EVENT NEWS & RESULTS ASHER'S INSIDER TOP FUEL FUNNY CAR PRO STOCK CAR PRO STOCK BIKE PRO MODIFIED SPORTSMAN LISTEN TO WFO RADIO LIVE			WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY

MONDAY NOTEBOOK

LANGDON DOUBLES HIS TRAXXAS TRIUMPH JACKPOT WITH TOP FUEL VICTORY - Shawn Langdon had such fun Sunday collecting $100,000 as the Top Fuel Traxxas Nitro Shootout champion that he returned Monday to Lucas Oil Stadium at Indianapolis and earned another $100,000 by winning the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

In a rematch of Sunday's bonus race final, Langdon defeated Steve Torrence to become the No. 1 seed for the six-race Countdown to the Championship. He will have a 30-point advantage on closest competitor Spencer Massey when the playoffs begin in two weeks at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C.    

Langdon powered the Al-Anabi Racing Dragster to a 3.818-second elapsed time at 320.97 mph on the 1,000-foot course. Torrence stayed right with him in the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Dragster, clocking a 3.907, 309.63.

Joining Langdon in the winners circle were Robert Hight (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock), and John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

"It's an indescribable feeling," Langdon said of this most special of his five victories this season.

Because he also won the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., he had to clarify how these two events had different special spots in his heart. The Pomona track is the one near his hometown of Mira Loma, Calif., the one where he raced Jr. Dragsters with guidance from father Chad. "It's a big race on the personal side," he said.

The Southern Californian lives in nearby Avon, Ind., to be near his team headquarters, so in a sense this, too, was a home race. But he said that in drag racing lore, the 59-year-old U.S. Nationals has a deep-rooted tradition, something in which he shares forever, thanks to this career sixth victory.

He saw his role this weekend, he indicated, as caretaker of Al-Anabi Team Manager Alan Johnson's reputation here, where Johnson has experienced triumph and tragedy. Johnson has won at this storied facility with Gary Scelzi, Tony Schumacher, Langdon, and in the Top Alcohol Dragster class with brother Blaine Johnson, whom he lost here in 1996.  

"It was very important for me as a driver to continue Alan's legacy, to continue his winning tradition out here. This is a big race," Langdon said. "I've never seen Alan so focused in the two years I've driven for him. He had a different mentality this weekend. You could see it in him. He wanted this bad -- and I wanted it for him, because he wanted it that bad."

Langdon will celebrate his 31st birthday Tuesday, and he said as presents go, "This is the best one I've ever gotten.

"Just to be part of this team, it's a great feeling. When you're part of this team, they give you such a great race car. It gives you confidence as a driver," he said. "To have the opportunity to take the championship, it's a dream opportunity. I do not want to go anywhere."

Referring to crew chief Brian Husen and his mechanics, he said, "This was a team victory. They did a phenomenal job." He said he felt as though "as long as I don't screw it up, I have a shot.

"I really hope that as a driver I can perform and can exceed expectations. I'm being paid. I've got to perform," Langdon said.

He called this rare double-final-in-one-weekend scenario against Torrence as strictly a business deal: "You don't want to lose finals. We're out here for business. We're out here to race. We're out here to win."

Langdon won this race in the Super Gas class early in his career, driving Jim Hughes' Corvette.

But he looked back Monday at how far he has come and how difficult each victory is to earn.

"It's extremely hard. It took me three, almost four, years to get my first victory," he said. "I know how bad I wanted it. This sport is streaky. You've got to ride the waves. Right now we're riding the high side of things. You keep the momentum up, keep doing my job, stay humble and keep your head down. It's pressure." 

That's what he'll be getting from his rivals as he seeks his first series crown. He said, "Any of the 10 cars, really, has a shot."

The Countdown field is set, with Schumacher, Doug Kalitta, and Khalid alBalooshi rounding out the top five. Anton Brown, Clay Millican, Morgan Lucas, Steve Torrence, and Bob Vandergriff also have that chance to earn the title as the series goes to Charlotte, Dallas, St. Louis, Reading, Las Vegas, and Pomona.

In Monday's first round, no Don Schumacher Racing dragsters advanced. Lucas' victory eliminated top qualifier Brown. And Millican's upset, one of several in the opening round, prevented Tony Schumacher from pursuing his 10th U.S. Nationals crown. A victory would have pushed him past drag-racing legend Bob Glidden.

