2010 NHRA SUPER NATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
Mon, 2010-06-14 21:50
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MONDAY FINAL - AN EMOTIONAL WINNERS CIRCLE CAPS TOUGH WEEKEND
AN EMOTIONAL RESCUE - On the strength of a stellar reaction time, .027 to Del Worsham's .104, Bob Tasca, III piloted his Fordparts.com Shelby
Mustang to the third win of his short Funny Car career, his first in 2010. It is also the first win for the team since Bob lost his grandfather, Bob Tasca, Sr. during the off-season.“It's hard to even put words together right now,” said a very tearful Tasca. “This is a special place for my family and for my grandfather. These are the moments you dream about when you are a kid laying in bed and watching Force win and Pedregon win.
The Tasca name has long been associated with Ford and racing. Bob is a third generation Tasca carrying the Ford nameplate to the starting line. It was Tasca's grandfather who coined the phrase, “win on Sunday sell on Monday”.
Tasca wasn't the most dominant car throughout the weekend, however it was the best car and driver at each of the stops on the way to victory.
“What an amazing dominant performance for my team. I can't thank Chris Cunningham, Mark Denner and my guys enough. I have thrown so much at them with this Ford tuneup and it has just been incredible. A lot of thanks goes out to the Force camp. It is one Ford team and we share a lot of resources to make these Fords as dominant as they are.
“This is a moment I will cherish forever. There is just a magic in this place for me. I know my grandfather isn't here but he is looking down from above. Really cool; really cool moment.”
It was Tasca's effort at the tree which won the race for himself, his guys and Ford. Del Worsham, in the Al-Anabi Racing Toyota, actually covered the 1000 feet in 4.107 seconds to Tasca's 4.117 pass. The difference was .077 seconds at the tree in Tasca's favor.
Initially the lights show Worsham as the winner of the race, but NHRA officials, after cross checking the timing data, declared Tasca crossed the finish line first to win the race.
Tasca was privy to the initial issues with determining the winner.
“I gave Del a thumbs up. I said congratulations. I was walking back to my car with my head hung down and the camera people came up and said, 'You won!' I don't know what the expression was on my face, but they said my facial expression went crazy.
“What can I say,” said Tasca. “The car ran incredible. It's an amazing feeling.”
Tasca is now 1-0 against Worsham in final round meetings, but behind 3-4 in overall runs against each other in competition. - Stan Creekmore
DIXON DELIVERS AGAIN - Neither the elements or the competitors were any match for Larry Dixon at the 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals.
The veteran Top Fuel driver won his second race in a row by defeating Antron Brown in the finals Monday morning at the rain-delayed event in Englishtown, N.J.
Dixon clocked a 3.824-second time in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to zip past a tire-smoking Antron Brown who slowed to 6.314 seconds at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
“These wins are always big, and obviously winning at Englishtown is even that much more special,” Dixon said. “Englishtown is one of the tracks that has been on the (NHRA) tour since the beginning of time, so it’s always nice to win here.”
This is Dixon’s sixth win of the season and his 54th career Top Fuel national event win. The victory also gave him a 199-point lead over second-place Tony Schumacher in the season standings.
“I think Jason (McCulloch) and Alan (Johnson) both just made some really good calls,” Dixon said. “We had so many different weather conditions from the time we ran the semifinals (on Sunday) to when we actually ran the finals. There was a lot of going up in the lanes and coming back and making adjustments to the motor and the clutch and all of that. (Monday) we had a different race track and we had nobody to really gauge it off of, and we went up there with our best educated guess, and they made a great call. The car ran awesome.”
Dixon is unbeaten in six trips to the final round this season, and he knows how important these victories are.
“Anytime you have the opportunity to win, you want to close the deal,” Dixon said. “If you get to the final round, nobody wants to go home second. It was great to get this win and this afternoon we’re going to be working on the car and getting it ready for Bristol (Tenn.).
The 10th NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals are Friday through Sunday in Bristol.
Brown, who was searching for his first victory of 2010, was gracious in defeat. Brown also lost to Dixon in the finals at Houston on April 11.
“We went out there and gave it all we had and we just fell short,” said Brown, who is fifth in the point chase in his Don Schumacher Racing Matco Tools entry. “We just had a deal with our (ignition) timing map, our timing map got jacked up somehow. It did this to us before and we’re changing everything ignition-wise, and we will get this fixed. We had a great weekend all weekend, and we just got bit in the final round. We got to about 100 feet and the tires started spinning. We just have to learn from this and prepare better so it doesn’t happen again.”
Although Dixon has won two world championships in 2002 and 2003, and become one of the most successful drivers in NHRA history, he’s still able to keep things in perspective.
“Ever since I was a little kid, driving a Top Fuel dragster is all I ever wanted to do,” said the 43-year-old Dixon. “I’ve had the opportunity to do it and I’ve also been in some great race cars. I was talking about that earlier (Monday). I remember coming to Englishtown when I was a kid, and I had to lie about my age just to get in the pit area. If you were under 14 back in the 1970s, you couldn’t get in the pits. I came here (to Englishtown) with my dad (Larry Dixon sr.) when I was 12 and it’s just an awesome place. I love being able to race at tracks our sport was founded on. I feel very honored and blessed to be able to do this.”
PHILIPS CLEAN SWEEPS E'TOWN PSM - A long weekend came to a perfect ending for Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Michael Phillips.
Phillips, who earned his first career No. 1 qualifying spot in 15 years of competing in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, ran the table from the pole position beating Steve Johnson in the finals on a hole shot Monday morning in the rain-delayed NHRA SuperNationals.
Phillips clocked a 6.911-second time at 194.32 mph, while Johnson came in with a career-best 6.886-second effort at 194.63 mph at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Phillips won the race at the starting line with a .012 light, compared to a .057 launch for Johnson.
“I ran the whole house and it feels real good,” said Phillips, who pilots the Racers Edge-sponsored Suzuki. “I knew Steve’s bike probably was going to be pretty good today and I got a pretty good hole shot on him and made a pretty good run. When you’re the No. 1 qualifier, you want to go out there and clean house and show them you’re the baddest thing on the block. You have to hold up to that reputation of being No. 1 and that’s what pushed me the hardest. I wanted to make sure I won this race because I qualified No. 1 and I proved I was No. 1 at this race.”
This was Phillips’ second national event win since he captured the O’Reilly NHRA Midsouth Nationals last October in Memphis, Tenn. Phillips won the pole at Englishtown with a 6.855-second time at 197.16 mph, which also was the top speed of the event. Johnson, who also rides a Suzuki, had to settle for his second runner-up finish in as many races.
“This was just an unbelievable weekend,” said Phillips, who is from Baton Rouge, La.
Phillips, who is the owner and crew chief of his motorcycle, said fellow competitor Craig Treble did give him a boost at Englishtown.
“Treble was helping me out with the clutch and that basically was what I was lacking,” Phillips said. “I have not been able to get my bike off the line, and he showed me a few things on the clutch and everything jelled together. I’ve always had a real fast bike, and this weekend I had the front of the bike match the back of the bike.”
