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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK

EDWARDS WINS AND LOSES AT INDY - Mike Edwards might grimace at the thought, but he certainly cannot deny it.

Monday at the GM Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals, he became both the biggest winner and loser.

Edwards, driving the Interstate Batteries Camaro, beat V. Gaines in a rematch of the Lucas Oil NHRA U.S. Nationals at Brainerd, Minn., this time on a holeshot, covering the quarter-mile in 6.637 seconds to fend off Gaines’ quicker 6.620.

The victory marked his sixth of 2013 and the 40th of his career.

In winning on Monday, Edwards gained 118 points to extend his regular season lead to 221 over second place Allen Johnson. Tuesday, he will lose 131. Not a nice birthday present for Edwards, who also turns 56 on Tuesday.

“Can we just call it quits and give me the trophy for the next six races?” Edwards asked jokingly. “I’m ready to start the Countdown, but I sure do like that lead I have right now. I guess it’s only bad for one person, and in this class it’s me. When you’re third or fourth, you’re loving it.

“It’s gonna be a battle and we have fought this far for this long. It’s gonna be who can drive the best and who can be the best.”

There was no doubt who was the best in Indy.

Losing points seems hardly fair after the driving clinic Edwards put on in winning his second Indy crown.

Edwards, in all four rounds, was the quicker driver to leave the starting line. He outran first round opponent Chris McGaha and then beat a quicker Allen Johnson. In the semis, an .011 starting line advantage was the difference in a race against Greg Anderson where both drivers carded 6.640 elapsed times. On paper, Gaines had the better car. On the track Edwards disagreed.

“This has been the best car,” said Edwards, who also collected his 13th No. 1 qualifier this weekend. “When we lost, it was just me getting in the way. If you keep running good and giving yourself opportunities is all you can ask. We made some good runs today - we were very fortunate to win.”

Edwards paused and waxed sentimental during his post-race press conference. He recognized his wife Lisa Edwards, someone he recognizes as the driving force behind his drag racing.

“I gotta say, and I say a lot of things about a lot of people,” Edwards explained. “That blonde-headed girl [pointing to Lisa] she is the apple of my eye. Her heart is bigger than her smile. I love her. I haven’t told anybody but her that.”

As Edwards readily admits, winning Indy is enough to make even the most seasoned racer open up emotionally.

“It’s just as much fun racing here at Indy as it was back then [as a sportsman],” Edwards said. “Today was some of the best racing I’ve ever been a part of at the U.S. Nationals. When three cars in the semis went 6.64, it’s evident it’s anybody’s race right there.

“You go up to the starting line and never know what is going to happen. We were very fortunate to win and I was real pleased to win. I want to give all of my praise and glory to my Lord and Savior. This team is all about Him.”

And as Edwards will attest, winning the way he did at the most prestigious drag race in the world is, well … heavenly.

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -

MR. BOWTIE NAILS NO. 13 – Mike Edwards concluded qualifying at the GM Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals the same way he did 18 races ago – as the No. 1 qualifier.

Edwards ran a 6.621 elapsed time at 208.20 miles per hour to score pole position No. 13 of the season. He races Chris McGaha in Monday’s first round of eliminations.

“We made a really good run at the right time,” said Edwards. “The conditions were the best we’ve seen all week. We made a very good run and hats off to my guys. The Interstate Camaro was phenomenal. We were low for both sessions and just happy with the car. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully we can have a good long and safe day.”

As proudly as Edwards smiled for his driving accomplishment and the performance of his race team, he was even more stoked about 23 entries in attendance. Edwards lamented back in July the status of the class after multiple short fields.

Edwards was pleased if only to see two of Pro Stock’s legends back in the pits.

“It’s awesome to have a full field and even better to have Warren and Kurt Johnson back in the house,” said Edwards. “I’ve looked up to Warren for a long time. He’s my idol from a long, long time ago.

“It’s good to have our class back and hopefully it will be this way all year long.”

