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CSK NHRA Nationals FINAL - WARREN JOHNSON RACES TO 96TH CAREER VICTORY AT CHECKER SCHUCK'S KRAGEN NHRA NATIONALS; Rod Fuller and Tommy Johnson Jr. also claim victories at Firebird International Raceway
(2-26-2006) - Warren Johnson, the most
prolific Pro Stock racer in NHRA history, pushed his career victory total
to 96 Sunday by winning the 22nd annual Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals
presented by Castrol at Firebird International Raceway.
Johnson raced past his former crew chief Anderson with a final round
"A few people said maybe we'd run for a top-five spot,"
said Fuller, who
Johnson Jr. also defeated Robert Hight, Tony Pedregon and Phil Burkart a
d v e r t i s e m e n t
Sportsman Finals
a
d v e r t i s e m e n t
PRO STOCK: a
d v e r t i s e m e n t
SUNDAY NOTES
His crew repeatedly told him, "Rod, you're fine, you're fine, you're fine." Fuller's Top Fuel victory Sunday at Firebird International Raceway proved they were right. And just as he gained confidence throughout the day, the Valvoline/David Powers Homes Dragster driver is gaining momentum in what he indicated could be a championship season. "There was a point today where it was like, 'Wow. That first round with the throttle stop not being on and catching it, it kind of gave me a confidence-booster, like, 'Hey, I do belong in one of these cars.' It could have gone the other way and blown the engine up and I could've lost in the first round. Adversity like that, in that case, was good for me," Fuller said, "because I proved to myself that I can drive one of these cars and I can do well. Second race in, got a win this early, kind of takes the pressure off. Now, I can go do what I do." What he does, he said, includes running at or near the top. He heads into the ACDelco Gatornationals next month in second place, just 14 points off leader Melanie Troxel's pace. "A lot of people were picking us maybe to be in the top five," Fuller said. "I heard a lot of people say, 'What have you guys proved to be considered in the top five?' Honestly, as a team, we consider ourselves to go for the championship. We don't consider ourselves a 'top-five' team. Hopefully today we proved -- hey, I'm guaranteeing anything, but we're out here to win races. I have no excuse as a driver. I've got [crew chief] Lee Beard. I've got Valvoline behind me. I've got [owner] David Powers -- he has assembled a team that -- my crew guys are unbelievable. If I was going to tell you the one weak link of the team, it'd be me." Fuller was no weak link in his thrilling side-by-side final round against Troxel in the Skull Gear/Torco Dragster. He got off the starting line quicker and won by 26-thousandths of a second. He had a winning performance of 4.563 seconds at 321.42 mph. Troxel ran a 4.589/318.92. Fuller said he didn't know right away whether he had won but that he appreciated the moment once he learned he had won for the second time in his career and the first time since the Memphis race last August. "Sometimes I'm so focused on what I'm doing in my lane and not really focusing on what's next to me. So honestly, I went to the finish line and I didn't see my win light come on," Fuller said. "The sun was beating on it pretty good -- plus you're going close to 330 miles per hour. So honestly, I didn't know if I won or lost. And I saw everybody throwing their arms up and cheering. "And it hits you right then," he said. "To me, this is all a dream. Coming from the sportsman ranks and given a opportunity like this, it really is something special. You really want to relish the moment." It was one he said he had a hunch about. "Honestly, I believe in . . .good karma." He said after dodging that first round bullet, "I just had that feeling. When that happened, I told myself, 'We're going to win today.' When you're blessed like that. . . . God was on my side, and I have some other special people up there who really look after me. I felt like I was destined to win today." Sportsman in spirit -- Although some drag-racing fans
might not have known it, Top Fuel winner Rod Fuller had been in the Phoenix
winners circle before Sunday. He won the 2004 Super Gas title at Firebird
International Raceway. The Super Gas class didn't compete here last year,
so Fuller technically was the defending champion in the sportsman-level
category. "That to me is an honor, too, because I'm one of those guys out there, " Fuller said. "I was the guy who was a weekend racer -- was the driver, the mechanic, the tow-truck driver. It gives those guys a lot of hope out there that someday they can do this."
