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SUNDAY FINAL - LUCKY DOG, ROOKIE AND A CHAMP ALL WIN AT THE FOUR-WIDE

OH YOU LUCKY DOG - Jack Beckman can finally exhale.

The driver of the Aaron’s/Valvoline Dodge Charger, up until February, had no real clear direction of his season, whether he was going to be racing for 12-races [Valvoline’s 2011 commitment] or if he’d be racing at all.

During a test session in West Palm Beach, the Don Schumacher Racing team brought out their Aaron’s livery adorned body for some photographs and a test run, before the contract was signed.

Then Beckman became a lucky dog, literally.

“Back into January, I didn’t even know the extent of my racing,” Beckman admitted. “There’s not a lot of security in driving a nitro car. With few exceptions, the drivers are expected to be part of the marketing machine. Don and I had been working our tails off in the offseason to find something and a couple of times stuff fell through. Then Aaron’s came along and literally saved this team.”

On Sunday afternoon at the NHRA VisitMyrtleBeach.com Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC, Beckman decided it was time to return the favor.

In the final round, Beckman laid down a fine 4.120, 309.63 to pull away from Bob Tasca III, who finished runner-up with a 4.137, 311.05. Tim Wilkerson and Jim Head finished as semi-finalists. The victory marked the tenth career triumph for Beckman and second consecutive for the new to drag racing sponsor.

Two weeks ago, Top Fuel driver Antron Brown, sporting the Aaron’s brand on his dragster, drove to victory at the third stop on the tour in Las Vegas.

Beckman’s Aaron’s-sponsored Dodge Charger was the quickest runner all day long, scoring the low elapsed time in eliminations with a 4.079, 313.66 to advance to the second round along with Mike Neff. Even when the track heated up, Beckman was still the quickest with a 4.103, 312.57.

Not to be lost in the shuffle, Beckman is quick to point out the confidence Valvoline extended by remaining with the team was a major plus as well.

“Valvoline staying on board was a big tribute to what they felt we brought to the table,” Beckman added. “It’s interesting when you take a company with a rich history in motorsports like Valvoline, with an automotive product, and the demographics are perfect, but they are so spread out in motorsports that it was cool they stuck with us.

“You take a company like Aaron’s who has nothing to do with motorsports but they were comfortable in NASCAR and they looked at the fan loyalty and decided to come over here … it is so awesome to give them their second win. We might be creating big expectations here.”

Great expectations are nothing new for this team, at least internally headed into this event.

“I just think we had a great hot rod coming into here,” Beckman said. “We flexed out muscles right out of the trailer. Unloading with a good run on Friday enabled us to take a home run swing on Friday evening. We underpowered the track and shook the tires. We made a good run on Saturday after the rain. We took another swing at the track on Saturday’s final session and we overpowered and smoked the tires. The great thing about that is that it gave us two test runs at the track.”

Beckman admitted they needed those test runs since the car they are running in 2011 is drastically different than 2010’s with all new parts.

“A lot of people believe we just have a good tune-up for the track but the reality is, we have an all-new race car,” Beckman admitted. “We’re just now finding our stride with these parts.”

This stride couldn’t come at a better time considering he’s developed an overwhelming spirit of oneness with crew chief Rahn Tobler, a tuner he believes should be considered Hall of Fame material. In the first zMax event in 2008, Beckman’s team beat the Tobler-tuned Cruz Pedregon. A year later, Tobler and Pedregon returned the favor. Now they are on the same page.

“I am 44, but I feel 15 sometimes,” Beckman said. “I’m a historian of the sport and it’s not lost on me. I look at Rahn Tobler and I like people who accomplish big things and maintain humility. That’s Rahn Tobler to a tee. He’ll never jump up and down and celebrate. He’ll say we did our job today. So when he tells me I did a good job, I feel like that seven year old kid watching him tune Shirley Muldowney to a championship.”
 
And that alone, leaves Beckman feeling like the luckiest dog in the pack.

YEAH, HE'S FOR REAL - Attention NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel drivers: Del Worsham is going to make your lives very difficult this year.

For the second time in 2011, the pilot of the Al-Anabi Racing rail finished his day in the Winner’s Circle, this time at the VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. He edged out his teammate, three-time and defending class champion Larry Dixon, by mere inches at the finish line.

“Larry did an outstanding job driving,” Worsham said in the media center after the race, newly-earned 60th Anniversary Wally within reach. “I was a little bit late … I just was a little bit. It went long and we sat in the car and I got hot and I started thinking too much. The car was just unbelievable today.”

Worsham dominated all weekend, earning his first-ever Top Fuel low qualifier with a 3.78 flat Saturday afternoon, a track record. During his post-qualifying press conference, the California native said he was apprehensive about his place at Al-Anabi when it was announced the organization would shut down the Funny Car team and would instead run two dragsters.

That doesn’t appear to be a problem for the man now leading the Top Fuel standings by 77 points.

Given the unique format of the 4-Wide experience, it’s possible to actually win the event without winning any of the previous rounds since two drivers from each “quad” advance to the next level. Worsham, however, had no worries in that respect, winning both rounds prior to the finals with ETs of 3.823 and 3.824, respectively. His winning time of 3.813 topped Dixon by a scant .008 seconds. If this were darts, that would be called a good grouping. In drag racing, it’s dishing out a good ole fashion butt whoopin’.

“One thing I’ve learned about Top Fuel racing already in my little short career is that it’s a matter of thousandths,” Worsham said. “I’m a pretty lucky guy, you know? We’ve won all these close ones. I went to Alan Johnson and said this is going to be just a matter of inches and he knew that.”

Tony Schumacher, who was the first to fall to Worsham this year, had an up-and-down weekend. He qualified second and with a speed of 326.71 mph, logged the second-fastest pass in NHRA history (his own 327 is still tops). He handily won his quad in the first round, putting up a 3.815 against birthday boy Steve Torrence, Doug Foley, and hometown favorite Doug Herbert.

The second round, though, saw The Sarge and his Army Reserve-sponsored Don Schumacher Racing rail suffer a rare engine issue. The resulting oildown resulted in a ten-point penalty levied by NHRA. The seven-time champ is fourth in the Top Fuel standings, 117 markers behind Worsham.

Dixon sits second in the standings with Antron Brown third in class points and Massey rounding out the top five.

THE FIRST CHAMPION WINNER - Up until this weekend, no defending Full Throttle Champion had won a national event.

Let the record reflect not only did Greg Anderson beat the three other racers line up alongside of his Pontiac GXP in the final round of the NHRA VisitMyrtleBeach.com Four-Wide Nationals, he also reached the winner’s circle before fellow titlest Larry Dixon and John Force.

Pretty good for a guy who finally came to grips with the reality he’s a good driver.

“I found myself in the second round, Mike Edwards, Greg Stanfield and Allen Johnson in the other lanes, looking at each one of them as capable of winning the race,” explained Anderson. “It’s a knock-down drag out brawl every time we come to the line. The competition in this class is incredible. I don’t know why I felt like a complete underdog. When you race guys like that, you feel like an underdog. Then it occurred to me … I’m the world champion, I should be favored in this deal.

Racing against seasoned Stanfield, rookie phenomenon Vincent Nobile and Dave Connolly, Anderson was unbeatable en route to his 66th career victory. This triumph leaves him one win shy of tying Tony Schumacher at fifth with all-time victories.

He’s still taken aback by the whole four-wide racing concept and its unique byproducts.

“I lost twice today and still won,” Anderson said with a smile. “I can’t hardly explain it. How do you lose twice and still win the race? I guess it’s the consistency of four-wide.”

If Anderson can’t explain it, his numbers certainly will. The multi-time series champion ran strong on consistency.

Anderson advanced in the first round along with Allen Johnson on the strength of a 6.552 elapsed time at 211.93 miles per hour. To reach the finals, Anderson remained consistent with a 6.549 to advance to the finals along with Stanfield.

“I’ve said coming into here that it’s probably the toughest race we have (any) weekend as a driver,” Anderson said. “There’s already so much going on in a Pro Stock car and so much to do on the starting line, and when you multiply that with four cars … I didn’t think I would be up to the challenge. I’m surprised I survived it and didn’t screw up.

“My guys did such a great job. When you have a great race car, you can concentrate on stuff like the tree and what’s going on. Trust me, that’s enough to think about with all of those lights flashing on and off. I almost feel relieved that it’s over with. I honestly didn’t think I had it in me as a driver.”

Then he was reminded; he’s the world champion.

The victory moves Anderson into the point lead, ahead of teammate Jason Line, by three points. Line was eliminated in the first round.

