2008 NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - TOP FUEL NOTEBOOK
Keep up with this weekend's Top Fuel action in Indianapolis by reading our behind-the-scenes event notebook. CompetitionPlus.com will 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.
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MONDAY NOTEBOOK - SCHUMAHCER WINS AND VANDERGRIFF'S APPOINTMENT
A RAY OF HOPE – For a brief moment, the Top Fuel contingent thought they had a chance.
Then final eliminations began.
Schumacher bettered his previous consecutive round win mark of 21 by three rounds to 24 by defeating Doug Kalitta in the final round. Schumacher had tied the record with a first round win over Bob Vandergriff, Jr.
“They had a chance every day,” Schumacher said. “We weren't a tenth of a second ahead of anybody. It was just we were limiting our mistakes to zero and we're making it difficult. We're making it difficult on those teams. I've run against those guys before. We had a time where we had to run against AJ, we had a time where Amato's car was going down the track over and over again, Larry Dixon had the same thing, and I understand how difficult it is to race against them. But it's life, you get up and do your best. And I think all we can do is lose it. Like some of the guys were saying on the other team, they said “Well, they've got to make a mistake.”
“We don't want to do that. And now I have six races left with AJ, I definitely want to do it in those six. I want to build every record I can right now. If next year we can't find a crew chief, I'm doing that then. I may never win another round of qualifying; I want to do it right now.”
Schumacher's father, Don, quickly put the kibosh of any thought Tony would tune his own car pointing out they would find the right man to replace the departing Johnson.
Tony Schumacher is clearly a man on a mission this season with eleven wins in thirteen final round appearances.
The impressive facet of Schumacher’s latest accolade, which ties him with Top Fuel legend Joe Amato, is that he pulled off the crown under the toughest of circumstances. Just two days earlier, highly regarded crew chief Alan Johnson announced his departure from the team to field his own operation with backing from Al-Anabi Motorsports.
“I woke up this morning and I feel blessed,” Schumacher said. “We had gotten in the show, we had struggled the first three days and we completely understand what AJ's kinda of figured out. There's no doubt. We've done that more often than not when we come to Indy, struggle at the beginning, distractions that come around, it's a little rough at the beginning. And through the adversity you get news of crew chiefs leaving, you get news that he's starting his own team and you have to stay focused. I'll tell you what, that team is very good at doing that, under pretty intense conditions, being able to pull it together and get the job done.
Lost in the shuffle of his seventh Indy win and 24th consecutive round win was the accolade of tying Amato’s all-time Top Fuel wins mark.
“When you do it the same day as you won Indy, you're trying to figure out which reason you're smiling for, just so many things happened today,” Schumacher said. “I don't think it's all set in yet. We've won six in a row, eleven in the season, tied Joe Amato, won seven times in Indy, and just won Indy. How about that? You know, you kind of lose track. You just won Indy, a huge race with great race cars and very tough conditions, very hot out, very hard to get down the race track; and you pull it off, against great teams. So an awful lot of great things have happened, today was special. It's going to go down on the trophy shelf as one of the greatest days ever.”
ELECTED OFFICIAL - Bob Vandergriff Jr., in this election year was elected into office and the interesting part of it all, he never campaigned.
Vandergriff was elected to serve as the Chairman of the newly formed drivers committee for nitro racing. The honor is one the UPS-sponsored driver holds in high regard.
Also appointed as class representatives were Larry Dixon [Top Fuel] and Ron Capps [Funny Car].
“It’s an honor to be chosen by my fellow drivers for that role, to represent them,” Vandergriff said. “I think there is a lot of good we can accomplish, working myself with Larry Dixon and Ron Capps. Really, all the drivers and their inputs, I think sometimes that kind of stuff gets overlooked and they even bring things to my attention that I haven't thought about. I think communication between all of our drivers is really important. Even on safety issues, if there's something some driver has found out that is better than what we use or he ran into a situation that he wants to make us aware of, I think it’s good we now have a group that we can relay that information to everybody. Where in the past, he might have told two or three of his buddies that he hangs with, but it didn't get passed down to the group. I think this is a really good thing for us to have.”
