NHRA ROUTE 66 NATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - THE TRULY WINDY CITY; SCHUMACHER BLOWS AWAY THE COMPETITION
“Five years ago, [crew chief] Alan Johnson flew into this track and the last time we had met each other – we were racing against one another. We go out and qualify No. 1, win the race and since then we’ve won four world championships. Today marks our 38th win together. This is an outstanding team and the coolest part is we have six of the guys still on the team from that first day. A lot of great people have stayed together not only through the 38 wins, but through the 356 points we were behind a few years ago.
“That’s what makes a great team. These are guys who don’t yell and don’t point fingers. You think about it and you don’t see that very often. That’s a great group of guys and they know how to go out and do the job. They get through problems.”
THAT'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF BEER – “I think I gave away 2,000 tickets this weekend,” Schumacher said after posting his 38th win with crew chief Alan Johnson on what he considers his home track. “Those people had better buy me a cold beer when I get out of here.”
CHOSING THE RIGHT LANE WAS THE RIGHT DECISION – Almost every competitor who had lane choice throughout the weekend at Route 66 Raceway picked the left lane. Faced with one final run for victory, Schumacher picked right, the right lane that is.
“The left lane down track is better. The right lane is better early and if you look you’ll see an area that gets dark at half track. That is a crack. It’s about that wide [motions with hand] and runs about 100 feet. We came here and tested a few weeks ago and practiced driving around it. As much fun as that is at half-track, you practice because you know the track is so good early that is where you want to be early. You go out and let you let the car kind of drift inside to get around that crack.
“We took the right lane and it was cool. Everyone we raced at some time said, “Ha ha, we get the left lane.” We went down the track time and time again. The first time we smoked the tires was in the left lane.”
NEVER GIVING UP KEEPS YOU IN THE GAME – Schumacher's first round run against was about as ugly as they get, however,
“That was fun,” the eventual event winner said, “But, I should have gotten beat. I almost let my guard down. It went up in smoke and got sideways. I hit it hard and it got sideways again. That thing was so overpowered. Normally it’s grabbing a little bit and you can get in it. If you notice, I keep the car straight when I pedal it. I just couldn’t get it. It got sideways and got over by the wall. You just have to stop at that point. I was coasting and saw the finish line and knew I needed to get back into it again. I got back into it and took the light and he came by me going 100 mph faster. I thought to myself, 'Are you kidding me.'
“You see it a lot, guys give up and they get beat by a few inches. One more second of thinking and I was done. You pull off little ones like that which are tough to win and the rest you just let Alan do his work.
CAN I GET A MULLIGAN? - Tony Schumacher proclaims that if you can give his crew chief, Alan Johnson, a mulligan, a free pass on just one run, then he'll do the rest. Now just seven wins behind former Top Fuel racer Joe Amato, Tony is looking for a mulligan.
“I keep asking Alan if we win this race do we have to go to Englishtown? I think I have a total of four round wins there. I just can't get past that place.”
Englishtown is one event Schumacher has never been able to conquer.
TRIAL BY FIRE - Tony Pedregon in the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS and his crew made an
impressive recovery from a 
major fire on Saturday night's final qualifying run,
the end result being Pedregon advancing to his second final round of the season.
Ironically, the defending POWERade champion defeated Densham at Gainesville.
Today Pedregon, who qualified tenth, defeated Jerry Toliver in Round 1, No. 2
qualifier Mark Oswald in round 2, and Ashley Force in the semifinals to face
Scott Kalitta in the DHL Toyota in the money round. In the finals Pedregon had
a winning elapsed time of 4.818 seconds at 319.75 mph to Kalitta's 4.957 e.t. at
308.92 mph for his second win of the season and 38th of his career.
"What a day," Pedregon said. "I really want to thank the track. We
wish all the track's out here were like Route 66 in Chicago. You good people
out here have the finest track in the country. I was on fire a little more than
24 hours ago and I've got a bunch of guys that just busted their rears. They
stayed up until 3:00 in the morning getting the car ready. They were dog-tired
until we won that first round and then I saw that adrenaline getting stronger
and stronger in them.
"That little incident last night took me back to
the beginning of the year at Pomona (and a similar incident). It started out to
just be a run where everything was going good and we jumped on it to try and get
low e.t. It just pushed a head gasket out. There was a little flash fire and I
thought it would go out. At Pomona I knew I had my hands full right away, but
this just started kind of routine and then gradually got worse.
"We
looked at the data and were real encouraged. As bad as a feeling and as
expensive as it is it is to wipe a body out, but I looked at the numbers and the
car was running good. I just felt good. We had a new chassis and there's
always a little question mark if it's going to drive like the other one. It was
brand new and had zero runs on it, but fortunately my guys had it ready. After
that first run I had that confidence that I probably haven't had in awhile.
When the car responds, I think that gives the driver confidence. This is just a
good shot in the arm for us and gets us back in the game."
PADDING POINTS LEAD - Kurt Johnson scored his second win of the 2008 season by defeating Mike Edwards, Greg Anderson 
and his father Warren Johnson before squaring off against No. 1 qualifier Jeg Coughlin in the final.
Knowing he would need a near perfect performance to earn the victory, Johnson responded with his best reaction time of the day at .019 to gain the advantage by one-hundredth of a second at the starting line, capping the day with a 6.733-second, 205.22 mph pass to easily defeat Coughlin, who suffered severe tire shake at the hit of the throttle. This was the 38th win of Johnson’s career and third at Route 66 Raceway, allowing him to extend his lead in the POWERade championship standings.
“What a great day,” said Johnson. “Going into the final, I knew I would have to come up with a good light, because Jeggie is like a machine on the starting line, repeatedly putting up twenties and teens. I figured we had a couple hundredths on him in performance, so I felt I had to have a thirty or better to give us chance to win. To come up with that .019 was just huge.
“This was a big win for the entire ACDelco Cobalt crew, our sponsors and our fans. I was fortunate enough to have my family here this weekend, so they were able to enjoy the win with me. It took a little extra time because of the rain, but we got the job done in Joliet.”
The Johnson-led crew had worked on their race car’s tune-up throughout the weekend, dialing it in to the hot and humid conditions at the Joliet quarter-mile, which were made even more challenging by the persistent showers throughout the weekend, which included a three-hour rain delay between the first and second rounds on Sunday. After moving up to the sixth position on their final qualifying attempt on Saturday afternoon, the team made major changes prior to final eliminations, producing a stunning 6.717-second, 205.32 mph blast in their first round win over veteran Mike Edwards. From that point on, they were never headed.
“Our ACDelco Cobalt really stepped up to the plate today,” said Johnson. “With all the stories about the Triple Crown this weekend, I’d been calling our car ‘Big Blue’ after the horse Big Brown. Unlike him, however, we were able to finish the last quarter-mile.
“We made some changes to it last night after qualifying, and it really responded, picking me up when I needed it to in the middle rounds. In fact, it was so fast right off the bat this morning with that 6.71 that I resisted making any major changes. From the second round on, all I basically had to do was detail it.
“This was our third win in Chicago, along with the King Demon (the Pro Stock all-star race Johnson won last year in Joliet). It’s a tuner’s track, and you know the car is going to make it down to the finish line, so you’re going to learn something when you run here. It’s just a nice racetrack, and obviously we love coming here.
“But with this one in the books, we’re going to turn our attention to Englishtown and the races after that. We feel pretty good tonight, but there are a lot of races left, and we plan on doing this again, so we have to stay on top of our game.”
IT WAS A FEELING! - Chris Rivas finally has a “Wally”. He finally has that first national event win that proves what he's known 
for some time.