Last Monday, Don Schumacher Racing parked its Pro Stock Motorcycle team and left Treble without a ride. The decision by DSR was due to the inability to secure major sponsorship. Treble captured the No. 1 qualifying position at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago last weekend. Treble did compete at Englishtown with a loaned engine, but he lost to L.E. Tonglet in the first round. Treble was the defending champ at Englishtown.
“Once Treble got into his little deal with Schumacher, he was a friend and showed me a couple of things with the clutch,” Phillips said. “Once a person tells me what to do, I can look at it and figure it out and work it out. I’ve been out here (racing) since 1992 and I had never qualified No. 1 at a race. When you’re No. 1 qualifier you feel like you’re on top of the world.”
Treble praised Phillips’ performance.
“Michael is a good friend of mine and whatever I can do to help his program, I’m going to do,” Treble said. “He’s my man and it was great to see him win.”
Phillips actually was happy about Sunday’s rain postponing the final round until Monday because of some problems he had in his semifinal win over Matt Smith. Phillips beat Smith with a 6.992-second time after Smith slowed to an 11.815-second run.
“I’m glad that it rained because I hurt my motor in the semis,” Phillips said. “I leaned my motor out in the semis, but I cleaned it up and put it back together and fortunately we were all right in the finals and won.” - Tracy Renck
EDWARDS NABS SEVENTH - Every time it looks like Mike Edwards is about to be caught by the competition, he pulls another rabbit out of the hat.
Edwards worked his way through the competition in the rain-delayed NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ to collect his seventh win of the 2010 Pro Stock season.
In the final round, against Shane Gray, Edwards posted a solid performance from the tree to the finish line. Edwards was first off the line, .012 to Gray's .058, and fastest down quarter mile, 6.596 seconds at 209.39 mph.
“It is a dream season,” admitted Edwards. “Last year, I thought, was the ultimate dream. We won the championship. But, this year is just a dream come true. It really is. I've done this a long, long time and I never dreamed I could experience this kind of success in this class.
“We've got a great team and we've committed ourselves to making a big effort to do this. It is good to see the results.”
While Edwards continues to make his dominance in the division look easy, he admitted to be extremely nervous when the final round was rained out on Sunday evening.
“You just don't know,” admitted Edwards. “I was nervous. You get in a routine. You get comfortable and sure about yourself. We just really, really couldn't commit. We changed the transmission and rear end yesterday, I don't know how many times.
“Luckily, it worked out great for us.” - Stan Creekmore
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SUNDAY - MOTHER NATURE GETS THE LAST WORD IN E-TOWN
The NHRA fell short; one round to be exact, of finishing the SuperNationals on Sunday. Persistent rain showers provided the impetus for competition to 
continue into Monday morning.
Competition will resume at 10 AM, EST., beginning with the incomplete fifth round of Stock eliminator and other sportsman divisions.
Professional eliminations are slated for 11 AM.
Top Fuel had whittled down to a battle between current points leader Larry Dixon and Antron Brown. Dixon reached the final round on the strength of victories over Steve Chrisman, Tony Schumacher and Brandon Bernstein. Browns final round appearance came at the expense of Scott Palmer, Terry McMillen and Doug Kalitta.
The Funny Car division will showcase a monster battle between veteran Del Worsham and third-year driver Bob Tasca III. The two have never met in a final round. They have raced only once this season with Worsham scoring the victory.
Mike Edwards and Shane Gray are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of Pro Stock final round appearances. Englishtown marked the seventh final this season for Edwards while Gray is in the first of his career.
Michael Philips has parlayed his No. 1 qualifying effort into a ride to the final round as he will meet Steve Johnson in an all-Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle final round.
The GSA Pro Modified division will be an all-Al Anabi final round between the nitrous-injected entry of Mike Castellana and the supercharger-equipped Camaro of Von Smith.
A total of four Al Anabi Racing teams are in the final rounds on Monday.
QUICK HITS – RACE DAY REPORTING IN RAPID FASHION
TOP FUEL
IN THE COUNTDOWN – With his second round victory over arch-rival Tony Schumacher, Larry Dixon clinched a berth in the NHRA’S Countdown
Larry Dixon became the first Top Fuel driver to clinch a Countdown to 1 berth.
DRY TIRE DOESN’T BURN OUT - Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier Cory McClenathan earned a bye run in the opening round of Top Fuel eliminations at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, posting a tire-smoking 5.490/120.46 pass.
In the quarterfinal round against Doug Kalitta, a problem in the burnout phase resulted in a short burnout, which then caused the tires to strike at the hit of the throttle as McClenathan launched. Kalitta took the win with a 3.902/306.81 while McClenathan coasted to a 9.680/81.07.
“Evidently the tires got dry or, for whatever reason, it stuck the tires in the burnout, overheated the clutch and smoked the tires,” explained co-crew chief Phil Shuler. “It was a tough loss for the FRAM team, and we were unable to go for the national record if and when the weather might have cooperated today. But the FRAM team continues to work hard to stay up front in the points and get ready for the Countdown after the next six races.”
TWO PAIRS, TWO TEAMS, TWO WINNERS – Two of the NHRA’s more prominent Top Fuel teams race teammates in the first round of eliminations.
The first pair came from Team Kalitta when Doug Kalitta defeated David Grubnic, 4.669, 221.74 to 4.793, 194.83. The interesting part of the race was both cars smoked the tires at the same point on the track.
The next race wasn’t as close. Morgan Lucas won when teammate Shawn Langdon’s dragster failed to fire. As the team frantically thrashed to start the car, the parachutes fell out on the starting line.
SINGLES, SINGLES, GET YOUR SINGLES – Three of the eight first round winners in Top Fuel advanced on singles. Of the trio, Cory McClenathan had the only planned single. Morgan Lucas and Larry Dixon advanced when their opponents broke.
GATOR GETS A SECOND – Terry McMillen’s Alligator-themed Amalie Oil dragster popped, kicked and popped its way to a second first round victory in 2010.
Crew chief Richard Hartman described the car’s performance this year.
"We're running like a bracket car right now, we're just running in the wrong bracket," Hartman surmised.
FUNNY CAR
BLEW BY YOU – There was nothing but Blue Oval pride for Bob Tasca III during the first two rounds of eliminations. Tasca defeated Ashley Force Hood and then got the best of 14-time champion John Force in his new blue FordParts.com-themed Mustang. He stopped Matt Hagan to reach the final round.The performance for Tasca had more to do with where he was racing than the color of his car.
“Englishtown holds a special place in my heart,” Tasca said. “It held a special place in my grandfather’s heart. He was here when I won my first race and he’s looking down on me. This is what it is all about, getting up for the champ and beating him. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
NOT A GOOD DAY FOR FORCE - For the first time in five races John Force Racing will not advance a Ford Mustang Funny Car to the final round. This weekend marked the first time since Houston JFR did not advance a Mustang out of the second round.
No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight’s Auto Club Ford Mustang smoked the tires versus veteran Del Worsham in the second round ending his final round appearance streak at four races.
“It is a letdown after four finals in a row,” said Hight. “You get greedy but you know that kind of streak will end eventually. We got qualified No. 1 and we ran good last night in the heat. We thought we would be in good shape for today. Like I said earlier, we set all our clutch packs aside that we have been running and we have enough to run throughout the Countdown. We bit the bullet and decided to run some new packs so that if it is worse we still have the other stuff saved for the Countdown. Maybe we will stumble onto something better. We just don’t have enough runs on this new stuff yet. It was plenty aggressive,” said Hight.