The one thing the committee gets is a leader who’s not afraid to call a spade a spade. Vandergriff was one of the more outspoken critics of shutdown safety following Scott Kalitta’s death.
“I think when the drivers decided they needed a voice, I think that probably played into their decision making,” Vandergriff said. “They realized first of all that I was interested in that stuff and two I wasn't afraid to stand up for my drivers. I think that's probably why I got nominated and voted in. They realized they needed somebody that's a strong voice to support their needs.”
Vandergriff said there are no ego issues between the committee and PRO. He said there’s no problem with the group submitting to PRO.
“PRO has been very supportive of it,” Vandergriff said. “I am going to be involved with PRO, go to all the meetings and represent the drivers to PRO. Which can do nothing but help PRO because they have a multitude of things they're working on and sometimes information doesn't get funneled down all the way to the drivers. By me being involved in that they now have an outlet to get the information back to the drivers. I don't think it can do anything but help the relationship between the drivers and PRO.”
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SUNDAY FINAL QUALIFYING -
NUMBER ONE FOR JUST THE SECOND TIME - “It's just a great place to start,” admitted Larry Dixon after securing the number
Dixon was second fastest in the final session just behind Tony Schumacher, point leader and winner of the last five races leading into Indy.
“I think all the planets and everything are back in orbit normally again,” joked Dixon when asked how he felt about Schumacher finally making the field. “You don't have any control over their car; you only have control over your deal. So you just go out there and do the best you can.”
RACING FOR A PURPOSE – Tears well up in their eyes, as Mark and Lauren Pickens discuss the decals on the side of their Top Fuel dragster.
Mark and Lauren Pickens are on a mission, and this one is for God and its no where close to the mission the fictional Blue Brothers were on in the movies.
The couple who reside in Memphis, Tenn., have been involved in the Hope-4-Sudan charity, supporting the children of war torn Sudan.
Mark remembers the first time Lauren traveled to Sudan and befriended the malnourished children. The first visit and an honest mistake led them to get more involved.
“She went there and brought toys for the children,” Mark said. “I could see the look of hurt in her eyes when they took the toys and looked at her with hollow eyes. They needed food.”
Lauren said she’ll never make that mistake again.
So what is Hope-4-Sudan?
“Hope-4-Sudan is a project that is going in and building compounds and the compounds include schools and medical clinics and deep water wells for clean water and churches,” Lauren explained. “The project is partnered with people to people ministries, which is a child sponsorship, they do disaster relief, feeding programs, child sponsorship, humanitarian type things and they are partnering with us to get the children fed and clothed and educated.”
Lauren explained the Sudan inspiration came from a pastor friend from their hometown in Tennessee who shared his experience with her. That was all the inspiration she needed to make her first trip.
“Sudan had been constantly on my mind,” Lauren admitted. “I felt like God was showing me this was something I was supposed to be a part of; so, when he presented it to me I told him I wanted to be a part of it, and it's kind of gone from there.”
Once Lauren got involved, Mark needed no convincing to join her. The Pickens wanted to use their resources to help the cause.
Nothing makes an impression more than an 8,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster.
“The project needs the publicity, we need to get it out in front of people so they can actually see it, and there is no better place to do it than the US Nationals,” Mark explained. “If you're in drag racing, it's the biggest and longest running event of the year, so this was just the perfect opportunity.”
COPYCAT? - Matt Smith learned a valuable lesson from former Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Antron Brown.
He learned a bike rider can become a Top Fuel contender and the
second-generation drag racer from King, N.C. wants some of that action.
Smith hopes to join the freshman Top Fuel driver as another two-wheeled
rider making the jump to a 300-mile per hour Top Fuel dragster.