Torrence advanced by winning against debuting dad Billy Torrence in the quarterfinals. That anticipated pairing came after Steve Torrence set what turned out to be the meet's quickest time (3.775 seconds) and speed (328.38 mph).

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK

NO. 1 QUALIFIER BROWN READY FOR TOP FUEL WAR  - Antron Brown is dressed in his battle armor. He has adopted his championship mindset. He said he believes he's peaking at the perfect time.

With a tight field, a tough match-up against Morgan Lucas in the first round, and an eye on the Countdown that will start in two weeks, Brown is ready to lead the field Monday in eliminations for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

He qualified first for the second time this season Sunday, driving the Matco Tools Dragster to a 3.811-second elapsed time at 320.58-mph on the 1,000-foot course at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

Tony Schumacher, master of what he dubbed "The Big Moments," carried on his tradition in the U.S. Army Dragster by vaulting from outside the 16-car field to the No. 1 position in his last chance.

But Brown has a favorite saying, too: that he and his colleagues "like to steal each other's candy." And that's exactly what he did to Schumacher. Right after Schumacher wowed the crowd and assured that he would race in pursuit of an historic 10th U.S. Nationals triumph, Brown trumped his 3.814-second  E.T. by three-thousandths of a second and swiped his second No. 1 position this year.

It was reminiscent of the way Doug Kalitta swiped the top starting spot from Brown at the last minute earlier in the year in back-to-back races, at Phoenix and Gainesville, Fla.

"He definitely had a big moment," Brown said of Schumacher. That takes some big cojones. You have to do that. That's what you've got to do when you see our Top Fuel field the way it is right now."

His crew chiefs, Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi, were no slouches, either.

"We planned it, going out there on that last lap," he said of the 3.811-second E.T. "We've nee tiptoeing."

He said the Matco team made full passes in eight of nine test runs here last week in preseason testing and felt extremely confident (which, he said, "hurt us more than helped us") -- but that they realized with the dramatic weather changes they simply had to throw all that data out the window and just go for broke. Brown was 16th when he came to the starting line Sunday evening.

He said he and the crew chiefs decided, "We have nothing to lose. This is the last race before we go into the Countdown. We're not going off half-step. We want to give it a full effort," Said Brown, "They weren't scared."      

In fact, Brown said, "The track was better this last session of qualifying for the Top Fuel cars than it was on Friday night. It was better. There were some great runs for that session. Tomorrow's going to be cooler.  Conditions are going to be even better."

And that showed, shaping the field as one of the closest ever. With only six-hundredths of a second separating No. 1 Brown and No. 16 Morgan Lucas (3.878, 313.80), Brown said, "I think it's tighter than the Pro Stock field."

He said meeting Lucas in the opening round is proof enough.

"It's like a final-round match-up first round," he said, adding that Aaron Brooks, Lucas' crew chief, "will have a monster tune-up."

Brown, the reigning champion, said he feels his team is ready to go on another championship tear. He said he's ready to shake the mechanical gremlins, clutch-switch issues, and the experience of integrating four new crew members into the mix this season.

Moreover, he said playfully, "Everybody's throwing their A game against me. Honestly. That No. 1 on my car has been like the most cursed episode of my life."

But it's not such a horrible experience that he isn't willing to subject himself to it again. 

Brown's performance capped an outstanding day for Don Schumacher Racing. Funny Car's Jack Beckman won the class' $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootout, and Matt Hagan was No. 1 qualifier.
 
'ALL GOOD VIBES RIGHT NOW' FOR TRAXXAS SHOOTOUT WINNER LANGDON - Shawn Langdon seems to have everything going his way these days.

The Al-Anabi Racing Dragster driver is the NHRA Top Fuel points leader, poised to carry a 30-point advantage into the Countdown to the Championship.

His team manager, Alan Johnson, just announced Sunday morning he has agreed to a five-year contract extension with Qatar's Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani.

Later in the afternoon, Langdon defeated Steve Torrence for the $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootout payout during qualifying for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

"It's all good vibes right now," top-seeded Langdon said after winning with a 3.821-second elapsed time at 320.05 mph on the 1,000-foot course at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. "We've got the momentum built up. I can't ask for anything more. The only thing that would top it all off is to win Indy and win the championship."  

Torrence, runner-up for the second time in this bonus race, countered with a 3.828-second, 323.04-mph pass. His consolation prize is qualifying third and seeing dad Billy make his Top Fuel debut here as the No. 6 starter -- giving him a data-sharing partner and Countdown blocker.