 

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QUICK HITS - RACE DAY REPORTING IN RAPID FASHION

TOP FUEL

ROUND ONE

FOUR TIMES THE PRESSURE – Spencer Massey and Friday’s provisional low qualifier Doug Kalitta advanced from the first quartet of eliminations. Massey was the quicker of the two with a 3.848 while Kalitta was close with a 3.850.

“We’re 4-Wide Top Fuel drag racing and that’s always a little unnerving whether it’s first-round 4-Wide or two-wide. This FRAM car got right down through there…we’re happy, I’m happy!”

Brandon Bernstein, whose father Kenny was one of the weekend’s honored legends, gave the signal for the drivers to fire. Shortly after the signal, the second-gen Bernstein’s dragster went up in smoke at the hit as did Dave Grubnic.

SOMETIMES LANE SWAPS DON’T MATTER – At least that’s how it worked out for the inner two drivers Terry McMillen and Dom Lagana in their match against Shawn Langdon and Larry Dixon.

McMillen, the quicker of the two, switched from No. 3 to No. 2 at the last minute. The only purpose this served was to allow them to see the outside drivers pull away from a different angle. Dixon was first to the stripe with a 3.805, 318.69 while Langdon followed with a 3.852, 317.94.

“Last year, man, we got Larry (Dixon) in the first quad and had to run him again in the second round, but you know, it doesn’t matter who’s in the other lane. We were fortunate enough to get past that round. We struggled a little bit this weekend; but I think we got on to something on the last run and I think we backed it up right there.”

While Langdon was just happy to get a win, Dixon was just happy.

“I’ll be excited when the day’s done. And I’ll be excited when we come back next year!”

DOUGS ARE SMOKING, LITERALLY – Tony Schumacher and Steve Torrence were both appreciate that their parents named them something other than Doug. Both Doug Kalitta and Doug Herbert nailed the tires with smoke.

Schumacher was the quickest of the quartet with a 3.815, 325.30 while Torrence, celebrating his birthday won with a 3.869, 315.49

Schumacher scored his win from lane three, a lane choice call made by his crew.

“I trust Mike Green. I trust Neil, I trust this Army crew. I wanted the left lane just because it’s obviously on the outside and the outside lanes have a better chance on the tree. You’re looking on your side. Fact is, I asked Mike and he said, ‘You can’t go there.”

THE POINT LEADERS ADVANCE – The top two in Top Fuel points, Del Worsham and Antron Brown advanced to the second round of eliminations.

Worsham continued his dominance with a 3.823, 322.11 while Brown ran a 3.872, 320.05. Of the nitro racers, Worsham is the only one to experience the four-wide competition from two classes.

QUARTER-FINALS

BATTING 1.000 – Spencer Massey may be a 4-Wide rookie, but he’s still perfect at zMAX Dragway, making it to the finals with class low qualifier Del Worsham. Massey won the 4-Wide exhibition here two years ago and his 3.848 ET, second to Worsham’s 3.824, was good enough to send Doug Kalitta and Antron Brown home early.

AL-ANABI SHOWDOWN – In the second “quad,” Shawn Langdon advanced to his second final of the season along with defending NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon. Birthday boy Steve Torrence smoked the tires (a running trend throughout the day in Lane 2) and seven-time champion Tony Schumacher had a rare engine failure, oiling down the third lane. The mishap earned The Sarge a ten-point penalty from NHRA.

“I’m just glad I got the car staged and left on time to be honest with you!” Dixon said, laughing. “Like I said, we’ve got one more round and we don’t do this again for a year. Man, it’s real tough. It really makes you pay attention and that’s something I obviously don’t do enough.”

Putting down a 3.818 ET and Dixon doesn’t like this format? Picky, picky, picky… 

FINAL

IT’S WORSHAM AGAIN - For a rookie Top Fuel driver, Del Worsham has all of the makings of a veteran dragster pilot. The current point leader extended his lead by winning his second event in the last three events by beating teammate Larry Dixon, 3.821, 319.90 to 3.813, 319.82.

Shawn Langdon and Spencer Massey finished as semi-finalists.

 

FUNNY CAR

ROUND ONE

YOU’RE PAID TO DRIVE, NOT THINK – When it comes to advice with four-wide racing, Jack Beckman will take advice wherever he can get it, even if it is from Talladega Nights.

Beckman, along with four-wide racing’s only undefeated driver Mike Neff advanced to the second round. Drag racing’s version of Ricky Bobby, Mr. Beckman, was the quickest of the quartet with a 4.079, 313.66 while Neff won with a 4.098, 305.15.

“I watched ‘Talladega Nights,’ I know I’m a driver not a thinker,” Beckman added. “I just gotta remember that. It’s interesting. For whatever reason, my visors don’t like Charlotte. I’ve tried every anti-fogger on the market. I’m just going to put duct tape over my mouth so I don’t breathe anymore.”

Tony Pedregon and Jeff Arend were eliminated.

HEAD, FORCE ADVANCE – Some things are just routine in four-wide racing. Jim Head loves racing his hot rod and John Force loves talking about the blue LED staging lights. The good part for them is they advanced to the second round with Head amazingly scoring the quickest run with a 4.148, 299.93. Force, the defending event champion followed with a 4.173, 297.61. Dale Creasy and Ron Capps were eliminated.

Creasy, who has proven to be a thorn in the side for the 15-time champion racing wise, nearly lived up to his reputation with a 4.212 to fall just a tick behind Force.

“I’d like to win it again but there’s a whole lot of good hot rods out here. That old Christmas tree, you know, them blue lights, they sure are pretty!

As for Head, “Yeah, I love this stuff. Nah, that’s kinda facetious, but I just love running my hot rod.”

PRETTY WHEN IT COUNTED – On a weekend where his overall performance wasn’t its prettiest, Bob Tasca III shined the best when it counted with the third quickest run of the overall first round. Tasca recorded a 4.125 in the only bright light of the quartet. Pseudo teammate Robert Hight limped across the finish line with a 4.767, 157.19.

Meanwhile Matt Hagan’s misfortune at the Four-Wide continued with an engine explosion which sent the body up and out of normal operating position. Johnny Gray was out of it early as he smoked the tires.

“I’ll tell ya what, that’s like winning the championship for this team,” exclaimed Tasca following the run. “Man, we’ve been struggling, we’ve been taking our licks, but this hot rod’s starting to come around for Motorcraft/Quick Lane. We’re in this fight for Ford and we’ve got some bad Ford’s in here!”

Hight was at a loss for what happened.

“Man, it seemed like it was trucking there pretty good and then all the sudden it just BANGED!,” Hight explained. “The ‘chutes came out and you’re totally dead. You can’t do nothing, just coast. But I did see that light come on in Lane 4 and I did see that Mustang win in the other lane.”

NOW THAT WAS UGLY – Any other time when you mix the combination of Matt Hagan, Cruz Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson and local favorite and second-gen Funny Car racer John Smith, the end result is usually a strong drag race to the finish. Not this time.

Wilkerson was the quickest of the quad with a 4.442, 246.75 while Smith claimed the second winner role with a 4.475, 227.96
Wilkerson

QUARTER-FINALS
 

ONCE BITTEN…  -- Lane 2 has bitten almost every competitor at zMAX Dragway and 2009 Funny Car champion Robert Hight was just another victim. Surprise first-round winner John Smith also got squirrelly off the line, giving the Blue Oval boys, Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca III, engraved invitations to the VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA 4-Wide finals.

Tasca put down at 4.137 and his teammate Wilk wasn’t far behind with a 4.158. But not all was good in the Ford camp as…

THE FORCE IS (NOT) WITH YOU – He earned his 136th low qualifier this weekend and made it out of the first round, but John Force went down to the weekend’s stoutest opponent: Lane 2. Teammate Mike Neff also fell in the second as “Fast” Jack Beckman and Jim Head shot their way to the finals, Beckman putting down a nice 4.103. Head was demure and modest in his top-end interview.

“It would be a lot of fun, there’s no question about it,” said the 1984 U.S. Nationals winner. “Whoopin’ up on Force and Neff was a lot of fun for Jack and I. A lot of fun for sure.” 

FINAL

FAST JACK WINS - Jack Beckman culminated one of the finest days of racing in his career by beating two Fords and a Toyota in the final round. Beckman scored the victory with a 4.120, 309.63 just ahead of a Bob Tasca III’s 4.137, 311.05.

Finishing as semi-finalist were Tim Wilson and Jim Head. Had Head have won, it would have represented his first Funny Car win since Brainerd 1985.

 

PRO STOCK

ROUND ONE

WHAT JUST HAPPENED? – One of those rare-instances in two-lane drag racing transpired in the first quartet of Pro Stock competition – a dual-lane red-light. In an apparent line-loc failure V. Gaines left way early with a -.349 reaction time. Rodger Brogdon followed suit with a more realistic -.014.