BECKMAN’S MISSION – Sgt. Shane Morris has never been so quick in his life.
Morris, currently deployed in Afghanistan, has his likeness emblazoned on the side of Beckman’s MTS-sponsored Funny Car. His father, Robert Buck, has been involved with the NHRA on the manufacturers' midway for years and runs the Mechanix Wear trailer.
“It's nice to have one of the troops on the car with some support around here from his family,” said Beckman. “It really puts a personal face on the tribute that we're trying to do for all the soldiers out there.”
PRO STOCK
FAMILY FEUDING – Two pairs of father and son Pro Stock teams did
Shane Gray met his father Johnny in the semi-finals of Pro Stock and beat him to reach his first final.
Johnny Gray beat second-generation Kurt Johnson while Shane Gray defeated Warren Johnson.
THE GRAY FAMILY DILEMMA – Johnny Gray defeated Greg Stanfield while Shane Gray got the best of Bob Yonke in the second round. Although he should be thrilled with the double victory, Johnny was thrust into a tempest.
The wins paired the Grays against each other in the semi-finals.
“I’m really excited about going to the final round but on the same token, I’ve been there before,” Johnny Gray explained. “I’d like to see the kid go, besides he has the faster car.”
If Shane were to beat Dad he wouldn’t have to fear repercussions.
“I can’t fire him, his mama won’t let me,” Gray said.
AN ODD KIND OF RACE – From the starting line, one would have thought Larry Morgan had pulled off an impressive first round upset victory over Greg Anderson. The finish line told another story.
Anderson crossed the finish line with almost a body length advantage. As it turns out, the win lights were still set on 1,000 feet for the fuel cars.
The NHRA declared Anderson the winner.
PRO STOCK BIKE
THAT WASN'T THE BEES KNEES – Geico-sponsored Karen Stoffer had a lightning quick reaction time in the first round against Matt Smith.
Three Suzukis reached the semi-finals including recent Chicago finalist Steve Johnson, who is in an all-Suzuki final.
"The rider has to do her job and the team has to do their job, it's a package deal," Stoffer said. "Pretty soon we have to get it all together. We're an experienced team and we feel like we shouldn't have to be going through all of these growing pains."
BROKE A CRANK - Less than 45 minutes after losing his semifinal Pro Stock Motorcycle race to Michael Phillips, Matt Smith was studying the run on his computer.
“It looks like we broke a crankshaft,” Smith said with a shake of his head. “If we’re lucky, that’s the only thing that broke.”
Phillips left the line first and Smith was playing catch up when the crankshaft quit and his Al-Anabi Racing Buell immediately slowed, coasting to the finish line in 11.815 seconds at 68.15. Phillips, meanwhile, advanced to the finals with a 6.992 at 190.46.
“Overall, we had a good weekend,” he noted. “We won two rounds and we had tough races all day.”
DEFENDING CHAMPION OUT EARLY – Craig Treble lost his ride in the days leading up to the NHRA SuperNationals. The defending event champion, thanks to No. 1 qualifier Michael Philips, was able to race his bike with a loaned engine within his bike.
As it turned out, Treble’s day ended at the hands of L.E. Tonglet, the most recent winner on the tour. Ironically Treble was low qualifier at that event.
PARITY INTO THE SEMI-FINALS – In a class where parity has been tough to accomplish, those who advanced to the second round of eliminations showed just how close the competition has become. There were four Buells, Three Suzukis and a Harley-Davidson all advanced.
NO HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE – Eddie Krawiec worked for many years as the manager of Old Bridge Township Raceway Park and holds an intimate knowledge of the legendary drag strip.
There was no advantage for Krawiec as he lost in the first round to Shawn Gann.
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - NOT AS QUICK AS FRIDAY, BUT SATURDAY WAS A GOOD DAY
HIGHT DOMINATES E-TOWN QUALIFYING - Robert Hight liked the way Friday qualifying concluded at the NHRA SuperNationals so much, he
decided to finish out Saturday the same way. He will enter Sunday’s final eliminations as the quickest Funny Car on the property and the No. 1 seed.Hight’s final run of Saturday, 4.138 seconds, was good enough to grab three more qualifying bonus points to add to the three he earned Friday night with his blistering 4.025 second run. He held onto the No. 1 qualifier his third race in a row and fifth of the season.
This was also his 37th No. 1 which ties him with veteran Tony Pedregon and Hall of Famer Kenny Bernstein for fourth place all-time for the Funny Car category.
The team is already looking ahead to the time when the championship will be on the line in the Countdown to 1 phase of the season.
“That run was super important to my team. (Crew chief) Jimmy Prock, (car chief) Eric Lane and I went back to our shop in Indy and we took inventory of clutch parts and different things. We looked at what we had for the rest of the season. We realized what we have been running we can’t continue to run the rest of the season. We made a decision to set all that stuff aside and save it for the Countdown,” said an excited Hight.
“You don’t know what the new clutches will do or how a new batch will react. We know how well we have been running the last four races. We have enough of that inventory for all of the Countdown. We set that aside. We had one run worth for the night session in case we weren’t qualified. We put the new stuff in the first run and smoked the tires. We put the normal stuff in for the night session and ran the 4.02.”
“We decided after that we are not going back. We are going to put the new stuff in and figure it out. We smoked the tires the first run today and then we were low ET of the last session tonight. That is big. That gives Jimmy Prock something to tune by and who knows maybe the new stuff will turn out to be even better. You never know and that is what I like about Jimmy Prock. He is always trying and always changing. He is constantly trying to get better. He is not sitting still. Having a single tomorrow gives us another run to test and hopefully get ready for second round.”
Hight has a bye run in the first round of eliminations.
CORY MAC’S SPEED SECRET? GO BACK TO SCHOOL - On Friday evening at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ, Cory
McClenathan ran a 3.752 elapsed time, the quickest run in the history of NHRA Top Fuel since 1,000 feet became the recognized racing distance. McClenathan believes if the conditions are conducive to quick runs on raceday, he’s confident he’ll either back up the provisional record or establish a new mark. McClenathan confidence comes from not only his team but also the
students and their professors in the Motorsports Engineering program at Indiana Univ. Purdue Univ. at Indianapolis (IUPUI).
"We have been working very closely with IUPUI at Don Schumacher Racing, and those kids over there are just unbelievable when it comes to aerodynamics and the way a chassis should work. They were a big part of how we built our DSR car last year and different configurations we tried this year.”
McClenathan drives one of the DSR in-house dragsters aimed at cutting through the air better than the designs of the last few years.
"This car is basically kind of set up the way they like to see things go in the future, especially when it comes to aerodynamics,” McClenathan said. “We're testing some stuff this weekend on different parts of the car...and this was really a tribute to what happens when you put good people together.”
Don’t get McClenathan wrong, he’s been awfully fast prior to the new design with Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, a pair of former Funny Car tuners with a tendency to get aggressive with their tune-ups, turning the wrenches.