Langdon, who missed last year's inaugural Shootout, said he told Johnson in the winners circle, "There have been two moments in my drag-racing career in the Top Fuel class that I've had that little gut feeling with the butterflies rolling. That was the first time I sat in the car and the final right there. It was a good feeling.

"Last year I wanted to get in bad, and we just weren't able to do that," he said. "Getting in this year, it was just a great feeling -- just to be a part of it. It's its own special race, and there's a lot of attention drawn to this event. I'm hitting the gas in the final for $100,000. It gets you in the stomach."    

He had the opposite "gets you in the stomach" kind of feeling in the semifinal round against Antron Brown.

"I didn't know I'd won. I pulled off the track thinking I had lost. I went over to Antron and said, 'Hey, man, good race. Good luck in the final.' And he looked at me like I had three eyes. I did not see my win light. I was about ready to get in the car and go back to the pit."

He said the final felt like "a little buy-back." But, he added, "It took a little time for the win light to come on in the final, too."

He grew up in the cradle of drag racing, in the Southern California city of Mira Loma, racing alongside his father Chad and attending the shows at nearby Pomona Raceway. He waxed a bit nostalgic Sunday, talking about watching such legends as Kenny Bernstein, Don Prudhomme, and Joe Amato compete in the Big Bud Shootout, the predecessor of the Traxxas Shootout.

"I always had big interest in the event, because it's the eight best cars in the class battling it out for $100,000. If you can't get up for that, I don't know what you can get up for," Langdon said.    

He's also getting up for the six-race playoff that will begin in less than two weeks at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C., near Charlotte.

"Points are hard to come by. Leading the Countdown having that 30-point advantage, that's huge. Any points you can get is big," Langdon said.

"It's great for the team to clinch that No. 1 spot, to be able to have that little bit of confidence heading into the Countdown. The guys have been working hard all year. It's just a reward to them, to start off in the lead," he said.

"We feel like we have a good handle on Charlotte," Langdon said. "It's a pressure situation from here on out."

As if racing for $100,000 wasn't. 

STUFF SIZZLING AT ZIZZO'S - Top Fuel's T.J. Zizzo might not have had the hottest elapsed time Saturday evening in the one chance the class had to make qualifying runs for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. He posted a 3.949-second clocking, despite dropping a cylinder, for the tentative 14th place before the rainstorm hit. Even though that was an improvement from Friday night's tire-spinning 4.916-second pass, he had to start all over Sunday.

However, the PEAK Dragster driver just might have had the toastiest hauler in the pits. A cable wire overheated and the air conditioner started churning out warm air, then smoke. After moving all the furniture out of the lounge, Zizzo and team fixed the problem and restored power.

Zizzo's hospitality area was hot with activity Sunday evening, too, as the team hosted a fundraising auction after the final round of qualifying to help "Trackside" Tina Pettet with her battle against a rare form of ovarian cancer.

"I got to know Tina as a media person, and over the years, we became great friends with her," Zizzo said. "We understand how hard it can be to not only be sick but to have to worry about your bills, as well." He called the auction "a great cause [for] a great person."

Pettet is battling clear cell ovarian cancer. It accounts for five percent of ovarian cancers in the world, and she was diagnosed as stage 11C in June 2010. After six rounds of treatment, the cancer went into remission but returned after a year. She learned she would have no chance for remission and the medical world has no cure.

Zizzo said losing Saturday's second session was fine with him. "We needed to put [the car] down the race track, and we ended up dropping a hole around 2.3 seconds and still ran a .94. We were the fifth-quickest car of the session, which is what we're here to do."

Unfortunately, his early Sunday run wasn't anything hot at 4.958, 144.18.

NOT IDEAL, BUT HE'S IN GOOD SHAPE - For Zizzo, who struggled with a power outage in his pit late Saturday, the three-hour ran delay that forced officials to call off Top Fuel activity after one qualifying session was a bit of a blessing, he said. Shawn Langdon said he felt the opposite. "It's not ideal for us," the Al-Anabi Dragster driver said. "We were kind of hoping to run with the cooler conditions. We feel like we have a little bit better handle on the race car when the track's 90 degrees to 100 degrees. It's difficult for everybody when it's 120-130 degrees."

He said Brittany Force gave him a stout challenge in their first-round match of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout Saturday. "We were trying to race our own race and not beat ourselves," Langdon said after advancing with a 3.874-second pass at 316.60 mph. Force pushed her Castrol EDGE Dragster to a 3.866, 313.22.

