NHRA DALLAS NATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - DON’T CALL HIM A GIANT KILLER, WILKERSON – THE GROUCHY S.O.B., STANFIELD WINS FOR TEAM OWNER AND RIVAS GETS THE BIKE STARTED
HE’S BACK AGAIN – J.R. Todd carried out his role rather well during the 2006 season, the year he won the NHRA’s Rookie of the Year accolades.
Todd had a penchant that season of becoming Tony Schumacher’s nemesis and knocking off the champion during the most inopportune times which is generally in the final round.
After a 2007 which ended rather anticlimactically and for the most part a dreadful 2008, Todd stepped up with a performance of old behind the wheel of the Morgan Lucas Racing dragster. Schumacher just happened to have been in the opposite lane when Todd broke out of his shell again.
Todd ended Schumacher’s record-setting round win tally at 31 and halted the five-time champion shy of his eighth straight national event victory.
“This almost feels like a first event win,” Todd admitted. “I mean the way our year has gone I didn’t think it was ever going to turn around. We’d be gaining ground in qualifying and I think this is going to be it finally, then we struggle first round and if we get past first round we don’t get past second. We got past second round, I was like, ‘uh oh we got some momentum now.”
Todd continued, “It was really consistent, since Jimmy Walsh came aboard that was really the turning point in our season. We’re still struggling a little bit. The more runs he gets under his belt the better these two cars start running. We just need to get Morgan’s car back where it should be. We had to face the champ in the final, if there’s one guy we can beat everyday it’d be him. He’s the toughest guy out here and if you beat him then you know you’ve done something at the end of the day.”
To have beat him on a hole shot is icing on the cake, although Todd declines to put extra special important on winning at the lights.
“A win’s a win,” Todd admitted. “You just go up there see the yellow light and then stab the gas. But yeah you’re pretty jacked up getting to the final round no matter who you’re racing but to be racing the champ, you know you better leave first because Alan Johnson makes big horsepower and he usually doesn’t beat himself, that’s why they don’t lose. We had a little luck on our side and that’s what it takes to win these things.”
Of course there are those who have coined the phrase “Giant Killer” to describe Todd’s success opposite the five-time champion. He’s got a little advice for them.
Besides, today’s win was for a friend as much as it was for him and his team.
“Everyone calls me the Giant Killer when I beat Schumacher,” Todd said. “They are the best team out here. Everyone is the underdog to them out here. If you back up to the second round seeing how dejected Larry Dixon was down there; in my book he’s the best driver in Top Fuel. He’s the best leaver out here, he’s the best driver and I wanted to go out there and knock off Schumacher in the final round kind of for him because he’s kind of one of my good buddies and we’re always talking about beating Tony. I was pretty pumped up and seeing them race each other, seeing him down in the dumps really got me pumped up for the final.”
SO THAT’S THE REASON? – You can’t convince either Todd or Brandon Bernstein that a side-bet has been the source of their failure to secure a victory this year.
The longtime friends on and off of the track made a deal with Oakley’s Todd Hayes that the first one of them to win a national event would take home a $3,000 diamond watch.
Todd’s victory represented the first win amongst them.
“Neither one of us could seal the deal, we both thought it was a jinx that watch,” Todd admitted. “We finally got rid of that jinx today. That was the first words out of Brandon’s mouth in the winner’s circle were ‘you got the watch man.’
“He’s got enough bling anyway. I’m trying to keep up with him.”
ALMOST HOMELESS? - If the Funny Car contingent is looking for someone to blame for the resurgence of Tim Wilkerson after 
the early loss in Charlotte, blame his wife.
She’s the one who got the 11-time winner all riled up headed into Dallas.
“I went home and I was a grouchy S.O.B.,” Wilkerson admitted with a smile. “You can ask my wife. She said ‘I hope we get to Dallas and do some good, I’m about to throw you out of the house.’ She’s going to be happy because now I’ll be smiling again.”
Wilkerson took the first round loss in Charlotte to Ashley Force extremely personal because in addition to being driver, he’s the crew chief.
“I was very embarrassed of my performance last week at Charlotte.,“ Wilkerson said. “It just wasn’t conducive to our car. I told the guys that I let them down because I’m the crew chief, I’m the guy responsible for making that thing run and I thought I let them down big. So I told them when we get here, they are going to have to beat us. We’re going to be a fast car every round and we’re going to try and get back to the winner’s circle and we were lucky enough to do that.”
Make no bones about it; his road to the final wasn’t easy, especially when you consider 
he beat John Force in the semis and Tony Pedregon in the finals. Between those two drivers there are 16 world championships.
“To be a champion, you’ve got to beat the champions and that’s what we’ve came out to do this year,“ Wilkerson said. “We’re not going to back down from that goal. Charlotte was an embarrassment, we’re trying to beat everyone this year. I mean we only have an 11 point lead on Tony and if I’d have done any good at Charlotte we’d have been 60 or 70 points up, so that’s how bad that was. We’re dedicated to win this thing, believe it or not.”
Winning sure beats sleeping in the trailer, Wilkerson understands.
“We’re not going to leave anything on the table,” Wilkerson continued. “I told them guys I ain’t leaving anything on the table like I did at Charlotte, so you might see some tire shake. But I’m not pussy-footing down the track anymore. I’m going to run as fast as the track will allow.”
WEIRD, REAL WEIRD - Wilkerson and Ron Capps came up to the starting line for their first-round Funny Car match-up in 
eliminations, performed their burnouts and began to stage for their race when a glitch in the starting-light system forced them to shut down and restart again several minutes later.
When the two finally squared off, Wilkerson took the win with a 4.120-second elapsed time at 298.34 mph. Capps, in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T in the other lane, was credited with what would have been a remarkable .003 reaction time (.000 is perfect) and a losing finish of 4.289, 295.14. It was clear that Wilkerson had crossed the finish line first, but Capps questioned the numbers in his lane.
"Usually a light like that is just a bad red light," he said, "and I'll be the first to admit it. But something was obviously wrong with the clocks. The NAPA Dodge didn't run that slow either. We are trying to figure out what was wrong because I left on the amber light and, by the way it looks on the computer, it looks like the car ran way better than that.