The defending NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion is the first of
the names bantered around as a possible Top Fuel driver on Alan
Johnson’s Al-Anabi Motorsports operation.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Smith, who admitted he submitted his
name for consideration as soon as he learned of the team. “We all saw
the announcement and I would love the chance. Maybe I’ll get the chance
to do it. Maybe I won’t. We’ll see soon enough.”
Smith has been seriously considering a move into the nitro ranks since
earlier this season. As he sees it, Johnson's new operation provides an
excellent opportunity.
“I love the bikes, but I want to make a change,” Smith admitted. “I want to go for the best deal out there.”
Brown said his inspiration was largely Brown’s success.
“If Antron can do it, I can do it,” Smith said, adding, “I’ve always
wanted to go fast. I drove my Dad’s Pro Stock years ago, but never a
full pass. I’ve always wanted to drive a car so I figured, let’s just
go for the gusto.”
Now, all he needs is Johnson to give him the chance to make a dream come true.
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SATURDAY -DIXON ADJUSTS, AJ LEAVES SCHUMACHER AND THE KINDNESS OF BRUCE LITTON
RELIEF – Larry Dixon breathed a sigh of relief as he took over the top qualifying position in Top Fuel.
Dixon’s 3.841 elapsed time at 307.23 pushed down Friday’s top effort turned in by Cory McClenathan.
Ever since the NHRA shortened the length of the drag strip for nitro cars, Dixon and the United States Smokeless team have struggled to regain their consistency. The change in distance coupled with the new Goodyear D2550 tire did not work into their favor.
“Going to 1,000 feet has tightened the field so much that the only benefit of qualifying on the top is that you can choose which pair you run on race day,” Dixon admitted.
“The Goodyear tire and 1,000 foot racing has changed the way we race,” Dixon said. “We’ve had to adapt to that. It takes time and since we cannot test, there’s a lot of things that go against you. You just have to keep making runs and getting beat. But you work through it.”
Dixon credited crew chiefs Donnie Bender and Todd Smith with making this transition bearable.
“Some guys hit it like a duck to water,” Dixon continued. “Our car was one of the better running cars from 1,000-feet beyond. Now we don’t have that anymore. The tire we have is better but it just hasn’t worked as well for us.”
AJ LEAVES – The rumors are now reality for nitro crew chief Alan Johnson.
At the conclusion of the 2008 season, the seven-time NHRA Top Fuel champion crew chief who has 75 professional-level national event victories to his credit will field a two-car team in 2009 through a partnership with Qatar-based Al-Anabi Racing
This new alliance will field a Top Fuel dragster and a Funny Car. They will start the 2009 season on Feb. 5-8 with the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. Johnson has not selected drivers for the new cars.
The goal for Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani is to promote the domestic and international awareness of motorsports in the nation of Qatar. As a result of his efforts, Al-Anabi Racing has emerged as one of the leading drag racing teams in the region.
"This is an exciting opportunity for Alan Johnson Racing," Johnson said. "We look forward to our relationship with Al-Anabi Racing and the people of Qatar. It's widely known that my goal for quite some time now has been to become a team owner again, and this is my best opportunity to achieve that goal."
"I have enjoyed a wonderful experience with the U.S. Army race team. I wouldn't change the past five years for anything. My focus for the remainder of the season will be to put forth my best effort to win the fifth consecutive championship for the U.S. Army, Tony Schumacher, and DSR."
Including his Sportsman-level successes with his late brother Blaine Johnson, Alan Johnson has amassed 11 championships in his career, four in Top Alcohol and seven more in Top Fuel. Additionally, Johnson has tuned his drivers to eight national records over the years, including six elapsed time and two top speed marks.
LIKE A BICYCLE – Pat Dakin will tell you that a lot may change in Top Fuel technology, but a driver doesn’t forget how to
“You certainly don’t forget what you’re doing because it all comes back to you quickly,” Dakin said.
Dakin made his Indy Top Fuel driving debut back in 1971 and last appeared at this event in 1998.
