EVENT RESULTS (MON) EVENT NOTEBOOK (MON) POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS SPORTSMAN RESULTS

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MONDAY NOTEBOOK

BROWN CLINCHES 52ND DSR DOUBLE, SLICES KALITTA’S TOP FUEL LEAD - Antron Brown was giving a speech at the Matco Tools hospitality tent Saturday, and one NHRA New England Nationals fan shouted out to him, “If it rains, I ain’t going to be able to come back tomorrow.”

The Top Fuel driver responded with some advice: “Look – we only come up here once a year. Work will be there Tuesday. Come on back. Work ain’t goin’ nowhere. Enjoy yourself. Remember – you don’t live to work; you work to live.”

It rained, so much so that eliminations for this ninth of 24 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events were pushed back to Monday.  

Amazingly, the grandstands were at least three times fuller than anyone would have expected. And one man made a point to get Brown’s attention Monday. He told the Top Fuel winner, “I took your advice yesterday! I called out! I told ‘em I wasn’t going to be there [at work]! I said, ‘Work will be there on Tuesday!”

Brown grinned and said, “Good man!” He added, “I don’t mind working on Mondays, because I love what I do.”

And what was Brown not to love about Monday at New England Dragway?

He defeated Steve Torrence in a final round that featured the top two qualifiers, recording his second victory this year in four final-round appearances through nine races. He ran a 3.769-second elapsed time at 314.61 mph on the 1,000-foot course to Torrence’s 3.778, 325.30.

This 56th overall triumph was the 31st for Brown in five-plus seasons. That’s two more than the next two combined during that stretch.

Coupled with Ron Capps’ Funny Car victory minutes before his own achievement, Brown completed a 52nd Don Schumacher Racing nitro sweep. It marked the first time in the past 12 events that DSR eared victories in both nitro classes at the same race.

The Matco Tools/ Toyota  U.S. Army Dragster driver entered the event second in the standings, 96 points behind leader Doug Kalitta, and sliced that margin by more than half. Brown heads this weekend to his home track at Englishtown, N.J., just 46 points off the pace.

"It feels good," Brown said. "We've been to a couple of other finals this year that we feel like we should've won. This was a great race weekend. We're still learning some [different] things on the car and we are growing on it. The car is showing us great signs of being a phenomenal race car.”

Brown said crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald and the crew “are putting out work, and we’re reaping the benefits. We had a couple of rounds today that went our way, and it felt good to have that on our side – and it felt good to be able to capitalize on that in the final round. We had a really, really tough race against Steve Torrence and that Capco team.”

Brown and the NHRA Mello Yello Series will travel to near his hometown this week for the 47th annual NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. The Matco Tools team sits second in Top Fuel points standings.

"It feels really good to get one at this race up here in Epping. This is a race that we haven't won and it feels good to bring that Wally home from New England., especially being here on the East Coast, only growing up about three and a half hours from here," the Burlington, N.J., native said.

"It feels really good knowing that when you work hard, sometimes it goes your way but this weekend, we were still able to end up in that winners circle, which is great," Brown said.

"You don't get ‘more confident.’ You’ve just got a little more momentum,” he said.

“NHRA racing is a sport of chance, where you have to have some luck go your way. You can set yourself up for luck by the way you qualify. You’ve just got to take it while you can get it, because it ain’t always going to come. This sport is the most humbling sport. We tell everybody that all the time. I can be a hero this thousandth of a second. And next weekend, I can be a zero at a thousandth of a second. We just give it all we’ve got every weekend, and when it’s your turn, the chips will fall your way. And this weekend was definitely a great weekend for our team.

“Our DSR cars had a real good shot,” Brown said. “We’ve just got to qualify a little bit different so we don’t see each other in the earlier rounds.”

After a first-round bye because the grid was short on a full field of cars, Brown eliminated stablemates Shawn Langdon and Tony Schumacher.    

“We’ve been going a lot of rounds these last four or five races. We're starting to get in that groove,” Brown said. “This weekend was definitely a great weekend for our team."

Torrence scored an easy pass to the semifinals, gaining a bye when first-round opponent Smax Smith was unable to drive his Leverich Racing Dragster, then used a scheduled bye run.

However, Torrence said after the race, “Our luck just ran out in the finals against Antron. But it was a great overall weekend, despite a lot of crazy twists with the rain and the way the ladder worked out. We’ve got great momentum going to Englishtown, where we’ve won before.”

Until Monday, Torrence had not won a single elimination round at Epping. So he has made strides in his program.

“This is the best car and the best team I’ve had,” he said.  “That gives you an awful lot of confidence going to the line, and I think that’s reflected in the season. We’ve qualified No. 1 four times, been to three finals, and won [the season-opener at] Pomona.”

Next up on the schedule is the Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, the second of four stops in consecutive weeks in the so-called “Eastern Swing.” Susan Wade

CAPPS WINS SECOND EPPING FUNNY CAR TITLE - During the last three NHRA national events nitro Funny Car driver Ron Capps struggled, not making it past the second round in his Don Schumacher Racing NAPA Dodge.

Well, Capps’ fortunes changed in a big way at the New England Nationals in Epping, N.H.

Capps had a fabulous event, taking the No. 1 qualifying position, and then capping things with a race victory Monday at New England Dragway.

Capps beat his DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. in the finals. Capps clocked a 3.923-second time at 325.61 mph to defeat Johnson Jr.’s 3.947-second lap at 322.11 mph.

“We did what we had not done in a long time and that was gather up those qualifying points,” Capps said. “We’ve tried to work on that, even the last couple of years. We lost a championship one year (2012) by a pretty close margin (by two points to Jack Beckman) and had we qualified a little better and gained some of those points, but it’s a tough thing for a crew chief. (Rahn) Tobler (Capps’ crew chief), I’m proud of him. This weekend he let it all hang out and we gathered up almost all of the qualifying points and we were low ET and we won the race, which is great.”

This was Capps’ 47th career win and his second this season as he also won the season-opening Winternationals. Capps moved up to third place in the points standings – 7 in back of second-place Beckman – and 22 behind leader Courtney Force.

What’s more, he now has two wins at Epping as he also was victorious at New England Dragway in 2014. He qualified No. 1 at the 2016 New England Nationals with a track record 3.865-seccond run.

During Capps’ victory parade, he beat Dave Richards, Courtney Force, John Force and Johnson Jr.

“To win here twice at New England Dragway is cool, and how about the fans who showed up (Monday),” Capps said. “To see some of the racing they saw today, you will not see every weekend. It was just side-by-side nail biters, it was just a fun day. We knocked off some big cars and made a big jump in the points and I’m proud of Tobler and Eric (Lane) our assistant crew chief, and really everybody.”

Little did Capps know, but he made history at the 2016 New England Nationals as he became the first nitro Funny Car driver to run in the 3-second range – 8 total runs - throughout qualifying and eliminations at an NHRA national event.

“That’s cool,” Capps said. “I guarantee Tobler’s a little upset we didn’t run an 80 in the final. “J.C. (John Collins, Johnson Jr.’s crew chief), it was sort of like the Karate Kid and Mr. Miyagi up there because J.C. was Tobler’s assistant for many, many years and when Don (Shumacher) put him on that car you could see a lot of thinking in J.C. come out. He was extremely proud he got lane choice in front of us and Tobler went up there a little bit like, ‘hey we will show you.’ It was fun to race them and it was fun to go up there and not have to worry about any games being played. T.J. and I pre-staged and when we staged our lights blinked at almost the same time. It was a great race.” Tracy Renck

ANDERSON KEEPS KB RACING WIN STREAK GOING - The domination of the KB Racing Pro Stock team continued Monday.

Greg Anderson gave KB Racing its ninth NHRA national event win this season in nine tries.

Anderson’s latest victory came when he beat Allen Johnson in the finals at New England Dragway.

Anderson clocked a 6.598-second run at 210.44 mph to defeat Johnson’s 6.673-second lap at 208.71 mph.

This was a race between the first EFI winner (Anderson) and the last winner in a carbureted Pro Stock car (Johnson).

