EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK GSA PRO MODS POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND  FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

 

MONDAY NOTEBOOK: WINNERS CROWNED AT THE SWAMP

MORGAN DOMINATES - During preseason testing, Morgan Lucas indicated that he had a sense he was turning the corner in his journey as a Top Fuel driver. He reflected on decisions he had made that he would count as poor ones, shared his perspective about developing patience and maturing in the business world as well as in driving skill, and even marveled that at age 28 he's still the youngest in the NHRA headliner class.

"I've been to hell and back," Lucas said.

But this past week at the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals -- a week in which he was still floating from his recent engagement to longtime girlfriend Katie Pallone -- everything was heavenly.

Lucas was No. 1 qualifier at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, Fla.  He got a lucky break in the opening round of eliminations. He set the track elapsed-time record and continued to lower it throughout the event, driving the GEICO/Lucas Oil Dragster like a bracket car.

He punctuated his dominating performance with a 3.743-second, 326.87-mph blast to win the Gatornationals for the first time, stretching final-round opponent Tony Schumacher's winless streak in the U.S. Army Dragster to 26 events.

In earning his career fifth victory, Lucas clocked the second-quickest elapsed time in Top Fuel history. He had consistent 3.7-second passes -- following his unlikely first-round victory. In that one, he took advantage of Brady Kalivoda's tire smoke at the hit of the throttle and won in spite of himself, as his parachute dropped out accidentally and he dragged it down the right lane for an ugly but vital 4.694-second, 173.12-mph victory.

In the semifinal against Doug Kalitta, Lucas was just three-thousandths of a second slower at 3.746, and in Sunday's quarterfinal, he beat Spencer Massey with a 3.747.

Schumacher smoked the tires in his second consecutive final-round appearance and finished with an uncharacteristic 5.289, 139.63 showing. Had he won, he would have passed both "Big Daddy" Don Garlits and Larry Dixon and emerged as the most successful dragster driver at this 43-year-old NHRA classic and traditional East Coast opener.

Instead, Lucas joined Robert Hight (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock), and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) in the winners circle.

"I can honestly say everybody on our team is extremely competitive. But at the same time, I think they're extremely graceful when it comes to losing and taking the downturns in stride," Lucas said.

He was emphasizing the "graceful part," but they undoubtedly are tired of being so darn graceful and are elated to see a shift in fortune, with fewer downturns. And Lucas said that's on its way, especially with crew chiefs Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi newly on board.

"I think we finally got this really good chemistry going with our addition of Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi," the team manager/driver said. "I think it rejuvenates the whole program. And everybody's excited."

"What I love about Aaron," Lucas said, "is that he's not afraid to be aggressive. I never had a crew chief that thought like that. He like cautious-aggressive. He thinks about things in a really practical way. It's nice having a crew chief that's close to your age.

"So I think all the things we have right now are really putting us in a really good direction," he said. "You have to ride the wave while it's up, because it's not always going to be up. You can't count on everything going smooth. Right now my confidence is sky-high."

As for the parachute faux-pas, he said, "For the guys to recover the way they did this weekend, I'm so impressed."

Lucas seems to excel at races that are plagued by rain.

"I would love to win one of these in a normal situation," he said. "But I think Larry Dixon said this over the P.A. system: there's no asterisks to these wins. For us, we don't care when we put these trophies on our shelves how we get 'em. We just like to get 'em and know that we worked hard to get there."

Schumacher, with a lineup of dangerous opponents in Terry McMillen, Antron Brown, and Shawn Langdon, was impressive.

"I've been beaten by Tony in the finals before, and I've beaten Tony in the finals before," Lucas said. "When you race a guy like that -- he's such a class act, when it comes to being a good winner and good loser -- you get more geared up just to do the right thing and do the job. They've been awesome. They've been going rounds. The guy's No. 1 in points, so that's for a reason. That's for his consistency."

Lucas remembered buddy Eric Medlen, who lost his life in Gainesville five years ago this month, following a Monday testing crash that has sparked safety improvements in racing.

"At the top end, I dedicated this race to Eric," Lucas said. "I've always wanted to win one and dedicate it to him. It's almost too coincidental."

A WIN IS A WIN - Robert Hight has won Indy and even a championship but one wish-list item, winning the NHRA Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals title, has always managed to elude him.

This season Hight and tuner Jimmy Prock decided they weren’t leaving anything to chance and won the first three rounds of eliminations in impressive fashion. They even established a new track speed record of 317.12 miles per hour, nearly six miles per hour faster than No. 1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon.

So, on the heels of a torrid pace which included elapsed times of 4.051, 4.039 and a 4.04, what did Hight and Prock lay down in winning the final? A rotten egg, Hight will no doubt admit.

To borrow a line from legendary Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson, “there are no bad wins,” Hight said of his first title at Auto Plus Raceway at Gainesville on his ugliest run of the weekend, a popping and bagging, smoking 4.866-second elapsed time at only 236.05 miles per hour. Final round opponent Johnny Gray had his issues as well with an early-lifting 6.074, 116.09.

“It shook and I had to pedal it,” Hight explained. “Sometimes as a driver, you want to be perfect. You want your car to be flawless. Sometimes as a driver it is pretty cool to win one of those races by pedaling. It’s one of those races you want to win in historic fashion, a good old pedal-fest, that’s huge and it gives you a lot of confidence as a driver, and that your team believes in you.”  

Hight is still at a loss to explain what caused his car to fall off of low elapsed time for the final.

“I wasn’t expecting that kind of race at all,” admitted Hight. “Jimmy said he was going to back it off because the track was warming up and we were going to try for a 4.08 or something. I believe what I felt was that he backed it off too much. It was weak and it shook. After Morgan Lucas ran a 3.74 behind us, it showed just how good the track was and what it would hold. We would have been better to leave it as it was and shoot for a 4.03 to 4.04. It didn’t matter how you won, just that you won.”

Hight has won two consecutive races and pulled to within seven points of teammate Mike Neff, who lost to Gray in the semi-finals. John Force Racing has accounted for every win thus far in 2012.

“Two in a row is huge and a great way to start the season, and three in a row for John Force,” said Hight. “I was hoping for a third all-Ford final. It just didn’t work that way.”

And in the end, with the Hall of Fame induction in Gainesville during the race weekend, Hight experienced his moment of fame in winning the Gators.

“I’ve won the Pomona races and next to Indy, this is one of the races you want to win,” Hight admitted. “Ron Capps said it best when he said that you don’t want to retire without a Gainesville win.”

Hight believes this win will suffice, even without the style points.

DRAGGING THE LINE - Mike Edwards admitted he had trouble the first couple of Pro Stock races this season getting his Penhall/K&N/Interstate Pontiac off the starting line.

The 2009 world champion fixed that problem Monday morning with a final-round holeshot victory over Greg Anderson at the Gatornationals.

Edwards had an outstanding 0.003 reaction time to defeat the faster Anderson. Edwards clocked a 6.566-second time at 211.30 mph to beat Anderson's 6.538-second effort. Anderson was hindered by a 0.070 reaction time.

"You have to go when you are in the finals, especially running Greg (Anderson) and those guys," Edwards said. "They are definitely the act of the (Pro Stock) class. He has been in all three finals this year, and we are fortunate to come away with the win, and my team did a great job. I didn't come here to take second, I came here to try and win. If I'm late, what are my chances? If I can get a good light and hopefully have a chance that is what you have to do. This was a great weekend for us. Hats off to the (NHRA) Safety Safari to come out here on Monday and get that track prepared like they did.I appreciate everything they do for us."

This was Edwards 34th NHRA Pro Stock national event win and his first at the Gatornationals.

"I'm pretty tickled about getting my first win at the Gatornationals," Edwards said.

By winning Monday, Edwards also halted an early-season victory parade by Summit Racing teammates Anderson and Jason Line, the 2011 world champ. Anderson won the season-opening Winternationals and Line was the Arizona Nationals champion.

During his post-race press conference, Edwards also took a moment to reflect on the passing of former Modified Eliminator World Champion and Pro Stock driver Buddy Ingersoll.

"My heart is saddened because my best buddy Mark Ingersoll (Allen Johnson's crew chief) his dad Buddy passed away Saturday night and he is a great friend of mine," Edwards said. "Mark is just like a brother to me. I have known him all my life. I'm going to miss him (Buddy) that is for sure."

Edwards beat Shane Gray, Ron Krisher, Ronnie Humphrey and Anderson to claim the Gatornationals crown. The first round of Pro Stock eliminations was littered with upsets, which wasn't lost on Edwards before he took on Gray.

"I was closing my eyes, I didn't want to see what was going to happen next," said Edwards when asked about all the favorites losing.

IN A ZONE - It's safe to say Eddie Krawiec is in a comfort zone at the Gatornationals.

Krawiec opened the Pro Stock Motorcycle season with his third win in a row at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Krawiec's latest win came when he beat his Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson teammate Andrew Hines Monday in the final round.

Hines had the starting line advantage, but Krawiec pulled ahead by the 100 foot mark and sailed to the victory. Krawiec clocked a 6.822-second time at 194.94 mph. Hines recorded a 6.861-second run at 194.55 mph. Not only did Krawiec win the event he also established an NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle national record in qualifying at 6.750 seconds and left atop the standings with 150 points.

"That is a great title championship defense," said Krawiec, the reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion, about his performance at the Gatornationals. "I had a great motorcycle all weekend right off the truck. We are really happy. We debuted our new bikes this weekend. They have a little bit of a different body style, going after the 2012 Night Rod. The bikes are running awesome. We did a lot of work in the offseason and we were able to test a little bit before coming here."

During Krawiec's second round win over Scotty Pollacheck, Krawiec clocked a 6.761-second time at 199.14 mph. No Pro Stock Motorcycle rider has run 200 mph at an NHRA national event.

"There was a lot of hype around that 200 mph mark and unfortunately we were not able to get that," Krawiec said. "That would have been icing on the cake. I probably could have retired after that weekend if 200 (mph) came because that would have been the perfect event, perfect everything. I guess it just wasn't meant for me to retire."

Considering Krawiec was racing his teammate Hines in the finals, it seemed like an ideal place for the 200-mph barrier to be broken.

"To be honest we do not know why it slowed down that much," Krawiec said. "Both bikes seemed like they hit the wall from half track on. They really didn't run as good as they should have. I really thought there was going to be 79 or 80 out there, but apparently the head wind picking up a little more than it was and the fact that it was about eight degrees hotter, I guess just knocked the wind out of them (the bikes). I noticed the Pro Stock cars slowed down about 2 mph also. It was good to see there was a trend happening and we know it is not anything with the equipment."

Krawiec also knows with the success he and Hines are having, it is going to fuel more bickering from their fellow Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors.

"When did it stop?," said Krawiec when a reporter told him the bickering was going to start again. "We work on  our stuff all the time and we keep after it. It also shows you the handful of guys, and then you have the four of us, meaning the Hectors (Hector Arana Sr., Hector Arana Jr.) and our Screamin' Eagle team. Hector (Sr.) and those guys are keeping up and I think if they tested before coming here (the Gatornationals), you would have saw them a little better because you saw them getting better and better throughout the weekend. Those two guys (Hector Arana Sr. and Hector Arana Jr.), you can't count them short. Hector Jr. is doing a phenomenal job riding, same as his father. I think you will see some of the guys, hopefully, I think start picking up. I think you will see the Suzukis start coming around again. People just need to start testing and get a couple of laps under their belt. Now that we are getting into that part of the year, I think that the parity will start coming a little closer together."

SUNDAY QUICK HITS RACE REPORT

TOP FUEL

FIRST ROUND

STARTS WITH LOW E.T. - In a battle of former Jr. Dragster racers, Spencer Massey opened eliminations with a victory over Hillary Will, who despite a three-year layoff qualified ninth. His 3.805-second elapsed time turned out to be the quickest of the round.

HOLESHOT VICTORY - After a bit of a staging battle, No. 12 starter Clay Millican upset No. 5 Khalid al Balooshi on a holeshot. His 3.875-second pass at 315 mph translated into a five-thousandths of a second margin of victory against the Al-Anabi rookie's quicker and faster 3.831, 317-mph performance.

Millican wasn't so excited about the fact he advanced with a holeshot. "Whatever," he said. "We got a win." He said he felt like he had "screwed up on our run" Saturday and felt he "had to do something to do my part" to make up for that Sunday.

Sidelined three-time Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon, sitting in the race-control booth with announcer Bob Frey, said, "You take pride in a holeshot win, and there's no worse feeling in the world than when you go back [to your pit after losing on holeshot] and you couldn't get the job done." As for the winless al Balooshi, Dixon (who left his ride and made room for al Balooshi to move over from the Pro Mod ranks) said, "I feel for him. He's a great driver, a great champion. He's going to have his day in the sun when he gets some laps under his belt."

FAMILY FUN - The Doug Kalitta - Brandon Bernstein match-up was one between two families that have had success at the Gatornationals. The balance in this thrilling side-by-side race tipped to the Kalittas this time, as the airline owner flew at 3.850 seconds at 313 mph and escaped with a victory over Bernstein, who was close beside him with a 3.851-second E.T. "We knew it was going to be tough," Kalitta said. He said, "The track's really good." Kalitta will go against Clay Millican.

LUCKY BREAK - When Morgan Lucas qualified No. 1 Saturday, he said, "I feel like I'm walking in my front door when I'm here. It's a very comforting track." But his Sunday-morning experience might have him feeling a bit like a stranger at Auto-Plus Raceway.

He almost was shown the door. His parachutes popped out early in his faceoff with No. 16 and equally hungry Brady Kalivoda. Luckily for Lucas, Kalivoda struck the tires of the Warrior Racing Dragster on his side of the track. Lucas, dragging his parachute down the right lane, won with an unlikely 4.69-second clocking at 173 mph.

Crew chief Aaron Brooks, still a bit stunned by the parachute malfunction, only could say, "Some days it's just your day."

After climbing from the GEICO / Lucas Oil Dragster, the winner said, "I didn't know the parachute was out. I didn't know what the hell was going on. It felt really, really horrible."

Not so terrific, either, was giving up lane choice for the second round to Spencer Massey.

As public-address commentator Larry Dixon remarked, "Brady will think about that for a year. That's heart-breaking for them."

SLIM VICTORY MARGIN, BUT A VICTORY - Tony Schumacher squeaked past the improving-with-Lee-Beard Terry McMillen in the Amalie Oil / UNOH Dragster, 3.81 to 3.87. Following the 320-mph blast in the U.S. Army Dragster, Schumacher said he might get another chance to snap his 25-race winless string "if we keep showing up with our A game."

GETTING THE BALL ROLLING - Shawn Langdon kept the Al-Anabi Racing banner flying with victory over T.J. Zizzo at 3.829 seconds on the 1,000-foot course. Langdon said he's "pulling for Balooshi to get his first round-win," but he also said he wants "to get the ball rolling" on his own streak of victories.

RUNNING WITH BIG DOGS - With Rob Flynn as crew chief for a cohesive group of mechanics, first-round winner Bob Vandergriff said his victory over a strong-running Steve Torrence "is a tribute to my team. I'll put my guys up against anybody." Vandergriff used a 3.832-second pass at 321 mph to top Torrence's 3.844, 314 effort. Vandergriff's next opponent will be Shawn Langdon.

IT 'BLOWED UP,' BUT HE WINS - Antron Brown earned another date with Don Schumacher Racing headliner Tony Schumacher in his triumph over Grubnic, despite his supercharger blowing up at the end of the run. Brown recorded a 3.813, 315 effort to Grubnic's 5.841. Brown said he "felt it pop" at the top end of the run, and he was quick to say, "We'll get it back together."