“When G2 called me…and big George Smith, I knew this was the one,” Rivas explained. “I knew if it didn’t work with this team, I had better just retire. It has proven to be a deadly combination. We knew (the bike) could do what we did today at some point. I was actually hoping for Gainesville because that was the debut of the whole new team. It just didn’t go together that way.
“I’ve felt like I always ran well in Chicago. It ran well in the hot and humid and Buells obviously run better in this kind of climate. We’ve got lots of tune-up calls we can make for this climate. It just seemed like everything fell together for us. To dominate like we did today is very satisfying.”
TAKING IT EASY TO TAKE IT ALL – Rivas admitted he pulled back just a bit on the line, thinking that by reining in the intensity might just be a key to victory.
“I relaxed it a bit,” he said, when asked about his reaction times. “In St. Louis, I was cutting .00 and .000 lights. I was really trying to save the team for what the bike couldn’t do. Today, I knew all I needed all day was something under a .050. As long as I was green and quicker than that, I was going to be fine. I went up there every time and stayed in that range. In the final round, I went up there looking for a .030. I only had a .044, but that’s my bike number so it all worked out.”
STARTING FIRST, ENDING FIRST – Chris Rivas' win from the pole was the fourth time in 2008 a PSM rider has done the deal start to finish.
HEAD GAMES? - Keeping a tight eye on the competition, Rivas could tell one of chief rivals was trying to unnerve him.
“Treble tried to play with me a little on the tree. We are old rivals. This goes back to our division racing days. He’s really a bracket racing fool. He tried a few things on me and I picked up on it. I didn’t really care. I had to do my routine. I didn’t let him shake me at all. I went into this event with a lot of confidence.
“He was rushing the light. Right before he went into stage, he brought the rev-limiter on. You never do that. You typically stage, wait a half-second and both bikes go on the rev-limiter, it’s a sequence. There’s a cadence to it. He had it on the rev-limiter before he rolled into stage. A lot of people that shakes up and I know he did it in his first round. That worked out for him then, but not in the final round.
“I wouldn’t say I’m religious but I have so much faith in God that I felt if this was what He wanted, then it’s what I wanted. I knew if it didn’t work, it wasn’t meant to be. Today, it was definitely meant to be.”
WE'RE GOING TO NEED TWO OF THESE! - Chris Rivas already has plans for the location of his very first Wally. He also had plans for a duplicate.
“It’s probably going to go out in my shop in Fresno, California,” Rivas said. “I’ve got a little V-twin performance shop called H&D Drifters. I’m gonna put it out there for our customers to see and we have a lot of other trophies. I have my old bracket bike sitting there. It kinda shows off what we can do for them.”
And the duplicate?
I’ll probably have a copy made for my dad. He was my inspiration for racing my whole life. He raced cars in the Sixties and never did like the bikes much at all. He got one trophy from Fremont and he never dreamed he’d be able to touch one of these. I need to get him one.”
PEDREGON’S OPEN GATE INCIDENT - Tony Pedregon was just trying to ride out another fiery run in his Q Horsepower Funny Car when calamity struck during Saturday evening qualifying.
The safety crews positioned along the wall could see the fire and in their haste made a critical error. One Graham Light, Vice President of Racing Operations, assures will not occur again.
“Was the gate open?” Light asked when questioned about the situation. “Yes, the gate was open,” he freely admitted. “It wasn't open prior to the run.
“Our guys made an error in judgment. Our emergency crews, the guys that man those gates, saw Tony's fire, saw the car coming. In their haste to try and get the gate open so the emergency truck could access the racetrack and get to it as soon as possible they opened the gate prematurely; the car came down sliding along the wall. It didn't impact head on, it didn't stop the car.
“We have qualified people in that area; in their attempt to try and get to the scene faster to assist Tony an error was made and that gate was opened prematurely. It will never happen again. We talked to the guys and it won't happen again.”
Pedregon wishes the mistake had never been made, however he is grateful Light admitted the mistake and addressed the issue, despite taking a fairly huge hit in the pocketbook.
“I am glad they admitted the mistake,” he said. “I know those guys are doing their best to protect the safety of the drivers. I just hope this never happens to anyone else.”
Pedregon's crew worked until 3 am in the morning rolling out a completely untested chassis, bolting on the necessary parts and then working feverishly through four rounds of eliminations to claim the win. It was drag racing's version of Cinderella.
Viewing the incident on reply, it appeared to most Pedregon was simply agitated losing a round and another body; he lost one in Pomona earlier this year. However, what really had Pedregon's dander up was knowing he had hit the gate -- a gate that never should have been open.
“It blew a tire and went into the wall,” Pedregon said when asked how the incident started. “As the car was scrubbing off speed they had that gate open and it snagged and that's what wiped our chassis out. The chassis would have been fine. There was minimal damage. When it jolted it and it snagged on the front wheel and then it caught the pipe it launched the body. Which may have been a good thing. I was fixing to get out of it. The body was a write-off anyway. It was just a mistake on their part and we hope that they learn from it and fix it because that gate has got to be closed. When a car goes down there at that rate of speed or even faster than what we were going its not a good situation. That was the reason that it jolted the car and the body came off; the flip side is it kept me from inhaling a bit more black smoke.”
Both Pedregon and Light are in total agreement, while hitting the gate allowed the driver to escape the fire and smoke it never should have happened that way.
Light says it never will. Pedregon believes him.
ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES A FINALIST - Jeg Coughlin Jr. came within 6.7 seconds of successfully defending his Route 66 NHRA Nationals race title but settled for runner-up honors to Kurt Johnson instead Sunday evening at the super-track in Joliet, Ill. It was the third final of the year for the defending POWERade champion and kept him comfortably in second place in the points standings.
In eight rounds of racing this weekend, Coughlin's JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt was the second quickest car in the field six times. It also led the field once and was third quickest on another occasion. The consistency earned the JEGS side of the Victor Cagnazzi Racing organization the Full Throttle Award for having the most reliable ride.
"Aside from coming up short in the final, this was a great weekend," said Coughlin, a 39-time winner in the Pro Stock class. "We qualified on the pole, we were right at the top of the performance sheets every round, and we won the Full Throttle Award.
"We saw how Kurt was running all day and we got aggressive with the tune-up. I agreed with the calls they made. We tried to knock the scoreboard down and it was just a touch too much. When I let out the clutch we had too much power and it blew the tires right off. Credit to Kurt. Him and his dad were fast this weekend. They're really coming on lately and it's another team to watch."
Coughlin rolled past Rickie Jones, Greg Stanfield, and Jason Line to reach his 63rd professional-level final round. With the points lead on the line, he and Johnson left within a blink of one another but soon thereafter Coughlin was severely spinning his tires and he elected to abort the run, with Johnson running away to a 6.733.
"I'm excited because we showed that we have one of the best teams in drag racing," Coughlin said. "We have a great racecar, a great team owner, a talented crew, both at the track and back at the shop, great sponsors, and great fans. I'm having a lot of fun this season and the competition is really tough, which makes it a real challenge.
"We'll take a week off, enjoy our families, and get ready for Englishtown (N.J.) on June 19-22. That's a big race so we'll be ready for it."
TODAY’S ROOKIE CHALLENGES - Being a rookie in the Funny Car division of the NHRA is no easy task.
Being a rookie on a rookie team adds to the challenge.
Being a rookie on a rookie team in a year filled with chassis changes, tire changes, testing bans, nitro issues and escalating fuel costs is a true trial by fire. Yet, Bob Tasca isn't sweating. He's planning and meeting each new challenge head on.
For the immediate future, Tasca's biggest obstacle is testing. Tasca needs to test just to catch up with the competition.
“Certainly with a new team and a new driver,” Tasca said when asked if the testing ban hurt his efforts. “We don't have the run data a lot of these teams have out here.