"Tim was still ahead of me and I saw him come about half track and just pull away from me. He was only out about a car length, so something was messed up. It makes sense because they shut us off at the starting line.
"Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) walked up to the beams to try to guide me in (on the first start) and the beams weren't working. And then they kind of worked and they didn't work. So, they shut us off, rolled us back, and then we had a choice to either go back and run at the end of the round or right then. Both of us decided to fire the cars right back up and roll up there. So, that's what we did.”
EMOTIONAL ATTITUDE – Pro Stock racer Greg Stanfield didn’t believe he could feel any lower than he did when he and the 
team packed up prior to the final qualifying session in Indianapolis and sat out the session. Their lack of horsepower was evident.
That was until this weekend.
Before the first tire turned under power, Stanfield and the Attitude Apparel team learned that team owner Greg Hill’s granddaughter, Erika Bauermeister, had been killed in a traffic accident.
Stanfield learned that it’s darkest before the dawn.
“It’s a tragic loss,” Stanfield said. “Both Greg and this whole team has been through a whole lot this year. We’ve been unable to get our engine program up to where it needed to be and I felt going into this race that we had our engine program probably about 70% of where it needed to be. We’ve struggled.”
There was a spirit pushing Stanfield and the team as he nosed out a .008-second triumph over defending world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr.
“I consider Jeggie the best in Pro Stock, I used to wear him out in Super Stock,” Stanfield recalled. “I knew going into the final that I was going to have to give it all I had. I was going to lay it on the line, if I was red, I was red. I just wasn’t going to be late like I was in Bristol.”
This weekend marked the second final round of the season, his previous coming in Bristol, Tenn., against Coughlin’s teammate Dave Connolly.
“Emotionally they tell you that kind of stuff doesn’t play out in a driver’s head, but I’m here to tell you it does,” Stanfield admitted. “I had a few people telling me all day that it was going to be my day.”
Stanfield limped into the final spot for the Countdown by fending off seasoned veteran Warren Johnson’s charge in Indy. The former sportsman world champion revealed the team had pinpointed their problem this weekend.
“I’m not going to divulge what it is we found,” Stanfield said. “There were some parts on the car when we blew up the engines. The one last thing we hadn’t changed in the process of elimination was the one thing that picked us up over the top.”
The final-round appearance was Stanfield's seventh in Pro Stock without a previous win – including two runner-ups this year, in Las Vegas and Bristol. Stanfield also has two career victories in 10 Pro Stock Truck finals and seven wins in 12 finals, with wins also in Comp, Stock, and Super Stock, the latter in which he was a four-time NHRA world champ.
“We’re not looking for a championship, if we can keep the wheels on here, we’ll be happy,” Stanfield added.
180 ALL THE WAY – A week ago Chris Rivas and his Drag Specialties/G2 crew couldn’t get their potent S&S-powered Buell 
started.
Today they couldn’t get it to stop – winning that is.
It’s not like they tried either.
Rivas scored his second career victory and second of 2008 by outrunning former employer Matt Smith in the final round. The victory vaulted him all the way to the third place position, just one point behind last week’s winner Steve Johnson.
“This is a huge jump for us in the points,” Rivas said. “We didn’t know if we were still going to be in the hunt after the no-start in Charlotte.”
The Charlotte miscue was enough to warrant a talk with S&S’s George Smith.
“I told him, ‘This is stupid,” Rivas said, recalling that conversation.
“I told him we looked like fools out there. I said if we’re going to look like fools with a no-start situation, then let’s at least make a huge change and struggle for a while. At least we’ll be learning something.”
Smith took the conversation to heart.
On Friday, after they got solidly qualified in the field, the team made wholesale changes.
“We changed everything,” Rivas admitted. “We changed the engine, the fuel-injection, wiring harness and even a tire. We knew we were starting from square one.”
The first run on Saturday yielded a 7.16 elapsed time, no exactly a run to set the class on fire but more than enough to draw valuable tuning data. The second was the second quickest in the final session.
“All we needed was that little bit of data and we had the No. 1 bike all day long,” Rivas said. “We rode it to the finals with a new system that we are still learning.”
Rivas, also a Racer’s for Christ chaplain, learned a valuable lesson this weekend – a bike must start in order to win a race.
“The bike started perfectly every time so we feel like we don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Rivas said, cracking a smile. “That’s why I give God the glory because you can’t win races on the lights I cut all weekend.
“I just had the faith we could win this weekend.”
He also had the faith that the bike would start too.
HERNANDEZ WINS PRO MOD - Defending series champion Josh Hernandez ended a week he'd just as soon forget with a 
memorable win over championship rival Tony Pontieri at the 23rd annual Super Start Batteries NHRA Nationals to pad his lead in the JEGS ProMod Challenge points to 59 with two races left on the 2008 schedule.
A resident of the Houston suburb of Conroe, Texas, Hernandez spent the first half of the week digging out from the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Ike.
He managed to make it to the race on time and didn't miss a beat once he got here, qualifying No. 1 and marching through the field to win with a 6.036 at 237.21 mph in his Team Rage '68 Camaro to Pontieri's 6.245 at 234.82 mph in his Quality Plus Compressors '57 Bel Air.
"It's been a long, tough week," Hernandez said. "We witnessed the massive destruction of Hurricane Ike in our hometown and then we lost Steve Engel on Sunday night, man, it's been emotionally draining on all of us. This win is a shining moment and certainly lifts us up a bit, but it's not a cure-all. We're still hurting for Steve's family and we have a lot of work to do back home."
Of Hernandez's seven passes this weekend, four were in the five-second range. He was the only driver to cover the quarter mile at the Texas Motorplex in less than six seconds.
"Two of the three six-second passes would have been five-second runs also if the driver had done a better job," Hernandez said. "With Troy Critchley building our motors and Jim Oddy tuning this thing, I know I have the best equipment available. It's so huge for a driver to go into a race with the confidence in their team that I have with this group. I need to take them to the championship because they deserve it."
This was Hernandez's 16th win in the JEGS ProMod Challenge, twice as many as his nearest challenger. He'll now try to add two more before the season's over.