In the grand scheme of a busy 24-race schedule, the Indianapolis event could morph into just another event. Not so for Edwards, who in addition to winning a Pro Stock championship also captured the 1981 NHRA Modified eliminator series championship as a sportsman racer.

“It would mean the same to me to win this year as it did back in 1998,” Edwards said. “It would be awesome. This is like our Super Bowl. Anytime you can win the U.S. Nationals, don’t care what class it is in – it’s the ultimate goal for all of us. We want to win the championship but also the Big Go.

“You can say this is another race, but it really isn’t. This race is what Wally [Parks] started. To come here and run, to qualify No. 1 and start tomorrow up front is great. Anything can happen. The Big Go is what we are after and will see what happens tomorrow.”

Edwards admits he’s as relaxed as he can be headed into the final day of the regular season.

“There is no pressure, I am just glad there was a Chevrolet to start from No. 1 and not another manufacturer,” Edwards said with a smile. “It’s phenomenal and to qualify No. 1 as many times as we have says a lot about my guys.”

Edwards, a positive thinker, isn’t too keen on surrendering a substantial point lead which has taken nearly eight months to amass. 

“The only downside about this Countdown is I am about to lose 175 points,” Edwards said. “It’s good for the fans but if you are leading by that many points … can we get rollover points?”

HE’S THE TENURED PROFESSOR OF PRO STOCK – Warren Johnson made his first NHRA national event start at the most prestigious drag race ever.

Johnson, the six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion and winningest driver in the class, drove his 1971 Camaro to the No. 27 qualifying position [in a 32-car field] and lost in the first round to Dan Grotheer.

The more things have changed for Johnson, the more the last 42 years have remained the same. He’s seen the class reach peaks and fall into valleys. He believes today’s drag racing in general resides in a valley.

“There’s still just as much confusion going on,” Johnson said. “There’s no doubt about that. Back then, we probably had a total car count of 1500 as opposed to the 700 or so we have now. Whether that’s a result of economic times or a disinterest from the racers, I cannot really differentiate in the two. I can say the car count is about half, so there is something wrong with either the sport in of itself, or the way it is being managed.”

The advancement of Pro Stock has been much more than the iconic Pro Stock driver could have expected. He’s seen everything come full circle from performance technology to safety to the way it has been promoted.

“It has come a long way because back then everyone built their own parts,” Johnson explained. “Now, we have about 98-percent of the people buying store bought parts and assembling a Pro Stocker. They have gotten faster but there is essentially no innovation left in the sport the way it is being conducted. Part of that is the safety committee because they want certain stringent standards adhered to. Nevertheless I think that is what is affecting the majority of the categories. There is absolutely no innovation left. Look at NASCAR when they had a lot of questionable approaches on car preparation and so forth. The sport was popular as hell back then. Now when you have cookie-cutter race cars, and drivers who have to be PC, it has become boring.”

There was nothing cookie-cutter about Johnson’s classic Camaro from back in the day.

“We built everything ourselves,” said Johnson. “We are still building our parts but the technology has gotten a lot more involved as opposed to back then. You had basically uncontrolled shocks with maybe minimal setting on them. The chassis is pretty crude compared to what we have now and the safety features which I have to commend NHRA on, of bringing these cars up to speed as far as the safety aspect of it because we are going maybe 40 miles per hour faster than we were back in 1971.”

And how safe was his Camaro back then?

“I felt safe back then,” Johnson admitted. “I felt safe as heck. Now I wouldn’t drive that thing around the pits.”

The challenge of making a Pro Stock car run still gets Johnson amped up when other aspects leaves him frustrated.

“I really cannot say if my fun-meter is in a different position or not,” said Johnson. “I’m doing this because I really like doing it. We develop everything in house and it’s the development challenge that I still enjoy.”

SIGNIFICANT GAINES – V. Gaines, the cigar-chewing, Kendall-sponsored Pro Stock driver understood embarking on an in-house engine program nearly a half-decade ago was going to require a learning curve.

