EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK			EVENT GALLERY

 

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -

HISTORY? BROWN SAYS HE’S OUT TO MAKE HIS TEAM’S OWN TOP FUEL HISTORY - On a day when the Pro Stock Motorcycle class pitted a father and his son and two other classes saw teammates face each other, all Top Fuel winner Antron Brown had to battle Sunday was drag-racing history at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Joliet, Ill.

With a 3.814-second, 317.34-mph pass on the 1,000-foot Route 66 Raceway course in the Matco Tools/U.S. Army/Toyota Dragster, Brown earned his class-best fourth victory in five final rounds this year and his 45th overall triumph.

He defeated finalist Brittany Force (3.850, 320.89), who was seeking more than just her first triumph in the Castrol EDGE Dragster. Had she won, she would have recorded the NHRA’s 103rd victory by a female pro racer. She would have been the fifth different female winner this year, and her victory would have been the eighth by a woman this year.

“I don’t care what history Brittany Force has. I don’t care what kind of history any of ‘em have got,” Brown said after his $50,000 victory. “We want to make history, and the way you make history is winning races and winning championships. So we’re out for history, too.

“I don’t care who it is -- it could be Babaloo come out here and [try to] win wearing a tutu with his head turned backwards. I don’t care,” Brown said. “We want to win every race that we’re in and give it all we got.”

 But he said of Force, his victim in the Phoenix final round in February, “We look at her as a fierce competitor now. And when she wins, she will have earned it. The way she’s cutting that tree, trust me, it ain’t going to be too long before she gets a win.”

Brown joined Funny Car winner Matt Hagan in bringing Chicago-based team owner Don Schumacher his 40th double-up victory since 2003 to run the organization’s total to 230. They shared the winners circle with Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

This victory was his first since the O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston. And it came just five races after the dragster he considered his best ever was crumpled beyond use in a vicious accident at Atlanta.

“We had a great car and it was gone. Gone. The only thing we got out of there was the cockpit stuff,” Brown said. “It was working well, and that was the car we wanted to run for the championship. But the Good Lord had a different story. He goes, ‘We’re going to give you a better one.’

“The boys in the shop went to work, and they gave us that new car we’re running now. Our back-up car ran phenomenal at Atlanta. We could have won Atlanta with that. That car’s back up in the trailer, ready to come out whenever we need it. It was real important to get that new car out,” he said. “We came out with it at Bristol, and it ran phenomenal. We could have won that race. It slipped away from us. And it ran great in Epping. Our teammate just took us out in the second round. We brought it here, we qualified well, and we got a win with it the third race out.”

He gave credit not only to crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald and the crew but also to the machine and fabrication shop workers at the DSR headquarters at Brownsburg, Ind.

“That’s just a testament to how spot-on our boys in the shop are and how spot-on our race team guys are, how they put it together and then make it run like it’s been running. I’m blessed to be on this team,” Brown said.

He advanced to his fifth final round of the season in 12 races by defeating Clay Millican and earning his 500th elimination-round victory. He started by beating Billy Torrence and Richie Crampton.

Force, plagued for a couple weeks by lethargy from a touch of a flu bug, forged through the event to race to the provisional No. 1 spot Friday, plow through eliminations, and be flexible after her crew discovered a clutch problem after the semifinal and team had to scramble to the starting line without the customary warm-up in the pit.”

She qualified No. 4 and advanced past Terry McMillen and Shawn Langdon, then edged JR Todd by .0018 seconds, or 18 ten-thousandths of a second.

This Phoenix rematch means in her only two final-round appearances, Force has faced only Brown.

Brown sliced points leader Doug Kalitta’s advantage from 157 to 102.

The Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour moves to Norwalk, Ohio, for the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals this coming holiday weekend.  

HAGAN RETURNS TO FUNNY CAR WINNERS CIRCLE - Last season, Matt Hagan was accustomed to going to NHRA’s winners circle as he had five nitro Funny Car wins.

Hagan, who finished the 2013 season second in the points, didn’t have things translate into 2014.

His fortunes finally changed Sunday at this season’s 12th race as he beat his Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Tommy Johnson Jr., to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals in Chicago.

“I tell you what, we have been working at it this year,” said Hagan, who pilots a Dodge Charger. “It has been a very, very humbling year for us. Last year we came out and won five races and you kind of think you’re going to set the world on fire the following year. We started off strong and went to the final in Pomona, and then after that it just kind of fell off. We were really having some problems in our bell housing area and trying to find some clutch discs that weren’t too aggressive.”

This was Hagan’s 11th win of his career. He lost at the season-opening Winternationals, to John Force.

“These guys (his crew) has just been keeping after it and I know they have been beating themselves up bunch this year, but they are smart crew chiefs and they are starting to get a combination together, “said Hagan, who won the 2011 world championship. “We’re getting there, but we still have a long ways to go. The competition is just so tough out here in Funny Car. So, when this deal does come together and you get to turn on four win lights, especially for that Mopar Express Lane car, you just don’t want this (Sunday) to end. It was just phenomenal, and makes you realize how special these things are when they come together.”

Hagan defeated Jack Beckman, Bob Bode, and Ron Capps before ousting Johnson Jr. Beckman and Capps – like Johnson Jr. – are his DSR teammates.

Although this season hasn’t gone according to plan for Hagan, he never stopped thinking positively.

“We just have been on the backside of a lot of good drag races, and we have not had a little luck go our way,” Hagan said. “It’s nice to pull one down and get that pressure off of us. Once that pressure kind of goes away of trying to get that first win of the year things start happening and clicking a little bit more. You don’t feel like you have to push so hard. Sometimes you push stuff away instead of letting it come to you. When you’re strapped in that race car, it has to be about that light and keeping it in the groove.”

NOBILE TAKES CHICAGO PRO STOCK WIN - This past offseason, NHRA Pro Stock driver Vincent Nobile turned some heads when he switched teams.

Nobile left the team of Allen Johnson and Jeg Coughlin and joined the Summit /Ken Black Racing team with drivers Greg Anderson and Jason Line.

On Sunday, Nobile’s switch finally paid dividends in the winners circle as he beat Line on a holeshot in the finals to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals in Chicago.

Nobile clocked a 6.655-second lap at 208.01 mph, while Line came in at 6.637 seconds at 209.26 mph. The difference was at the starting line as Nobile had an .004 light and Line was at .031.

“This was a great win, and kind of a long time coming,” Nobile said. “I know I’m young and I’ve won some races, but when you go on a streak like I’ve done and not won one you kind of forget what it feels like. (Sunday) definitely refreshed my memory and I owe it all to my team. They gave me a great car last week in Epping and I had a good light over there and I kind of choked a little bit and short shifted and cost us a race. I came back here confident and I think I redeemed myself.”

Nobile lost at Epping in the second round to Dave Connolly.

“Nobody’s perfect and I’m the first one to admit it when I made the mistake,” Nobile said about Epping. “From the outside looking in, everybody was saying .006 light and they didn’t have the car, but that wasn’t the case. I had the car and it was just me. This is a team effort and when I make a mistake, I’m the first one to say it. But (Sunday), as a team we all came together and we all did our jobs and we got it done.”

This was Nobile’s ninth win of his career and his first since Seattle last season.

Nobile beat Jonathon Gray, Coughlin and Shane Tucker before edging Line in the final round. Coughlin handed Nobile the win with a red light.

“I knew I had a fast race car and I was determined to redeem myself from last weekend,” Nobile said. “As a team we won and that was the ultimate goal. We want to have two of our cars in the finals at every race. Then, it came down to the individual (winner) and Jason and I went up there and duked it out. I told him in the pits, yes we won as a team, but I’m going to still go out there and cut your eyes out, and it worked to my benefit.”
RANDOM RACEDAY NOTES -

HITTING 500 - Anton Brown advanced to the Top Fuel final with his 500th round-win. He joined Funny Car's Cruz Pedregon as the second driver to do that this month. Brown is the 16th overall racer to reach that plateau.

