weather.  We also have to start qualifying higher in the field, so that we don’t have to face people like Mike (Edwards) in the early rounds.  If the race is completed today, we’re going to stay here tomorrow and test.  We’re going through a learning process, and we need to accelerate the pace.”

PRO STOCK BIKE

EARLY EXIT – Craig Treble qualified No. 1 but didn’t have much time to celebrate. Mechanical problems with his Don Schumacher Racing Suzuki made him a first round casualty opposite Redell Harris.

“We were thrilled with our qualifying effort; the Valvoline Suzuki is obviously extremely fast. For whatever reason, we’ll figure it out when we get back to the shop, the two-step (RPM limiter) did not work," he explained. "I ended up launching the thing at about 13,500 RPM. I’m sure I had a terrible reaction time (.050 to .036) because when it went to the high side like that it launched the clutch.

"I thought for sure I was going red (foul) and I grabbed the front brake and stopped it. Then the light turned yellow and I let it go. With all that commotion going on, I just did what I could do. I tried to chase him down. I was reeling him in, but I just ran out of real estate and came up on the short side of it. The good note is Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief) has definitely got a handle on the horsepower, and hopefully at the next race we’ll perform as well again.”

STILL THE LEADER - Hector Arana rode his Lucas Oil Buell V-Twin to a semifinal finish at the rain-plagued United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals to increase his lead in the Full Throttle championship points to 135 over three-time champion Andrew Hines.

"The positives of the day is the bike ran great and we earned some extra points," Arana said. "I should have done better with my light in the semifinal. I left some points out there and that might come back against me later in the year.

In the semis, Arana wasted a dazzling 6.901 at 191.95 mph with a -.079 red light start, giving the win to Steve Johnson, who went 6.928 at 191.84 mph.

Just shy of the NHRA Route 66 Nationals semi-finals, the skies opened up forcing yet another rain-delay.

Rain has played havoc with the event since Thursday when rains from earlier in the week forced officials to relocate many of the sportsman racers away from their soggy sportsman pit areas. Friday was limited to only one qualifying session. And while Saturday could have been considered rain free, competition got off to a late start because of a wet shutdown area.

Race officials estimate the track can be dried within 45 minutes resulting in a 5:15 PM, CST. restart. There are many with their fingers cross because the next storm cell is predicted to arrive then.

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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - A MIRACLE OF A ROUTE 66 DAY

CHANGE OF OPPONENTS BODES WELL FOR HIGHT - Robert Hight can’t help his sentimentality. The defending Funny Car world champion breathed a sigh of relief following the disqualification of Cruz Pedregon following the final qualifying session at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. Because the NHRA disallowed Pedregon’s run, which would have placed him in the field, Hight’s original opponent John Force was moved up in the qualifying list.

“It is hard for me especially to race John because it is hard to have the same ‘go for the throat’ feeling as you do for the other competitors,” admitted Hight, who retained the top spot on the strength of Friday’s 4.067. “If it wasn’t for him I would not be sitting in that race car. He gave me this opportunity. You do have to blank all that out. You have to go up there and when we race my team wants to beat his team and they want to beat us. You just have to put all that out of your mind and focus on the tree.”

Hight will race Justin Schreifer instead as he enters final eliminations as the No. 1 seed for the fourth time in 2010. The switch in opponents won’t affect Hight.

“It doesn’t change your mindset,” Hight explained. “We don’t race the other guy. We go up there and race the conditions. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) knows what he can get away with based on the conditions. We go up there and do our deal. It was just like in Topeka when we had a single we would have looked stupid if we would have gone up there and smoked the tires.

“What did we do? We went out there and set low ET for the whole weekend. We didn’t do anything stupid. We didn’t put the car where we hadn’t put it before. We just went and raced the conditions. There is no difference in how we approach racing Justin or John tomorrow morning. If I try to make a difference I’ll be late on the light. You have to go up there assuming the other guy is going to be perfect. You just have to do your job because if you don’t he is going to beat you.”

