OMG … IT’S THE POLITICALLY INCORRECT DOT COMS
In addition to the annual 100-percent reader voted Dot Com Awards, the staff of CompetitionPlus.com produces a not so politically correct Dot Com Award section. Over the course of a year we see stuff and while we report factually and unbiased what we see, there are a few things where we have tongue in cheek opinions that we don’t express at the time.
Well … that time is now.
Read at your own risk.
In addition to the annual 100-percent reader voted Dot Com Awards, the staff of CompetitionPlus.com produces a not so politically correct Dot Com Award section. Over the course of a year we see stuff and while we report factually and unbiased what we see, there are a few things where we have tongue in cheek opinions that we don’t express at the time.
Well … that time is now.
Read at your own risk.
THE “I CAN’T STOP USING YOU” AWARD …
Jim Head/Bob Tasca vs. Warren Johnson Feud – Can we just let poor ‘ole Ray Charles rest in peace!
THE “USE ANOTHER PHRASE” AWARD …
The "At the End of the Day" Line - “At the end of the day”, by our unofficial stat keeping, was the one phrase which stood out like a sore thumb. Our calculations show that in interviews 15 different drivers, at least that we heard, uttered the phrase “At the end of the day …” The biggest offender? John Force, the 15-time champion uttered the phrase an average of four times per race weekend for 23 events. Within striking distance was Bob Tasca. Maybe at the end of the day, it’s just a Ford thing.
Running a close second was Antron Brown’s For Sure line
THE “BEST KEPT SECRET IN MOTORSPORTS” AWARD …
TIE: The NHRA and It’s Countdown to 1 – It’s going to be tough for anyone to unseat this winner any time soon. Case in point, with the largest drag race in the world going on in Indianapolis and a female nitro winner to boot, the event and its newsworthy champion barely made a ripple in the motorsports ocean. Furthermore, when a driver wins 12 out of 12 finals, in the top class drag racing has to offer, and doesn’t get a single vote in a motorsports driver of the year award – something is clearly wrong. In the interest of fair reporting, John Force gained seven of the 18 votes but that’s largely because he’s the most recognizable name in the sport. There are tribes in the jungles of Africa who know who John Force is because of his media relations juggernaut.
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THE "BOY, YOU SHOWED THEM" AWARD ...
Professional Racers Organization - Days after the controversial NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, a letter and petition from the Professional Racers Organization was leaked out and then presented to both NHRA and zMax Dragway officials stating that under no uncertain terms would they race this format in 2011. A Bruton Smith media tantrum and a convincing statement from the NHRA later, and PRO in not so many words said with their actions, 'Sure ... we'll try it another time." It kind of reminds us of the employee who walks into the boss's office and says, "I'm quitting and not coming to work tomorrow." The Boss responds, "You can't quit. I'll see you at work tomorrow." Employee responds, "What time do you want me there?"
THE “WAIT, I HAVEN’T GIVEN MY SPEECH” AWARD …
Former ADRL president Kenny Nowling - When ADRL co-founder, president and CEO Kenny Nowling was unceremoniously stripped of his leadership role last November by his new masters at Al-Anabi Companies, headed by Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani of Qatar, it deprived one of the sport’s great self promoters of a “proper” goodbye.
With his longtime assistant and new wife, Jessica Alcoke, joining him in exile to ostensibly promote Al-Anabi’s international racing development, all we heard from the self-proclaimed “Big Head” was: “First and foremost, Jessica and I want to thank all of the loyal ADRL racers, marketing partners, track partners and fans who have and will continue to support the ADRL. This was, without a doubt, the toughest decision either of us has ever made. However, we are both extremely confident that the individuals who have worked alongside us for the past several years will continue to build upon the success of the ADRL and carry it well into the future.”
And with that the Nowling era of the ADRL was over and we’re still waiting on his first word about international development. (Cue crickets chirping.)