" Not taking anything away from Todd, Phil and the guys on the FRAM car, but at the same time it's a good partnership [with the school]," McClenathan noted.
McClenathan maintained his top qualifying position on Saturday and will face No. 16 qualifier Doug Foley in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations.
EDWARDS: I AM FIRST BECAUSE I’M SECOND - Mike Edwards has no qualms about sharing his performance secret.
He’s first because he’s second.
“Well I am, I am second in my eyes,” Edwards contends. “God is first for sure.”
Following his seventh No. 1 qualifying effort, his latest at the NHRA SuperNationals, Edwards became the first NHRA Full Throttle professional drag racer to clinch a berth in the Countdown to 1. Edwards has led the NHRA Pro Stock point standings since February.
Edwards says his success is no coincidence and while he’s not preaching to anyone, he’s just one of many professional athletes who are open and up front about their spiritual life. And because of that, Edwards has become a staunch supporter of www.iamsecond.com website, a stop on the web where leading athletes can provide their testimonies. The website url is underneath his No. 1 on the side window.
“God is first in my life,” said Edwards, the defending class world champion. “This doesn’t really matter to me at all. It really doesn’t.”
Edwards is not so naïve to believe his declaration won’t draw criticism, but he says he can’t help but be at peace in his life even if he has his critics.
“Everybody’s got their own opinion on everything but you know, I have a strong belief and I just know where my faith is at and I know where my ending is going to be,” Edwards said. “And I’m sorry about the way they feel about that. If they feel that way then I’m really sorry for them because they’re really missing out on a lot of blessings that they could have here on Earth. Not even compared to what we are fixing to have.”
Edwards faces Justin Humphries in Sunday’s first round of eliminations in Englishtown.
DEJORIA PONDERS WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN - Alexis DeJoria didn’t have to be reminded that Friday’s Top Alcohol Funny Car fatal crash
could have been her a year earlier. DeJoria was one of two drivers who tested Old Bridge Township Raceway Park’s new shutdown containment system during last season’s NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ. Her Funny Car lost both parachutes and went into the pea gravel, through two catch nets and into the first four rows of sand-filled barrels.
She lived to tell about the experience.
"I think I went under the first one and split it right down the middle,” explained DeJoria. “Then blew through the second one and went through four rows of barrels. I'm very grateful for that.
Stuff happens, and its' part of racing. It shouldn't happen at all.”
But when the topic turns to what happened with Neal Parker’s accident on Friday, she was still trying to come to grips with what happened. DeJoria was in the second pair of Funny Car’s behind Parker.
"Considering it's an Alcohol Funny Car and he went through the nets and went over, I'm just trying to figure out how that happened, because the barrels (beyond the nets) stopped me but they didn't stop him,” DeJoria said. "I just don't understand. It puzzles me."
The NHRA has released very few details outside of the accident was caused by a parachute failure. The speed when the car hit the pea gravel remains largely unknown.
"I was going 130 miles an hour, and I was flying through there,” DeJoria said. “My brakes weren't working and my 'chutes [parachutes, that deploy from the back of the car and slow it down] were off. And I slammed through there at 25 Gs. It shocks me that this happened here. I don't understand."
Sitting in her car, DeJoria had no idea the extent of Parker’s injuries. She just believed the incident would require a lengthy clean-up.
"They weren't saying anything to anyone for awhile," she said. "I just wanted to know if he was OK. I just wanted to hear that, you know? You come back here (to the pits) and you just pray that everything will go smoothly. This is just unreal.”
DeJoria entered the Top Alcohol Funny Car division with the understanding she would be piloting a complex race car. The last two Englishtown events have gone a long way towards reaffirming that understanding.
"We don't have as much downforce as the nitro cars,” DeJoria explained. “So if stuff happens to them, they're more likely to slow down on the car alone. If you see tires spinning and (the car going) sideways, the reason they snap back straight like that is not the driver -- it's the downforce. We don't have that. We cut through the air like a bullet. So when stuff fails on our cars, we just keep going."
DeJoria has aspirations of one day racing nitro, and for someone who could participate in a multitude of thrill-seeking activities, drag racing provides the ultimate investment of her time.
DeJoria's father is John Paul DeJoria, founder of the Paul Mitchell hair-care product line and owner, as well, of Tequila Patron. Financially she doesn't have to race. Moreover, racing likely would pay her little, even if she were to win races and championships.
"We do it [race] because we want to,” said DeJoria, mother of a seven-year old daughter who also enjoys skydiving and snowboarding. “Everybody's out there because we want to be there. If you win, you're just paying for the car. You really don't make that much. So I think we're all out here because we really enjoy it and we love the sport. I've always wanted to race."
Even though DeJoria didn’t know Parker well, his passing is both a tough blow and a reminder to her of the inherent dangers of the sport.
"No matter what, we're all a family here,” DeJoria said. “When something like this happens, it affects you like it's your brother. We look out for each other.
“It's just heartbreaking. It's unbelievable. I'm at war with myself right now. I'm kind of lost right now. It's a huge loss for us (in the) alcohol ranks and the NHRA. And it's another loss for Englishtown."
MUSI SCORES FIRST NHRA RD WIN SINCE 1981 - Pat Musi has flashbacks. The Carteret, NJ.-based icon says he can’t help it either.
Musi is racing in the NHRA and Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for the first time since 1989, when he ran one Pro Stock race after an eight year absence. At the NHRA SuperNationals, Musi scored his first round win in nearly thirty years when he drove his electronic fuel injected Dodge Stratus past Ed Hoover in the opening round of the NHRA GSA Pro Modified division. He also nailed a personal best with a 5.941 elapsed time.
“We missed the combination on the first qualifying run … too much power for what the track could handle that early,” admitted Musi. “But Rickie Smith, the man who is responsible for everything from the firewall back, made it work right. He deserves a lot of credit here.”
Musi left the NHRA full time after the 1981 season and reinvented himself as a Pro Street racer following a sabbatical from drag racing altogether.
“Pro Street almost developed into a heavy Pro-Mod class, that’s all it is,” Musi explained. “And what pissed me off about that deal was that you had too many different combinations. You were racing a rule book. I don’t like to race like that, I like to race the same. At least here we’re down to two, a blower and us. I’m not so happy because I think its lopsided for the blowers but they probably think its lopsided for us.”
Ironically, his first round win came against a supercharged car. The different combinations and the tendency to race the rulebook instead of his fellow racers has made his latest venture, Pro Modified, not so fun. There’s a part of Musi which longs for those old days when he raced his Camaro against the best Pro Stock had to offer.
Former partner Joe Folgore provided the financial backing to race against the front-runners of the NHRA Pro Stock division in 1981. Musi reached the finals of the first two events. He qualified No. 1 at Indy that season over Lee Shepherd and Bob Glidden, up until that point, something which hadn’t been done in two seasons. Musi ended 1981 as the fourth-ranked driver and then walked away.
“Yeah, it was purely money,” Musi conveyed. “I looked at my deal and said guys we cannot be competitive with the budget we’ve got. I’m not going out there with my hands cuffed.”
Hypothetically, if a Folgore-type deal were to surface again, Musi wouldn’t pursue a Pro Stock program. He would rather race in a nitrous-only Pro Mod setting. However, if NHRA adopted electronic fuel injection, all bets are off.