TAKE A JOHN DOWN, PASS HIM AROUND - Fourteen-time NHRA champion John Force had to feel like an unwanted Christmas gift following Saturday’s final day of qualifications at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago.

Force was to meet teammate/father-in-law No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight in Sunday’s opening round but a disqualification of Cruz Pedregon provided Force with a new opponent – daughter Ashley Force Hood.

For the 47th time two John Force Racing teammates will lead the Funny Car class into competition when Hight and Force Hood start eliminations at the UA Rt. 66 NHRA Nationals on Sunday.

Force was not looking forward to racing a family member whether it was Hight or his daughter. The current Full throttle point leader knows that the fans will get to see a great first round match-up and he will have to bring his “A” game to the starting line.

“I race the way I always race,” said Force. “Robert has an opportunity to set a record tomorrow that only a few drivers have ever done. Guys like (Kenny) Bernstein, (Don) Prudhomme and myself have won four in a row. He has a shot at taking the points lead tomorrow. We are teammates but tomorrow we have to slug it out. We are family and (Ashley) knows I love her and she loves me. We’ll just go from here and see what happens.

 “The fans will love it. Either way we have race cars that are out in the points. The truth is if I can’t run good enough to beat her then I need to go home because I can’t beat anyone else. It is going to be exciting. The fans better get in the seats early. I am getting to bed early and I am getting ready. I am going to go work out in the gym tomorrow and tomorrow I am going to come out here and give everything John Force has got. Ashley will do the same thing. She will give me her best tomorrow too.”  

WHAT HAPPENED TO CRUZ? – Sources confirmed Cruz Pedregon’s disqualification was the result of his Funny Car body which sat too low to the ground behind the front wheels.

The body didn’t trip the beams properly.

The disqualification prevented Pedregon from qualifying.

THANKS ROBERT - As the No. 1 qualifier Hight's performance won Natalie Corres of Waucoda, Illinois a Whirlpool washer and dryer from JFR sponsor BrandSource. As part of the "Win with Force" promotion when a JFR team is No. 1 qualifier a Whirlpool washer and dryer set is given away and if a JFR driver wins tomorrow a lucky fan will win a Mitsubishi 52 " television.

TREBLE HOLDS ON – Pro Stock Bike rider Craig Treble held on to the top spot through the final two qualifying sessions at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

Treble ran 6.960 seconds at 190.27 mph to claim the top spot during Friday’s lone session and improved during Saturday’s second run with a 6.932, 188.

This marked Treble's first No. 1 of the year, and the fourth of his career. His last No. 1 came in 2003 at the Pomona, Calif., season finale, where he won the event.

"It was a lot wetter last night and today it started drying out after the rain finally subsided," said Treble of the weather changes. "And you could ride the bike up there to the staging lanes and not have to dodge all the puddles all the way up there, so that was kind of nice. We saw the humidity dropping and this morning it was a lot better than last night, obviously. Everybody picked up a little bit and, man, I still can’t believe it.

“They just told me up on the top end this is my first [No. 1] in seven years. I had no idea it’s been that long, but, you know what, I’m with the right team and I've got the right crew chief to make that happen. So, Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief), I can’t say enough good things about that guy. He worked so hard from Atlanta to now - over 30 dyno pulls. He killed himself, but I guess that’s the fruits of his labor because he did most of the work. Evan (Ray, crew member) and I tried to do what we could to help and not get in his way and we prepared the bike, got the trailer packed and did whatever we could do to let Steve go in his laboratory and do what Steve does.

“We tried something in that last hit; changed the gearing a little bit just to see if it would like it or not. Obviously, it did not. So, it's better to learn in qualifying when you’re locked in there pretty solid with the ET."

Treble is also unsure of the fate of the Valvoline Suzuki team as the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season continues.

"We're kind of uncertain as to where this team is going because the Valvoline deal is just about wrapped,” he said. “We’re not sure if the rig is getting parked or not, so it’s kind of up in the air right now. We’re going to keep working hard and slugging away until Don (Schumacher, team owner) says park it.”

Treble faces No. 16 qualifier Redell Harris in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

WATER LOGGED – Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Smith’s actions spoke louder than words following the first of two sessions at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals.