This year Gaines, who entered Indy weekend as eighth, has two 2013 final rounds to his credit.  He appears to be well ahead in his lesson.

“I think the engine program has been there for some years,” Gaines said. “It’s a matter of getting the power to the ground efficiently and consistently as possibly. We’ve made some good progress on that over the summer. We’re excited to get to the Countdown and see what we can do.”

Gaines nailed down the No. 2 qualifying position after four sessions and the performance matches his best qualifying effort at Pomona, Phoenix and Denver this season. He’s qualified at six straight events in the top five.

Gaines believes the secret to his emergence this season has been in presenting a strong horsepower package in addition to listening to what his Lazarus Race Cars-built Dodge Avenger is telling him.

As important as learning how to tune his engines, learning how to tune the chassis was just important. He admits his early days of engine leasing were used to gain a large bit of knowledge how to work the chassis.

“There’s a learning curve,” Gaines admitted. “We were very fortunate in the early years to lease engines from some knowledgeable people. That taught us as much about drag racing as anything. I don’t know without all of those early years if we could be doing what we are doing. When you’re not running your own engine, you have a tendency to pay more attention to the chassis. One less thing you have to do. We learned a lot about chassis in those early days. It’s helping us out today.”

While the low-key Gaines isn’t ready to proclaim himself as the driver to beat in the Countdown, he just wants to have a good showing for his team.

“There are an awful lot of good racers out here,” Gaines said. “They are all trying as hard as we are. You just have to go out there and do the best you can and hope you prevail.”

WINNING EQUALS RIBBING - Larry Morgan doesn’t mind the ribbing at all. In fact he welcomes it.

The source of the ribbing Morgan received recently was for winning.

After 16 first round losses, two weeks ago Morgan defeated Erica Enders – Stevens to open the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., and break the unenviable slump.

Instead of cheers, Morgan was greeted by a fellow racer who asked, “What happened, did she crash?”

Morgan knew the comments were in jest, and over the course of his career, he’s learned to appreciate good humor.

“We did need to win a round, but that was a good one,” Morgan admitted.

Morgan concluded qualifying at the GM Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals where he finished No. 12 and will race Rickie Jones in Monday’s first round.

“We need to win as many of these as we can,” he added.

Morgan said he will continue to run a Ford in 2014, and likely beyond. The recent announcement of Ford’s withdrawal from professional racing is an instance where he believes his team won’t be affected.

“I won’t change because I wouldn’t have the money to change over,” Morgan explained. “I wouldn’t have a reason to run anything else. Everybody keeps coming up to me and asking me what I am going to do. I look at them and ask, ‘what do you mean?”

“I simply look at them and respond, ‘when you get nothing, and they take away nothing, it tends to not affect you. So I’d say I’m good. As long as I have parts, I’m fine and the parts are good parts.”

A REAL KICKER - Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson ran well enough to ensure he will start from the No. 4 position which pairs him against Greg Stanfield in the first round. Anderson opened the day with a qualifying best 6.640 at 208.10 mph and finished with an equally impressive 6.645, 207.88 which was third quickest of the session for the Pro Stockers and came with a bonus qualifying point.

"The weather was a curve ball today, but in the right direction," said Anderson, who recorded a 6.675 at 206.80 in the first session on Friday and followed up with a 6.718, 205.63 on Saturday before rain washed away the third session.

"It was just so sticky and hot the last two days that it was difficult to get our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros to do what we wanted them to do, and obviously the racetrack wasn't good either because it was too hot. We got a big change today with the weather, and the racetrack got a lot better because it was 10 degrees cooler. The motors came alive and made more power, and that made for runs that were a whole lot better and cleaner.

"It was just easier to tune the cars, and the KB Racing team did a good job today. We definitely showed promise, and I think we can do even better tomorrow. It's going to be a real dogfight out there – there are a lot of fast cars, but my teammate Jason Line and I have two of them. That's a good feeling going into race day."