“I might give it a look, yeah, or at least work with a team at the very least,” Musi said. “I think we’ve got probably the best EFI program right now. We’ve spent a lot of time on it. You know there been some guys looking maybe want to jump on board or they’re looking at different companies, I wish them all the luck in the world but they better get drums of pistons, that’s all I can tell them. And if they think they know it, bring it on.”
If they do, Musi is ready to take another spin.
PAST IHRA CHAMP REMEMBER PARKER FOR "THE PICTURE" - Two-time International Hot Rod Association champion Laurie Cannister saw Neal Parker whip down the dragstrip in September 1999, but she didn't appreciate fully his superb driving until she saw the photo of that run.
Parker was wrestling the steering wheel of his '48 Fiat altered, muscling it all the way to the right -- and the car was on a straight-arrow run down the lane.
"He was haulin'," Cannister said, marveling at the perilous pass at Maryland International Raceway that was the Pro Outlaw class' first in the five-second range.
"That was a typical Neal Parker trip down the racetrack," Cannister said. "He drove it until the wheels came off. He knew how to handle a car. The short wheel base was his specialty.
"He ran wide open all the time," she said. "Nothing fazed him. He got in a car, and he commanded it."
But the envelope-pushing Parker, a South Jersey excavating-company owner from Millville (Cumberland County), made his final pass Friday during qualifying for the National Hot Rod Association SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
He died in a high-speed run in his "Excavator" '05 Chevy Monte Carlo, covering the quarter-mile with a 5.732-second elapsed time at 249.90 mph -- numbers that ironically were his career best.
School teacher wife Betsy was not at the track when the crash occurred at about 12:30 p.m. Friday. She was accompanying her students on a field trip. The couple had no children of their own.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
Neither has the New Jersey State Police, which is conducting the accident investigation, determined the cause of Parker's crash or his death.
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - RECORD DAY OVERSHADOWED BY DEATH AT ENGLISHTOWN
NJSP INVESTIGATING CAUSE OF PARKER’S DEATH - Neal Parker’s death at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park marked the second time a
driver had lost his life in the shutdown area of the famed facility located in Englishtown, NJ.Parker, 58, of Millville, NJ, died after his Chevrolet Monte Carlo Funny Car crashed through the containment device following the failure of his parachutes to deploy.
The cause of Parker’s death was unknown as qualifying concluded on Friday evening. The New Jersey State Police is investigating the accident. A spokesperson confirmed on Friday evening Parker had suffered head injuries.
The Raceway Park shutdown area was overhauled following Scott Kalitta’s fatal accident in 2008. Last year two alcohol Funny Cars tested the containment device with their drivers emerging uninjured.
Parker’s accident didn’t afford him the same opportunity. Moments after recording a personal best elapsed time, his parachute never deployed, said NHRA Vice President of Operations Graham Light. He shot past a safety runoff area, through a pea-sized gravel trap, breaching several safety nets and finally crashing into water-filled barrels.
“He went through all of it,” said Light, speaking at a somber news conference at the raceway.
The NHRA resumed racing in the afternoon following a four-hour delay for police investigation and repair to the containment device.
“It’s a high-speed, risky form of auto racing,” Light said. “We all dread when these days happen. It’s tough to deal with for the whole racing community.”
Parker was in his second season of racing in the NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Prior to that, he was a regular competitor on the IHRA tour where he raced in their Alcohol Funny Car division following the discontinuation of the Pro Outlaw division.
The Pro Outlaw division was essentially an open-bodied version of the Pro Modified category consisting of nitrous injected and supercharged race machinery. Parker became the first driver in the class to record a five-second run.
Tom Carter, Parker’s friend, was next in line to run in the same lane. The somber Carter described the fallen driver.
“He was one of the best drivers I’ve known, his natural abilities to drive,” explained Carter. “He never had a problem being fearless. He was an excellent, confident and capable driver.”
The NHRA has dedicated the race weekend to Parker’s memory.
TASCA: TIME FOR SAFETY FEATURES IN TAFC - Neal Parker’s fatal high-speed shutdown accident at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown NJ had the pits buzzing on Friday afternoon about making racing safer.
Fuel racer and former TAFC competitor Bob Tasca III believes the time has come for the alcohol classes to have the same safety features as the nitro classes. [Roger Richards]
Former TAFC racer Bob Tasca believes the nitro’s feeder class needs the same safety devices his Ford Motorcraft Mustang uses to keep him safe.
“It wouldn’t upset me to run 1,000 feet, especially on some of the shorter tracks,” Carter admitted. He was next in line to run and witnessed first-hand Parker’s accident.
“We should have those electronic units [Electrimotion] on our car that deploys the parachutes and shuts the car off at the end of the quarter-mile,” Carter continued. “They are using them on the nitro cars and I believe they are going to eventually put them on our cars. I think at the very minimum, we ought to have that.”
If Carter is looking for someone to second the motion, he needs to look no further than Tasca. Tasca raced for two seasons in the Top Alcohol Funny Car division, reaching the final round eight times.
Tasca speaks from experience when he says the alcohol cars are more difficult to stop than his nitro car. He believes today’s accident only reaffirms the dangers inherent in this style of race car.
“These cars [Alcohol Funny Cars] need to have the same technology as that on a nitro car,” Tasca said sternly. “They are harder to stop at 260 than I am at 300. They couldn’t run a fuel car at some of these divisional events and yet they run these alcohol cars. I may get in trouble but I am going to be vocal about safety. That is all we should be focused on. When it comes to racing, safety is all we should be focused on.”
Two weeks ago Tasca sat in his old alcohol car and he shuddered at the thought he used to race to the quarter-mile with it.
“I wouldn’t ever drive it again,” Tasca said. “I will tell you why. I would have to make so many changes – a three rail chassis, I won’t ever drive a car without one. Number two - auto shut off devices. They weren’t even invented when I raced in the alcohol classes. They have air parachutes, we didn’t even have those back then. If you have an air parachute and with two hands on the wheel, the parachute opens and hit the brake. As opposed to go on the steering wheel at 1,000 feet, hit the lever and then grab the brake. There are things in fuel racing today that make it safer than in an Alcohol Funny Car.
“There’s a lot we can do to bring that class up to our standards in fuel racing. They [TAFC racers] might not like it, there may be those who don’t like it … say racing 1,000 feet is no good. If I was that gentleman [who crashed today] I would have like to have had that extra 320 feet.”
Starting in 2007, the NHRA, along with input from Ford and the nitro racing community, implemented a series of safety devices ranging from specific chassis requirements to safety devices designed to automatically shut off a runaway vehicle in the event a driver becomes incapacitated during a catastrophic accident.
“What is on these cars is the best we knew would help all of these cars at a high rate of speed, we all did this together,” said Tasca. “Nobody told the Alcohol drivers they couldn’t put this on their car. We all are responsible for this. The NHRA, it’s their court, they set the rules. I’m certainly not bashing anyone, we all have these devices on our fuel cars that are as good as can be, but they aren’t on these alcohol cars. We go to 1,000 feet in a car that is easier to stop and they go to 1320? We have to look at this because we don’t want to get anyone else killed in a car.”