Johnson said although he stood on the podium with Fuller instead of his
own wife, he said he thought Troxel had a terrific day, all in all.
"We ran good in qualifying, but not really," he contradicted himself. "We struggled Saturday but ran great on Friday. In Friday night's run -- it was so dark out here -- it made a move to the left and I caught it but it went too far to the left and I ended up having to shut it off. It would have been No. 1 qualifier. That's how good a run it was. It was really disappointing. So I owed the guys." He delivered, although the numbers didn't suggest that he would. "By my standards, I had terrible lights all day (.093, .094, .113, .088 of a second)," Johnson said. "I was struggling for the lights and just aggravated. In the final, I dug a little deeper. I left on Force and out pedaled him. They carried me three runs and I carried them one. "We've got such a good team," he said. "Preseason testing
was good. We ran great in Pomona and had a problem in the first round
there. But coming in here, I thought, 'We've got a good team. We can win
this race.' We found a problem yesterday. I was really confident coming
in today. Even though we qualified 12th, I knew we had a better car than
that. I had a good feeling. I even told Melanie last night I had a good
feeling. I just knew we had that good a car." "It left and I thought, 'Ah, that's good. It's pulling good.' We ran three [4]80s in a row. I thought, 'Oh, man, another 80.' Then all of a sudden -- just zip! -- come loose and I thought, 'Oh no!' I told Mike [crew chief Green], 'I remember every inch of the track on every run -- and I hardly remember what happened. I felt it smoke the tires. I lifted, pedaled it, it smoked 'em again. I lifted, I pedaled it, I tied to ease it. The last time I just put it to the floor, held it there, and smoked 'em to the lights. Three times I ended up pedaling it." Johnson said defeating Force definitely was a coup. Keeping it in the family -- In each of the two races this season, the husband-wife duo of Tommy Johnson Jr. and Melanie Troxel has been represented on the podium. "It's really cool for her to win the first one and me to win the second one. Hopefully in Gainesville, we'll both be in the winner's circle. That'd be even sweeter." Think Skoal Racing -- The Skoal Racing team certainly has been respected in the Funny Car class. However, it hasn't been in the limelight lately, particularly with John Force's domination and his classic 2005 battle with Schumacher Racing tandem Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps. However, Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo driver Tommy Johnson Jr. said he thinks that is about to change. He said Sunday he thinks the Don Prudhomme organization is headed for another series championship. "We've got that good a team," Johnson said. "It may be a single-car team [among] all these multi-car teams out there. But we finished in the top 10 last year [as] the only single-car team." He said what fans are seeing now is an accumulation of several years of hard work and perseverance. "More than anything, to build a good team, you have to have continuity
and chemistry," he said. "You have to build it. It just doesn't
happen. Mike Green and I and almost everybody on this team, except for
one guy, has been here at least four years. Mike and I communicate so
well. We just look at each other and shake our heads and we know each
other thought. That's what makes a championship team. We've taken awhile
to build it. They all hung in there and worked through it, and this is
what you get." "I have never seen a script on how to win a race," Johnson said. "There's only one way to win and a million ways to lose. The bottom line is that you have to get to the finish line first without a red light in your lane. We did that and were able to accomplish everything we wanted today. I have won a few of these things in a variety of ways, so I take events like today in stride. "However, what really matters is what it means to our young GM Performance Parts crew, including Dain Schwan, Adam Drzyaich and Mike Smith. This is their first win as a group, and I really enjoyed seeing how excited they are about winning. I couldn't have done this today without their hard work and preparation. But it doesn't stop there. Today's win was a collective effort, including Kurt's ACDelco team and everyone back at the shop. Overall, we have the best chemistry on our teams that we have ever had, making both of our programs run smoother. We're definitely excited moving forward because we have yet to maximize our performance. We're going to test before Gainesville and see what we can do to maintain this winning pace."
Troxel won her first-round match-up against Bob Vandergriff -- but she lost. She lost $500, 10 points, and lane choice for the quarterfinals because it meant her second oildown of the season.