Although five other racers remain mathematically alive in the '08 title chase, the battle has basically come down to Hernandez and Pontieri, who led the points for three races earlier this season before Hernandez took over in Indianapolis.
"It'll go the distance," Hernandez said. "Tony and I both qualified well and ran well here. It's been a neck-in-neck battle with him for awhile now. We're sitting here 1-2 in the points and it's really anybodies game. We have an edge, but there are still two races left."
IT WAS A GOOD RUN – Tony Schumacher accounted for the greatest streak of fortunes in the Top Fuel division by carrying an 
undefeated streak which began in early-July during the NHRA Mile High Nationals in Denver, Co. going into the finals.
The U.S. Army-sponsored driver figured there would be a day when the streak would be halted.
“It had to end some time,” said Schumacher of his win streak. “You have to tip your hat to J.R. and his team. They did what they had to do.”
If there’s a positive in the situation it is that Schumacher was able to tack on 50 more points to his lead in the Top Fuel standings with just four races remaining in the season. He’s now 97 points ahead of second-place, Antron Brown.
“You know, this loss kind of takes the pressure off,” he added. “Instead of us hearing about records and streaks on a constant basis, now we can just concentrate on going out and winning another world championship.”
Schumacher is shooting for his fifth consecutive title and the sixth of his career, which would be a Top Fuel record. Presently, he’s tied with Joe Amato with five career crowns.
“We’re in this to win championships, so that’s what we’ll be targeting the rest of the way,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of work to do in the coming weeks.”
Schumacher’s performance in Texas produced three more NHRA records – most Top Fuel round wins in a single season (63), most Top Fuel final rounds in a single season (15) and most consecutive final rounds (8).
CONVENTIONAL TRANSPORTATION FOR FORCE - Reaching the semi-finals at the Texas Motorplex brought forth a better 
experience this year for the 14-time Funny Car champion John Force.
Sure, his day ended premature of the final round.
At least this time he exited under his own power in a rental car as opposed to last season’s helicopter ride after his car broke apart just past the finish line and collided with Kenny Bernstein’s car.
“This year I’m leaving the track in a Ford Flex instead of the Air Evac helicopter,” Force said. “How is that for sneaking a sponsor in there? I guess it had to come back to here. My crew chief (Austin Coil) kept picking that left lane every run. (Now) it’s time to put it behind us.
“I had a good race car this weekend,” said the 126-time tour winner, “(and) I think I showed that I can (still) drive. The competition is tough. I still have four cars in the Countdown. Beckman went out and Cruz went out. Tony is still out there and so is Wilkerson.
“I really do appreciate the fans. They’re happy to see me back in one piece. Yes, I can put (the crash) behind me. I need to,” said the 14-time Auto Racing All-America selection. “I need to focus on racing and winning. I’ve spent a lot of time explaining and talking and I don’t mean just to the media, I mean to the sponsors answering whether I can race again.
“I’ve only won one race this year,” Force continued. “(I know) most guys would be happy to win a race (but) I’m used to winning four or five of them a year. It’s time to move on. We’ll tell the great state of Texas ‘thank you’ for the prayers and the people that came to the hospital. The people of Texas are worried about me and that is what’s so great about the people here.”
A qualifier for the first time in three races, Force beat Cruz Pedregon in the first round and daughter Ashley Force in the second before losing to Wilkerson for just the second time in their last 10 meetings.
Bolstered by a new clutch combination mastered by Jimmy Prock, crew chief on Robert Hight’s Auto Club of Southern California Ford, Force won his first rounds in almost a month and moved from 10th to eighth in POWERade points.
REMEMBERING A FRIEND - Family, friends, fans, and fellow racers gathered Saturday evening at the Racers For Christ tent at the Texas Motorplex to honor and remember Pro Mod racer Steve Engel, who passed away earlier this week as a result of the injuries he sustained in a crash during the recently completed 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
A full contingent of racers and crew personnel from the JEGS ProMod Challenge was joined by NHRA regulars John Force, Larry Dixon, Ron Capps, and Morgan Lucas. Engel always pointed to Force as the racer he admired most.
RFC Chaplin Larry Smiley honored the Bristol winner with numerous remembrances as well as passages from the bible. Smiley spoke of Engel as not only a great racer, but as an inspiring man, and the audience shared tears and laughs as they remembered Engel.
Smiley also reminded the audience that officials with the JEGS ProMod Challenge have created the Steve Engel "Big Man, Big Heart" Award, which will be handed out annually to the Pro Mod racer that best exemplifies Engel's gregarious spirit and generous nature. The award will be accompanied by a $10,000 cash prize that will be donated to the charity of the recipient's choice in Engel's name.
The 49-year-old Engel is survived by his wife Tonya and sons Stevie and Michael.
HOMETOWN OBLIGATION – Clay Millican wasn’t given any orders but felt a hometown obligation when he squared off against Bob Vandergriff Jr. in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations.
Vandergriff drives the UPS-sponsored dragster.
Millican lives in Memphis, Tenn., the headquarters from rival shipping company Federal Express.
Even though he left the engine in a ball of flames, he scored the round win for the home team.
"We had a pretty good weekend," Millican said. "The first round was huge. Being from Memphis it's a big deal when you race the big brown car. Bob's a good racer. It was an expensive first-round win because we leveled the motor.
"I think I've figured it out . . . if you aren't in the top 10 contenders and want TV time, you have to be spectacular and I think that was a spectacular first round win. That's the first time this season that we've hurt the motor that bad."
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - SCELZI STEPPING DOWN, DIXON SITS OUT FINAL SESSION, HIGHT SHARING TUNE-UP WITH THE BOSS AND KRAWIEC'S STOCK RISING
SCELZI SEZ, “IT’S TIME” – The dust barely had time to settle on Del
Worsham’s blockbuster announcement on Friday before 
Gary Scelzi
delivered a bombshell of his own.
The four-time NHRA world champion announced today that he will step down from competition at the conclusion of the season.
Scelzi, who partners with his brothers Jim and Mike in Scelzi
Enterprises, a custom truck body manufacturing company based in Fresno,
Calif., said his decision was based on maintaining and growing the
growing the family business during these tough economic times.