If anyone understands the plight of the NHRA to make the cars safer it’s Tasca. He reiterates his words are not designed to criticize the sanctioning body but rather to point out an issue which the community needs to address as a whole.
“It’s easy for us to be Monday morning quarterbacks, and I’m not blaming anybody,” Tasca said. “We are all in this together for safety. It bothers me because I have been very outspoken in certain circumstance to both racers and officials.”
Now, Tasca believes, it’s time to ask the tough and challenging questions.
“Alcohol cars don’t have the safety advances that we have and they are going quarter-mile with a car that’s more difficult to stop,” Tasca explained. “That’s when you have to ask yourself isn’t it time we make their cars as good as ours.”
A FRIEND REFLECTS ON PARKER - Dr. Tom Carter only needed to see the dust fly in the air from the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park
shutdown area to know prayers for a friend were needed.Carter, who races in the NHRA’s Top Alcohol Funny Car division, was next in line to run during qualifying at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ, as Neal Parker was killed when his Funny Car went through the containment system at a high rate of speed.
Hours earlier Parker was the first person he spoke to at the track.
“He was the first guy I saw this morning [when I got to the track],” said Carter as he shook his head in disbelief. “I asked him where my guys were. And now, he isn’t here.”
Those were the last words he spoke to Carter, a racer with whom he’d shared memories over the last few seasons while racing in the IHRA’s Top Alcohol Funny Car division. Two years ago they made the switch to the NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
“He was one of the best drivers I’ve known, his natural abilities to drive,” explained Carter. “He never had a problem being fearless. He was an excellent, confident and capable driver.”
Racing was delayed by four hours after Parker’s accident for an investigation by New Jersey State Police. According to the NHRA VP of Operations Graham Light, the parachute used to slow the car never deployed, allowing the car to roll past a safety runoff area, through a pea-sized gravel trap, breaching several safety nets and finally crashing into water-filled barrels.
Even before the accident, Carter had made it a habit to check every shutdown area before he races it.
“I usually go down and inspect the top end of the track,” explained Carter. “I look at how long the shutdown is and where the turn offs are. I look at where the finish line is. It’s a good habit to get into. That’s my biggest fear. I can handle the rest of the stuff. All you have to do is take your foot off of the gas. When you can’t stop one of these things, it’s bad.”
As unfortunate as today’s tragedy was, Carter admits this accident could have happened at any race track on the tour.
“I think this could have happened anywhere,” Carter said. “I think it was an accident and before we pass judgment on the race track, or NHRA, we should find out what happened. There are a lot of things that could have happened.”
The uncertainty of what happened to Parker left Carter unsure of how he’d handle being in the first pair of Top Alcohol Funny Cars to run when the first session resumed following professional qualifying. Carter left before the tree was activated and didn’t receive a time.
“I’m going to miss him a lot,” said Carter. “My prayers and thoughts are with his family. I’m devastated about this. I can’t stress that enough. It makes it hard to get back in one of these things and go down the track. But, I will do it.”
CORY MAC ATTACKS WITH RECORD RUN - Sometimes a driver knows when his crew chief is going to throw everything including the kitchen sink into the tune-up. Friday evening at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ, was one of those moments for Top Fuel racer Cory McClenathan.
With the adjusted altitude dropping like a brick, and the aggressive nature of co-crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, McClenathan knew he was in for the ride of his life as he strapped in.
His intuitions were spot on.
“The FRAM guys were going up there thinking if this thing runs 3.78 we're not going to feel too good about it,” said McClenathan. “So, I knew (crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara) and Phil (Shuler) were throwing everything at it. We've just been creeping up on it and the first thing Todd said when we got back was, 'this is something we tried three different times and it hadn't made it down the track.' So this time everything went perfect.
“It nosed over down there a little bit, probably at about 900 feet. But other than that it was a perfect run.”
McClenathan recorded the quickest and fastest run to 1000 feet in NHRA history at 3.752-seconds and 324.75 mph. Both are track records.
Just how quick was the run? It was quick enough to leave McClenathan wondering what had happened.
“My thought was, Man, it's over already? I came around the corner and the Safety Safari guys are going crazy, so I knew it had to be good.”
McClenathan stands on the cusp of a world record if he can procure the required one-percent back-up of 3.789-seconds.
“I really do think that we can back it up,” McClenathan explained. “We can go for it tomorrow. It's one of those thing where we would like to make everything happen all the time for everybody. Right now is a good time for us. If the conditions are right, we'll go for it.”
EDWARDS NAILS INCREDIBLE PST RUN - Mike Edwards can count the number of times he’s made a perfect run on one hand. Friday night he
used one of those digits to quantify his Friday evening run at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ.Edwards’ 6.513 second pass was the second quickest run in NHRA Pro Stock history and his 211.49 mph speed enabled him to grab both ends of the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park track record en route to the provisional pole position.
“I think it paid to be in the back of the line,” said Edwards, who is the current national record holder with a 6.509 elapsed time. “The conditions just kept dropping drastically. It really paid off for us. I knew when I threw out the parachutes I couldn’t get any better than that run.
“I think that run in Richmond could have been a 6.46. When you can run a .954 (60-foot clicking) that’s just incredible for one of these cars. The quick runs were out there. We swung for the fence and got away with that. We knew when we left the trailer the car was hot. Just before I made the run, I stood up there and watched all of the big numbers come up. I had to go back to my car, I couldn’t stand watching it anymore.”
According to Edwards, the altitude dropped 600 feet from the time his team left the pit area until they ran.
“Any time the conditions get like that, you know the track is going to be awesome,” Edwards said. “It was out there for us to make an awesome run. Hat’s off to my team. It’s good to have a great day like this … but …”
Then Edwards paused and paid tribute to Neal Parker, the Top Alcohol Funny Car racer killed Friday afternoon in a qualifying accident.
“My heart is real heavy for Neal Parker and his family,” Edwards said, voice cracking with emotion. “It’s a tragic loss anytime we have something like that happen with one of our racers. My heart goes out to his family … my thoughts and prayers are with them.”
HIGHT: ANOTHER WORLD RECORD IS STILL OUT THERE - If at first you don’t succeed, then swing for the fence the next time.
Days after losing a final round race to a world record run, Robert Hight issued a bit of payback during first day qualifying for the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ. Hight drove his way to a provisional national record of 4.025 to land in the top qualifying position.
“No doubt that was a great run,” said Hight, whose run came alongside of 14-time champion and father-in-law John Force. “Where was that 4.02 when I needed it against Hagan last weekend?”
Maybe it was waiting for the Englishtown magic and John Force Racing, there’s a lot of it at the facility located outside of Newark, New Jersey.
“I remember coming here on Wednesday nights when I was on John’s crew and we would match race for Vinnie Napp. They would pack them in here. It is always fun to race here.”
Hight is on pace to grab his third No. 1 qualifier in a row and fifth of the season. He also owns two of the four quickest ET's of 2010.
“This will be our third No. 1 in a row if it sticks,” Hight said. “I knew Jimmy was going to go after it but I thought he would try and run a 4.04 like he did in the semis in Chicago. I saw my 4.02 and I thought this could be the night for a run in the threes.”