“It's really special for the Matco Tools boys. I didn’t know I'd been racing long enough to get 500!” Brown said. “We're going to keep marching forward. We want to win this for the boss [Don Schumacher]. It’s his home race.”

UPSETS ABOUND - The first round of Top Fuel eliminations featured upsets in half of the eight races. It began in the second pairing with No. 12 Shawn Langdon’s holeshot victory over No. 5 Steve Torrence.

Immediately afterward, No. 15 Clay Millican finally had something go his way. The Parts Plus/Liquid MPG Dragster driver had sat out Friday’s opening qualifying session. Then he made a run in the Friday night session but ended up 18th of 19 in the order and lost five points because his car dropped oil on the track. The next day, Millican needed a push off the track after his engine went silent at 330 feet. He squeezed into the field in his final chance, bumping Luigi Novelli. He saved his best pass of the weekend for race day and used a 3.842-second elapsed time at 312.21 mph to knock out No. 2 Tony Schumacher (3.868, 323.97), the hometown favorite and 2013 event winner.

Bob Vandergriff and JR Todd closed the round with victories from the bottom half of the ladder. Vandergriff dealt another disappointment to locally based team owner Don Schumacher, defeating Spencer Massey in the car that bears the name of Schumacher’s Mt. Prospect, Ill.-headquartered company. JR Todd advanced with a victory of about 14 feet against higher-qualified Khalid alBalooshi.  

In Top Fuel’s second round, Millican continued to upset higher-qualified racers. He beat former teammate Vandergriff to reach his second straight semifinal.

The opening round for the Funny Car class had three upsets: Cruz Pedregon over Chad Head, Bob Bode over Del Worsham, and Matt Hagan over Jack Beckman,

NO TEAM ORDERS, FOR SURE - In the second round of Top Fuel eliminations, No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta faced his new teammate, JR Todd, for the fourth time since Todd became the Optima Batteries Dragster driver. Todd had a 3-0 mark against Kalitta, all of their meetings coming in April at the Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte. Todd extended his streak to 4-0 and criticized his own first-round run: “That was a terrible job of driving in the first round. Doug and Jim O [crew chief Jim Oberhofer] are the baddest boys on the block. Hopefully this is our day.” In a dozen races, the top qualifier in the dragster class has not won. Kalitta had advanced to seven final rounds, including the previous three, and leads the standings.

JUST A WEIRD WEEKEND - Richie Crampton’s weekend has been, well, a little bit weird. On the track, he topped his weekend-resuscitating run to make the Top Fuel field Saturday night with a goofy-ugly first-round victory against Chicago crowd favorite T.J. Zizzo. Despite a snoozy .101-second reaction time and a supercharger explosion that deployed his parachutes at about 300 feet and left him with a 7.147-second elapsed time at a whopping 68.90 mph, the GEICO/Lucas Oil Dragster driver won. Zizzo also had a supercharger blow-up right on the launch and coasted across the finish line in 16.268 seconds.

Off the track, things have been out of the ordinary in the GEICO/Lucas Oil pit.

"We're a man down this weekend,” Crampton said. “Andrew Polk, who normally does our clutch, was hurt when we were setting up the pit, so I've taken up the slack and been doing all the clutch work myself. I don't think I've ever concentrated harder on my job, because I wanted to make absolutely sure the clutch was perfect for Aaron [crew chief Brooks]."

Crampton, a native of Adelaide, South Australia, started his U.S. career as a crew hand for Andrew Cowan’s dragster then serviced cylinder heads and did rod and piston assembly for Melanie Troxel’s dragster at Don Schumacher Racing. He joined Morgan Lucas Racing eight years ago and was the clutch specialist for seven years before taking over driving duties. So he was in a familiar role this weekend.

That didn’t stop his teammates from making fun of him.

"I've taken a fair bit of ribbing about my soft hands and nice hair,” Crampton said, “but it's really a relief to have the knowledge to be able to help in situations like this.

"It's been tiring to add this stuff to all the media and PR duties you have as a driver, but at the same time I've enjoyed getting in there with the guys again," he said.

Crampton said that the Q4 run Saturday was thanks to a “gutsy call by Aaron." He said, "We ended up sixth, but when he made that final run with everything on the line we went from out of contention to the No. 2 spot. That takes guts, man, and Aaron went for it and had enough belief in himself to stick to his plan. That's a huge confidence boost for all of us.

"Only going down the track one time in qualifying should make you a bit edgy, but after what Aaron managed to pull off just now, I don't think I'll have too much trouble sleeping tonight,” Crampton said. “Besides, all this extra manual labor has me worn out."

Antron Brown gave him a chance to get some extra rest. The Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster driver beat Crampton in Round 2.
 
FORCE REGAINS SECOND PLACE - In a first-round battle for second place in the Funny Car standings, John Force reclaimed the spot from Alexis DeJoria. It was their 15th meeting overall and second in three races. Force took the round-win, his 1,169th overall, by about half a car length . . . officially .0233 seconds, or about 11 feet. Force's daughter, Courtney Force, beat him in the quarterfinals.

DeJORIA IMPROVING, CAR STILL STRONG – Alexis DeJoria had two fewer runs in her Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry in qualifying than her Funny Car rivals had because of a case of food poisoning that knocked her out of Friday’s action.

“This weekend was a perfect example of how tough our team is and how strong of a car we have,” she said. “Going into race day, we had only had one full pass down the race track. The first two qualifying sessions we missed, but it didn’t matter because we went strong on the second day and made it in. I expected no less from my team, because they always give me the very best car when I go down that race track. Today was no different. We made an excellent run. It was one of the best runs of the round actually, but unfortunately we lost to Force by just a little bit.”

DeJoria said she hated missing those two Friday runs and scheduled appearances but did what was smart – rest. “I want to thank all of my fans for your support and understanding. The last thing I want to do is miss any kind of runs or time with fans, especially when we’re doing this good, but I can’t change it,” she said. “I felt like that was the safest thing to do. We’re going to go into Norwalk feeling strong, confident, and ready to get back at it.”

SPORTSMAN RACER UNINJURED - Comp Eliminator racer Greg Kamplain, 57, of Brownsburg, Ind., was unhurt after a semifinal crash. The back end of his dragster spun around on him as he got out of the groove in the left lane, barrel-rolled, and slammed hard into the left wall. The rear wing sheared off as it rode the wall for awhile. Then it slid and contacted the right-side barrier. Kamplain, representing Division 3, won the JEGS Allstars Comp Eliminator title Saturday over finalist Bruno Massel.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

TOP FUEL

KALITTA GRABS CHICAGO TOP FUEL POLE - In the 11th race of the season – the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals – Doug Kalitta shows no signs of slowing down at all.

The veteran driver came to Chicago with the points lead and promptly claimed the pole position with his 3.767-second elapsed time at 327.43 mph during Saturday’s final qualifying session.

“I was sitting back there in the staging lanes and it was pretty exciting,” said Kalitta, who pilots the Mac Tools dragster for Kalitta Motorsports. “Everybody who was running seemed to be going low and the fans got a good session out of that and I’m just real happy we were able to keep that thing up front with the Mac Tools car. Jim (Oberhofer, Kalitta’s crew chief) and my guys, I tell you, I’m pretty fortunate to have a ride like I have right now. That thing is running strong and I’m just trying to make the best of it.”

Kalitta has one win this season – at Gainesville, Fla. – and six runner-up finishes, three coming in a row at Englishtown, Bristol and Epping. Now Kalitta also have five poles this season and 41 for his career.


Kalitta faces Pat Dakin in round one. Kalitta’s round record this season is 28-10.


“Chicago has always been a great place for us,” Kalitta said. “I think I have won here two or three times and I would love to get back to that final and get past whoever. It will be exciting out here (Sunday) and I’m really looking forward to it.”


Kalitta has won in Chicago in 2002, 2004, and 2006.


When the first round begins at 11 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday, Kalitta knows the weather will be different than it was during Friday and Saturday’s qualifying sessions.