"After the season finale in Pomona, Calif., I'll be leaving Don
Schumacher Racing to go back to work at Scelzi Enterprises," he said.
"With the economy in the state that it is, business being off in these
tough economic times, and with all the travel that competing on the pro
NHRA circuit entails, I feel it is in my best interest to leave Don
Schumacher Racing a year before the contract is up and go back to work
at Scelzi Enterprises and get myself more involved with what's going on
there.
"When (crew chief) Alan Johnson called me back in 1996 to replace
Blaine Johnson in the Top Fuel dragster, I really didn't do it to make
a living," Scelzi added. "It turned into a very good living. I did it
to race the absolute best of the best, to see how I would stack up. And
obviously I did pretty well. I've had some great people as my crew
chiefs: Alan Johnson, Mike Neff, Todd Okuhara.
"I've only had a few crew chiefs up until lately, but that's beyond our
control," Scelzi added, referring to the team's struggles this year,
and bringing in other tuners to help during Okuhara's recuperation from
an inner-ear infection.
"I never really thought this was all I wanted to do, to feed my family.
I never thought it was stable, I never felt comfortable doing it in the
event I got hurt or lost a sponsor, or any of these things. There were
too many variables in this business for me to be doing it for a living
"That being said, the real living I need to make is at Scelzi Enterprises and that's where I need to stake my claim.
"I can't put the effort that I need into the company and the business
while running 24 races. It's impossible. Even with the little bit of
help that (NHRA team owner) Ken Black has given me this year by flying
me back and forth to a number of races - which I deeply appreciate -
it's just too difficult. And in order for me to do what I feel is right
for myself and my family, I'm going to step away and go back to work.
"This doesn't mean I quit. If and when a deal arises and it's the right
deal, great. If I decide this isn't the life and find another sponsor
down the road in a year or two, maybe I'll come back to Don Schumacher
and say, Hey, Don, let's rekindle an old flame and see if we can't do
this again.
"I'm definitely leaving the door open. I never had any intention in my
mind of actually quitting. That's why I don’t want to say I am
retiring. I'll make that decision myself, as it is my decision to make.
If it does end up being the end of it, then I've had a great career and
I have nothing to be ashamed of."
Scelzi joined Don Schumacher Racing in the Funny Car class in 2003
after capturing three Top Fuel championships (1997, 1998, 2000). In
2005, driving the Mopar/Oakley Dodge for DSR, he also claimed his first
Funny Car crown.
"Gary Scelzi has done an awesome job in his NHRA professional career
and in particular with Don Schumacher Racing. We have been extremely
proud of his accomplishments," said Don Schumacher. "But I am a
business owner and a family man who also used to race, so I understand
his concern in these difficult times. I wish him all the best in the
future. If he decides to return to the sport in which he's accomplished
so much, I know he'll call me."
While earning his four championships competing in 255 races, Scelzi has
won 37 national events in 58 final rounds, has qualified in the top
spot 44 times and has a career round-win record of 375-207 entering
this weekend's event in Ennis, Texas.
HORSE WHISPERING - Top Fuel racer Larry Dixon knows all too well a wounded horse won’t win races. That’s why the jockey of 
the U.S. Smokeless-sponsored thoroughbred dragster skipped the final session of qualifying.
He wasn’t conserving parts or saving money. Instead he wanted to give his crew the best opportunity to repair his limping ride.
“We had a fuel system malfunction and it ended up hurting the engine,” Dixon admitted. “Instead of just making a run, we wanted to stay back and make the car perfect for Sunday.”
Dixon wasn’t worried about getting bumped down because as he put it, “We’d still be in one of the top positions.”
Dixon’s Friday evening 3.820 elapsed time stood, handing him his fourth No. 1 starting spot of the season and 31st of his career.
Sitting out the session didn’t hurt Dixon’s feelings one iota if the objective was a better chance at winning the event.
“I’d rather have a perfect horse for Sunday as opposed to a pretty-perfect one,” Dixon said. “I have a lot of confidence in my team. That was the decision of our crew chiefs. We still could have run a high 4.80 or a 4.90, but what would that have accomplished?”
Sunday’s eliminations will present three head-to-head match-ups amongst Countdown finalists in the first round. Dixon races Morgan Lucas, a non-championship contending car to start his day.
“I really don’t pay attention to that stuff unless I have time,” Dixon said. “I don’t get all caught up in it. I’m still of the opinion if you win the race, you get the most points.”
The humble Dixon refuses to get cocky.
“You already have someone playing that spot ... and with all the merits and all the reasons,” Dixon added. “They absolutely deserve it. They are having a season we [all dream of]. Only [John] Force hasn’t had to dream because he’s done it. What Tony [Schumacher] and Alan [Johnson] are doing is phenomenal. It’s what we all wish for.”
UNTOUCHABLE – The likelihood that anyone could touch Robert Hight’s provisional Funny Car No. 1 was slim, but in the rough 
and tumble world of nitro Funny Car, Robert Hight has learned nothing is untouchable, even a 4.063 elapsed time in the heat of the day.
“We came into here last year doing well and didn’t qualify,” Hight explained. “My teammates know that feeling with John [Force] not making the show in two events and Mike Neff this weekend. You’re always wondering when it is your time in the barrel.”
Hight has learned quickly, ace tuner Jimmy Prock or not, you will do time in the barrel.
“There are so many cars out here that if you slip up a little then you’re behind,” Hight added. “We had a pretty good run going tonight and then a throttle cable broke right before the finish line. I look at that as being awful lucky to have that happen on Saturday and not in the first round of eliminations. Those kinds of things will kill you on race day.”
Better to get those bad things out of the way early.
“If it wouldn’t have happened today, chances are it would have broken in the first round of eliminations,” Hight said. “With this Countdown, a first round loss or a DNQ will just kill your chances.”
Hight races Jim Head in Sunday’s first round and the veteran independent runner has a winning record against Hight.
“There are no easy ones and I guarantee you that we’ll have to earn any round we get on Sunday,” Hight said.
The No. 1 qualifying effort comes in handy for Hight, who has outqualified his Countdown competition in the last two events.
