What’d we tell you?  “We are expecting…someone named Force playing a major role in the event’s outcome.”  Can we pick ‘em or can we pick em?

In retrospect every pick seems easy, but there was just something about the way the entire Force gang was acting this weekend that let anyone who was paying attention know that this year is going to be different.  As we wrote yesterday, Force appears more energized than he has in the last couple of years.  That’s one factor, and the other is, without question, the addition of Mike Neff to the operation.  Make no mistake about it, Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly are still the primary guys, but Neff provides the physical ability to check every nut and bolt on the car, and that’s been lacking.  He goes over every inch of the car to make sure things are right – and they couldn’t have been much “righter” than they were on Parker Avenue on Sunday afternoon.

We also wrote that Ron Capps was on the way up, and he sure was.  He did a great job of reaching the finale, but let’s face it, this was a race that was destined to be Force’s.  We can’t explain it, but you just knew that Force was not to be denied.

 

What’d we tell you?  “We are expecting…someone named Force playing a major role in the event’s outcome.”  Can we pick ‘em or can we pick em?

In retrospect every pick seems easy, but there was just something about the way the entire Force gang was acting this weekend that let anyone who was paying attention know that this year is going to be different.  As we wrote yesterday, Force appears more energized than he has in the last couple of years.  That’s one factor, and the other is, without question, the addition of Mike Neff to the operation.  Make no mistake about it, Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly are still the primary guys, but Neff provides the physical ability to check every nut and bolt on the car, and that’s been lacking.  He goes over every inch of the car to make sure things are right – and they couldn’t have been much “righter” than they were on Parker Avenue on Sunday afternoon.

We also wrote that Ron Capps was on the way up, and he sure was.  He did a great job of reaching the finale, but let’s face it, this was a race that was destined to be Force’s.  We can’t explain it, but you just knew that Force was not to be denied.

At the finish line, after he’d been showered by his minions, Force quietly said to this reporter, “That was great.  Maybe now I can get back in (the championship chase).”  We know it’s only one race and there are 22 left, and for all we know Force could be completely out of it by August, but, we don’t think that’s going to happen.  The most popular man in drag racing may just give his legions of fans reason to cheer from now until November.

 

We saw grown men with tears on their faces this afternoon.  The largest Cacklefest we’ve ever seen was engineered by former NHRA competition director Steve Gibbs, and unless you’re of a certain age it’s simply hard to describe the emotions the sight of what seemed like dozens of sparkling front-motored fuelers rumbling towards the starting line produced.  You had to be there years ago to truly comprehend what it meant to see ancient pickup trucks and station wagons – many of them stunningly beautiful – pushing cars towards the starting line from the top end.  They’d roll to about the 800 foot mark, the drivers would let the clutch out, raw fuel would plume skyward and the old 392 Chryslers or Chevrolets would thunder to life.  The drivers would make the turn at the starting line and then idle down the return road.  The fans loved it – and so did the participants.  They cheered wildly for the likes of “TV” Tommy Ivo, Chris “The Greek” Karamesines, James Warren in the Ridge Route Terrors car and, of course, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits.  And there were dozens of others.

Nostalgia drag racing is becoming a very big thing, but as we wrote yesterday, there’s definitely a generation gap situation at work here, and it’s absolutely not a problem.  Older fans may gravitate towards the older cars, which is understandable.  But it’s important to put everything in perspective – and to face reality.  Nostalgia drag racing is one thing, Cacklefests and the showing of old cars in their original state is another, and none of that detracts in the slightest way from the excitement and thrills that are generated by today’s cars and stars.  When Larry Dixon thunders off the starting line in the Al-Anabi dragster the only relationship between that and, say, his father lighting the engine in the old and beautifully restored Howard Cam Rattler is that they’re both race cars.  One in no way impacts the other in a negative fashion.  History should be embraced, not forgotten, and activities like the Golden Corral at the Winternationals help keep our history alive, and drag racing needs that.

Where were we?  Oh, right.  The racing.  Uh, maybe we should give that Dixon guy a little more editorial space, but before we get to that let’s also mention his closest rival, Tony Schumacher.  Yesterday we wrote that Schumacher “usually starts out slowly and then comes home like an Atlas ICBM.”  That’s not exactly what happened, but the end result was the same.  Schumacher did not make the finals because in a semifinal race against Dixon both drivers scored identical elapsed times and speeds (3.836/317.05), but Dixon had a 0.017 quicker Reaction Time, and that was the difference.  It was one helluva race – but there were numerous others that were surprisingly close, and that was in all three pro categories.

 

Will Dixon’s early points lead hold up?  Who the heck knows!  This was only the first race.  Absolutely nothing should be assumed from the results because so many factors can and will come into play before it’s all over.  Right now Larry Dixon’s on top of the world.  By the time the Mile-High Nationals rolls around in July he could be 37^th in the points.  We just don’t know.

Yesterday we also predicted that Doug Kalitta would be a player this year, and he didn’t disappoint with his performances during eliminations.  Freshly liveried in Technicoat colors, Kalitta marched through his half of the ladder like an M-1A-1 Abrams battle tank crushing a ’56 Volkswagen, and even though he ripped off a 3.848/310.05 in the finale it just wasn’t up to Dixon’s 3.808/316.60.

We could cover Pro Stock thusly:  If you read what we wrote after Thursday, Friday and Saturday you know he won the race.  Period.  End of story.  Uh, wait.  Let’s be fair.  Mike Edwards was almost as dominant as he was last fall in Richmond, when he won every bonus point possible, including 20 extra big ones for a national record. Well, he ran no record-setting times at Pomona, but he darn sure did everything else.  He was the quickest in every round of eliminations, running Low E.T. of the Meet in the finale against a very game Greg Anderson in just 6.577 seconds.  He also had Top Speed at 211 (earlier in the weekend), but almost got chopped by Anderson’s better 0.031 R.T. when he left the line 0.038 later.  Good thing he had that fifty-seven ‘cause Anderson’s 6.618 was just about there before he ran out of race track.

This was, in every sense of the word, an excellent race.  Stunning elapsed times and speeds aren’t the ingredients for great racing.  Close – so close you can’t pick a winner – racing is even better, and this Winternationals had plenty of that.  Thanks to some forward thinking by NHRA management they successfully melded together a show for geezers as well as punk kids (now don’t go all letter-writing on us now!), and it really was a very good show.  If this is an indication of things to come – and the Winternationals often is – this is going to be one heck of great year for drag racing. 

Wanna word of advice?  Of course, you don’t, but we’re going to give you one whether you like it or not.  Save your money.  Make your travel plans now.  There’s a race coming your way at some point this season, whether you live in New Jersey or Washington, Ohio or Florida.  Buy tickets in advance to save a few bucks.  Get a motel room.  Pack your cooler.  Bring your ear plugs, sun block, your favorite T-shirts and your best girl, or even one of your buddies with whom to share the experience.  There is nothing like an NHRA Full Throttle Series race, and, sad to say, no matter how we try we are never going to be able to replicate on your computer screen what you will see, hear and smell in person.  We can’t wait for the next race.