“It’s probably going to be a little tricky,” Kalitta said. “It was pretty warm (Saturday) at 11 a.m. It amazes me what all these crew chiefs can pull out of their notes and get something that will go down the track. Jim Oberhofer and Troy (Fasching, assistant crew chief), they’ve had my car running consistent in the heat or when it has been cool, so I have all the confidence to hopefully go A to B and get some data and have a good start.”


There’s has been a lot of news lately how some of the Top Fuel teams are running a six-disc clutch, but the six-disc clutch is nothing new to Kalitta Motorsports.


“We’ve actually been committed to it for quite a few years,” Kalitta said. “I don’t even know if we even how to go back to a five-disc clutch.”

DSR SHINES BUT KALITTA LEADS - The Top Fuel class has had seven different winners in 2014, but only the Don Schumacher trio of Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown, and Spencer Massey have won more than once.

“It tells you how hard everyone at DSR works,” 74-time-overall winner Tony Schumacher said, “because winning races in this class is extremely tough. I know we have three great drivers, three great teams led by extremely talented crew chiefs, and we have partnerships with great sponsors. We really can’t ask for anything more. We’re in the right place. That being said, we’re all chasing Doug Kalitta, who is way out in front of us in the championship standings, and his team car with J.R. Todd is no slouch. If we want to be the champs, we’re going to have to put a stop to their run. Kalitta has been in eight finals this year, and that’s what enabled him to build such a big lead. If we want to catch him, we have to get him knocked out early and keep going rounds ourselves.”

Kalitta had the last word Saturday, using a 3.767-second, 327.43-mph blast to settle a game of one-upsmanship in Q4. Brittany Force had opened the session as No. 1 and even kept it by virtue of speed as Steve Torrence matched her 3.791-second elapsed time, saying his Capco crew “threw the kitchen sink at it.” Schumacher came along and wiped it from Force with a 3.775 at 325.61 mph. In the same lane directly after him came Kalitta with his sizzling-hot Mac Tools Dragster.    

Schumacher did sideline one of his hot-streaking teammates, Brown, in Round 2 at Epping, N.H. Brown said, “You never like losing, but you’re not going to beat a .006 reaction time. Tony and that U.S. Army team are going strong right now. Actually, both of our DSR teammates are a couple of the toughest competitors in the class right now. We’re all getting better each week.”

But Saturday night’s Top Fuel qualifying showed how tough the class is, how close the competition is. Or, in Schumacher’s words, “The fans got their money’s worth.”

CRAMPTON’S STYLE CRAMPED - Richie Crampton, in his GEICO-Lucas Oil Dragster had a tough time throughout the weekend and was unqualified when he made his final attempt. But he more than assured himself a spot in the 16-car Top Fuel field with a 3.792-second, 324.20-mph performance that was good for No. 2 at the time. He ended up a respectable sixth, with a Sunday-morning faceoff against Chicago-area privateer T.J. Zizzo. Said rookie Crampton of the roller coaster of emotions, “It was pretty unnerving. It was my first time looking down the barrel of a DNQ.”

TOP FUEL PAIRINGS - As it shook out Saturday, Doug Kalitta’s first-round opponent will be No. 16 Pat Dakin, No. 2 Tony Schumacher will meet No. 15 Clay Millican, who struggled all weekend and finally made the show in the last try. Antron Brown, who sneaked into the No. 3 spot at the last minute with a 3.783, has No. 14 Billy Torrence to deal with. No. 4 Brittany Force and No. 13 Terry McMillen will race, and No. 5 Steve Torrence will run No. 12 Shawn Langdon. No. 7 Spencer Massey will race No. 10 Bob Vandergriff.

HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN - the NBC-TV drama series “Chicago Fire” could have focused an episode on local Franklin Park, Ill., resident Tim Cullinan’s Top Fuel operation Friday.

The team blamed it on a broken push rod. Crew member Mike Minick, who drives the legendary Chi-Town Hustler Funny Car from his dad Pat’s heyday in nostalgia events, said they “took it right down to the block but ran out of time.”

Cullinan finally made it to the starting line, but a fuel-delivery problem triggered an engine blow-up and fire. Even with that disappointment, the 5.082-second, 133.78-mph pass put him 16th in the order. That engine was destroyed, and the crew stayed at the track until 1 a.m. Saturday, installing the only other engine Cullinan owns. “This is the last bullet,” Minick said Saturday afternoon, nodding to the fresh motor. Cullinan didn’t make an attempt in Saturday’s first (third overall) session. And he didn’t go far after the launch in his final chance, knocking him to the sidelines for Sunday’s runoffs.

Cullinan, who began racing Top Fuel dragsters in 2002, said he might enter the races at Brainerd, Minn., in August and St. Louis in September during the Countdown. He received his nickname “Turbo Tim” for dominating the turbocharged motorcycle racing scene in the mid-1990s.

GREEK OUT - Like Chicago-area racers Tim Cullinan (Franklin Park) and Luigi Novelli (Crete), Chicagoan Chris Karamesines missed making the top 16. “The Greek,” who made his first race in 1964, said he attributes his longevity in the sport to “just a lot of hard work.” He said “50 to 60 years of maintaining this car will keep you young,” adding that “I feel great about it. Everything’s going great.” Make that everything minus being bumped off the grid.

FUNNY CAR

TOMMY JOHNSON JR. CLAIMS CHICAGO FUNNY CAR POLE WITH THREE-SECOND RUN - Tommy Johnson Jr. made his first career three-second NHRA lap Saturday night and it paid dividends for his Don Schumacher Racing Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger.

Johnson clocked a 3.999-second run at 317.19 mph to take the pole at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago.

“The conditions out here were difficult,” Johnson Jr. said. “It’s hot and it’s humid and personally I didn’t think we could do it. But, the guys were swinging for the fence, they were going for it. I’m extremely happy for John Collins (Johnson Jr.’s crew chief) and all the guys on the team because they’ve been trying to do this for months. We’ve been so close for two or three months. We’ve been 4.02, 4.02, 4.03 and we just couldn’t quite figure out how to get it to go any quicker. With two night sessions, we ran the 03 (Friday night) and it gave us another opportunity to tune for a night session instead of just one a weekend.”

Johnson became only the 10th NHRA nitro Funny Car driver to record a three-second run at 1,000 feet.

This is Johnson’s first pole of the season and 10th of his career. He also has one victory this year at Bristol, Tenn., June 13-15.

When Johnson Jr. returned to the pits after qualifying was complete on Friday, he was quickly upbeat about Saturday.

“When I came back (Friday night), he (Collins) told me what he did and he said he already knew what he was going to do (Saturday night), and obviously it paid off,” Johnson Jr. said. “To me as a driver a three-second run is not going to win the race, but I wanted it for the guys. They’ve been trying really hard to get it to run in the 3s, and the performance of the car, the driver has some part in that, keeping it in the groove and getting it down there, but it has a lot to do with the crew. They have been trying different approaches and to see that pay off for them, I’m extremely pleased for the whole team.”

Johnson also admitted he’s confident his team will adapt to whatever the race conditions are on Sunday.

“Our car right now is really consistent no matter what conditions we are running in,” Johnson Jr. said. “Right now my confidence in the team is great.”

FEELING BETTER - Alexis DeJoria, sidelined by food poisoning, missed both Friday sessions. But she strapped back into the Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Saturday afternoon and blasted downtrack in 4.142 seconds at 307.23 mph to claim the provisional No. 12 spot. She dropped to No. 13 and will face John Force, the driver she passed in the standings at the past event.

DeJoria, who entered this event No. 2 in the Funny Car standings, had crammed her Thursday full of media events and personal appearances. She was a guest on the nationally syndicated radio/TV show, Mancow in the Morning, Chicago’s Q101FM, and Comcast Sports Net. That evening she joined her teammates for a “Kalitta Takeover” at Harrah’s Joliet Casino and Hotel. She was a celebrity bartender at the hotel’s Sheer Bar for an hour and a half, serving her favorite Patrón cocktails.