Troxel left Pomona with a 20-point lead over David Baca, who slipped to fifth Sunday with a first-round exit. The new standings give her a 14-point edge over Fuller, the driver who nosed her out of the winners circle Sunday at Phoenix. She admitted that losing 25 points could haunt her later but said nobody is pointing fingers in her pit. "It's not anybody's mistake," she said. "It's just a product of the rev limiter the NHRA has put on these cars. When you get into that rev limiter a lot, it drops so many holes (cylinders) that the engine tends to blow up. It's kind of a product of the way we run the car and the way it interacts with the rev limiter. It's definitely something we'll have to stay on top of, because we can't afford to keep doing that. It could add up." Troxel missed out on the chance Sunday to score back-to-back victories and join her husband in the winners circle. But she took the disappointment in perspective. "It's a little bit of a disappointment not winning the race,"
she said, "but I feel really good that we have a very consistent
race car. We're going rounds, and . . . you have to win some races along
the way, but you have to be consistent and go rounds if you are going
to compete for a championship." She said her team has "really high morale" and are looking
forward to competing at Gainesville, Florida, in three weeks. "With
all the parts we have been going through and tearing stuff up, to be where
we are is awesome. It's pretty impressive." "We have a lot of work to do and we have some things we're going to be working on. We're testing here," he said. "We're still a new team, and we're going to be working on addressing some of the issues that we have, and that's what you do when you're a new team," Bazemore said. "Sometimes it just doesn't fall together perfectly. You have to work at it. We're going to work at it and come back to Gainesville much stronger and with a driver that can go up there and do his job." Tire trouble -- You heard it from Whit Bazemore first
on the record. He said he is concerned about the tire issues in Funny
Car and Top Fuel. All Hail Garlits - “It’s mandatory now that
when someone has a fire like that, the first thing they do when they exit
the car is to bow towards Seffner, Florida and pay homage to Don Garlits
for putting the engine in the rear of these dragsters.” –
Bob Frey speaking of Melanie Troxel's safe exit from a burning SKULL GEAR
Top Fuel dragster. “We have a team that has proven to be able to work through the tough times,” Foley said. “Our goal is show that we can be competitive in NHRA competition. We are just taking baby steps to make sure we are headed in the right direction. We have qualified 12th and now 11th. This is a tough deal. It gets tough knowing you can run a 4.50 and be in the middle of the pack.” Monday is a large tire test day for many of the teams, including Foley.
“We are working through the tire issue and will test on Monday for
Gainesville,” Foley said. “It will get us ready for a transition
eventually.” Foley says he will run Goodyear’s shoulderless
tire in Gainesville but is likely not to implement it into his program
on the IHRA side.
Not a Sunday afternoon ride
(2-26-2006) - Melanie Troxel ran an incredible 4.484, 324.67 in her first round win over Bob Vandergriff, Jr., but soon found there was hell to pay for it in Phoenix. She emerged uninjured and in good spirits but lost lane choice in the second round against David Grubnic. (Marty Reger sequence) a
d v e r t i s e m e n t SATURDAY - SCHUMACHER, MEDLEN AND ANDERSON EARN NO. 1 QUALIFYING AWARDS AT CHECKER SCHUCK'S KRAGEN NHRA NATIONALS
(2-25-2006) -- Tony Schumacher raced to a string of 4.4-second passes to secure the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday at the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals presented by Castrol at Firebird International Raceway. Eric Medlen and Greg Anderson also were No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the $1.5 million race, the second of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. It's just the third time a racer has posted 4.4-second runs during all four qualifying attempts. Schumacher, a three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion, also claimed the other two, one at the 2003 NHRA Finals and the second at last year's fall race in Chicago.
He credited his crew chief for the consistent performance of his race car. "Some crew chief has to be the best," said Schumacher, who won this event last year and also in 2000 and 2002. "In Top Fuel it's obviously Alan Johnson. I compare it to chess. We all basically have the same pieces and play on the same board, but some guys are just better than others. I can't give you an answer why and I bet Alan can't either. It's just the way it is. He's very expensive, but worth every penny." Schumacher is looking to get back to his winning ways after losing in the second round at the season-opener two weeks ago. Winternationals winner Melanie Troxel is third with a 4.502 at 326.48 in her Skull Gear/Torco Race Fuels dragster. "I'll still be nervous tomorrow morning," Schumacher said. "We just went 4.49 and Melanie went 4.50. That's not a huge advantage. There are lots of cars right there that could win. We just qualified a little bit better than they did."