QUARTER-FINALS

PARTS NEEDED QUICKLY - Clay Millican will need parts plus for his Parts Plus Dragster, which had a snap, crackle, and pop against Doug Kalitta and necessitated a clean-up -- just minutes after the Safety Safari completed a lengthy Top Alcohol Funny Car mop-up from Chris Foster's fluid-leaking, wall-banging incident. Meanwhile, Kalitta, who won the quarterfinal race in 3.813 seconds at 320.43 mph, was recovering from an unspecified mechanical glitch in his Kalitta Air Dragster. Crew chief Jim Oberhofer found the problem and sent Kalitta into the semifinals for the first time in 18 races -- since last May 22 at Topeka. "We're looking forward to going on. Going into the semis . . . each round is great for us."

CLOSE DECISION - Shawn Langdon moved past Bob Vandergriff and into the 3.792 at 317 mph in the Al-Anabi / Toyota Dragster against Vandergriff's 3.81, 320 in the C&J Energy Services Dragster. "I heard him right there from the get-go," Langdon said of the determined Vandergriff. He said waiting through off-and-on sprinkles was unsettling but praised the Safety Safari for giving the racers "a perfect track."

SCHUMACHER HOLESHOTS BROWN - In the semifinals, U.S. Army-sponsored Tony Schumacher will face Shawn Langdon for the first time this year after eliminating DSR colleague Antron Brown on a holeshot by 0.0115 of a second, or about five feet. Schumacher beat Brown off the starting line (with a .049-second reaction time to Brown's .066) and finished with a 3.795-second E.T. at 322.65 mph. Brown ran 3.789, 318.62 in the Matco Tools Dragster. The victory helped Schumacher catch up with Brown. The former motorcycle racer has won 19 times against Schumacher and just 13 losses.

THIRD-QUICKEST IN HISTORY - Spencer Massey ran his best pass of the weekend, a 3.792-second effort at 321.35 mph in the FRAM/Prestone Dragster, but even that outstanding number was no match for No. 1 qualifier Morgan Lucas. The GEICO / Lucas Oil Dragster driver registered a 3.747-second E.T. -- two-hundredths of a second better than his qualifying time -- that is the third-quickest in Top Fuel history. An elated Lucas, who dodged a bullet in the opening round as his parachute dropped out prematurely, quipped, "It's amazing what happens when the parachute stays in!"  Lucas and Kalitta will meet in the semifinal.

NASCAR LEGEND VISITS B.R.A.K.E.S. - Visiting Doug Herbert's B.R.A.K.E.S. pro-active driving school for teens this past week at zMax Dragway were NASCAR legend Bobby Allison and his wife, Judy.

The 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion and winner of 85 Winston Cup victories visited with Herbert's students across the street from the Concord, N.C., circle track where he won six NASCAR events.

That Herbert's personal and practical project has attracted the attention of individuals such as Allison complements the fact that it is growing and producing the results he intended. B.R.A.K.E.S. has expanded this year from 44 schools to 78 and is expected to impart its message to nearly 3,000 teens in six states including North Carolina, California, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.

"We're pretty proud of our growth since we created the program," Herbert, the four-time IHRA champion and NHRA regular, said. "For us, the more kids we run through our program, the more lives we're saving. And that's why we do this."

The program is designed to teach young drivers to be safer and more conscientious behind the wheel. Herbert established it as a living memorial to sons Jon and James, who lost their lives in a 2008 traffic accident. The boys' schoolmates helped name the organization: Be Responsible and Keep Everyone Safe (B.R.A.K.E.S.) in an effort to prevent similar tragedies.

Herbert welcomed his racing hero Allison at the zMax Dragway classes this past Monday and Tuesday and said, "We always receive such great support from [track owners] Marcus and Bruton Smith. We can always count on them to do a first-class job in helping us present a worthwhile day of instruction for everyone."

For more information on B.R.A.K.E.S. and to see its 2012 driving school schedule, visit the organization's Web site: www.putonthebrakes.com.

SEMI-FINALS

LUCAS LEADS ALL THE WAY - Two-time Gatornationals winner Doug Kalitta will have to wait for No. 3. Morgan Lucas posted a wire-to-wire victory over the slow-starting Kalitta, thanks to a .042-second reaction time against a decidedly late .101. Lucas, as No. 1 qualifier who in Sunday's quarterfinals recorded the third-quickest elapsed time in the Top Fuel 1,000-foot era, is  poised to race for his first victory in 24 races. The GEICO / Lucas Oil Dragster driver's most recent victory came at the 2011 Winternationals. Kalitta was going for his first final-round appearance in 29 races, since the 2010 fall event at Charlotte and was seeking his first victory in 32 races, since his July 2010 triumph at Denver. Lucas won with a 3.746-second pass at 321.50. Kalitta ran a 3.789-second elapsed time, his career best, at 320.89 in the Kalitta Air Dragster.

BACK-TO-BACK FINALS - Tony Schumacher advanced to his second straight final round and another chance to silence any U.S. Army Dragster doubters. Will he end his 25-race winless streak? His chance comes at Shawn Langdon's expense, as Langdon smokes the Al-Anabi / Toyota Dragster tires early in the run. Schumacher went on to win in 3.791 seconds at 320.97, while Langdon finished officially at 11.048, 69.73. Langdon was making his second straight semifinal appearance in three races this season. Langdon was aiming for his first final round since the Charlotte Four-wide race last season and his first in a traditional setting since the 2011 Winternationals. Lucas has lane choice.

FINALS

HIGHT WINS AN UGLY RACE - Two of the semi-finals trailblazers were anything but hot in the finals. Just as the veterans understand, you don’t have to be hot just the first one to reach the final round. In a tire-smoking, engine wounding final round, Robert Hight’s 4.864, 236.05 was enough to secure the victory over Johnny Gray, who aborted the run at half-track.

FINAL

LUCAS WINS - Morgan Lucas blasted the GEICO/Lucas Oil Dragster to a winning -- and dominating -- 3.743-second, 326.87-mph run to win the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway, stretching Tony Schumacher's winless streak in the U.S. Army Dragster to 26 events.

FUNNY CAR

FIRST ROUND

ITCHIN' TO RACE - According to team sources, Traxxas Funny Car driver Courtney Force was sore following her brush-up with the Auto Plus Raceway at Gainesville retaining wall but the pain couldn’t keep her away from her Funny Car driver regimen. Courtney was adamant about getting right back into the car and as soon as she got back to the pits rushed immediately to the ropes of her pits to sign autographs.

Unfortunately, her race day ended at the hands of Ron Capps.

IT IS THE GATORS AFTER ALL - Rain delayed action for 20 minutes between the last pair of Top Fuel dragsters to the first pair of Funny Car.

STICKING TO THE PLAN - Cruz Pedregon stuck to his game plan of running enough to win and leaving the hero runs on the sidelines. The No. 1 qualifier ran a 4.082, 304.92 beat Tim Wilkerson.

HEAD START - Jim Head’s return to competitiveness spawned in Phoenix continued as he knocked off a quicker qualified Bob Tasca with a  4.083, 311.20. Proof that his combination is coming around Head ran his fastest Funny Car speed.

LOW ELAPSED TIME - Robert Hight ran low elapsed time of the first round with a 4.051, 316.38  to beat  Auto Plus’ flagship driver Blake Alexander.

ALEXIS GETS HER FIRST - Let the record reflect that Alexis DeJoria’s first career nitro round victory came at the expense of 15-time series champion John Force. Her winning lap was a 4.116, 309.27 which easily took the measure of a tire-smoking and out of shape Force. "We were confident coming into eliminations because of the good runs we made on Friday and Saturday. Gainesville has really been good to us over the years."

CHAMP'S STRUGGLES CONTINUE - Defending series champion Matt Hagan’s forgettable season continues with a third consecutive first round loss.

SEE YOU IN THE SECOND ROUND - Jack Beckman [4.078, 311.20 beat Bob Bode], Mike Neff [4.079, 310.13 beat Jeff Arend] Johnny Gray [4.087, 310.34 beat Matt Hagan] also advanced into the second round.

QUARTER-FINALS

NO GRAY AREA – Every racer admits they have a lucky round and for Johnny Gray his came in the first round. Gray ran an off-pace 4.119, 312.21 to knock off top qualifier Cruz Pedregon, who slowed to an also off-pace 4.19. Admitted Gray, “You have to have luck out here.”

NOT A GOOD SPECTATOR – After losing in the first round, John Force was related to spectator, a role he certainly does not relish. However, for all of his memories in racing at Gainesville his best one transpired as a spectator in watching Kenny Bernstein run 301 miles per hour in 1992.

“Pat Patterson of NASCAR was interviewing me yesterday and asked what my favorite Gatornationals memory was and I told him it was in watching Kenny Bernstein go 300 miles per hour,” said Force. “I’m a racer and I loved it, and the fans loved it. He elevated the sport and the news went all over the country. It went around the world, just like the time me and [Tony] Pedregon got mad at one another.”

JACK, WELCOME TO REALITY – Jack Beckman admittedly was about to thump his chest after a stout 4.055, 314.09 took over low elapsed time to easily overtake Alexis DeJoria’s 4.135, 309.27. Then Robert Hight rained on his parade with a 4.039, 317.12 to beat DSR team car Ron Capps.

Capps runs a 4.05 and he wasn’t even in the same zip code,” said Beckman of his teammate’s loss to Hight. “That was damned impressed. But … I think we have a good car and we can tickle it a little bit. They [Hight] have forced our hand to do that.”

GEE, THANKS ALAN – Robert Hight ran a 317.12 mph blast to grab top speed of the event and thanks to NHRA top end announcer Alan Reinhart his speed secret became common knowledge throughout the world.

“Check this out,” Reinhart said, pointing to Hight’s rear spoiler. “I don’t know that I have ever seen a tailgate this low before. “If the conditions are good you don’t need the downforce, and if you don’t need the downforce, you don’t need the drag.”

A surprised Hight responded.

“Exactly, it frees up the motor and the clutch. But you’re showing my speed secrets and you can’t do that.”

NEFF ADVANCES – Mike Neff made a move to advance closer to what could be a third consecutive final round by running a 4.076, 310.46 to beat Jim Head’s 4.094, 310.13.

SEMI-FINALS

GRAY ADVANCES – Johnny Gray turned up the wick in the semis at 10 AM on Monday, turning in an impressive 4.054-second elapsed time at 314.61 mph against Mike Neff. Neff ran a respectable 4.083, 311.92 but just wasn’t enough to extend his number of consecutive final round appearances to three.

HIGHT GETS LANE CHOICE – Robert Hight continued his torrid pace into Monday with a 4.044, 315.19 which was overkill against a red-lighting Jack Beckman.

PRO STOCK

FIRST ROUND

BRACKET BUSTERS. -  The NCAA men's basketball tournament is making selections for its 68-team tournament Sunday. Throughout the tourney there is no question there is going to be some upsets.

Shocking wins were definitely the norm in the first round of Pro Stock.

The biggest surprises came from Chris McGaha, Ricky Jones, Mark Martino and Larry Morgan.

McGaha making his third National event start in Pro Stock received a gift when Erica Enders left the starting line too early.

Jones, meanwhile, used a 0.015 reaction time to edge Vincent Nobile. Jones clocked a 6.552-second time at 210.31 mph. Nobile had a quicker 6.551-second time, but had a .023 reaction time.

Then moments later, Mark Martino shocked reigning world champion Jason Line. Martino had a solid 6.589-second run, while Line slowed to a 6.604-second time.

Ronnie Humphrey also beat Roger Brogdon in the opening round, which also was a mild upset. Humphrey won with a solid 6.572-second time at 211.13 mph.

REMEMBER ME? - Allen Johnson has now had two tough races in a row, thanks to veteran driver Larry Morgan. Johnson, who was upset by Morgan in round one at the Arizona Nationals, couldn't get by Morgan Sunday either.

Johnson, the No. 1 qualifier, got out of the groove right away in the right lane, but so did Morgan on the left side. Morgan, with a .024 reaction time, was able to beat Johnson to the top end with a 6.572-second time at 210.34 mph. Johnson clocked a quicker 6.564-second time, but had a .049 reaction time. Johnson's career record against Morgan dropped to 20-11.

STOP THE INSANITY -  As crazy as the first round of Pro Stock shook out, there was some normalcy in the class as Mike Edwards, and Greg Anderson won. Ron Krisher also was victorious with a win over Steve Kent.

QUARTER-FINALS

HUMPHREY ENDS MORGAN'S DAY - Larry Morgan, who had a huge upset of No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson in round one, wasn't as fortunate in the second round.

Humphrey clocked a solid 6.572-second run to defeat Morgan, who came in at 6.606 seconds. Humphrey, who is part of the Summit Racing team, is aiming to capture his first career national event win.

CLOCK HASN'T STRUCK MIDNIGHT YET - Chris McGaha was definitely an unknown driver in the Pro Stock ranks when he entered into the Gatornationals field as the No. 10 qualifier. McGaha, in only his third NHRA national event start, found himself in the semifinals with a win over Mark Martino.

McGaha and Martino ran identical 6.604 seconds times, but McGaha left the starting line first and that was the difference in the race. Martino's car got real loose after he crossed the finish line, but he was able to recover without incident.

DECIDED EARLY - Mike Edwards and Ron Krisher know plenty about each other.Krisher rents engines from Edwards, the 2009 NHRA world champion. This had the makings of a good race, but it didn't unfold that way as Krisher's car came out of the groove right off the starting line. Edwards raced to the win at 6.52 seconds.

SUMMIT RACING STREAK STILL ALIVE - The powerful Summit Racing duo of Jason Line and Greg Anderson has been the class of NHRA Pro Stock so far this season. Anderson won the season-opening Winternationals and Line captured the Arizona Nationals, the second event. Anderson is trying to make it three in a row for the team Sunday.

Anderson stopped Rickie Jones' upset bid with a 6.538-second effort. Virtually any chance Jones had of the upset disappeared when his car wiggled off the starting line.

If Anderson and Humphrey meet in the finals it would be a family affair as they are brother-in-laws.

SEMI-FINALS

ANDERSON MOVES ON - Waiting until Monday morning didn't impact Greg Anderson. The 2010 world champion sped to a solid 6.520-second run, while Chris McGaha's improbable run ended when his Dodge slowed to 14.11 seconds.

Anderson won the season-opening Winternationals and his teammate Jason Line captured the Arizona Nationals, the second event. Anderson is trying to make it three in a row for the Summit Racing team.

EDWARDS STOPS HUMPHREY - Greg Anderson will not get to race his brother-in-law Ronnie Humphrey in the finals. Mike Edwards, the 2009 Pro Stock world champ, clocked a solid 6.521-second run to defeat Humphrey who came in at 6.54 seconds. Humphrey, who is part of the Summit Racing team, was aiming to capture his first career national event win.

FINAL

EDWARDS STARTS FAST, WINS -  Mike Edwards used a holeshot to stop Greg Anderson in the final round.

Edwards had an outstanding 0.003 reaction time to defeat the faster Anderson. Edwards clocked a 6.566-second time at 211.30 mph to beat Anderson's 6.538-second effort. Anderson was doomed by a 0.070 reaction time.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

FIRST ROUND

MEMORY FOR A LIFETIME - When Scotty Pollacheck beat Steve Johnson in round one, most people might not of thought it was that big of deal.

Well it was for Pollacheck. It was the first NHRA national event round win. Pollacheck, a newcomer in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, is driving this season for legendary owner George Bryce at Star Racing.

Pollacheck clocked a 7.012-second effort at 187.08 mph to defeat Johnson's 7.023-second run. Johnson, who qualified No. 8, won the Gatornationals in 2005.

TONGLET FINDS GROOVE - LE Tonglet, the 2010 world champion, found his groove in round one with a win over Jerry Savoie. Tonglet, on his Nitro Fish machine, clocked a 6.943-second run to defeat Savoie's 6.997-second effort.

HARLEYS MOVING ON - Athough Pollacheck captured a big win over Johnson, his teammate John Hall wasn't as fortunate. Andrew Hines had a blistering 6.808-second run to defeat Hall who had a redlight at the line.

Hines Screamin' Eagle teammate Eddie Krawiec, also was victorious in round one with a win over Ulf Ogge. Krawiec is the reigning world champ and he has won the Gatornationals the past two years.

