NHRA TIME TRIALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
Keep up with this weekend's NHRA Time Trials at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona by reading our behind-the-scenes event notebook. We bring you the stories behind the numbers and win-lights throughout the course of the weekend. Tune in daily for the latest news from the pits.
SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BECKMAN - Fast Jack Beckman is definitely fast on the track, but, if you start a conversation with him, be sure you have time. The loquacious and affable Funny Car pilot can, and will, talk the leg off a mule. He offers his opinion on everything from A to Z, and when we caught up with him at Testing, we decided to throw out the questions and get real-life answers.
Beckman on diapers…
“The home diapers or the engine diapers? I don't like the smell of poop, I really don't. Not that I have to qualify that. There is nothing that my kid does that I don't absolutely love including crap on himself, somehow that's even kind of funny. Now some are worse than others. Some I have to call mom in to come help out and assist and somehow she always seems to handle the five-alarm number two's. Me? It can become a crisis pretty quickly but I just love that kid, I don't mind.”
Beckman on new Funny Car safety issues.
“When you say safety it encompasses everything from the front bumper to the parachutes. You know we're carrying 100 more pounds this week than we did last year. Force has done some changes to their cars, and they are heavy. A lot of the other team’s cars are heavy, too.”
“Schumacher has always invested in R&D, and our car is the minimum weight. Right now our cars have 75 pounds bolted on them of lead weight. 75 extra pounds that you have to accelerate, maybe not a big deal because we have a bigger percentage [of nitro to work with.] Now, 75 extra pounds that you've got to stop? That's the safety issue.
“I'm all in favor of a safer funny car. I'm not so sure that a knee jerk reaction welding a bunch of stuff necessarily makes a safer funny car. I think that deep analysis, R&D, testing and then an implementation schedule is the way to go. In other words, if this carbon fiber driver tub is a safer race car, not because we think it is or somebody’s invested a lot of money in it but because we've done a lot of analysis: we've bolted it in the car Monday at test sessions, we've tested it, we've analyzed it to the end. Actually we won't be able to tell if it's any safer unless somebody crashes now will we? I'm sure as hell not volunteering for that job.
“What we can tell is that it appears to be safer and its no less safe on a regular run in the car. Then I'm all for implementing it but having to bolt extra weight on a car that has never had anything go wrong with it, that has never crashed makes that car less safe.
“I would rather see NHRA mandate specific chassis and driver compartment upgrades and bump the minimum weight according to those rules. I also think we've got a long ways to go in cockpit safety. Harnesses, arm restraints, the safety equipment itself- the suits seem to be more than adequate for the job.
“Helmets, I think we've got a long ways to go. Comfortable and safe are 2 different things and I think people want comfort so what's safe probably isn't what most of us are wearing out there. I'm for some sort of inserts so that once you put the helmet on they get slid up into the cheek area to keep it from moving. Arm restraints, for them to be tight enough to be adequate you can't touch the parachutes or the harness release. I think we've got a long ways to go. Now if you look back 40 years we've come a tremendous way and the reason we have is through organizations like NHRA. The bigger teams like the Schumachers and the Forces who have the budget to try new stuff.
“So I think the direction Force is taking everybody in is the correct direction it's the steps that we need to take there that we need to analyze.
Beckman on Frank Hawley driving a Funny Car again.
”Frank Hawley is one of my favorite people on the planet. We don't hug, we don't go out for drinks, and we don't hang out to watch TV together. He lives 2,500 miles away from me and he sends me a paycheck. So none of that stuff is why he's one of my favorite people.
“I have so much respect for that guy. He is the most logical person I have ever met in my life. You can ask him about diapers- he may not necessarily know but he will give you such a logical way to think about the process that you're like: “wow.” Anything- driving a racecar, the stock market, family values, politics. I don't always agree with his assessment but I always appreciate his logic for getting there. I think he is one of the most talented drivers on the planet. I don't know if he was born with it, I think he has acquired it -- which makes me respect and appreciate it more because I wasn't born with it.