But she became ill and had to forgo both Friday chances to qualify. That was a huge letdown for the fiercely competitive racer, who last week was runner-up to Ron Capps at Epping, N.H., in her third final-round appearance this season.   

“We’ve had a great car this year,” DeJoria said earlier this week. “Tommy [DeLago], Glen [Huszar], and the crew have made it fast, but most of all, consistent. We’ve run record numbers and won races, and it’s only halfway through the season.”

LIKES BEING SMITH PROTÉGÉ - Justin Schriefer doesn’t wish fellow Funny Car racer Blake Alexander any troubles in his sponsorship search. But the Grant Park, Ill., driver is thrilled that Paul Smith, who has tuned Alexander, is available these days to help him as crew chief on his Camaro.

“In my eyes, he’s the best out there,” Schriefer said of Smith. “I’ve always wanted to drive under Paul Smith. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be able to say, that I drove for Paul Smith.”

Schriefer said he appreciates Smith’s approach: racing the car as aggressively as safety will allow without ruining equipment. “That’s what we need. That’s why we’re here. We’re not going to kill parts. He respects his reputation of keeping people safe.”

With Smith’s guidance, Schriefer qualified 13th at Bristol in his 2014 debut and was 15th heading into Saturday’s action here. By the end of Saturday’s first session, he was 19th and off the grid. That was where he remained, last in the order as Dale Creasy, from nearby Beecher, Ill., and Brian Stewart joined him on the sideline. (Stewart purchased the Levi, Ray, and Shoup Mustang and equipment from Springfield, Ill., veteran Tim Wilkerson that has been reserved for Wilkerson’s son Daniel. So that’s a third Illinois connection off the Funny Car chart.)

Unless Alexander finds funding and Smith returns to that team, Schriefer is hoping to team with Smith again for appearances at Indianapolis and St. Louis.

He said, “We get along great. Everybody’s having a fun time. During the work day, he’s all business. But when we’re done working and the car’s put away, he’s as funny as any guy. He has lots of stories to tell. We laugh till our stomach muscles hurt.”   

BARGING IN - Bob Bode barged his way into the Funny Car field at No. 15 with a late-Saturday blast of 4.165 seconds at 301.07 mph and declared that “this almost feels like winning the Super Bowl. We went from the cellar to where we wanted to be.” He bumped Brian Stewart from the field. Bode, a businessman in suburban Chicago, will start eliminations Sunday against No. 2 Del Worsham.

LUCKY BREAK - Ron Capps’ late-Friday protest turned out to be critical. Had he not protested a disqualification call because the timing cone blew over on his 4.040-second pass, the NAPA/Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Dodge driver would be watching Sunday from the grandstands. His other times, in the high-six-second range, would not have topped Tony Pedregon’s 4.216-second bump time.  

FUNNY CAR FOES – Other pairings for Sunday’s first round of Funny Car action are No. 1 Tommy Johnson Jr. vs. No, 16 Tony Pedregon, No. 8 Chad Head vs. No. 9 Cruz Pedregon, No. 5 Courtney Force vs. No. 12 Bob Tasca, No. 7 Jack Beckman vs. No. 10 Matt Hagan, No. 3 Robert Hight vs. No. 14 Jeff Arend, and No. 6 Ron Capps vs. No. 11 Tim Wilkerson.

PRO STOCK

‘LOT OF GOOD THINKING GOING ON’ – After starting out second in the order Friday then sliding no farther than fourth place, KB/Summit Racing Camaro driver Jason Line said he believed “there’s more left out there for sure, but all in all, this was not a bad start and we'll take it. Running in these conditions is usually our Achilles heel, but we seem to be doing pretty well.” He said late Friday he thought he could improve with two chances Saturday before the field was set for Sunday’s eliminations.

Line has three Joliet victories in five final rounds, including the first of his career in 2004, when he was No. 1 qualifier. Teammate Greg Anderson’s 2011 victory here came among his seven final-round appearances. Anderson also has led the Route 66 Nationals field six times. So it’s no wonder Line said, "I'm not sure what it is, but there is something almost magical about Route 66 Raceway for us. I always look forward to going to Chicago. It seems like if I've been struggling, when I get there it turns into a get-well weekend for me."

Line stayed No. 4 and will start his day against No 13 Mark Martino.

The KB/Summit Racing team has gotten better as the season has progressed. "We're in a lot better shape than we were even a month ago," Line said. “We're definitely headed in the right direction, and there is a lot of good thinking going on in the KB Racing camp. Everybody is working hard to get better. Nobody is satisfied with where we are, and we are all working as a team to get to the next level."

GOING FOR HIS 75TH - Greg Anderson is seeking his 75th victory, and Route 66 Raceway is a track at which he has performed well, despite just one victory in seven finals.  "I've always liked it a lot, and I don't really have a reason as to why it took me so long to crack that place. It's a great racetrack. Just for some reason it took me a long time to close the door. It's a good-feeling place for us, and we like it because you don't have to tiptoe down the racetrack. You can put all the power to the ground.”

He compared this facility’s racing surface to New England Dragway’s: "We struggled with the first 10 feet of the racetrack last weekend in Epping, but [that’s not] an issue in Chicago. The starting line is great, and we're making up ground and getting better.”

He had predicted that “everything should play into our hands." He was a bit off but still in the first half of the field, as he began the weekend in the No. 4 slot and wound up No. 8 with two more qualifying sessions left. Teammate Jason Line never was worse Friday than fourth.

He stayed in the top half of the field, at No. 8, and will take on No. 9 Dave Connolly.

Anderson said this third race of a four-in-a-row schedule doesn’t bother him: “Well, I know it's going to be hard to believe, but we actually like racing every weekend. We're racers, and we feel we can learn more on the racetrack than off of it. It's a good thing for us. The trick is just to make sure that you keep your battery charged."  

PRO STOCK LABELS DECEPTIVE - Vincent Nobile was graduated recently from Adelphi University, but he gave himself a “solid B” grade for the first semester of his 2014 drag-racing season.

“We haven’t won a race yet, which is disappointing, but we have a very competitive car and we really just need for things to fall our way. I feel good about the direction we’re headed,” he said.

The Mountain View Tire & Auto Service Camaro driver started Saturday’s final day of qualifying in the top half of the field, at No. 6. And that’s where he stayed, earning a first-round meeting with Jonathan Gray, who has advanced to the finals in the past two races. That’s the same starting position he had last Sunday at Epping, N.H. And from that experience he learned that “No. 6” might sound mediocre but it’s deceptive.

“On one hand you think that No. 6 isn’t the best spot to be,” Nobile said after the Epping race, “but at the same time, you look and you are only about two-hundredths off the pole. And that is a perfect example of why Pro Stock is the toughest class in drag racing. Almost every race and every qualifying position is determined by just a few thousandths of a second. That means that you have to be almost perfect on every run. You could short-shift the car or drive it out of the groove just a little bit and it’s going to hurt your elapsed time. It’s a huge challenge, but we know what we need to do to meet it.”

His No. 6 effort here Friday was almost identical. He was sixth, with a mere .036 of a second separating him from provisional No. 1 Allen Johnson.

“We’re in the middle of four races in four weekends right now and it’s as much a test of survival as it is performance,” Nobile said. “We’ve just got to keep plugging. We have a strong program and we’re going to start seeing better results soon. I’m sure of that.”

WHO RACES WHOM? – Mark Hogan, at the No. 16 starting spot, has the unenviable task of trying to knock off top qualifier Allen Johnson, Shane Gray takes on V Gaines, and Erica Enders-Stevens faces Midwest racer Dave River. Chris McGaha and Shane Tucker will race each other, as will fellow Ohioans Jeg Coughlin and Larry Morgan.    

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

ONE ARANA SHORT SUNDAY - Second-year pro Adam Arana said he was hoping this weekend would be a pivotal one for him and his ProtectTheHarvest.com/MAVTV Buell. But he failed to make the field for the first time in 22 events.