“Racing quit me I didn’t it,” Dakin admitted.
Dakin was content being on the sidelines until a discussion with veteran tuner Paul Smith inspired this weekend’s return.
“We just talked about getting me back out here to get licensed,” Dakin said. “I had talked to Mitch King and I thought at my age, I just wanted to give it a show. I thought, ‘Why not?”
Dakin licensed earlier in the year during a post-race test session in Houston, Texas.
This weekend Dakin is driving the same car Spencer Massey drives on the IHRA tour. Massey is currently the IHRA Top Fuel point leader with only two races left in the season.
“This race just worked out geographically well because this race comes between events,” Dakin said. “All of Mitch’s guys wanted to do Indy this weekend too.”
Dakin is familiar with the position Massey resides. He was the 1989 IHRA Top Fuel World Champion.
The last NHRA victory for Dakin was in 1973 when he drove the Rupp & Dakin digger.
MASSEY’S MISSION – Schedule the party.
Spencer Massey is headed to NHRA Top Fuel, at least for one race.
Massey will drive Mitch King’s Top Fuel dragster during the NHRA O’Reilly Fallnationals next month in Dallas, Texas.
Massey would have run on the NHRA tour sooner had it not have been for his car not being legal by SFI specs adopted this season. The car was given a back half update prior to the IHRA Northern Nationals in Martin, Mich.
“I’m totally excited to have the opportunity before my hometown crowd,” Massey said.
Massey won’t have much time for mingling over the course of the weekend as he’ll pull double-duty between driving King’s Top Fuel dragster and Gene Snow’s A/Fuel Dragster in Top Alcohol Dragster.
“This is something I’ve dreamed of doing in Dallas since I was a kid and came to my first drag race there,” Massey admitted. “I saw my first nitro car there. Hey, I’m just living a dream that keeps getting better.”
Massey also said the team is possibly looking at additional dates in Las Vegas and the season-ending Pomona event.
WHAT A MAN – TJ Zizzo considers himself awful lucky to have a friend like Bruce Litton.
As Zizzo conveys, a special person will step away from their 31st wedding anniversary to come help a stranded friend.
That’s what happened when Tony Zizzo, TJ’s father and team truck driver, ran into issues with the Indiana State Police over speeding through Center Point and other infractions such as a log book violation.
The police were not going to let Tony drive for another ten hours in order to satisfy the logbook issue. That long of a delay would have prevented the team from competing this weekend.
“I really didn’t have much of a choice and I got on the phone to Bruce, since I knew he lived here, to see if there was any way he could help us,” TJ said.
Litton really didn’t have a moment to spare. He was in the midst of lettering a car borrowed from Mike Strasburg since his new car was not completed in time.
Plus it was his 31st anniversary and he had a 6 pm dinner date with his wife Carol.
Litton called all of his drivers seeking someone who could assist the Zizzos while he finished up his last minute race preparations. After all, Litton’s shop is located across the street from O’Reilly Raceway Park and it was no big feat for him to tow the dragster across Crawfordsville Road.
Then Litton hit a snag, no one was available.
Litton drove his Chevrolet Suburban to where the team was parked and jumped in the truck to drive. Meanwhile Tony followed behind the rig in Litton’s car.
The police officer wasn’t as kind to Tony, he gave him three tickets.
Litton pulled to the gates of ORP at 5:50 PM – ten minutes before his date.
“I hopped out of their car, jumped in mine and drove across the street and picked up my wife,” Litton said. “I had no other choice, nothing could be worse I imagine, than to be in the doghouse on your anniversary.”
The Zizzos will forever remember this gesture from the former IHRA sportsmanship award winner.
“I think this says a lot about him,” TJ said. “We went head-to-head for a championship all last year and the moment we ask for a favor, there he is. He is one of the best guys in the sport.”
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FRIDAY - CORY MAC ATTACKS, WHERE WILL AJ GO?