A frustrated Smith flung a battery against the retaining wall when his bike wouldn’t fire for the session.

As it turns out, Smith diagnosed the battery issue as water damage. The past world champion didn’t have to look far for the culprit -- a water puddle surrounding his pit area. Heavy rains drenched Route 66 Raceway for much of Friday and early on Saturday.

“Hat’s off to the NHRA for taking care of the track but they need to make sure their pits are dry too,” said Smith in an ESPN2 interview. “I’m sitting here in the pits and have no other way of getting to the staging lanes without going through a big puddle of water. It got up on the tires and got into the batteries. We are just a victim of circumstance.”

SUCCESSFUL NEW DSR-1 DEBUT - Jack Beckman raced the new DSR chassis in the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car to No. 5 in qualifying for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

He recorded a 4.151-second pass at 297.29 mph in his first run down Route 66 Raceway in Friday's only session because of a rain delay. The pass was good for No. 3 at the time. In today's two rounds, he posted a 4.159/287.78 (No. 4) and finally a 5.154/147.20, to earn No. 5.

“You know, it’s the first time we ever brought out this new chassis," said Beckman. "Changing pipe is not a big deal, changing all the weight around that we did was potentially a big deal. We unloaded, we were third low of the first session, second low of the second session and we went after it this last run. We saw some good numbers early. We threw more fuel at it, it dropped a cylinder and moved over, and now I know the steering is really responsive in this car because it was sideways twice and it still responded.

"I think we all were confident about coming in with that car and running well, but whenever you’re planning to change something or test something you always have high expectations. In the back of your mind you always think that whatever you’re going to do is going to be successful. The reality is that it isn’t always successful.

"So far, everything that we’ve done, the car has responded to. Even that last run, dropping a cylinder, it responded. We all know we can back down off that tune-up and be OK. So, it’s kind of a relief to know that everything that we were hoping for looks like it’s coming true here. We’re hoping for four win lights tomorrow and we hope that comes true."

Beckman faces Paul Lee in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

HEY, WAIT FOR ME – Pro Stock racer had reason to celebrate following Saturday’s first qualifying session at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. In his

first race after being forced to the sidelines three years ago, the Louisiana-based Stevens was called over to speak to ESPN2’s Gary Gerould.

Unbeknownst to Stevens, his crew believed their driver was in the car and began towing away from the shutdown and back to the pits.

“I turned around and they were about 100 yards away,” Stevens admitted to ESPN2. “It was way too far for me to catch up to them. I don’t even know what they hit.”

The car did hit something because it ended up with a gash in the front end.

The Elite Motorsports team had the car patched and ready to run for the second session.

NOT A GOOD DEAL –

CHANGES WORK WELL FOR COUGHLIN – Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s team made significant changes to their Chevrolet Cobalt last week. Though they arrived in Chicago with a sense of uneasiness, after two days of qualifying, they emerged as confident as they could be.

Coughlin ran 6.638 seconds to secure the No. 2 starting position for Sunday's eliminations.

"It was a bit of a nervous time for us because we wanted to try some things before this race but the test session we had planned at Norwalk (Ohio) got rained out," said Coughlin, the defending race champion. "Then we get here and lose the first qualifying round to rain. We weren't entirely sure how the changes we made were going to turn out.

"We changed some parts before this race in an effort to limit the areas where we may have been falling off. Fortunately, the car went straight down the track last night, like it was on a string, and it went pretty darn straight again in the both rounds today so although we made a major change and had no way to test it before the race started, we held our own. We couldn't be happier."

Route 66 always has been a great racetrack for Coughlin. Aside from last year's win over Mike Edwards, he collected the trophy here in 2007, 2003, and 2002.

"It's always nice to come to a place where you've won before," Coughlin said. "You have good memories going through your head so you tend to feel really comfortable.

"In one run yesterday we erased any questions we may have had and I can tell you we were all smiling about that 6.679 under the lights. The data we gained there allowed us to tune it up for today's 6.63. Then we came back and basically repeated in the final session, although it was a bit warmer. The car's really consistent and that's always good.