"We got to run in the heat today both times," said Medlen, who will meet Scott Kalitta in the first round. "It's harder to do but you saw a lot of guys pick it up and run better. That proves the track is there. You just have to tune your car right." Cruz Pedregon was second in his Advance Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo with a 4.717 at 325.45. Defending race winner John Force, who has won this race a record eight times, will start seventh in his Castrol GTX Mustang with a qualifying best of 4.742 at 316.52.
"It's just a matter of time of time before she gets a (No. 1 qualifying position) and before she gets a win," Anderson said. "She's doing a great job and she's got a great team behind her. That's the key. It's just inevitable when it's going to happen. But being a guy, like most the guys in the class, we're going to try and hold her off as long as we can, but we know it won't be forever." It was Anderson's 42nd No. 1 qualifying performance of his career, second of the season and second at this track. He will face defending race winner Allen Johnson in the opening round. "That run was pretty much all you can get out of this track," said Anderson, who won this event in 2003. "It's very tricky but it's always that way so I guess we shouldn't be surprised. It took both of our cars all four passes to get it figured out. This is probably the best we've ever done here." First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 22nd annual Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals presented by Castrol at Firebird International Raceway, the second of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 4.459 seconds, 330.96 mph vs. 16. Alan Bradshaw, 4.627, 316.01; 2. Larry Dixon, 4.501, 329.91 vs. 15. Cory McClenathan, 4.580, 325.77; 3. Melanie Troxel, 4.502, 326.48 vs. 14. Bob Vandergriff, 4.572, 324.36; 4. Rod Fuller, 4.505, 327.59 vs. 13. Doug Herbert, 4.571, 321.73; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 4.516, 328.94 vs. 12. Hillary Will, 4.565, 325.22; 6. David Grubnic, 4.517, 323.74 vs. 11. Doug Foley, 4.563, 322.96; 7. Doug Kalitta, 4.525, 321.96 vs. 10. Morgan Lucas, 4.535, 325.77; 8. Clay Millican, 4.532, 317.27 vs. 9. David Baca, 4.533, 326.24. Funny Car -- 1. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.707, 321.96 vs. 16. Scott Kalitta, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.988, 306.53; 2. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.717, 325.45 vs. 15. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.836, 305.42; 3. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.722, 328.70 vs. 14. Mike Ashley, Monte Carlo, 4.800, 323.35; 4. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.724, 317.19 vs. 13. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.781, 317.12; 5. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.729, 326.08 vs. 12. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.780, 315.71; 6. Ron Capps, Dodge Stratus, 4.733, 324.44 vs. 11. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.780, 318.62; 7. John Force, Mustang, 4.742, 316.52 vs. 10. Bob Gilbertson, Stratus, 4.769, 316.23; 8. Gary Scelzi, Stratus, 4.754, 323.27 vs. 9. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.755, 322.88. Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.671, 206.83 vs. 16. Allen Johnson, Dodge Stratus, 6.730, 205.29; 2. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.679, 206.48 vs. 15. Rickie Smith, Cobalt, 6.727, 205.41; 3. Jason Line, GTO, 6.684, 207.05 vs. 14. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.723, 206.73; 4. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.685, 205.63 vs. 13. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.720, 205.79; 5. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 6.687, 206.23 vs. 12. Max Naylor, Stratus, 6.717, 205.94; 6. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.690, 205.66 vs. 11. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.716, 207.08; 7. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.692, 206.95 vs. 10. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.714, 205.76; 8. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.696, 205.54 vs. 9. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.710, 205.41.
KABOOM
(2-26-2006) - Mike Ashley loses a burst panel and an engine during Saturday's first qualifying session in Phoenix.