But for Funny Car fans, Hight counsels patience. The potential for another record run is there.
“I probably scrubbed a hundredth off my run because it was so all over the place,” Hight admitted. “I could use this time as a back up for a national record but the conditions will have to be perfect. It could happen if we get some cloud cover and it cools off tomorrow. That could happen.”
PHILIPS PUTS TREBLE TO WORK; TREBLE PUTS PHILIPS NO. 1 - Michael Philips doesn’t claim to be an NFL General Manager but he
knew a good player when he saw one on the waiver wire earlier this week. Philips, of Baton Rouge, La, and rider of the Racers Edge-sponsored Suzuki put Craig Treble to work shortly after Don Schumacher Racing ceased operation of their Pro Stock Motorcycle team.
Last weekend in Chicago, Treble was the No. 1 qualifier. After the first day of qualifying at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ, Phillips borrowed a measure of Treble’s momentum to claim provisionally the No. 1 spot with a 6.855, 197.16 pass.
“I had been fighting this bike and was unable to get it off of the starting line the way it needed to but [Craig] Treble came over and showed me a few things on the clutch,” said Philips, who established both ends of the track record on the run. “We’ve always had big power, just couldn’t get the big to run to the 330. I knew if we could get to the 330, we could beat the [track] record.”
The current national ET record is a 6.847 held by Karen Stoffer while Andrew Hines holds the speed mark at 197.45.
In what has proven to be one of the best seasons for manufacturer parity, Philips believes the conditions present in Englishtown on Friday night favored his four-valve Suzuki.
For Philips, the timing was also perfect to bring in Treble.
“I called him right after he lost his job with Schumacher and asked if he was going to come over and help me,” Philips revealed during Friday evening’s press conference. “He showed me a few things about the clutch and it was actually the same clutch he ran here last year.”
Treble enters this weekend as the defending event champion and thanks to Philips he will suit up and try to qualify on Saturday.
“I have the engine I won Memphis with and will give it to him in the morning,” Philips said. “I just got the cylinders back from the NASCAR team that’s been helping me, so he should be able to run fast tomorrow too.”
Until then, Philips plans to spend the night relishing in the memories of “the run”.
“The bike snapped me coming off of the line,” Philips admitted. “Then I grabbed second gear and I knew it was hauling. I hit third gear and knew it was going fast. I got myself in tight away from the wind and when I went through the lights, I knew it had to be a good run.”
Jim Garrahan
12:35 PM, EST. - A high-speed crash during the first session of Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying has put competition on hold at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ.
The driver, whose identity hasn’t been released by the NHRA, ran through the safety net in the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park shutdown area. The New Jersey State Police have confirmed a fatality in the accident.
We’ll have details as soon as the NHRA makes an official statement.
With testing limited to four days throughout the entire season, bringing out a new car halfway to the Countdown to One could have been viewed as a rather risky endeavour. As it turned out the debut of the newest generation DSR Funny Car chassis was a rousing success.
Prior to making his first runs on Sunday morning at Joliet, Beckman sat down and talked about the risk, the reward and the new chassis.
His first revelation, at least for a guy with a stock car background, involved the driver's seat.
A new car means a new driver's seat?
“Yes,” said Beckman, adding, “We don't cannibalize. The other car is still an intact chassis.”
Time for culture shock. Seats seem almost interchangeable.
“You would love to think they are and maybe when we get the final aluminum bucket ironed out,” said Beckman, adding, “remember we're building for three different drivers. Then maybe we can take the seat insert and transfer from one car to another. But we're not at that stage yet simply because we keep moving some things around to see if we can make a better mousetrap that will suit all three of the team drivers.”
Three drivers, three very different physiques. Beckman and Ron Capps being the closest of the three, while Matt Hagan is far more stocky. Not fat, just not nearly as lean as Beckman or Capps. Still, Beckman's new ride is new, from top to bottom, including the seat.
Halfway to the Countdown, Beckman sits down in a totally different race car with a totally different seat. How weird is that?
“You do get a comfort zone in your car,” admitted Beckman. “Like Don Shumacher likes to say 'it needs to feel like a wore out pair of shoes,' you just slip it on and go use it. So it is a little different. Not only is the seat different we've changed a lot of things in the weight balance of that car. That might even be the big difference.”
The big difference, to which Beckman refers is the chassis itself.
“It tends to be more responsive,” Beckman reveals. “So, you can't get after the steering wheel to get the same response you get in a new car and you almost have to back-off your sensitivity ratio. In other words what 10 degrees of steering used to provide now might only be 6 or 7 degrees. You don't know that. You can't necessarily tell yourself to under-steer or else you could be in big, big trouble.
“What tends to happen is you over-steer a couple times and OK I get it this one is more sensitive slow down a little bit. That actually takes a few runs. With the NITRO Funny Car though with all the different parameters of ignition, track conditions, etc., no two runs ever really feel the same anyway so it's not like driving your car on the freeway every single day then going and getting a rental car because the freeway changes every day. In racing, the lane, it changes round to round.
“Then we go to different ones every single race so you never quite get perfect familiarity even if you get close to it with the car, track conditions and the material conditions are what will change that.”
The key, it would appear is familiarity with how a car will react given certain conditions. A new car can toss a few extra curve balls into the mixture. And, then the key is constructing a car which reacts consistently so the driver can do the same.
The parameters are always changing, which in fact, makes it less threatening to bring a new car out mid-season.
The weather changes and no two tracks are the same. Some, according to Beckman are close, but ever track has it's own special signature.
“There is not a uniform length of concrete pad. The crowning might go one way or the other. The grooves, some of them can run down the middle, most of them tend to bias toward the center line because drivers tend to drive away from the wall. Some tracks have a tendency to push right in both lanes. Some push out in both lanes. Some push in, in both lanes. Sometimes, like at Topeka, you might have a lane that tends to pull you left. All of a sudden you have a strong crosswind blowing from left to right and it takes you the other way and you weren't expecting it.
“All I'm saying is you can never truly get comfortable with a Nitro Funny Car because something as simple as the wind or the outside temperature takes away that familiarity, that predictability, from the car.”
It is according to Beckman the unpredictability which is the key enticement to running a Funny Car.
“Yes! Oh yes, without a question. That is the lure of Funny Car drivers. I think if you talk to all of them and really get to the core of why a Funny Car, (it is because the cars ) are totally unpredictable.”
Predictably unpredictable, Beckman agrees. Which, makes it possible to drive them. With time behind the wheel, reaction times shorten and success follows.
“Right. That's it. React. That's exactly it. Programmed response. When you've got as many runs as John Force you have an answer for almost every situation. You'll never have an answer for every situation. Ever. Because ninety-nine times out of hundred you will steer a certain amount to fix a certain problem and that one hundredth time there's a little variable out on the racetrack and that doesn't work. But there certainly is a lot to be said for experience.”
It is the experience, the knowledge, which comforts Beckman during this mid-season chassis change.
“You know we are not the first team that has changed a chassis in the middle of the season it's happened a lot of times and improved a team; just giving it fresh life,” Beckman explained. “The concern for me was not new tubing it was changing all the weight around. Ultimately we think this is going to be the better package for us.
