On the quick trip from West Tennessee to deep in Virginia, NHRA drivers have had only a few days to think about the upcoming fourth race in four weekends. The window closed a little bit more with last weekend's rain-delayed Memphis race spilling over into Monday.
 
But here's what they're thinking as this weekend's Virginia Nationals, the fourth of six Countdown events, approaches:

On the quick trip from West Tennessee to deep in Virginia, NHRA drivers have had only a few days to think about the upcoming fourth race in four weekends. The window closed a little bit more with last weekend's rain-delayed Memphis race spilling over into Monday.
 
But here's what they're thinking as this weekend's Virginia Nationals, the fourth of six Countdown events, approaches:
 
BRANDON BERNSTEIN: "This sport can take you from highs to lows in less than four seconds. (At Memphis) we were second pair down the track after a day of rain. So it didn't give Rob (crew chief Flynn) much time to get a read on the race track and make a judgment call on the tune-up. We tried to be competitive, yet safe, and we just didn't give it quite enough power. This (was) a tough loss for everyone on the team, because we were so pumped up after doing well Saturday and even earning bonus points in both qualifying rounds. All the teams will hustle over to Richmond, Va. We're hoping for some redemption there.
 
"Besides challenging for the championship, we have other motives. We are also entering the final three events with our Budweiser-red dragster. We would like to drive to victory circle to help celebrate our family's 30th anniversary with Bud. This will be the last year the NHRA circuit makes a stop in Richmond, so we'd like to add Virginia Motorsports Park to the list of tracks where we've scored a victory. We have a very competitive team,  and we've accumulated some valuable points under the new qualifying scenario. We need to go rounds on Sunday."
 
ANTRON BROWN: "It's all or nothing for our MAR Matco Tools team. We have nothing to lose. It's about going out and having fun and enjoying what we do. We want to go rounds and try to get back to the final round and cut into the point's lead that Tony (Schumacher) has built up in this Countdown. Our car continues to qualify really well, so we know we can run well "
 
SHAWN LANGDON: "There was a lot of questions and speculation (at Memphis) about how we were going to race, because we're teammates and I was a little higher up in the points. We told people we were going to race straight up and that's what we did. We've got different sponsors to keep happy. There are no team orders over here. I'm really happy for Morgan (for winning the event). We're both up there in the points now (Lucas is fifth, Langdon sixth) and have a chance to get both cars in the top five. The dream season continues."
 
BOB TASCA III: "We're only 102 points out of first place, which is basically a race. Our championship hopes are still alive."
 
JACK BECKMAN: "We have to go back to the final round in Richmond. That's the only way we're going to be a championship contender. It's time to put up or shut up. We're ready."
 
RON CAPPS: "We feel like we have our NAPA hot rod back. To show up here and run as good as we did in these last rounds here on Monday really encourages me for Richmond, because we know the conditions are going to be close to that. We're just hopeful the track can hold the power the teams are expected to put down. But, personally, I feel Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) and the NAPA guys gave a good handle on our race car after bringing our 'old' chassis back out.
 
"Robert Hight went 4-flat there last year and there were some low 4.0s. It could be risky, but there are 20 points looming out there for anybody who can break the national record, which we hold right now (4.023 seconds) and to back it up by one percent that same weekend. Don't think there's not going to be some teams shooting for that. Those extra 20 points could decide a championship."
 
TIM WILKERSON:  "These new bonus points for running low E.T. of each session aren't helping us much, I'm afraid. We're capable of running right with everyone, but we've only been in the top three of a session one time so far. What hurts is that the same teams tend to be running at the front every session, including Ashley (Force Hood) and Robert Hight, who are right up there at the top. They can pick up six or eight points a race, or more, just with those bonus points, so it's hard to make up ground.
 
"All we can do, though, is get after it like there's no tomorrow. We'll take our best shot every session, and then we'll try to strap a number on someone in round one. We did a pretty good job of that in round one in Memphis, running our best lap of the weekend, and we ran pretty good in the second round, too, but got beat by a faster car. All you can do is your best, out here, and if they outrun you, well then they outrun you."
 
JASON LINE: "We still have a shot at this year's championship. There are three races left, and although we're 78 points behind, a lot of things can happen We've learned some things this weekend, so we need to step things up and get it done."
 
JEG COUGHLIN: "We've actually been further behind the leader than we are at the present time and we've been able to come out on the good side. So all is not lost. It's going to take a lot of hard racing for us and some good fortune from some of our competitors to resurrect our title hopes, but it isn't over yet by a long shot. We're only halfway through the playoffs. Whatever happened in the first three races can be reversed in the next three. We just have to stay after it.
 
"The best-case scenario for us is to get the top guys early in the race so we can control our own destiny. I know we haven't shown it much this year, but we've also got a car capable of challenging for a national record. If we could pull that off, it would be worth 20 points right there.
 
"The neat thing about Richmond at this time of year is that we're going to see conditions very similar to what we had in Memphis, and several people were knocking on the door of a national record there. For the Pro Stock cars, good atmospheric conditions can mean record setting times, and we'll be right a sea level at Virginia Motorsports Park. If the barometer is extremely favorable, we can go really quick. That's fun for a driver."

 

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