“If you can qualify No. 1 at all six races, that’s the same as a round win,” Hight said.
Unofficially, Hight’s top qualifying effort moves him around Tony Pedregon into third place in the point standings.
BAILING OUT THE BOSS – If John Force’s runs bear a striking resemblance to those of Hight, there’s good reason.
Force is running Jimmy Prock's tune-up in his Castrol GTX.
“I’m excited about that,” Hight said. “That way we can help out one another.”
The two teams had run diametrically opposite tune-ups in the past.
“We couldn’t help them and they couldn’t help us,” Hight added. “We are working closer and it needed help. I think it will help us down this stretch.”
STILL THE ONE – Defending Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. didn’t surpass his Friday qualifying effort, but then again, he didn’t need to.
Coughlin scored his 14th career low qualifying effort and ran nearly as quick in lesser conditions than he faced on Friday evening. His final session effort was the quickest of the class.
All four of his runs were within two hundredths of a second of each other.
"With the weather being the way it was we really expect more of the same today, which is pretty much what we got," Coughlin said. "By all indications, this is how it's going to be tomorrow as well so it's great to be running so consistently.
"The track has been perfect all weekend, right along with the weather. We were the most consistent car through qualifying and we're looking forward to a strong race day as well. We have been running really well on Sunday the last few weeks and I am feeling confident behind the wheel, despite a fever I'm fighting, but it makes me want to fight that much harder."
Coughlin will face a familiar foe in the first round when he lines up against pseudo teammate Ron Krisher, who uses Victor Cagnazzi Racing horsepower. Krisher barely made the field with a 6.697 at 206.01 mph in the final session. The two Ohio natives have raced five times this year with Coughlin holding a 4-1 advantage.
"I hate to go up against my teammate but that's the way it goes," Coughlin said. "We know what he's got under the hood so if they get their car figured out he can be a handful for us. We need to be on our toes. We'll certainly make the best of it.”
Coughlin entered the race third in the championship points, 31 points behind leader Kurt Johnson, who qualified seventh here. Through qualifying, he is now just 26 points off the lead.
"That just goes to show you how important qualifying can be," Coughlin said. "You can make up ground with those bonus points, and it could be the difference at the end."
SHUFFLEPROOF – There was a lot of shuffling that went on during the final day of Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying.
Eddie Krawiec had a good view of the action from his perch atop the qualifying ladder. His Friday evening 6.970-second run at 191.65 mile per hour run went untouched although two other riders joined him in the six second zone.
Krawiec, the Team Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson rider, scored his third No. 1 qualifier of the season.
“I’m not focusing on anything else other than making nice, clean and straight runs,” said Krawiec, runner-up to Steve Johnson last weekend in Charlotte. “The bottom line is that you aren’t racing anyone but yourself. If you stay focused and remain in your lane, you can end up in the final round.”
Krawiec broke a transmission in Saturday’s first qualifying attempt and returned in the final session with an unproven engine. He simply drove to low elapsed time of the session.
The timing of the top qualifying effort couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment for Krawiec with every point holding special significance. He is only 42 points out of first place in the championship standings.
“Points mean everything and this championship could be decided by only one point,” Krawiec said. “Anytime you can get a point, it’s a good thing. I’m excited and looking forward to doing my best on Sunday.”
JUDGEMENT DAY COMING – The day Warren Johnson gets his new combination completely figured out will be the day the Pro 
Stock class pays. The veteran drag racer qualified No. 9 at a booming 208.26 miles per hour.
“Looking at the stat sheet, we were quicker on every run, so we’re starting to get a handle on this new approach we’re using with this GM Performance Parts GXP, which is more driver-friendly in terms of getting it down the racetrack, because it doesn’t want to move around as much,” Johnson explained. “It also seems to have a bigger tuning window.
“Our challenge now is to start fine-tuning all the components around it. We see there are areas that show signs of needing improvement, and we should be able to alleviate those obvious anomalies in short order. I honestly believe there is another two hundredths left in it just from that fine-tuning, because these are parts that were generated off the prior set-up, similar to the way Kurt tunes his ACDelco Cobalt.
“There are lot of cars out here that can make four good runs, with the fifth being a complete disaster. We’re now going on two races and a test session with this current set-up where we have gone from A to B each time. Now that we have something we can really work with, it’s up to us to fine-tune it and make it work.”
STILL FIGHTING – Del Worsham’s Funny Car team will disband at the end of 2008 but doesn’t mean they’ve quit working. In 
fact, the CSK Auto Parts team thundered to the third qualifying position.
"Today was about getting your race-day tune-up in shape, and we scored an A on the test, I'd say," Worsham said. "That's pretty much exactly what we wanted to do, and the car went right down there twice. The guys told me about our qualifying streak, how this is our 10th straight race with a single-digit spot on the ladder, and even though I knew we'd been doing a lot better in qualifying, I really didn't know that. I think it says a lot about the dedication around here, because things have been pretty much in turmoil for most of the summer, if not the season, but we've put a heck of good second-half together in terms of how the car runs.
"We still don't have much luck on Sunday, landing some huge opponents with a lot of these top-half spots, but we can't worry about that. All you can do is your best, and you can't guarantee that you won't get Robert Hight or John Force even if do really well, so you just deal with that. I'm pretty proud of these guys, to tell you the truth. It's all coming to an end soon, but they're digging in, working hard, and really being focused. Nobody wants to win more than these guys."
FULLER V. SCHUMACHER – Hot Rod Fuller wouldn’t mind a bit of déjà vu during Sunday’s first round of eliminations. The veteran driver faces Tony Schumacher in the first round of eliminations, a rematch of the first round at this race last year.
“We’re hoping for a little déjà vu,” Fuller joked. “We beat that (U.S.) Army car in the first round last year and that’s our plan on Sunday. We’re the last car to beat them way back at Norwalk (Ohio), so why not end this awesome streak they’re on? I know our CAT team has what it takes and we want to do it for HOLT and get it done on Sunday.”
Fuller is 2-5 against the five-time Top Fuel champion this season and if he pulls off the win will score his 110th career round win.