“To see him get back in one of these racecars is going to be interesting. You say well what's he got to prove, the answer is nothing. You say why’s he doing it? He's a racecar driver; you never quite get cured of that. What's the up side for him? Probably not much, more recognition for the school maybe. What's the potential downside? Probably a lot of stuff. You give that guy a few runs and I think he's going to be one of the best drivers at the racetrack. I think if you let him in a car for the whole season the rest of us are going to be in trouble.
Beckman on Bruton Smith.
“Never met the man but anybody who gives us facilities like he has, I'll tell you. The guy’s got chutzpah. He seems to me, now I'm just going off things I read about him, he doesn't seem a malicious person, but anybody who's got the chutzpah and can just say I'll pack everything up and take it to another county if you guys don't appreciate the financial impact my facility will have -- that's pretty cool. I don't think he's doing it as a threat, I think he's doing it to remind people that what he's doing isn't just good for the racers but for the community and it just feeds all the way down the economic system.
“Everything he does is first class and that's what we need more of. NHRA has definitely upped their image over the last couple of decades and they are still working to make it better, trying to close the gap between NASCAR and us. This is the way we'll do it by having your family with you; you want nice facilities when they come out to the races. The guys are going to come out and they'll pee in the bushes but when you have your family with you you're going to want nice facilities, decent food, you want to be treated well, you want to be able to get into the event, park reasonably and get out of there in less than a 15 hour traffic jam. Bruton is the man when it comes to that, we need more of that.
Beckman on the new changes to the POWERade countdown.
“I love it. I absolutely love it. I salute the NHRA. It's very easy for them to say, "Look at how last year ended." Schumacher wins in the last round, the Pro Stock Bike leaves it to two guys, Chip Ellis or Matt Smith would've won it in that round. That's exactly how they wanted it.
“They took a little bit of the quality away, I think. To make drag racing a two-race shootout, though it worked out decent there, they almost got bit in Funny Car and they really almost got bit in Top Fuel because any other team than the US Army they would've gotten bit. I absolutely salute what they've done though. If they would've asked me I would've suggested just about item for item the way that they've done it. They've thrown a caution flag, they've given a little bonus to the guy that's going to be leading in Indy and then they said go race for it and we'll let you go six races. I love it. As long as we're one of the top-10, I love it. If not I'm complaining next year.
Beckman on breakfast.
"Breakfast. I'm an eater. I'm telling you dude, I'm a big eater. I've got an appetite like a horse and metabolism like a hummingbird. I can eat all day long and in fact now that we're talking you're making me hungry and I'm going to go have some food. You know what's interesting is that I've always worked out and I've always stayed in shape and I've always had to feed myself like a horse to try to gain weight so breakfast was a big deal.
“Why are we getting so freaking serious about this question? I noticed that after the cancer when I wasn't working out as much that I could never skip breakfast and function and I never understood the people that could go without it. I would die if I went three hours without food. Now I'm trying to get back into the working out, back into the healthy thing so yes I think breakfast is very important.
Beckman on husbands and wives racing against each other.
“Wow, I could see that being a wonderful thing and I could see that being a not so wonderful thing. I would say keep the couch prepared with blankets and a pillow just in case. I think it all depends: my wife and I race Super Comp and race against each other. We want to win so the competition is no less. The difference is there's not the sponsors and the ten different crewmembers to please. You take Tommy and Melanie racing against each other, their no more competitive than my wife and I racing in Super Comp but you've got more people to please with that.
“It's not that it means more, it means more though. Financially there's an impact on it. This year on points chase there's an impact on it. I think that it can only bring a little more positive exposure for NHRA. I think that if Melanie beats Tommy he'll find a way to deal with it and if Tommy beats Melanie then he'd better find a way to deal with it.
“And with that, Fast Jack walked away, looking for a sandwich.
LET’S NOT FORGET GOD - When asked if John Force had anything he wanted to say to all of his fans that have been supporting him in the past several months, he replied”
“Oh they've been more than respectful to me and gave me space when I needed time,” Force said. “Even at Pomona and Vegas because they knew that I couldn't sign because my hands didn't work, they were just really good. The wishes to get well were outrageous. I still have boxes and boxes at home of mail that I still have to go through because I just can't get to it all. I want to tell them that I'm ready and thanks to you and your prayers and a lot of people. Let's not forget God, he's pretty important.
