2024 NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - SPORTSMAN NOTEBOOK
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Monday's sportsman final results from the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The race is the 14th of 20 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:
Super Comp -- Trene Cressonie, Dragster, 8.907, 170.75 def. Jason Kenny, Dragster, 8.908, 159.12.
Super Gas -- Bo Butner, Chevy Corvette, 9.901, 169.38 def. Dalton Deffenbaugh, Chevy Nova, 9.911, 146.83.
EVENT NOTEBOOK -
DIETSCH GETS ANOTHER FSS NO, 1 QUALIFIER - Two weeks ago at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd. Minn., Jason Dietsch recognized a dream of qualifying No. 1 at a Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series national event. Today he secured the top spot again, this time at the biggest drag race in the country, the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Dietsch and his Ford Mustang ran to the No. 1 spot in the final qualifying session posting a blistering 7.842 second pass at 174.71 mph.
“We were looking at the weather and it was actually really close to what we had in Brainerd,” said Dietsch. “We put the same tune up in our Mustang and took a shot. Just like in Brainerd it went right down the track and to the top of the ladder. That was pretty cool.”
Dietsch is still looking for his first Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series win and he will have five rounds to chase that title. He will race No. 18 qualifier David Davies in the first round. The winner of that match- up will receive a competition bye into the quarterfinals. For the young driver from Edgerton, Ohio, winning the U.S. Nationals would be beyond his wildest dreams.
“To be honest I have raced at the U.S. Nationals a couple times, but we never qualified,” said Dietsch. “This is like the Super Bowl for me. It is already an awesome experience, and we have five rounds of eliminations starting tomorrow.”
Standing between the winner’s circle and Dietsch and his Ford Mustang is Flexjet point leader Stephen Bell and his red COPO Camaro. Bell, who is qualified No. 8, will face Lee Hartman in the first round as he tries to win the U.S. Nationals for the first time. Last year Bell was runner-up in Indianapolis and runner-up for the world championship, this year he has won three times in five final round appearances. The businessman from Shreveport, La., is in control of the points but he wants to add a U.S. Nationals win to his resume.
“I want to win the Flexjet championship, but winning Indy is a close second,” said Bell. “This race is so special, and you can feel it as soon as you pull up to the starting line. There are a lot of tough cars, and you look at how Jason finished the qualifying, you know he will be tough. There are some great Chevys, Fords and Dodges in the field. This race more than any other race is so tough to win because of the competitors and the mystique.”
Most recent winner Scott Libersher will enter eliminations as the No. 10 qualifier and No. 9 qualifier Anthony Troyer will get the first shot at taking the Flexjet $1,000 bounty. Libersher won for the first time in his career in Brainerd and he would like to hold onto the $1,000 bounty leaving Indianapolis.
The first round of eliminations will take place tomorrow at 11 a.m. EST with two more rounds throughout the day. The Semifinals and finals will be contested on Labor Day in front of packed grandstands of drag racing fans enjoying the Labor Day holiday.
CALI COLLECTS THE COIN - Under the threatening skies of Indianapolis, the second annual RoofTec Comp Cash Clash played out historically. For the first time in Competition Eliminator history, an all-female final round battled for the richest purse ($90,000) ever presented for the division at the NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Second-gen Comp racer Cali Neff drove her J/Dragster Automatic entry to victory over teammate Kayla Mozeris. The drivers left with nearly identical reaction times, but Neff stretched it out at the finish line, running -.566 under with a 7.654 elapsed time to score her first career win in the race-within-a-race on Friday evening. Mozeris made a race of it to the stripe with a -.531, 7,499.
Neff pocketed $50,000 with the victory: the $30,000 posted purse and an additional $20,000 provided by Thursday's Calcutta Auction. Mozeris also experienced quite the payday for a Competition Eliminator racer, with $14,000 for the runner-up.
"I never in my wildest imagination could have written a script that turned out like this," an emotional Neff said moments after the victory. "I've just dreamed about winning my first points race, first national step-by-step, getting there step by step, and I never imagined that I'd ever be in this position ever. I was beyond amazed that I made it in the top 16 in general and was able to be a part of the race. And just the fact that I made it this far and got the trophy is just... I have no words."