Vincent Nobile was the quickest with a 6.650, 211.96 while Enders limped her Chevrolet through with a 6.927.

NOW THAT’S A RACE – Can you imagine scoring a .038 reaction time and running a 6.567 and being the third place finisher? This is the fate which befell Larry Morgan in the first round as he trailed recent Vegas winner Mike Edwards and Greg Stanfield.

Edwards led Stanfield by a half-car as he won with a 6.546. Stanfield clocked in with a 6.562 to lead Morgan by a fender.

Warren Johnson, who crashed in testing earlier in the week, limped through in fourth with his replacement Cobalt.

FAVORITES ADVANCE – Greg Anderson and Allen Johnson advanced on a match where all four contestants were in the 6.50s.

Anderson, the defending series champion who is winless thus far in 2011, ran a 6.552, 211.93 to advance alongside of Mopar front-runner Allen Johnson, who turned in a 6.563, 211.26.

Ronnie Humphrey [6.572] and Kurt Johnson [6.574] ended their day.

THAT WAS UGLY, PT. 2 – Dave Connolly [6.567] and Ron Krisher [6.580] were easy winners in a race where the victors were impressive and the losers were … not so impressive.

Shane Gray drew a timeout and when it happened, Jason Line wasn’t even on the throttle when the light turned green.

QUARTER-FINALS

WHO IS THIS KID? – If Vincent Nobile wins this thing, NHRA will have to bring him some milk to celebrate with in the Winner’s Circle. The 19-year-old Pro Stock rookie is headed to his second final of the 2011 season. The New York native said it short and sweet when he got out of the car at the top end after laying down an ET of 6.584.

“This is awesome. I’m living the dream out here. This is awesome.”

Dave Connolly was the other Pro Stocker headed to the finals from the quad that included Ron Krisher and Erica Enders. The irony is that Connolly is also the tuner for Enders’ car in addition to driving his own this weekend.

““I don’t mind standing outside the car, but I’m not going to lie, it’s fun being inside them,” Connolly said. “It’s a great day for Makita up there in the stands…We’re getting to go to the big money round here at the 4-Wide. We only gotta beat three more guys. One more lap and we’ll see what we can do.”

IS IT AN UPSET WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN? – Mike Edwards was among the favorites to win the Pro Stock class Sunday, but since he was in Lane 2, you can figure out what happened. He and Allen Johnson were sent packing after the Gregs, Stanfield and Anderson, rocketed their respective ways to the finals. Stanfield with a very strong pass of 6.547 and four-time champ Anderson .002 seconds behind him.

The defending champ, despite being one of the best in the class’s history, seemed a little stunned he would be running for the big check.

““I’m happy to be here,” Anderson said. “There’s just so much going on. For a mind like I’ve got, to be able to survive this far and not screw up, I’m shocked. I’m surprised. For a driver, it’s chaos, buddy, it’s absolute chaos.

FINAL
BREAKING THE SLUMP - Greg Anderson changed a key stat in the final quartet of the NHRA’s Four-Wide Nationals - no defending series champion had won a national event in 2011.

Anderson used a 6.556 elapsed time and speed of 211.39 to successfully fend off Greg Stanfield’s 6.559, 211.10. He won by a fender. For his part, part-timer Dave Connolly did well with a 6.585, 210.73. Vincent Nobile lifted early and joined Connolly as semi-finalist.
 
A testament to the competitiveness of Pro Stock, the reaction time was Dave Connolly at .023, Anderson at .026 and Stanfield along with Nobile tied at .028.

 

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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - RAIN CANNOT STOP A DETERMINED RACE DAY

PRETTY FLY FOR A MIDDLE AGED WHITE GUY -
For a guy “with a little extra weight” who thought he may have to find a new home in the offseason, Del Worsham’s having a pretty good year.

After Al-Anabi Racing dropped its Funny Car program last year and put the 25-time Funny Car winner in a rail alongside three-time and defending NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon, Worsham has exceeded expectations.

He comes to the VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA 4-Wide Nationals leading the class points and already has a win this season (Gainesville). He further improved his stats by earning low qualifier honors Saturday with a track-record ET of 3.780 at 325.77 mph, the third-fastest Top Fuel speed ever (Note: It was the second-fastest ever behind Tony Schumacher’s 327, until the Sarge ran a pass at 326.71 mph immediately following Worsham’s pole-winning run).

Last year, when Worsham heard murmurs about the Funny Car program at Al-Anabi folding and another dragster being added, he thought the hunt for another ride was about to begin again. Fortunately for the Chino Hills, Calif., native, that wasn’t the case.

“It was amazing,” Worsham said, talking to assembled media following the final round of qualifying. “When Sheik Khalid first brought this idea to me, as soon as I heard something about going to two dragsters, I thought I might be out, you know. I’m a middle-aged white guy with a little extra weight. I don’t know what’s going to happen!

“Luckily, he stuck with me. He’s a very fair person and he’s willing to give everybody a shot. He just told me, ‘Make sure you do the best job you can,’ and to this point, that’s all I’ve done.”

Schumacher, who moved from fifth to second in qualifying after his run today, said earlier the teams underestimated track conditions Friday and what the surface could hold. He believed the top teams, all solidly in Sunday’s show, wouldn’t hold back Saturday. He was proven correct.

“I believe yesterday we left a little bit out there, for sure,” Worsham said. “Last night’s run, conditions were great and we only picked up one-hundredth or two or three, which is still a very great run, but I’m sure Alan and Brian were looking for more than that. So today with the cool down and the track got gray, they made sure they didn’t make that mistake again and they showed it out there. I’m pretty sure they got pretty much all that was out there.”

Regardless of what happens here this weekend, Worsham has shown any doubters he can run with the best of the best, regardless of class. Fellow rail pilot Antron Brown, for one, is thrilled to see Worsham in his new ride, believing the sport is better when the competition level is raised.

“When he came from Funny Car to (Top Fuel), you knew he was going to step his game up,” Brown said prior to Friday’s first round of qualifying. “Over there with Alan Johnson and that Al-Anabi team, they’ve got a phenomenal team. I like that challenge. It makes us all step up, it makes us all honest, and there’s a whole bunch of hitters now in Top Fuel. Funny Car used to have a lot of hitters, but now, I think Top Fuel is the class to be in.”

Worsham agrees.

“It’s a very competitive class,” he said. “Definitely more competitive than Funny Car. There are more cars out there that run fast.”

It’s safe to say this “middle-aged white man” is going to be alright.

A FORCE BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL - Those pesky lights, they just keep messing with John Force.

There aren’t many instances where the 15-time NHRA Funny car champion gets rattled while he’s behind the wheel of his Funny Car. He’s not phased when his team wins every event of the season yet he can't get past the second round. Nor does her get upset when he has all the luck in the world in qualifying with two consecutive No. 1’s and a round win seems to require an act of congress.

But those lights, the special edition lights, the new, and bulkier blue LEDs implemented for this year’s NHRA VisitMyrtleBeach.com Four-Wide Nationals, sometimes make him scratch his head, even with the helmet on.

Force found himself nearly in danger of getting timed out on a run where he ran 4.056, 315.19 to score his 139th career pole position.

“It’s okay when you’re wide awake and you’re watching it,” explained Force. “But when you get into that deep focus to cut a good light, your mind goes back to what it does in routine. Then I caught myself asking, ‘what are these blue lights?”

The funny part of Force’s brain fade was he looked on a fellow veteran, almost to laugh, in a situation which would eventually come back to bite him.

The racer was Cruz Pedregon, the two-time Funny Car champion, who beat him back in 1992 for the crown. During a qualifying run, Pedregon, in a qualifying quartet with Force, was slow to stage.

“He wouldn’t go in and I was just wondering what he was doing,” Force explained. “Then we got to the other end of the track and I asked him what that was all about. That’s when he told me, ‘Force you wouldn’t believe it. He told me he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with that other guy. Why wouldn’t he stage?”

Force said it was at that point Pedregon revealed that he was the “other” guy.

Guess who was the “other” guy in Force’s final qualifying run?

“I thought to myself, there’s Cruz and he’s a veteran,” said Force, cracking his trademark grin. “I went up there and did it myself. I kept wondering why that guy wouldn’t go in and stage. Then I went in and my mind triggered. I’ll never question Cruz again.”

Force’s run knocked son-in-law Robert Hight from the top perch.

Hight has won two races while John Force Racing teammate Mike Neff has won once.

The defending event champion, Force squares off with Dale Creasy, Ron Capps and Jim Head in the first round of elimination.



LINE TRUMPS ANDERSON - If you can’t trust your teammate who can you trust?

During the final qualifying session at the NHRA VisitMyrtleBeach.com Nationals, two-time 2010 winner Jason Line used the final qualifying session to pass teammate Greg Anderson in the order. This weekend’s effort marked the 24th time they have qualified one - two for final eliminations.