GOOD OLE NO. 13 - Monday will mark the 13th time Jeg Coughlin Jr. has raced at the NHRA U.S. Nationals. The multi-time series champion hopes No. 13 will bring good fortunes.

Coughlin secured the No. 3 qualifying position in Pro Stock which has him amped about race day.

And this year's edition has been fun and challenging for drivers and teams, as they've had to face changing weather conditions through the three days of qualifying.

"It's going to be an exciting day," Coughlin said of race day. "There's no better backdrop than Indy to have these types of changes for the crew chiefs and the drivers. The fans have been packing this place all week, too.

Coughlin won the Pro Stock title at Indy in 2009, 2002 and 2000 and also won the Super Gas title in 1992. He'll begin chasing his 55th career Pro Stock victory against Rodger Brogdon, who qualified No. 14 with a lap of was 6.689 seconds at 206.39 mph.

Coughlin's top lap was 6.637 seconds at 206.99 mph, run in Sunday's first session, good enough for third-quickest of the session.

"I was really happy with my car in both runs today," Coughlin said. "Going into Monday, game day, I couldn't be more confident."

Coughlin is hoping to bounce back from a first-round defeat in Brainerd, Minn., and return to the form that sent him to two consecutive final rounds, in Sonoma and Seattle.

"I think we've done a good job from Brainerd and in our testing efforts in St. Louis," Coughlin said. "I think we've done a good job in our transitions with the weather. We're going to be faced with that again coming into Monday. It's supposed to be another 10-degrees cooler Monday, and that's what these Pro Stock cars want.

"If the track stays the same as it's been the last three days, we’re going to have to be careful because we're going to be making more horsepower. If we've got a lot of cloud cover and the track stays tight, we're going to be able to fly."

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - NOT A LOT OF GROUNDBREAKING STUFF FROM SATURDAY

JOHNSON REMAINS THE ONE TO BEAT - Nobody could match Allen Johnson’s top qualifying time of 661 at 207.02 from Friday in Pro Stock, keeping the defending world champion in the No. 1 position in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger.

Johnson, who is looking for his first Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals win, would claim his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and 31st of his career if it holds on Sunday.

Shane Gray stayed qualified second in his Gray Motorsports Chevy Camaro after going 6.665 at 207.78 on Friday. Points leader and five-time 2013 winner Mike Edwards remained third in his Interstate Batteries/I Am Second Camaro with his run of 6.669 at 206.70.

TOUGH DAY IN THE OFFICE – Of the 23 cars which made qualifying runs during Saturday’s lone session, only one car improved and the run will not count in their qualifying efforts. John Gaydosh stepped up from a 7.048 to a 6.993 but remained 14th. Greg Stanfield remained 12th with a 6.714 from Friday’s qualifying.

CLOSE BUT NO IMPROVEMENT – Jason Line was the quickest car on Saturday running a 6.690, just .002 off of his Friday run. The Summit-sponsored driver was the only one in the 6.60s during the second day of qualifying. Line’s 206.95 was also top speed in the heat of the day.

UNDER THE OLD SYSTEM – Matt Hartford’s 6.714 elapsed time would have been the bump spot.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - JOHNSON'S MOPAR IS THE KING OF FRIDAY

DEFENDING SERIES CHAMPION JOHNSON TOPS FRIDAY INDY PS QUALIFYING - Allen Johnson categorizes the NHRA U.S. Nationals as the one event victory which has eluded him and his family throughout their involvement in the sport. Friday evening during the prestigious event in Indianapolis, the Greeneville, Tenn.-based driver took a step in the right direction towards rectify the shortcoming.

Johnson, during Friday’s lone session, covered the Lucas Oil Raceway quarter-mile in 6.611 seconds at 207.02 miles per hour to beat out Shane Gray’s 6.665 effort. Point leader Mike Edwards was third with a 6.669.