FORCE ON CHAMPIONSHIPS - John did get into his car Saturday to warm it up, but the entire JFR team is taking their time getting to the track.
“Yeah well this is a brand new car,” Force said. “Robert got his. Neff got his. I've got mine, but we're still putting them together. Ashley's isn't even here yet. It's coming in, it's supposed to be here tonight or tomorrow then they've got to start on it.
“To me, it's not about Pomona, it's about the championship. It's about safety, and when these cars are safe that's what we're going after. We're going racing, don't get me wrong, but we have to make sure that everything's right, we're not taking any chances. It's an all new car design and it's just that after 30 years and a lot of change we want to be really comfortable. We don't want to make a mistake; we want it to be right.
“We're pretty excited about it and you feel safe when you're inside of this car. No more drive shaft going around in between your legs anymore. I'm just surprised that we did it that way.”
GIVING IT A FULL 90% - Del Worsham has been wanting to get back to the 90-percent nitro mix since NHRA made the change — and this year he has his chance. After running so well at that mix, the affable veteran is looking forward to the advantages.
“Well a lot has changed since we ran 90 percent last,” Worsham said. “The tires, the parts, the blowers -- so our old data is really insignificant at this point as far as that goes. But 90 percent is going to allow everyone to make power without having to have a perfect blower or that much compression. Personally, I think it was a wise move and a great move on NHRA's part. I was definitely for it and I think you're going to see cars make better runs and less parts damage. Maybe not right away but in the end it's going to help the sport.”
We’re all for better runs....!
STILL A ROCK STAR - Jerry Toliver made his first runs in the all-new Rockstar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car as a member of Don Schumacher Racing this weekend.
Toliver powered down the quarter-mile five times, with his quickest pass a 5.512-second run at 163.65 mph, which placed him in No. 8 for the weekend. His other laps produced an 11.392/76.38, a 6.262/144.55, a 12.066/70.75 and an 11.052/74.83, as every team struggled to adjust to new rules changes, including the raising of the nitromethane percentage as well as the minimum weight for the 2008 season.
Toliver was upbeat following the premature end to the rain-shortened session. "The weekend went well. Unfortunately we were rained out today," he said, with a touch of enthusiasm in his voice. "The good thing is, new crew, new driver, all of us trying to bond together.
"I've got a really great group of guys on this team. (Crew chief) Phil Shuler is going to be phenomenal, and we will all benefit from the input of the other DSR crew chiefs. I love working with these guys, so I'm very excited.
"The Rockstar Dodge is a new car with new vision for me," added Toliver. "The line of vision with the new Dodge Charger R/T body is different from the car I ran last season. It had me nervous to begin with, but once I got in the car and whacked the throttle, everything was fine. It's just a matter of getting used to how the car reacts."
BIG PLANS - Toliver is confident about the 2008 season.
"I think everything is going to be good and I'm extremely excited about it. We made five squirts, three planned early shut-offs and last night it shook the tires twice. The Rockstar Dodge handles well. I'm just getting used to everything inside."
TOUGH TIME – Sometimes the best laid plans just don’t materialize.
Gary Scelzi was anticipating a productive three-day Funny Car test session, but a washout of today's session and new-car glitches disrupted the team's plans.
In the two days that were completed, Scelzi's quickest lap produced a 7.584-second result at 114.07 mph, placing him ninth for the weekend. Scelzi and the Mopar/Oakley Dodge team, led by tuner Todd Okuhara, will remain at Firebird Raceway to continue testing through Wednesday, if necessary. His other passes included a 12.183/71.99, an 11.783/72.53 and an 11.435/76.41.
"There's nothing to tell you," said Scelzi, of Fresno, Calif. "It's pouring down rain today, so they've already cancelled today. We made one run on Friday and it was a tire-shaker; the slide-valve didn't open. Then we had a couple of other glitches yesterday and then last night it shook the tires again. It was better, but it still shook the tires. I don't want to be negative, but, realistically, I don't think it's been a very productive test session.
"I'm hoping that we get some good weather and we can start going back to our normal combination, because basically we're running out of time now. We've got to test what we're going to race in Pomona, so hopefully we can do that on Monday through Wednesday. Our plan is to test through Wednesday.