MAC ATTACK - Cory McClenathan grabbed the provisional pole position on Friday during the opening qualifying session of the
Four more rounds of qualifying are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday before the final 16-car field is set for Sunday's eliminations.
"It's just one of those things where crew chiefs Mike Green and Alan Johnson (U.S. Army dragster) work so close together," said McClenathan, who will earn his 33rd No. 1 qualifying position if the number holds up through the rest of qualifying. "With the FRAM dragster being the next-to-last car right before Tony Schumacher ran I knew we had a good shot. When we saw the car in front of us smoke the tires I think Mike made one little adjustment."
Tony Schumacher smoked the tires on his pass in the final pairing, ending up in 20th for the day.
"When the FRAM car left the starting line it had the front end hiked way up there for a long way and that's usually a good indicator," added McClenathan. "And when it set the front end down it made a good charge in the middle of the track. I knew it was on a good run. It started spinning the tires a little bit at the other end and I was just hanging on to it to get through there.
"This FRAM team has just gotten better and better as we've gone along. This is the perfect time to make this kind of move. It's the perfect start to the weekend."
MAINTAINING – The perfectionist in McClenathan demands that he ratchets up all facets of his and the team's overall performance.
After not making the Countdown to 1 last season, McClenathan goes into this year's U.S. Nationals concentrating on his driving and the performance of the FRAM dragster.
"Last year I missed getting into the Countdown and it was a big letdown for me," he said. "It's a very cool feeling to know that we're in and we're in solidly and we don't have to worry about it. You're able to put your efforts toward other things. Indy is such an important race that it's hard to look beyond that. Everybody wants to win Indy; I want to win Indy and the championship. I will settle for nothing less. If anybody messes up at all someone is going to be breathing down their neck, so I don't want to be one of them.
"I had a long talk with (crew chief) Mike Green and he feels that there are some areas with the car where we can be more aggressive, and it sounds like he's going to go that route, and I'm excited about that. I think we've got a good race car right now, and if we can utilize power in a few different ways it can be that much better at 1,000 feet.
"If I go out and do my job everything is going to fall into place. I'm not looking for any luck and I certainly want to earn whatever position we end up in. Having a good race car at this point and time in the season is definitely a good thing for this FRAM team."
THE ANNOUNCEMENT – On August 4, CompetitionPlus.com reported that noted tuner Alan Johnson was being courted by two entities, one foreign and the other domestic. RELATED ITEM - THE A.J. SWEEPSTAKES
A special announcement is scheduled for Saturday, which speculation suggests could signal the courtship is over. USA Today confirmed the announcement in their Friday edition.
Multiple sources indicate Johnson will announce his plans to sign with a start up team from the Middle East wielding a budget of upwards in the $10 Million range for two cars.
SURPRISED? – In his only pass of the day, Tony Schumacher smoked the tires and ended up at the bottom of the pack
“I guess a lot of people are surprised at that result,” said the six-time U.S. Nationals champion. “Listen, we’re not perfect by any means. We just overpowered the track, that’s all. We have a number of opportunities left to try and make the show.”
In fact, Schumacher has four more attempts over Saturday and Sunday in advance of the race on Labor Day.
“If we can’t get in with five qualifying tries, we don’t deserve to race on Monday,” he added. “I’m confident we’ll get it figured out. We’ve been performing too well of late to fall on our faces here in Indy.”
Schumacher is currently riding a five-race win streak that dates back to the Denver event in July. He came into Indy one win short of tying Joe Amato’s Top Fuel career victories record, which stands at 52.
“There’s been so much attention surrounding that record,” he said. “Frankly, we’ve got a job to do here in that we want to win another U.S. Nationals. Right now, we’re not overly concerned with the history books.”
ZIZZO SIGHTING -
BACK IN THE GROOVE – Clay Millican believed he could fly under the radar into Indy and maybe, just maybe, he could slip up
That was his thought process until an earlier return to competition with team owner Mark Pickens and the Hope4Sudan/Lend American/Nitro Fish Top Fuel team netted a semi-final finish during the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa.