SATURDAY NOTES - Kalitta jinxed? Sarge shows 'em what 4 and another DSR duel
"It was a cause-and-effect deal," crew chief Rahn Tobler said. "The car moved out of the groove and started spinning the tires. Since NHRA requires rev limiters on our cars, the motor hit the limiter and that really messed up the timing. Then it dropped a cylinder, and that caused the blower belt to kick off. The blower belt then hit the wing and caused the damage. Kalitta, who had to abort both Saturday runs, ended up seventh. Fastest but not quickest -- Although elapsed time is what determines starting order, Warren Johnson had to be happy with his improved speed Saturday. He was 28-hundredths faster than his Friday top speed, and that 207.08 mph performance rewrote the track record. Mike Edwards had set the previous mark Friday at 206.95. The record didn't help Johnson in the order. After clocking it Saturday morning, he remained in the bottom half of the ladder, at 10th but dropped to 11th in the final session.
No doubt he liked it even more Saturday after making a bit of esoteric history in the U.S. Army Dragster with a blast Saturday afternoon of 4.48 seconds at 325.37 mph followed by a 4.49/327.51 effort. That gave him four straight 4.4-second E.T.s, and he remained the only driver to run quicker than 4.5 seconds this weekend. Schumacher began his weekend with a 4.459/330.96 and closed Day 1 of qualifying with a 4.472/327.35. Schumacher is the only driver to register four 4.4-second runs in qualifying, and it was the third time he has done so. The first time he did it was at the NHRA Finals at Pomona in November 2003, and he repeated it at last year's fall race at Joliet, Illinois. The more pertinent question for Schumacher was whether he could do that on race day. "Can you run 4.40s four times on race day when it’s hot?" he asked. "I don’t know." He quickly added that if anyone could do it, Alan Johnson could. Larry Dixon came close to a 4.4, along with two others. The Miller Lite Dragster driver will start second with a 4.501-second pass at 329.91 mph that was his quickest and fastest of the young season. Winternationals winner Melanie Troxel, Schumacher's teammate in the Skull Gear Dragster, ended up third with a 4.502/326.48. No. 4 Rod Fuller also was in the 4.50 range at 4.505 in the Valvoline Dragster. "Everyone's fairly close," Schumacher said. "Melanie and a bunch of drivers were at 4.50." He hinted that some people might be wondering what crew chief Alan Johnson and the team are up to, putting the Army Dragster into yet another top qualifier position. "I keep comparing it to chess," Schumacher said. "Nobody is cheating in chess, yet somebody wins. "Alan Johnson is smart," the reigning Top Fuel champion said. "He's had a lot of great teams and a lot of great championships. Alan Johnson is just better. Do I know why? No. Does he know why? Probably not, if you ask him." He said that on the evening run Friday, crew chief Alan Johnson "had the car set on kill, given the cool air. He was going for those 20 points (which NHRA awards for setting a national elapsed- time record)." He said Johnson surely on Saturday was experimenting with something for eliminations -- "I would hope so," he said. "I know we're close in the set-up," Anderson said after earning his second No. 1 position in as many races in the Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO. Anderson was 14th in the 16-car lineup after the opening qualifying session, plagued by problems in lower second and third gears. But, he said, the mark of a championship team is the fact it can "figure it out before you get to Sunday." They did quickly, as Anderson leaped to second place in Friday's evening session. What enabled him to do that is the quality of his crew, he said: "I know I sound like a broken record, but I have the best team assembled." As for Enders, who was hoping to make history by becoming the first woman to lead a Pro Stock field, Anderson said, "It's just a matter of time before she wins a pole and wins a race. I wouldn't say that if she didn't have a good team, but she's got a great team." Anderson will meet No. 16 qualifier Allen Johnson in the first round of eliminations Sunday. Also missing the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals were Mark Pawuk, Mike Thomas, Ben Watson, Tony Rizzo, and Jim Cunningham.
Capps and the consistent Brut Dodge landed the No. 6 spot, shaking off Friday's 7.382-second, 114.29-mph effort and a 4.738/324.44, a 4.733/321.27 and a 4.755/324.20.