Karen Stoffer, Hector Arana Jr., Hector Arana Sr., and Matt Smith were the other first-round winners. Arana Jr. beat Michael Phillips with a 6.939-second run. Phillips slowed to 7.005 seconds.

QUARTER-FINALS

STAGING WAR - Matt Smith and Hector Arana Sr. have had an on-going feud since the Hector Arana Jr. beat Smith in the Pro Stock Motorcycle semifinals the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas last season.

Smith thought Arana Jr. went against his word when he agreed to start his bike only after Smith started his wounded bike. Hector Sr. said their team only started the bike after Smith failed in three attempts and was ordered by race officials to do so.

Smith couldn’t get his motorcycle started and Arana Jr. raced to the victory, but not without some handling problems of his own as he slowed to an 8.691-second time.

Sunday at the Gatornationals, Smith and Arana Sr. were in a starting line battle. Neither driver would go in and stage his motorcycle. Arana Sr. actually went in and blinked the bottom light on the Christmas tree and backed out. Neither driver would budge from there and the crowd started cheering in anticipation of one of the riders staging. Arana Sr. and Smith each looked at each other, but neither rider would stage even after Mark Lyle, who is in his first season as NHRA's chief starter, motioned to the riders to stage twice. The second time Lyle was using some pretty strong sign language.

Finally Lyle told Smith and Arana to shut off their motorcycles and go to the back of the line and let the next pair Eddie Krawiec and Scotty Pollacheck race.

After all the other second-round opponents raced, Smith and Arana Sr. came back to the starting line.

This time Arana Sr. staged right away, but Smith came away with the win. Smith ran a 6.915-second time, while Arana Sr. slowed to 7.218 seconds and had a puff of smoke come from his motor at the end of his run.

Arana Sr. won the 2009 Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship and Smith was the 2007 world champ.

ARANA JR. WINS - While his father, Hector Arana Sr. was beat in round two, Hector Arana Jr. kept the family banner flying with a 6.878-second run to defeat Karen Stoffer.

200 MPH ON DECK - Reigning NHRA world champion Eddie Krawiec sped past Scotty Pollacheck in round two. Krawiec, who established an NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle national record in qualifying at 6.750 seconds clocked a 6.761-second time at 199.14 mph. No Pro Stock Motorcycle rider has run 200 mph at an NHRA national event.

Krawiec's Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson teammate, Andrew Hines also made into the semis by getting past LE Tonglet, the 2010 Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ.

 SEMI-FINALS

HINES BEATS LITTlE HECTOR - Andrew Hines has been flying under the radar while his Harley-Davidson teammate Eddie Krawiec has been getting the headlines lately. Hines, a three-time world champ, was strong as ever Monday morning zipping past Hector Arana Jr. Hines clocked a 6.78-second run to defeat Arana Jr. who could not get his Buell in high gear.

KRAWIEC JOINS HINES - Krawiec made it an all-Harley final in the season-opening race for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class by defeating Matt Smith, the 2007 Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ. Krawiec's 6.76-second run at 198 mph was too much for Smith.

FINALS

KRAWIEC GETS HAT TRICK - Eddie Krawiec made it a Gatornationals hat trick Monday.

Krawiec is the reigning world champ won the Gatornationals for the third year in a row by beating his Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson teammate Andrew Hines in the final round.

Hines had the starting line advantage, but Krawiec pulled ahead by the 100 foot mark and sailed to the victory. Krawiec clocked a 6.822-second time at 194.94 mph. Hines recorded a 6.861-second run at 194.55 mph.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK:

REINVENTING HIMSELF - If someone jumped in during the middle of Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas conversation Saturday evening at Auto-Plus raceway at Gainesville, Fla., and heard him talking about settling down, making a pie, and icing on the cake, they might swear he was getting soft.
 
He isn't. He's getting tougher -- much tougher.
 
But the GEICO / Lucas Oil Dragster driver did dust off his driving prowess this year and Saturday -- for the second time in three Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events -- swept away any problems, and mopped up with the competition at the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals.
 
He earned the sixth No. 1 qualifying position of his career, sweeping high-school pal and former teammate Shawn Langdon from the provisional lead with a track-record 3.766-second pass and later in the day a 326.56-mph speed that improved the track speed mark.
 
"I can honestly say this is the best race car I've ever had," Lucas said. "It's something to get into -- you can't wait to hop in and drive the thing. It makes you better, because then you can focus on your driving and not worry about the thing blowing up or doing something stupid.
 
"Yeah, we've had a couple of problems this year, but it's been mainly due to freak parts failures. It's not something I have to wrap my head around because it's some thing that somebody's doing wrong," he said. "This team is outstanding. All the credit has to go to them. They have the hard job. It's so much fun to be part of this team."
 
But yes, Lucas did talk about settling down. He became engaged between the most recent race and this one to longtime girlfriend Katie Pallone, and he called leading the field for the 43rd running of this classic "the icing on the cake."
 
Said Lucas, "After getting engaged to my longtime girlfriend, Katie, it's just been an exciting couple of weeks for us. She has meant so much to me and she has gotten so involved with what we're doing out here. She likes it. She loves it, actually. She gets more excited for the first round than I do. It's a cool thing to know you’re going to be spending the rest of your life with somebody who loves doing what you do and has a passion for it just as well. On top of that, she's a talented and beautiful and awesome lady.
 
"If we could win tomorrow," he said, "that would just be an awesome indication from The Man Upstairs that we were meant to have some success in our relationship."
 
He's getting some pretty obvious indications that he and his teammates are meant to have some success in their business relationship.    

"I think we've had all the ingredients in the fridge. We just didn't know how to make the pie, if you know what I mean," Lucas said. "We just didn't know how to put it all together. That's what [crew chiefs] Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi brought that to the table."
 
Someone figured out the recipe, and it didn't involve dumping any ingredients and finding new ones. They had everything the pantry all along, it turned out.
 
"The same core group of guys is there, the same guys we've been racing with for the past three or four years. Everybody wanted to point fingers at the team, but realistically, leadership starts at the top," Lucas said. "That's the crew chief and assistant crew chief and even people above them: me and my dad. We have to make some tough decisions about hiring and firing and things like that. But the crew chiefs, they're the ones who make the decision on the car: how it's put together, who's on the team . . .  I feel like we've got a great group of guys who work well together. And they have a common goal."
 
With Lucas leading the pack Saturday and his stablemate, MAV TV Dragster driver Brandon Bernstein starting fourth, they are achieving the success they wanted.
 
"The cars are completely assembled identically. That's the first time we've ever had that [with his two-car team]," Lucas said. "To have the No. 1 and No. 4 cars in qualifying, that's a big deal."
 
His struggle for the past few years is one he is beginning to understand in a big-picture sense.
 
"Everything does happen for a reason," Lucas said.
 
Then, with a bit of sarcasm, he said, "Last year, when I had the joyous experience of tuning the car for six races, it makes you appreciate a lot of things. But one of  them is having the time to spend concentrating on your job. Obviously, driving the car is the fun part. But you have to be able to not be distracted to be good at your job. You kind of have to reinvent yourself, but at the same time, it makes it easier. You've got so much ambition and motivation.   . . . And you're not weak link on the team. I don't want to be a weak link. I want to be able to support the guys in any way, shape, or form."
 
Rewarding them with a qualifying-best E.T. that's three-hundredths ahead of his closest competitors, Tony Schumacher and Langdon, Lucas has shown he has organized the team, polished his skills and ironed out any problems -- just in time for Sunday's Gatornationals.

WOW - Cruz Pedregon definitely has the wow factor down-pat.

When most of his fuel Funny Car comrades were mired in the upper-4.0s, Pedregon rolled to the starting line of Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville and wowed the field with a 4.026-second run at 311.05 to claim the No. 1 qualifying position at the NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals.

“We just wanted to make a 4.0 run and sometimes when you get them right, they will surprise you,” said Pedregon, who made his run in the final session alongside of longtime rival John Force. “If you go out there looking for that ‘wow’ factor run, you’ll wow something – and blow it up or something like that. We learned to just go out there and let it happen on its own.”

That’s exactly what Pedregon did and at the conclusion of the run, peeking over at the scoreboard, and caught himself uttering, “Wow.”

“That’s what this car does, we will set it up to run some kind of a 4.0 and it will surprise us,” admitted Pedregon. “That’s when you know you have a good car.”

While the car was couldn’t have been better prepared for the final session, Pedregon experienced problems with his eye prior to the momentous run.

“I had my visor open and can’t really say what happened, if it was caused by the burnout in front of me, but I knew I was running Force and I always want to do well against him, he’s 15-time champion,” said Pedregon. “I didn’t want to have vision issues on the run. I took a couple of good blinks and focused on the light.”

The launch signaled to Pedregon, vision or no vision, this was going to be a good run.

“Threw me back in the seat,” he explained. “It pulled really hard. I think I got a couple of blinks in there going down the race track. I got out about half-track and it got a little blurry. Usually on a run like that, the windshield is vibrating anyway.”

Pedregon heads into Sunday, as the top speed where he will face Tim Wilkerson in the first round. Saturday’s performance is a major encouragement to a team which has struggled to start the season.

“To come out here and make two good back to back runs on Friday and then cap it off with that run feels. It’s why we hired Lee. Lee is very knowledgeable and we were limited with our knowledge. We made the best of it and finished third in the points. I still felt like we needed to add something and as it turns out we were able to bring in someone with knowledge. Has it gone exactly according to plan? No. We are looking forward and if we can get going for this season that would bode well for the rest of our season.”

‘We really didn’t have much to show for the first two races of the year,” Pedregon admitted. “We tested okay but then we laid an egg in Pomona. We didn’t do much better in Phoenix. But the one thing I will say one thing, the car showed signs, and I will feeling pretty good. We were in the top ten and I considered those first two races as test sessions.”

LIKE THE BACK OF HIS HAND - If there’s one thing Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson knows, it’s his Mopar Performance Dodge Avenger.

Case in point, when roving NHRA announcer Alan Reinhart asked the Greeneville, Tenn.-based driver if he thought his Pro Stocker would run a 6.49 in Saturday’s third session at the NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals, Johnson responded, “Maybe a mid-to-high 6.48.”

If Johnson had been on the television game show The Price Is Right, he would have won the revered Showcase Showdown.

A 6.486-second elapsed time at 211.93 miles per hour was a dead-on prognostication and good enough to wrestle the top qualifying position from Jason Line at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville on Saturday afternoon. Johnson will race Larry Morgan during the first round of Sunday’s final eliminations. The elapsed time was both a track record and career best for Johnson.

“Anytime you are in Gainesville which is a prestigious event and a great race for Pro Stock – it’s Pro Stock country down here, it’s great to be No. 1,” said Johnson. “The conditions were not as good this morning as they were here last year when the record was set but this run should show you how much Pro Stock has picked up over the last year.”

Last year both ends of the Pro Stock performance records were set at the Gatornationals and held until October when they were broken at Maple Grove Raceway outside of Reading, Pa.

“The conditions were good and the race track was awesome,” Johnson continued. “”The NHRA has done a super duper job with the track. Everything was just great to make a perfect run.”

When you test the wheels off of your car at a nearly identical racing surface a little over 120 miles down the interstate, you’re bound to get a good idea of what the Gainesville racing surface wants. Nearby Bradenton Motorsports Park provides a perfect place for Johnson to get in a few practice hits before heading to the big show.

“Bradenton is very similar to Gainesville, maybe just a little more barometer,” Johnson explained. “The racing surface is very similar and the Pro Stock teams practice there all of the time.”

And for Johnson, the more practice he gets with his Mopar, the better he knows how to dial it in.

Johnson has qualified on the pole 19 times in his career but only once at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville.

HE'S A RECORD MAN - Brash, young Hector Arana Jr. thought he could slip his Lucas Oil Buell in front of early Pro Stock Motorcycle leader Eddie Krawiec and take the wind from the reigning champion's sails in qualifying for the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, Fla.
 
He wanted to make a statement that Krawiec and his Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson, fresh from the class' unofficial but first 200-mph pass in testing, weren't going to steal the show at the bike season opener. And he did, for about five minutes Saturday, with a 6.812-second elapsed time in the third overall session.
 
But Krawiec showed his New Jersey nerve, storming back to lock up his career 10th top-qualifying position -- in record-setting fashion. Krawiec clocked the quickest pass in Pro Stock Motorcycle history -- a 6.750-second run at 198.03 mph on the fabled quarter-mile.
 
With a 6.794-second elapsed time in the final session, Krawiec backed up his feat to reset the national record he swiped from Arana's father and leave no doubt about who has the strongest bike so far in this first of 16 races.
 
"I think getting that national E.T. record back to us means a lot," Krawiec said. Vance & Hines, Harley-Davidson, Screamin' Eagle, we pride ourselves on that. The mile-an-hour record is great, but when you tell everybody, 'I'm the national record-holder,' that goes a long way. We're proud to have it back in our camp.
 
"It gets you excited, because the work you do in the off-season, it sort of reflects on it," he said. "We work on our stuff and we definitely worked on our chassis. We're at least going some 1.06 60-foots -- 1.09, 1.08 really isn't going to cut it."  
 
Saturday's achievement gave Krawiec both ends of the national record, for he set the speed standard, 199.26 mph, here last March.
 
He said he'd like to post a 200-mph run officially but that it isn't something he snap his fingers and produce.
 
"We're trying to go it, but 200 . . . It's one of those things that you can't just push. It's going to happen -- it's just going to happen," Krawiec said. "After we did it at Valdosta, we tried to get Andrew there. He made a perfect, clean run and he went 199.86. It's not like you can just say, 'I'm going to go 200.'
 
"We'd definitely love to do it. We've got Willy G coming in the house tomorrow, and we'd like to do it in front of him," he said.
 
"For us, we're going to continue on. It's race day, and we want to win a Wally," Krawiec said. "Whatever comes after that is a plus."
 
From the way he talked Saturday afternoon, Krawiec or somebody else might have a shot at lowering the E.T. even farther and heading to the Las Vegas race with 20 bonus points.
 
"We've got a pretty stiff headwind going. Maybe tomorrow the wind will die down, and if that happens, I think we'll see the mile-an-hour side [broken] and you might possibly even see the E.T. side of it go down a little lower," Krawiec said.
 
He said after he recorded the quickest-ever 6.750-second E.T., "I just wanted to focus on race-day mode, hit the Tree and go."
 
Krawiec will meet European champion Ulf Ögge, of Sweden, in Sunday's first round of eliminations.
 
Arana Jr. was second, Hines third, and Arana Sr. fourth. The next three in the order -- Matt Smith, LE Tonglet, and Karen Stoffer, respectively -- all qualified with 6.8-second times.

FORCE BRUSHES THE WALL - Rookie Funny Car racer Courtney Force had a brush up with the Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville retaining wall during qualifying for the NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals. She was uninjured but the same couldn't be said for her Traxxas-sponsored Funny Car.

Force damaged her Mustang Funny Car to the point her team made the decision to bring out a new chassis/body between the third and fourth qualifying sessions. Despite the incident, Force was upbeat about the day.

“My day wasn’t horrible I guess," said Force. "The first run we were obviously going after a good run to get in the show. It went down the track and I was hoping it would get through the tricky part of the track but it ended up striking the tires and it took me hard over into the wall. I was just trying to get the car stopped and get out safe after that. I jumped out through the hatch and it kind of knocked the wind out of me. I had a little hard time breathing but the medics checked me out. I made sure to tell them I was able to go up there and run again."

Force knew her No. 1 priority was regardless of what had transpired that she needed to return for the final session. She ran a 4.136 with the back-up car to land in the 11th spot in the 16-car field.

"That was my number one thing is I have to get back in the car," said Force. "My guys were back in the pit working as hard as they could. They had to put together a new chassis and body. My other chassis was bent up pretty bad and just in case we never want to re-run a chassis after an incident in case there is something wrong with it. We had to put it together and go up there and run again. I got a little time to catch my breath. I warmed it up and everything was good. We were able to get it back up there and make my quickest pass of the weekend. The 4.13 was great and it was nice to get a full run before tomorrow.”