“Winning this race is definitely on my bucket list,” Johnson said. “I’ve never really been close [in winning] to be honest. It’s right up there with winning the championship, Gainesville, Pomona and some of the other special races. Winning this would be really special.”

Johnson said the real treat in winning the event would be in doing it for his dad and engine builder Roy Johnson, who as a former sportsman racer never won the event either.

“It would probably mean more to my dad for us to win because he raced for many years here as a sportsman,” Johnson said. “He raced different cars in Comp eliminator and got close but never sealed the deal. It would mean a lot to do something like that for him.”

Johnson, in looking at the rest of the event’s weather forecast, believes his run is going to be tough to overtake for the pole position.

“We definitely made the perfect run in the first session,” said Johnson. “There was nothing left in there. We tested in St. Louis on Tuesday and Wednesday in similar conditions, hot, humid and grimy weather. We gained a really good set-up. The Expresslane Dodge Avenger absolutely made a perfect run there. I didn’t have much left for them.”

Johnson didn’t rule out Sunday’s early Q-4 session as the one to produce a better run.

“That might be about as close as you can get or unless Sunday’s morning session is better conditions,” said Johnson. “It could be about 500 or 600 feet better. You could see a .64 or something like that. Each day of the event is supposed to be like we had today, so I don’t think you’ll see much improvement.”

MCGAHA ENJOYS PRO STOCK CHALLENGE - Chris McGaha knows he isn’t going to challenge to win an NHRA Pro Stock world championship any time soon.

McGaha, however, enjoys the challenge of competing against the world’s top Pro Stock drivers.

“Since I started this two years ago, I have been four- hundredths out of the hunt and I’m still four-hundredths out of the hunt,” McGaha, 34, said.

McGaha has competed in 10 of the 16 races this season and is scheduled to be in action Friday through Monday at the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. McGaha is 15th in the point standings.

McGaha is behind the wheel of a Dodge Avenger and his team is based out of Odessa, Texas.

“It hasn’t gone like you always want it to, but it hasn’t gone that bad,” McGaha said about his 2013 season. “We have been in and out a crew chief. I had Brian Self doing it for a while. I have been my own crew chief, I guess you would say since Topeka (May 17-19). I bought all of Jeg (Coughlin’s) stuff from last year. I have all that stuff and I have my own stuff as well. Both engine combinations are way different. It is two different perspectives. We have been jumping back and forth between them.”

After Indy, McGaha is planning to compete at Dallas Sept. 19-22, St. Louis Sept. 27-29, Las Vegas Oct. 24-27 and Pomona, Calif. Nov. 7-10.

Regardless of how this season ends up, McGaha will be back in 2014.

“We are going to keep doing it,” McGaha said. “We have talked about a lot of different things, but we are not really sure. We have had a lot of people approach us wanting us to team up. I will be out here next year.”

McGaha has made it to the semifinals twice in his brief NHRA Pro Stock career. This year his lone round win came at the season-opening race at the Winternationals when he beat Mike Edwards.

When McGaha isn’t racing, he works at his family-owned machine shop and fabrication shop in Odessa.

“We build oil field equipment,” said Chris, whose family’s business is named Harlow Sammons.

DIFFERENT KIND OF VENUE - Most NHRA Pro Stock racers limit their between-race strip action to testing. Larry Morgan is far from being a blend-into-the-crowd kind of factory hot rod racer, however.

Instead of testing, Morgan traveled back in time to partake in the old-school ritual of match racing.

During the recently completed 60th annual World Series of Drag Racing hosted by Cordova Dragway, Morgan squared off in a best two out of three battle against longtime rival Warren Johnson.

"It was a good time," Morgan said. "You might have to get Warren's version of the story on that, though, after my parachutes didn't deploy after a run and I blew out a front tire trying to skid to a stop right in front of him. He seemed to get a kick out of it; the rest of the weekend he called me Larry 'Skidmore' Morgan."

Mishap aside, Morgan had fun and gleaned useful information for this weekend's event.