"One of our primary goals to is keep the car in the top three or four of every session, whether it's qualifying or eliminations. We were second quickest in both of the first two sessions we ran and third quickest in Q4 so we're settling to a nice, tight range."

Coughlin will open eliminations against veteran Vieri Gaines, who qualified 15th with a 6.683 at 206.35 mph in his Dodge. The two raced in the second round at Atlanta with Coughlin taking the win.

HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS - Ron Capps was unqualified headed into the final session and at half-track when his car quivered, he admitted on ESPN2 that his heart sank to his groin.

Instead of failing him, the NAPA Batteries Dodge hooked up for its quickest run of the weekend, a 4.172 seconds at 297.75 mph. He made the field as the No. 6 seed.

"Last night we had to pedal it because it did get in trouble and we knew rain was coming," said Capps. "We weren't sure we were going to get runs today on Saturday. The last thing we wanted to do was bring out the NAPA Batteries car and struggle to get into the show.

"Everybody said it was going to rain all day and no runs were going to be made, and, lo and behold, we got two qualifying runs in.

"It's been a strange day. You ask any of the drivers out here and they'll tell you that there's always a lot of drama here in Joliet and it's always in the last session, it seems. You look at my teammate Antron (Brown, Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster) getting in at the last second, guys getting bumped out, and us having to get back into the show on one run.

"It's a very stressful situation. On top of that, anything you feel in the car makes you think the car is going to be in trouble. But, once again, that's when it's really nice to have a veteran crew chief like Ace (Ed McCulloch), a good group of NAPA crew guys who put the car together and nothing falls off and nothing does anything funny.

"It's such high drama, but it's a little bit of a calming effect to know that I've got a good car under me and we've got a shot.

"To be honest with you, we shouldn't have been worried about whether or not we were going to run better to get in the show. We're a better team than that, but this is drag racing, and you just never know what could happen. Something freakish could happen and you don't get into the show. We have a great qualifying streak going and we don't want to lose that (73 straight).

"It's just that kind of drama that builds character, and it brings the team together."

Capps faces Jeff Arend in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - MOTHER NATURE GETS HER KICKS AT ROUTE 66

PROCK’S SECOND-GUESSING LEADS TO NO. 1 FOR HIGHT - Funny Car racer Robert Hight had a week to think about his three-race winning streak. On Friday at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, he had more time to think.

The same held true for his crew chief Jimmy Prock.

Persistent rain showers limited qualifying to one session and left many drivers idle throughout the day.

As badly as the defending series champion wanted to capitalize on his momentum, both he and Prock understood getting a place in the field with incoming Saturday weather was all they needed to do.

“I really don’t think Jimmy Prock was trying to run that hard,” said Hight, who leads the field provisionally with a 4.067 second run at 313.15 mph. “When we saw all the other cars smoking the tires we knew we just needed to get A to B and get down the track with a mid-teen. I think it even surprised Jimmy.”

Route 66 Raceway is one of the tracks on the NHRA Full Throttle tour where Hight has failed to capture a victory at. Friday evening’s run provided a bit of a challenge for Hight.

“It was smooth as can be,” Hight explained. “Out in the middle of the race track it got a little dark. It was like the lights went off for a second. I told myself don’t turn the wheel. I knew it was going straight to that point and then I had vision again. That is kind of the way it is at night. Once I could see I had my hands on the chutes at the other end it was just a perfect run.”

Hight’s run was nearly a tenth of a second quicker than Matt Hagan’s provisional No. 2 run of 4.142 seconds.

“When you run 313 mph that just proves that all the work we have done on our Auto Club Mustang has paid off,” Hight said. “This Mustang is happy. It runs clean to the other end. It is fast too. It is an unbelievable feeling. It is another three points but just to be qualified is a big deal. Jimmy told me on the radio beforehand a lot of guys aren’t going so if it does anything make sure you get it to the top end so it will be qualified.”

There was also a bit of the Prock magic, or second-guessing, which made the difference.