"I heard her the whole way, from the time I hit the throttle all the way through the finish line," he said. "I told my crew chief [Brian Husen], 'I think I legged it a little too long, because I didn’t want to lift an inch.'

"It was a good first round," Langdon said. "They made a great run [Friday] and a good run again [Saturday]. Fortunately I was able to help the team a little bit."

LIKES THOSE BIG MOMENTS -Tony Schumacher, who's legendary not only for relishing what he calls "Big Moments" but also converting them into success, will get another one in Sunday's s final qualifying session. He wound up last among the 16 tentatively qualified drivers. He needed to make sure he's at least 16th if he is to get a shot at a history-making 10th victory at Indianapolis.

TORRENCES TORRID - In his first Top Fuel event, Billy Torrence vaulted from 12th to fourth in Sunday's first session (third overall). Meanwhile, son Steve improved early Sunday from ninth to first in the order as he beat Spencer Massey in the semifinal round of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout. Rookie Dad, who funds the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors team, ran a 3.823-second elapsed time at a class-best speed of 324.36 mph. The more experienced son became the provisional No. 1 qualifier with a 3.815-second E.T. at 325.61 mph. Billy Torrence said after the run that his previous best effort had been 6.20 seconds at 320 mph, in a door car at the sportsman level.

EXTRA HANDS - A couple of new Top Fuel teams have some new/extra veteran tuners. Richard Hogan is helping Doug Kuch with Dote Racing, trying to get Leah Pruett into her first Top Fuel lineup at Indianapolis. Brazilian business mogul Sidnei Frigo lost crew chief Donnie Bender to Billy Torrence's team, but he gained Jimmy Walsh and Tom Conway. With a 3.897 E.T. at 307.51 mph, Frigo headed into the final session Sunday in 15th place -- just ahead of surprising bump-spot occupant Tony Schumacher. Pruett wound up last among 25 Top Fuel racers with one last chance.


   

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK

FORCE REMAINS IN FRONT AS FINAL QUALIFYING DAY BEGINS - Brittany Force had some consolation Saturday night.

The Top Fuel rookie lost out on her dream to earn $100,000 by winning the Traxxas Nitro Shootout earlier in the day. Shawn Langdon got the jump on her at the starting line in the opening round of the bonus race and advanced with a 3.874-second, 316.60-mph run in the Al-Anabi Dragster to her 3.866, 313.22 in the Castrol EDGE entry.

The race-within-a-race took place during qualifying for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

For Force, the happy news was that she maintained the provisional No. 1 qualifying position on the strength of her quicker and slightly faster Friday results. She opened the weekend Friday with a 3.820-second elapsed time at 313.44 mph.

"We would've really liked to have that last qualifying run, just because now it's so much cooler," she said in the midst of a three-hour rain delay. "We think our car could have improved and run better, but that's just the name of the game. That's how it is for everybody. Every other driver out there didn't get that run. It's not just us. That's how the game is played, and hopefully we won't need that run," Force said.

"That's exactly where we want to be. This team has struggled and we've had our ups and downs, but we're finally in a good place," she said. "We're No. 1 for the first time this year and again, even though we went out first round in the Traxxas Shootout, my team is behind me. We're still pumped."

As for losing to Traxxas Shootout top seed and points leader Langdon, No. 8 starter Force said, "It was really such a great experience to be able to be a part of the Traxxas Shootout. It's such a big deal. Indy is the biggest race of the year, and the Shootout is just huge. And to be able to get that fan vote is just awesome for the Castrol EDGE team.

"We were so excited about it," she said. "I have to say thank-you to the fans. Being out here and being able to compete in it, even though we went out first round against Shawn Langdon, our car was running good and we're hoping we'll be ready for Monday."

Force earned two qualifying bonus points, bringing her bonus points total to an event career-high five points. She picked up three points Friday in taking the top spot. Rain washed out the second qualifying session Saturday, but Force's competitors will have two more chances Sunday to improve.

TRAXXAS KICKOFF HAS UPSETS - Although Shawn Langdon won his first-round match-up against Brittany Force, fans saw a couple of upsets among the elite eight who will battle Sunday for the Traxxas Shootout $100,000 winner's prize.

No. 2 Spencer Massey, with a 3.931-second pass at 311.77 mph in the Battery Extender Dragster, won over No. 7 Bob Vandergriff. Massey won last year's inaugural Shootout -- which also was plagued by rain at Indianapolis (and ran instead at Dallas later in September).