THE “GRASS ISN’T ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE” AWARD …
John Medlen – He left John Force Racing to be in charge of a team, then, after helping Matt Hagan to his first NHRA victory at Houston and helping struggling Ron Capps get back into the winners circle at Sonoma, was "designated for reassignment" at Don Schumacher Racing
THE “MAYBE THE CAR IS JUST A LEMON” AWARD …
The NAPA Dodge Funny Car – When one of the drag racing’s most naturally talented drivers Ron Capps and two of the drag racing’s legendary tuners, Ed McCulloch and then John Medlen, can’t make it work maybe the problem is just in the car. Cars can be cursed you know? Credit Ronnie Thompson, the presumed [and assumed] next in line for the gig, in not being the next victim as he bolted to the Al-Anabi camp before his taking his turn at making a silk purse from a sow's ear.
THE “WHY DID HE HAVE TO COME ALONG?!” AWARD …Shane Gray [RIGHT] - With an outstanding performance all season long, in maybe the toughest pro class, Gray looked like the easy Road to the Future Award winner until LE Tonglet got some funding and swept away the attention and the prize in the final eight races of the season.
THE “BILL GATES: IT’S MY MONEY AND I WILL SPEND IT HOW I FEEL LIKE SPENDING IT” AWARD …
Johnny Gray - After news emerged that he had sold his New Mexico-based oil and gas firm for several billion dollars, folks have speculated that he might buy the NHRA and fix all the sport's ills.
THE “WHERE DID HE COME FROM?” AWARD …
Extreme 10.5 Racer Dan Millen - No question, this one belongs to new ADRL Extreme 10.5 champ Dan Millen
By the time Millen showed up in June at the fourth ADRL race of the year with his brand-new, flat black and blown 2010 Mustang, he faced a huge challenge just to reach the top eight in points in order to challenge for Battle for the Belts supremacy in October.
He’d clawed his way up to 11th by the time of the eighth race at Rockingham, NC, where a stunning 3.85 gave him a new ET record and the even more valuable catch-up points that went with it. When eliminations at “The Rock” were postponed by rain to the next event it set up a double-points weekend at Norwalk, OH, where Millen overcame a 411-point deficit going in to emerge with the number-eight spot.
In the ADRL’s unique seven versus eight runoff (since number one gets a first-round bye) Millen initially got past number-seven starter Kenny Doak and laid waste to past XTF champion Billy Glidden with a pair of 3.84s before “slowing” to a 3.85 in beating Chuck Ulsch. He then returned to running 3.84 in the final over Gary White to complete the biggest come-from-behind championship run in ADRL history.
THE “WHAT CAN GO WRONG NEXT?!” AWARD …
Greg Anderson – Reeling from the emotional heartbreak of seeing beloved car owner and friend Ken Black suffer a stroke, Anderson then faced another heart-wrenching blast of misfortune – a house fire. Just when the calamities appeared over, just days after winning the Pro Stock crown, the team’s hauler caught on fire and destroyed everything inside the trailer, including both his and teammate Jason Line’s cars.
THE “YOU INSPIRE US” AWARD …
Ken Black – In the latter part of 2009, Ken Black suffered a stroke. He spent much of the 2010 season undergoing extensive physical rehabilitation. Finally, after nearly ten months of rehabilitation, a smiling Black made his way back to the drag strip just in time to watch his driver Greg Anderson win both Las Vegas and Pomona events en route to the championship.
THE “COULD I BE MORE POMPOUS?” AWARD …
Austin Coil -- With the loyalty of a cat, Coil spoiled John Force's celebration of a 15th Funny Car championship by bolting, indicating he didn't like taking a pay cut and saying he would go back to work for somebody who's willing to spends lots of money and hire lots of personnel to support his tuning efforts.
THE “WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE?!” AWARD …
Cory McClenathan – Poor Cory Mac, he could have the car to beat at a race and something is going to get the best of him … a 50-cent part or something insignificant. Then, with a very championship capable car, he runs into the steamroller efforts of Tony Schumacher and recently Larry Dixon. Then, at the end of the season, he gets the pink slip – for being too old for the sponsor’s advertising campaign.