Just as Anderson was starting to come to grips with the reality his Las Vegas debacle was behind him, Line came along and knocked him from enjoying his return to the sunshine on a day when weather nearly ruined the party. A rainout would have kept Anderson on top of the field.

“Hopefully he won’t fire me,” Line joked as he commented on dethroning Anderson. “I’m trying to feel sorry but at least it was one of the Summit cars.”

If he does lose his gig, Line won’t have to go far to find another driving gig, albeit with considerably lesser pay. Pulling double duty this weekend, Line is also racing in Stock eliminator in a 1970 Buick Grand Sport C/Stock Automatic. He was delayed for the traditional post-qualifying press conference because of racing the sportsman car.

Being able to drive both cars is an experience which might not have been as enjoyable in past years due to health issues. Over the off-season, Line underwent lower back surgery to correct hereditary issues.

It’s been a long time since Line has felt this good. Two wins and a pole position in 2011 give credence to his testimony.

“I feel much better,” Line beamed. “Much better.”

Line races Shane Gray, Ron Krisher and Dave Connolly in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.

BERNSTEIN: MY OPINION ON 4-WIDE HAS SOFTENED - In the days after the inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals last year, a firestorm of controversy erupted over the use of the race as a points-earning championship series event. A petition [or survey, as some called it] was circulated and an unofficial letter from the Professional Racers Organization [PRO] was leaked to CompetitionPlus.com decrying any future events being contested in the same manner as the inaugural event.

zMax Dragway owner Bruton Smith lashed out at the drivers citing disappointment in their stance and questioned his future in the sport following the media-fueled exchange.

Kenny Bernstein bore the brunt of Smith’s ire, citing the former PRO President and current team owner, as the instigator for the driver unrest, a claim Bernstein vehemently denied.

Bernstein’s name was the first name on the “survey” which asked, “Do you want to participate in a 4-wide National Event for Points Again?”

If time heals all wounds, clearly the atmosphere has toned down considerably since last season’s controversial post Four-Wide week.

“I think it has calmed down but I think the NHRA and the track did a lot of things to make it better; that you can see,” Bernstein explained.

Those improvements range from an easier to interpret tree, better shutdown safety and improved camera angles for sponsor values.

Last season’s Christmas tree caused a firestorm of complaints. For this year a new system utilizing larger blue LED bulbs was developed by Compulink, the NHRA’s official timing system provider.

“That’s a great program they came up with,” said Bernstein of the new tree. “It was so confusing up there [on the starting line] at times. You could really get lost up there if you weren’t careful.”

The runoff area was also a concern and the NHRA and PRO met to discuss the potential issues. PRO reportedly wanted a wall dividing the two tracks down the center of the sandtrap. Representatives from the University of Nebraska, a key advisor in the NHRA’s improved sand trap design, came out to zMax Dragway and advised against the wall but did suggest adding an extra row of water barrels.

Sponsorship exposure, or the lack thereof, was also addressed. ESPN’s production crew has seven more cameras this year over the standard event increasing the total number to 30.  

“The concerns we had have been addressed and taken care of,” said Bernstein. “At this point, it’s up to the fans to determined whether they like it or not. That’s their department. As far as I am concerned personally, the changes that have been made have been done and accomplished. I want to say thank you to Bruton Smith and his staff, Christian Byrd and certainly the NHRA for following through on what they said they would do.”

A diehard drag racer in every sense of the word, Bernstein said personally, even though he’s accepted the unconventional drag racing format, there’s a part of him which struggles with the four-wide racing concept.

“I still think there’s still a lot going on, although I have softened my opinion in every sense of the word because my concerns have been addressed and taken care of. I still say it’s up to the fans but for me personally, I still don’t understand how you keep up with four cars going down the race track at one time. It’s difficult for me to focus on two all the time much less four. It’s not up to me; it’s in the fan’s hands.”



SARGE HAS POWER IN RESERVE – For ten years, Tony Schumacher has driven an NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel machine for the United States Army. He’s won six of his seven championships with them, all in consecutive years from 2004-2009. This weekend, Sarge is racing for another group of soldiers – those of the Army Reserve.

“I think people have to understand, the Army has its place, but the Reserves also have a place,” he said, while signing merchandise bearing his name for visiting Army personnel. “There are a lot of men and women who need that, that can’t be full time and it’s spectacular. I’ve been driving for the Army for ten years so I’ve gotten to know all these people, but to have a new group come aboard, it’s fantastic. We look to possibly expand some of that, too.”

Representing the Reserves this weekend in the Schumacher camp is Brigadier General Leslie Purser, the Army Reserve deputy chief and a 30+ year veteran.

“We’re proud to see the team represent the Army Reserves as we near its 103rd birthday on April 23rd,” Purser said. “We’re more of an operational force and we’re proud to see our contributions recognized this weekend.”

Purser also finds a connection with the NHRA outside of her role as an Army officer. For years within the sport, gender has been a non-factor thanks to the contributions of racers such as Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey. More recently, women like Hillary Will, Melanie Troxell, Erica Enders, and two-time U.S. Nationals champ Ashley Force Hood have virtually erased any gender barrier in drag racing.

The armed services has made several strides in recent years, including the promotion of the first-ever female four-star Army general, Ann Dunwoody. Purser said there’s still a long way to go and, hopefully, the Army will someday mirror the NHRA in that respect.

“The first female brigadier general was promoted in 1970 and General Dunwoody was promoted last year, so we’re getting there,” Purser said. “When I came in in 1980, it wasn’t popular for women to be in the military. I was very excited to walk past all these female drivers this weekend. It just goes to show that we can do anything.”

RUNNING STRAIGHT IN AN OVAL WORLD – Rubbin’s racin’ is a term that doesn’t have a home in drag racing; it’s more a circle-track concept. But that doesn’t stop NASCAR fans from getting a nitro fix when the NHRA comes to town for the VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Since the track opened in 2008, several NASCAR stars have visited Bruton Smith’s “Bellagio of Drag Strips.” This weekend, Top Fuel pilot Shawn Langdon acted as a host and drag racing representative to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Justin Marks.

The two met through a mutual friend, heavy metal guitarist Mark Morton of the band Lamb of God. ““Since we met in St. Louis (in 2009) Mark and I have become good friends,” Langdon said Friday morning. “He’s come out to the races and I’ve gone to a couple of his shows. He called me up yesterday and said that Justin was interested in coming out to the race track and was really interested in NHRA stuff. So he’s coming out today and hopefully we can show him some 320 mph runs.”

Although drag racing and stock car racing are two entirely different forms of motorsport, Langdon, who drove to the finals in this year’s season-opening Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., said the feeling of camaraderie and brotherhood crosses the boundaries between the various types of racing.

“It feels good anytime you can go into a racing community, it’s kind of like a home feeling,” Langdon said. “Everyone embraces you when you come to town and it’s a warm welcome. This weekend we’re just trying to come into NASCAR country and put on a good show for a lot of these NASCAR fans and show them that we enjoy what we do, too.

“NHRA racing is, we feel, the best kind of racing. We’d like to convert a few NASCAR fans and put on a good show for everybody.”

BIG DADDY TALKS - Do not tell “Big Daddy” Don Garlits zMAX Dragway is the first home of 4-Wide racing.

“Now see, you’re not informed. I raced a lot of 4-Wide. Not at this level, but Top Fuel.”

Garlits, a 1997 International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee and arguably one of the most influential drag racers of all time, held court with the media Friday during a break at the VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. Although he retired from racing nitro cars nearly ten years ago, the Florida native still races, running a 2009 Dodge Challenger in the Stock Eliminator class this weekend.

In fact, it’s racing with the Sportsman classes which makes the three-time NHRA Top Fuel champ, five-time IHRA champ, and ten-time AHRA title holder nostalgic for the old days of the sport, when it was more about the camaraderie and the speed.

“There wasn’t any money involved and everybody helped if you broke something,” Garlits said, behind dark aviator sunglasses and a Mopar ballcap perched atop his head. “Everybody come over and worked on your car. That’s how they are in the Sportsman pits. If anything happened to my car, I can go back there to any one of those guys, they’ll help me, they’ll give me parts, they’ll let me use their lifts or trailer or whatever. The professional drag racing got away from that.”

The culprit, according to Big Daddy, was the necessary evil of corporate sponsorship. For a sponsor to spend the kind of big bucks needed for a team to produce speed, a level of professionalism had to be added. A sport populated by blue-collar mechanics and roughnecks had to have an image adjustment.