But in the other two pairings, the higher-ranked starters faltered.

No. 4 Khalid alBalooshi and No. 5 Antron Brown had identical reactions times (.032 seconds), but Brown prevailed in the Matco Tools Dragster. He had a 3.985-second elapsed time and 301.67-mph speed, while alBalooshi lost traction early in spectacular style and settled for a 7.672, 78.18.

Steve Torrence spoiled Don Schumacher Racing's perfect scenario, coming from the No. 6 position to drop No. 3 Tony Schumacher. With Brown and Massey from the DSR organization moving to the semifinal round, Schumacher's 3.904-second, 316.90-mph effort in the U.S. Army Dragster wasn't enough.

Torrence, driving his own Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Dragster, had a slight starting-line edge (.044 seconds to .048) and won the close side-by-side with a 3.878-second E.T. and a 316.82-mph speed that was a touch slower than Schumacher's.

Sunday's schedule called for the final two rounds of the Traxxas Shootout to run during the final two event qualifying sessions.   

RILEY GETS HUGE DSR CHECK - Don Schumacher Racing's eighth annual open house Friday drew an estimated 4,000 guests and raised more than $25,000 to benefit Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health and Camp Riley. That pushed the amount DSR has raised for Riley to more than $225,000. "Next year is the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Nationals, and we promise that our Open House on Friday of that weekend next year will be our biggest ever," said Mike Lewis, DSR Senior Vice-President. "It was a pretty hot afternoon, but it showed how great NHRA drag racing fans are, because the line for driver autographs was an hour long." All seven DSR drivers were on hand for the free car and art show and shop tour.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK

ROOKIE FORCE TRYING TO ADD TO JFR LEGACY AT U.S. NATIONALS - Some National Hot Rod Association fans might be surprised to see rookie Brittany Force's name at the top of the Friday night Top Fuel qualifying order at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

But the Castrol EDGE Dragster driver and her crew weren't shocked at all after the first of five sessions at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

The crew members, working in the nearby John Force Racing shop at Brownsburg last weekend following testing here, sent her a flurry of text messages.

"Your car's going to fly this weekend," they told her.

It was quickest Friday evening at 3.820 seconds on the 1,000-foot course at 313.44 mph.

She was the lone dragster driver with a 3.82-second elapsed time as she experienced her first provisional No. 1 qualifying position.

Crew chief Dean "Guido" Antonelli and assistant Eric Lane have some reinforcements at this race from Funny Car championship veterans John Medlen and Jimmy Prock.

"With all of them, I think we're going to be moving in the right direction," Force said.

Working with Prock, one of the few in the JFR brain trust who has a successful track record tuning a dragster, is nothing out of the ordinary for Force.

She said becoming friends last season with Prock through her professional-prep exercises was one of the smartest alliances she has made. At that time, Prock was crew chief for Robert Hight's AAA Mustang Funny Car.

"I tested a lot with Robert's team all last year. I know he's really capable of making this car get down the track and haul some butt," she said, remembering that she registered a 3.79-second E.T. at one of her test sessions.

Years ago people started calling his Joe Amato- and Cory McClenathan-driven cars "The Prock Rocket" because he more often than not had his car set for a quick and fast run. That carried over to Hight's Funny Car, and now Force is the beneficiary.

The certified school teacher with the degree in English hopes to follow in the footsteps of sister Courtney, who was top qualifier here last year in the Funny Car class. Courtney Force had the top speed Friday in the Funny Car class as the No. 3 qualifier, and their father, John Force was No. 2 in the Funny Car order overnight.

Brittany Force also hopes to carve her name into the JFR lore at Indianapolis, as she goes for the team's ninth victory here in 11 years. Sister Ashley had three triumphs here, one in Top Alcohol Dragster and two in Funny Car. John Force has 11 No. 1 starts here.

"This Castrol EDGE team, we're going for our first win," Brittany Force said. "It doesn’t matter if it’s the biggest race of the year -- we're going for it. It is our rookie season, and that's what we've been fighting for this entire year, going after our first win. And I'm hoping to do it at the biggest race of the year."
 
Referring to the theory that confidence seems to be contagious, even for the car's performance as well as the crew's, and how that seems to be working for her right now, Force said, "That's exactly what my team has wanted.

