Capps, Jeggie and Schumacher Win Again.
 

In our very late Saturday report (held up through the vagaries of the Internet, for which we apologize), this writer (or should I say, “this fool”) said something about there not being a lot of domination this season.  Final eliminations at the Summitracing.com Nationals at fabulous Las Vegas Motor Speedway proved once again how easy it is for someone to make ridiculous statements about drag racing.  Just when you think it’s safe to say, well, anything, guys like Tony Schumacher, Jeg Coughlin, Jr. and Ron Capps step up and force you to change your tune.
 
Schumacher won his second straight Top Fuel race, and he seems destined for more.  He is not going to have an easy time of it in terms of taking another championship, but by the same token it’s time for those who suggested that crew chief Mike Green wouldn’t be able to come close to matching tuner Alan Johnson’s record of last year to shut up.  Green has done a masterful job with the U.S. Army team thus far, and that word “team” is absolutely relevant here.  Remember, almost every one of the guys who won last year’s title for the Army and Schumacher left to join Alan Johnson’s team and driver Larry Dixon, Jr.  That left Green in the difficult position of starting virtually from scratch, but thus far he’s exceeded expectations – and there seems to be no end in sight.

ASHER'S NOTEBOOK - LET THE DOMINATION BEGIN!

 

Capps, Jeggie and Schumacher Win Again.
 

In our very late Saturday report (held up through the vagaries of the Internet, for which we apologize), this writer (or should I say, “this fool”) said something about there not being a lot of domination this season.  Final eliminations at the Summitracing.com Nationals at fabulous Las Vegas Motor Speedway proved once again how easy it is for someone to make ridiculous statements about drag racing.  Just when you think it’s safe to say, well, anything, guys like Tony Schumacher, Jeg Coughlin, Jr. and Ron Capps step up and force you to change your tune.
 
Schumacher won his second straight Top Fuel race, and he seems destined for more.  He is not going to have an easy time of it in terms of taking another championship, but by the same token it’s time for those who suggested that crew chief Mike Green wouldn’t be able to come close to matching tuner Alan Johnson’s record of last year to shut up.  Green has done a masterful job with the U.S. Army team thus far, and that word “team” is absolutely relevant here.  Remember, almost every one of the guys who won last year’s title for the Army and Schumacher left to join Alan Johnson’s team and driver Larry Dixon, Jr.  That left Green in the difficult position of starting virtually from scratch, but thus far he’s exceeded expectations – and there seems to be no end in sight.

Brandon Bernstein was emotionally crushed by his defeat.  There’s no other way to describe it.  He’s far too tough to shed tears at the finish line, but it was nevertheless apparent that he was extremely disturbed by losing.  He had a far superior light to Schumacher’s in the finale – but a far inferior race car to go with it.  A four-flat couldn’t keep pace with Schumacher’s 3.874.
 
Because much of the race was telecast live on ESPN2 the racing was incredibly fast-paced, and everyone from NHRA to the Safety Safari and the teams themselves did an exceptional job of getting things done on time.  In fact, the action finished early enough to enable Garry Gerould the opportunity of interviewing Funny Car runner-up Matt Hagan at the finish line, and if anyone deserved some TV face time, it was Hagan.  Not only did the contender for the AAA Road to the Future Award appear confident and polished during that i nterview, he appeared just as smooth inside the race car.  Small wonder that not only Capps congratulated him on his performance, but teammate Jack Beckman went out of his way to do the same.  In some instances the teammate scenario seems engineered with sponsorship considerations in mind (having every member of the Army teams at the finish line when they ran multiple vehicles and one of them was in a final round comes to mind), but in this situation it came across as unrehearsed and sincere.
 
Way back at the Winternationals Ron Capps told us that tuner Ed “The Ace” McCulloch had a new plan for 2009, and it appears to be working.  The plan has nothing to do with the tune-up, but everything to do with the way he’s determined to approach each and every race, and that’s to stick it to ‘em on every run.  No more Mr. Nice Guy, just trying to make the Countdown.  It’s all or nothing for McCulloch this year, and Capps has certainly bought into the plan.  What you have to see for yourself – and may not even come across on the television – is how relaxed Capps is, and that s not just when he’s signing autographs or interacting with the fans.  He doesn’t show the slightest sign of tension in his demeanor before he climbs into the car, and even with his helmet on, when he fist-bumps his guys you can see the smile in his eyes.  If you’re looking for a game face scowl, you’re not going to see it on the face of the NAPA Dodge driver.

 

 

 
Yesterday we wrote some positive words about Shawn Langdon, and today he proved worthy of them.  He went three rounds, and left on every one of his opponents.  His car let him down against Schumacher in the semis, but like Matt Hagan, come voting time in November for that Road to the Future Award, he’s going to be a contender – a big one.  At this moment in time Langdon is carrying the flag for Lucas Oil, but we also have no hesitation in suggesting that the problems that have held back Morgan Lucas to this point (he lost in the first round to Joe Hartley after dumping him on the starting line with a very nice holeshot) should quickly disappear.
 
Pro Stock was sort of bizarre in the sense that there were some upsets – and one of the few professional re-runs we’ve ever seen.  Jeg Coughlin faced Kurt Johnson in the first round, and it appeared that the latter wasn’t timed out by failing to stage within the mandated seven seconds after both sets of pre-staging bulbs had been illuminated.  KJ’s car rolled forward, but the only light that came on was red, and the moment Jeggie left the line (Johnson followed 10 or 15 seconds later), starter Rick Stewart tried stepping into the staging beam with no results.  That forced a re-run after the first round was completed, but that time Johnson couldn’t wait, and bulbed.  Jeggie was handed another free pass when Mike Edwards fouled in the second round, wasting a 6.692 to Coughlin’s slower 6.710.  Edwards must be having migraines over his driving this season, because losing like he’s been doing can’t be easy on him emotionally.  He is just too good to allow this to continue.
 
But this story is about Jeg Coughlin – and his easy path into the winner’s circle.  Look, don’t misunderstand our point here, because Coughlin is an exceptional driver (you don’t win championships like he has by being a sluggo!), but in four rounds of racing he only had to beat one car to the finish line, and that was the clearly wounded Pontiac of Jason Line in the semifinal round.  Line ran 6.692 and 6.770 in the first two rounds, indicating a problem of some sort.  A 6.738 against Coughlin was nowhere near enough, as the yellow and black Victor Cagnazzi-owned Cobalt had a 6.708 under the hood.  In the finale Coughlin got another Get Out Of Jail Free card when Greg Stanfield went red by 0.021 seconds.  When it’s your day, it’s your day, and six months from now people will only remember that Jeggie has the trophy, not how he got it.  And we’re not knocking it, ‘cause it’s nice to be lucky every once in a while.  Truth be told, most of the time Jeggie just overwhelms people.  This time he didn’t have to.
 
What did we learn this weekend, other than it’s a mistake to suggest there won’t be domination when clearly there will be?  We learned that the cream really does rise to the top.  And we also learned that a couple of rookie drivers are going to make this a most interesting season.
 
We know things are tough out there.  We’re all feeling it, so here’s a suggestion:  Save your money carefully and wisely, and skip that match race with two jet cars and come to an NHRA Full Throttle Series race instead.  Because dollar for dollar, it’s a heck of an entertainment value.  And then read all about it here on CompetitionPlus.com!