The innovator of the rear-engine dragster and the first man to break the 170-, 180-, 200-, 240-, 250-, and 270-mile-per-hour barriers, Garlits was no stranger to working with high-dollar sponsors. In the mid-80s, as he was winning his NHRA titles, Garlits was funded by Mopar and Kendall. While it was, and in the case of Mopar continues to be, a successful relationship, it was stifling at times.

“Your team had to be dead on, everybody had to be uniformed up and all cleaned up real nice and you had to say the right thing when the television cameras were on you,” Garlits said. “It was very controlled and it was corporate.”

Sponsorship aside, there has been a world of difference in where the sport started 60 years ago and what it has evolved into today. A prime example is zMAX Dragway itself, a marked improvement over the strip Garlits built with a friend in 1959 outside Tampa, Fla.

“We thought we really had something,” he said. “It was a little better than those airstrips that we were running on. I look at this place here and it just boggles my mind. I’ve never seen anything quite like it for drag racing. It really shows you how far the sport has come in the last 60 years.”

While 4-Wide did exist in drag racing’s early days, the technology and the funding didn’t exist to create a facility like Bruton Smith’s “Bellagio of Drag Strips.” At tracks like those in York, Penn., and Fresno, Calif., Top Fuel dragsters ran 4-Wide, but instead of four separate lanes, it was two cars per lane with only the winner getting a recorded ET, since single-lane timing also didn’t exist at that time.

Another stumbling block in early 4-Wide history was the low car count. There have been full fields in the Pro categories racing here, but back in the day, there were maybe eight cars running. Needless to say, the events ended quickly.

“But the crowds loved it!” Garlits said. “They ate it up. The problem we were faced with back then usually when we had the 4-Wide, it wasn’t usually a big national event where there was a lot of cars.

“So you did two runs and you only did the two cars, the two winners, so the show was shut off a little bit soon. I think that’s why it didn’t really catch on back then, they didn’t really have enough cars to participate.”

For both the fans and the drivers, the topic of 4-Wide racing has been a controversial one; there is very little gray area. Either it’s a great addition to the sport or a flashy distraction that takes away from tradition. But for Garlits, he would like to see even more 4-Wide.

“I think there’s something that should be really considered is to run these stockers 4-Wide, like the stock classes, the Stock Eliminator that I’m in,” he said. “There’s 59 cars here in that class. We could have some real good racing 4-Wide due to the fact you’ve got a lot of cars. I think it would cause the stock Sportsmen classes to be a lot more exciting to send four of them down at a time versus the two and you’ve got plenty of cars so it would be a big show. With four on the track at the same time, it would be a lot more exciting.

“That’s just my personal opinion. That’s just what I see.”

AUSSIE HERE, DESPITE ENGINE ORDEAL - Not every drag-racing fan in the United States is familiar with Terry Sainty. But in his native Australia, the popular Top Fuel racer is known for being frontman to a relatively small family business that's synonymous with speed and engineering excellence.
 
Sainty, who first started racing in his mom's old car, is the son of Stan Sainty, a master machinist whose innovative skills took him from dirt-track racing to drag-boat and water-skiing racing. Once Mom Margaret's car hit the dragstrips, the family concentrated on the world's quickest and fastest sport.
 
Conducting their own research and development, Stan Sainty and his brother Norm, with the help of Denis Macann, designed what's called the Sainty Billet Three-Valve engine. It has the distinction of being the only non-Chrysler-configured engine in the world to have won a Top Fuel race in the past two decades.
 
Tucked inside a Sainty-branded chassis equipped with an in-house driveline, the motor was the first with cylinder blocks carved from a 400-pound hunk of aircraft-quality billet aluminum, and it sports an overhead camshaft with three valves per cylinder. Its purpose was to be powerful and sturdy, as well as economical. It was built to save on repair jobs and to prevent oil downs.
 
"We tried to improve. We repair a lot of cars back in Australia, for Graeme Cowin, Santo, and Jim Read, Darren Morgan. So we know where the shortfalls are and we try to design around that," Terry Sainty said.
 
Sound like something the NHRA could use? Well, a funny thing happened on the way to Pomona.
 
 "We built it to the NHRA rules at the time, which was big-block Ford bore spacing. It could be multi-valve mix with two sparkplugs. We built it for all that," Terry Sainty siaid, "but after that year they banned it.
 
"The way the rules read now, you can't run a Chev or a Morgan (Britain) or an Aries (France) or any Japanese, German, Australian or anything but a Chrysler. It has to be Chrysler bore spacing," he said. "That ruled out our motor straightaway, because we made ours a big-block Ford. That's what the rules were at the time. But once we made that bore spacing that big, we can never really change that."
 
Something similar happened about a decade ago to John Force Racing. And as Sainty said, "They were never allowed to go down that path."
 
Knowing his family wasn't the only one caught in the changing-ruled trap offered only a little consolation. Sainty said he thought that ended his notion of racing in the United States.
 
"When I first started racing, in '92, I thought maybe one day I might go to America. We built our new engine on the Sainty [family-owned] car. After they banned the Sainty motor, the Sainty Three-Valve, I sort of thought I'd probably never go there [to the U.S.]. So here I am doing it, with an American car," he said.
 
The NHRA is trying to curtail oildowns. And Tony Pedregon, for example, is an owner-driver who's trying to scrape together every dollar he can, but had his third qualifying session at zMAx Dragway discounted Saturday and lost a precious $1,000 because of an oil spill. So is it time for the NHRA to consider allowing an engine that in Australia has proven to be effective?
 
Moreover, has Sainty Engineering considered  partnering with a U.S.  team or manufacturer to lobby for the NHRA to allow the Sainty Three-Valve -- or at least permit some testing here with it?
 
"I haven't put any thought into it, to tell you the truth. We wouldn't have the budget to make it in any of that sort of quantity without an infusion of cash," Terry Sainty said. "My mum and dad have a machine shop, and it’s just a small business in New South Wales. It's basically an out-of-control hobby."
 
He has thought about a full-time racing deal in the NHRA but said, "We have our family business at home [to consider]. It's the old cliché -- you can't do it unless you have a sponsor. I'm just taking it one step at a time. It would be really nice to be able to qualify this weekend. It would be good for the morale, to say, 'Yes, we can do it.' "
 
Sainty remained unqualified for the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 4-wide Nationals after three rounds Saturday. - Susan Wade

HAGAN REMEMBERS VIRGINIA TECH TRAGEDY - April 16 comes and goes each year for Matt Hagan and his emotions remain the same. For third-year NHRA Funny Car driver, his emotions are not what you expect for the day after filing income taxes.

In fact, his emotions have nothing to do with money, government or anything of the sort.

They have everything to do with a tragedy which transpired just down the street from his race shop in Radford, Va.

Today marks the four year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, and for Hagan, the incident hits close to home. In two separate attacks, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded many others before committing suicide. The massacre is one of the deadliest shooting incidents by a single gunman in U.S. history, on or off a college campus.

Hagan was working in his race shop as the ambulances and emergency vehicles sped by with sirens blaring.

“There are some things in life you never forget,” recalled Hagan. “It was so unfortunate. It was so tough for our community on that day. Even though some of those kids affected weren’t from our community; we embraced them as part of our family.”

Hagan isn’t VT alumni but on that day it really didn’t matter.

“I used to party with some friends over there,” Hagan recalled. “I actually went to the college one exit down from there in Radford. Fortunately, I didn’t know any of the victims. It was a terrible situation any way you look at it.”

There are times every April 16th when Hagan cannot help but get emotional. Each year he seeks out a quiet place and meditates.

“It’s tough, especially when you think of those people,” Hagan said. “You think about the incident and how it touched their lives. It’s a tragic thing you hope never happens again. You always keep everyone in your thoughts, especially those families who had to go through this. It affected everyone differently around here.

“It brought some together and tore others apart. I hate that it happened and hate that it happened here. It could have easily happened somewhere else. All you can do is pray for them.”

Hagan is married, father of two, and forget his status as a professional drag racer; he sees the situation as a parent.

“You think of stuff like this as a parent and it’s a scary situation,” Hagan admits. “It tears you up to think about this stuff and as a parent you try to protect your kids, sometimes you can’t protect them all the time.”

April 16th serves as his reminder.


 

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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - IN A FOUR-WIDE STATE OF MIND

THEY SPEAK THE LANGUAGE - Robert Hight and tuner Jimmy Prock have excellent communication skills. However, their favorite way to talk is through their John Force Racing nitro-burning Funny Car.

Hight understood exactly what Prock was trying to say when he nailed the throttle during Friday evening’s qualifying session at the NHRA VisitMyrtleBeach.com Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. The first qualifying session missed the mark but in the second, Prock’s combination didn’t mince words.

Hight reeled off a 4.062 second run at 313.07 miles per hour, a run which launched hard at the hit.