“This one was probably the latest we have ever made changes,” said Hight.” John’s car was already running and had the body down and we were still in the box. Jimmy told the guys to start my car but they were waiting on him since he was in the box. That is what we normally do but he meant we could start the car and he would still make adjustments while it was running. It was a last minute deal. I had to rush the burn out. He was making last minute adjustments. As a driver that kind of scares you. You don’t know what it is going to do when he is making last minutes adjustments. Right now you have to trust him. I always do. He definitely has a handle on it.”

If this time holds up it would be Hight’s fourth of the season and 36th of his career.

DIXON ON CHICAGO PROVISIONAL: WE HAD TO GET IN THE FIELD - An uncertain weather forecast for Saturday qualifying at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill., made for a clear objective as far as Larry Dixon was concerned.

“We knew we needed to get into the top sixteen,” said Dixon, who has qualified third or better in every race this season except one.

Securing a spot in the field on Friday in the event of a Saturday postponement of qualifying is one thing, doing it with a 3.814 elapsed time at 317.41 was another.

“As the session went on and the cars started running quicker, following Cory and Tony’s runs, Alan [Johnson] and Jason [McCulloch] started making adjustments,” Dixon explained. “They obviously felt the track could handle it and if it didn’t, it would have been up to me to do whatever needed to be done. As it turned out, I didn’t need to. It went down the track smoothly. “

If the run hadn’t gone as planned, Dixon had a standing order from his tuners to do what it took, driving-wise, to get into the show.

“I think you saw quite a few guys doing that out there,” Dixon said. “There were other Top Fuel and Funny Car teams doing that to make sure they got in there. It wasn’t pretty.”

But for Dixon, the prettiest sight was in seeing his numbers illuminated on the Route 66 Raceway scoreboard.

“I got to see the scoreboards because of the way they are positioned here – I saw the 3.81 come up on the board and I said, ‘nice’ – we’re qualified.”

Dixon’s familiarity with the facility located outside of Chicago was enough for the two-time Top Fuel champion to know the potential was there.

“If the sun isn’t on this track it tightens up and gets fast,” Dixon said. “All through the years, it’s always been very fast. I think the NHRA does a great job prepping the tracks and after that, it’s up to the teams. The Funny Cars as they got to the end of the session were firing off some great numbers. The same thing happened with the dragsters.”

Dixon has won twice at Route 66 Raceway, once in 2002 and most recently in 2007. This season, Dixon’s has reached the semi-finals in seven of the first nine events.

EDWARDS BATTLES THE ELEMENTS TO NO. 1 - Defending NHRA Pro Stock champion Mike Edwards wasn’t excluded from the weather issues which hampered every team at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. He was one of those drivers who pulled to the staging lanes for his first qualifying run only to be sent back to the pits multiple times when rains fell throughout the first day of the event staged outside of Chicago.

Even though he drove to the No. 1 spot in the field with a 6.660, getting those numbers wasn’t exactly business as usual.

“It’s tough on everyone,” said Edwards. “It’s tough on us, the NHRA, the fans, the Safety Safari guys. My hat’s off to them. They did a tremendous job fighting the weather.”

If his run holds through Saturday qualifying, it will mark the eighth time this season he’s gone into race day as the No. 1 seed. Edwards has 30 pole positions in his career.

“The track was really good for me as I believe it was for most of the Pro Stock teams out there,” Edwards said. “[The weather] was something we all had to deal with out here. I think we must have come to the staging lanes at least three times. We got the session in on Friday and hopefully we won’t have to deal with as much rain on Saturday.”

The day maintained a slow operating pace and the delayed qualifying and that’s not the ideal day for a champion of Edwards’ caliber.

“You want to get going,” Edwards said, “Everyone else had the same circumstances we did, so you just try to do your best. We were ready to go since it was the first run. You think you know what to expect, but you’re not sure.”  

But for Edwards’ competition, they knew what to expect. When the conditions are their toughest Edwards is too.

TREBLE JUMPS UP EARLY - After a day filled with delay, Craig Treble found the sweet spot as he led the only round of qualifying for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class Friday evening.