“Now what we're doing, we're not only transitioning with a tire, which everybody has to deal with, we're dealing with a new race car. We have the old style heavy tube two rail car that we started the season with, but we're switching over to the three rail car. We have two brand new cars coming, one I already have, and the plan was to test on Mondays after the race and then make the transition to the three rail car before Denver, where we have to deal with the tire.”
The only way for Tasca and company to catch up is by making laps. Laps he can't afford to make during an event. The team has to look outside the NRHA fold to find a venue where he can test the new chassis and the new tire.
“We have no choice, we have to test. You can't take a brand new car down the racetrack without making a 330 or 660 and we simply can't afford to do that on a race event. We just can't afford to do it. So we're going to make provisions to test at other locations because we have no choice.
“I miss testing because there's nothing that builds confidence than laps and you can get extra laps in testing, you can try different things, you can practice different things as a rookie driver. There's nothing that's more important to me right now than getting runs and when you take that away from a rookie, it hurts. And I think we're just going to work on ways to sneak in a few test sessions here or there if we can. We're going to try, coming up this week. If we can, we can. If we can't, well then we may be rolling out one of these three rail cars and hit the gas and see what it does. So you know, we'll see what happens.”
The possibility of actually running a few IHRA events, using them as test sessions, has been considered but not considered ideal. Tasca also doesn't know if the IHRA could accommodate NRHA racers showing up for their events.
“I don't know what IHRA's position is on it exactly, but it is an option. We would prefer to test with the guys we race with. We would prefer to do a test session with other fuel cars of our class, one it gives a good indication of what they run versus what we run. We can get a track prep that we're used to; so we would prefer to test with our brother racers out here and that's what we're trying to do.
“We're trying to put together a test session with NHRA teams on an IHRA track. And that's what we hope to do here this upcoming week.”
Putting together a test session is more than just finding a racetrack to rent. You have to have nitro to fuel the car and there is always the concern of testing without the heralded “safety safari” standing by in case of an incident.
“Having the safety safari gives you tremendous peace of mind. Obviously, there will be safety provisions at whatever track we go to. But, it's not as good, you know.
“We know the NHRA isn't doing this (banning testing at NHRA facilities) to put drivers in danger or force people to do test sessions elsewhere. They're doing it because they're concerned about the nitro shortage with the Olympics and everything. So you know, I understand their point of view. Would I rather run here Monday with the safety safari? Of course. But at the end of the day, you know we can go to half track, shut it off, I mean there's still a lot of exposure to risk, but you don't need to make full runs to kinda get dialed in.
“Certainly we would never run a sub-par track; there's standards that have to be there. You know sand traps, concrete barriers all the way down, the proper safety on hand, you know all of those deals are just musts. But no, It's not as good as having the safety safari here.”
Still there is an issue with obtaining the one ingredient you can't test without, nitromethane.
“Well, I can't get my own, the only other source to buy nitro-methane is Don Schumacher. He distributes nitro to IHRA and he also sells to certain teams for testing. He doesn't sell out here at NHRA events but that is the only other place where you can get nitro-methane.”
Will the price be affordable?
“You know, when demand exceeds supply in any industry, the price goes up. And that's what we're faced with, Don Schumacher was very vocal about the fact that nitro-methane could double. I mean, it's already gone up substantially from Topeka to here. So that is just something that these teams, we gotta deal with. It is what is is. You need nitro to do what we do so the price is something that we are going to have to figure out how to fit it into our budgets.”
Figuring it out is what all teams do, and rookie teams are pushed to do it quicker and quicker all the time.
HONORARY HOMBRES -
STILL THE ONE - There’s something about a points lead that changes a driver.
For Tim Wilkerson, he used to rarely give the points standings a glance following an event. Now he’s fixated on the point tallies.
Each time the Springfield, Ill.-based driver checks to see if he’s still on top. Since the NHRA Midwest Nationals early last month, he’s walked away from the experience with a smile on his face.
Wilkerson still leads the points following a quarter-final finish this past weekend during the NHRA Torco Race Fuels Route 66 Nationals in Chicago.
When someone can holeshot fourteen-time champion John Force like Wilkerson did in the first round they deserve the points lead.
Wilkerson ran a 4.919 to Force’s quicker 4.904. His margin of victory was .0024 seconds which translates into about 13 inches.
“That was a good run, there’s no doubt about that,” said Wilkerson. “We have to keep John behind us in the points chase. We need to keep everybody behind us. Unfortunately, Ashley (Force) is going to catch up with us a little because she had a better weekend.”
One round later he was outran by Gary Densham.
“We would have liked to go another round or two,” said Wilkerson. “And I really thought we could but the car just slowed down. I don’t know why. I’m looking at the data trying to figure out what happened to it. Everything worked like it was suppose to, it just looked like a dog. I don’t think it would have gone a .88. I was looking for a .89 at the best, so I don’t think we’d had enough for Gary anyway. He ran quickest of the session, and good for them. They made a good run.
“We had a good weekend overall. We had a pretty good car. It went down the track every run outside of our first one when we had our little mishap with the broken fuel line. We still have a good car, so we’ll go to the next race and try again.”
TJ'S DAY
HERBERT’S 500TH - Doug Herbert’s
500th career round of eliminations coincided with the first round of the NHRA Torco Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, Ill. The milestone also coincided with a victory lap.
Herbert’s personal triumph came at the expense of J.R. Todd, who he handled easily.
After a lengthy rain delay and a tornado watch issued by the National Weather Service, Herbert drove past Dave Grubnic in the second round.
While his previous opponents provided a challenge to an extent, the humid conditions in Chicago produced one challenge he couldn’t overcome.
After sitting in the sweltering heat, sweat got into Herbert’s eyes during the burnout against Tony Schumacher. As he staged, Herbert was unable to see the light and heard Schumacher drive away.
“I don’t really know what happened,” said Herbert. “Sweat got in my eyes, and I just didn’t hit it right. I messed up. It doesn’t happen very often, but it happened today.
“We moved up one spot to the No. 9 points position, and are on track to keep moving up and fight for the championship in the Countdown to One.
“The guys have faith in me, and I have faith in them. This team will come out ready to win in Englishtown where we went to the finals last year.”
HOT RODDIN’ - Hot Rod Fuller drove to a runner-up finish Sunday evening at Route 66 Raceway in front of a large Caterpillar cheering section. It was Fuller’s 16th career final round appearance. The seven-time Top Fuel winner now ranks fifth in the NHRA POWERade standings.
Fuller started from the No. 10 qualifying position and edged 30-time winner Doug Kalitta, local Chicagoland favorite T.J. Zizzo, and Morgan Lucas, before falling to five-time series champion Tony Schumacher in the final round.
Competing in his 16th career Top Fuel final round, two of the sport’s top drivers used solid reaction times, but the Caterpillar rail lost traction causing Fuller to pedal to a run of 5.259 at 223.14. Schumacher drove his Alan Johnson-tuned dragster to low elapsed time of the meet at 4.499 at 329.83 to score his fourth win of the season. Fuller now has 99 career round wins and a mark of 13-9 this season, including a victory over Schumacher at Madison, Ill. on May 4. Fuller and teammate Antron Brown rank fifth and third, respectively, in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel standings.
“All in all, it was a great weekend,” Fuller said. “We really struggled in qualifying and I was just hoping to make the field and get to first round. This has been a really good track to me. I’ve never won here yet, but getting to the final round isn’t a bad thing and nothing to shake your head over. I’m just proud of my guys and both of these David Powers Motorsports teams. The Matco Tools team worked great together and helped us out all day long to get to that final and that’s what teamwork is all about. I hope all the Caterpillar employees had a fun experience this weekend.”
BREAKING OUT - It had been 19 years since Scott Kalitta, driver of the DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car, had been to a NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series final round until Sunday at the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., just a few miles south of the Chicago city limits.