Joining the youngest of the Milltown, Ind., family trio of bike racers on the DNQ list were Justin Finley, Mike Berry, Joe DeSantis, Elvira Karlsson, and Redell Harris.

“The only way we're going to fix our issues is to be able to make runs down the track," Adam Arana said. "We're going to stay on Monday and test, and we're going to stay until we get it figured out. We all pretty much have the same three motors. Hector is up on the top, and Dad is fifth, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be as high as everyone else. The only issue is tuning, and that's where we're lacking.

"We have an inconsistent bike, and the only thing that's going to fix it is laps,” he said. “We can't rely on qualifying laps to try and tune in our bike. Qualifying should be all about fine-tuning and getting a good qualifying position. It's not for trying to change the world and figure out where we need to be."

He blamed “miscommunication," for some problems with his final run. "Going to live TV, I didn't know they were going to have a long pause in between each pair. Usually, they rush us, and we get used to it. We get used to them being in a panic and in a rush, and before the other bikes even get past the finish line, usually they're telling us to start it up. That's what we get used to, and I thought we had the go-ahead,” he said.

"I looked over at Michael [Ray, in the opposite lane], and he looked over at me, and we shook our heads and started the bike. I thought we had the OK,” Arana said.

"We rev up the motor, and then we start our burnout," he said. "Thirty seconds go by – and it takes Safety Safari 30 seconds to tell us to stop doing the burnout, and then they tell us to shut off. It heated my clutch up, and as soon as I got mid-track, it drifted to the right. When I'm hanging off the side of the bike, it's making more drag, and that slowed me down. It was a terrible run, and it was a crappy weekend."

SWEATING IT OUT - LE Tonglet used his last opportunity to get into the field but sat on the bump spot, sweating out Adam Arana’s final shot at it. Arana had to settle for a best time of 7.081 seconds, not enough to leapfrog Tonglet and his 7.057 on the Nitro Fish Suzuki.

“That’s huge,” Tonglet said of making only his third race of the season. He’s a new hire with the Metairie, La., Fire Department, and he has worked hard to find full-season funding for the family-owned bike, which he said is “coming around each pass.” He said, “The more passes we get, the better it’s going to be.”

He’ll need to be good Sunday morning. He will meet No. 1 qualifier Eddie Krawiec, who swept the bonus-point lotto with the best elapsed time in each session.

MSR TEAMMATES MEET AGAIN - Kandy Magazine Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Angie Smith, winner last Sunday at New England Dragway, faced husband Matt Smith in the final to earn that career-first Wally trophy. This Sunday she’ll face another Matt Smith Racing teammate, John Hall, in the opening round of eliminations. She was the No. 9qualifier, Hall No. 8.    

“It’s a dream come true for me to finally win a national event in NHRA competition after seven years of trying,” Angie Smith said. “I can’t thank my MSR team enough and I’m so thankful to have Kandy Magazine sponsor me for these past events.  I’m so blessed. I am living proof that you should never give up on your dreams.”

Matt Smith will take on Star Racing’s Chaz Kennedy in the first round.

OTHER MATCH-UPS – In Sunday first-round pairings, Hector Arana Sr. will go against Michael Ray, Hector Arana Jr. will meet Steve Johnson, and Andrew Hines will have lane choice against Jim Underdahl. Scotty Pollacheck will try to stop the comeback of veteran racer Craig Treble, who’s from nearby Valparaiso, Ind. No. 6 Jerry Savoie will square off against Shawn Gann, who opted out of the final qualifying session but held down the No. 11 spot. 

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -

TOP FUEL

BRITTANY SHOWS FORCE TO TAKE TF PROVISIONAL POLE - Since late May, Brittany Force has proved she is a Force to be reckoned with in NHRA’s Top Fuel class.

Force was the top qualifier at Topeka and Bristol and fifth at Englishtown and fourth at Epping last Saturday.

On Friday, she took a large step towards grabbing her third pole position of the season as she claimed the provisional pole with a 3.791-second elapsed time at 324.51 mph.

“I was excited,” said Force, who drives the lone dragster for John Force Racing. “It felt like a quick run, and I felt it pull me to the center line so I never thought we were going to be No. 1. But, we got it down there and I jumped out on the other end and they said it ran a 79 so I was pumped and excited because they said we were No. 1. I was keeping my fingers crossed hoping it would hold.”

Force arrived at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals ninth in the point standings. Her best race of the season was a runner-up finish at Phoenix to Antron Brown.

Although Force had some nervous moments during her run, she never lost her focus.

“I always try to keep a loose grip on the steering wheel and keep it as straight as I can,” Force said. “I was able to hang on and get it down there and I’m proud of that. We get four qualifying passes and I think this is going to be our best opportunity to run the quickest that we can just because of the weather conditions. Sunday, we’re going to be running in the middle of the day, so that’s not going to be comparable to this. You know getting four runs in is what we need to see what this car can do on this track to get ready for Sunday.”

The final qualifying session Friday was full of delays, but Force never blinked.

“I just stay in the zone,” Force said. “People will reach in and say things and my dad reaches in and always gives me advice, but I always stay in the zone whether there is an oildown or not. I just think about my routine and what I’m supposed to do and stay focused.”

EXCELLENT TIMING - As the Top Fuel class’ most recent winner, Tony Schumacher has arrived at his home race – as last year’s event champion -- in especially high spirits. His victory last Sunday at Epping, N.H., was his second of the season. Jokingly, the U.S. Army Dragster driver said, “Well, we could’ve just won our 10th race of the season. That might have been a little better lead-in but, honestly, no, we’re happy with where we are.

“This weekend is going to be a great race. We’re coming off a great win. We’ve got a great race car and the timing is perfect. It’s always a huge race for us,” the resident of nearby Long Grove, Ill., said. “We have so many people from friends and family members to school teachers and neighbors who come out to support us. We’re gaining momentum at the right time. We just started summer when the weather gets hot and I’ve said all along that, if we go past the second round, we’re hard to beat.”

The pendulum could be swinging in his favor, Schumacher indicated. “This sport is cyclical. You have good times and bad times and you have to get through the ups and downs. And right now, we’re at the perfect time of the season to be getting good.”


STUFF HAPPENS - After winning three times in 2012 and once last season, Top Fuel owner-driver Steve Torrence has gone a full calendar year without winning in his Capco Contractors Dragster. But the Kilgore, Texas, native, a second-degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do and a survivor of a bout with Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a teenager, is plenty tough emotionally. Four consecutive first-round defeats certainly are aggravating, but they won’t break him.

“We’ve had some things happen the past few races, but you just deal with them and try to get better.  We’re the same team that went to the semifinals six times [in the first seven races this season],” he said.

“It hasn’t been just one issue,” Torrence said.  “We broke a pushrod at one race.  We just got too aggressive at another. I made a driving mistake at another, and last week it dropped a cylinder. Those are things that happen during a season.”

He’s sixth in the standings behind drivers who have won eight of the last 10 series championships – a distinction even more noteworthy considering he’s the only top-eight driver without a victory this year. He was runner-up here in 2012, and at Route 66 Raceway he always has gotten past the troublesome first round.

“Anybody who qualifies can [win],” Torrence said.  “You look at Doug [points leader Kalitta].  He’s been in nine final rounds, but he’s only won once.  That just shows you how hard it is to win one of these things.”

PRESSURE-PACKED WEEKEND - Spencer Massey said he recognizes the importance of faring well this weekend. It’s not just because employees from Mt. Prospect, Ill.-based Schumacher Electric, boss Don Schumacher’s other company besides the racing team, are on hand. Massey wants to make up for losing in the quarterfinals last weekend at Epping, N.H., to Richie Crampton on a holeshot.

"I'd love to go out there and do well for those folks and put them in the winners circle,” Massey, a two-time event champion this year, said. “There’s always pressure, especially at the home race for Schumacher Electric. But not only that, this is as big as it gets for drag racing and coming off of a holeshot loss there's going to be extra pressure this weekend."