YOU CAN ALWAYS GO HOME - Tommy Utt has come home.

The championship-winning crew chief has returned to Cagnazzi Racing and will serve alongside Dave Connolly as crew chief for GK Motorsports Pro Stock driver Erica Enders.

Utt, 56, worked as a crew chief for Cagnazzi Racing for more than seven years. He most recently served in the same capacity with KB Racing, winning championships in 2010 and 2011.

"It's great to have him back," team owner Victor Cagnazzi said. "I missed him. I've known him for years, so I'm happy he's back with us."

Utt served as Connolly's crew chief for many of the driver's Pro Stock victories and helped tutor Connolly in becoming a crew chief.

"We're excited the opportunity presented itself for us to hire Tommy back as part of our team," Enders said. "He was a big part of Cagnazzi Racing for years. It's kind of like he's back home."

Utt, who started as a crew chief in NHRA in 1997, will be reunited with his son, John, who works as a mechanic with Cagnazzi Racing. Tommy Utt has worked with notable drivers like Connolly, the Coughlin brothers, Richie Stevens and Gene Wilson.

"It's good to be back," Utt said. "I just felt like I needed a little change. Nothing against the KB (Racing) boys. They're great people, and I love all of them over there, but sometimes a man just feels like he needs to make a change, so I made one."

Enders, 28, is the most successful female driver in Pro Stock history and is coming off her best season as a professional. She earned two No.1 qualifiers and made three final-round appearances in 2011, reaching the Countdown to the Championship before finishing sixth in the Pro Stock standings.

"We're adding a really smart, experienced guy," Enders said. "He'll be a great addition to an already tremendous team."

SO FAR YET SO NEAR - Brandon Bernstein said he knows his father doesn't miss the grind of drag racing, although it was his life for decades. However the second-generation driver is having the time of his life, continuing to race with boss and buddy Morgan Lucas after his dad's retirement. But Brandon Bernstein never will be separated too far from his famous father, Top Fuel and Funny Car legend Kenny Bernstein, and they certainly are part of the scene here this weekend.
 
Kenny Bernstein is on hand, for the first time this season, because he is helping commemorate the 20th anniversary of his 1992 run here at the Gatornationals that was the first 300-mph blast by a Top Fuel dragster. He announced Saturday that he is donating his personal collection of memorabilia -- historic firesuits, helmets, championship Funny Car and Top Fuel bodies, winner's jackets, die-cast cars, and personal one-of-a-kind items he has kept in California -- to the Darrell Gwynn Foundation in Florida.
 
"We relived many of the highlights of our career as we opened packages of long-forgotten items we had stashed away for the defining moment when we would hang up the last fire suit, helmet, and lock the front door to our racing operation," Kenny Bernstein said. "That day has come."
 
For Brandon Bernstein, the whole Gainesville celebration, he said, is "going to be a pretty neat deal. It's going to be fun to see him in the car and all the guys who were a part of that. Twenty years -- it's hard to believe it's been 20 years already since that monumental run."
 
All the younger Bernstein could think of to describe the feeling of racing without his dad was "different." But he said I'm having fun. It's different, but it's different in a good way," he said. "Morgan's been great. The whole team has been awesome."
 
He said Dad isn't any farther away than a phone call. He said he speaks with him "still, to this day . . . The first two races I've called him after every run, and we've just chatted. He's wanting to know what happened and did anything weird happen. We have a good conversation about he run and if there's something that did happen tht was different, he'll kind of analyze it and talk to me later about it. We're in constant contact. He told me, 'If you need me there, I'll come.' It's just a  different feeling."
 
While his father remains interested in how Brandon is performing, the son said assuredly that his dad doesn't miss the spectacle. "There's no withdrawals, I can tell you that right now," Brandon Bernstein said. "He hasn't missed it one bit, he says. And being right there at Pomona, he never came out. Being right n his backyard, 45 minutes away from his house, he didn't come out. He hasn't missed it at all." 

JACKED TO BE BACK - Brady Kalivoda had been a spectator and a crew member at Gainesville, but this weekend he is making his first passes down this historic dragstrip. "This is hallowed ground. This is one of the races I've not driven at. So that is cool -- cooler than cool," he said, adding that for this 2012 debut he's "stoked, jacked, take your pick. I'm super-excited to be back out here!"
 
He's driving the Dakin Family-owned Warrior Racing Dragster, and he said he's thrilled this chance to return after a layoff of about three years includes door-openers for others, as well. "This is Bob Peck's first opportunity to be a crew chief on one of these things. He's been a longtime crew member out here. I've known him for a decade, and I'm excited for his opportunity to get out here and turn the knobs," Kalivoda said, rejoicing in "all those things, on top of me just being able to get back in the car."
 
Kalivoda admits that he makes a lousy spectator and called watching from the sidelines "pretty torturous."  He said, "It's been hard to watch it on TV. I follow online. I still keep up all those relationships. I come to three or four races a year. I come out to see people I want to see and shake hands. I watch one session from the grandstands then go home, because I love it so much but not to have been able to do it is pretty torturous. I've had a problem watching it on TV. I've had a problem being at the races."
 
He channeled his energy into a business he and some friends have in Arizona, but it was nowhere nearly as satisfying as driving a Top Fuel dragster. "My competitive nature has manifested itself in other ways since not being in a car," Kalivoda said. "all the while, this [drag racing] never dropped a rung on my life's-goals list or whatever you want to call it. Just with the economy being what it was and certain circumstances out of my control and having trouble finding money, I didn't think there was whole lot I could do about it. So I spent my energy on things I felt I can control the outcome."   
 
The Dakins rescued him from his purgatory just before the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals last summer, and his girlfriend Althea certainly is one who has seen the difference in his demeanor. "She's noticed that this is a far better place for me to spend my energy. She says, 'You're happier. This is what you should be doing.' It's different when you're doing something just to be doing it or doing something that's your passion. This is my passion. The people I'm doing this with -- the Dakins -- a year ago, I didn't know. I knew of. But I didn't know them until this deal came up. They're just great. [It's] a real cool environment.
 
"Hopefully we can do some good in the process," Kalivoda said. "We're going to have some fun, regardless. But hopefully we can throw some numbers up there and, if we're lucky, get in the show."
 
That was when he experienced his nitro nirvana. "Once the car cranks," he said, "there's nothing in your mind. It's just absolute silence, and that's what I love about it. The most present I ever feel in life is when that engine fires up and we make a run. I wish I could live my life that way -- just be present all the time. Once it fires up, it [the burden of the day] goes away."
 
Kalivoda sat out Friday's two sessions but made the field at No. 14 in Saturday's first run. He dropped down to No. 16 but stayed in the final slot and will face No. 1 qualifier Morgan Lucas in Sunday's opening round.

Mike Sullivan has admittedly been there, done that and has the championships to prove it when it comes to Pro Stock. Sullivan, who turns 71 years old next month, is happy peddling his specialty software to Pro Stock teams.

“I try to spread it around, and sometimes they pay me,” Sullivan said with a laugh.

Sullivan doesn’t miss the grind of the grueling NHRA Full Throttle Series and it’s 23-stops in the least. The former driving force behind the Wayne County Modified and later Pro Stock teams enjoys life at a more leisurely pace.

And no matter how much his friend David Nickens tries to pull him in full bore, he’s sticking to his guns of drag racing on his own terms.

“I told him there is no way that I am coming to all of the races,” Sullivan explained. “First off, I am too old and secondly, it’s just hard. It’s a lot harder than people think.”

Now don’t mistake Sullivan’s reluctance to commit to the tour with his love of drag racing. He still loves it, just knows his limits.

“I keep up with what’s going on – on the computer,” Sullivan said. “I do my best to keep up with what’s going on. I’ve really been around drag racing all of my life, went to my first one in 1957.”

Sullivan believes he’s led a full drag racing life and really has checked every item on his straight-line racing bucket list.

“I’ve won races, had the big sponsor and all of that stuff – but it’s the people which has been the most important part of the deal all along,” said Sullivan. “When you narrow it all down, that’s what it’s all about anyway. It’s the feeling you get when you walk through the pits and someone yells your name and you haven’t seen them in years. I’ve known a lot of people for a lot of years.

“It was the people on the tour that always made the grind worthwhile. The glory is one thing but the one thing people never saw was all the work which went into it.”

With the big teams in Pro Stock, unlike when the Wayne County group, Bob Glidden and Warren Johnson ruled the factory hot rod eliminator, the grind of labor is clearly evident.

“When you have to compete against someone like the Summit Boys (KB Racing) with about 15 to 20 people working all of the time, it makes it tough on the smaller teams. The secret to winning is to eliminate all of the mistakes.”

UGLY DAY AT THE DRAGS - Tim Wilkerson managed to navigate from start to finish on Saturday, but his time (4.226) was only good enough to land him 16th in the show.

Wilk will face Cruz Pedregon in round one.

"Not what we wanted, especially to make junk out of a lot of good parts, but 16th is better than 17th and at least we'll be racing tomorrow," Wilkerson said. "We're still feeling our way a little with some new stuff, and trying to understand exactly what the car wants from me, in terms of tuning it. Hopefully, we can start to make a few more good laps so that we get a little bit more in the hunt. We have nothing to lose tomorrow, racing Cruz, so we'll go up there trying to run the best lap we can, in whatever lane we're in, and we'll just see how that stacks up. I hate losing, but I hate not qualifying even more so at least we're in and we have a chance.  If you're in, you can win."

HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN' RUBBER - Sweden's Ulf Ögge, a European champion, lends an international flavor to the bike season opener. The Elvis-loving Buell rider secured the No. 16 and final spot in the American Pro Stock Motorcycle lineup in his NHRA debut.
 
SITTING OUT - Michael Ray missed the 16-bike field by a mere one-thousandth of a second to lead a list of some familiar names joining him on the DNQ list. They include Joe DeSantis, Wes Wells, Mike Berry, and Redell Harris. Anne Hansen, James Surber,  Charlie Sullivan, and Justin Finley also missed the cut.

VISIONS OF QUICKER ELAPSED TIMES - Shane Gray and the Gray Motorsports Pro Stock team entered the second day of qualifying holding a 6.597 at 208.65 mph as their best time, and they had quicker and faster thoughts on their collective minds.

The first session on Saturday was fruitful for the Tire Kingdom/Service Central Pontiac GXP as it raced down the quarter-mile to an improved 6.545 at 210.28 mph, and in the final qualifying session of the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals, the team saw  even more improvement as their hard work produced a 6.544, 210.31.

“I have so much faith in Justin [Elkes, crew chief], Craig Hankinson [car chief] and all the guys on this team,” said Gray, who will start from the No. 13 position. “I’m just looking forward to tomorrow. We have Mike Edwards first round, and I’m pretty sure that we’re going to be in the left lane. We went a 6.54 in that lane in qualifying, and I think we can go a .53 with what we learned.

“I know we’re going to bring everything we can bring. Mike is a fierce competitor, and he’s one of the best racers I know. We’re going to try to give him a run for his money tomorrow, for sure. I promise you, we are definitely not going to be slacking.”

BE LIKE TONY - No. 1 qualifier Morgan Lucas said Saturday that No. 2 qualifier Tony Schumacher "has run good all year." Of the U.S. Army Dragster team, Lucas said, "They're so consistent right now." Moreover, he didn’t give one ounce of concernt that Schumacher hasn't won in 25 races - he said he looks at the Armyteam as a model of steadiness -- even a role model for his own organization. "They lost the Phoenix final by a little bit -- it wasn't by a big margin. Same thing at Pomona -- they lost by a small margin. But the bottom line is if you keep running like that -- which is our goal, to be that consistent -- you might not win every race. But you’re going to put yourself in contention to win every race." He preferred the Schumacher method to hoping for a break every race day. "If you go out there smoking the tires and doing [careless] stuff, you're not going to be in a position to win. You can't hope that luck provides everything for you," Lucas said.  
 
UH, SORRY, TERRY, YOU OR ME -- Well, Terry McMillen couldn't have heard more ominous words. As the No. 15 qualifier, he'll square off in the first round Sunday with No. 2 Tony Schumacher, who's about as long overdue as fellow Chicagoan McMillen.
 
"We certainly had a great two days of qualifying, but now it's time to get down to the serious business of racing," Schumacher said. "As always, I feel confident we're going to get the job done tomorrow. We have been real close of late, so this could be our time to shine."
 
The U.S. Army Dragster driver, last year's runner-up here, has won at Gainesville four times. "I like racing here, for sure," Schumacher said. "It's a great facility, and the fans are so supportive. It would be nice to grab another Gators trophy to bring home on the plane tomorrow night."

THANKS AGAIN, GRANDMA - Well, thank goodness Grandma Delores knew what her little Antron needed. That's Antron Brown, who wanted a dirt bike when he couldn't even spell that because he was in kindergarten. And Brown's Uncle Andre got to thinking about that Saturday as he watched his Top Fuel-driving nephew signing autographs for a long line of fans at Auto-Plus Raceway. "What if she hadn't gone against his parents' wishes and hadn't bought him that dirt bike?" Somebody else probably would have been the Top Fuel points leader and No. 7 qualifier Saturday heading into eliminations for the 2012 Tire Kingdom Gatornationals. Antron Brown might have been an Olympic runner -- or stand-up comedian. No telling. But Miss Delores got him that bike, and Uncle Andre said, "That's what got him started with racing." Andre and Antron's father Albert are lifelong, avid NHRA Sportsman racers, as was their father, Albert Sr. They raced at Englishtown and Atco in New Jersey, and Antron Brown loved going to those races. As Andre watched his nephew interact with the fans, he said, "That's how he was. He had that same look in his eyes that these kids do."
 
He'll face Dave Grubnic in Sunday's opening round.
 
"We definitely ended qualifying on a solid note," Brown said. "You always want to go into race day feeling upbeat, and that's our deal, for sure. I can't wait to get going tomorrow. We've had an outstanding start to the 2012 season, so we don't want to miss a beat here in Gainesville. I know seventh doesn't sound like the best of starting spots, but we know we can win from anywhere. You just have to dig deep and let it all hang out each and every round."

DOM DNQs - Dom Lagana, who was in sixth place overnight, tumbled down the list as Saturday's sessions progressed and ended up missing the action by one-thousandth of a second. His 3.926-second E.T. in the Service Central Dragster was a tick slower than No. 16 Brady Kalivoda's 3.925 in the Warrior Racing Dragster.

MISSING THE CUT - Ike Maier joined Dom Lagana in missing the Top Fuel field, as did Cory McClenathan, Keith Murt, Chris Karamesines, and Pat Dakin.

RUBBIN IS RACING - When a 300-mph Funny Car darts toward a guardwall even a veteran driver wonders if there were something he could have done to save it.

That was the first thought Ron Capps had after his NAPA Filters Dodge Charger R/T veered to the left and crushed the left-side exhaust headers before scraping the rear quarter panel.

It ruined his third qualifying attempt for Don Schumacher Racing.

"Fortunately we didn't have any damage to the body," Capps said.

Once the team returned to its pit area, crew chief Tim Richards and the NAPA Filters crew examined the Dodge from front to back could not find anything wrong mechanically.

"We looked at everything," Capps said. "There are some marks on the front of the car that looks like we might have run over something. It just made a move like a cylinder went out, but that didn't happen. It shouldn't have made that hard of a move.

"I was a little nervous because when you go out and something like that happens you feel like an idiot as a driver because you shouldn't let it get to the wall."

The team quickly got the Dodge ready for the fourth and final qualifying session and Capps produced a time of 4.108 seconds at 306.88 mph that nearly matched his best effort of the weekend that earned him the No. 6 qualifying position.

" It was such a great job by the team to get the car ready and for us to get such a good run," he said. "I needed that run going into Sunday."