CLASS ACT – At each JEGS Pro Mod Challenge event, Ohio Crankshafts awards the low qualifier of the 16-car field a $1,000 
bonus and Josh Hernandez has won more than his share of them.
Hernandez, the defending world champion from Conroe, Tex., decided he had a better use for the money.
Hernandez donated the $1,000 bonus to a special project chassis builder Tim McAmis has started.
In the wake of fellow Pro Mod racer Steve Engel's untimely death following his accident in Indianapolis earlier this month, McAmis launched an initiative to build a better Pro Mod chassis. Many of the drivers in the JEGS ProMod Challenge are backing the project and Hernandez decided to hand over his low qualifier check to help the cause.
"We're all hurting this weekend without Steve," Hernandez said. "His accident prompted Tim to go out and hire an engineer, at his own expense, to figure out how he can make safer race cars. It's similar to the Eric Medlen Project in Funny Car in that we're all in this together, regardless of sponsors or car types or chassis builders, to make the sport better. We can't have people dying out here.
"Tim said from the start that he'll share all of the information and data this engineer and the rest of his staff discover with everyone. I think that's the spirit of cooperation we need and donating this check is the least we can do."
Hernandez has been impressive at this weekend's 23rd annual Super Start Batteries NHRA Nationals, posting five-second passes in all three qualifying attempts. His best was a 5.964 at 242.02 mph, which means he'll lead the field into eliminations for the 13th time in his career.
VETTEL CHECKED OUT AND RELEASED - Pro Mod racer Ray Vettel of Phillips, Neb., was examined and released by doctors at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas after his Friday night qualifying accident. Vettel's 1970 Plymouth Barracuda hybrid went out of control approximately 800 feet down the quarter-mile, crossed the centerline, and impacted the right-side retaining wall. As a precautionary measure, he was transported by medical helicopter to BUMC.
"I'm fine," Vettel said. "I just feel a little beat up. It happened very fast and I saw the wall coming at me so I turned her all the way around so I didn't go head-on into the wall. The car pieces are ruined but I actually think the chassis is okay. It hit hard, but not real hard. All the safety equipment did its job."
According to Vettel, a CAT scan performed on his brain showed slight swelling. He was given oxygen for three hours and then released at 3 a.m.
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - BETTER MEMORY FOR HIGHT THIS YEAR; DUDE AJ'S GOT A DEL, HONORING THE BIG MAN WITH A BIG HEART
ALREADY BETTER – One can easily draw the conclusion that this year’s visit to the Texas Motorplex is already better after just 
one day for Robert Hight than last year’s outing.
Last year, Hight missed the field and team leader John Force survived a near career-ending crash during eliminations on Sunday.
Tonight before a packed Texas Motorplex crowd, Hight made two tremendous runs including a 4.06 second blast in the second session that brought the NHRA fans to their feet. The run was the 2nd quickest since the NHRA truncated the racing distance to 1000 feet following the tragic loss of world champion Scott Kalitta. Hight also is the owner of the quickest 1000 foot pass set during the Seattle event in July. His excitement was evident at the top end of the race track immediately after his run.
“That is a great run for the AAA Texas team. What a difference a year makes. We came here last year and didn’t qualify. We just have to forget that. We are looking like the Dallas Cowboys and that is what we want,” said Hight.
Last year at the Fall Nationals Hight was forced to watch his championship hopes take a huge hit from the sidelines. He knows that he has to make every run count this season if he is going to wind up on top at the last race in Pomona.
“Even though this is a year later, being here still brings back memories of not qualifying last year once the Countdown started. Honestly that is what killed us for the championship. You think about that. Last year my Mustang was actually weak which is unusual for us with my crew chief Jimmy Prock. Usually we are too aggressive. Tonight we were set up perfectly because we went down the track and made a perfect run in the first session,” said the two-time POWERade Championship runner-up. “We could get after it a little bit. The 4.06 was just an unbelievable run. It was perfectly straight. It was 267 mph at half track. It was flying. It is really huge to out qualify all these other guys in the Countdown which we did at Charlotte as well. As tight as Funny Cars are and as tight as the racing is the extra qualifying points in the end hopefully gets us the championship.
MOMENTUM SHIFT – Nothing says momentum like a vault to the top of the qualifying list.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. came into the Texas Motorplex looking for a jolt of momentum and quickly found it as he drove his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt to 6.631 at 207.56 mph to earn the provisional top qualifying position for team owner Victor Cagnazzi.
"We aim to be consistent and fast every pass and obviously we pulled that off today," Coughlin said. "We're thrilled. Our trend this year is that we tend to get better as the weekend goes along so to start No. 1 is just great."
Coughlin entered this weekend’s event 31 points off the lead, but could make up a portion of that deficit during qualifying.
"It's on," Coughlin said. "The battle has started. We've got five races left, including this weekend, and that's a lot of racing. We want to be champions again so we've got to run like this from here on out. Everyone is putting their best foot forward, including us."
THUNDER ISLAND - Recent Charlotte event runner-up Eddie Krawiec is a man on an island all by his lonesome. The Screamin’ 
Eagle rider is the only Pro Stock Motorcycle racer in the six second zone thus far with a 6.970 elapsed time 191.65, recorded during the first qualifying session.
Krawiec entered the event as fourth in the points and with five races remaining, the isolation only helps. It gives him more time to count and concentrate on championship points.
“Ultimately to have those extra eight points would be awesome," Krawiec said, addressing the topic of how important a No. 1 qualifier would be. “It’s so close from second to fifth we are within one round of one another. To get eight points is a big deal. Like I said we just want to go out there and get consistent laps and at the end of the weekend hopefully we’re the ones holding the wallet. It’s just a matter of us going out there and being smooth and holding your composure.
“I am going for my third one; it’s been a great season so far. Coming off of the runner-up at Charlotte, I really feel like it’s carrying some momentum and it’s really exciting.”
Krawiec has mixed emotions regarding the final session. He was still the quickest but not better than his opening salvo.