Treble drove his '03 Suzuki TL-1000 to the top spot over David Hope and Hector Arana with a 6.960 second pass at 190.27 mph.

Hope and Arana were the only other drivers, out of 17, to break the 7-second barrier, at 6.971 and 6.989 seconds respectively.

For the record, despite the five hour plus delay, Treble never felt any pressure to get in a good lap.

“You mingle with the fans, you goof around,” said Treble when asked how he spent his day. “All the work's been done on the bike since we left the shop, basically. Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief), Evan (Ray, crew member) and the whole team have been working on that bike pretty hard ever since Atlanta.

“Steve has pretty much worn a motor out on the dyno. It seemed like after we had that big engine blow up in St. Louis we just kind of lost our combination. Steve spent a lot of hours on the dyno, and, hey, it proves it right there.

“I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk with Steve and look at the [computer], but just from feeling the bike going down the track it 60-footed it real hard, kind of pinned me in the seat pretty good, and it was ripping pretty good up the track.

“It's really wet (in the air) out there and conditions aren't exactly stellar for world record elapsed times. It's low, we'll take it, we'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm praying for that 90 percent chance of rain.”

Hope and Arana would rather have another shot at the top spot.

TRACK DRYING UNDERWAY - The NHRA began drying the track a little after 4 PM, CST., with the anticipation of running two pro sessions this evening. According to the NHRA, the Top Alcohol Funny Car session will open up once racing resules. The first session of professional qualifying will follow. Between the two pro sessions, Top Alcohol Dragster and Comp eliminators willreceive a qualifying session.

ALCOHOL TO LANES, FOLLOWED BY RAIN - Sprinkles of rain have come and gone throughout the day. There have been interruptions but nothing lasting longer than 20 minutes.

A little after 1 PM, CST., the rain fell a little harder adding to an existing delay to repair the catch net. Rain started to fall as safety team members extracted the Top Alcohol Funny Car of Burl Brown from the sand.

SPORTSMAN PARKING ISSUE - NHRA officials gave sportsman drivers in attendance at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals a chance to go home without penalty after severe rains made parking for the classes impossible.

Very few, if any, of the competitors took the NHRA up on it's offer. Instead, the teams moved to property near the circle track and started making preparations for a weekend of racing.

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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK -

INSPIRED BY SCHUMACHER - Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher can leave a lasting impression; just ask Corbin Mehrbrodt.

This weekend Mehrbrodt will race in the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in a Super Comp eliminator. The inspiration for the outing came from Schumacher, many years ago.

Mehrbrodt, then an impressionable 10-year-old Bolling Brook (Ill.) boy, was inspired both to drag race and join the Army by a meeting with Schumacher back in 2002. Mehrbrodt will report for basic training in two weeks.

“I saw Tony eight years ago and decided a drag racer is what I wanted to be,” said the now 18 year old who had been racing since the age of seven (go karts, sprint cars and junior dragsters). “I also saw the soldiers at the race and developed an interest in becoming one of them. I spent the next several years talking to recruiters and at 17 signed up for delayed entry.

“I report to Fort Knox June 30 to begin my Army service and training as a tanker.”

Mehrbrodt’s Super Comp car, driver suit and crew uniforms will mimic Schumacher’s in color and design.

D-WILK READY FOR ANOTHER SHOT AT NITRO - Dan Wilkerson has had 242 days to prepare for his next ride on the horse.

Wilkerson, the son of iconic Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson, will climb behind the wheel of a Funny Car for the first time since a devastating crash last fall in Memphis, Tenn., when the wheels came off of his car in a second round race against Ron Capps.

Thanks to major associate sponsorship from Dump-Lok, a dump truck safety brace device manufactured by Worksafe USA, based in Springfield, Ill., Wilkerson will get another shot at driving a Funny Car during the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. Levi, Ray and Shoup will provide major sponsorship as well.

The accident might have rattled the average rookie driver, but Wilkerson, he is not your average rookie driver. A year before the accident Wilkerson drove his way to a final round in an IHRA event.