LOUISIANA SHOWDOWN - It'll be the Fish against the Alligator, a battle between two bikers from the bayou, in Sunday's first round of Pro Stock Motorcycle action. No. 6 LE Tonglet, aboard the Nitro Fish/Tonglet Racing Suzuki, is paired against White Alligator Racing's Jerry Savoie, the 11th-place starter. Tonglet had two consistent runs Sunday but relied on his Friday performance of 6.894 seconds at 192.93 mph to land him the upper-half berth. Savoie best time was 6.972 at 187.65 mph.
 
GETTING READY FOR EDDIE - Even though Eddie Krawiec eclipsed Hector Arana Sr.'s year-old national E.T. record Saturday afternoon and aced Hector Arana Jr. out of the No. 1 qualifying position the sophomore rider had for just a few minutes, the elder Lucas Oil Buell rider expressed respect for Krawiec.
 
"They've done a great job," Arana Sr. said of Krawiec's Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team. "It's good, because really what it does is make you work harder. They have it now, and we'll take it again. That just means I have to go look at my program carefully and see what I can find. I'm not going to let them stop me. I want it back.
 
"Tomorrow, what I have to do is pay a little bit more attention to my bike," Arana Sr. said. "I need to get the 60-foot like my son is doing. I need to concentrate on my driving, and I'll be fine."
 
Arana Jr. qualified No. 2 with a 6.812-second, 193.63-mph effort. Arana Sr. will start fourth with a 6.842, 293.99.
 
Like his father, Arana Jr., wants to win.
 
"We're confident going in to tomorrow," Arana Jr. said. "We're looking for a win. We've got what we've got, but I'm looking for consistency, good lights, and a Wally at the end of the day."
 
The Aranas have had to scramble at the start of this season because of delays in receiving the parts they needed. Consequently, neither Lucas Oil Buell made it down the track in the first qualifying session Friday. Arana Jr. pulled his bike off the starting line after his dad's Buell suffered a minor mechanical problem.
 
"We were behind the eight-ball all the time," Arana Sr. said. "We lost the first round, so we only had three runs to get data. Overall, I'm more relaxed now. The first race is (almost) over."
 
Arana Jr.'s first full run was came later Friday, and like his dad's bike, his got quicker as the weekend went on.
 
"Considering everything that we went through, that was good," Arana Jr. said. "We ended up going back to our original setup from Pomona (last year). We're going to have to go testing and try to find something new, because we are behind the eight-ball. We need to find some power."
 
HIGH HOPES - GEICO Suzuki rider Karen Stoffer has had better-than-average luck at Gainesville, so it seems weird to her and to the fans that she will start from the No. 7 position Sunday.
 
"It's a tough road out there," Stoffer said. "We certainly didn't want to be in the No. 7 spot. We'd like to be a five or above, but we're going to go out there with that GEICO Suzuki, and we're going to do what we can to put down a good number. The bike's there. It's possibly going to get faster tomorrow. I'll do my job, ride the bike good and hopefully go some rounds tomorrow."
 
The 2007 Gatornationals winner, whose best pass was 6.894 seconds at 192.58 mph, said crew chief husband Gary Stoffer "has given me the bike. It's one of the faster Suzukis, and that's huge. Gary's tuning it right, and he was able to come up to speed quickly, considering we didn't have a test session like all the others did, Kudos to the team for giving me the bike, and we're going to go do what we do on that GEICO bike and hopefully turn that win light on four times."
 
She will first face No. 10 qualifier Shawn Gann in the first round.
 
Stoffer said he knows she can win from the bottom half of the ladder. She did it in 2007 from the No. 16 position.
 
"We've obviously done better here in the past, as far as qualifying goes, but we've done worse here in the past, too – and we went to the final round and won the race from a further down position," Stoffer said. "If you're in, you can win on Sunday."
 
She said, "Friday was kind of our test session day, blowing out all the bugs, getting
the program down and getting comfortable on the bike after being off for six months. Both runs today [Saturday] were faster than the ones the day before, so that's good.
 
"The object this year," she said, "is to keep our form from last year. I was riding well last year, and the bike was running good the first half of the season until we had the mechanical issues. We'd like to get back into the season we had the first part of 2011. I've got to ride smart and do what I did last year and be a machine out there. That's my job."

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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK: POSITIONING FOR SUNDAY'S RACE DAY

A DISTINCTIVE SOUND - To make some sense of what actually makes perfect sense to Shawn Langdon requires a little perspective.
 
For most of us, hearing a "clunk" in the car gives us a sinking feeling in the pits of our stomachs. We know that isn't good and is probably going to cost us a mini-fortune at the repair shop.
 
But that "clunk" Langdon heard halfway through his qualifying run Friday in his second shot at the Top Fuel field for the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals brought a grin to his face. It meant his Al-Anabi Racing /Toyota Dragster was doing exactly what crew chief Brian Husen prepared it to do -- rocket to the top of the order.
 
Langdon earned the provisional No. 1 position with a  3.800-second elapsed time and  class-best 322.65-mph speed on the Auto-Plus Raceway 1,000-foot course at Gainesville, Fla.
 
He might not have been sure what to expect after his rather startling first pass of the weekend, a 3.868, 310.63 that put him second only to Tony Schumacher and his 3.851,  317.64 in the U.S. Army Dragster.
 
"The first run we made got me pretty nervous," Langdon said. It had a lot of wheel speed early. So it was making moves early. I felt like I really overdrove  the car on the first qualifying run.
 
"So my main focus on the second run was just to try to under-steer it a little bit," he said. "Fortunately the car was as straight as an arrow. It left straight. It kind of hung out there a little bit.
 
"I felt the clutch start applying. Then you feel that clunk at mid-track, when it locks up and it hooks, you know it's going to be good," Langdon said.
 
Then he said something that might sound rather ho-hum for a Top Fuel drag racer but definitely is a major understatement to the millions of everyday Americans who drive down the highways. Said Langdon, "When you’re running 322 miles an hour, it's a good feeling when it holds."
 
He said what he'll concentrate on Saturday and as he heads into eliminations Sunday is putting together four good race-day runs.
 
"I'm very confident," he said. "I was ready to win in Phoenix [where he was No. 1 qualifier]. We had a good car in Phoenix, and I feel we've got a very good car here. The car's awesome. The car's flying.
 
"My confidence has skyrocketed. I've got as much confidence as you can have a s a driver," Langdon said.
 
Should his time hold up for the third No. 1 start of his career, Langdon knows it was hard-earned.
 
"It's hard to get No. 1 qualifier these days," he said. "There are so many good-running cars. I tried hard for three years and I got it one time. I had a long spell of not getting No. 1. So to come out in the second race of the year and get No. 1, then to come out and get the provisional No. 1  [at the next race], it's a great feeling."

STILL THE ONE - Mike Neff returned to Gainesville in the same fashion he left last March …. as the No. 1 Funny Car on the property.

Neff tuned and drove his Castrol GTX-sponsored flopper to the provisional No. 1 qualifier during the first day competition at the NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals hosted by the Auto Plus Raceway at Gainesville. Last year’s victory and Friday’s No. 1 was a huge confidence booster.

“It provided a lot of confidence more than anything,” said Neff, who has been to the finals of every NHRA Funny Car event thus far in 2012. “We did leave here with a good race car last season and to come out here and make two good runs feels great. The first goal you have when you come to a race is to qualify. It always feel good to run well on Friday. It makes tomorrow and the rest of the weekend a lot easier.”

Neff said most teams who make a good run on Friday use Saturday to work on their race day tune-up.

“The key to winning is that you have to make three great runs,” explained Neff. “The driver has to do his job and the car has to do its job. The first two races – I messed up on my driving in the first race and missed the tune-up on the second.”

Right now, Neff has a lot of confidence in his tune-up.

“We feel pretty good about my car and the team,” said Neff. “The way the car responds. You go through the times when you really feel good about your car and then there are times when you don’t feel so good. That makes you appreciate the good times.”

And when you’ve reached the finals twice in two races and lead the points, the times are good.

WALKING THE FINE LINE - Some race tracks suit certain drivers. Auto Plus Raceway at Gainesville suits two-time NHRA Pro Stock series champion Jason Line just fine. During Friday’s second qualifying session at the NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals, Line channeled his inner Gainesville with a 6.545-second elapsed time at 211.46 miles per hour to snatch the provisional No. 1 spot from Allen Johnson, who ran an identical elapsed time.

Line has qualified no lower than second in three national events thus far this season. If the run holds, it will mark the first time he’s been No. 1 qualifier at the Gainesville facility.

“I have no idea what makes this my best track, if I did, I’d try to do the same thing at every event,” said Line, who has won the event for the last three years. “It seems, even if we don’t run well here, we find a way to end up in the finals. I have no idea how, but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

If he goes on to win, he will tie Warren Johnson as the only driver to win four in a row at Gainesville.

Just as he won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Line refuses to put the cart before the horse.

“I will say starting No. 1 helps your chances,” added Line.

Line is racing ill this weekend. He admitted for the last ten days he’s been fighting flu-like sickness. This prevented the team from testing as many of his counterparts have done in venues such as Valdosta, Ga., and down the interstate in Bradenton, Fla.

“We haven’t been able to do any testing,” said Line.

Line refused to let the sickness bother him once he strapped in the car, and if not for a less than stellar run in the tricky left lane, might have made a clean sweep of the day’s qualifying.

“If I hadn’t done such a lousy job driving in the left lane, we might have been No. 1 after the first session,” admitted Line. “We were low not only for that lane, but also for the same session. It is tricky but can be done. Our guys did a good job on the car because I did a lot of things wrong.”

But when you’re Line, and in Gainesville, even wrong is right.

A ROCKET MAN - Give him mineshaft conditions. Give him hot, humid conditions. Do that within four days of each other. It's no problem for Eddie Krawiec.
 
And he's using this first day of qualifying for the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, Fla., to set the tone not just for the weekend but for the entire season.
 
The Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson rider -- the reigning and two-time champion --  jumped to the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle order Friday evening with a 6.824-second elapsed time and top speed of 197.54 mph.
 
Those numbers are the best in the class so far at its 16-race season opener, with Krawiec's teammate Andrew Hines less than a mere two-hundredths of a second behind him and 2010 champion LE Tonglet joining them in the 6.8-E.T. range.
 
But they're not as fancy as the 6.771, 200.08 pass he logged in testing earlier this week at South Georgia Motorsports Park at Valdosta on the way down to Gainesville. That represented the first 200-mph run for a Pro Stock Motorcycle, unofficially topping his own national speed record he set here at the Gatornationals last March. The test run also was better than the 6.777-second national E.T. mark that Hector Arana Sr. carved for his Lucas Oil Buell a year ago at this race.
 
"The track's pretty good. We underestimated it definitely the first lap," Krawiec said of the Gainesville quarter-mile that left him with a 6.863-seond E.T. for starters.
 
"We had a bad 60-foot due to shaking and spinning, because we underpowered it. We were in Valdosta and obviously set up for that track. It was nowhere near as good as this," he said. "We had to make changes. We wanted to be  . . . Not conservative -- but not throwing away a run." The latter, he said, "is very easy to do with a small tire."
 
However, he said that "Gainesville has given us a an awesome track, and awesome facility."
 
He predicted, "Tomorrow's run [especially in the morning], should be a little bit better."
 
This early-weekend performance, Krawiec said, "sets the tone for the season. Your off-season is as good as your first run off the trailer. When you go out there and post a good time on the board, all your work and success you did over the winter starts translating to runs down the dragstrip."
 
He said the bike riders were hoping to have "a little bit of cool air roll in here." But it was clear the hotter, humid conditions that set in were not enough to deter him from helping the Harley-Davidsons pick up where they left off last November at Pomona. On the West Coast, Hines was No. 1 qualifier at the 2011 NHRA Finals. In this East Coast opener for the NHRA, Krawiec is hoping to hold onto the top spot and take the honors for the 10th time in his career.

AN ERRANT CHAMPION'S SHIP - Matt Hagan fumbled with his contact lens while sitting in the tow vehicle while waiting his turn to make a qualifying run at the NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals hosted by Auto Plus Raceway at Gainesville.

The more Hagan worked to get the lens in the proper location on his eye, the more it didn’t seem to have the right fit. He tried and tried to make it comfortable but his eye just wouldn’t tear up enough to provide the right adhesion.

Finally he said, “That’s going to have to work.”

If the 2012 NHRA Funny Car series champion didn’t know any better, the contact lens provided a perfect example of how his title defense season has been up until this point.

“It has been a bumpy start,” Hagan admitted. “But, out here, it isn’t about how you start, it’s how you finish. We’ve definitely regrouped after the second first round loss. We have a different game plan now.”

A different game plan for Hagan means going back to a car he knows will get the job done. He is racing in Gainesville with the same car he drove to the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle championship. The new car he started the season with is being shelved until later in the season.

“Sometimes you have to step out of your box and get away from that bad ju-ju,” Hagan said. “That was a brand new car we were running at those first two races. [Crew chief] Tommy Delago just didn’t feel right about it. We are going back to stuff he’s comfortable with. We’ll go back to that set up later in the year. Right now we have to make sure we don’t dig too big of a hole. We have to keep the morale up.”

Hagan was No. 8 after Friday’s two sessions.

MISSING JIM WEINERT - Jim Weinert, the IHRA track-prep guru who also had a cordial and helpful relationship with the NHRA, passed away unexpectedly Wednesday. It was a shock to his friends in the IHRA and in the NHRA, but probably more shocking to Bobby and Dom Lagana, who for the past few years have lived near Norwalk, Ohio, with Weinert, his wife Carrie, and their sons Matt, Wes, and Jimmy.  
 
"Without Jim and his wife, we definitely would not be able to be racing right now," Dom Lagana said. "They gave us a house to live in. We've got a shop. We eat lunch with them. We act like a family. It's good times. We have a lot of good memories with him. And it's almost as bad as losing my own dad.
 
"We'll miss him dearly. He was a heck of a guy. He held a lot of people together, and I can't thank him enough," he said. "We always said we enjoyed each other's company. I know he knew how much he meant to us. I know he thought of us as his own kids. Just definitely in our hearts. We're out here racing and we wanted to go home and Carrie said, 'If you'd have come back, I would have been mad at you.' They've devoted their lives to IHRA and drag racing in general. Yeah, they work with an association (IHRA), but they're drag racing junkies. They love the family atmosphere. That's why we get along so together. Everybody keep the kids in their thoughts."
 
Dom Lagana described Weinert as "a big teddy bear. He was the guy that everybody came to with any kind of problem. It didn't matter if it had to do with racing. He held a lot of people together. He meant a lot obviously to us and to a lot of people in IHRA, track owners across the country. He was a friend to everybody. He wasn't just a business acquaintance. It hit us hard. It's going to hit a lot of people hard."
 
He said his aim this weekend is to have fun, like Weinert did, like Weinert would have told him to do.
   
"We set realistic goals. Our goal -- we don't come out here to win for Jim. We come out here to do is have fun, like he always did. He loved coming out and hanging out at the races when he wasn't working," Dom Lagana said. "All we do is think about the good memories and have fun and enjoy each other's company. It just reminds you -- you never know what tomorrow's going to bring. You've got to enjoy the people around you. You just surround yourself with good people and enjoy their company."
 
Brother Bobby Lagana agreed. "We're only here for him this weekend. Tire Kingdom keeps us out here and they'd support us, whatever we did. We're here because if we went home, he'd be pissed. And we're going to go home as soon as we can to Carrie and the boys."
 
He said he and his younger brother, admitted "drag-racing gypisies" from Scarsdale, N.Y., will continue to live near Norwalk at the Weinert family's home, their home. "That's where we live. Matt and Wes, they're our priorities now. They're just young boys. They're incredible men, boys. And Carrie's the greatest person. And Jim was just was unbelievable. He took us in when we were lost. It's just not supposed to go down like that."
 
Said Bobby Lagana, "This weekend, it doesn’t matter what we do. It doesn't matter if we qualify or not. You don't [say you're going to] win for somebody, because you don't know what's going to happen. We're here to just make runs for him. I know everybody loses somebody. But I want to puke all day right now. You know, you never know what's going to happen. You've got to love 'em [friends and family members]. If you harbor bad feelings -- get rid of it."
 