He earned his first NHRA Top Fuel victory here in 2009. “This race is always huge to me,” he said. “It was the site of my first Top Fuel win, and it was against Antron [now DSR colleague Brown]. It will always be one of the best races ever for me.” Massey led the field here in 2011.


KNOCKING OFF THE RUST – Chicago-area native T.J. Zizzo is making his first Top Fuel appearance since last fall at Las Vegas, 13 races ago. He’s driving a battleship-gray dragster with no major sponsorship and said he’s regarding this weekend’s O’Reilly Route 66 Nationals near his Lincolnshire home as a test session to gain feedback about some of the new parts and pieces on the dragster.

While being in that situation might agitate some racers, Zizzo typically has found the positives. “Knocking Off The Rust is our slogan for the weekend,” he said. “This is the most relaxed I have ever been before an event -- no one to impress, no sponsor obligations. We’re just testing our car and getting back in the groove.”

His longtime primary sponsor struck a deal with a Funny Car team during the offseason, but his team – which boasts “176.2 years of combined experience” and calls itself “the Most Professional Unprofessional Team in Drag Racing” – forged ahead, preparing the car. The group never doubted it would return to the track.

“Seriously, our team is one of a kind,” Zizzo said, “and I do not know a team that cares more about their team than our team members do. I am truly blessed.  How have I found such a great group of people that dedicate their lives to us?”

He likes labels. He said he’s competing this weekend with “The Fastest Rat Rod in the World,” and a small cadre of loyal marketing partners has stepped up to help him make this hometown race, where he failed to qualify last season but in the previous two visits here staked a reputation as a giant-killer. In 2011, he qualified 16th and knocked off top 1 qualifier Spencer Massey in 2011. The next year, he did the same to No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher, who almost overshadowed his feat with a spectacular engine explosion.

He knocked off any rust he might have had Friday with an 3.873-second, 313.58-mph pass in the first session that was fifth-best that session.  

MAJOR SPONSOR IN WORKS - Loose lips can sink ships, and for T.J. Zizzo, the waters have been treacherous since major sponsor Peak opted not to renew his contract and instead moved over to John Force Racing. The Force signing reportedly was facilitated by a member of NHRA’s marketing team.

Zizzo confirmed he has indeed signed a major sponsor -- but he’s not talking or hinting anything about it whatsoever to anyone.

“True, we have signed a sponsorship,” Zizzo said. “But we are in Chicago with no signage or anything on the car. We are planning to debut the sponsor later this season.”

He hinted the sponsorship might be debuted at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.

“We put the deal together in mid-season and we want the program to be debuted in grand style,” Zizzo said.

THIS RACE PIVOTAL FOR BROWN - Antron Brown owns a series-best three victories in the first 11 events (at Phoenix, Charlotte, and Houston) in the Matco Tools/U.S. Army Dragster.

In 2012, he dominated the event for his first Top Fuel victory here. He was a two-time, back-to-back, Route 66 Raceway winner in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class (2000, 2001).

“That weekend two years ago helped us tremendously. We went on the ‘Western Swing’ and really picked up some momentum and that carried us into the Countdown. It was my first win at Route 66 in the Nitro car and it was important. Winning always gives you hope. Our goal for the weekend is to put ourselves in a position to be in the hunt for a win again. Last year, we didn’t qualify well [11th] but [co-crew chiefs] Brian [Corradi] and Mark [Oswald] found something on Sunday [at Epping, N.H.] and we had a really good car. Tony just got us in the semis. This weekend . . . if we can get another Wally, that would be our fourth of season and certainly gives us all a lot of confidence about our chances to win another championship.”

Last weekend was his second race with this version of the Matco Tools/U.S. Army chassis, and he said he thinks “we’ve got a great car to be right up there with the best of them.”

FUNNY CAR


HIGHT ON TOP OF CHICAGO’S FC QUALIFYING LADDER - Another weekend, another strong qualifying performance for Robert Hight.

On Friday night in Joilet, Ill., Hight drove his John Force Racing Auto Club Ford Mustang to the provisional pole at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals with a 4.026-second time at 317.64 mph.

“The way my Auto Club Ford has been running I believed I did (have a chance to take the No. 1 spot),” Hight said. “I believed everybody would run a little better. It’s pretty humid out here and I think people are missing the tuneup a little bit. This race track is so great. Whatever you are getting after it, the race track is taking it away because it’s so good. Mike Neff (Hight’s crew chief) was very happy with that run.”

Hight was definitely consistent Friday as he also had the quickest time in the first qualifying session with a 4.071-second lap.

“We were able to get six (bonus) points (Friday), and we’re getting after it (Saturday),” Hight said. “We’re either going to run a 3 or we’re going to smoke the tires trying. What we’re doing right now is we’re really looking forward to the Countdown. We’re lucky to get two night runs here on great conditions on a great race track. When the fall comes you’re going to have some of these race tracks like this with really good conditions and we need to be the ones stepping up running the 3-second runs.”

Hight is the season points leader, thanks to his four wins. He captured his first pole of the season last Saturday at the New England Nationals.

“What we’ve been doing the last couple of weeks is really not Mike Neff’s forte,” said Hight, the 2009 world champion. “He’s usually just really steady and around a No. 4 qualifier, but he’s changed his game a little bit here lately with the points lead we have. We’re getting after it here and we’re already swinging and trying for the Countdown. When Mike Neff has a handle on a car like this and the team and everything is clicking it is a lot fun right now.”

CRAZY RUN FOR CAPPS, FRUSTRATING FOR PEDREGON - Ron Capps challenged the NHRA ruling Friday night that disallowed his 4.040-second elapsed time that would have given him the tentative No. 1 position – and he won the dispute about how and when he took out the timing cone. His unruly NAPA/Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Dodge clearly took out the cone. But the NHRA reversed its ruling, deciding the evidence was inconclusive whether the headers banged into the cone or whether the cone became dislodged by the flames or another trigger. Capps  ended up with the tentative No. 3 spot in the order, for Tommy Johnson Jr. came along and reeled off a 4.038, 318.32, then Robert Hight topped Johnson with a 4.026, 317.64.

While the protest helped Capps, it did nothing to help Tony Pedregon, who was in the opposite lane in that pairing. Pedregon’s Toyota Camry also was out of the groove and he let off as it made a hard move toward the wall. That put him behind Capps, so he ultimately had no time with the cone off its mooring.  Perhaps that was a moot point, because Pedregon already was safely in the field in ninth place after the first session with a 4.264, 260.51. A time from Q2 surely wouldn’t have been an improvement, as he already had backed off the throttle.

Capps called it “a strange run altogether” and suggested that “the car going by” blew the cone over. He said, “Maybe someday we can actually bolt those things [cones] down to keep ‘em from blowing over.”

After the incident, Capps said, “That’s how fickle this sport can be. You can go from winning [last Sunday at Epping] to not qualifying.”

He said, “I was shocked when they said the run was DQd. The front of the body is what determines when you cross the finish line, and that ends the run. I was bummed that we were going to lose the run with the threat of rain that meant we might not even get in the show.

“They were saying the headers are what knocked the cone over but by then the front of the car had crossed the finish line. Graham Light [NHRA Senior Vice-President of Racing Operations] took the time to look at the TV footage and determined it not conclusive. I commend him for taking the time to do that.”

GIVING BACK - A semifinal finish at Bristol earlier this month shows that struggling two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon is jumping onto the class’ radar screen once again. And he’s using that momentum as an opportunity to attract attention to his wife’s Andrea Pedregon Charity Foundation “Spark Of Hope.” He said, “As our team continues to make progress with our performance, the timing is perfect to once again race for a cause and help support the efforts of my wife’s charity that has generated much-needed funding for cancer research that ultimately saves lives.”

And the Pedregons are encouraging fans to become involved in a meaningful way.

Said Andrea, “I am eager to reach our fan base in Chicago and continue promoting cancer awareness. We are encouraging ALL cancer survivors – and friends/family who have lost someone special -- to stop by the pits Friday and Saturday between qualifying sessions and Sunday before eliminations to sign the hood of Tony’s Funny Car. Our car will then honor those who have fought and remember those who have passed.”