THE “KIND OF LIKE THE FOX GUARDING THE HENHOUSE” AWARD …
The ADRL and its appointed CEO Tim McAmis – With the abrupt removal, reassignment, firing … or whatever they call what they did with founding ADRL Presidentv Kenny Nowling, the decision was made to put chassis builder Tim McAmis in charge of the popular, eighth-mile doorslammer series. Throughout the year, the ADRL’s rules or lack thereof have been a lightning rod of controversy when it came to possibly implementing minimum weights for their top tier classes, Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous. At one race, the ADRL required all cars to go across the scales. Coincidently, McAmis has been the leading supplier of the lightweight race cars permeating these classes. Also a coincidence, when the new rules for 2011 were handed down, there was no minimum weight rule included in the package. What would the average person believe?
THE “NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD” AWARD …
Antron Brown - School children from Bethesda Christian School in Brownsburg, Ind., were able to minister to Brown following his February crash that resulted in a woman being struck and killed by a loose tire from his dragster. Brown developed a relationship with the woman's loved ones (a relationship he prefers to keep private to protect their privacy) and was able to heal from the emotional effects of the incident and go back to work in a productive way. He closed the season with a victory at Pomona. Runner-up: Funny Car's Justin Schriefer, for returning to racing following the death of his daughter.
THE “HEY, THIS GUY CAN ACTUALLY DRIVE” AWARD …
Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani for his rookie ADRL Pro Extreme campaign - Far too often we’ve seen rich guys enter the sport at a level where their wallet maybe supports more than their talent, but that wasn’t the case for the Sheikh, who scored his first win in just his second stateside Pro Extreme start at Richmond, VA. Proving it was no fluke, he did it again at race number five in the weather-postponed Topeka event at Gateway International Raceway, near St. Louis. Tire shake, outside the groove, pedaling; we watched probably the richest man in drag racing handle them all with a driver’s touch that many of his more experienced rivals might only wish for. Love him or hate him, he’s the real deal behind the wheel.
THE “MOST DECORATED AND MOST UNSPOILED NHRA CHAMPION” AWARD …
Larry Dixon - Humble in victory, humble in his approach to unseating Tony Schumacher at Indianapolis and in the final standings.
THE “MOST HUMBLE IHRA CHAMPION” AWARD …
Bobby Lagana - After years of trying and considerable sacrifice, this racer's racer, who's generous beyond his means, earned the ultimate prize.
THE “WAY TO STEAL HIS THUNDER” AWARD …
ADRL Pro Extreme Motorcycle World Champion Kim Morrell - Heading into the ADRL’s year-ending Battle for the Belts, Pro Extreme Motorcycle points leader Ashley Owens had put together a season like no other in series’ history, regardless of the number of wheels involved. Riding a Fast by Gast Suzuki, Owens won eight of nine events leading to the championship showdown and reset his own speed and ET records at nearly every one of them. So when he made it to the PXM Belts final in October, the smart money had to be riding with Owens.
Thing is, no one told Morrell, who prior to the 2010 season had never even qualified for an ADRL event, never mind won one. She had been coming on strong late in the year, however, and despite advancing with a red-light win in the first round and a bye in the semi-finals, Owens and team weren’t about to take her lightly (pun intended!).
The light flashed green, Owens left first, but then his bike stumbled and failed almost immediately and 4.49 seconds later the ADRL had its first female world champion. (Cancel thunder.)
THE “MOST JOYOUS RACING PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON” AWARD …
TIE: Bob Bode at Brainerd and Dom Lagana at Las Vegas - Just happy to win a round of competition, low buck Funny Car racer Bob Bode’s run to the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals title in Brainerd, Minn., was the kind of victory Hollywood scripts depict. On the other side, the unshakeable and habitual happy Dom Lagana plotted his course to the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals finals before losing to Tony Schumacher in the Top Fuel money run.