"(DSR teammate) Ron Capps made the one good pass last night," added Scelzi. "I don't think anybody has made any good runs back to back. We haven't had the opportunity yet. We're trying a lot of different and new things, and hopefully by Wednesday night I can tell you it's been productive."
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK
HEAVY HEARTS – The opening mood for this weekend’s event quickly turned somber when word passed around regarding the automobile accident this morning that claimed the life of Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert’s two sons.
Jon, 17, and James, 12, died instantly when their Mazda3 collided with a second vehicle in Lake Norman, NC.
Herbert, who was in Phoenix for preseason testing, is devastated and headed home to be with his family.
Condolences can be sent to Raymer Funeral Home, 16901 Old Statesville Road, Huntersville, N.C. 28078.
In lieu of flowers, Herbert asks that people make a donation to the Speedway Children's Charities in Jon and James Herbert's name.
Details regarding a memorial service will be forthcoming.
“Well you know Bill Miller is obviously out here with the best interest of all the racers in what he’s doing,” Bernstein said. “He's done all the research and he's got the stuff to back it up. I mean, on the chassis development, I agree with him.
“He knows a lot about these race cars and these guys need to stop and think ‘you know what, if we have some issues with these chassis because of what they’re doing, it could be a real problem.’
“It's unfortunate that it's like that but I wish they could all get on the same page together and realize that all Bill's trying to do is make these cars safer for all these drivers.”
COUNTDOWN CHANGES = GOOD IDEA - Both Brandon Bernstein and World Champion Tony Schumacher agree that the changes to the Countdown format will be a great improvement.
Bernstein said, “I love it. I mean I didn’t like the end part last year when you had only two races. We saw in the Funny Car ranks -- you have a bad race and you can't make it up in one race, so this is a much better playing field.”
Schumacher piped in, “I think it's really all pretty perfect [now]. In my opinion, I think they did a great job moving it back to where we all thought it should be in the first place.”
He went on to say that he likes the changes in the provisional qualifying change, too. “Even the qualifying will be great. I understand why they did it. We're trying to give the fans a good show. There are too many big sponsored cars out there that if you don't get in Friday night then you're in trouble if it's hot on Saturday and they made provisionals for that. I think it's a great idea.
“I went over there just to enjoy it and to have a good time,” Schumacher said. “You know, it's going to all get blown out of perspective in every angle and that's ok, you've got to expect that going in.
“In reality, I went over to enjoy myself. I don't want to retire 10, 20, 30, or 5 years, never having run a race in a circle. Maybe I’ll run some of those Grand National - West races and just bump off some other guys. To see what it's like to be allowed to hit the other guys, it was just great, I'm better for doing that.”
YOU CAN ALWAYS GO HOME - Len Imbrogno has become a name and face that's been associated with Sportsman Racing in NHRA -- but for now, the only place you'll be seeing his pearly-whites is in the Kenny Bernstein Budweiser/Monster Energy pits. According to Imbrogno, he's back where he started.
"I left NHRA and came back to work for Kenny,” Imbrogno said. “I worked for Kenny for like 10 years when we had the sports marketing company, the Indy car team and the Winston Cup team. We've had a pretty good relationship through the years and I've known him for a long time. We'd talked back and forth throughout the past couple of years to see if the opportunity ever arose or if he looked to expand his team with me coming to work for him. He started building the facility in Indianapolis, a 33,000 square foot building with both race teams under one roof, and I’ve been named the General Manager.”
“I am happy and ecstatic,” Brown said. “I feel like a giddy 16-year-old who just got their driver’s license. I’m getting a lot more confident in myself in understanding what’s happening all the way down the race track. I know what to expect and my confidence level has really boosted.
“I feel relieved because there’s a lot riding on me. We have such an all star crew starting with Lee Beard and my entire crew. They’re doing a phenomenal job. I’m going to do my job to step up and do the best I can because I know we have a championship-caliber car and crew.”
With the Matco team’s primary goal accomplished, Beard and crew will continue to improve the performance of the Matco Tools dragster while getting Brown acclimated in his 330-mph rail. The team may debut a new 2008 Brad Hadman chassis early next week to make some test laps on the new car. The new Hadman car features the larger diameter frame rail tubing that NHRA has mandated in 2008.