So much for the sneak attack.
“We went to Reading thinking if we qualified we would’ve had a successful weekend,” said Millican, of Drummonds, Tenn. That race provided four qualifying runs and three more in eliminations in national event conditions and became much better than a test session.
Credit Lance Larsen for bringing the team up to speed quickly. Millican does.
Larsen’s diagnosis of track conditions was a large factor in the team’s superb performance.
“We know we have to go really quick there just to qualify,” said Millican. “This race will give Lance a great opportunity to make the car go quicker in many different track conditions and temperatures. We had a new car going into Reading; it was the first time we’ve run it. And it was the first time we’ve used the new (2008) tire.
“On the flip side of that though, now we go to Indy looking to do well. And we want to do well for Lend America, our new associate sponsor for this race. We aren’t in test mode anymore ... we’ll just go there and race.’
Idled in March by a sponsor situation, Millican wasn’t certain he’d be back driving the dragster this season, or any more seasons. He occasionally mentioned he could return to his former job of driving a fork lift for a large super market chain if he was sidelined. But Pickens and his family stepped in and bought the race team.
Now Millican hopes to repay them with round wins and, ultimately, a national event victory. The U.S. Nationals Top Fuel championship trophy would be great for starters.
SECOND QUICKEST -
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING, SECOND TIME TOO – Steve Torrence is racing Indy for the first time, sort of.
The former Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster champion raced and won in Indy during the 2005 season. Three years later, he is making his Top Fuel debut.
"Winning the U.S. Nationals in the A-Fuel car was a big deal in my career," Torrence said. "Winning in Top Fuel would be a dream come true."
Team Vis Viva has been running well the last half of the season, coming off back-to-back semi-final finishes in both Sonoma, Calif. and Brainerd, Minn.
"We've had a pretty good hot rod lately," Torrence said. "We are looking to carry that momentum into Indy and hopefully get over that third round hurdle. The team is starting to come into its own and we are setting the groundwork for next year.
"We don't have a shot at making the countdown for the Top Fuel championship, so winning Indy would make our year. Skipping the last race gave us extra time to prepare and make sure everything is as good as it can be this weekend. We want this Wally… This is the biggest race of the year."
THEY’RE BACK, FOR NOW - Dan Pikarsky, Sr. VP of Sports and Event Marketing for Attitude Drinks Inc., had one thing to say about the detractors who said Vis Viva was finished in the drag racing sponsorship arena.
“I told you so,” Pikarsky said.
Pikarsky confirmed the Vis Viva team and Tuttle Motorsports will be back at select events in 2008, although he couldn’t confirm which of the remaining six races those will be. The team sat out the last race in Reading because their sponsor had no distribution in the region.
“Our focus is on 2009 right now,” Pikarsky said. “This year we’re not in the top ten, so we are going to come out here at some events and see who we can put on the trailer and see who we can help out.”
The decision as to which events the team runs at this season has no bearing on whether or not Vis Viva does business in the area.
“We are looking to grow our distribution and sales between now and next season,” Pikarsky admitted. “I’m pretty confident we will be out in the larger markets.”
Per NHRA rules regarding the grandfathered energy drink sponsorships, the Tuttle team cannot run an event without the Vis Viva livery on the car or risk losing the sponsorship.
“We were told that if the car were to run, it has to have Vis Viva on it,” Pikarsky said. “We knew that going in and if it isn’t going to run, then it doesn’t matter.”
DAKIN'S IN FOR NOW -
KEEP ON KEEPING ON – Antron Brown has qualified for 162 consecutive NHRA events and hasn’t missed the cut since the Gainesville race in 1998. It is the second longest qualifying streak in the professional ranks (Angelle Sampey—177). In 10 races at ORP, Brown has an average starting position of 5.4. His average qualifying position in 17 races this season is 4.7.
After the first session, Brown is the 16th quickest.