“I’ll be honest I am just glad to qualify. After missing on the first run and seeing the weather which is iffy for tomorrow. Just getting in is big,” explained Hight. “It makes you even more nervous when you have Jimmy Prock as your crew chief. He does not back off ever. John (Force) has always said you just do what you know how to do. He’ll reference the fact that if you learn to shoot pool drunk then you shoot pool drunk. You race aggressive like Jimmy Prock does then why back off. You need to get out there and race like you know how to. That is why we have a lot of number one qualifiers. That is why we are number one in points right now. As a driver it makes you nervous. There are a lot of good cars out there.”

Together, thus far in 2011, Hight and Prock are two for three with wins at Pomona and two weeks ago in Las Vegas. If his provisional No. 1 holds, it will be his 39th, making him only ten pole position shy over the all-time list. Currently the 2005 Rookie of the Year has produced a No. 1 qualifying effort in every 3.67 races.

"That race track is unbelievable. We almost went 269 mph at half track." Jimmy said after looking at the data, " there is more out there." When he said that I did not think there was chance that time would stick at the top. When you have guys like Cruz running the way he is every week and John and Neff and Hagan. Hagan is the national record holder. It was big being No. 1 but I am not going to get overly excited. We were number one qualifier here last year and we didn’t have a good first round. We want to forget what happened here last year.”

At the inaugural Four Wide NHRA Nationals Hight was the No. 1 qualifier but was disqualified in the first round when he crossed the centerline.

REGROUPED AND READY - The memories of two weeks ago were ingrained in Greg Anderson’s mind up until a stretch of 6.566 seconds during Friday qualifying at the NHRA VisitMyrtleBeach.com Four Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.

This was exactly how long it took for the defending Pro Stock series champion to erase the memories of a first round loss two weeks ago in Las Vegas.

The hometown favorite from nearby Mooresville sits atop the Pro Stock qualifying list headed into weather-threatened Saturday qualifying. If it holds, it will be his 74th career pole position - fourth on the all-time list of low qualifiers.

“We tested here [at zMax] before Vegas and felt like we had a great test and would be in really good shape for when we came back here,” Anderson admitted. “We went to Vegas and didn’t do well and left really disappointed, especially in front of [team owner] Ken Black. The last team we had run out there, it was a dream race. Because of that race, we essentially left as champions.”

Anderson said the disappointment in Vegas led to a lot of soul-searching last week.

“We had a team meeting when we got back and included everyone in the shop,” Anderson explained. “They say hindsight is twenty-twenty and everything became clearer of what didn’t go right in Vegas. We applied those things to what we did on Friday here and it worked great for us. We got caught off guard when we went to Vegas. It felt good to do well here.”

Friday’s qualifying presented nearly identical conditions for the teams providing Anderson and the KB Racing team with the impetus to get aggressive.

“You really can’t go out there and be conservative,” he explained. “We probably were on that first run. We decided the first run would get us qualified and it did. We got more aggressive. You have to go out there and give it what you’ve got.”

“The weather didn’t really change much for the corrected of what we should have run. Most of the cars ran close to what they did in the first session. This is the perfect day for us when the weather really doesn’t change. That’s what we ask for – beg for it. Get another shot at the low elapsed time. If we get to run tomorrow, the temperatures ought to be the same and the performances too.”

KALITTA WITH PROVISIONAL TF POLE – Top Fuel qualifying for the Second Annual VisitMyrtleBeach.com 4-Wide Nationals wrapped up its second round Friday around 7 p.m. with Doug Kalitta as the provisional low qualifier, earning an ET of 3.882 seconds at 322.04 mph. The late finish was due to a number of oildowns over various classes throughout the day.

Cooler temps along with mostly overcast skies and the threat of inclement weather on Saturday led several of the teams to run more aggressive setups than they may have normally. Some, like Kalitta and Al-Anabi pilots Larry Dixon (no. 2, 3.824, 318.39 mph) and current points leader Del Worsham (no. 3, 3.833, 320.20 mph), rolled the dice and came out winners. Others, such as North Carolina native Doug Herbert and Winternationals winner Morgan Lucas, weren’t as lucky, finishing the day 15th and 16th, respectively, both having issues getting down the track.

“We were real relieved after that round,” Kalitta said in the zMAX Dragway media center after qualifying. “Dixon and some of the other cars in that first round really put down a good number.

“I went back to our pit and talked to my crew chief, Jim Oberhofer, and was wondering if he could step this thing up a little bit so we could run with those guys. He did a great job with it, obviously, him and all my guys. I’m real proud of them.”

With Charlotte being known primarily for its oval racing, despite a number of drag strips in the area, some perceive the NHRA Full Throttle Series and its brand of motorsports as something new. Kalitta, a former USAC sprint car champion, knows what race fans here like and believes they like drag racing.

“There’s a great following with the NASCAR fans,” said Kalitta, looking for his 33rd career Wally this weekend. “We’re just proud that (zMAX Dragway owner) Bruton (Smith) has built such a beautiful facility here for the fans to come to. It seems like (the crowd) was a little lean out there tonight…but it’s a big place, too, so it can be a little deceiving. We’re just hoping tomorrow’s weather doesn’t deter folks from coming out and we’re hoping to have a great Sunday and hopefully the place will fill up.”

SPONSOR REMOVAL - Greg Stanfield’s Pontiac GXP Pro Stocker is void of the corporate livery which adorned his car for the first three races this season.

Stanfield, who races as part of the Yonke-Coffman Motorsports team, had his car wrapped in a new design for the NHRA VisitMyrtleBeach.com Four-Wide Nationals this weekend in Concord, NC. Unless an agreement is worked out by the attorneys, the car will no longer represent Safety Sentry Inc.

“Mr. Pratt failed to uphold his financial obligations under contract,” said Bob Yonke of Safety Sentry’s founder and owner. “My attorneys are dealing with it now.”

In addition to the new look car, the team’s hauler and transporter is an unlettered white.

“Myself and J.D. Coffman and Coffman Tank Trucks are our sponsor along with Kenny Koretsky and Nitrofish,” said Yonke. “We’re still moving forward and intend to contend for the championship.

“Even without the Safety Sentry and Carl Pratt we had planned to race the full season. There’s no doubt that Greg is going to be here and contend for the championship.”

Yonke says the whole situation is disappointing.

“We were all counting on [the sponsorship] to take us up a notch with Greg’s car, the runner-up for the championship (last year) but we are still going to push forward,” Yonke explained. “Obviously it’s a very disappointing thing when someone doesn’t uphold their end of a contract.”

Pratt, the inventor of the Safety Sentry trailer safety device, a ground-breaking product that is guaranteed to prevent trailers from coming loose while driving and from being stolen while parked said the issue is one of contract interpretation.
 “The bottomline is that we have some discrepancies on the contract itself,” Pratt said Friday morning in a phone interview with Competition Plus. “What they were going to live up to and what we were going to live up to. So, we are in a holding pattern this week.”

Pratt said the sponsorship issues arose right after the Vegas event. Like Yonke, Pratt said his end of the issue has been turned over to his attorney.

“I hoping to have it worked out over the next two weeks,” Pratt said.

Regardless of what transpires with this issue, Pratt said he plans to be in drag racing with or without the Yonke-Coffman team.

 “I’m going to be sponsoring somebody,” Pratt said. “I will put it that way. There are some differences there. There were some things that were not lived up to on both parties, OK. I will just say that. I will be very up front with you. The bottom line is I have already contacted my attorneys and they have already talked to their attorneys, and we are actually right now into a point of, I think it is reconcilable, but I’m not sure if I’m going to be reconcilable with one of the team members. OK, I will just say that.

“Greg Stanfield is one of the greatest people I have ever met in my life, and I’m sorry that he is involved with it. Greg Stanfield is somebody I supported 100 percent throughout the whole process, and I really feel sorry that Greg Stanfield got in the middle of it.

“I’m hoping that we will get something resolved, if not I have a Top Fuel team I’m looking at right now.”

Pratt declined to name the Top Fuel team.

“I really wanted the sponsorship to last the whole entire year,” Pratt continued. “I believe we have reconcilable differences. The bottom line is I think there are some of things that needed to be done were not by  Adrenaline Motorsports, and hopefully we can work things out. I’m 100 percent behind the NHRA and I’m 100 percent behind sponsorship. It is just there are some things as a sponsor we need. We are out here to brand our products. There we some things that did not come full circle.”

Tracy Renck contributed to this report.

DIDN’T MISS A BEAT – When you’re a seasoned veteran of drag racing like Warren Johnson, there’s not much capable of shaking your foundation – not even flipping upside down and sliding to a stop.

Johnson, the winningest driver in NHRA Pro Stock, was back in the office at the NHRA MyrtleBeach.com Four-Wide Nationals with a Chevrolet Cobalt, a car formerly campaigned by his son Kurt. On Tuesday, he crashed his Pontiac GXP during a test session at Atlanta Dragway.