"We've had our ups and downs," she said, alluding to her 10 first-round defeats and two failures to qualify in her first 17 races, results that have prevented her from making the Countdown to the Championship field this season. "It's tough to get beat weekend after weekend. It's tough to stay motivated.

"But one thing at John Force Racing -- we're all big team supporters. Everybody supports us," she said. "We always stayed motivated through everyone else at John Force Racing."

Eight Top Fuel teams used this first competitive pass of the Labor Day weekend classic to get a feel for the track as they anticipate the $100,000-to-win Traxxas Shootout bonus race that they'll contest as part of Saturday qualifying.

Force said making this outstanding pass and having a few Lucas Oil Raceway runs under her belt is really all the preparation she needs for Saturday, when the field will make two more passes. Qualifying ends Sunday with the final two chances, and race day is set for Monday.

LIKE SON, LIKE FATHER: TWO TORRENCES TRY TO MAKE INDY FIELD - In the Torrence Racing / Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel pit there is "a whole lot of shakin' going' on."

Shaking off a feeling he described as "borderline terrifying," Billy Torrence is embarking on a dragster-driving new phase of his career. And Countdown-bound son Steve Torrence said he's ready to "shake things up a little bit" in the standings at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

This first father-son combination in Top Fuel since Connie and Scott Kalitta announced their 2013 Countdown strategy Friday with a press conference.

"It's really difficult to come out here and compete with these multi-car teams and not get near as much data every lap. Our thinking was to bring out another car [and] someone who can help our program," Steve Torrence said.

Then referring to dad and funding source Billy Torrence, he said, "He foots the bill on all this stuff and puts a lot of effort into it. This is the strategy we're trying to implement for the Countdown: focusing on more data to come to our team and having a blocker."

Said Billy Torrence, "I'm glad he picked me to come out and help him. I volunteered. I said I'll sponsor myself."

It all sounded relatively simple. After all, the two have raced together as a family since before Steve was in grade school, racing with and against each other in the Super Comp and Super Gas divisions. They have raced a variety of cars with a variety of elapsed-time and speed ranges.

And Billy Torrence learned right away that this whole "jump in a dragster and help my son in the last seven races" plan has proven to be more difficult to execute than he had predicted.

"I would've thought that I would be prepared for this car because we have raced in multiple classes in some pretty fast cars. But I can say now - like Steve's been trying to tell me -- that I wasn't prepared for this at all. So I don't know that anything I've ever done before is going to help me in this car."

Billy Torrence made two passes in Steve's back-up dragster during preseason testing at West Palm Beach, Fla. Then he never was able to get back in the seat for testing until last week here.

Steve decided to sell one of his extra Brad Hadman-built cars to John Force Racing for Brittany Force to drive right before the Western Swing opened in July at Denver. "That kind of shut his program down for testing," he said.

Then they came to Indianapolis, where the pressure was on Billy to perform, to meet his licensing requirements within two days. The scenario from Steve was precarious: "If you don't make it, we're not going to Indy."

However, Steve said, "He prevailed, and I'm proud of him."

Steve said he knew he was able to make a smoother transition from the sportsman ranks to Top Fuel than his father will have to, because he came from an alcohol car. His father, he said, has experience with cars in the 6.20-second, 220-mph range, "but nothing prepares you for this."

He said he was especially proud of his dad because he jumped into a car that rockets down the track in the mid-3.80s. "It's definitely a steep learning curve, and he did a good job," the son said. "He did really well. It's difficult to explain to anyone just the sensation, how it feels, and how quick these cars are. He did a real good job, and I'm proud of him."

Taking in stride the notion that his son has become his mentor, Billy said, "I had forgotten what the sensation was. It didn't take long to figure it back out.

"I couldn't have done it without Steve and the guys,” he said. “Steve was coaching me and chastising me a good bit every day."

Is that hard to do, considering he funds the operation?

Said Steve without missing a beat, "It's not difficult at all."

Shot back Billy, "You're getting pretty good." 

The banter was entertaining, but it also showed their competitiveness, their passion, and their thrill of getting to work together at the elite level in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. They also said they're looking forward to racing against each other, if the ladders play out that way.

Who will outperform whom?

Billy admitted, "I've got a little boning up to do." As proof, he mentioned that in his first turns in a Top Fuel dragster, at West Palm Beach, "I got all the way to 500 feet. I thought I really had it down. I didn't realize that's the time they start running."

Piped up Steve, "That's the time the terror strikes." 