He said he loved Jim Weinert because he set the same tone in his home that Dad and Mom Lagana did. "One of the most amazing things when we grew up with my mom and dad, when we were young kids, when it was time to eat, it wasn't about eating," he said. "It was about sitting down with your family and talking and talking about life and joking -- and obviously eating. Jim, from the day we hung out with him for the first time, he was the same. He was adamant that all his kids -- his sons Matt and Wes and Jimmy . . .  And us  . . . He really considered us to be his sons --  we all ate together. It wasn't because we were eating dinner. It's because it was a family thing.
 
"And if there was a time that we couldn't do it, it made him upset because he wasn't with his family. That's how much he cared about his family," Lagana said. "When you ate lunch with that family -- and there were a lot of guys who did -- you were eating with him for family. He treated everybody like that. That was so special to watch him sit down and enjoy the meal for what it was. That's just the way it was, always. You sat down with your parents to eat dinner with them, to talk and grow your family life. A lot of this world is missing that. And Jim didn't miss that. He knew what it was about. He loved his boys. That's what makes it impossible right now."

CRUZ CONTROL - Cruz Pedregon thundered to the fifth quickest elapsed time of the first day with a 4.105, 311.77.
 
DAYDREAMS COMING TRUE - When Steve Torrence, owner-driver of the Torrence Racing / Capco Contractors Inc. Dragster, and crew chief Richard Hogan were buying parts and tools and setting up the entire operation from scratch last spring and summer, they dreamed about days like Friday. They dreamed about pulling into the racetrack and running among the established teams, being a frontrunner. They knew they could do it, but when they had to go to the store and buy a wastebasket, a bucket, a wrench, a you-name-it, a day like Friday didn't seem impossible. But it did seems a long way away.
 
He found himself Friday enjoying his and Hogan's and their crew's hard work, tentatively in the No. 3 slot for the prestigious Gatornationals. He did it with a 3.835-second, 320.20 mph effort on the 1,000-foot Auto-Plus Raceway course effort in his second qualifying attempt. At the most recent race, at Phoenix, he was third after the first day – and he started third.
 
"No. 3 is good," Torrence said. "We had a pretty good race car. Our goal was to stand on [the throttle] and see if we could improve our time [from the opening session]. . . and we did.
 
"We're excited to see these times coming. Richard Hogan and the guys have been doing an excellent job. We want to keep getting better and better every day," he said.

NOW'S THE TIME - Tony Schumacher pretty much has all the achievements. He entered this race in second place in the standings behind Don Schumacher Racing buddy Antron Brown. He led the Top Fuel class in qualifying for the Gatornationals after the first session Friday. He slipped only to No. 4, behind Morgan Lucas and Steve Torerence. But he still has people asking about his string of 25 races without a victory in his U.S. Army Dragster, and he said this could be the weekend he shakes the streak and all the yakking that goes with it. "Given the success I've had here in Gainesville [four wins], I couldn't think of a better place to take care of that streak," Schumacher said. "The Army car is definitely running well. We were the quickest in Round One and not far off the pace in the second round. We'll come back tomorrow and try to turn the wick up a bit."
 

WANTED: TEAM - Donnie Bender has gone from top-flight crew chief to top-notch salesman and back to top-flight crew chief. All he needs now is a team. Bender said he's "hangin' out" with Lagana brothers Bobby and Dom this weekend. But he's throwing in his opinions here and there, as asked, about the tune-up for the Service Central Dragster that Dom is driving and Bobby is tuning in their first appearance of the season.
 
Bender's most recent task was getting top dollar for retired Kenny Bernstein as the legend sold all his equipment. Now that that's completed, he said he's ready to get back to working for an active team.
 
"I sold all of Kenny's stuff pretty well, so I need to find a job," Bender said.
 
"They [the Lagana family] said to come down and hang out. If I can help them, that's what I'm going to try to do. I'd like to see them guys do real good this weekend."
 
He said he really doesn't have to tell the Laganas much: "Bobby knows what he's doing, so I don't have to tell him a whole lot. I just ask what he's doing and I say, 'Well, in my position, I would have done this.' I just give him ideas. Like I say, those boys know how to run that car.
 
"I'm out here talking to a few people. I know there's some stuff on the horizon for some of the teams -- new cars and stuff like that," Bender said. "So I figure if you’re not out here, no one knows who you are. So you'd better be out here. I'll come out and be a great help for whoever."
 
Said Dom Lagana, "Donnie and us and Scott Palmer are all really good friends. We hang out outside the racetrack. Donnie, as many big teams as he's worked on, he's a nitro junkie like us. He's out here, just kind of giving us a hand. We're introducing him to some new guys. We're just out here, having a really good time.
 
"We're out here, trying to help him find a job and introduce him to some of the other guys. We're all really good friends. We enjoy each other's company. He's definitely a good set of eyes to have in the pit."
 
So, too, are those of Todd Smith, Bender's colleague at Don Prudhomme's Snake Racing operation and with Kenny Bernstein Racing. Smith, who lives in Florida, is "visiting" Lagana pit this weekend, the driver said.
 

HUGE HELP - Whatever Donnie Bender might have whispered into Service Central Dragster team owner-crew chief Bobby Lagana's ear Friday, it must have been spot-on. It was enough to propel Dom Lagana to the No. 6 position overnight. Dom Lagana, who works on his own car, too, ("We're always keeping busy here. That's what I like to do. I love working on the car."), said he isn't growing weary of being the hunter instead of the hunted.
 
"A lot of the big guys are our good friends. We like hanging out with them outside the racetrack. But when we come out here, we kind of have realistic goals for ourselves," he said. "It's not that we don't have confidence, that we don't think we can win. But  our goal's always to come out and make a respectable run and try to get in the field. I'm not one to go out and say [I'm going to win] -- not that I don't want to win -- it would be awesome to win. Winning for us is getting qualified and representing our great sponsors correctly and just trying to do a good job."
 
So far so good.

UP TO GO DOWN - Ron Capps was fourth after the first session and in Friday's second session improved with a 4.102, 296.89 but fell to seventh.

RIGHT BLEND - Top Fuel team owner-driver Terry McMillen said he has been amazed at how well consultant Lee Beard and crew chief Richard Hartman have meshed this year. Now all he has to do is parlay their advice and skills into keeping the Amalie Oil / UNOH Dragster in once piece as it blasts down the racetrack. And he figured that if he could blend these two different thinkers, Beard and Hartman, and have no explosions, then he could keep his dragster explosion-free, too.
 
"At first, some days, I thought it was like fire and water, like fire and gasoline there with the two of them, because you know both of them. But I've never seen two guys work together better in my life -- better than I ever dreamed it would be," Mc Millen said. "And I'm not saying anything negative about either one of them. It's just their style of getting business done. It's a compliment to them, and it's just going to make our team a lot better.
 
"It's really cool. They complement each other in weird ways. That's what really neat. Lee is definitely the professor, very [into] technique and tactical about how he does things. Richard just knows what it takes to get the car to go A to B. Between the two of them, we're able to fine-tune all the rough edges and go out and come out there with a combination that's going to get the car down the track. We shouldn't be blowing parts all over the place. We had nine oildowns last year. That's not Richard's fault, not anybody's fault, just bad luck. Our goal this year is to change that, be a better performer, more consistent. If we can go out there and run mid- to low-80s all the time down the track, it's going to make me a better driver. It's going to make everything in the package come along together."
 
With back-to-back races, at Pomona and Phoenix, starting the schedule, it has taken awhile for the communication to translate into improvement. But McMillen said the main objective is to make the Countdown field for the first time since he switched from IHRA to NHRA competition three seasons ago.
 
Once Beard and Hartman got on the same page, the team has developed a better game plan. "They started breaking it down. And they found areas I could do a little bit different, found areas that we need to make [changes] on our maintenance side of the program, and areas we need to change in our overall tune-up," McMillen said. "Overall, I'm just really excited and feel that today we're where we needed to be going into Pomona. I'm really confident that we're going to have a great  weekend. And no better place to do it than Gainesville, with the Gators. Tampa, that's where my boys from Amalie Oil are from. It's going to be a great weekend.  We're excited -- I really think we've got something to show and to prove out here right now -- and no better place to do it than right here."
 
McMillen is on the bump overnight with a  5.252-second elapsed time.
 
The Hoosier Thunder Motorsports team owner said he sees improvement. "Last year . . .  no matter how hard we'd try -- we even put the old parts in from the run before, just serviced them an put them right back in -- and the car wouldn't duplicate. Now we know that we can't duplicate. And I know that when Richard's making a change on the controller, it is making a difference and the car is responding to his command.  We're going to get there now.
 
"Lee just kind of came in and openly looked at our entire program. He didn't really say a whole lot about what we should be changing yet or anything like that. He wanted to see how we were doing things and what our runs looked like. He took the information and started fine-tuning it. It's just amazing, the little subtleties that we're finding that's going to make the big difference in this car," McMillen said.
 
"We're in a big building stage right now. But I'm really convinced that we're going to throw everything we have at it, like we always have, to get into that top 10 and to be a better performer -- and more important, to go out there and not injure parts and cost ourselves a fortune in trying to run a car that's on a limited budget. We're doing well, and I'm really proud of my guys, proud of the people I have right now. Lee and Richard, they're just going to get us there."

TO HECK WITH UNCERTAINTY - LE Tonglet didn't know for sure if he was going to compete here until last week. And he still doesn't know if he'll be riding the Nitro Fish Suzuki or a bike sponsored by any other company beyond this weekend. But the resilient 2010 series champion shook off all the uncertainty and seized the provisional No. 3 position Friday with a 6.894-second quarter-mile time at 192.93 mph. That came in his first official pass of the year, as he slowed a bit -- to 6.959, 190.38 -- in his second chance Friday.

GATORS NEED GATOR FARMER - Jerry Savoie couldn't get a bounce Friday from his 6.90-second test pass aboard his brand-new S&S-powered White Alligator Racing Buell -- even with longtime Steve Johnson crew chief Tim Kulungian, and his fuel-injection know-how, joining the team as  an assistant to Mark Peiser. That pre-season pass at South Georgia Motorsports Park earlier this week would have given Savoie the provisional No. 4 position Friday. The Cutoff, La., alligator farmer wound up 22nd of 23 entrants and will make sure not to waste either of his two remaining chances Saturday.
 
The sophomore competitor does have an advantage as the season goes along -- he'll have a Buell and a Suzuki at his disposal and can switch back and forth, depending on which bike best suits track and weather conditions.
 
"I knew that riding this Buell would be a whole different experience than I had last year on the Suzuki, but I couldn't believe just how much different it was," Savoie said. "I was really impressed by how much power this bike has. It's going to take a little getting used to, but I'm excited about the possibilities. This is going to be a very fast motorcycle."
 
Peiser never has worked on a V-twin engine, but he drew competitive performances from it before Friday. Said Peiser, "Everything on this bike is different from what I'm used to, but the basic principles of Pro Stock Motorcycle racing still apply. On that 6.90 run, we've just scratched the surface of what this bike is capable of. I'm more excited about the things I don't know yet than what I do know. Every day, I learn something new about this combination, and I can already see that it has unlimited potential."
 
He'll need to yank that from the bike Saturday. After all, what would the Gatornationals be without the 'gator farmer?
 
ON THE OUTSIDE - Among those still trying to make the top 16 are experienced Redell Harris, Wes Wells, Mike Berry, and Justin Finley.

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH - Allen Johnson narrowly missed capturing the provisional Pro Stock pole following the first two sessions of qualifying. The Mopar Dodge Avenger driver was bumped to the second spot by a margin of less than one mile per hour.

Johnson posted a 6.588-second elapsed time (ET) at 210.64 mph in his first qualifying run and was ranked eighth, but he rocketed to the top spot with his superlative second pass, a 6.545/210.77 gem. The Greeneville, Tenn. native’s grip on No. 1 lasted until the final pair, when Jason Line tied Johnson’s 6.545 ET but claimed the pole based on his faster 211.46 mph speed.

The first run, we had a little glitch and don’t really know what happened, but we checked everything, came back and made a really strong run,” said Johnson. “We left a little bit on the table — enough to get the No. 1 spot tomorrow.

SULLIVAN BOWS OUT - Following Katie Sullivan's top-end accident at pre-Gatornationals testing at Valdosta, Ga., fellow rider Shawn Gann generously stepped up to help.
 
He offered to loan her one of his motorcycles. She accepted and gave it a one-pass try. The bike behaved perfectly, but Sullivan discovered that simply wriggling from her firesuit was excruciatingly painful. She was unhurt from the crash, in which she tumbled onto the track, except for bumps and bruises. But even the bumps and bruises proved to be too painful.
 
She was still prepared to run in Gainesville but at her fathers urging, she opted to sit out the season-opener, denying her the chance to set an NHRA precedent. The 20-year-old full-time business student from Corning, Calif., whose racing team is "Kalifornia Katie Racing," had planned to race as a teammate to dad Charlie. It would have been the first father-daughter Pro Stock Motorcycle combination.

SWEET, 'FOREVER' DEAL - Lucas Oil founder Forrest Lucas announced Friday a unique sponsorship of Top Fuel racer Chris Karamesines. Lucas has pledged to sponsor the 82-year-old drag-racing legend for as long as he competes. Lucas Oil first joined Karamesines, widely known as "The Greek," for seven national events in 2011. It turned out to be a popular move, so Lucas made it permanent.
 
"The Greek is a legend in our sport," Lucas said. "He's a great ambassador for drag racing and our line of products, and we're happy to partner with him again. I look forward to seeing the Greek's dragster go down the track with our colors on his car for many years to come."
 
Karamesines, of Chicago, competed in 13 Top Fuel events last year, qualifying for four. He advanced to the quarterfinals at Bristol Dragway, earning his first round-win in NHRA competition in more than 20 years. He has raced since the 1950s and was recognized as one of NHRA's 50 Greatest Drivers in 2001. He has won national events in ADRA, AHRA and IHRA competition.
 
"I appreciate Forrest helping us out the way he does," Karamesines said. "We'll get to as many Top Fuel races as we can and will do our best for Lucas Oil. What they've done for our sport is tremendous and it's cool to have them on our car. We're very appreciative of their support."
 
LOOK OUT - Terry McMillen wasn't resting easy after the first session Friday. He was hanging onto the No. 16 spot with another qualifying session in the late afternoon and two more scheduled for Saturday. And he had a pack of top dogs barking at his heels. They included Spencer Massey, Dave Grubnic, Morgan Lucas, and Khalid alBalooshi. Part-timers Brady Kalivoda and Pat Dakin also were eager to make their first field in 2012. At the end of the first day, McMillen had moved up to No. 13, leaving the dubious bump distinction to Cory McClenathan. Needing those two Saturday chances to make the grid were Ike Maier, Chris Karamesines, Dakin, David Grubnic, Spencer Massey, and Kalivoda.   

VALVOLINE EXTENDS WITH DSR - Valvoline and Don Schumacher Racing announced during Friday qualifying that they have extended their marketing partnership in NHRA drag racing with a multiyear agreement.

The iconic oil brand has been affiliated with the biggest team in professional drag racing since 2006, and Valvoline has a racing heritage that draws on over 100 years of on-track success.

DSR has won 94 National Hot Rod Association national event titles and five NHRA series championships since beginning its major partnership with Valvoline.

“We’ve enjoyed winning both on and off the track with DSR. Now that the team is actually racing and winning with our new NextGen™ recycled oil technology, they have become a powerful proof point for consumers who are considering NextGen,” said Rob Clendening, Valvoline brand manager.

“The team spent the first half of 2011 validating NextGen technology for use in those 8,000 horsepower monsters, and then DSR made the choice to switch from their regular Valvoline formula.”