There were no late night thrashes, no races to the chassis builder … just a good night’s sleep and an early Tuesday morning venture to the shop.

“We just changed a few things that we know works better with these cars [Cobalts],” confirmed Johnson. “But that was about it.”

Days after the accident, Johnson admits there still isn’t a definite cause for the crash but he has narrowed the crash down to a series of incidents.

“Someone had actually videoed the run and we looked at the computer for information and there were 35 – 40 mph gusts that day,” Johnson explained. “With the normal amount of pollen that Georgia sees at this time of the year. I had already lifted and at the end of the bleachers, about the eighth-mile,  I think a wind gust turned it sideways instantly. There was no saving it. The wind and the chassis unloading … had I have lifted earlier or run a little further it might have been okay.”

Johnson had already been forewarned that he would wake up the next morning sore. This was not the case.

“I wasn’t sore at all,” Johnson admitted. “There wasn’t a sore muscle in my body at all. It’s a testament to the safety in these cars and the padding. We use a 9-point harness which is superior to anything out there. I didn’t feel it when the car hit the wall.”



YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID – If you live by the sword, sooner or later you’ll die by it. Just ask Larry Morgan, who likened his first qualifying session time-out and missed run as a prime case of “you can’t fix stupid”.

Morgan directed the phrase at the NHRA during the 2006 NHRA Springnationals in Columbus, when a timing snafu cost him and other drivers a qualifying run.

“I thought the next-to-the-last guy into stage started the seven seconds time limit for the auto-start,” said Morgan. “I found out its seven seconds after the first driver stages. I’m not mad about it. S*** happens. I’m getting old. It’s kind of hard to teach an old dog new tricks.”

For Morgan, it didn’t mark his first timeout. Well, maybe his first unintentional one.

“I just screwed up,” Morgan admitted. “But, the car ran just fine.”

The auto-start isn’t the only out of routine procedure this weekend. To prevent racers from losing any of their runs, the NHRA has suspended their 12-car qualifying format where any run 13th or lower is thrown out headed into Saturday. All runs carry over into Sunday.

HEY KID, HERE’S A CURVE – Buddy Perkinson, the rookie Pro Stock driver, knew the challenge of finding his way into the field this weekend was going to be tough. He’s racing four-wide for the first time in his three-race old professional drag racing career.

“It’s definitely going to be a learning curve,” said Perkinson of the weekend. “I went up and watched some Super Comp earlier in the day. I think it’s better than it was last year. The way they have the stage and pre-stage is a lot easier for the racers to see. I’m excited about it because it’s a challenge.”

Last year, he was a spectator and for him the experience was difficult at times to watch. This year’s improved tree was a blessing for him.

“I watched just about every round of Pro Stock,” said Perkinson. “I love Pro Stock. Any chance I can, I go up and watch it. I studied the lights last year and just didn’t think it was a good idea. What we have today is much more improved.”

Perkinson is racing for the second event without Bob Glidden, the ten-time Pro Stock champion who was both his tuner and mentor.

“The biggest thing I miss is the advice right there when I need it,” Perkinson admitted. “But, it’s not like I can’t pick up the phone and call. He’s made that perfectly clear to me.”



VETERAN GIVES IT A SPIN - He’s raced on backwoods tracks and successfully navigated many less than desirable racing surfaces but for the first time in his career, Dale Creasy Jr. raced four abreast.

“I do remember my dad and his drivers racing four-wide back in the day,” Creasy said of his father, legendary nitro icon Dale Creasy. “I was here with the Greek [Chris Karamesines] and I watched. I figured [headed into today] I just needed to watch my own lane.”

Creasy opened today’s Funny Car qualifying in the first pair and managed to run a 4.279, 282.60, good enough to land 15th provisionally.

“It was more about anxiety than nervousness mainly because it is my first race of the season,” said of the first pass today. “There’s always a bit of nerves when you are in the first pair. I think it’s a great concept; just not sure how good it is for the nitro classes. It’s still pretty cool.”

Time is said to heal all wounds and certainly Creasy is better off than he was in August 2008 when a driveline accident inside of the cockpit of his Funny Car left his legs severely injured. He was able to return to competition last April.

“I’m about 70-percent,” Creasy admitted. “That’s probably as good as it’s going to get and I’m happy with that. They [Doctors] initially thought it wasn’t going to be that good. I’m doing much better. I’m in good shape.”





BACK IN BLUE [OVAL] - Ford Pro Stock driver Robert Patrick is back in action with the first outing since pairing up with Don Beverley and engine builder Sonny Leonard. It wasn’t the most blazing of starts for Patrick, the former mountain motor Pro Stock champion who is racing his first four-wide, but just getting the tenth quickest run of the first session bodes well for the team’s direction.

Patrick wasn’t so sure of the direction, speaking of luck, earlier in the week. As the veteran driver from Fredericksburg, Va., will attest, all the best pieces and personnel in the world will be for naught if you have no luck.

The team tested on Tuesday in Rockingham, NC, with a disastrous end result.

“We broke a valve on the first run,” Patrick said. “We had a brand new engine in there with all brand new parts. But, that’s what happens when you are turning these engines as high as we are. They’re real finicky.”

Patrick and the team packed up and left Rockingham, arriving at Leonard’s Lynchburg, Va.-based shop later that evening. From there they disassembled the engine and worked all day Wednesday, repairing the new engine with parts from another one under construction.

“We got it together, ran it on the dyno Wednesday night,” Patrick explained. “Went back to Rockingham on Thursday and made a respectable run. For the first run off of the trailer, it looked pretty good.”

Friday’s first run did too as Patrick laid down a 6.682 elapsed time at 206.83 mph.

“If the motors stay together, we have enough horsepower to get into the show.”

This is Patrick’s first NHRA event since the 2010 Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

BACK AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME – Spencer Massey has never raced in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 4-Wide Nationals, but he comes to zMAX Dragway with a win under his belt here.

Huh?

In his rookie season in 2009, Massey, driving a rail for Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, won the Top Fuel exhibition race against Antron Brown, Brandon Bernstein, and Morgan Lucas. After Prudhomme folded his team due to lack of corporate funding last year, the 28-year-old Texan only ran one NHRA event and a handful of IHRA races with Mitch King. Although it was only one pass, Massey feels it’s enough to be competitive this weekend.

“It’s just a drag race,” he said, standing outside his pit Friday morning. “Once you go up there and turn the top lights on, let the clutch out and go to the topside, whether we’re running one car or five cars or 12 cars, I’m running my lane, in my car, running to get to the finish line first. Realistically, it shouldn’t make any difference and I should get up there and do my same job.”

The two-time NHRA Full Throttle Series Nationals winner was one of the top stories of the offseason, when he replaced fan favorite and last year’s winner at this event Cory MacClenathan at Don Schumacher Racing after the world finals in Pomona last November.

Test sessions at Palm Beach (Fla.) International Raceway in December and January brought him up to speed with his new team, but he knows he has big shoes to fill.

“It’s definitely a bittersweet deal for me,” Massey said. “Cory’s a very good friend of mine. I’ve always looked up to him and he’s done a very good job in this racecar for many years. I was just the fortunate one who was able to get into this seat.

“We need him back out here. We need all those great drivers like Cory out here racing with us. Hopefully, he’ll be back out here before the season ends.”

CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME FOR DOUGZILLA – Standing in his pit Friday morning, Doug Herbert spoke to media, had his official NHRA driver photo taken, and waved to the fans. He answered the same questions (“What’s your schedule this year?” “What’s it like being on the sidelines?”) and appeared content, ready to race his Top Fuel dragster in front of his hometown crowd this weekend.

When the conversation turns to BRAKES, though, his eyes light up and he becomes talkative. BRAKES (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe) is a non-profit organization founded by the ten-time Top Fuel winner after his two sons, Jon and James, were killed in an automobile accident prior to the 2008 season.

The group’s mission is to educate teens across the country on safe driving habits. BRAKES, staffed by two fulltime employees along with a host of volunteers and interns, hosted more than 40 sessions last year to 2,000 kids and has plans to do the same this year in North Carolina, South Carolina, Phoenix, Ariz., and Los Angeles.

“BRAKES has just been incredible,” he said Friday morning, taking a break from working on his racecar. “The only problem with BRAKES is that I don’t have enough time to do it more.

“The message is: Drive safe because you’ve got to be responsible and that keeps people safe and that racing is for the track and not for the streets.”

The theory is, and it’s been proven correct for the most part, teens are more likely to listen to someone that’s not a parent, school official, or police officer. BRAKES has recruited some of the top driving instructors in the country and have been successful in reaching the teens and their parents, who are also asked to attend.