“It has been a great start to the year,” Anderson said. “My race team is just on fire right now. (Crew chief) Rob Downing is just making every call right on the money on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It’s just a dream to drive that race car. It worked great (Monday), it was low ET every run. I love racing up here in the Northeast, it reminds me of Minnesota, where I grew up. I love racing here (Epping) and I love racing at Englishtown (June 10-12), these two weeks are probably a couple of my favorite weekends of the year. I feel great to cap it off and get the job done. I didn’t screw up basically. I had the best car on the grounds and all I could do was screw it up and thank the good Lord I didn’t. it was a great day. I have a great race team behind me and they making us look like heroes.”

This was Anderson’s fourth win of the season, and the 82nd of his career. Anderson’s teammate Jason Line, who he beat in the semifinals, has won the other five 2016 national events. In qualifying KB Racing has been just as stellar, Anderson has qualified No. 1 four times, Line four, and Bo Butner once.

“Confidence-level is high and that goes a mile for me, I’m a confidence type of guy,” Anderson said. “I had confidence every round (Monday). I had a good day behind the wheel and I had a great hot rod, and when you do that, you look like a hero at the end of the day.”

In the process of his victory parade, Anderson also stopped Line’s streak at eight final round appearances. Anderson clocked a 6.618-second run to edge Line’s 6.620-second run in the semis.

“It’s bittersweet,” Anderson said. “We race each other tough and no matter what has been on the line, we always race heads-up and we always go for it. Whoever loses, we aren’t happy about it, and he certainly wasn’t happy down there, but that’s why I have him on my race team. He has that killer instinct and he wants to win every race and set records. When you have three team cars that are so fast, it’s d*** impossible to set individual records because you have to beat cars that are just as fast as you from your own team. This year is just fantastic, the job he has done, having to beat Bo (Butner) and myself every time out. He’s done a great job and every time I pulled up against him this year I felt like the underdog and I honestly did (Monday). The good Lord shined on me today and it was my turn.” Tracy Renck

TOP FUEL BEGINS MAKE-UP DAY WITH UPSETS, BROWN THEORIZES WHY RASH OF RED LIGHTS PLAGUES NITRO CLASSES, BECKMAN REBOUNDS FROM EXPLOSION, JOHNSON RACING INSPIRED, PRO STOCK CHAMPIONS KEEP OPTIMISTIC

UPSETS SPICE TOP FUEL FIRST ROUND – Whatever new bells and whistles No. 12 qualifier Todd Paton had on his dragster, it worked in the first round of eliminations Monday, as his upset No. 3 starter and two-time winner Brittany Force. It was one of two Round 1 surprises. Leah Pritchett scored the other, coming from the No. 10 position to defeat No. 5 Clay Millican. Pritchett was driving the Lagana Family’s dragster. She’ll be racing under the Don Schumacher Racing banner this coming weekend at Englishtown.

FREE! – One benefit of qualifying No. 1 in a 16-card field that isn’t full is receiving a first-round bye. But Top Fuel qualifying leader Antron Brown wasn’t the only one to advance automatically to the quarterfinals. No. 2 Steve Torrence did, too.

Torrence actually got a better deal than Brown. Smax Smith, with the No. 13 berth, was slated to race Torrence in the first round. However, Smith had to return home to Canada because the rain delay had pushed eliminations into Monday and he had to report to his job. He had the choice to forgo his chance at Epping or not make the Englishtown trip this coming Friday. So Smith left Epping, and Torrence got the pass into the semifinal.

RASH OF RED LIGHTS UNUSUAL – Robert Hight and Alexis De Joria both red-lighted in their first-round Funny Car matches against teammates Monday.

“It was definitely a tough first round loss,” Hight said. “We got the brand new Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car this weekend, and on Saturday we made some good runs. We are still figuring some things out. You never want to race your teammates early, and our Camaros were evenly matched in qualifying. I was doing my usual routine and it didn’t work out for us today. The good news is we will be back on track in a couple days for the Summernationals.”

Hight hit the throttle .052 seconds early recording a red-light DQ and handing the win to points leader Courtney Force. This was the third year in a row Hight and his AAA Insurance Funny Car were ousted from the New England Nationals by a John Force Racing teammate. Courtney Force beat Hight in the second round here last year, and in 2014, John Force knocked him out in the second round.

In the Top Fuel class, a couple of surprise red-light fouls benefited winner Antron Brown. His two DSR colleagues, first Shawn Langdon then Tony Schumacher, normally strong on the tree, jumped the gun.

Brown had a theory about why that was happening Monday.

“We had some long [lights]. We were at the very end of how long the light could be. A normal variance is .8 [seconds] to 1.2 or 1.3 seconds. We had some lights that were 1.2,” he said. “Our class is getting so competitive that you just want to go [launch]. And you’re on that timer where you just want to push the gas down. I did it earlier this year, in Phoenix, against Leah [Pritchett]. I was ready to go and it was along tree. My foot went down, but my mind goes, ‘The light ain’t come on.’

“So we all have that, especially when we’re pushing and as competitive as we are out there right now,” Brown said. “If you leave last now, the way Top Fuel’s running, you’re not going to win. If Steve-o [Torrence] left before me, he’d be taking a trophy home. You’ve got to be on your Ps and Qs, and that puts everybody on edge. And when the trees are long, that’s what happens.”

Langdon said after his miscue, "Days like today are one of the hardest things to go through as a driver, because a lot of things come down to that particular moment.  

"You do a lot of things as a driver to prepare yourself for that moment, and when you make a mistake that costs you a race, it's pretty humbling and disappointing. I'm pretty disappointed in myself for red-lighting. But the Sandvik team did a great job this weekend. We had a great car in qualifying and made an excellent run first round. We were second-quick of first round. Antron smoked up against us. We had a really, really good opportunity there to win that round and move into the semis."

REBOUNDS – Jack Beckman advanced to the second round Monday. That might not sound like something the Funny Car champion would consider a source of huge pride. But it was Monday, as he and his Infinite Hero Dodge team from Don Schumacher Racing recovered in a big way from Saturday’s devastating engine explosion. Some mechanical malfunction caused the spectacular blow-up that destroyed the Dodge Charger carbon-fiber body, damaged the chassis, and caused considerable damage to the electrical wiring from an ensuing fire. He was not hurt.

His team skipped the final qualifying session to get ready to race, and it paid off at least a little bit.

"To have what happened to us on Saturday and to run as well as we did today on a chassis without any previous runs is what we expect because [benefactor] Terry Chandler gives the funds to do that, and [team owner] Don Schumacher gives us the personnel and the equipment to be able to run that well,” Beckman said.

"But sometimes that's easier said than done. To actually be able to go out and do it by running two 3.93s after all the things we had to suffer through and Sunday's rain delay  . . .  the silver lining is we have a good combination to take to Englishtown and we don't have to feel like we have to be rushed to get a new front half on that chassis and press it back into service next weekend,” he said.

"I actually think this new chassis drives a little better. The back half of the other chassis had tons of runs on it, and we had run it over parts of the past four years,” Beckman said.

Ever the optimist, he added "Brighter days are ahead for the Infinite Hero group."

He said, “This is the first of four in a row and I hope things settle down a little bit and we get to go into the winners circle."

He’s second in the standings, just 15 points out of first.

ANGEL ON HIS SHOULDER – Allen Johnson became the first non-KB/Summit racer to reach a final Pro Stock final round since Chris McGaha was runner-up in February at Phoenix. But Greg Anderson earned his fourth victory of the year and ninth overall for his team.

“We had a lot of luck today,” Johnson said. “I feel like I had an angel riding on my shoulder today, because our good friend Justin Humphrey’s dad is fighting for his life. I was trying to win it for him, and I think a lot of the luck that came my way today was from him.”

By reaching the final round, Johnson becomes the top Mopar driver in the standings.
 
“We didn’t run this weekend like I thought we were going to run, but we’re learning every week and it’s paying off by going rounds,” he said. “I’m tickled that we made it to the finals today. Now we just got to get our performance back up.”

ENDERS OPTIMISTIC – Surprisingly, Erica Enders’ first-round loss Monday morning to Alex Laughlin was not considered an upset, for he qualified fifth and the two-time and reigning Pro Stock champion started from the No. 10 spot in the order.  