“The truth is that we ran out of gas. I did a longer burnout in that third pass and took a little longer to stage than I usually do, so we burned off a little too much fuel,” Ashley said. “I guess we had enough for 1300 feet, not 1320, so at the 1320 mark we blew up and had a small fire, but it wasn’t a big deal at all, other than damaging our beautiful Skull Gear body. “We pulled out our spare body which is just as beautiful, and the guys got the car back together and ready for the next run,” he said. In the final qualifying run under similar track conditions, the car smoked the tires recording his only sub-4.80-second run of the weekend. “The great news is that we wound up qualified for the field at number 14, which is a step up from finishing number 17 in Pomona,” he said. “We’re in an experimental phase right now with our program, and we’re willing to take a step back to figure things out with all new equipment. Our goal is to be a top-five qualifying team by mid-season, so, to be learning and make the show on Sunday is a great feeling,” Ashley said. "Bring it on," Scelzi said. "It's time to start changing things around." "We had some parts that were worn out at Pomona that we thought might have caused some ENDERS SEEKS DRAG RACING HISTORY AT CHECKER SCHUCK'S KRAGEN NHRA NATIONALS; Schumacher and Medlen also qualifying leaders at Firebird International Raceway
FRIDAY NOTES - Kalitta surprises, Happy Birthday Connie and Erica primed for history
"Phoenix has always been a crazy kind of place for me," Kalitta said. "Since we went out in the first round last year, does that mean we're due for a win this year?" Happy Birthday Connie - Happy Birthday to Connie Kalitta who celebrated his 68th on Friday. To Charge or not to Charge? -- Gary Scelzi's Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger is scheduled to run Monday, a source close to the team said. The plan to run the new body depended on Scelzi's performance during Friday qualifying. Scelzi ran the championship-winning Stratus body during the first day of qualifications but could muster no better than a 5.006-second elapsed time at 293.15 mph. Hometown hero -- While three-time and reigning Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher wants to earn his first victory of the season, Jeremy Gutierrez might want this one at Firebird International Raceway even more. Gutierrez, bottom-end specialist for Schumacher's U.S. Army Dragster, is a native of nearby Tucson who calls the Chandler, Arizona, track his racing home. "It's a real special place for me," Gutierrez, 34, said. "I cut my teeth on drag racing at Firebird, both as a driver and a crew guy. It's kind of ironic that both my first race as a driver and my first race working for a team occurred at Firebird. That's what makes this track stand out from all of the rest. It holds a special place in my heart." The affable Arizonan said he loves to come to Firebird each February for the second of 23 races on the Powerade Drag Racing Series schedule. But he said he knows he has to be careful to pay more attention to "The Sarge" -- the 8,000-horsepower dragster -- than his cheering section of 35-50 family members and friends. "I'll have a lot of family and friends at the track all weekend," he said. "They'll all want to chat. But entertaining can't get in the way of me doing my job. We're at Firebird for one reason and one reason only -- to win a race. Everything else follows behind that." "I hope we can get our first win of the year this weekend, while also sending my family and friends home happy," Gutierrez said.
He enters the final day of qualifying in 13th place. The Round 1 loss at the season-opener didn't discourage him. "We are feeling good," he said. "Pomona didn't go the way we intended, but it's still a positive experience for the team. I'm excited about . . . Phoenix and working with the Matco Tools team and having the opportunity again for us to show what we are made of. "We give a 100-percent effort toward winning," Bazemore said. "We did that in Pomona and came up short, and we're going to do that in Phoenix and we're going to keep doing it. And at some point we're going to get this Matco Tools team back in the winner's circle, where it has He called Firebird International Raceway "a decent track" and said that because he and his Brian Corradi-led crew have tested a lot in Chandler, "I think we'll be all right." Yates happy with Grumpy -- Jim Yates hasn't won at Phoenix since back-to-back victories in 1996 and 1997. However, with drag racing legend/engine builder Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins in his corner this year, the two-time Pro Stock series champion said he expects to have more horsepower and potential. He hasn't solved that riddle yet, although he is in the field so far. He anchors the 16-car grid with a 6.740-second bump spot with a speed of 204.73 mph. "We only have one race under our belt with Bill . . . and Firebird is a tricky race track. We are learning more with every run we make and we want to bring it all together, getting the car to go down the track fast and consistently. That is the key. Hero to bump - Top Fuel's J.R. Todd was on top the world - and the standings -- two weeks ago by leading provisional qualifying in Pomona. In the desert of Phoenix, he was hanging onto the last spot in the field. Todd had two more shots to improve on his 4.962-second elapsed time, 205.79 mph.