Kalitta raced against Tony Pedregon in the final round. The two wily drag racing veterans gave the fans at Route 66 Raceway a great race to watch in the final round, but unfortunately, Kalitta came up on the losing end, 4.957 sec., 308.92 mph to 4.818 sec., 319.75 mph, to be the event runner-up.
Kalitta’s previous final-round appearance was also the site of his only win in NHRA’s Funny Car class in Houston in 1989. Kalitta was the back-to-back NHRA Top Fuel world champion in 1994-95. He won 17 NHRA national events in a Top Fuel dragster in his career before switching back to Funny Cars in 2006.
Kalitta, the No. 13 qualifier, raced his DHL flopper to the final round in Joliet by defeating Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon, and Gary Densham in respective rounds. Kalitta’s previous final round was also in Joliet when he captured his final Top Fuel title trophy in 2005.
“Well, we’re disappointed, but then again we’re pretty happy,” Kalitta, a 46-year old resident of Palmetto, Fla., said. “We have struggled so much with our DHL Funny Car all year long, so just getting to the final is a major accomplishment for me and my team. We turned a very big corner this weekend with our car, and that’s what we’re the most excited about.”
Until Chicago, Kalitta had only one round win in 2008 (Phoenix). He and the DHL team have failed to qualify at five events in 2008.
CRUZ CLIMBING - Another solid outing for Cruz Pedregon and his Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara Funny Car team moved
Pedregon qualified 5th and took out Bob Tasca III., before losing to Scott Kalitta in their first head-to-head meeting.
"Something weird happened with the fuel system and we ended up making the run on seven cylinders," Pedregon said. "We made a pretty good run for being down on power like that but a car running on seven cylinders is never going to beat a 4.89. We needed a pit stop about halfway down the track.
"I sensed we were in trouble after the burnout because the idle stayed real high. There was too much fuel volume in the engine and that caused the cylinder to drop. We're investigating but we haven't quite found out what happened yet but I can tell you that's pretty unusual for us."
Pedregon as he's been ranked fourth or higher all year. He even led the points in late March after the Houston event.
"One thing I've learned is to make sure I enjoy the journey," Pedregon said. "I'm really in a good place this year. I have a terrific team and I'm convinced that [crew chief] Rahn Tobler was sent from heaven. He's so good at his job and he's just a dream to work with every day. The staff I have at the office is exceptional and the group we have handling hospitality for Advance Auto Parts is second-to-none.
"I'm in love with this new Toyota Solara. Alan Johnson [crew chief of the U.S. Army dragster] designed this thing and I went over there and told him he did a heckuva job. The guy's have been calling it the 'Red Hornet' and it totally fits. It looks like a hornet, nice and mean, so we're going to stick with that name."
BIG SHOT
CONNOLLY’S BUG-A-BOO – After a blistering start in his Charter Communications/LifeLock Chevy Cobalt, Dave Connolly is struggling. He lost in the first round for the second time this season, an early exit he can ill-afford.
Connolly missed the first five events of the season due to sponsorship issues. He knew the late start would force him into a semi-final or better situation to make the cut for the Countdown to the Championship. He has eight more events to make his way into the program.
“It wasn’t quite the kind of day we were looking for,” said a dejected Connolly. “We have some serious issues with our car and we have a lot of work to. We’re not going to get into the top 10 running like we are. It is very disappointing.
“The car just blew the tires off for no reason.”
This was Connolly’s fifth Pro Stock race of 2008. He already has a win and runner-up and was 12th in POWERade points when racing began Sunday.
HONORARY WRENCH - Jeff Wahl, of New Lennox, Ill., became the 10th NAPA Honorary Crew Member at the Route 66 NHRA
Wahl had a look of complete surprise when his name was called. He thought he would be pressed into service as a working crew member on the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driven by Ron Capps. He was quickly relieved to learn that he had earned the honor but wouldn't actually have to turn a wrench on the NAPA Funny Car.
Wahl, 49, owns Hollywood Motors in nearby Brookfield, Ill., which also doubles as a custom bike shop. He was selected to be the NAPA Honorary Crew Member by Scott Cochetta, Chicago NAPA District Sales Manager. Wahl serves as the president of the 13 NAPA Car Care Centers in his area and represents the NAPA Car Care national group for the Midwest.
"I've been a drag-racing fan for a long time," said Wahl. "We only live about five miles from Route 66 Raceway so we come to the races quite a bit. We sponsor three Toyota Scions, so we're out here at the track all the time."
As NAPA Honorary Crew Member Wahl received a NAPA team shirt and met the entire NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger Funny Car crew. He watched some of the Top Fuel racing from the starting line and then escorted the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to the staging lanes in the team's Dodge Durango tow vehicle for the first round of eliminations. He also helped retrieve the car at the end of the track following the run.
"This is a pretty incredible deal," he said. "I didn't realize that it was going to be such an exciting honor. I didn't expect any of this. I thought it was just going to be a photo shoot and I'd have a chance to meet the drivers. Once I found out what was involved I was pretty shocked. It's a tremendous honor."
Also in attendance in Chicago was Mike Rearden, Manager of Sponsors and Events for NAPA AUTO PARTS, who took in the drag-racing action at Route 66 Raceway with his son Zach.
During the season the NAPA distribution centers at each event will have different criteria for choosing the people who are potential NAPA Honorary Crew members.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING - Schumacher Electric Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Chip Ellis had three semi-final finishes and a final round appearance on his resume headed into Chicago. He left with a new addition to the resume – a first round loss.
Ellis qualified No. 3 for the event, posting an elapsed time of 7.039 seconds at 183.54 mph during the second qualifying session, but lost on a holeshot to Craig Treble.
"I just made a mistake," he said as he and the team loaded up the Suzuki before it began to rain. "I was just late off the starting line and that's the bottom line. I wasn't distracted or anything. I didn't go through my normal process and I just made a mistake. The Schumacher Electric Suzuki ran great and the crew is doing a great job. I just messed up today.
"The good thing is that there are a lot of races left and we'll be all right. Running low elapsed time of the race kind of added insult to injury," added Ellis who holds onto No. 3 in the point standings. "I feel bad for the team because these guys work so hard on the bike. It's a tough loss, but you're going to have those now and then and you just have to keep on marching forward. Our Suzuki is running great and we'll come back and get them at the next race."
TICKED OFF – When drag racing rains calamities down on Mike Neff, it’s usually a torrential downpour for the Funny Car rookie. He had problems staging in his first round race against Gary Scelzi and then got left at the starting line.
“The car just lurched forward on me when I was staging. That hasn’t ever happened to me,” said Neff. “Every other time I let off the brake the car just crept forward. That time when I let off the brake it really jumped forward.”
As the car came to a stop Neff committed the cardinal sin of drag racing as he lost concentration and focused on the pre-stage lights instead of looking for the green light. He was caught off guard as the tree flashed and he knew his race was over as he pulled past the Christmas Tree.
“I looked up and saw the top light go out and then it was a quick tree. I was still looking at the top light when the tree activated. That was just stupid and I am mad at myself,” said a disgusted Neff.
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - ANOTHER WINDY DAY IN CHICAGO, HISTORY IS MADE - THIS TIME IT'S MELANIE
WARNING, WARNING WILL ROBINSON – Passing storms sent the fans scrambling as tornado sirens wail impending danger
While the racetrack was spared the worst of the storms, the rain which fell put a hold on the action for three hours and twenty minutes. Meanwhile, some ten miles to the east of the track there were reports of a tornado on the ground.
During the delay several of the Top Fuel teams made the decision to skip the final qualifying round, including the top qualifier, Tony Schumacher.