Enders said the major changes she and crew chiefs Rick and Rickie Jones made to the set-up of her Dodge Dart were “some pretty big swings.” She said they have been trying “to figure out what makes it happy.” She said, "The car was a lot happier that time, but it just didn't run well. We had the wrong setup in it. It's one of them deals. I missed the tree, my guys missed the set-up, and it stinks. The end result is the same: a first-round loss.”

It was her sixth opening-round defeat in nine races so far this season.

"I guess if there's any positive to it,” Enders said, “there's not a nicer guy out here than Alex. He's a really great kid. I still want to beat him, though."

Actually, Enders did well at the Christmas tree: she had a .044-second reaction time to Laughlin's .063. But he beat her with a 6.622-second pass at 209.14 mph to her 6.684, 207.15.

She said this slump, caused largely by the advent of electronic fuel injection, is “tough when you work so incredibly hard, and it's the first thing you think about when you wake up and the last thing you think about when you go to sleep. To come out here and not be competitive is hard on all of us.”

But she remained optimistic, saying, "I have zero doubt we'll get there. I don't know when, but all we can do is keep trying. That's what we'll do."

TESTING IN WORKS FOR COUGHLIN – Jeg Coughlin said he and his Elite Motorsports team are on the verge of breaking through and giving Pro Stock-dominating KB/Summit Racing a run for its money.

After his first-round defeat at Epping, the five-time Pro Stock champion said, “We do leave here with some positives, but we also know that we've got some work left to do to be a top-six car right now. We're capable of it, and I think we'll get there again by Englishtown.”

He has three days to accomplish that. But Coughlin doesn’t appear to be worried.

“We'll find a place to go make some laps between here and Englishtown," he said Monday.

Coughlin has experienced five first-round exits in the Magneti Marelli offered by Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Dart.

As for his Epping performance, Coughlin said, "We underestimated the track. With all the rain and the correction factor, this was the worst air we've been in all weekend. We were just a little shy in trying to get the thing going, and it was really sluggish."

SUNDAY - ELIMINATIONS POSTPONED UNTIL MONDAY, SPRING POPS PAINFUL SURPRISE ON BECKMAN CREWHAND, FUNNY CAR MATES SQUARE OFF AGAINST EACH OTHER, CAPPS NEARLY INTERRUPTS RECORD RUN, CONNOLLY SAYS KEEP IT SIMPLE

RAIN WASHES OUT ELIMINATIONS SUNDAY – Persistent showers sweeping across the Northeastern United States took their toll Sunday on the NHRA New England Nationals at Epping, N.H.

That forced the NHRA Sunday afternoon to postpone eliminations until Monday.

Officials said they plan to follow the same schedule that was in place for Sunday’s runoffs.   

MISHAP AFTER BIG MISHAP – The news kept getting crazier for Jack Beckman’s Infinite Hero team at Don Schumacher Racing. First came the colossal explosion in the third qualifying session that destroyed the motor and body and gave NHRA drag racing spectacular media exposure. Then crew member Chris Adams received several stitches late Saturday following a mishap in the pits while going through the Dodge’s engine. A spring popped loose and just missed crashing into Adams’ eye, but it did its damage just the same.

John Hale was in the lane opposite Beckman Saturday when Beckman’s car detonated. Hale confirmed Sunday morning that a piece of the confetti-like shrapnel that was “about the size of the palm of your hand” ripped through the nose of Hale’s Jim Dunn-operated Dodge. But by Sunday morning, Hale’s crew had repaired the gash.

JFR, KALITTA MOTORSPORTS MATES MEET – Funny Car points leader Courtney Force qualified eighth and her John Force Racing mate Robert Hight was ninth Saturday, sending them into a first-round match-up for eliminations.

Qualifying pitted the two Kalitta Motorsports Funny Car drivers, as well. At No. 7, Del Worsham has lane choice over No. 10 Alexis De Joria.

Force earned lane choice by four-thousandths of a second as they are set to break their 1-1 record against each other this season. This will be the fourth time they have met in the opening round of eliminations but the second time they have raced one another at Epping.

“It’s not exactly where we wanted to be, but we’re still in the top half and we have lane choice,” Force said. “It’s definitely going to be a rough round for us against Robert. He’s a really great driver and I know he has a good car. We’re going to give it everything we have and just go for it.” She said race day “will be a crucial day for us keeping a hold on the points lead.

Of her Traxxas Chevy Camaro, she said, “I think (my car) is running a little too slow early in the run, so we’re going to have to change some things. My crew chief said he’s going to try to get it running a little quicker early on so we can get the car to the other end.”

Force is seeking her second New England Dragway victory. She won the inaugural event in 2013, defeating her father, John Force, in the final round for her third overall victory.

Meanwhile, AAA Insurance-sponsored Hight plowed into the field early Saturday with a 3.929-second pass in his new Camaro. In the final session, he improved with a 3.919-seocd elapsed time at 329.26 mph. Hight has a 10-6 overall advantage over first-round foe Force.

Hight was elated that Saturday was “the first day that we have gotten the new Camaro down the track. We made two really good runs. I honestly believe [crew chief] Mike Neff was looking for a little more. You saw the Top Fuel guys step up, and we were hoping to do the same and maybe run in the 3.80s. Coming up here [to the starting line for that run], I was going to be racing [current Funny Car champion] Del Worsham, and that is no walk in the park. We are going to have to be on our game [during eliminations] now against Courtney. I think we will be.”

Worsham, driver of the DHL Toyota Camry, said, “Never want to start the day facing your teammate, because we know they have the same equipment that we have. But we will go to the line and put our best foot forward and see what we can do."

RECORD THAT ALMOST WASN’T – Ron Capps retained his No. 1 qualifying position Saturday but said the 3.865-second elapsed time that also gave him the second-quickest pass in class history almost didn’t happen.

"I almost shut it off," he said. "It moved around so much early on and we had the front end up. I knew it at the time because I had the wheel and it was out-of-control sideways for a long time, and it got going. Well, I was just hanging on for dear life. It was like a World of Outlaws sprint car. It was out of control but fun. It was one of the most fun rides I've had in a long time.”

He said his Don Schumacher Racing-owned NAPA Dodge “is a good hot rod right now, but I've been around long enough to not get excited about a couple of runs at a racetrack. If we can finish the job, it would be nice."

Capps said, “We knew coming to New England Dragway that this was a fantastic track that's built better than a lot of the tracks we go to that hold world records. They've done such a good job, we knew if we could get cloud cover and good conditions we could run that number, and we did. That's what is neat about [crew chief Rahn] Tobler and all my NAPA guys: they were calm, and it brings some mojo back when you go someplace you've had success at.”

Capps won here in 2014.

MAKING IT TOO HARD – Shane Gray acknowledged that Dave Connolly contributed a valuable nugget of truth when he rejoined the Pro Stock team to work with (co-crew chiefs) Jim Yates and Craig Hankinson after his Top Fuel team owner suddenly retired and disbanded the operation in April.

Connolly’s message to Gray & Company was: “You’re making this a lot harder than it needs to be.”

Gray said, “I think we all make it more complicated than it really is a lot of times. But I think we do that with life in general. I’ve already kind of known that. Maybe I just needed somebody to smack me on the back of the head and say, ‘Hey, remember that?’ ”

He echoed the lament of most of the Pro Stock team

“Right now the biggest thing that hurts us is we struggle with the fuel injection tune-up. If we ever figure that out, I think we can get a lot of consistency with the car.”

The dominating KB/Summit team of Jason Line and Greg Anderson repeats its “hard work” mantra as the reason its has won all previous eight races this year. But Gray said, “I think it’s just a phrase. It’s a figure of speech.” He knows his team and every team works hard.

“You know, this is a cyclical sport. This year they’re on top. Erica has been on top for the last two years. Who knows who’ll be on top next time? Hopefully it’s us,” he said.

“All we can do is work hard and maybe a little smarter and not worry about who’s on top and keep our head in our own game, maybe try not to pay too close attention to what everybody else is doing.”