Gilbertson's optimism was rewarded as he cranked out a career-best 4.769 elapsed time to lead qualifying after the first session. "Man to come out of the box and make a pass like that was above and beyond my wildest dreams," Gilbertson said. I've been saying all along that we had a fast car and this proves it. Even though I ran my quickest ET ever we had a cylinder drop out four seconds into the run, if that hadn't happened I'm sure the run would have been even quicker." On the second qualifying run Gilbertson shut the car off right off the line after it made a quick move towards the guardrail. "I wanted to hang on to that number one spot but something caused the car to make a violent move and I aborted the run," Gilbertson added. We've got two more shots in qualifying to improve on that number and hopefully we'll be able to run even quicker and faster and move up the ladder into the top half so we have lane choice in the first round on Sunday." Gilbertson ended up in the eighth spot only .062 seconds behind the leader with two more chances to qualify.
Echoing the sentiments of Melanie Troxel, who won the season-opening Winternationals, Enders said she wanted "to be the best driver, not the best 'girl' driver." She correctly noted that in the Pro Stock class, she is the only female competitor, anyway. No woman has won an NHRA Pro Stock event trophy. Enders was runner-up to Jason Line at Chicago last fall. She said that Saturday, "we'll hope for heat and maybe stay No. 1." In addition to much improvement in her engine program, Enders admittedly is more comfortable in her Chevy Cobalt. "Being comfortable in the seat makes all the difference in the world." Jumping to the No. 1 spot was a big improvement, as Enders began the day unqualified and 20th among 21 competitors." Charging on in - Gary Scelzi's new Dodge Charger
(2-24-2006) - Gary Scelzi puts his new Dodge Charger Funny Car through technical inspection in Phoenix. The car will reportedly see limited action during the course of this weekend's Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals.
Got a comment? Drop us a line at comppluseditor@aol.com.
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Confidence
booster -- Rod Fuller said that for the month and a half prior
to the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals, he had "struggled a little
bit in the race car," so much so that "for awhile there, just
getting out of bed and eating was a project for me." 
More
than casual observer -- Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. seldom
would have a stake in how Top Fuel's Rod Fuller performs in Sunday eliminations.
This Sunday was a different matter. 
I
owe you one -- Tommy Johnson Jr. knew better than to believe
the numbers. He had a gut feeling about how far his Skoal Racing Chevy
Monte Carlo Funny Car would go. 
Wrong set-up,
right result -- Warren Johnson said he "didn't have the
right set-up for this particular race track" and as a result started
in the bottom half of the Pro Stock field (at No. 11) and played catch-up
during eliminations. Despite giving up lane choice to begin with -- something
he called "a bad omen" -- the veteran said he and his GM Performance
Parts Pontiac GTO crew "were able to make it work," as he earned
his 96th career victory.
A
day to remember - If Winternationals winner Melanie Troxel were
keeping a daily journal, she would have had plenty of drama to write about
Sunday.
She was unhurt
after the spectacular fire and the trip off the end of the race track,
but crew chief Richard Hogan and the team hustled to get her Skull Gear/Torco
Dragster ready to face Dave Grubnic in the Stri-Vectin-SD Dragster in
the quarterfinals. Again, she won but caused another oil down, so she
lost 15 more points and incurred a $2,000 fine. 
Will
preps for more round-wins -- Hillary Will recorded her first
elimination-round victory Sunday, but she didn't have the pleasure of
doing it in a thrilling side-by-side race. She advanced with a 4.531-second
elapsed time at a 328.78-mph speed that is the best of her career so far.
But opponent Brandon Bernstein, beset by oil-pressure problems, never
moved off the starting line at the green light.
The
wrecker - Scott Kalitta, who crashed his Kalitta Air Funny Car
in practice at this track a few weeks ago and skidded into the sand, didn't
wreck Sunday. But he wrecked No. 1 qualifier Eric Medlen's plans with
a first-round upset. 
Scelzi
addresses struggles -- Gary Scelzi told a pre-race crowd in the
Don Schumacher Racing pit that "we have cloud cover, and that means
these cars are going to thump the ground." He ended up simply getting
thumped in the opening round.