Schumacher, who hails from the Chicago area, pocketed his third pole of the year and the 50th pole of his career. Additionally, it’s his sixth pole at Route 66 Raceway.
“As usual, that’s a great job by the U.S. Army team,” said Schumacher. “I’m happy that we were able to stay on top of the order given the level of competition that’s out there these days. Now, we’ll have to get after it on Sunday.”
With Route 66 Raceway being his home track, Schumacher was particularly pleased to have success in front of a large contingent of family and friends.
“It’s been pretty hectic so far this weekend, but it’ll definitely be nice to walk out last during driver introductions tomorrow,” he said. “We do have to keep things in perspective, though. This qualifying effort won’t mean very much if we don’t go rounds on race day.”
Schumacher is also eager to deliver to his sponsor – the U.S. Army – a special 233rd birthday present.
“We need to do that for our Soldiers,” he added. “They all sacrifice so much each day for us. We can easily gift wrap the event trophy – no problem.”
The five-time world champion came into the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 Nationals with a 109-point lead over Antron Brown in the standings.
“We need to keep building on that lead and the only way to do that is to win races,” he offered. “And, rest assured, we truly love winning races over in the U.S. Army team camp. We’re going to try real hard to get victory number four on Sunday.”
TO THE TOP WHILE PEDREGON BURNS – Melanie Troxel rocketed to the top qualifying spot in the final round of qualifying,
“You come into any given race and it’s such a tight field that you know its going to be a struggle just to qualify. We got down the track on Friday but not in the night time session and came into today not even in the field. But, we laid a good number down in the third qualifying session, specially for the heat of the day.”
Troxel not only turned the fastest lap, she also set a personal best.
“Honestly, I had never run a 70 before. But, I knew the second I hit the throttle the car was on a seriously good run.”
While Troxel was burning up the asphalt, Tony Pedregon, in the right lane, was a rolling fireball. Up in flames almost from the start, Pedregon's flopper slid into the concrete wall, scraping along until the body was lifted from the chassis and sent flying through the air. Pedregon exited the remaining chassis, walking away in disgust as the body continued to burn.
ELEVEN YEARS REMOVED AND GOOD ENOUGH FOR SECOND – Mark Oswald hasn't wheeled a race car in competition since 1997. The layoff did little to slow Oswald as he piloted his Gotham City flopper to the second fastest time, just a tick slower than his teammate, Melanie Troxel. Up until this past weekend, Oswald was the tuner on Troxel's car.
“1997 was the last time I raced in competition,” admitted Oswald adding, “I think I made six runs in this car last year during testing.
“This is a great day for the whole Gotham City racing team. My teammate Melanie Troxel is the number one qualifier and we couldn't be happier. Our sponsor A and R Trucking and NewTech are from right here in Joliet so that worked out really well.”
Oswald is confident that both he and Troxel have a great chance to roll to victory during eliminations.
“We definitely both have cars that can win. But, there are a lot of other good cars out here. We're happy we have the best here today, but tomorrow you just have to make the right calls when your racing. If you do, we're capable of winning.”
IS 13 A LUCKY NUMBER? - Reigning Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. executed the quickest quarter-mile pass of the
It's been a banner weekend for Coughlin so far. He was the second quickest in both of Friday's rounds with runs of 6.733 and 6.726 seconds. His final pass Saturday was a 6.727, the third quickest of the group.
"We talked about consistency coming into this race and we've obviously found it here," the 52-time national event winner said to the gathered media. "I would guess we'll earn the Full Throttle Award (for being the most consistent team in qualifying), which would be a real fine thing for the crew. The guys are busting their butts to get this car perfect.
"The difference this weekend is we've gotten the car to really accelerate well through the first three gears. When I let the clutch out it sat right back on the rear tires and just launched. It marched hard right up to the top of first and when I shifted to second and again to third it did the same thing. Normally, because we're applying so much horsepower, you get some shake but this weekend it's just been so smooth."
The Full Throttle Award isn't officially released until Sunday morning.
After opening the weekend second in the POWERade rankings, 20 points behind Kurt Johnson, Coughlin already has managed to gain four points back on his friendly rival. K.J. qualified five spots down from Coughlin in sixth place overall.
Coughlin opens eliminations with lane choice over rookie Rickie Jones, who anchored the field with a 6.754 at 203.92 mph. This event marks Jone's seventh race in the Pro Stock class. He has collected one elimination round win so far.
BETTER WEEKEND
FIRST BEING FIRST - Chris Rivas on the G2 Motorsports/Drag Specialties/S&S Cycle V-Twin posted low elapsed time in today's
Rivas followed yesterday's pole-capturing second-round quarter-mile run of 7.027 seconds at 187.29 miles per hour with rounds today of 7.059 seconds at 188.46 mph and 7.031 seconds at 187.91 mph. His initial run Friday, 7.182-seconds at 186.48-mph, had been good enough for fifth spot after one round of qualifying.
According to the 41-year-old Fresno, Calif., native the windy weather both days was a challenge, "but we have a really good team led by (crew chief) George Smith which can tune the chassis to make the motorcycle go straight with minimal corrections from me.
"That first pass Friday in the wind was ugly, but they learned from it and we got better."
The three consistently sound runs means Rivas and the G2 Motorsports/Drag Specialties/S&S Cycle team enters Sunday's race, against number-16-qualifier Wesley Wells (7.209 seconds at 184.93 mph) with confidence.
"We will look at the computer information knowing we can make some improvements," he said. "But we don't have to do much to the motorcycle. I just have to keep riding it the way I've been riding it and Big George and Ken Johnson have to keep tuning it the way they've been tuning it.
"Everything is just coming together this weekend."
Winning the pole and running strong here has even more meaning for Rivas and the team because it is the closest race, geographically, to two of the team's primary sponsors.
"It's the 'home race' for both S&S Cycle of LaCrosse (Wisc.) and Drag Specialties, which is just up the road in Janesville (Wisc.)," Rivas said. "I just want to keep it going tomorrow on race day for our team and all of the folk from S&S and Drag Specialties."
TALK ABOUT CONSISTENTCY - Schumacher Electric Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Chip Ellis made four runs within four hundredths of a second to qualify No. 3 at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.
Eliis made his best qualifying run Friday evening with a 7.039-second elapsed time at 183.54 mph. His other passes completed a string of consistent runs: 7.045/186.92, 7.082/184.27 and 7.045/186.48. The Florida native qualified in the top half of the field for the fifth time this season and has now qualified at all 55 NHRA races in which he's competed.
After not racing since the St. Louis event a month ago, Ellis was eager to get back on the Schumacher Electric Suzuki this weekend. "We never missed a beat," said Ellis with confidence. "Steve Tartaglia (crew chief) has done a great job with the bike this weekend and we've been very consistent. Once again we're at the top of the ladder. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's eliminations. We just need to keep the ball rolling."
The conditions at Route 66 Raceway were windy throughout qualifying but it seemed to have little effect on the Don Schumacher Racing rider. "The wind only affected me on the second run yesterday," explained Ellis. "We made two good straight runs today and I learned a little from yesterday on what to do and how to handle the wind. The last run we made was just awesome. It was perfectly straight. The guys are doing a great job getting this Suzuki set up to handle those crosswinds.
"Even though it's a crosswind it's still scrubbing off speed because it's making everybody work their bikes to the right. The wind is coming from right to left so everybody has to work their bikes. These motorcycles are real sensitive to rolling free and they can't roll perfectly free with the wind like that.
"The Schumacher Electric Suzuki continues to perform awesome and I'm really pleased with it. The ladder just shows the parity within the class," added Ellis. "With a Buell in the front (Chris Rivas on the pole), a Harley in second (Andrew Hines) and then the Suzuki in third, all within one hundredth of a second, it shows how tight things are in this class. We're going to just keep chipping away and try and be there when it counts."