Corradi explained, "We found the ignition problem that's been plaguing us since we pulled in the gate, and on that last run, we knew we were right back where we ended the season in Pomona.
"It's spot on," Corradi said.
Under the sunny mid-day skies, Troxel again shook the tires like she had all day Friday. After identifying the ignition problems, the Gotham City crew breathed a sigh of relief when the Dodge Charger delivered a solid launch and 60-foot performance before the tires started to haze into tire shake.
INTO THE COMFORT ZONE – With each lap down the track, Troxel is becoming more and more acclimated to the demands of Funny Car driving.
"I'm getting lots of seat time, which was one of my goals coming into testing," Troxel said. "The last run it was too aggressive and the tires shook - which was equally as bad as far as the shaking, but this is a much better problem to have.
"We just need to back it down a bit and then we should be able to get down the track, tomorrow or Monday," she said.
That might not happen tomorrow. Local weather forecasts call for rain showers all day Sunday and Sunday night, clearing mid-morning on Monday. Troxel and the crew said the forecasts didn't dampen their spirits, however.
"All the seat time I've had so far has given me greater comfort level in the car. It's starting to feel more normal to me, and that's exactly what I wanted to accomplish before we went out to the actual races. We still have a lot of days testing to work things out, so I'm happy," Troxel said.
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK
That was the plan that
never came to fruition.
Instead Miller was
notified by NHRA Director of Top Fuel & Funny Car racing Dan Olson that his
chassis was illegal per the established S.F.I. specs mandated. The safety
conscious Miller was taken aback by the ruling.
Miller was essentially
eliminated because he said he took safety to the next level.
“Dan Olson said because
the car did not have the joint that combines the driver’s compartment to the
inch-and-a-half .095 tubing at the rear of the three verticals that come
together, made the car illegal,” Miller said. “Basically I didn’t want a
‘break-me-here spot in the car’ and I did that because you can’t tell me how a
car will crash every time.”
Miller built his chassis
in-house under the guidance of noted chassis expert Don Long. He pointed out
that he used Dr. Rory Davis’s Finite Element Analysis to build what he said was
a safer car than the spec.
“Listen to Don Long,”
Miller said. “He says if you can’t describe the crash, you can’t describe the
solution.”
Speculation throughout the
Firebird Raceway pits and beyond today suggests this was in retaliation to
Miller’s outspoken nature regarding the use of heat-treated versus normalized
tubing in nitro chassis designs. Regardless of the basis for this ruling,
Miller said the decision to not allow his car to run is a kick in the gut.
“It didn’t meet the S.F.I.
spec,” Olson said in a telephone interview Friday evening.
Olson said Miller was given
the copy of the spec.
“He already had the paper but
for whatever reason, which is beyond me, he did it,” Olson said. “I have no idea
why he did it that way. The spec is the spec and it is black and white. It’s easy
to understand. The drawing shows exactly the way it should be done.
“All the other cars have it,
the Hadman,
Olson has an opposing view
regarding Miller’s claims the chassis is safer.
“It’s not even close to the
spec,” Olson said.
Having NHRA officials in town
for the weekend testing was somewhat of a different scenario than last weekend in
The NHRA has legalized a
new chassis specification for the Top Fuel division and labeled it as SFI Spec
2.3N and it will become effective as of April 21, 2008. The gives all teams the
opportunity to have new cars or existing ones brought into spec by the NHRA
Southern Nationals in Atlanta, Ga.
The new spec will be one-and-a-half inch .095 chromoly tubing on the top and bottom rail with sleeves in each bend. The bend at the rear firewall, at top and bottom will require a sleeve. The bend at the front of the motor that goes up to the hoop will also require a sleeve in it too.
Lucas, driving his Lucas Oil dragster and J.R. Todd on-board his Torco/Seelye Wright “railer” made their initial three runs of the season with Lucas recording an impressive .855-second 60-foot while Todd posted a .847 which placed the Morgan Lucas Racing duo in the No. 2 and No. 4 positions, respectively.