Foley,
Oh! - Doug Foley may have been the happiest first round runner-up
in two events. For the drag racing school instructor from Sewell, NJ.,
he’s just happy to be competing. He’s preparing for the IHRA
eMax Drag Racing tour and getting more data in the logbook to challenge
Clay Millican for the title. 
What's
the problem? -- Pro Stock runner-up Greg Anderson explained his
problems with the KB Racing LLC/Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO: 
Schumacher's performance, a 4.459 second run at 330.96 mph, earned him his second consecutive top qualifying position of the year and the 24th of his career. He also logged runs of 4.47, 4.48, and 4.49 in his U.S. Army dragster. He will face rookie driver Alan Bradshaw in Sunday's 11 a.m. eliminations. 
Eric Medlen earned his sixth career low qualifier award in Funny Car with his Friday performance of 4.707 at 321.96 mph in his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang. 
In Pro Stock, Anderson denied Friday leader Erica Enders a shot at history on his final attempt by producing a track record time of 6.671 seconds at 206.83 mph in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO. Enders was bidding to become the first female in class history to earn No. 1 qualifier honors, but she ended up second instead. 
(2-25-2006) - Track jinx continues -- Doug Kalitta survived a potentially disastrous situation at the end of his 4.525-second, 321.96-mph run Friday night run, as a broken bower belt clipped and severely damaged the rear wing of his 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools Dragster near the finish line.
Top Fuel feat -- Defending event and series champion Tony Schumacher said, "I definitely like this place" after seizing the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot Friday night at Firebird International Raceway.
Anderson quickest again -- Greg Anderson probably disappointed feminists Saturday afternoon. Not only did he knock Erica Enders from the top spot in the Pro Stock order, but he did it in Saturday's final session with a 6.671-second pass that erased her track record by eight-thousandths of a second.
Reversal of fortune -- J.R. Todd, who earned the provisional top spot on the first day of qualifying at the first race of the season in the Menard's Dragster, fond himself on the opposite end of the entry list Saturday. The young Hoosier rookie ended qualifying in 19th place. Only Mike Strasburg trailed him. Bruce Litton and Scott Weis also had DNQs.
"You never want to run your teammates," he said, "and it's going to occur time and time again for any multi-car team. I'd rather see them in later rounds, but it's going to be fun.
Optomistic Ashley - Mike Ashley mortally wounded an engine in Saturday's first session. The reason? He ran out of gas.
Scelzi qualified eighth -- a step up from the No. 10 spot he was in heading into the last qualifying chance -- and will meeting No. 9 Burkart in the first round,.
Enders
covered Firebird International Raceway's quarter-mile in 6.679 seconds
at 206.48 mph in her Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevrolet Cobalt, 
Medlen also had a lot on his mind as he moved into the top spot in Funny
After running such a great number in the first Top Fuel session,
Never
sure -- Top Fuel's Doug Kalitta never can be sure what to expect
at Firebird International Raceway. In the last six of his his nine trips
here, the Mac Tools Dragster driver has won (2001, over Darrell Russell),
been runner-up (2004), lost in the first round (2005), was No. 1 qualifier
(2003), and failed to qualify (2000). That DNQ in 2000 was his last, putting
him second to Funny Car icon John Force in qualifying streaks with 138
consecutive starts. Force has 370. 
'A
track we need to conquer' -- Whit Bazemore always has spoken
his mind. And as he headed into the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals
outside the top 10 because of a first-round loss at the Winternationals,
the Funny Car driver was no different. 
Nitro
bikes back -- The nitro-burning two-wheeled monsters are back
for another spin down the NHRA quarter-mile. The NHRA announced the continuation
of the Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley-Davidson exhibition tour that will
be on the schedule at three national events this year. 
He
was there - Bob Gilbertson was on top of the Funny car world
for exactly one session. Heading into the event ranked third in the
points was cause enough to be optomistic. 
On
the verge of history? -- If Erica Enders holds onto her No. 1
spot Saturday, she will be the first woman to lead an NHRA field. She
was quickest Friday with a track-best 6.679-second elapsed time at 206.48.
Mike Edwards had the top sped of the day, a track-mark 206.95 mph.
© Competitionplus 2005
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