Ellis faces No. 14 qualifier Craig Treble in first round of eliminations on Sunday.
LAST MINUTE CHARGE - FRAM Top Fuel dragster driver Cory McClenathan waited until his final qualifying attempt to lay down a good lap to qualify No. 9 for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
McClenathan was 16th going into the final qualifying session after three difficult attempts. Just before a rain delay halted the action for over three hours, he blasted to an elapsed time of 4.598 seconds at 324.75 mph to move into No. 8 at the time and solidly into the field. Following the delay, the Top Fuel session was completed and “Cory Mac” ended up No. 9 going into eliminations.
He struggled on his first three runs, posting a 9.134/85.28, 4.984/199.46 and a 7.972/88.95, before his final straight charge down the quarter-mile.
"After 18 years of driving one of these cars I've been in this position before," explained McClenathan of being No. 16 with one session left. "You hate to be in that spot with the added pressure of the rain coming. You're the first car out and you're running by yourself. It's a strange feeling but a good one, too, when you know the car is going to run OK.
"I was confident that the FRAM car would go down the track, but there's always that chance of something happening. But I was given the orders to get the car from A to B one way or another and luckily for us it worked out.
"Your confidence builds with straight runs and we've had a lot of those. My confidence in Mike Green (crew chief) and the guys is really high," McClenathan said. "Once I got to the 1200-ft. mark and I was ready to pull the parachute I knew we were in the show and I didn't care what we ran. I knew we were in and that's what counts."
OUT OF THE TOP HALF BUT IN THE FIELD - Mopar®/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T driver Allen Johnson will start from the No. 14 spot tomorrow at the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill. Johnson failed to qualify in the top half of the Pro Stock field for the first time this year.
The Greeneville, Tenn. native placed himself into the Sunday eliminations mix with a best pass of 6.741/205.01 in the first Saturday qualifying session. Johnson also recorded runs of 6.754/204.17 and 6.748/204.45 on Friday and a mark of 6.741/204.35 in his second Saturday qualifying attempt.
“We did a little better on both runs today,” said Johnson. “We were probably among the top five or so cars today. That’s about where we ought to be, but we’re still not happy. You know, we’ve qualified in the top half every race this year before this one and we haven’t had the best results, so maybe if we start farther back it will spark something.”
Said Johnson about his opening round match up with Greg Anderson tomorrow: “It’ll be tough. We’ll both have to do our jobs.”
IT'S NOT WHEN, IT'S GETTING IN THAT COUNTS – Pro Stock racer Larry Morgan provided the Joliet crowd with a bit of drama during the final qualifying session. The Newark, Ohio native was in danger of following up his runner-up finish at the previous event in Topeka with a DNQ. Dead last in the 26-car field prior to his final qualifying chance, the pressure was on. Morgan came through like the Team Mopar Pro Stock veteran he is, posting a pass of 6.739/204.26 to claim the No. 13 starting position and a rematch with his Topeka finals opponent, Ron Krisher.
THE FASTEST DODGE - Justin Humphreys led the five Mopar-powered Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock drivers to qualify for the elimination rounds, notching a mark of 6.737/204.01 to score the 12th starting position and a first round duel with Jason Line. John Nobile earned the No. 15 spot and will face Warren Johnson, while young Rickie Jones added to his strong rookie season by claiming the 16th starting spot and an opening round battle with pole-sitter Jeg Coughlin.
Mopar-powered Dodge Stratus R/T hotshoes failing to qualify for the event were Todd Hoerner, Vinnie Deceglie, Max Naylor, V. Gaines, Johnny Gray and Bob Yonke.
ALMOST FAST ENOUGH - Warren Johnson completed yet another strong qualifying performance on Saturday, with his GM Performance Parts Pontiac GXP earning the second starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations of the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, IL. After setting the low elapsed time on Friday, WJ came back on Saturday with an equally strong 6.707-second time, missing the No. 1 position by just two thousandths of a second.
Even so, with his 206.95 mph top speed almost a mile and a half faster than his closest opponent and having a fairly decent grasp on his race car’s tuning envelope for this particular track, The Professor was pleased with his team’s effort, and optimistic heading into race day.
“Our GM Performance Parts GXP made a pretty good run this morning, although spinning the tires in third and fourth gear probably cost us the No. 1 spot. Feeling pretty confident we wouldn’t get bumped out, we decided to experiment a little in the afternoon session, because we had some things we wanted to try, and probably won’t be able to test here on Monday due to rain. Even though it popped out of third gear, we were able to find out what we needed, which was not to do that again!
“Overall, I’d have to say we’re satisfied. For tomorrow, we’ll go back to something we know works, and tune it up from there. It’s time for this car to go some rounds on Sunday.”
SIXTH IS OKAY - Although their participation in Sunday’s final eliminations of the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Route 66 Nationals was never in doubt, Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team certainly had to work to earn their sixth starting position. Coming into Saturday’s second day of qualifying at Route 66 Raceway in the eighth position, they were deprived of making a run in the preferable conditions of the morning session by an unusual mechanical malfunction that pulled Johnson through the starting line beams.
Undaunted, the team returned to the pit area, located the problem and fixed it, coming back on their final attempt with their best pass of qualifying at 6.728-seconds, 204.91 mph, their ninth top half qualifying performance in this year’s ten races. With the challenge of securing a top starting spot behind them, Johnson turned his attention to race day, with a more aggressive tuning strategy in the works.
“Our top priority heading into today was to ensure our ACDelco Cobalt would have lane choice for the first round on Sunday. To be honest, I wish I had been able to make that run in the morning session, but we had some issues that cost us the chance. Fortunately, we were able to fix them in time for this afternoon, and got ourselves into the sixth spot.
“Still, taking a look at all the data, we believe we should be able to run a couple hundredths quicker. Therefore, we’re going to make some big changes for tomorrow, getting more aggressive with the tune-up, and seeing if we can run the 6.69 or 6.70 we feel this car is capable of. It’s time to stop messing around, so tomorrow we’re going to do whatever it takes to get the deal done.”
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – A TRUE WINDY CITY AND ASHLEY FORCE ON CUSP ON ANOTHER HISTORY NOTE
PAIN AT THE PUMP – And you think you have a pain in your wallet?
Nitro teams got a real kick in the butt at Chicago as prices for a barrel of nitromethane leaped from $1075 to $1405 dollars. Like their fellow street drivers the pain may have just begun. Rumors suggest the cost could rise even higher are closer to fact than fiction according to Graham Light, NRHA Senior Vice President Racing Operations.
The nearly 40 percent increase in the cost of nitro only compounds an already tense fuel situation.
“Significantly,” admitted Bob Tasca, rookie driver of the Tasca flopper when asked how fuel costs were effecting his team's budget. “At $35.00 a gallon, I'm using 20 gallons on a clip and you increase that 40% , you're not talking about small dollars. It's tens and tens of thousands of dollars at the end of the year. If it doubles, it could exceed $100,000, so it's a real issue. I mean, just look at these rigs sitting here, rolling in and out of these deals with the display and our two rigs here plus the three at the midway; that is a huge amount of money that we gotta deal with. It just forces you to look at our schedules, when we send trucks back to the shop, when we don't, and conserving fuel to the best of our ability.
IT'S A NEW GOODYEAR – The Nitro classes will spend the next two race weekends transitioning from the current 2420 rear Goodyear tire to a newly designed 2550. Teams will be allowed to purchased three sets each of the new 2550 at Englishtown and Norwalk before the tire becomes exclusive in Denver.
Goodyear will make the 2420 available in normal amounts during the transition at the current $668 price tag per tire.