“We were trying to go for that No. 1 spot and run about a 3.83,” Brown said. “We’re fine. We just got a little aggressive. We feel good we can make a few runs and get into the top five on Saturday.”
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THURSDAY - SCHUMACHER READ FOR HISTORY AND THE STADIUM CAR ROARS
ON THE VERGE OF HISTORY -Tony Schumacher has won Indy six times, but never in his storied history has there been so much at stake.
The No. 1 seed in the Countdown to One phase of the championship battle has won five races in a race and ten in 2008.
Entering Indy, the Chicago-area resident is on the verge of breaking or tying a group of NHRA records. Specifically, after capturing the Reading, Pa. event two weeks ago, he’s now one win short of tying Joe Amato’s Top Fuel career victories mark, which stands at 52.
“That would be terrific if we could tie the record at the biggest race of the year,” he added. “It’s special enough when you win Indy, no less tying a record that seemed so unreachable when we started the season.”
After pocketing 10 wins, Schumacher has compiled a 526-point lead in the standings. However, he will watch his huge advantage decrease to a mere 30 points in a few short weeks.
“We know that’s the deal,” he offered. “We just need to keep taking care of our own business and everything will fall into place. There’s no reason to stress out about anything. We have a great team that can handle pressure. We’re looking forward to these last seven races.”
This season Schumacher is attempting to take his fifth straight championship and his sixth overall. The latter would be a Top Fuel record.
“We’ve clearly put ourselves in a good position to take home another POWERade trophy,” he said. “But, we’re going to have to keep performing well in the next three months if we’re going to finish the job.”
TEXTING - The U.S. Army and Schumacher will be staging a text message promotion over Labor Day weekend.
NHRA fans can text – ARMYSTRONG – to 30364 and receive a free,
exclusive Schumacher wallpaper download. Additionally, they will get
the chance to win two (2) tickets for final eliminations at O’Reilly
Raceway Park on Monday, September 1, while also participating in a meet
and greet session with the five-time world champion in the U.S. Army
pit-side hospitality tent.
“To the eventual sweepstakes winner, I look forward to acting as a tour
guide out in Indy,” said Schumacher. “I believe he or she will be
impressed with our operation. Hopefully, as icing on the cake, we’ll be
able to deliver a victory as well.”
Schumacher, who is a six-time U.S. Nationals winner, is currently
riding a five-race win streak. He’s now one victory short of tying Joe
Amato’s Top Fuel career victories mark, which stands at 52.
THE STADIUM CAR - If the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals wasn’t already the busiest
weekend in drag racing, bear in mind, try seeing it from Morgan Lucas’
perspective.
This
24-year Brownsburg resident is going to be driving his own personal
Indy 500 this week all around the ‘Circle City’ with all the social
functions, hospital visits, the introduction of the new Lucas Oil
Stadium, and oh yes, a fierce battle in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel
points standings during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, the main event
which holds the week all together in keeping Lucas going straight.
Lucas starts his week by introducing a special paint scheme for the
‘Big Go’ NHRA race commemorating the grand-opening of the new home of
the NFL Indianapolis Colts in the state -of-the-art Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Rod Burke-designed dragster incorporates the total bond of the
Lucas philosophy of friendships, family and community allocating the
complete relationship with the celebrated Colts organization and the
city of Indianapolis.
“We’re introducing a special edition paint scheme for the race to help
pump up the season-opening Indianapolis Colts game on Sept. 7 against
the Chicago Bears,” said Lucas, an avid Colts fan. “It’s a pretty
monumental day for Lucas Oil Products and we wanted to share it with
the rest of Indianapolis and to let them know, we’re really proud to be
a part of the city.”
THE LUCAS ATTACK PLAN - Once Lucas gets down to business, he has a dual-fold plan of attack in
his assault on the U.S. Nationals. He trails 10th-place runner, Doug
Kalitta by just a mere six points and only trails, ninth place holder,
David Grubnic by only 10 points and just going another round further
than either one will move him up in title contention with each round
being worth 20 valuable points.