"I wanted to get some runs on some tires before we got to Indy. We made a few passes for the crowd and it all worked out great."

This weekend's event features the largest entry list thus far in 2013 with 26 entries.

"I've got to be on my game from the very start," Morgan said. "There's no room for error because there will be too many good cars there. We've got two nighttime qualifying sessions, which are going to be the two that are the most important.

"We've also got a new motor we've been working on, so we'll bring it along, too. I've done well at Indy in the past and we're excited to see what we can do there again this year."

On Friday, Morgan slipped into the provisional field with a 6.712 best.

WAITING ON ANOTHER - There's a common belief in drag racing circles that suggests the first win is always the toughest and once it comes, others follow. If Roger Brogdon had his druthers, the wins would be coming more often.

Brogdon broke through during Father's Day weekend with his first Pro Stock national event title at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Since then, he hasn't won a round of competition. Despite the barren times he managed to secure a spot in the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship.

Just making the Countdown eased the pain of the recent lean times.

"It's a big load off our minds," Brogdon said. "We're just going to Indy trying to win it. The best I've ever done there was three or four years ago in Comp. I went down to the semifinals and got beat.

"There are only two things people remember at the end of the season: Who wins Indy and who wins the world championship. I'd like to do either one of them."

Putting his money where his mouth is, Brogdon has brought in new equipment and has had the Brogdon-Kent team working overtime to prepare the team for a championship run.

"We tested in St. Louis before heading to Indy," Brogdon said. "We tested all of our engines all week long. There's not a lot of time to develop stuff once the Countdown starts. It's going to be tough, but we're up to the challenge."

Brogdon failed to make the cut in Friday’s lone session with a 7.022 best.

KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE - Jeg Coughlin Jr. understands the importance of winning the NHRA U.S. Nationals. The Pro Stock standout has 70 career national event victories and comes into this weekend's event with two in 2013.

"We've turned in several very, very strong performances this year and the guys have this JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger tuned-up and ready to get after it in Indy," said Coughlin, who entered the weekend as third in points. "We went to two finals out there on the Western Swing, and although we had a slight misstep at the last race in Brainerd (Minn.), I feel as though that was an anomaly and not the norm for this team this season. I believe our results speak to that.

"Of course, you're always looking to improve. We will test just before the race in St. Louis to see if we can't find another level of consistency. That's so key in the sport. We definitely want to be as prepared as possible because this is the granddaddy of them all. Everyone wants to win Indy. That's why you put in the extra work."

Coughlin is a three-time Indy winner, having won Pro Stock in 2000, 2002 and 2009. He also won the Super Gas title in Indy in 1992, and was fortunate enough to bag the Mopar HEMI Challenge crown in 2004.

Coughlin was seventh quickest after the first day with a 6.688 elapsed time at 206.07.

PLAYING CATCH-UP - Greg Stanfield prefers to race from in front. However, since getting much needed funding from Lucas Oil to finish the season, the Bossier City, La.-based driver has been non-stop in getting back up to speed he lost while sitting on the sidelines.

"We've been really thrashing to get everything taken care of," Stanfield said. "We've been in St. Louis testing for this weekend. We've got tires and clutch discs to get ready along with getting up to speed. It's been hard picking up where we left off but we're getting there. We're going to have some new stuff ready by Charlotte, but at the moment our focus is on Indy."

Stanfield made his return to competition in Brainerd after sitting out nearly half of the regular season.

"Our primary goal is to get qualified because there's going to be a lot of cars there," Stanfield said. "We're going to have to make some consistent runs down the track. After that, we'll try to go a couple of rounds."

Stanfield made his way into the provisional field as the twelfth quickest with a 6.714, 205.22 pass.

Stanfield, the 2010 U.S. Nationals champion, understands the challenges he faces this weekend.

"This race is grueling," he said. "In 2009 we got beat in the final by Jeg (Coughlin Jr.) by about two inches, and the next year we came back and won the thing. We always tend to race well there."