Now that Billy Torrence has stopped thinking "Help me!" as he did when he first tried to muscle the car down the lane, he and Steve are dreaming of the moments they'll be forced to face each other on the dragstrip.

Certainly at stake are bragging rights between the two who live across the street from each other in Kilgore, Texas.

"I want to be the guy who gets to go home and say, 'Man, how did that light in my lane come on?' -- because if I don't," Steve said, "I'm going to hear about it for weeks, possibly months, maybe even years. There's a lot on the line there. It'll be fun."

Billy said, "You want to see a really good race, put us across from each other."

Said Steve, "We race heads-up. We always will.  There's so much competitiveness between us. It's going to be an all-out battle."
 
No matter what happens, Billy (who got Steve and Leah Pruett to sign his license) said, "It's already a win-win situation to be here and race with my son. We've always raced as a family. To get out here and be at the highest level is an outstanding feeling."

The cars are set up identically (as much as is possible). "It has to be that way to benefit us," Steve Torrence said. He said the Donnie Bender-led crew, with IHRA Top Fuel champion Bobby Lagana assisting, "will run just as well-equipped and funded, same way as my team's doing right now. I want him to be able to show up and drive the car and go home and not worry about it."

Steve said, "It's difficult to justify what we're doing when stacks of bills three inches thick come in. But it's all worth it now. It's not cheap to run these cars."

But they'll compete together at the season's final seven races, and Billy said he'll "maybe make a few [appearances] next year."

First things first. Following Friday's first of five qualifying chances, Billy Torrence was eighth quickest with a 3.924-second pass at 309.84 mph, while Steve Torrence had traction trouble and wound up 24th out of 25 entrants with a 6.006, 105.14.

DAD HELPING SON - Billy Torrence -- father of Countdown-bound Top Fuel owner-driver Steve Torrence -- got quite an education at West Palm Beach, Fla., this January and a reminder again this past week when completing his licensing process. He knows just how much faster a Top Fuel dragster goes than any of the vehicles he has raced in his two-decade-plus career in the sportsman ranks.

"My Super Comp dragster reaches 190 miles an hour in the quarter-mile, where the Top Fuel car reaches over 325 mph in 1,000 feet," he said, anticipating a steep learning curve.

But, despite being thrilled with a 3.87-second elapsed time in the pre-U.S. Nationals test session at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, the elder Torrence wasn't motivated by a need for a bigger rush. His spins in Super Gas, Super Comp, Top Sportsman, and Top Dragster suited him just fine. And he has won enough divisional-races trophies, even a divisional championship, to bolster his confidence. And at the 2011 fall race at Las Vegas, he was the Super Comp winner.

However, he wants his son to get the maximum benefit from all of his effort in establishing, operating, and competing with the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Dragster. It was hard not to notice that a single-car team needs some help in competing with the multiples.

"It was apparent after last year that it was going to be a struggle to be successful with one car," Billy Torrence said, "So I thought, 'Why not add a second car?'

"What we have noticed from Steve's racing is that the clientele and employees in my business enjoy following what we do at the track, especially when we win a race. I think if there is something I can do to help Steve's team gather information it would be a plus. There aren't many father-son teams out here anymore, and it is a dream come true to be able to race with my son at the sport's highest level," he said.

His crew chief this weekend is Donnie Bender, who knows the quick way down this track by helping Larry Dixon to success here many times. Serving on that crew also is Top Fuel racer and IHRA champion Bobby Lagana. They worked together on Brazilian Sidnei Frigo's dragster.

Steve Torrence's crew chief, Lee Beard, also has played a key role in preparing Billy Torrence for this weekend. "Without everyone's help from both teams, we wouldn't be ready to go right now," he said.

COMING ALIVE - Dave Grubnic has come alive since the Western Swing in the Kalitta Motorsports-owned Optima Batteries/Advance Auto Parts Dragster. From a 10-race stretch of nine Round 1 losses and a DNQ he has rebounded, starting at Sonoma, Calif. There he was No. 1 qualifier. At the next race, at Seattle, Grubnic was runner-up out of the No. 2 starting position. That moved the three-time winner within 72 points of squeezing into the Countdown to the Championship field. He's 11th in the standings, and several times since the playoff format debuted in 2007, he has found himself in the last-minute rush to qualify for the championship-eligible field. And this year is no different. However, he said all he's thinking about is going rounds and trying to get team owner Connie Kalitta the Wally trophy for winning the event.