“Everything worked just fine today and I have to give all the credit to John Stewart and Richard Hogan for having our cars so professionally prepared,” Lucas said. “It’s difficult to get down a green track with very little rubber on it for grip, so we’re here to keep making runs along with everyone else and step up the pace tomorrow.”
Todd said, “As far as I know, we have contract with Torco so we're living up our end as far as running all the decals on the car. As far as I know there have been talks between Torco and Lucas and we're out here running so that's all I'm concerned about is that we're out here at the track and we're gonna be running all 24 races.”
CHRISTMAS PRESENT - Newly hailing from the Lucas Oil camp, Todd said one of his best Christmas gifts was his new team. “Oh, and I bought myself a new house. I wouldn't call that much of a Christmas present.”
“Really I'm not concerned with too much actually,” he said. “The thing about it is that I always wanted to make the move to Top Fuel but never had the opportunity to. For the last five years I had a really good relationship with Matco and it's weird how it all just fell in place but I just wanted to be with a first class organization and David Powers Motorsports is that with Tim Buckley.
“The main deal was who is gonna crew chief the car and stuff like that while I was in Top fuel. I couldn't even land in a better spot than to be with Lee Beard and Robb Flynn. I mean these guys here are phenomenal and the crew here, all the guys that we've got are first class.
“It's weird how everything came together. I'm used to being the top in Pro Stock Bike and I worked hard to get there but I'm not shy of work ethic so I'm just going to carry that over here. Hopefully I can just make my rookie season a real good year to where we can get in the final countdown with this MATCO Tools top fuel dragster and just go from there and get in the top 10 of the countdown and by that time we'll have enough fronts for the belt to hold for where we can run for a championship.
“The main deal for me is just to learn as we go, stay focused, do everything precise to where I can limit my rookie mistakes. I'm going to make rookie mistakes, everybody does, but I just want to limit them and put them down to a minimum. If we could do that and work with the team like we've been working, both teams together with Hot Rods deal and get Hot Rod to rub off on me a little, then this team is destined for future greatness and hopefully we can all work together and take it there for sure.”
"We got a lot of bugs worked out today," Troxel said. "Can I say it sucked? That first lap was pretty ugly, really, because I hade trouble seeing, but we took care of that when we made the night pass, and things felt a lot better.
"I couldn't see exactly where I was going, and I don't know exactly why, really. We have some new equipment here, and I haven't made a lot of passes on this car, so I think I didn't have the adjustments set right. Fortunately, we didn't really damage anything, and we were able to get things worked out for the second run."
Troxel’s 60-foot times were 0.935 seconds, 0.970 seconds.
Crew chief Brian Corradi said, "The car was set up almost the same as when Mike [Ashley] ran it in Pomona, only with a little more nitro in it, so we were just trying to get a baseline here heading into testing. It was going straight on that first pass, but Melanie had some problems with her new helmet and she just barely tagged that cone. Other than that, it was clipping along on a decent pass.
"We got that second run in under the wire, and she got a good launch off the line before it started to shake and she lifted," he said.
BABY NEEDS NEW SHOES - Or a lot of them, really. According to Dan Olson, Top Fuel Dragster drivers are required to meet
“I don't know," said Dixon. "Dan Olson told everybody at the US Nationals last year that you needed to wear either an SFI15 shoe or an SFI15 boot. I didn't want to wear boots so I'm wearing a shoe. I take the safety side of things serious and obviously I don't want anybody to tell me that I can't run my race car. We came to test and prepare.”
SPIT IT OUT - And, speaking for preparation, Dixon is getting ready to spit out a mouth-full in interviews this year — can you say “US Smokeless Tobacco Company” five times fast? Dixon laughed: “It’s a great problem to have.”
Tasca said, “I told someone this morning it wasn't less than four months ago I didn't have an employee and I didn't have a car so for what we've done just since after Thanksgiving has been really remarkable. Mike and Chris pulled this thing together, Murf McKinney’s guys, you know they were under a lot of pressure to get these cars done.
“We've got a great group of guys, we've got great parts, we've got a great hot rod here, thanks to John on this Mustang body. We're in good shape, really. We've got to get a couple few hundred runs in, get the fuel system dialed in and we feel pretty confident that we’ll get a good baseline.
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