He said he thinks that tendency just underscores that he’s human: “I think we all are [guilty f that] as human beings. Yeah, we’re competitive, so we always look at what the person’s doing who’s kicking our butt.”

Some take the approach that drag racing is like golf: you race yourself or you compete against the course and its challenges.

“I need to start looking at it more that way,” Gray said. “It would probably help me out, because really and truly, you’re not competing against anybody but yourself.”

SATURDAY - PATON’S TOP FUEL  ENGINE IS FINE, THANK YOU; McMILLEN GLAD PRESIDENT LEAVES TOWN; MILLICAN LOVES EPPING’S KNOWLEDGEABLE FANS; KALITTA DUO SET TO ROLL IN ELIMINATIONS; TASCA PURSUES FUNDING; BECKMAN HAS BIG BOOMER; GAYDOSH STRUGGLES, SO DO JOHNSON, ENDERS
 

TOP FUEL
 

IT DIDN’T BLOW UP - Todd Paton wants something clarified: His engine didn’t blow up when he made the first Top Fuel pass of the weekend Friday afternoon.

“The engine was fine but the oil line came off about 500 feet. It was one of those quick-disconnect lines, and the fitting, the retention pin on there, came loose and let it come off. Everything was fine until we got down there. We got back here in the pits and you could see as plain as day the line had come loose. It was actually sitting on top of the oil pump. So it maintained oil pressure to about two and a half seconds. Then it dropped off. Fortunately, we were going to shut it off in three seconds, which we did. But by that point, it already sprayed a quart of oil that made it look a lot worse than it was.

“The early numbers indicated that everything was fine, same as it was running back at Gainesville with Ike Maier driving the thing. It looked like it was on a low 3.90 pass, which is pretty good for us. We’ll just go out and repeat it and make sure the oil line stays on and it’ll be a whole lot happier day.”

Paton did have a happier day Saturday. He improved his 4.121-second elapsed time to 3.935 in the third overall qualifying session for the tentative 12th position, although he was ready for anything that might come his way. ‘As out T-shirts say: What could possibly go wrong in four seconds?’ ” Nothing in Q2 for Paton, who joked that he’s “continually reinventing” the answer.

Paton, who moved to the United States from his native Canada in 2001, works for Racepak at Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., south of Los Angeles.

“We’re trying some new stuff on this car,” he said. “Working for Racepak, we’re trying some experimental pieces on here. We’ve got a wireless app that allows us to stream the data to a phone for the crew chief to use instead of a dash on the back of a car like you see Antron’s team do.  We’re working on a few new products. So this is the test bed for it. The engineering staff of RacePak – Jeff Green, our V.P. of Engineering – develops pretty much everything RacePak builds. These are things that have come from out of his secret skunkworks office. He’s working on all kinds of neat, new stuff for us to release probably mid-summer. Even with the sportsman data loggers that we sell, it gives [the racers] the ability to add a dash fairly easily and inexpensively. The stuff we develop here, we can put on the Super Comp cars and Super Gas cars.”

Paton’s 2016 NHRA Top Fuel racing schedule top out at about six events. Drag boat racer Shawn Reed will return to the cockpit of Paton’s dragster next weekend at Englishtown, N.J. Paton then will drive the car in some match races this summer, then close the year with some western-U.S. events.

PAIN-IN-THE-NECK-IN-CHIEF – Terry McMillen didn’t go to the White House this past Wednesday. The Top Fuel owner-driver couldn’t even get into his own house at Elkhart, Ind. – because of the fellow who lives in the White House.

The President of the United States gave a speech in the Northern Indiana city and his Secret Service detail blocked roads in the area.

“He came there when the economy was really bad, [with] about 25 percent unemployment. So he was making kind of a ‘victory lap’ now that unemployment [has improved],” the racer said. All he did was inconvenience McMillen.

“It wreaks havoc when he does that,” McMillen said. “I love on a country road, but that country road runs right along the bypass. So when he comes into town, we can’t get to our house. If we leave before that, we can’t get back home, because they have Secret Service there, making sure no one’s crawling up on the bridge to shoot or across my yard, I assume. So I can’t even get down my road when he’s in town. While it’s nice to have him and I guess it’s good to say Elkhart had the President there, personally it’s just a pain in my butt.”

Even in retrospect, McMillen said of the Secret Service presence, “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t for me.”

LOVES EPPING’S SMART FAN – Clay Millican, admittedly a less-than-attentive statistician, said he can’t remember how many of his IHRA-leading 51 Top Fuel victories came here at New England Dragway before the racetrack affiliated with the NHRA.

But what the Great Clips / Parts Plus Dragster driver said he does know is the scenery is gorgeous, the proximity to the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean beaches is convenient, and “it’s amazing how knowledgeable the fans are here.”

Millican said, “They actually keep up. A lot of racetracks you go to, we’ll have a huge crowd, but the fan don’t necessarily know the sport inside and out. There’s so many people here who will say, ‘Hey – you had a good race with Doug Kalitta last week.’ They know what’s happening. That makes it fun, that you have fans who are really and truly keeping up with the sport.’

Many of them likely will come back next June and tell him, “I remember last year, when you qualified fifth and raced Leah Pritchett in the first round of eliminations” – because that’s how Saturday’s qualifying turned out.

This will be Millican’s fourth race-day meeting with Pritchett. She has beaten him twice in their previous three races.

TODD SETTLES INTO NO. 8 – JR Todd’s elapsed times in the SealMaster Toyota were a bit all over the map this weekend (3.781 seconds followed by a 9.687, 3.789, and 3.779). But he ended up qualifying eighth, poised to meet No. 7 Shawn Langdon in the opening round. And Todd was happy: "Great way to end qualifying for these SealMaster Toyota guys. The Radman [team owner Connie Kalitta], Rob Flynn, and team have a great handle on this machine. If we can keep all these teeth on the blower belt, I am confident in what we can do tomorrow."

Meanwhile, his Kalitta Motorsports mate wasn’t as satisfied. Doug Kalitta is sixth in the order and will face No. 9 Terry McMillen. The Mac Tools Dragster driver said, "Definitely wanted to qualify better in this Mac Tools ride, but I am confident in my team.” His qualifying best E.T. was a 3.767 from the opening session Friday, but his 328.30-mph speed in the third overall session Saturday reset the New England Dragway record.
 

FUNNY CAR
 

TASCA SHOOTING FOR 10 RACES NEXT YEAR – Bob Tasca has expanded his Funny Car schedule beyond this New England Nationals event.

“We’ve got Chicago. We’ve got a match race back here September 10 with Tim Wilkerson. And we’re going to try to make Maple Grove [at Reading, Pa.] or the second Charlotte [to begin the Countdown to the Championship],” the Ford dealer from Cranston, R.I., said. “We’re working on some funding. We’re looking for fulltime sponsorship.

“We’re trying. It’s tough this year. You’ve got the Olympics right now, so a lot of corporate money is tied up in the Olympics. But we’re optimistic that we can come up with maybe 10 races next year and try t g from there,” Tasca said.

“It’s great to be out here for five or six races, anyway,” the PPG / NewAutoParts.com Ford owner-driver said. “The car’s running great. The sponsors are happy. And TV’s [the audience rating is] up. That makes it easier to find sponsors. That’s the plan. They haven’t buried us yet.”

He said he’s thrilled to be representing PPG: “They’ve been a longtime supporter of our program.”

Tasca ran a career-best elapsed time of 3.978 seconds at 313.95 mph in his final opportunity. He’ll start 12th in Sunday’s eliminations, opposite a familiar foe, No. 5 John Force.

BECKMAN HAS MASSIVE EXPLOSION – Jack Beckman blamed himself for his Infinite Hero Dodge’s massive explosion during the third overall qualifying session, saying the cause “probably was driver error. That one’s on me.”

But co-crew chief Jimmy Prock absolved Beckman of blame right away, although he couldn’t pinpoint the source of the detonation and fireball that destroyed the body near the end of the 1,000-foot run.

"I'm sure there was some kind of parts failure," Prock said. "It started spinning [the rear tires], and it moved to the inside and out of the grove. It was on fire under the [computer] box, so we just have to see how much is burned up. On the TV video, it looked like he was closing the throttle when it started to spin.”