Valvoline, a brand of Ashland Inc., is featuring its NextGen oil brand as the primary sponsor of the DSR Funny Car driven by Jack Beckman, who along with veteran crew chief Rahn Tobler, placed second in last year’s NHRA Funny Car standings in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Valvoline also is an associate sponsor on the other six teams at DSR including seven-time NHRA world champion Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown and Spencer Massey in Top Fuel, and reigning Funny Car champion Matt Hagan, Ron Capps and Johnny Gray in Funny Car. In addition to branding, Valvoline will continue to supply NextGen for use in all DSR race cars.

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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK: GETTING READY FOR FLORIDA'S SPEED WEEK

TOP FUEL
 

INSPIRATION FROM THE PAST - Al-Anabi Dragster driver Khalid alBalooshi will relive a special time this weekend at Gainesville. As a Pro Modified rookie in 2011, he won the Gatornationals here in that class' season-opener en route to the Get Screened America Pro Mod championship. He's scheduled to receive his 2011 championship jacket and ring in pre-race ceremonies Sunday.
 
"I think this will be good for me to remember last year’s championship," the Dubai native said. "Last season had a perfect start with the win. I think getting the championship jacket and ring will push me to work even harder to get better in the car and have better reaction times.
 
"Every run, I am learning more about the car and what I need to do," alBalooshi said. "In qualifying, I am still trying different things to see what works best for me. I am working on everything: how I sit in the car, where I put my feet, how I do everything. If I take where I am after the second race and work hard to improve in the four qualifying runs at each race, I will continue to get better.
 
"When I started, all I knew was push the throttle. Now I understand more about what's going on with the car. So as soon as it spins the tires or starts to shake, I feel it and know what to do," he said. "I can control the car better now than I did at the first race. I still have a lot to learn, but I think I am getting better."
 
Crew chief Jason McCulloch said he thinks so, too: "He's doing a great job driving and getting better every run.
 
"He just needs to not get frustrated," McCulloch said. "Driving the car straight and getting down the track is an ability you either have or don't have. AlBalooshi has it. For him to get where he wants to be and where we all want him to be, it will just take more experience and more runs in the car. We all have to be patient and allow him the time to learn.
 
"It's going to take patience. He has the ability to drive the car, and I don't think any of the drivers he's racing against were as good on their 40th pass as they are today," the crew chief said. "He's not a rookie racer, but he’s a rookie Top Fuel racer. I know he wants to compete at the level of the guys he's driving against. He will in due time, but it's a learning process."
 
Said alBalooshi, more eagerly than impatiently, "The track there is fast, and I am ready to race again this weekend."

ON TOP OF THE WORLD - He's engaged. His car is engaged. The team is engaged. Morgan Lucas is elated right now. "Everything in my life couldn't be better," the GEICO / Lucas Oil Dragster driver who will marry longtime girlfriend Katie Pallone said. "I'm excited to be engaged, and I'm excited about the direction the race team is going. There's nothing to complain about in my life right now, which gives me a lot of confidence going into a race like Gainesville. This is a track that has seen a lot of NHRA history. The first 300-mile-an-hour run was made here. All the legends have won there. I've always wanted a Gatornationals trophy on my shelf."
 
His team passed up the chance to stay at Phoenix and test but took the car back to the shop at Brownsburg, Ind., for thorough inspection and maintenance. "We have done just about everything you can do to the car without having to put nitro in it. So far, everything is going according to plan. This is the best race car this team has had, ever. And we're still making progress, which is giving everyone a lot of confidence."
 
All that has stopped Lucas in eliminations is unexpected parts breakages. "Those things will happen to you," he said. "It's just strange that they've happened to us twice in as many races. All we need now is to get a little luck on our side. If that happens then this team will be in position to win."

AN EXTRA HOP IN THEIR STEP - While Morgan Lucas' team went back to Indianapolis, teammate Brandon Bernstein and his MAVTV Dragster did stay at Firebird International Raceway an tested for an extra couple of days. And the driver said he's ready to rock and roll at the Gatornationals. "We're extremely excited with the way the car ran during testing," Bernstein said. "The guys found some issues that were plaguing us in those first couple of races. They've found the right direction and fixed those problems. When you test you always hope you find something that will make the car better. They found something and we're all excited about getting back on the track to see what we can do. You always get an extra hop in your step after a good test session."
 
 
SCHUMACHER SURE –  With one semifinal effort and one runner-up finish in the first two races this season,  Tony Schumacher said, "I'd say we've done pretty well for ourselves. Obviously, we would like to be talking about two wins, but we're getting closer to where we need to be."
 
His always-dangerous U.S. Army Dragster team just might be on the verge of ending its 25-race drought with a first victory since the 2010 fall Las Vegas race. If he wins, he'll pass "Big Daddy" Don Garlits to notch the most victories at the Central Florida racetrack with five. Joe Amato and Larry Dixon also have won this race four times in the Top Fuel class (although Warren Johnson has nine Wally trophies from Gainesville and John Force has seven).
 
"It's cool to be tied with Garlits for the most wins at one of the biggest races of the year and to have a shot at passing him," Schumacher said.
 
That isn't generating any extra pressure, Schumacher assured. "We go out to win every race we compete in. Nobody is dwelling on the fact we haven't won in 25 races. Understand something – we will take home some trophies this year and contend for the title. To a person, we all believe that. I have a talented bunch of guys on my team who I wouldn’t trade for anyone.  We had an outstanding car in Phoenix all weekend. We just ended up on the short end against Antron [Don Schumacher Racing mate Brown] in the finals. I'm happy with where we're at right now and confident it will get even better."
 
Brown said, "Beating Tony in Phoenix was quite the chore, let me tell you. It was a very close race. That Army team is going to be extremely tough all season, as will so many other teams."
 
HE'S THE OLD MAN! - Former Pro Stock Motorcycle competitor Antron Brown just started his fifth Top Fuel season. He celebrated his 36th birthday March 1 during the 18-day layoff  since he won the Arizona Nationals near Phoenix. But he said he doesn't consider himself a Top Fuel veteran. "No way – not when Tony has me beat by six years," Brown said. "I'd like to think he's the senior citizen in the DSR Top Fuel driver camp."
 
The Matco Tools Dragster driver said, "I feel blessed that we have performed like we have to this point. I have a top-notch team. We proved that last year right to the end and haven't missed a beat starting out this year. There's no reason to think we can't continue to have these types of results going forward."
 
So far he hasn't won the Gatornationals, on a bike or in a dragster.
 
'HEY, IT'S A DRAG RACE!' - Spencer Massey just can't stay away from the dragstrip -- even when he isn't racing. His motorhome simply defies any GPS navigation and turns into the racetrack where his sportsman-level friends are racing. On his way to Gainesville, Fla., the Fort Worth resident swung down through Baytown, Texas, for the NHRA divisional race at Royal Purple Raceway. "I just wanted to be a fan and hang out with my sportsman racer buddies," Massey said. He is one of the Don Schumacher Racing trio leading the Top Fuel standings. He's third, behind Antron Brown and No. 2 Tony Schumacher. The FRAM/ Prestone Dragster driver has raced only twice at Gainesville. He qualified fourth and reached the semifinals last year and lost in the first round in his first visit. But already he has a feel for the track that has hosted the Gatornationals 43 times: "Gainesville always is a track with good air because of all the big, old trees around it. There are great fans there. It's just one of those tracks where you really want to win at."

KEEP WATCHING . . . - Shawn Langdon said she's comfortable in the car, but he's not especially comfortable with the results from either of the first two races this year.
 
"After two races, I'm very comfortable in the car," Langdon said after making the switch from Morgan Lucas racing to the Al-Anabi team. "I really feel like coming in, there were some little things we needed to change, but for the most part, it's been a great fit with me in the car as well as being a part of the team. We have all accepted each other's opinions, and I think we've shown we can work well together. Everyone gets along great, and we all have high hopes for this year."
 
He qualified No. 1 at Phoenix and advanced to the semifinals, which he said "showed that [team manager] Alan Johnson and [crew chief] Brian Husen are capable of pulling off a phenomenal run at any given time." However, he said, "The overall results from first two races don't really show what our Al-Anabi team is capable of."
 
Langdon said, "We just got into Sunday and overpowered the track a little. You're going to have that. It's not the end of the world for the second race of the season. We're just trying to learn what the car will hold. With a new driver joining this Al-Anabi team, we're looking for a great start, and we hope to win one of the first few races. I think with how well the car performed going from Pomona to Phoenix, even though we didn't get the win at Phoenix, we really came out of that race almost like we did, with how well the car responded.
 
"We are definitely going to the Gatornationals with high hopes of continuing to improve as a race team," he said, "and hopefully get Sheikh Khalid’s Al-Anabi team back in the winners circle, like it was at this race last year." Del Worsham won the 2011 Gatornationals and went on to earn the championship.
 
"Gainesville is always a fun track with a lot of fans packing the place. It's kind of like the Winternationals of the East Coast," Langdon said. "It's a good race track where you always see a lot of good runs, and hopefully we'll have good weather." No matter what, he said, he got excited about resuming Full Throttle Drag Racing series action  when he visited with his Al-Anabi team at the shop in Brownsburg, Ind., recently. "Everyone was already excited to get down to Gainesville to get going again. It's good for a driver when all the crew guys are pumped up about going racing. It gets you excited, too."
 
YEA, RAH, CLASS OF '01! - The two Top Fuel No. 1 qualifiers so far this season are alumni from Southern California's Jurupa Valley High School Class of 2001. Morgan Lucas, in the Geico Toyota Dragster, was quickest in Pomona qualifying, and a week later, Shawn Langdon, in the Al-Anabi Toyota Dragster, led the Phoenix field. The two are close friends and former teammates.
 
WELCOME BACK - Several Top Fuel racers will make their firsta ppearances of the season this weekend. They include Hillary Will, who'll drive the Dote Family Racing Dragster. Brady Kalivoda will be back in the Warrior Racing Dragster that the Dakin family owns. Fan favorites T.J. Zizzo, Dom Lagana, and ageless Chris "The Greek" Karamesines will make their first runs this year. The Funny Car class will see Dale Creasy Jr.'s return, as well as the debut of rookie Blake Alexander.

ON A ROLL - After recording both a career-best elapsed time (3.788 seconds) and speed (322.04 mph) at Phoenix's Firebird International Raceway nearly three weeks ago, Steve Torrence said he's ready to get back to action this weekend at Auto Plus Raceway at Gainesville, Fla. "I have a lot of confidence in this team and the race car going into this race. That really helps the driver. We want to step up and be competitive and do it one lap at a time," the Kilgore, Texas, native and owner-driver of the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Dragster said. "I'm really ready to get to Gainesville," Torrence, who's seventh in the standings, said. "We know we have a good race car."
 
 
 
FUNNY CAR

DeJORIA CAMP READY - Jim Oberhofer,  vice-president and team manager of Kalitta Motorsports, had some sound advice for new crew chief Del Worsham when they assessed how to get Alexis DeJoria's Tequila Patrün Toyota Camry pointed in the right direction. "I told him. 'You learn something new every day in this sport, and the day you think you're done learning, you probably shouldn't do this anymore,' " Oberhofer said.
 
 "The car can run. We know that," he said. "And we have an excellent team in place. Obviously there are some minor growing pains for him as a new crew chief." He said Worsham, who won the Funny Car Wally here in 2004 and the Top Fuel trophy here last year, will "be just fine" this weekend. As for the car's performance, Oberhofer looked back at the previous race and said, "Phoenix wasn't what we had hoped it to be, but at the end of the day, everything that happened there simply came down to having some bad luck with mechanical parts. There was no mystery in trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. It was very straightforward, so thankfully getting the car prepared for Gainesville was an easy fix."
 
DeJoria, like Worsham, has had a positive vibe from this racetrack. At last year's Gatornationals she set both ends of the Top Alcohol Funny Car record with a 5.446-second elapsed time and 267.91-mph speed.
 
"I have so many good memories of Gainesville," the California resident said. "I lived there for about two and a half years, so it was my 'hometown' track for a little while, and the first time I learned how to drive an alcohol car was at Frank Hawley's Racing School. located in Gainesville]. Plus, one of my favorite memories of [daughter] Isabella from when she was little happened at that track. When I first starting testing with Bob Newberry [for TAFC] we were out at the track one day, and Bella was out there with us with her new 'big-girl' bike and it was in that very parking lot that she learned how to ride a bike for the first time. So that's very cool!"
 
DeJoria spent her time off after the Arizona nationals training and snowboarding and hopes the magic will continue in the spot where the young, adventurous go surfing rather than snowboarding. "I can't wait to go to Gainesville for the first time with my nitro car," she said. "Hopefully the Gatornationals will be as good to us in the nitro car as it was when we were in the alcohol car."
 
CLASS OVERVIEW -  Just as Don Schumacher Racing's dragsters are 1-2-3 in the Top Fuel standings, John Force Racing drivers occupy the top three places in the Funny Car standings. Mike Neff leads with a 42-point advantage over Phoenix winner Robert Hight, who has boss Force just four points behind him. Three of the early-season surprises among the top 10 Funny Car drivers are No. 6 Courtney Force, a rookie, and earnest and talented but low-budget-driven No. 7 Todd Lesenko, and No. 10 Gary Densham.

T.P. LOOKS TO CLOSE GAP - Tony Pedregon has won this NHRA East Coast debut twice, in 2002 and 2008. He's a way from catching class leader John Force, with his seven Gatornationals victories. However, he's the second-most successful active Funny Car driver at Gainesville, as no one else has won more than twice -- and his brother, Cruz Pedregon, along with Tim Wilkerson, Bob Tasca, Ron Capps, and Gary Densham are the only other active drivers to claim one of the previous 42 Gatornational Wally trophies. After Force, the drivers with multiple victories are Don Prudhomme (5), Ed McCulloch (4), Kenny Bernstein (3), Gordie Bonin (3), and Frank Hawley (2).
 
 
SISTER ACT - Courtney Force, who reached the quarterfinals in her first race and the semifinals in only her second, is handling the media hype as well as she is handling her Traxxas Ford Mustang. She said her inspiration is older sister Ashley, who remains on maternity leave from Funny Car action.
 
"I remember when Ashley went through the transition into a professional category. She was gone all the time, traveling, doing appearances, radio and television interviews, but I always thought it was cool," Courtney Force said. "The fact that she was a good enough driver to be noticed and have people want her interview I thought was amazing, or maybe I was a little envious. More than anything, I was proud of my big sister, because she had a lot of pressure on her and she handled it so well while continuing to be the same humble sister that I know, which is very inspiring. I look up to her in so many ways, not just in drag racing. Now that I'm making the same transition, I always think of how Ashley has gone through the same stress and nervousness as I am going through, and it always helps keep me composed. I try to enjoy all of it. It can be a little overwhelming, but it comes with the job."

ROOKIE FORCE TRYING TO BE PATIENT - Courtney Force is no different than nay other driver. She wants to win and win now. But she recognizes that focusing on one step at a time and being ready to seize any opportunity is key.
 
"Going to the semifinal round in only the second race of my rookie season is definitely not how I expected the season to start," the Traxxas Ford Mustang driver said. "I tested hard all last season and as a new driver I'm obviously still learning each time I'm in the seat of my  Funny Car, but my main goal going into each event was to just focus on getting qualified. Once I was qualified, going into first round on race day seemed surreal, but I was more relaxed. I didn't feel any real pressure because I had accomplished what I had set out to do, which was to just qualify at each event and go from there. I've only been beat by my teammates so far so that has given me even more drive. I can learn from them and any mistakes I make in order to become a better driver and hopefully put it to the race track."
 
She said the car's consistent performances so far have her confident as the Gatornationals approach. "I would definitely like to get my first win sometime this season, but anything can happen. Every track is different, and sometimes the car just doesn't want to agree. So far my car has been consistent which is great for me as a driver, but I'm just hoping we can continue to make great decisions each run while stepping the car up and trying to make it quicker. I would love to get a win soon, but I'm going to take this round by round and hope for a great race weekend," Force said.

DOUBLE INCENTIVE - In just two races this year, Robert Hight already has extended a winning streak in the Auto Club Ford Mustang. With the Arizona nationals victory, he has won at least one time in each of his eight seasons. But as he looked at the Gatornationals and the rest of the schedule, Hight seemed to speak as both driver and John Force racing Preesident.
 