"We don't even need to think about the Countdown," the Australian living at Bozeman, Mont., said. "We need to concentrate all of our efforts on winning rounds and winning the event and let the Countdown take care of itself from there." He said his car "has been on a tear lately, thanks to Connie and James (assistant crew chief Riola). We feel very confident we'll have a car that's tough to beat in Indy. If we get in the Countdown, great. But our main goal is to win the event and get Connie another Indy trophy. Hopefully that will secure a Countdown spot." Kalitta won this race in Top Fuel in 1994.

GIFT OF THE MOMENT - Tony Schumacher has a chance to become the only driver in any class to win 10 U.S. Nationals, and he calls that "the gift of the moment." It's no surprise that the U.S. Army Dragster driver loves to be at the center of high-pressure moments. He has spoken about that often. So naturally, Schumacher said of this new opportunity to add to his legend, "In order to have the outcome we're hoping for, we have to do what is perfect, and that starts with preparation. You come into this thing with the gift of the moment, and you show up prepared with the right people to do it. My nine-man U.S. Army team has been preparing for this weekend all season, and we're really looking forward to it. We're better with the pressure on. That's what our team has been great at."
 
He said he thinks the fact no one ever has won 10 -- he's tied with "Big Daddy" Don Garlits at nine -- "plays to our benefit."

However, Schumacher said, "I'm not trying to win it for the 10th time. I'm trying to win it this time."

But the fact is, he said, that "the last several years have been high pressure, because we were trying to get No. 9. No one had ever done this before. Can you pull it off? Can you tie Big Daddy? In '08, we had won so many races in a row, [crew chief] Alan Johnson announced he was leaving. The pressure was on there. Then, to come back in 2009, we've got a new team and beat Alan's car [with Larry Dixon driving] in the final. We're great at those moments. I think, once again, the reason we win this race is because we are great at high-pressure, big moments. This is the highest-pressure, biggest moment."

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE - Santo Rapisarda looked at it as a bit of a gamble for his dragster operation. But the crane-company mogul from Sydney discussed entering a second Top Fuel car at this event with sons Santo Jr. and Santino, who serve as Tommy Johnson Jr.'s crew chiefs.   

"The time is right to put two cars on the track," the Rapisarda Autosport International team owner said. "Indy is the one meeting that all teams step up the pressure to win. For RAI and many of the Top Fuel teams, Indy is our home- town track. So there are bragging rights as top dog in town up for grabs, as well. Running two cars will be a challenge, but I sat down with my boys, and we decided that we wanted to give it a go."

Damien Harris, the West Australia ace who was Johnson's crew member this summer at both the Sonoma, Calif., and Seattle NHRA races, is driving the other car this weekend. This marks the second time he and Johnson Jr. have been teammates, but it's the first time they'll run on the track together. "Our first time as teammates was at the Willowbank Winternationals in June, but that got washed out," Harris said.

"Damien has come over with some crew members from Australia," Rapisarda said, "and we have also recruited some Americans to work on the team for the weekend."

"I'm excited to be racing with the Rapisarda family again," Harris said. "Since 2011, when I first raced on the NHRA [tour], I have harbored ambitions to return. And to get a drive at the Nationals is a dream come true. It will also be good to race with Tommy again.  I believe his experience at Indy going back almost 30 years will be invaluable to the team."

Johnson was able to share what the mystique, the legend, and the history of this oldest NHRA event means to him.

"Indy is not just another race. It is the granddaddy of them all," he said. "Everything is the same as far as racing, but it is the feeling and the history that goes with Indy that makes it special. It is a tough week. Instead of the usual three- day format it's a four -day show and we have five qualifying runs instead of four.

"I've learned over the years that you have to pace yourself. Otherwise you can run out of energy and not be mentally prepared come race day on Monday. Indy has been a Cinderella story for many teams over the years. Guys can come out of nowhere to win. It would be great if Rapisarda Autosport International could be the 'Indy Cinderella' story this year," Johnson said. "To win Indy, you can say you have won it all."

Johnson Jr.'s first U.S. Nationals appearance was in the sportsman-level Super Gas category in 1984. His Top Fuel debut came in 1990. Moreover, he was No. 1 qualifier here twice in Funny Car (1999, 2000) and was runner-up in 2003.   

THAT'S HEAVY, MAN - Driver Spencer Massey, the No. 2 seed in Saturday's Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Top Fuel , said the inaugural bonus-race trophy weighed 62 pounds last year. This year, he said, it's a slimmer 47 pounds.