Beckman, who climbed from his car right away under his own power and appeared not to be injured at all, described the ride as “sliding, skidding, and bouncing all over.” He said, “I couldn’t see anything” because of oil splattering his visor. He said the concussion “ruined the body and the engine. I didn’t want to ruin the chassis.”

Said Beckman, "It was moving around some. This racetrack can be exciting for a driver because the grove can get tight. I pulled it back some, and it just started to spin the tires. That's one of those times where you wish you had a tenth of a second earlier to get off the throttle.

"It was a big explosion, one of the biggest ever,” he said. "The worst was I had oil all over my visor and couldn't see. Fortunately, I had time to reach up with my glove and wipe it off. Until then I couldn't see, and it's just nice to know you're not going into the wall. It's a helpless feeling. When you can't see you don't know where anything is out there including [the other driver, who in this case was John Hale]. That's the terrifying aspect. It's bouncing, and there's oil all over the tires and you need to slow it down. Once I wiped off the oil, I knew I was slowing down and wasn't going to hit anything. That's a nice feeling."

Co-crew chief John Medlen said Beckman displayed “pretty impressive” driving skills in being able to get the car stopped as quickly and safely as he did. Medlen said he asked Beckman through the radio if he was all right and was surprised at how the driver replied, “I’m fine” . . .”as calmly as can be.” Said Medlen, “Keeping the driver safe is our main goal. We work hard to keep these drivers safe. You can fix a race car.”

Prock decided the best way to prepare for Sunday's scheduled eliminations would be to skip Q4 and assess whether to prep that same car or the back-up Dodge ready to race.

Beckman, who took the No. 6 qualifying slot, is scheduled to face No. 11 Cruz Pedregon in the opening round.

Pedregon had his share of troubles in Saturday qualifying, too. At the end of his final qualifying pass, his parachute didn’t deploy properly.

“That got my attention,” the Snap-on Tools/WIX Toyota owner-driver said. But he quickly said following the 3.941-second blast, “That’s a pretty good run.” Downplaying his experienced drivingthat helped in bringing the car to a halt on the pavement, he quipped, “I didn’t feel like going into the sand today.”      

LONE PRO DNQ – Funny Car competitor Mike Smith had the dubious distinction of being the only pro racer not to qualify. That’s because his class had 17 entrants and the Top Fuel and Pro Stock classes do not have full fields.   
 

PRO STOCK
 

GAYDOSH’S LUCK – Could John Gaydosh have gotten any better news to cap his weekend at Epping?

A problem Friday kept him and his lean crew in their pit until the evening session, then a problem Saturday stranded him in the middle of his burnout Saturday. So the bottom racer on the Pro Stock totem pole at No. 14 learned he will have to meet dominator Jason Line in the first round of eliminations.   

“We had a little bit of an incident Friday with changes to the engine and missed the first qualifying session. We got everything fixed,” Gaydosh said. “And in Q2 we ran it to just about 800 feet, just to check the tune-up, and shut it off. It was a planned shutoff. We’ve got it all tuned up, and we’ll see what we can do.”

He considered the weather forecast for rain showers much of the day Sunday and said, “Tomorrow’s going to be iffy, but we’ll get through it. We’ll have to play it by ear and see what happens. We can’t control Mother Nature, unfortunately.”

The Baltimore native is taking advantage of this so-called Eastern Swing. He said he plans to race next weekend at Englishtown, N.J., then at Bristol, Tenn., and Norwalk, Ohio, in successive weeks.  

COUGHLIN WANTS TO ADD EPPING TO LIST OF WINNING PLACES - Jeg Coughlin said he loves the ambience of New England Dragway.

"It reminds me of the tracks I used to go to with my brothers when we were just kids, helping out my dad,” he said. “It's old-school with the way the pits are laid out and the tower right up on the starting line like all the tracks used to be.”

But the five-time Pro Stock champion would like the place a whole lot better if he can add it to the venues where he has won a race. He has 58 national-event trophies but none from Epping (or Norwalk, Ohio, where this “Eastern Swing” will conclude in three more weeks).

"We've only been to Epping twice, so we haven't had many chances to win there just yet, but certainly we'd love to put New England Dragway in the win column," Coughlin said. "In fact, we'd love to change that this weekend."

Coughlin qualified his Elite Motorsports Dodge Dart mid-pack, seventh place, and will line up against No. 8 Shane Gray in Round 1 of runoffs Sunday.  

The Delaware, Ohio, racer said his team hasn’t “had any big 'aha' moments” but said the entire organization has been expecting improved E.T.s and speeds here. His best qualifying effort was 6.599-second, 208.65 mph. The team switched from Chevrolets to Mopar Dodge Darts and HEMI horsepower in the off-season and are still in a learning curve as the regular season passes its midpoint.

"The team is methodically trying to gain performance and they are working night and day to get us back to the winner's circle," Coughlin said. "There has been a lot of testing done since the last race in Topeka, both on-track and on the dyno. We are all anxious to get the HEMIs to perform on the racetrack under real race conditions as well as they are performing on the dyno. We are getting there. We just need to remain patient and positive."

In 2013, Coughlin led the Pro Stock field and posted a semifinal finish.

READY TO REPEAT – Allen Johnson tested his Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart at Rockingham, N.C., near his Greeneville, Tenn., home this past week before heading here to New England Dragway. It was in preparation for the kickoff of this four-race grind that plays out here, in New Jersey, East Tennessee, and Northern Ohio in successive weeks.

“You’ve just got to make sure the engines are fresh and ready to go,” Johnson said, adding that he spent ome time on the dyno, as well. “We’ve got a little bit of momentum, and I love the New England area. I won the inaugural race [here] and I’d like to repeat that this weekend.”

He’ll have to march Sunday past first-round opponent Chris McGaha, the only non-KB/Summit Racing team member to reach a final round in this year’s previous eight events. Johnson, at No 6, has lane choice over No. 9 McGaha in the 14-car lineup.

“The car didn’t run as well as we wanted today,” Johnson said. “We just got to fix the tune-up and we’ll be OK. We’re leaving two or three thousandths on the table right now, but my Marathon Petroleum guys always pull through on race day with the tune-up.

“We just got to race ourselves,” he said. “I always just race myself, so it doesn’t matter who we’re racing on race day. We race our lane and hope to turn on four win lights on Sunday.”

He’s hoping to step up from fourth place to third by the end of this weekend, he said.

“Round wins are really important right now. This is a very important stretch, and my hopes are that after this stretch, we’ll be in the No. 3 spot,” Johnson said.
 
“We’re working on different combinations, and we’ve got a long-term plan for our team. But our team takes it one round at a time, and that’ll set us up for the Western Swing and beyond.”

ENDERS STILL AIMING FOR CHAMP-STYLE PERFORMANCE – No. 10 Erica Enders will meet No. 5 Alex Laughlin in the first round of Pro Stock eliminations Sunday. And that presents another opportunity for the two-time and current champion to get on track with her Elite Motorsports Dodge Dart.

"This year has come with its challenges," Enders said. "We have to stay true to ourselves and stay the course. We'll get to where we're going, and when we do, it'll be game on."

She said being a champion "comes with positives and negatives. We've had a target on our backs from the get-go, but being back-to-back champions makes it a bigger target. I do my best every single time I go up to the starting line, and I don't care who I race, but it does seem that my competitors race me differently than they race other people. I take that as a compliment that my competitors give me their best every time because they can absolutely count on getting my best from me, regardless of who they are."

"I've had the most loyal, fun group of people who have been supportive to us over the years, and the group is steadily growing. That's a huge compliment to what we've accomplished,” she said, adding, “I know this year hasn't exactly made a lot of our fans proud, but they can rest assured that we're doing everything in our power to get back to the top."

FRIDAY - LANGDON TURNING AGGRESSIVE, SCHUMACHER SEEKS FULL WEEKEND OF ACTION, TODD TRYING TO SEAL DEAL, BROWN WORKS AS CREW CHIEF, CRAMPTON SAYS BRING IT ON,  ALEXANDER-SMITH TANDEM TO RETURN TO FUNNY CAR, HIGHT CHEERS UP YOUNG FAN, RUNNER-UP FINISH HERE NAGS JOHNSON, BECKMAN NURSES SORE ANKLE, PEDREGON SEES IMPROVEMENT, FORCE WANTS TRAXXAS BERTH, LINE IN ELITE COMPANY, McGAHA FACING TURNING POINT?
 