“I love getting off to a strong start. Seeing [Mike] Neff race to both finals and seeing me and John in the winners circle is great for Ford Racing, Auto Club, Castrol, and all our sponsors," Hight said. "The key is to run consistent all year and that is hard to do. I want to focus on doing the little things right all season. Neff and Jimmy [his own crew chief Prock] talk all the time and I know all the crew chiefs share info. We have a great group of crew chiefs and it is awesome to see John Medlen back in our pits. On race day it is every man and woman for themselves..
 
"We have had all JFR finals the first two races and both winners were surprises. Neff has had the strongest car but the worst luck in the finals," he said. "Now we need for Mike to get a win and for Courtney (Force) to keep developing. We want to have half the Funny Cars in the Traxxas Nitro Shootout, which I think is doable with the way the system is set up. It was cool when I saw my name on that sign that said I was in the Shootout. Jimmy has won big money at Indy before, and I want to get my hands on that $100,000."
 
'MY MAN, LITTLE JON' - Mike Neff got an eye-opener last March when he won the Gatornationals. He discovered how physically demanding it is to last all day Sunday while handling double-duty as driver and crew chief of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. But he went on to win more racing rounds than any other driver last season (40), and he has been runner-up in each of this season's first two events. He posted quickest elapsed time in each race (4.036 seconds at Pomona and 4.072  at Phoenix). He has led the standings for 16 of the past 23 races. And as a driver, he has taken a JFR Ford to the final round 12 times in his last 25 starts. As a crew chief, he has done the same thing 22 times in 47 races. So he quickly got in the groove.
 
This season, Neff has found more of a comfort zone, thanks to Jon Schaffer as his mechanical facilitator. "I've got my man Little Jon, and he can get in there and twist the knobs for me," Neff said. Last-minute adjustments to the tune-up used to be a major concern when conditions changed significantly while he was helplessly strapped into the cockpit. Schaffer has honed his skills and meshed with Neff so well that Neff said, "I can communicate with him. We've got a good situation."
 
LOOKING FOR A BREAKOUT - The class knows that reigning NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan and crew chief Tommy DeLago are tough customers and are as surprised as the Aaron's / Mopar Dodge Charger team that it hasn't posted a single round-win so far in two races. Hagan, though, indicated he's not panicked. He started No. 4 at Phoenix.
 
HUMBLE (AND CRAZY) BEGINNINGS - Winternationals winner John Force is making his 33rd appearance at the Gatornationals. As he goes for a 16th series crown, he's decidedly improved from the driver he was when he first raced here in 1979. That year, he was driving the Wendy's Hamburgers Corvette (loaded in a bare-bones transporter and with the help of a makeshift crew, having driven 2,415 miles from his Southern California home). What excited him was not the prospect of winning but rather hanging out with his drag-racing idols and keeping his commitment to Phil Dunne, a Wendy's franchisee who was one of his biggest corporate supporters. He failed to qualify that year but did get some decent mileage showing off his race-ready Funny Car at area Wendy's stores (in an era when show cars simply didn't exist). He was at a Wendy's location when he learned that Sunday morning that he was in the show, after all, as an alternate for the Larry Fullerton. (Back then, NHRA filled short fields with alternates.) He lost in the first round to Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen. Force, now 62, has more Gatornationals victories (7) than any other nitro driver and is second at Gainesville only to Pro Stock's Warren Johnson.
 
 
 
PRO STOCK

BACK IN HIS WHEELHOUSE - Following a pair of events on the West Coast to open the season, Allen Johnson and his J&J Racing team are back in familiar territory -- the Southeast. They're based in Greeneville, Tenn., and they have logged more than few test passes (some with stunning results) at  Bradenton, Fla. With even more testing in Florida to prepare for this weekend's Gatornationals at Gainesville, crew chief Mark Ingersoll and team engineer Jim Yates have tried a number of combinations on Johnson's Mopar Dodge Avenger.
 
"With the heat and humidity in Florida, you certainly have to approach an event there in several different ways," Johnson said. "We have experienced people on our team, so that always helps. We are headed to Gainesville with one goal and that is to win. I want to qualify No. 1 and I want to win in our Mopar Dodge Avenger."
 
He raced in the 2009 final round at Gainesville and has advanced to at least the semifinals three times here. Johnson also has been among the top-five in qualifying at Gainesville in four of his last five visits.
 
BIG PLANS FOR MARTINO - A January test session at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida warmed up Canadian Mark Martino for the start of his third year of NHRA competition. The Sunshine State is the place for the Stoney Creek, Ontario, resident who'll make his 2012 debut with his
DeSantis Crane Service Pontiac this weekend. He said he felt competitive with those testing at Bradenton: "We had a very consistent race car in testing and our time slips were representative of where we should be, compared to the sponsored teams that were testing with us that week. We've got a great engine program that is going to keep us in the hunt at every event we attend."
 
Martino's plan is to enter 10 events this year with his family owned and operated entry, while seeking funding for a full 2013 season. "It takes great people with the right skill sets to make our Pro Stocker go down the track perfectly every time," Martino said, "and attracting and maintaining sponsorship is no different. That's why we've stepped up our efforts and hired the right people to make sure we're not only doing our best on the track for our sponsors, but also going the extra mile when it comes to the things that matter most to them."

PROUD RECORD-HOLDER - Erica Enders set the Pro Stock national speed record here last March at 213.57 mph in her Cagnazzi Racing Chevrolet Cobalt, and she said, "We're very proud of that record. We want to hold on to it as long as possible. Weather-permitting this week, I'm sure it'll get busted. I hope it's by us. It's been nice to hold on to it for a year. That's something you don't see happen a lot in this class. I was proud to carry it, and we're hopeful it'll stick or that we can reset it when the weather and the race track are ideal." She and her team, including crew chief Dave Connolly, spent two days at Bradenton, Fla., testing.
 
She said she especially enjoys Gainesville, because "it's one of Pro Stock's favorite races because the people there are true Pro Stock fans. They sell out the race every year, and it's just a fun environment because the fans are really into it. I'll probably sign 10,000 autographs this weekend."
 
In 2006, she reached the finals here but lost to Tom Martino. "We know what we're doing now," she said, contrasting her progress today. "We can definitely get it done. It just has to be our day."

MOMENTUM? CUT IT OUT - According to MAVTV / Lucas Oil Pontiac driver Rodger Brogdon, talk of momentum is a kind of a bunch of hooey. Just the same, his crew is talking about how they have some right now, winning three rounds in two races and advancing to the semifinals in the most recent race at Phoenix. He said he's not caught up in that mindset, though. "I try not to be, but most of the guys on the team are that way," Brogdon said. "And they're very superstitious. I'm battling different things with these guys. If we go out there and do well this weekend, they're going to really be on that momentum deal."
 
Like others, he tested this week at Bradenton, Fla., even making a few passes in teammate Steve Kent's Pontiac, aiming for at least five runs per day in each car.
 
"We're always getting something new to try, new ideas to run through this thing. You can't do it at a national meet, and you can't really learn if you go somewhere where you're by yourself or with one or two cars," Brogdon said at Bradenton. "But here, heck, between the Pro Mods and us, we might have 20 cars down here. We'll have plenty of guys going down the track."
 
At Gainesville last year, Brogdon earned his first No. 1 qualifying position at 6.495 seconds at a speed (213.57 mph) that held up as the national record until Jason Line eclipsed it at Reading, Pa.'s Maple Grove Raceway later that year.
 
"It was very good, I don't mind telling you. It was very exciting for my team. We had a good run after that. We were fast the next few races and won a few rounds – before our midseason slump started. That's our main goal this year: Avoid the midseason slump."
 
At Phoenix, Brogdon eliminated higher-qualified Ron Krisher and Mike Edwards before losing to Greg Anderson in the semifinals. "I don't know if I would say we didn't deserve it. We did it," Brogdon said. "I wouldn't give it back for nothing. It gave my team a little boost, a little confidence. The last couple of years, we'd think we'd run a perfect race, and it seemed like we couldn't get a break. I told my guys after the last race, 'Well, we got back a couple this race, boys.' Maybe things are turning around."

DOUBLE DANGER - Jeg Coughlin Jr. will be a perpetual-motion machine this weekend, racing both his Mopar / JEGS.com Dodge Avenger in the Pro Stock class and his Mopar Challenger Drag Pak Challenger in Stock Eliminator competition. Coughlin is the only driver in the NHRA's 60-year history to win national-event titles in six different categories (Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Top Dragster).
 
"We have done a lot of work on our Mopar Drag Pak Challenger chassis over the winter and renowned world champ Jeff Taylor did a test with the car at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series race in Gainesville and won," Coughlin said. "So I guess that means the car is ready to go. Jeff and I have worked together for nearly 20 years and more recently on the 6.1 HEMI and Drag Pak Challenger project. The car appeared to be very happy in his race, and I look forward to taking over the helm. "I'm looking forward to my official 'Double Duty' race. We have been steadily improving our Mopar / JEGS.com Dodge Avenger Pro Stock car, and we were very happy with our between-races testing in Palm Beach. Look for improvements in Gainesville."
 
He's fifth in the Pro Stock standings and ready to rebound from an opening-round defeat at Phoenix. The Delaware, Ohio, resident has reached the Gatornationals final round five times, winning twice. His first victory came against Mark Osborne in 2001, and in 2008, he beat Jason Line. He was runner-up here in 2002, 2003, and 2004 -- and was No. 1 qualifier surprisingly just once.
 
 
 

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
 

BACK FOR MORE - Eddie Krawiec has won the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship twice, in 2008 and 2011. But curiously, he said "To be honest, I feel 2009, the year I lost my championship to Hector [Arana] Sr., that year for me was my championship year."
 
Said the Avon, Ind., transplant from Old Bridge, N.J., "I went to a total of eight final rounds in a row, 10 that year, won five, really was on fire, in my opinion. Hector Sr. was just on top of his game that much more and got the championship by two points. But last year was the icing on the cake. It's nice to see that you're a one-time champion, but it's even better to say a two-time. When you're a two-time champion, nobody can turn around and say you didn't earn it. You don't fall into championships. They're usually earned. I feel I earned this [current] one. It was a great battle all the way to the end."
 
Trying for a third consecutive Gatornationals triumph, Krawiec said, "Our main goal for Gainesville is going to be mostly trying to get a better percentage out of what we already had. We had strong bikes towards the last two races of the year. We changed our exhaust, which helped us, moved us in the right direction. But when we did that, it sort of shifted our power band. We went from going 104, 105 60-foots to 107s. You can't compete with a 107 60-foot with a 102 or 103. We need to move back that direction and get our chassis working better. That's what we focused on the end of this year. I think for this coming season, you're going to see hopefully our bikes working better off the starting line and being a little more consistent, and the end result hopefully netting in some better E.T.s."

MUCH AT STAKE - As far he knows right now, 2010 class champion LE Tonglet has just eight races this season to show off his talent -- and perhaps just one race aboard the Nitro Fish Suzuki GSXR bike.
 
His dad and team owner Gary Tonglet said, "LE hasn't ridden since the Finals at Pomona [last November], but you know that we will give it our best shot and see what happens."
 
Performing well is a must for the Metairie, La., mechanic who can help Nitro Fish owner Kenny Koretsky find some extra sponsorship help in the weeks to come. Koretsky said, "I made a one-race commitment to LE and Gary. After Gainesville, the motorcycles don't race again for six weeks. During that time, we hope to add another marketing partner to help them through the remainder of the season."
 
Meanwhile, LE Tonglet, is like a racehorse in the gate, sloughing off all the off-track pressure. "I can't wait to get started . . . I don't like the off-season," he said.

BIG PREDICTIONS, BIG HOPE - Karen Stoffer said, "I don't like predicting, because it's very challenging to predict drag racing, as everybody knows. I have no predictions, no anticipation. I just want to go out and ride and leave the predictions to the media to figure out. Maybe we'll have a good story at the end of the race, but right now, I just want to get out and ride my bike"
 
Aaaaah, but the GEICO Suzuki rider couldn't resist. "I definitely think there's going to be some records broken," she said. "It's usually the place that it happens. But I expect, if not just the single ET record broken, we'll probably have the fastest qualifying field. That usually happens at Gainesville."
 
She, crew chief husband Gary, and their team worked to overcome engine issues that decimated their inventory late last year. So Stoffer, the 2007 Gatornationals winner who   consistently performs really well at the bike opener, said, "I'd like to be in the mix. I'm hoping the GEICO bike does what in normally does in Gainesville. Normally, we do very well there." But she isn’t quite sure what to expect form herself.
 
"Right now we're coming in to Gainesville as an unknown, because we just got our motor in our bike. We won't know what we have until we actually get out and hit the first or second qualifying session," she said. "Historically, we've been up there in the mix, but this is a whole new territory for us, so we don't know."
 
OUCH - What Katie Sullivan will be able to do about racing at the Gatornationals remains uncertain. She's recovering from bumps and bruises sustained in a testing crash at South Georgia Motorsports Par earlier in this week. A gust of wind at the top end of the Valdosta, Ga., track swept her Tough Girl Designs Suzuki from underneath her as she was entering the shutdown area. She fell from the bike, and it fell over on the track. The motorcycle was a total loss, for it slid into the wall, then vaulted over it. Two separate vehicles carried it back to the pit. But the Corning, Calif., rider proved that she is the ultimate Tough Girl. She was unhurt in the incident.
 
GOING FOR IT - No one can accuse Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr. of not being bold. "I'm ready to go to Gainesville," the 2011 rookie of the year said. "It's the fastest track of the year, and that's where records could be set. My goal is to lower the E.T. record and go 200 mph." That E.T. record -- - 6.777 seconds from last March at Gainesville -- happens to belong to his father, Hector Arana Sr. Eddie Krawiec owns the national speed record, also form this race last season, at 199.26 mph. But Krawiec this week became the first pro Stock Motorcycle rider to top 200 mph (at 200.08). That mark from Valdosta, Ga., testing isn't official. And Arana Jr. said he and crew chief Dan Gonzalez have their sights set on the mark. And if he accomplishes it, he'll know that was a difficult feat. "This class is extremely close," Arana Jr. said. "I know we have three different makes. The Suzukis can win a race. The Buells and the Harleys are strong. You can't take any of the guys lightly. The No. 16 qualifier can win a race. Our fields are getting tighter and tighter, everybody is getting more consistent."
 
WORKING TO KEEP UP - While his son aggressively anticipates the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, Hector Arana Sr., said, "I get butterflies, I get nervous, all those good things. Just to hear that and talk about it, my heart rate goes up and puts a big smile on my face." And the Lucas Oil Buell rider said he "never really thought about" what an achievement it was not only to set the national elapsed-time record (6.777 seconds) at this race last season and have it hold up through all the stunning bike performances of 2011. "It did hold for a whole year, and that's a helluva accomplishment. It'll be nice if we can still hold the record after Gainesville," he said. His son is one of the pesky rivals he'll have to hold off, and current champion Eddie Krawiec already this week went quicker (6.771) in testing at Valdosta, Ga.
 
"Hector's been running strong," Arana Sr. said. "I believe he might reset the record – if I don't do it first. But you've still got the other bikes there that are contenders, and they are capable of setting those records," the Milltown, Ind., resident said." I know they've all been working hard but so have we. We're trying to do the best we can, and hopefully, we found something for Gainesville."
 
Even with help from his other son, Adam (an aspiring Pro Stock Motorcycle racer), Arana Sr. has been battling the clock -- and slower-than-hoped-for shipment of parts. "We've still got a lot of work ahead of us," he said. "I said, 'One of these days, I'm going to be way ahead.' I thought this year I was going to have plenty of time, but we've waited for parts, and that's the holdup. They just started showing up, and we're assembling the engines. We have two assembled, and we're working on the other two. But I am looking forward to being done way ahead of schedule one of these years so I can relax. Not now -- now it's time to race."

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