“The second session was a little screwy,” admitted Krawiec. “I think everyone anticipates better running when it’s darker and it gets a little cooler out. If you monitor the weather stations and listen to the weather you’d really see that, the air. A lot of the things that really make it real good air were coming up; so it’s kind of counter reacting on itself. You saw Pro Stocks stay on pace and I guess that’s what we’re expected to do. I went out there I went 99 I went .02 off of our qualifying time.”
HERNANDEZ PACES PRO MODS - Reigning JEGS ProMod Challenge world champion Josh Hernandez landed firmly on top of 
the provisional qualifying field Friday night at the 23rd annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Nationals with a pair of five-second passes down the quarter-mile at the Texas Motorplex.
Both of Hernandez's runs landed in the five-second range, but it was his first qualifying attempt that earned him the top spot when he posted a stout 5.964-second pass at 242.02 mph. Hernandez, of Conroe, Texas, was the only racer in the five-second range. The No. 2 spot is currently held by Joe Baker at 6.004 seconds.
"All I have to say is Troy Critchley and Jim Oddy are bad dudes," the current points leader said of his crew chief and engine builder. "With everything that has happened this week as far as our damage from Hurricane Ike and the passing of Steve Engel, it was extremely refreshing to come out here and do what I love to do most. Having said that, it's obvious we are all racing with heavy hearts. My thoughts and prayers are with Steve's family and team.
"All around our program is flawless. The car is happy, the team is working well together, and I am getting the car down the quarter mile. I am confident we will continue our progress through the rest of the weekend."
The rest of the class has one final qualifying session to attempt to catch Hernandez before they line up for the first round of competition Saturday afternoon.
Canadian Tony Pontieri is third on the grid with a 6.011 and anxious to get back in the points lead after ceding the spot to Hernandez in Indy, the last stop on the JEGS ProMod Challenge.
Kirk Wilmes set the Day 1 bump with a 6.408.
DEL’S NEW STOMPING GROUNDS – Del Worsham spoiled the day for the rumor mongers. The veteran driver of the CSK Auto Parts Funny Car for the last twelve years announced that he’d be the driver of Alan Johnson’s nitro Funny Car in 2009.
Worsham’s sponsorship concludes at the end of the season freeing him to take the hired position on the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi team.
“I'm thrilled to have this opportunity,” Worsham said. “Throughout my career, I've always said that life is about timing. We lost our sponsorship this year, and I was really worried about that; knowing I’d come to a crossroads in my life. Then, Alan announced his new team at Indy, and while sitting in the stands at the U.S. Nationals, I decided I needed to talk to Alan to see if there was an opportunity. I really was just hoping to get an interview to know what my options were, and it kind of took off from there and I got the chance to drive this car. I’m really honored to be selected.
“I’ve been running our family team for so many years, and have been a big part of team operations in addition to driving the car. I am definitely looking forward to letting Alan handle running the team so I can just be the driver and hopefully have some great success focusing on that one aspect. I'm looking forward to it.”
Worsham has won 22 races in 35 Funny Car final rounds over the course of his 17-year professional career and is currently 11th in the NHRA Funny Car point standings. The Chino Hills, Calif. resident made his professional debut at the final race of the 1990 season and was named NHRA Rookie of the Year in 1991 after winning two races and finishing 6th in points.
Worsham won five races and finished second in the NHRA POWERade Funny Car point standings in 2004, the best season of his career. Worsham spent the last 12 years sponsored by CSK Auto, Inc., but the company’s recent acquisition by O’Reilly Auto Parts left him without sponsorship after this season.
IN GOOD HANDS – Coordinating Worsham’s efforts will be Aaron Brooks, who announced earlier in the week that he’ll be leaving Roger Burgess’ R2B2 Motors team.
Brooks has been the crew chief for Roger Burgess’ R2B2 Racing Funny Car driven by Frank Hawley; he will leave the team at the end of this month. Brooks and Hawley teamed for just six races this year, but Hawley was the No. 1 qualifier at last weekend’s inaugural NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C., and Brooks is considered a rising star in Fuel Funny Car tuning.
“It’s an honor to be selected for this job,” Brooks said. “I’m privileged; not many people get the chance to work with Alan Johnson. Roger Burgess has a great operation, and it was unfortunate that we didn’t get to race full time. The hardest part was telling Roger that I was leaving, but it’s just an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.
“I’m fired up; I’m already thinking about the Phoenix test to see what we can do. The bottom line is this is the most excited I’ve been to go racing in a long time. It’s gonna be fun.”
TOKEN OF APPRECIATION – John Force has won only one national event since the devastating crash last season in Dallas. Today he felt the need to share that victory with everyone on the staff at the Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, who made his return possible.
The 14-time Funny Car POWERade World Champion Force thanked the four surgeons who operated on him following his catastrophic crash at the Texas Motorplex last September. Force was joined by Dr. Amy Wilson, M.D., medical director, Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation; Dr. Alan Jones, M.D., medical director of orthopedic trauma, Baylor Dallas; Dr. David Zehr, M.D., orthopedic hand surgeon, Baylor Dallas; and Dr. Michael Foreman, M.D., trauma surgeon, Baylor Dallas, at the press conference. A number of the nurses and physical therapists that worked with Force during his 27-day stay in Baylor were also in attendance.
"This is an emotional day for me. I'm usually a comedy act but today I have to be serious and thank each of you for helping the old truck driver get my head right. You got my body right but more importantly you showed me what was important in life. I ain't saying I found God but He is at the top of my list now right there with my family. I came in here screaming about racing at Richmond (the next NHRA event after the Dallas race in 2007) and you settled me down and got me right. I can't thank you enough for that. You and this Baylor hospital changed my life," said Force.
Following Force's opening remarks, Dr. Jones talked about Force's injuries and his dedication to rehab.
"The trauma team that we put together here at Baylor, which is a level one trauma center, from the emergency room to the trauma center under the direction of Dr. Foreman all the way through rehab with Dr. Wilson we are just happy to be a part of the process. It is hard to imagine from the injuries that you had in September that you would be back racing but as we got to know you it is really not that big of a surprise," said Dr. Jones. "You really are one determined guy. Baylor and John Force Racing have a lot in common. We are both determined to get across the finish line. For you guys it is winning races and championships and for us it is taking care of patients and getting them back to what they want to do and need to do."