TOP FUEL
 

TIME TO BE BOLD – Those who know Top Fuel racer Shawn Langdon aren’t surprised to hear he plans to be aggressive in this ninth event of the season.

"We have to come out swinging this weekend and be strong in these next four races. This is the part of the year that you need to be getting every point that you can get, because you can make up ground or lose ground really quickly. We absolutely have to stay in the top 10 and focus on moving up. That's what we're working on," the Sandvik Coromant/Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher Dragster driver said.

Besides, he saw his Topeka performance – a quarterfinal finish – derail some of his progress.

"We had a couple issues at the last race in Topeka on race day,” he said. “Before that, we really felt like we had a car that could contend on race day. We came back after Topeka, looked everything over. We're definitely ready to run this car again and get back to how we ran in Atlanta where we went to the semis and really felt like we had the car to beat.

A victory at Epping would be his first here and 12th overall in Top Fuel.

Like many of his colleagues, Langdon said he revels in the notion of four straight weekends of national events: "I enjoy this part of the season. It's busy. We're racing every weekend. And that's how I like it. This part of the season is what I look forward to most. I love it, I enjoy it, and I want to do it as much as I can. So I'm pretty happy to know that the next four weeks, I get to strap into this Sandvik Coromant/Red Fuel Dragster."

Langdon is ninth in the standings. Tentatively he seventh among the 13 entrants.

ARMY TEAM’S GOAL: RACE ALL DAY SUNDAY - With 1,100 elimination rounds behind him in 21 seasons of competition, U.S. Army Dragster driver Tony Schumacher has a 9-1 race-day record at New England Dragway, leading all NHRA pro drivers. But he’s not banking on that to score a third straight victory here.

“You always like going places where you’ve had success before, but you have to be careful. Previous success at a particular place doesn’t guarantee you anything. It still takes a lot of work to accomplish what we need to this weekend,” he said. “We’ve been gaining on it all season. I know we have a U.S. Army race car ready to go the distance this weekend. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a complete weekend of good qualifying runs and a long day of action on Sunday. That’s our goal. We are going to do everything we can to win rounds and put ourselves in a position to win Sunday. We are a pressure-driven team, and we know the pressure is on. We want a spot in the Traxxas Nitro Shootout, and it’s in our hands to go out and make it happen.

“This is a really tough profession and it requires a tremendous effort from so many people. And we don’t always get to walk away with the trophy,” Schumacher said.

Schumacher leads all active Top Fuel drivers with 748 elimination-round wins. (Antron Brown has 583, and Doug Kalitta, the current points leader and winner of the previous three races, has 565 closest.) But he’s seeking his first semifinal of 2016, and if he reaches that third round of eliminations, he will become only the third driver in NHRA history to record 750 round wins.

Last June, Schumacher capped a memorable weekend by winning with the famed Continental Color Guard standing at attention behind his U.S. Army Dragster for the final-round launch – on the 240th birthday of the U.S. Army, just north of Boston, the cradle of American independence.

“I really feel like I’ve been blessed and our team has been blessed for going on 16 years to be associated with the U.S. Army. It’s the greatest team there is and built by so many incredible individuals. I’ve said it for years that it’s a gift to be put in a situation like we were last year at Epping. And being surrounded by guys capable of the moment is what allowed us to come out on top. To win on the birthday of the U.S. Army and seeing the guys from the Continental Color Guard up there with us, all of it was special. Just a really proud day for all of us. We’re really hoping to be in that same situation this weekend.”

Schumacher finished the day third in the provisional order.

TODD READY TO CLOSE DEAL – Top-five racer JR Todd, driver of Kalitta Motorsports’ SealMaster Dragster, has had a bit of a crazy first third of the season – and he said he’s ready to post that ninth career victory. After losing to Doug Kalitta by less, literally, than the blink of an eye in the NHRA’s closest side-by-side pass (the Atlanta Top Fuel final round), he ran one of the best times at Topeka and would have defeated nearly every other Top Fuel competitor in the first round but his foe, Antron Brown. So now he’s more eager than ever to win, especially for his crew.

“This is the longest stretch in the NHRA season and a perfect time to get our consistency down and go for victories. Several of my SealMaster guys have yet to win, and that is something I want to get them,” Todd said. “With the way the car has been running, I feel confident that we will be in the winners circle soon.”

Todd, who was familiar with New England Dragway from his IHRA days before the NHRA began competing here, has raced in all three previous NHRA events at Epping. He replaced injured Brandon Bernstein in the inaugural event for Morgan Lucas Racing. A quarterfinal finish in 2014 for Kalitta Motorsports is his best showing here so far.

He's eighth so far with two more qualifying tries Saturday.

BROWN SWITCHES GEARS – While Antron Brown’s Top Fuel rivals took a break and prepared for the string of four consecutive races, the Matco Tools Dragster driver was competing this past Saturday,  Sunday, and Monday in Indiana – as crew chief for his children Arianna, Anson, and Adler at their Jr. Dragster races.

He, his wife, Billie Jo, and uncle Roy Falgout worked on the family’s fleet of Jr. Dragsters last Saturday and Sunday at Lyons Raceway Park in Southwest Indiana then Monday at Lucas Oil Raceway Park at Clermont, Ind., home of the U.S. Nationals.
"Whew. That weekend sure kept me and Roy busy, that's for sure," Brown said of his holiday weekend on the Midwest Junior Super Series (MidwestJrSeries.com), which attracted about 125 cars to the Chandler Aviation race at Lyons. Brown serves as what he described as "the marketing guy" for the series.

 "All the kids are learning a lot of life-building lessons," he said. "They learn from messing up, and they get better. They learn how to be good winners and good losers. When they lose we teach them how to get better."

Like everyone else, Brown has learned through the years by messing up, but he hasn’t messed up much lately. The two-time and reigning Top Fuel champion won in April at Las Vegas and has reached the semifinals in each of the past four events. He’s the most recent Top Fuel driver to win three consecutive events.

This weekend Brown, the No. 2–ranked racer at this point – is aiming to slice the 95-point gap between himself and leader Doug Kalitta.

 “Consistency is a major component in winning a championship. It’s been a really good five-race stretch for Brian and Mark [crew chiefs Corradi and Mark (Oswald) and these Matco Tools/U.S. Army boys. We were hoping to get the victory in Topeka but just came up a little short, but that just drove us all to keep pushing. And that’s something that we do very well,” Brown said. “We just have to keep doing what we do, and that’s going rounds. Doug (Kalitta) has been doing exceptionally well, but it’s hard to maintain that level for an extended period of time. We’re going to keep working so that we can hopefully put a run together like he is on when it matters most. We'll be ready to take advantage of when he falters.”

"Everything's been going good," Brown said. "Our focus is to keep plugging along and keep learning so we can get better every week. We let that one win slip away from us at Topeka. Everyone on our Matco/U.S. Army/Toyota team are ready for these four in a row."

Brown is fifth on the grid overnight. He has two more attempts to improve Saturday.

CRAMPTON LIKES FOUR IN A ROW – Put Richie Crampton on the long list of racers who really like this loaded schedule. This race begins a four-in-four-weeks stretch that includes stops at Englishtown, N.J.; Bristol, Tenn.; and Norwalk, Ohio.

"I love it," Crampton said. "You get lots of runs in quick succession, week after week. I like it. I don't like getting away from the racetrack for too long."

 His Morgan Lucas Racing team has some momentum. Crampton came alive from a disappointing start to qualify No. 2 at Atlanta and then qualify No. 4 and reach the semifinals at Topeka.

"In Atlanta, although it didn't show it on Sunday, we had a really good race car," Crampton said. "We had a fantastic car in Kansas, as well, so that's what we want. We want to have that confidence within the team and myself to go into the start of the busier period of the year. This is where you can start to get your points in line and try and make a run for this thing."