She’s aiming for her charity program to be as successful at Route 66 Raceway as her husband’s racing career has been. He has four victories at this venue, most recently in 2009.

The Andrea Pedregon Charity Foundation, established in 2010 and best known for its projects and live auctions that give 100 percent of the proceeds to children’s causes and cancer research (notably for melanoma, prostate, and colon cancer research). To date, the foundation has contributed nearly $200,000. For more information about the Andrea Pedregon Charity Foundation, please visit the online site www.apcf.tonypedregon.com.

TEMPORARY CREW CHIEF - Bob Bode is acting as his own crew chief in John Stewart’s absence. Stewart is in Bakersfield, testing a dragster, but he told Bode, “Send me the data. I’ll tell you what to put in that thing.” And Bode, who said he always had wondered what it would be like to tune his own car, said he’s an obedient student: “I’m doing what Stewie tells me to do, and so far so good.”

That’s true – he took the provisional 12th spot after the opening qualifying session with a 5.360-second elapsed time at 135.66 in a deliberately aborted run.

Bode said he wasn’t planning to blame Stewart if anything went wrong, because “he’ll blame me back, saying I probably didn’t do it the right way. But it’s pretty much on my shoulders, but I’ve got his lead. Without him I’d be nervous.”

Kidding aside, Bode knew the format dictated he would be an early-running entrant and that he’d be dealing with a hot track. He was right. At 5:30 p.m., when he made that first pass, the surface was 112 degrees. He said beforehand, “We figure it wouldn’t be that great of a number,” so he said the plan was to go half-track or three-quarters of the way down the track “to make sure everything wasn’t going to kill itself in the lights.”

That didn’t happen until the second session, and it happened well before the end of the run.

Bode had said, “If we hurt it first round, we’d be hard-pressed to get it together in good shape for second round. So we’ll take a look at all the numbers, and if we don’t hurt it we’ll just tweak it a little bit tonight. It should run pretty fast. And if we blow it up in the lights, we have all night to fix it. The other way, we just have three hours, and we’re not good with three-hour stuff if we hurt it really bad.”

He had a massive fireball trailing, then engulfing, his Arbee Toyota on a 4.146-second, 307.23-mph second-session pass. He’s still in the field, at No. 16.

Bode, of the Chicago suburb Barrington, won’t be the only Bode racing this weekend. Son Bobby will be in the first of four Jr. Dragster pairings to run Saturday evening. Dad will run just a few minutes afterward in the fourth and final Funny Car qualifying session. But he said he’ll make sure he’s there to start his son’s car before scrambling back into the staging lanes to strap into his own.

HOT DEBUT – In his first pass at an NHRA national event, team owner-driver Brian Stewart clocked a 4.901-second elapsed time at 167.88 mph but ended up getting out of his Shelby Mustang a bit quicker than expected. It was on fire by the time he got to the top end. Stewart, of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., was uninjured in this first step in moving to the nitro ranks from Nostalgia Funny Car competition with his Bear Town Shaker. Despite the trouble, he took the early No. 11 position but fell to No. 15 overnight.

Helping him and co-owner Pam Stewart are crew chief Jim Stanke and crew members Mike Splett (cylinder heads/left side), “Discount” Mike Stevens (cylinder heads/right side), Jeff Stanke (bottom end), and Shawn “Elwood” O’Keefe (clutch).

NO MORE OF THAT STUFF - Jack Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car champion, has given himself an ultimatum. “We can't have any more first-round losses," the Valvoline MaxLife Dodge driver said. He’s hoping to end a string of six that has left him out of the top 10 as the 2014 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series reaches the halfway point at this event. He’s 11th in the standings and has advanced past Round 2 only twice, including the final at Houston, back at Race No. 6.

"Chicago is the end to the first half of our season,” Beckman, for whom a victory would be an excellent way to cap his birthday weekend, said. He’ll turn 48 Saturday.

Two races ago, he dropped from the top 10 for the third time this year. But last year he was in 11th place following the second race, at Phoenix, but rallied to finish third in the final standings.

"We have to start winning rounds on Sunday,” Beckman said. “We're not in the Countdown, and I've never been in this position before so late in the year. We have a good race car, and that showed by qualifying sixth at Epping. But then we can't get out of the first round consistently so we didn't gain any points on Sunday again."

Beckman is fifth in the order at the end of two sessions.

HAGAN HOLDS OUT HOPE - Matt Hagan was the toast of the Funny Car class here last year, defeating John Force in the final round. This year he has been burned. The Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge driver is 10th in the standings with six first-round losses in the first 11 races.

"Things just really haven't fallen our way so far this year. We've lost a few close races here and there, and that makes a difference,” Hagan said. “The competition is tough, there's no doubt about that, but that's not an excuse. This team is as good as or better than anyone out here, and I wouldn't trade any of them. Dickie [crew chief Venables] and each one of these guys know what they're doing, and we have a good car, a good tune-up. We just need a little luck here and there."

Things fell his way in Friday’s first qualifying chance. He was second in the lineup only to Robert Hight after the initial session. His 4.095-second pass with a class-best 311.92-mph speed couldn’t top Hight’s 4.071, but it was two-thousandths of a second better than third-place Don Schumacher Racing mate Tommy Johnson Jr.’s 4.097. Hagan ended up 10th to start Saturday’s action.

Recognizing that time is running out in the so-called regular season and that the Western Swing also is looming, Hagan, the 2011 Funny Car champion, said, "We're going into our third consecutive race, and we need to get some momentum going before we head West for the Western Swing. We can do it. I know we can. There's no doubt about that.”

He said the Route 66 Raceway surface “can be tough. It can be hot, it can be muggy, but we run our qualifying sessions at night, and that makes a huge difference. You don't really get runs in the conditions that we'll see there on race day, but we know it'll be hot. We have some good data from Bristol where it was hot, and Dickie did a really good job at this race so I have all the confidence in the world that we'll make a good lap in the cooler weather for qualifying, get qualified well and then throw our hot weather tune-up in it and get after it on race day.”

GRAND OLD FLAG - Snap-on Tools announced at a veterans tribute event Thursday that it will donate $10,000 to Honor Flight Network for each sub-four-second Funny Car run this weekend at the Route 66 Nationals. And Snap-on Toyota Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon attended that tribute at the company’s Kenosha, Wis., headquarters and helped unveil Snap-on's traveling tribute flag that’s made from 2,300 tools. He’ll host Honor Flight Network and Snap-on representatives, as well as several veterans, in his pit Saturday.

Snap-on designed and manufactured in America all of the tool flag components.

The colors are Old Glory Red, Old Glory White, Old Glory Blue, and Snap-on Chrome, and the flag rests on a base that’s a Snap-on 84” Epic Roll Cab. The flag’s blue background consists of about 1,700 Snap-on ¼-inch drive sockets. The white stars are made from open-end, 8mm crowfoot wrenches -- five per star for 50 stars. The red stripes are 260 wrenches, Flank Drive Plus Combination Wrenches, in a mix of metric and standard sizes.

“The veterans we’re celebrating . . . are heroes of our company and heroes of our country. They unselfishly served America…came home to families, friends and jobs to continue their dreams and then build the Snap-on we know today,” said Nick Pinchuk, Snap-on chairman and CEO. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for Snap-on to further support the Honor Flight Network and to honor these heroes for their contributions.”

 Others present at Thursday’s ceremony were Jim Bosch, Snap-on associate and Vietnam veteran; Frank Weiss, Snap-on associate and Vietnam veteran; Jim McLaughlin, chairman of Honor Flight Network; and Tom Kassouf, president, Snap-on Tools Group.