“I was ready to race again before I came to a stop out there, I think,” Wilkerson said.  “I was absolutely ready to race within minutes, and it's been killing me to wait this long, but we couldn't force the issue.  We didn't want to come out here and do it on a complete shoestring, and we knew we needed to step up the whole program, so that's all taken some time.  Now we have a new full-size transporter and some help from Dump-Lok to get us on the track, and the goal is to not just to race, but win; if not the race, then at least some rounds.

“Last year, I was lucky enough to get to race at two events, and we out-qualified my dad (Tim Wilkerson) at both of them, so that was great.  In Memphis, we were on our way to beating Ron, I think, and that would've been another big step in the journey, but then the wreck happened and I didn't have a race car after that.  Now, we'll be pulling into the track in style, with this transporter we bought from Don Prudhomme, and we'll be focused on racing.  I can't wait.”
Wilkerson returns to a familiar facility in Route 66 Raceway. This drag strip, located on the outskirts of Chicago in Joliet, Ill., was where the second-generation driver earned his Funny Car license. He’ll be driving the same car his dad won two races with last year.

“We have a whole computer's worth of data on it, so we feel like we can hit the ground running,” Wilkerson said.  “As long as the wait has been since Memphis last year, it's also still pretty cool to come back out at Joliet.  We'll be in my home state, at a great facility, and now I can add to the memories a bit more.  I not only got my license here, I also did my first “Race Day” show on live TV, last year, so that was pretty memorable.  Now, the goal is to get qualified, maybe pick up some win lights, and not scratch Dad's other car.”

NEW CHASSIS FOR BECKMAN - Jack Beckman and the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car team arrive for this weekend's 13th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill., to race the latest version of the initial 2008 DSR-1 chassis design.

With the original DSR-1 iteration put to pasture, Beckman is confident the new chassis will provide the improved performance the team needs to move up in the points and be assured a spot in the top 10 to contend for the class crown in the Countdown to 1 playoffs (the final six events of the year). Beginning this weekend, the schedule hosts four back-to-back events, followed by one weekend off, then the three-race Western Swing.

"This weekend will be the first event of four in a row, the first of seven in eight weeks, and we have a brand-new car," said Beckman, who is fifth in the Funny Car rankings. "We really looked at the big picture with this car and did a lot of things to take weight off and redistribute weight.

"All the things that we've done should make for a better car, but it's still an untested car. So, it's going to be a little bit of nail-biting, and not just on the first run but the first few races, because a different car can respond to changes differently. This is going to be a very, very steep and fast learning curve for us and I think (crew chiefs) Rahn Tobler and John Collins are up to the task.

SMITH MAKES THE SWITCH - Five times this season she’s gone to the starting line in the first round, and five times she’s gone home early.  

It wasn’t the way Angie Smith pictured the way her first full season of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racing would begin.  Neither did Matt Smith, her husband and tuner of Karl and Kim Klement’s Coffman Tank Truck entry.

An assortment of parts woes – even a highly unusual motorcycle fuel fire – has frustrated both Smiths, but they believe better days are ahead, beginning Friday when they begin qualifying for the Route 66 Nationals at Joliet, Ill.

“We’ve had problems with Angie’s bike since the season began,” Matt Smith said.  “We’ve changed motors, transmissions, clutches, everything on it . . . so we decided to change the bike and see what happens.  Karl and Kim Klement gave us the okay to use the same bike I rode to the 2007 NHRA championship.”

“I’m excited,” Angie said.  “Matthew tested the bike Tuesday at Rockingham (N.C. Raceway).   He made three runs and said everything looked good.  I’m looking forward to seeing how well it runs this weekend.  It really has been a struggle this year and we all hope that part is over.”

She still has an opportunity to push her way into the top 10 and secure a playoff berth in the Countdown to 1.  She is tied for 14th with 157 points, 83 shy of the 10th spot and 100 out of seventh place with six races to go in the Countdown to 10.

“We hope to start winning rounds at Joliet so we can start cutting into the leads of the riders ahead of us,” she said.  “We want to get into the top 10 and make the Countdown to 1.  That’s our goal.”

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