He entered this event in seventh place, just 22 points out of fifth place.

Crampton is 10th as he awaits two more chances to move up the ladder Saturday.  

FUNNY CAR

HEAD’S EPPING DEBUT IMPRESSIVE – In his first pass ever at New England Dragway, Chad Head cranked out a 3.974-second elapsed time at 303.43 mph. That put him tentatively in the No. 8 slot on the grid.  

“The first time I was ever here was four years ago, when I did a track assessment for the PRO folks. I’m excited to be here. It’s like an old-school track. Actually, the last time Dad [Jim Head] raced here, he won in Top Fuel,” Head said.  

He had said he hoped a new fuel pump and essentially a new fuel system in his Head Contracting & Engineering Toyota Camry would help him pick up his performance.

Head came into this race in 11th place.

TASCA STARTS STRING OF THREES – Funny Car owner-driver Bob Tasca III, stung by Ford’s exit from the sport, has participated only sporadically in the past two years. And after his first qualifying attempt Friday he said, “I’m just so excited to be back here.” But Tasca sparked a streak of 3.9-second elapsed times that saw his tentative No. 1 status (at 3.985 seconds) fade in a flash.

Within six minutes, Chad Head had topped Tasca’s run with a 3.974. Three more minutes later, Tommy Johnson Jr. was king of the hill with a 3.885-second E.T. Within 12 minutes, the Kalitta Motorsports tandem of Alexis De Joria and Del Worsham registered 3.928 and 3.959, respectively, to slide Tasca down to fifth place provisionally. Ron Capps blasted to the top of the provisional field with a 3.865-second, 325.92-mph pass that was the second-quickest in NHRA Funny Car history.

Matt Hagan clocked a 3.941, Tim Wilkerson a 3.969, and Jack Beckman a 3.895 to heighten the possibility of the NHRA’s first three-second Funny Car bump.

It didn’t happen Friday, as the bottom four drivers in the 16-car field could go no quicker than 4.315 seconds. But the order changed slightly by day’s end. No one matched or exceeded Capps’ time, but Hagan assumed the No. 2 spot, Johnson fell to third. Rounding out the top 12 – all in the three-second range – were (in order) John Force, Wilkerson, Beckman, Worsham, Curtney Force, De Joria, Head, Pedregon, and Tasca.      

ALEXANDER-SMITH DUO RETURNING – Call them “The Odd Couple,” Funny Car racer Blake Alexander and longtime crew chief Paul Smith, with their 42-year age difference.

Alexander would call it magic.

The two will compete in the NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series for the fifth straight season, beginning with the June 9-12 Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park at Englishtown, N.J.

They’ll carry the banner for Grapevine, Texas, Pronto Auto Service Centers and the National Pronto Association, a network of automotive aftermarket industry distributors. Gates Belts, Denso, Exide Batteries, ACDelco, Delphi, Valvoline, Monroe Shocks, Standard Motor Products, Centric Parts, Pro Jack, Sparco, and Motorcraft also will offer support.

“Paul, the crew, and myself unite cagey veteran talent and youth, which, when mixed properly, can create magic on Sundays,” Alexander said.

“I am thrilled to be back in the seat of the Pronto Auto Service Center Funny Car alongside our other great partners. I am excited to meet all the Pronto members and their customers and want to thank them for the opportunity to be involved in this program,” Alexander said.

Robert Roos, vice-president of sales and marketing for National Pronto Association, has paired Pronto Auto Parts and its Pronto Auto Service Centers with an assortment of vendor partners to sponsor Alexander’s efforts, taking advantage of the business-to-business opportunities.

“We are building this racing promotion with passion and excitement alongside our many great vendor partners,” Roos said. “The NHRA experience provides a natural connection between our Pronto distributors and their service-center customers. The professional technicians of our Pronto Auto Service centers leverage the many tools within our Pronto Auto Service center program to keep their customers’ vehicles safely operating on the roads all across North America. The Pronto Service Centers and their teams of technicians are the foundation of our program, and we are excited to be able to reward them for their hard work with a weekend at the races.”

Alexander completed his licensing during his junior year of college, making him the NHRA’s youngest Funny Car driver.

Smith is tuning son Mike Smith in the New Englander Dodge Stratus this weekend at the NHRA New England Nationals.

HIGHT CHEERS YOUNG GEORGIA FAN – Tracy Waters, a longtime photographer on the NHRA circuit, teamed with Funny Car driver Robert Hight to cheer up a nine-year-old by in his Statesboro, Ga., hometown.

Nine-year-old Holt, who follows the racing exploits of the Auto Club Camaro driver from John Force Racing, fell from a golf cart recently and suffered a fractured skull and nose. Waters said Holt is expected to recover fully but will face extended recuperation time.

So Hight autographed a hero card for the youngster and sent along, as well, a special gift:an autographed visor from his helmet.

WANTS BACK THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY – Tommy Johnson Jr. still is bugged about his runner-up finish here last June.

"Last year at Epping was a really good event for us. We were No. 1 qualifier, made it to the final and basically only lost because we had a problem. It really felt like we let one slip away, so I've been looking forward to going back for a year now. I'm ready to fix that and get that win, because we really feel like we should've won that one last year," the Make-A-Wish Dodge driver said.

"It was also the turning point of our season where we started to run much better," he said. "We had done fairly well up until that point but Epping kind of seemed to be the place where we put it all together. The rest of the year was pretty good for us."

After leaving New England Dragway, Johnson advanced to seven more final rounds (with two victories) before ending the season third in the standings.

This time, he entered 10th in the standings, so he’s hoping to get off that Countdown bubble spot. At the most recent event, at Topeka, Johnson recorded his career-best elapsed time (3.889 seconds) and speed (327.51 mph).

He topped that Friday in the opening session with a 3.885-second pass at 326.95 mph to take the provisional No. 2 spot.  

"This is the hard part of the season," he said. "We rarely do four in a row. It's easy to find your rhythm, your groove once you have four in a row. We had a pretty good race at Topeka, but the momentum should really start to build in these next few events. Epping will be a great place to get that started on the right foot. It could either be a long four in a row or it could be a good stretch of events. We're planning on making it a good one."

CRASH CAUSE REMAINS MYSERY BUT WILKERSON STILL FLYING – Tim Wilkerson still has no clue what caused his car to go haywire on the launch during his semifinal race at Topeka two weeks ago. It lurched right after taking off and hit the wall. With one tire still spinning, it twisted around and plowed into the opposite-lane wall. He said Friday he might never have an answer why. All he may have from the incident is a bill from race-car builder Murf McKinney.

“We had every fuel line checked. Before we took it apart when we got back, we made sure to check every valve cover nut. It doesn’t have any oil leaking out of it. The motor looks like brand-new. We can’t find one thing leaking. The rear end’s not broken. All we know is that the left tire was smoking and the right one’s not. Watching the video, that’s all we know. We’ve checked everything we can check,” Wilkerson said.

“We didn’t have 10 guys walking the racetrack. So we really have no idea what went on in front of us. I know the car in front of me smoked the tires and pedaled it about 19 times. So who knows?” he said. “All I can do is assume there was something out there that we didn’t see that we ran through backing up from the burnout. And I can’t conclude that, because after I made a run there were 20 crew chiefs out there looking at it and nobody saw a thing. From where I drove but after I had spun around and come across the track, I leaked all over the place. But we can’t find a thing. No idea. All we know is one tire had traction and the other one didn’t. That’s the only way it makes a right turn.”

The Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang looks familiar – and it is. It’s the one in which Wilkerson won the Funny Car trophy in February at Phoenix. But it isn’t really his car any longer. He sold it, and the name of the new owner, Brian Stewart, is spread across the fuel tank underneath the body. Stewart, who commissioned Wilkerson’s son Dan to race it at Charlotte, was gracious enough to let Wilkerson borrow the car he nicknamed “Bessie” for this race and the next two, at Englishtown, N.J., and Bristol, Tenn.  

Wilkerson drove the car to the No.7 spot in Friday’s first session and improved to fifth with a 3.890-second pass in the evening session that set the track speed record at 330.63 mph.