ADDITION TO THE FAMILY - Ron Capps found the perfect travel partner for his cross-country flight Monday to San Diego: his Wally statue. Wally didn’t ask prying questions or tell Capps his life history, didn’t fall asleep and snore like a lawn mower engine, and didn’t spill a drink on the veteran racer and driver of the NAPA/Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Dodge. Wally got a first-class seat with Capps following the Funny Car victory at New England Dragway. Then Wally found out when he got to Capps’ home at Carlsbad, Calif., that he had 41 brothers he had to share a trophy case with.

Capps moved into fourth place in the standings as he broke his 19-race winless streak. It was his first victory since last August at Brainerd, Minn., in the year's 17th race. Capps earned an automatic berth in the Traxxas Shootout that will run Labor Day weekend at Indianapolis.

That Epping, N.H., triumph reassured him, because he had lost in the opening round the week before, at Bristol. "It's so scary that when we lost in the first round at Bristol we fell three spots and only a few rounds from falling out of the top 10. I thought, ‘Anything can happen. You have a few bad races and you're out of the top 10,’ “he said.

Capps started Friday in the No. 15 position at Joliet, where he is one-for-three in final-round appearances. He won here in 2005.

PRO STOCK

‘LUMPING’ IT AND LIKING IT - Pro Stock racer Chris McGaha’s decision to hire Brian “Lump” Self as his new crew chief appeared to pay off right away. They found the right tune-up for McGaha to seize the No. 7 spot in the first session Friday (6.636 seconds, 208.81 mph in the Harlow Sammons Camaro). He stayed seventh after the second run with an improved 6.611 (at 208.71 mph).

The two have a history of competing against one another as well as working together. Both raced in the Competition Eliminator and Pro Stock truck classes. Self worked on McGaha’s Pro Stock car in 2012 but ended up branching off into ADRL racing, where he helped Cary Goforth to the Extreme Pro Stock title and Goforth’s dad, Dean, in the mountain-motor Pro Stock category.

"I'm excited to have him back," said McGaha. "He was the guy calling the shots in 2012 when we qualified No. 6 at the world finals, and I never forgot that. I know what direction Lump's going to go with our Harlow Sammons Chevy Camaro, and his personality fits so well with our team. It was an easy choice. We have the same goals.”

COLOR GRAY TEAM HAPPY - Even without having entered every event in this rookie season, Jonathan Gray is in the top 10 and has reached the final round at the two most recent races in the Gray Motorsports Camaro. He joined brother Shane in outstanding performances at Bristol, Tenn., and Epping, N.H. Shane Gray was top qualifier at both events, and Jonathan Gray advanced to the finals. Teammate Dave Connolly spoiled Jonathan Gray’s second shot at that first Pro Stock victory.

"The momentum we have right now, as a team, is just huge," Jonathan Gray said. He said it “just makes us all feel really good about our program, and for me to be No. 10 in the points at the halfway point of the season – wow. We've got a bad-ass deal going on right now with the Gray Motorsports team, and we just have to keep chipping away at it.

"I have nothing to complain about,” he said. “I've had some luck here lately, and I know I have a good team behind me. As long as you do real well in qualifying, anything can happen on Sunday." He was 11th overnight (6.637), while Shane Gray was fifth (6.605) with two chances Saturday as qualifying will wrap up.

And Shane Gray only half-joked that he wasn’t sure he wanted to lead the field. "I tell you what, it's been a long time since anyone in Pro Stock has won from the No. 1 qualifier position, and I'm not sure that's where I really want to be come Sunday this time around," he said. "It took me a long time to get that No. 1, and I know we have the power. I'd just like for us to get a little bit farther on Sunday."

Dave Connolly ran low E.T. in each round of eliminations at Epping on his way to victory and was No. 9 at the close of Friday qualifying at Joliet.

Shane Gray said, "That just goes to show you what this team is capable of," said Gray. "I'm real proud for my teammates and for our guys back at the engine shop and who come to the racetrack to work with us every week. I think we can bring home another trophy this weekend, and it doesn't matter which one of the three cars gets it. So long as it belongs to Gray Motorsports at the end of the day, we'll be happy. Last week Dave had the car to beat, and Jonathan, man, he has been on a roll. The performance of my Gray Manufacturing Camaro is right there. We've got a few more wins in us yet."

"We've got happy race cars right now, and that makes it a lot of fun for all of us," Connolly said.

"This is a dream team. It really is," Connolly said. "The guys work hard and supply us with the race cars to win a championship. This class is brutal. But we have a great team, and they turned the cars around flawlessly and we were able to get the win last weekend. There is a lot of talent in this class, and you have to fight for every round-win, but the Gray Motorsports team is very strong. I like our chances."

I LOVE CHICAGO - Dave Connolly, the winner last week at New England Dragway in the Charter Communications Camaro, earned his first national-event trophy here at Route 66 Raceway in 2002 in the Super Comp class. In 2004, he won here in Pro Stock. His father has some racing success at this track, too: Ray Connolly qualified for the JEGS Allstars race scheduled for Saturday, and he grabbed the Super Gas trophy at Joliet last year.

"I love Chicago," Dave Connolly said. "That racetrack has been awesome for us, and I'm excited because I get to spend this weekend with my family. My mom and little brother will be there, and I get to run the COPO Camaro in Stock Eliminator, too. It's going to be a fun-filled weekend, that's for sure."

Connolly, driving the GMPartsNow.com COPO Camaro, lost to David Latino in the first round of Stock eliminations Friday. But so far he’s in the top half of the line-up in Pro Stock, No. 9 before Saturday qualifying.

NOT BAD, EH? - Canadian Pro Stock driver Mark Martino made his 2014 debut Friday in the Nitro Fish Pontiac GXP, with Eddie Guarnaccia serving as crew chief. He was 14th after his first run Friday, and 13th at the end of the day. His time will go away because he’s not in the protected 12, and he’ll start from Square One Saturday.

Also beginning Saturday qualifying with no previous runs counted will be Larry Morgan, Mark Hogan, Kevin Lawrence, and Dave River.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

KRAWIEC ON THE MARK - Eddie Krawiec rewrote the Pro Stock Motorcycle elapsed-time track record at 6.872 seconds, topping the 6.884 E.T. that Hector Arana Sr. ran in June 2012. Krawiec’s speed was 194.86 mph, not enough to take the Route 66 Raceway speed mark. Michael Phillips’s 2010 record still stands at 195.68 mph. He was first after the opening session, too, with a 6.936-second, 193.18-mph run.

“That’s key, two strong passes right off the trailer,” the Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson rider said. “The track here is real good. It’s always good. That helps.

“I’m pretty excited. I have a good bike. It’s fun to ride. We’ve been struggling. The whole package wasn’t working. It’s a matter of getting all the pieces of the puzzle together.”

He said he isn’t concerned about whether he remains No. 1 after Saturday’s two sessions: “It’s about going four runs on Sunday and getting the Wally.”  

MY KIND OF TOWN, CHICAGO IS - LE Tonglet earned his first Pro Stock Motorcycle victory at this race in 2010 to trigger his rookie-season success that ended with the Auto Club of Southern California Road To The Future Award and the championship. The Nitro Fish Suzuki racer repeated here in 2011 and was runner-up the following year, as well. Assuming he stays in the field, Tonglet will bring a 13-3 round-win record into Sunday eliminations.

 “This is the place where it all started for us,” he said. “I won my first race here and I’ll never forget it. Because of my work schedule, we’re not running all the races this year but I wasn’t going to miss this one. My dad [Gary] made sure that we’d be able to come back.”

Tonglet recently began his career as a firefighter in Metairie, La., and has competed in just two events this season. He’s once again riding the unique aluminum-framed bike his brother, GT Tonglet, rode in 2011.

“I’m feeling really confident,” Tonglet said. “We went over the few runs we’ve made this year and believe that we’ve figured out a few things that should show up on the track. The aluminum-frame bike is very different, but we still believe it’s a better design and I think that people will see that this weekend.”

Tonglet dropped from 13th to 15th on the grid Friday, Justin Finley sits on the bump spot overnight.


STING FOR RAY – Michael Ray, last year’s Pro Stock Motorcycle winner here, is 21st among 22 entrants with two final chances Saturday to make the field.