The 2550 has been under development since the introduction of the 2420, two years ago. Goodyear's goal with the 2550 was to build a tire that improved performance and reduced tire shake. To achieve their goal, the new tire boast a stiffer upper sidewall and a more robust, tougher, tread.
Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan, Morgan Lucas, Rod Fuller, Clay Millican and Whit Bazemore were the Top Fuel drivers who participated in the development along with Funny Car drivers John and Ashley Force, Tony Pedregon, Phil Burkhart, Jr., Gary Scelzi, Del Worsham, Ron Capps and Tim Wilkerson.
Wilkerson and Capps made runs on the tire during the development process.
ATTABOY GIRL – When you’re hot, you’re hot and in Friday night qualifying at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.,
Force’s remarkable achievement has the Yorba Linda, Calif. racer poised to grab another piece of history in her young career. No other female has qualified No. 1 in a Funny Car field.
Adding this honor to her resume is not the top priority for the first female to win a Funny Car national event or the first female to hold down the No. 1 position in the Funny Car point standings. Another win and consistency is what Force has her eye on.
"I think it’s a matter of time before one of us (Force or Melanie Troxel) is going to get that No. 1 spot, hopefully, because we both have really good teams. It would be nice to do because that would mean that we have a great car for (race day),” said the sophomore driver. “No. 1 qualifier or breaking records for females or whatever, when it comes down to it, we’re here to win a race. If you go into race day with good qualifying laps then you just know you’ve got a better chance of winning.”
A collection of weather conditions dogged the competitors throughout the first day of qualifying. The most prevalent of those elements were the estimated 30-mph winds blowing across the track.
WINDBLOWN - Some racers were bothered by the winds and others just considered as an inconvenience.
"Conditions were terrible; the wind was really deceiving," said Pro Stock Motorcycle low qualifier Rivas. "I had to do a lot more driving in this round because when I took off from the starting line, the motorcycle tried to go right, so I had to bring it back to the center; then when I got to the grandstands it tried to push me left, so I had to bring it back right.”
Bob Tasca, in his rookie season, wondered how the NHRA would react to the winds.
“I kept asking [crew chief] Chris [Cunningham], ‘Will they cancel this?’ Because I’ve never run in conditions as bad as that,” Tasca said. “But truthfully, you go so fast, and the car is moving around when there’s no wind out, so I don’t think you notice a lot of differences out on the run. When the chutes came out is really when I noticed it. The parachutes hit harder; it grabs the car and wants to move the car left to right. It’s just learning as a driver how to react in those conditions. That was pretty cool though. In the first run, I did more driving after the finish line than I did before the finish line.”
Of course, being one of two female drivers in the Funny Car division, Ashley Force had her own perspective of the gusting winds.
“I haven’t had any effects from it (the wind) other than it pushed me around the pit area as you can see by my hairdo going on right now,” said Force.
OLD AGE AND TREACHERY – Racing in muggy hot conditions? No problem.
Warren Johnson has said time and time again that old age and treachery will whip youth and enthusiasm any day. On Friday, WJ whipped the young whippersnappers.
Johnson posted the quickest elapsed time and top speed in each of Friday’s two qualifying sessions to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifying position.
After opening with a solid 6.733-second, 206.26 mph run in the afternoon session, The Professor picked up the pace on his evening attempt, improving to 6.711-second time and 206.35 mph top speed to sit atop the 26-car Pro Stock field heading into Saturday’ twin time trials.
“Today was definitely a step in the right direction for our GM Performance Parts GXP, but the key is being able to maintain that consistency all the way through. On the first attempt, we just wanted to get a solid run in, so we didn’t go up there trying to rotate the earth. As a consequence, we were a little soft, since we didn’t know what the racetrack would hold. It’s apparent everyone else had the same idea, as evidenced by the wholesale improvement we saw in the evening session.
“We took the information from that run and came back with a more aggressive approach in the evening session. Looking at the data, it appears we could have gotten after it a little more. However, we’re pretty happy with today’s results, so tomorrow we’ll just keep pecking away at it, seeing what we can do to improve even further while making sure we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot. It’s a good start.”
GUNNING FOR FIFTY – Tony Schumacher’s Friday run, if it holds, will represent his third top qualifying effort of the season
Schumacher admits he’s no statistician.
“I didn’t realize that we were that close to 50,” he added. “Really, the most important thing is for us to try and win the race, especially since this is the U.S. Army’s birthday weekend (233rd).”
After struggling to get down the track in the first session, Schumacher returned in round two with a sizzling 4.513-second run at 331.69 mph to claim the pole going into the final two qualifying sessions on Saturday.
“We certainly can’t complain about that pass,” said the Chicago-area resident. “It’s nice to put up that kind of performance in front of the home crowd. We have lots of family and friends in our pit area this weekend.”
Schumacher, who has held the Top Fuel points lead since the season opener in February, arrived at the 10th race of the season coming off a disappointing second round loss in Topeka last weekend.
“We weren’t happy with the way things turned out in Topeka,” he added. “That definitely wasn’t one of our better outings. We’d love to get back on the winning track come Sunday afternoon.”
Schumacher is a two-time winner at Route 66 Raceway – in 2003 and 2005 – and has qualified number one at his home track five times since 2003.
WHOLE LOTTA WORK - Chris Rivas rode the G2 Motorsports/Drag Specialties/S&S Cycle V-Twin Pro Stock Motorcycle through a
A second-round quarter-mile run of 7.027 seconds at 187.29 miles per hour earned the 41-year-old Fresno, Calif., native the top spot after two qualifying sessions. He moved up from the fifth position - on a 7.182-second, 186.48-mph run - achieved during the day's first round to the number one spot going into tomorrow's second, and final, day of qualifying.
"Honestly, when I got to the end of the track I didn't think it was that good of a lap because I did so much driving."
According to Rivas, attention to detail by the team made the difference.
"The guys on the G2/Drag Specialties/S&S team were able to make the adjustments to compensate for the weather (after the first round) and we were able to get this done," he said. "This motorcycle and team has a lot of potential and we applied a little of it today and, hopefully, we'll apply a little more tomorrow and stay on the pole."
Rivas entered this week's event seventh in the point standings for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle championship chase with 191 points.
SCELZI THUNDERING
LIKE RIDING A BICYCLE – Mark Oswald hasn’t competed in an NHRA Funny Car event in over ten years. The layover didn’t adversely affect him any as he drove to the provisional No. 4 spot with his career quickest and fastest run of 4.783/324.67.
Oswald is normally a co-crew chief on Melanie Troxel's Dodge Charger and has not driven competitively since 1997, was tapped to drive late Thursday night by Ashley who was once again called into critical duty at his mortgage company, Lend America and was unable to compete at this weekend's Torco Race Fuels NHRA Route 66 Nationals.
"The nature of Mike's business right now is very hectic and demanding, so we all support him as he has to take care of business at home. One of our sponsors, A&R Transport, is based here in Joliet, and we really wanted to have both cars out here form them, so I agreed to drive the car this weekend," Oswald said.
Aaron Brooks, crew chief on the A&R car, was extremely pleased with his driver's performance. "He'd doing incredibly well, especially considering he hasn't made may laps in the car. He's tested for us, but he hasn't made a full pull to the finish line in over ten years. We're really just a couple of thousandths out of the second spot, so, I'd say we all did great today," Brooks said.
BIG TIME BLINGING
STRANGE HAPPENINGS - Auto Club of Southern California Funny car driver Robert Hight was in the No. 1 position at the end of the first session with a strong 4.850 run. That run was the only run quick enough to hold up from the first session and it had him sitting in the No. 11 qualifying slot going into the final day of qualifying. Last year Hight was unable to get into the top 16 and was forced to watch the race on Sunday from the side line.
In the second session Hight’s Ford Mustang made an uncharacteristic move to the right that had the 2005 Rookie of the Year and former JFR crewman scratching his head.