“They really get a lot of instruction and they get to know the instructors,” said Herbert, who last won at Norwalk in 2008. “Some of the comments we get are just incredible, about what they learned and how great the instructors are.”

Herbert may have even less time away from the track this season, thanks to last-minute sponsorship from Denim & Company Records. If all goes well this weekend, the newly-formed record label may partner with the North Carolina native at other events in 2011.

“They’ve never been to a drag race before. I think if they’ve never been to a drag race before, I think they’re probably going to be pretty impressed, especially coming here.”

THROW DOWN BROWN’S IN TOWN – More than nearly any other driver in the NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel class, Antron Brown knows how to race 4-Wide. A finalist in last year’s inaugural event and a participant in the first Top Fuel exhibition race here in 2009, the most recent class winner is ready for battle this weekend.

“Running here, you’re going to race two additional opponents and you’ve got to be more on your game,” the 35-year-old New Jersey native said while polishing his race helmet Friday morning. “You’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to throw down. It probably puts you in the mindset of how you should be racing all the time. You’ve got to race the race track and you’ve got to throw down.”

The spectacle of 4-Wide racing and the fact drivers are facing three competitors instead of one adds to the drama at the starting line. It also adds to potential distractions, Brown said.

“You want to get that extra ‘oomph’ because now you’ve got four gladiators in the arena instead of just two. To be on top of that battle royale, you want to get out of the gate first because when you go down the race track, noise does play a factor on your focus and the way you drive your car and everything else. If you can’t hear your motor and what it’s doing, it’s hard to give feedback. You want to get out front so you can get that clean air.”

As one of four finalists in last year’s event, Brown knows what needs to be done to leave NASCAR country with the class Wally and it’s not tip-toeing through the rounds.

“You wanna throw down,” he said, getting excited. “You wanna be the first out the gate and you want to throw a tune up in there where you can keep your lead because you don’t know what the guy next to you or the guys in the other lanes are going to throw (at you).

“You can actually potentially break a world record while you’re here. So you’ve got to go out here and just throw down.”

READY OR NOT, HERE IT COMES - NHRA drivers like to call their profession "the traveling circus." This weekend the Big Top is up at zMax Dragway at Concord, N.C., ringmaster Bruton Smith is ready for the spotlight, and the crowds are ready for the cotton candy and the smell of nitro - in four-wide, 32-horsepower blasts.
 
The performers are ready but it's as if some of the tightrope walkers got an unsettling feeling or the lion tamers just weren't quite sure about sticking their heads in those ferocious mouths. And some of the performers are saying, "Showtime!"
 
The VisitMyrtleBeach 4-Wide Nationals already have succeeded when it comes to hype. Not everybody will have a letdown when the circus leaves town, but some might hate for the weekend to end.
 
"I dig it," California-cool Jack Beckman said. "It's the most bitchin' thing I've ever been a part of in drag racing. I understand it's tough for television coverage, which has some impact on our sponsors since television exposure is a major reason for their participation. But I think it's an amazing event for the drivers."
 
Doug Kalitta said he's puzzled about the complaints.
 
"I don't really get what all the controversy is about," the Top Fuel veteran said. "I know there are some folks out there, even drivers, that think that racing four-wide is a bad idea. I don't see it that way at all. I'm a race car driver. Anywhere I can climb into Top Fuel car and stand on the throttle is good for me, as long as it's safe. And I think they're doing the right things to make four-wide as safe as they can.
 
"To me, it's just a simple matter of going and doing it," Kalitta said. "Bruton has done so much to help promote our sport. He has built the best racetracks we race on and always knows how to promote our events better than anyone else. So if he says he wants to go racing with four cars instead of two, we have to go out there and get it done."
 
Dave Grubnic, his teammate, said, "At the end of the day, we're entertainers. Driving a nitro-fueled dragster is loads of fun, and it's really fast. But we as drivers have to be aware that we have to entertain the fans or they might not want to come back and see us again. Team owners and track owners know this, too. So in that regard, Bruton has built the bigger and better show, and we should all applaud him for that.
 
"I like it because it's something new and it gives us a break from the regular schedule and it has that Bruton Smith pizzazz about it," he said. "This will only be the second time we done this, so it's still in its infancy. There are still things to learn and change and tweak, but at least the process has started in a progressive direction."
 
Count Terry McMillen as a gung-ho participant.
 
"I'm excited about getting back to four-wide racing," McMillen said. "I'm hoping the new Christmas tree will make a difference for me. It looks good and visually it makes more sense than last year's version."
 
"When it comes to racing there's nothing more exciting than racing in North Carolina," he said. "These fans are some of the most hard core fans we'll meet anywhere. When you pull up to zMAX Dragway you know you're some place special when it comes to racing. Add 32,000 horsepower side-by-side and it's no wonder even the NASCAR guys have to come out to see it. It's no doubt a great spectacle."
 
Their Top Fuel colleague, Morgan Lucas, wasn't crazy about it last year and hasn't joined that party, but he has figured out the positive aspect.
 
"In those first two rounds of eliminations, you can run second and still advance," Lucas said. "It gives you a little bit of wiggle room."
 
Tony Schumacher said the onus was on him: "To be honest, I didn't adjust to it very well last year. We'll be better prepared this time around."
 
Schumacher's Funny Car teammate, Johnny Gray, clearly doesn't enjoy it but he's like Schumacher. He said if he does his own job, that will make a huge contribution.
 
"I'm 58 years old and have enough trouble keeping track of what's going on around me," Gray said. "I just don't think if something is this far out of the realm of what we normally do, it should not be for points. At least the NHRA has enough sense not to put this race in the Countdown. But I am confident my guys will give me a good race car and as long as I don't mess up driving, we'll do just fine."
 
Pro Stocker Allen Johnson said, "I like a challenge. We’ve got our momentum going here and hopefully nothing throws a monkey wrench in it to slow it down. We’re going to take it as a challenge." He said, though, that wants to have lane choice so he can select one of the two left lanes.
 
John Force said it simply: "It's about focus. It's about your own lane and getting your car A to B. Everything else will take care of itself."
 
Another multi-time champion, Top Fuel's Larry Dixon, looked at it similarly - only with a bit of horse-racing twist to it.
 
"Four-wide is back, and I'm excited to take another shot at it. Last year, only one team went out of there excited about it, and it wasn't the Al-Anabi team," Dixon said. "It really is a lot different than our normal style of racing, and it really makes you feel like a jockey on a horse getting lined up in a chute. They open the gates and let everybody go at the same time. It's a lot different, but I'm ready for another crack at it.
 
"For me, the biggest thing is just being mentally focused and not letting any distractions get in the way," he said. "The object is to keep it simple. You're in one lane and you have one light you need to leave off of and go race. If you add any more to it, it'll just slow you down."
 
At least everybody is grappling with the same circumstances, he said.
 
"It's equally challenging for the teams, because we're only going to get one qualifying run in each lane, and it'll be under varying weather conditions. So if one lane is better than another, you won't get another crack at it. You have to hope the weather is good for all four qualifying sessions," Dixon said. "Also, with the cars making half of the normal runs in each lane, there'll be less rubber on the tracks. Four-wide racing is definitely just as demanding for the teams as it is for the drivers. It's a challenge, but the Al-Anabi team is up for it."
 
WFO Radio host Joe Castello called the once-a-year format "an interesting oddity" and said initially he feared the four-wide spectacle "might take away from the wow factor of two-wide racing." He said he has discovered that didn't happen.
 
No matter what the racers think, four-wide racing is the format this weekend. - Susan Wade

LESSONS FROM JOLTIN' JOE - John Force and his racing team always stir up conversation. Now the buzz is about his organization being poised to record its 200th event victory. Excluding the Top Alcohol victories, the team stands at 199 wins.

Robert Hight won two of the first three races this NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season (at Pomona, Calif., and Las Vegas), and teammate Mike Neff won the other (at Gainesville, Fla.). Force certainly would like to earn one of those special-edition pewter Wally statues himself.

But JFR's perfect start this year, combined with its victories at the final two races of 2010, has put together a streak that adds even more drama to this weekend's four-wide spectacle with a newly designed Christmas Tree at Charlotte's zMAx Dragway.

Hight has no problem with the notion of winning again. However, he's an avid baseball fan who is taking a cue from Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio.

“I read a story about Joe DiMaggio and his hitting streak. He said eventually the streak wore on him because the streak was all he thought about. He said it consumed him,” Hight said.

“We are going to be thinking about this streak a lot. We want to keep it going, but one thing I am glad about now is we are racing every other week. You don’t have all this dead time off between races. We are going to get into the groove and I think it will even make us better. When you are racing more often you can stay focused. I am excited this is the best start I have ever had.” - Susan Wade

 

 

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