At the conclusion of the remarks Force personally thanked all four doctors and presented them with replica winner's medals from his 126th NHRA national event win at the Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan. The win was important in Force's career considering it extended to 22 the number of consecutive years Force has won at least one NHRA National event tying him for the top spot with Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson.
I WILL RETURN – Coming back to the scene of the crippling accident was no publicity stunt for John Force.
Earlier in the week Force returned to the Motorplex for the first time the same way he left the all-concrete race track; via Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter. Force was joined on the helicopter by the same crew who immediately began assessing and stabilizing the winningest NHRA driver in history following his top end accident.
"It was strange," Force said, "when I got back in (the helicopter), it kind of scared me. The smell, you remember, and the chopper noise. But I also remembered the lady (flight nurse Kim Loflin) that held my hand and told me everything would be all right.
"In all the hero stuff, yelling and screaming that I was gonna be back racing the next week, I really kinda thought (my career) was over," said the 126-time NHRA tour winner. "But your biggest fear is that you ain't gonna see your kids again."
NOT TIME TO DWELL – John Force will see plenty this week of daughters Ashley, 25, Brittany, 22, and Courtney, 20. All three will be competing in the Fall Nationals Ashley in Funny Car, her sisters in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. A fourth Force daughter, Adria, 39, is the Chief Financial Officer at John Force Racing, Inc. She is married to Robert Hight.
GETTING REFOCUSED – Hindsight is always 20/20 in drag racing.
That’s why Team Mopar Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson believes he and his J&J Racing team may have been too cautious in their approach at Charlotte last weekend.
“We have to be more aggressive, instead of passive,” remarked Johnson. “We’ve put ourselves in the position now where we’ve got to be aggressive and go for it. I probably like that better than anything, because that forces me to focus on beating everybody instead of a single driver. I think that’s what got us first round at Charlotte. We got a little passive and it cost us.”
Johnson knows he and his team are still in the thick of contention. He currently sits sixth in the Countdown standings, well within striking distance of the points leader.
“I feel probably more confident right now than I have in the last two years,” said Johnson, who has made four semifinals appearances since July, including two runner-up finishes. “I did at Indy [where he claimed the No. 1 qualifier award] and I did at Charlotte. This Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T is running great and we’re making awesome power. We’ve just got to make the right decision on Sunday. We’ll get this turned around.”
DON’T LIKE IKE – In the wake of hurricane Ike, defending Jegs Pro Modified champion Josh Hernandez, his wife and two 
sons, have been living a life reminiscent of the early 1900s.
The Conroe, Texas-based driver was actually anxious to leave home and spend time in an air-conditioned hotel with clean sheets and hot water, let alone go racing this weekend.
“It's been like we're on a perpetual campout because we don't have any electricity at the house,” Hernandez admitted. “The boys love it, but I think my wife Amber has had about enough.
"We were all planning to go to the race in Dallas this weekend anyway, so there's not a real change in our schedule as far as that's concerned, but to actually look forward to spending time in a small hotel room -- now that's really new.”
Hernandez was at the ADRL Dragstock event last weekend when Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coast and moved inland leaving a path of destruction.
"I was away racing when the hurricane hit, so I missed the excitement of the actual storm, but when I finally was able to navigate back home, the pine tree that was in my yard was laying across my roof, and we had no electricity,” Hernandez explained. “We're fortunate enough to have a well on our lot, so with the help of my backup generator, we've had clean, drinkable water, but without electricity, there's not a whole lot else we can do but work on cutting up the fallen trees and spend time with the kid’s grandparents.
"It's easy to put it all into perspective, though," Hernandez added. "I know that my heart, along with all of the other racers, is in Shandon, Ohio right now with Tonya Engel and Steve Engel’s family, and, compared to the pain they are dealing with right now, fallen trees and no electricity is nothing.
"Coming into the race this weekend, I'm really having a hard time, because Steve was such a good friend to all of us. His presence was huge -- in so many ways, and I'll really miss him. I wanted so much to be able to be at the services, as I know so many other drivers did, but, I also know that Steve would understand what we've got to do here, so, that's where we're going to be."
BIG MAN, BIG HEART - The late Steve Engel, the popular Pro Mod racer who lost his life Sunday in Indianapolis, will be remembered and honored by his fellow racers on the JEGS Pro Mod Challenge beginning this weekend with memorial stickers on all of the racecars participating in the series.
Fellow racer Tim Tindle had the stickers designed and distributed in time for this weekend's 23rd annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. It is the eighth of 10 races on the JEGS Pro Mod Challenge and the first since Engel's death.
Engel was severely injured during qualifying for the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend. He was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and diagnosed with six broken vertebrae, which were all repaired. He was in the throws of recovery when he passed away at the age of 49. Engel is survived by his wife Tonya and sons Stevie and Michael.
At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Racers for Christ Chaplain Larry Smiley will be holding a special memorial service for Engel at the Racers for Christ tent on the west side of the staging lanes at the Texas Motorplex. The service is open to the public.
TALE OF TWO WEEKENDS – One weekend he’s the reluctant Pro Stock winner.
The next weekend he’s on the outside of qualifying looking in.
"We're missing something somewhere," Justin Humphreys said after putting the RaceRedi Pontiac GXP into the provisional 13th starting position.
"We had a pretty good run (on his second attempt) but it didn't turn out exactly like we expected," he added.
The result, a 6.661-second time, equaled that of Larry Morgan, but Morgan got 12th place because his speed bettered Humphreys', 206.48 to 206.26 mph.
"Frank (Gugliotta, crew chief) will sleep on it tonight and we'll figure it out for Saturday," said Humphreys, who won his first NHRA Pro Stock race Sunday at Charlotte.
SCARY MOMENT - VETELL CRASHES CLASSIC MOPAR
SCARY MOMENT - Pro Modified racer Ray Vettel drifted out of the groove just shy of the eighth-mile mark and made a move towards the left retaining wall about 200 feet later before crossing the centerline. His wild ride continued as he moved towards the right wall, where he spun around and made contact with the retaining wall again. He was transported via helicopter to a local hospital for evaluation. (Roger Richards sequence).
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