“And, it wasn't that I was concerned of how it was going to handle so much as to how is it going to respond to our tune up input. Every car, you know when you switch from A to F in a tune-up map that worked this way for car two but car three all of a sudden wanted you to go from A to M on the tune up change to get the same result there. So that is a potential concern with four races in a row and seven races in eight weeks you're really in a situation where you gotta play no error ball here. It is not to say you won't get beat the first run but you have to use every single run to learn something.”
“We need to collect data right now. We need to figure out what the brand new car wants so that we are strong once we get to Indy and get prepared for the Countdown. So I am actually excited about the new pipe and I'm excited about learning what it wants on each track and I'm excited about this one hopefully being the one carries the number 1 on it next year.”
Carrying the No. 1 is after all, what life in the Funny Car world is all about.
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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK - ASHLEY'S TOUGHEST FOES JUST MIGHT BE FAMILY
When Ashley Force Hood begins to mentally prepare for the intense challenge of a 300 mph side-by-side race in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing 
Series, part of her routine is to evaluate her competition. She analyzes her opponents’ strengths and examines their tendencies during their pre-race routines at the starting line. Ultimately she will try to exploit any weaknesses that she sees.
While that process works well for the majority of her rivals in the ultra-competitive Funny Car category, there are two drivers that she feels like she may know just a little bit too well: her father, John Force, and her brother-in-law, Robert Hight.
Both are currently at the top of their game and among the drivers Force Hood may have to defeat if she is going to win the 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals, June 10-13 at historic Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Tony Pedregon (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are the defending winners of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.
Force Hood, driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang and the first female to win a Funny Car race in NHRA history, says while facing one of her teammates on the dragstrip can be a tough chore, ultimately it is more of a stress-free race, knowing that no matter the outcome, the team is going to advance to the next round.
“When I run against them, the pressure is off,” said the three-time tour winner who has earned 10 No. 1 qualifying positions in her career. “I feel when I run dad or Robert, we can have some fun, not make ourselves nervous or sick, but may the best car win. It’s a different feeling than running another team, the (Don) Schumacher (Racing) teams, (Cruz or Tony) Pedregon, (Del) Worsham, all the other teams we compete against. You do feel different going against them.”
Force Hood says the strength in numbers philosophy gives her a reason to cheer even after her day may be over at the track. If her teammates are still alive in competition, she has the opportunity to turn from driver to cheerleader, and wave the team flag.
“When you go out (of the race), it’s a saving grace for you that even though you lost, you still have people to go up on the starting line to root for and cheer on,” she said.
Last season Force and Hight did a lot of cheering for Force Hood early in the season. She had her best season to date, winning twice in eight final rounds and finishing second in the final season standings. Her father had his worst season in more than two decades in 2009 and Hight struggled early in the season before a late rally allowed him to win the season championship. This year, both Force and Hight are off to very strong starts with three wins apiece and Hight just overtook Force – the season-long points leader – atop the Funny Car standings with his fourth straight final round. Force Hood has been in a couple of final rounds and is currently tied for third place entering this weekend’s second race in a grueling stretch of seven races in eight weeks.
“Last season around this time in the year, through the spring and summer, my team, everything kind of came together for us and we were running really good,” Force Hood said. “We were winning races, going to final rounds, leading the points a few times during the season. It was very bittersweet because we were so excited to be a newer team and be doing so well, yet our own teammates were both struggling. My dad and his team, who won so many years, had such success, who we learned from, and also Robert’s team, who came so close year after year to that championship. Those were the two that we really felt would be the ones going after the No. 1 spot, yet we found ourselves in that position.”
As the trio are once again 1-2-3 in the point standings (with Matt Hagan tied for third with Force Hood), Force Hood says she would like to see the final Funny Car finish order be that way. She would be happy if any of the three secures the No. 1 for their car.
“But the thing I can say about that is both of those teams (last year), they never showed that they were envious or upset,” she said. “They were just a hundred percent supportive. They cheered us on. They were on that starting line whether it was a semi or final that we were in. Even if it was them that we beat the round before, they would come over and help us out. They really did feel at the end of the day we were one big team. It was great to know they were happy for us. Now when the tables are turned, we can give our support as well. If we struggle, we’ll be there cheering them on. Coming November, we want any of these cars to be in the No. 1 spot. To be 1-2-3 would be amazing.”
STILL SMILING - Matt Hagan had little time to take a breath after winning the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill., last Sunday. From there he went straight to the DieHard headquarters in Chicago on Monday to present the winner's trophy to the company employees, worked on his 500-acre Angus Cattle farm on Tuesday, then headed to Englishtown on Wednesday for media events preceding this weekend's 41st annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
"It's still really early in the season to get that second win of the year and my career," said Hagan, who moved into third place in the Funny Car class standings after earning 20 bonus points for setting a national elapsed-time record. "It's huge for the whole DieHard Dodge racing team. The guys are doing a great job. (Crew chiefs) Tommy DeLago and John Medlen are working well together, and I'm just glad to have that confidence that comes with winning in a great car that's going down the race track.
"I was glad to hear going into Chicago that we weren't going to be testing anything any more and that we were going back to the combination that we had been working on for all last year. And that was great because we had a lot of information with it. On top of that, it was very beneficial to have John on board to help massage it and really make it better. Having those two great minds (DeLago and Medlen) working together has made it really come together and the DieHard Dodge is very, very consistent now."
Naturally he's excited this weekend's race is in Englishtown.
"Englishtown is a great race," Hagan said. "I know quite a few people in the New York area and it will be great to see them again,” added Hagan, who is in his second full season driving for Don Schumacher Racing. “I'm really looking forward to getting back in this hot rod and going some more laps, having more fun, and hopefully qualifying well."
And most of all, he's keeping everything in check.
"You can't get too big-headed about any of this stuff because next thing you know you don't get qualified. So we'll just take it one lap at a time to make sure that we secure our spot in the top 10 for the Countdown to 1 playoffs (final six races of the year)."
THE TIGHT TOP FUEL BATTLE - In Top Fuel, five-time Englishtown winner Larry Dixon, fresh off his win in Chicago, is in a tight championship battle with arch-rival Tony Schumacher and veteran driver Cory McClenathan. Each of those three drivers has won multiple races this season and led the point standings. Others to watch in the 7,000-horsepower category include Doug Kalitta, Brandon Bernstein, Antron Brown, Morgan Lucas and Shawn Langdon.
EDWARDS FORGES AHEAD - Mike Edwards continues to have the car to beat in Pro Stock competition as the defending world champ has opened the season in impressive fashion with six wins and eight No. 1 qualifying positions. His biggest challengers include past world champs Jeg Coughlin and Greg Anderson and Team Mopar’s Allen Johnson. Young Rickie Jones has proven to be a serious upset threat on the starting line at recent events in his Elite Motorsports Pontiac GXP.
ARANA'S COMPETITION - A talented mix of Pro Stock Motorcycle racers will challenge for the two-wheel title, including defending world champ Hector Arana, past Englishtown winners Matt Smith and Andrew Hines, and former Raceway Park general manager Eddie Krawiec, also the 2008 NHRA Full Throttle Series world champion.
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