“I just want to keep my head on straight all weekend with all the
family, friends and activities going on with this being a hometown
race, it’s going to be wild,” said Lucas. “I’m trying right now to
block out the points in my head, but I know things are intense. The
more you think about that kind of stuff, the easier it is to forget
what this is really about and that’s selling oil. You just have to get
past the points and go out there and do the best we can. We’re going
into this race with the same strategy as we do will all of the races
and that is to win.”
Another reason for Lucas’ positive attitude is the addition of his
newly acquired crew chief, Jimmy Walsh. His tuning abilities have
shown rapid progress bringing with him steadiness and reliability to
the Lucas Oil dragster organization.
“Jimmy is great for a lot of reasons,” said Lucas. “He has brought
consistency to our program and he’s a great family man. That’s shows
with the way he carries himself and it makes you happy to have someone
of his talents as part of our team. John Stewart, our crew chief for
J.R Todd and Jimmy get along very well. Those two working together is
showing the dividends we’ve been looking for in qualifying showing that
consistency in both race cars.”
Of all the places Lucas would rather win, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
is the one. Besides considering Indiana his home now and with the
omnipresent Lucas Oil name throughout the Hoosier State, this driver
has tasted victory in the Lucas Oil series, but a win at Indy is a
major accomplishment, no matter what division it is.
“I won the U.S. Nationals in 2003 driving my A-Fuel dragster with Jerry
Darien and that was our first win of the season,” said Lucas. “We
thought it wasn’t going to happen anymore and the maybe the year before
was a fluke when I won a couple. Up to this point, that was probably
my biggest win of my career, so far. You know a U.S. Nationals win
carries a special value, but at the same time you have to approach it
as you would any other race in doing the best you can. Waiting for all
these years would mean we would have come full circle if we could win
right here in Indianapolis.”
The start of the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals begins at the
O’Reilly Raceway Park on Friday, August 29 with one nitro qualifying
session starting at 6:30 p.m. (EDT). On Saturday, the Top Fuel
dragsters will have two additional qualifying sessions at 1:45 p.m. and
6:30 p.m. Sunday's time trials start at 12:45 p.m. for the nitro
classes followed by a second session at 3:40 p.m. The race starts
promptly at 11 a.m. on Labor Day Monday, September 1.
ON THE TABLE - Win and he’s in.
That’s the scenario facing Doug Kalitta this weekend.
If he wins his first national event of the 2008 season, Kalitta will clinch a spot in the Countdown to One
Kalitta is in 10th place in POWERade championship points, while his Kalitta Motorsports teammate, Dave Grubnic, holds the 9th spot.
Kalitta is only six points ahead of the driver in 11th place and only four markers behind Grubnic. An elimination round-win is worth 20 points.
“Indy is huge anyway, but now there’s even more pressure to qualify and do well,” Kalitta, a 43-year old resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. “It’s the biggest race of the season and the one that every team wants to win the most, but now it’s also the last chance to secure a spot in the Countdown to the Championship, and our Mac Tools team is right there on the border.
“We know we’ll have the biggest cheering section at the track though. All of our great friends at Mac Tools will be on hand to give us support like they always do, and it’s a good feeling to know that you have such a big and loyal group pulling for you. Hopefully for Mike Murray, Trish Pieper, Tony Merritt, and all of the Mac Tools Distributors we’ll put “Big Red” in the winner’s circle and accomplish all of our goals this weekend.”
FLYING THE COLORS - Kalitta’s red racing rail will also be adorned with special decals at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals to commemorate an exceptional relationship between the world-renowned tool manufacturer and two of its best vendors – Challenger and OTC. Challenger and OTC signage will be visible on the Mac Tools livery throughout the event. Challenger and OTC are also both official sponsors of this year’s 7th annual MacFest, taking place during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, which hosts over 200 Mac Tools Distributors, corporate staff, and their guests.
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