“That second run was just a strange, strange run. It was like the rear end came over. It just kept going that way (right) it went so amazingly fast out of the groove. There was something strange,” said Hight. “We checked the diameter of the tires and they were the same. Maybe one had more traction. I’m not talking a little outside it was out of control.”
LEFT, LEFT, LEFT -
RACING AND SPECTATING - In between Saturday's two Pro Stock sessions, scheduled to begin at noon and 3 p.m., Jeg Coughlin Jr., plans on assuming the role of spectator for the 24th annual JEGS Allstars, a special race-within-a-race that pits the top 64 Sportsman racers from across the country in both team and individual competition.
"It's my favorite day of the year -- JEGS Allstars day," said Coughlin, a 52-time national event winner. "I remember watching the Allstars as a kid hanging on the fence at Bowling Green, Ky., then later competing in the event myself, and now I'm back to watching it from the stands and I love it. You're talking about the best of the best from across the country. It's really great racing."
OCTONE BOOSTIN'
STILL STRUGGLING – Funny Car racer Mike Neff won a round of competition in St. Louis and reached the final round. One race later, he qualified on the pole position in Bristol, Tenn. For the second time in as many races, he enters the final day of qualifying on the outside looking in.
“We did the normal set-up we have when it is a night qualifying session. The conditions were better and we weren’t trying to get crazy or anything,” said the front runner for 2008 Rookie of the Year honors. “We just didn’t have enough traction that we thought it would. The plan for tomorrow is to be the quickest of the other cars. I feel good about it. It was running on all eight. We should be able to rip right down there tomorrow.”
LEARNING EXPERIENCE - Bob Tasca III grabbed the provisional No. 8 qualifying spot for Sunday’s NHRA Nationals.
“It’s just Chris Cunningham playing with the race car now,” said Tasca of his two qualifying runs on Friday. “It’s like we’re having fun with this tune-up where before, we were trying to build on momentum. Now we’re just trying to learn different things.”
The driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Custom Accessories Shelby Mustang’s first pass of the day came under extremely windy conditions, and resulted in a 4.856-second, 315.93 mph run. His second time down the quarter-mile, under cooler conditions, put the rookie eighth overall with a 4.820-second, 320.05 mph result.
“The 4.85 that we ran in the heat was the second best out here, which is the conditions that we’re going to see the rest of the weekend,” said Tasca. “We’ve only had a couple of real good shots at a track that was that good with the conditions we had. The air here is good and the track is tremendous.
“I can feel myself developing more and more as a driver with one of these things,” said Tasca on running in the wind. “As the car moves around, I feel myself reacting quicker and better. It was probably 30-plus mile an hour winds.
“We tried something different on that second run, and it ate itself up a little bit,” said the rookie driver. “Really, it was a seven-cylinder pass, so to run 4.82, 320 miles an hour on seven cylinders, is pretty stout. It’s just getting the fuel curve right and the engine happy in these conditions, and we learned so much on the last run. But now we move on to Saturday and we’re going to be faced with a hot track, and we’ve got a lot of data under those circumstances."
SMOKELESS -
LEARNING EXPERIENCE, PT. 2 - Justin Humphreys had more confidence in his second NHRA national event driving a Dodge Stratus from the Allen Johnson-Don Schumacher Racing stable.
His performance showed just that as he claimed 10th place with a 6.737, 204.91 mph lap in the second of Friday's qualifying runs. That was the quickest of the six runs he's made the in car since getting in it for the first time a week ago at Topeka.
"To be in the top 12 on Friday is good for us," Humphreys said. "We're starting to get the hang of it. Frank (Gugliotta) is good at figuring out the chassis setup. Now we want to go out Saturday and make two more good runs and move into the top eight so we have lane choice for first round on Sunday."
Humphreys, of Monrovia, Md., said he is getting more comfortable in the car, and Gugliotta is still trying to find the clutch, transmission and rear end ratios so important to making the car run quicker and faster. "That part just takes time and more runs. We're learning something on every run."
TOUGH DAY IN THE OFFICE - Funny Car points leader Tim Wilkerson had a tough day in the office on Friday, yet he still sits in the No. 9 qualifying position.
In the first session, at the hit of the throttle, Wilkerson broke a fuel line pouring nitro under his right rear tire. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car made a violent turn to the right and bounced off the wall. Wilkerson was fine and the beautiful Impala SS was only scuffed. The right bank of header pipes took the brunt of the damage.
Wilkerson rebounded in the second session with a 4.843 at 314.02 mph run that vaulted him initially to the top of the field before he dropped to ninth.
“Our first pass was pretty exciting,” said Wilkerson. “It blew a fuel line in half behind the cylinder and then I ran over the fuel. But luckily I got fortunate enough where I caught it on the slide. I got lucky for sure.
“So, when we went out for the second run, we had to be a little more conservative than we usually would be. I was looking for a 4.82 or .83. We were a little weak but we knew we had to go down the track on the night run. So, I was a little more of a sissy than I wanted to be, but hey, I wanted to do something. I don’t know if that will keep us in tomorrow but we’ve got more for them and we’ll see how it goes.”
PROTEGE PROGRESS
WALL TWO – CAPPS ONE – The concrete walls of Route 66 Speedway took bites out of Tony Bartone and Tim Wilkerson during first round qualifying attempts, while sharp eyes kept Ron Capps from becoming a third victim.
Capps never even hit the throttle for his first round after the team discovered a problem with the car as the car staged.
"Every weekend you need some kind of break and we got one in the first round because the NAPA guys caught something that really could have hurt us," explained Capps. "They found a wheelie bar had broken when we got ready to stage the car. Had they not found it the NAPA Dodge probably would have done a big wheelstand, come down and broken something and hit the wall, and that would have been the end of this new car we have.
"They had to shut us off and that meant we didn't get the run, but they sure saved me from getting hurt and saved the car a lot of damage.”
"So, in the second session we were in the front of the pack and we felt like the 4.84 we ran was going to be OK. Obviously, the guys in the back who were able to watch the runs were able to run a little better. That put us 10th, and the good news is we're in the top 12 of this new qualifying format and it's going to be warm the next couple of days. So, we can concentrate on race-day setups and just try to get down the track tomorrow."
ACHING - Just two days after zooming around the high-banked dirt oval of Eldora Speedway for the Prelude to the Dream charity race, Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon was back in a more familiar hot rod Friday at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. And despite sore muscles and the stiff neck he earned battling the best NASCAR pros in the world, he was able to coax an impressive 4.780 at 324.51 mph out of his Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara to earn the provisional No. 2 spot in the qualifying field.
"Normally I can feel when I'm on a good run but I'm so sore from the Prelude that I wasn't sure about that one," the 27-time national event winner said. "I ran against Ron [Capps, another Prelude racer] that time and he told me the same thing; He feels pretty beat up from the other night. Those dirt cars wear you out.
"If I had guessed, I would have said that run was a mid-4.80 so I was pleasantly surprised when I climbed out of the car and they said it went 4.78. Rahn [Tobler, crew chief] made a great call on the tune-up and the Advance Auto Parts Solara was really moving. Plus, the motor is clean and dry, so everything worked perfectly that time."
This is just the second race that Pedregon has employed his swoopy new Toyota Solara carbon-fiber body. Although it's very early in the team's analysis of the piece, Pedregon says the shell is showing incredible promise.
"We just posted the fastest speed to half-track of the entire day," the 1992 world champion said, "and that's including Ashley (Force, the No. 1 qualifier). We were going 265 mph at half-track and that's hauling. Last week, even though we didn't set the world on fire, we clocked 266 mph to half-track, which is the fastest of my career. It tells me this body is going to be significantly better. We're just getting started with it right now."
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