Sixteen Competition Eliminator drivers were eligible to participate. They became eligible for the special battle by racing in the ten-event RoofTec Competition Eliminator Bonus Fund and finishing in the Top 16 points earners. After this weekend's event, only three events remain in the 2024 series, with an even more prestigious RoofTec Cash Clash scheduled for the NHRA Nevada Nationals in October.
Neff entered the contest as the No. 15-ranked driver. She drew defending series champion Chase Williams in the first round, and she beat him with a -.568 performance with her inline six-cylinder Ford-powered entry. The first round was particularly brutal for the favorites who fell in the first round. Four of the top five point earners, including defending event champion Don Thomas, fell in the first round.
Neff then went on a roll, stopping Scott Linder and series point leader Rick Brown in the semis.
Mozeris, Neff's teammate, entered the show as the No. 11 seed and ironically stopped Clint Neff (Cali's father) in the opening round, past series champion Adam Hickey and Aussie Jason Grima in the semis.
Of the emotional experiences from victory, Neff said seeing the look on her dad's face provided the most emotional experience. Neff, an avowed daddy's girl, said the look on his face sealed the deal for her.
"That meant everything to me, to see his face," Neff said. "I do this for me because I love it too, but it's the smile on his face that means more than a trophy, more than a check. That man is like my best friend."
And on Friday night, Neff delivered it to her best friend.
COMELLA DOES IT AGAIN - There's Deja Vu, and then there's what Joe Comella keeps doing at the Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge. However, it seems like Comella has his version of the movie Groundhog Day.
New sponsor, new enthusiasm... same old Comella domination from start to finish in the rebranded Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge during the 70th anniversary NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
Comella stopped Hemi veteran Bucky Hess in the final round, 8.396-to-8.411, to score his fourth consecutive Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge.
Though he dominated the event from start to finish like he has pretty much done in previous victories, Comella found himself questioning the logic of the feat he'd pulled off again.
"You could have me bet a dollar after Jimmy [Daniels] won four that anyone else could ever do that again,: Comella said. "I would have said, "I'll keep my dollar. That's not possible."
"Yeah, it's not possible. I don't know how it happened again."
In case Comella wondered, when one dominates qualifying from start to finish, giving himself a little over a .02 advantage on the No. 2 runner, this is how it happens.
"I suppose, but if you start doing the math out over four years, the length of time by itself of just nothing happening to you, and then you're talking 18 passes, three qualifiers times four, you can't screw up for 25 runs," Comella explained. "That's impossible."
When Comella won his first back in 2021, such a thought of four in a row was foolish speak.
"I would've never taken any bet, no matter what odds you gave me that we were going to reel off four in a row," Comella said. "We would've never done that. The one, we were good, it was deserved, but now you start saying, 'Well, can you do two and then three and then four? No. It doesn't matter how good you are. It's just simple statistics. You can't do that."
"Jimmy did it. They earned the entire thing, but I would've said, "No, you can't. It's never going to be repeated, ever."
Comella opened his journey to the finals with a bye run before stopping Eldon Baum, series icon Charlie Westcott, and Jim Pancake.
"You're in this elevated state of consciousness all day, and you're tuned into the car, and all I'm thinking about is the car; I'm talking to is the car. I mean," Comella said. "I'm literally talking to the car in the staging lanes and in the shutdown, and then you jump out and you have people asking you questions. I can't get back to being a normal person that fast."
"I can't repeat it because there's a little bit of swearing, but I told her, 'You know where we're at. Do what you do," Comella admitted. "The analogy is like a racehorse. They know when you're at Belmont and when you're at the Derby. They know when they run faster. It's proven. You can see it in the times. The car knows. I don't care what anybody says. It's not alive. It doesn't have a soul. I'm telling you, the car knows. I'll tell anybody."
And really, Comella didn't have to tell anyone. They saw it firsthand.
WEDNESDAY QUALIFYING
The 70th edition of the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals kicked off on Wednesday as the first day of a marathon week. Leading the pack were Jim Marshall (Stock), Ernie Neal (Super Stock), and Steve Comella (Sox & Martin HEMI Challenge)
At first glance, Neal's Chevrolet Caprice doesn't look much like a Super Stocker. Still, when it goes from start to finish, the numbers it delivers in Super Stock/P Automatic are more lethal than any other classes in the historical division.