THE “WE MISSED YOU IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE” AWARD …
The trio of Kurt Johnson, Tony Pedregon, Del Worsham and Brandon Bernstein - All past national event winners, they didn’t find the winner’s circle in 2010. KJ experienced a tough season with the end of a 17 year streak of finishing in the top ten of the Pro Stock points. A year earlier he saw a 15 year streak of winning at least one event come to an end. Meanwhile, Tony Pedregon appeared to hold on by the skin of his teeth financially all season long using a combination of sponsorships to attend each event in 2010. As for Del Worsham, he entered the season with all sorts of promise but nothing ever worked the way it was supposed to.
THE “WE MISS YOU, PERIOD” AWARD …
Neal Parker and Mark Niver – One tragedy is to much; but two is fairly overwhelming. The Top Alcohol community was rocked by the death of two of its racers in 2010, the victims of top end accidents. Neal Parker ran off the top end of the Englishtown facility in his Funny Car when the parachutes malfunctioned sending the car careening through the shutdown area. For Mark Niver, the loss of his parachutes, and an encounter with the catch net proved fatal. Drag racing lost two great champions when Parker and Niver passed.
THE “FINALLY GETTING HIS DUE” AWARD …
Matt Hagan Crew chief Tommy DeLago – Delago proved his worth in 2010 by battling the odds and putting his driver Matt Hagan right into the thick of the championship action. Overshadowed temporarily by John Medlen’s association, the transfer of Medlen to another team enabled DeLago to showcase his skills as the undisputed tuner.
THE “STINGY WINNERS” AWARD …
Larry Dixon, Cory McClenathan, Tony Schumacher - They hogged all the Top Fuel victories until Doug Kalitta broke the code at Denver. Then the trio went back to their selfish ways, allowing only Antron Brown at the Finals in Pomona in November to claim a Wally.
THE “LIGHTING A CANDLE TOO LATE” AWARD …
Cruz Pedregon - Pedregon missed the NHRA’s Countdown field but roared to life in the so-called playoffs in Funny Car. The two-time champion looked like one as he not only won the Charlotte event but thundered to the No. 1 spot several times. The only problem, it didn’t really matter outside of personal satisfaction.
THE “HEARTFELT GESTURE” AWARD …
ADRL Pro Extreme driver Jason Scruggs - The entire ADRL community was stunned the morning of Apr. 24, last year at South Georgia Motorsports Park when Pro Nitrous team co-owner Mike Walker was killed in a freak pit accident. Though racing with heavy hearts, everyone involved pressed on, including Walker’s grieving family members, who were at the track by his side when the tragedy occurred.
Immediately upon exiting his car after winning the Pro Extreme final that day, Jason Scruggs declared, “Mike was a great guy, someone who loved racing, loved being out here and loved his family. I really felt like Mike was riding with me today and just feel like his family deserves this win after all they’ve been through today.” Shortly afterward, in a subdued victory lane, Scruggs handed over the fourth ADRL Minuteman trophy of his career to the Walker family.
“We just happened to win a trophy, but mainly our hearts and prayers are with them,” the former back-to-back class champion said later. “They were appreciative, but they’re still in shock. But like they said, I think Mike would have wanted them to stay out here watching the race because they all love racing and that’s the kind of guy he was.”
THE “WAY TO TAKE CARE OF THE FANS” AWARD …
T.J. Zizzo - Always taking time for fans - including hosting trick-or-treating at his pits on Las Vegas Halloween weekend -- Zizzo loves sharing the race experience with the fans. He showed great sportsmanship too, encouraging fans to vote for Dom Lagana's gang for the Full Throttle Hardest-Working Crew Award in the Top Fuel class.
THE “HOW’D THAT WORK OUT FOR YOU” AWARD …
Allen Johnson – If you’re Allen Johnson and trying to get the urine test out of the way early after cocktails the night before, not too good. The unfortunate choices at the fall Charlotte event negated a splendid on-track resurgence for the capable and long-overdue-but-about-to-cash-in Pro Stock driver and all-around good guy. By the way, his alcohol reading wouldn’t have even gotten him a ticket on the highway.
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