He’ll have his own car back during this same so-called “Eastern Swing.” He said, “The other car will be back at Norwalk, with any luck. We’re picking the car up today. I’ve got a guy picking the chassis up [at McKinney’s shop at Lafayette, Ind.]. He has already front-halved it. He thinks he’ll have a body done by the end of the week. It takes time to paint it and letter it.

“This is the car I sold Brian Stewart. He has been nice enough to let us use it. So for these three races – Epping, Englishtown, Bristol – we’re going to run this car. If we have any tragedies, I don’t know what we’re going to do. Of course, we ran for three races with one car and one body and won one of them and damn near won two of them. So it can be done. You’ve just got to be careful,” Wilkerson said.

He said the accident at Topeka “we hope was an anomaly and we’re not going to see it again,” he said.             

Wilkerson said he was thankful no one was injured. The only casualty, he said, was his wallet. “It really didn’t hurt my ego. There wasn’t anything I could have done. Was a passenger, wasn’t much of a driver at that point. It’s just upsetting, because it was such a good car. We were running threes like they were falling out of the sky. Now we’re just motivated to make the old car [one he nicknamed “Bessie”] do the same thing.”

BECKMAN MENDING FROM HURT ANKLE – The ankle bone’s connected to . . . an otherwise perfect race??

That’s the story of Infinite Hero Dodge Funny Car driver Jack Beckman at Topeka. A top-end accident that hurt his left ankle didn’t stop him from running a career best elapsed time (3.866 seconds) and speed (332.59 mph), qualifying second, and charging to his second straight final round.

After a welcome week off, Beckman proved with his short-lived track speed record 329.99 mph in Friday’s first session that he is ready to take on his rivals. (Tim Wilkerson eclipsed it in the second session at 330.63 mph.) His rivals include Don Schumacher Racing colleague Matt Hagan, who out-qualified him last time out for No. 1, swiped his national E.T. record, and beat him in the final for the second straight race.

Other than that, Beckman’s trip to Kansas was just swell.

Sarcasm aside, it actually was pretty swell. Beckman’s team (with Jimmy Prock, John Medlen, and Chris Cunningham at the lead) gave him a car that produced three-second E.T.s in each of its first seven Topeka passes. Had he clocked a fourth in the final round, he would have been the NHRA’s first Funny Cr driver to do that.

"We have a car that made seven three-second runs consecutively. Nobody has ever done that. We had every reason to think going up there for the final that we'd get our eighth with a good shot to get the trophy," Beckman said. However, like both Top Fuel finalists Doug Kalitta and Antron Brown, Beckman lost traction.

Despite ranking second in the standings, a mere 12 points behind Courtney Force, Beckman hasn’t won any of the eight completed races. So he said he feels like he has something to prove here this weekend.

As for his ankle, Beckman said, it "hurt a little on the burnouts, but when I got to the line it never bothered me. He said focus and adrenaline likely killed the pain. "These cars are so advanced and sophisticated that I didn't have any problems operating the clutch. Several years ago, it would have been a lot different."

CRUZ PEDREGON – Cruz Pedregon, still excited about his 3.92-second run at Topeka, said earlier this week, “It definitely felt good, because it gave us a boost, just what we need to head strong into Epping. I knew something great was happening, and that means it will again. Our team is capable of runs like this every weekend. We just have to work hard to get down that track as fast as we can consistently, because this year’s competition is fierce.”

Car Chief Chris “Warrior” Kullberg said, “We’ve had eight races with very different factors playing out at each track. Whether it’s the heat or some tweak in the body or car, the team has made quick adjustments to deal with it all.”

He said New England Dragway “tends to be on the cooler side, so we’ll be working toward consistency with a car that typically likes the heat. It’s a lot easier when you know what to expect in this sport, even if it’s something as simple as low humidity. We have to take advantage of every bit of information available to us before race day.”

Good luck to him and everybody else when it comes to the weather and the race-day forecast. The temperatures are expected to fluctuate between 67 and 81 degrees with partial sun and maybe an all-day downpour Sunday and ugly weather continuing into next week. Then again, no one predicted the Houston race would get one pass completed, and the weather in Baytown was beautiful for most of the weekend.  

Pedregon is 11th heading into Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions.

FORCE WANTS TRAXXAS SPOT – John Force is the lone driver in his four-entry organization who hasn’t won a race this year. With a victory at Houston, Courtney Force leads the class standings. Her sister, Brittany Force, led the Top Fuel points earlier this year – and she is third with two victories. Robert Hight is fifth in points with a Gainesville triumph. The 16-time champion, who won here in the Funny Car class last season and hasn’t won since, is trying to rebound from three straight first-round losses and his costly scrape with the Topeka guardwall with his bran-new Chevrolet Camaro body on his Peak Antifreeze car.

“I have been at the shop in Indy since after Topeka, working with my team,” Force said. “We have been able to go through the car and really get me fitted and comfortable. I have been able to spend some time with the Aerodine [employees] to work on the body I brushed the wall with, and I think we made it a little better. So many people have worked on this new Camaro body. We are excited to get it back at the track.”

Force, ninth in the standings but fourth in the Friday qualifying order, said, “I want to get into the winners circle more than anyone, I think. You want your team to have success, but when you are trying to get one of the last spots in the Traxxas Shootout plus get that win for our sponsor PEAK Antifreeze, you put a lot of pressure on yourself. I can handle the pressure, and so can my team.

“I got my first win for PEAK last year in Epping, and I think I have a great chance to get another win for them. We aren’t just racing for PEAK or Chevy but also for Auto Club, Traxxas, Monster Energy, Lucas Oil and Mac Tools,” he said. “You never take winning for granted, and I know I have won a lot. But I want to keep winning and teaching my kids.”

Their success is a source of pride for him, naturally: “I think seeing the Monster Energy Dragster and Brittany win in Top Fuel on the same day as Robert won with the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro in Gainesville . . . Then seeing Courtney win in Houston . . . We have put a lot of time in over the off-season and we are seeing a lot of that work come together plus the relationship with Alan Johnson has been big. I like that we have an alliance with Torrence Racing and we are both having success.”

Force tested at Indianapolis this past Tuesday to prepare for the four-in-a-row experience. But he said, “The best way to get off to a good start is to just focus on each race. If you start thinking about trying to get on a win streak, you won’t be thinking about what you need to do on that run.”

 

PRO STOCK

 

UP THERE WITH GLIDDEN, SHEPHERD – If Jason Line advances to the final round this weekend, he will tie Bob Glidden and the late Lee Shepherd for the most consecutive finals to start a season (nine).

Line said he can’t describe what it would mean to join such an elite duo, but he did say, “Actually, I'm quite sure my name doesn't belong being mentioned with those two. It would be cool. I would be lying if I said it wasn't. I don't know. It takes a lot of good fortune. Just the fact to go up there and make that many runs and not shake or have a mechanical failure, just something go wrong, that in itself is kind of phenomenal. Whatever. If it happens, it happens. That's great. If it doesn't, that's great, too. Been a heck of a good run. Either way, I won't be upset.”

TURNING POINT – Chris McGaha has the distinction of being the lone driver not associated with the KB/ Summit Racing team to reach a Pro Stock final round so far this season.

The Harlow Sammons Camaro owner-driver, who led the field here at last year’s event, said he thinks a return visit to New England Dragway is a positive harbinger – even if it means the start of four races in as many weeks.

“Going No. 1 last year was pretty cool,” McGaha said. “The Epping race always seems to be a turning point in the season for us. It’s not the halfway point, but to me, it’s a huge turning point in the season. The Eastern Swing is a make-or-break situation, because there are so many races happening in a row. And how you run these next few races will dictate a lot of the rest of the season.”

McGaha is a long way from home – Odessa Texas – but said, “When we do the Eastern Swing, you get more comfortable because you’re doing it week in and week out. By the time you get to the fourth race, it’s second nature. With this many races in a row, the driver better show up, too.”
 
Halting the KB domination at eight races is McGaha’s goal for the stretch.

 “The goal for the four in a row would probably be being the team to break up the stint right now because there is another team kind of running away with the points,” he added. “I think the Harlow Sammons team can make that happen in Epping."