IHRA TORCO NORTHERN NATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK
KNOLL GAS TOP FUEL
THE RETURN OF THE CHAMP – Clay Millican is a busy man. Between running the NHRA tour fulltime and starring in his own TV show, SPEED’s Blow it Up, he was able to make a return to his IHRA roots at this weekend’s Northern Nationals.“It’s nice to be back,” said the six-time IHRA Top Fuel champ. “It’s great to see everybody and hang out with all my old friends and IHRA family.”
Clay and the Knoll Gas / RATT team have contended with new competition in the NHRA, but on their return to IHRA racing it’s old nemesis Doug Foley that’s pacing the field. Clay doesn’t see much of a competitive difference between the two series’, however.
“You know, I don’t care where you race these days, it is tough everywhere,” said the Drummonds, TN based driver. “This technology has spread everywhere, and everybody knows how to make these things go fast now. It’s good for everybody. Good for the sport and good for the fans.”
Amidst the crew shakeups throughout the Evan Knoll-backed teams, veteran tuner Johnny West has landed in Millican’s pits in a co-crew chief role.
Clay is very quick to point out the most obvious thing West has brought to the fold. “Organization,” Millican said emphatically. “That guy is good. He’s got everything organized and in place. And so far, an organized car seems to run better.”
Clay made an early exit on Sunday, red-lighting away a 4.640, 320.74 MPH run and handing the win to Bobby Lagana, Jr.
KNOLL GAS NITRO FUNNY CAR
WYATT’S NO SHOW – Jack Wyatt was unable to make the call for his semi-final matchup with Mike Ashley when the car wouldn’t fire. They lifted the body and the entire crew worked frantically to make something happen, but to no avail. To make things worse, Mike Ashley shook the tires.When Torco’s Competitonplus.com caught up with Wyatt in the pits shortly thereafter, the crew had already solved the problem.
“We just fixed it, it was a problem with the magneto,” said Wyatt, who captured a win at Rockingham earlier this year. “We were in a thrash to swap out motors too, so it was just too much for us to check everything before that last run.”
Wyatt has been off his game ever so slightly over the past few races, but he feels they have finally solved their problem. “We’ve been struggling with a bad fuel pump, and we finally fixed it in-house so I think we’re back on track,” Wyatt said.
CREASY’S CHAMPIONSHIP HUNT – Dale Creasy Jr. is on the hunt for his second consecutive, and is out to a big lead in points already this season. Creasy doesn’t mind when the “big boys” from the NHRA come over and try to play in his sandbox.
“I enjoy them coming over here,” said the Beecher, IL driver. “It gives more credibility to the IHRA. It shows that the tracks are good, and IHRA treats people right. Besides, Densham and Ashley have to run each other first round, so one of them is going home right off the bat.”Creasy qualified #4 for today’s show, and will face #8 qualier Andy Kelley. “This is good. We qualified well here at Evan’s race and at his track, and so far things are going well and hopefully we can continue it.”
While having the advantage of running the last qualifier, it also means Creasy and Kelley will be the first pair of Knoll Gas Pro Nitro Funny Cars down the track. Normally not a huge deal, this morning’s rain added importance to that.
“Actually, if we were given a choice we would choose to be the first pair out,” Creasy said. “Either you got it or you don’t, so we like to just go up there and get it done.”
TORCO’S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM PRO MODIFIED
GAMESMANSHIP THAT NEVER WAS – The final round of the Torco’s Competitionplus.com Pro Mod Shootout was shaping up to be a good one. Unfortunately, Jim Halsey suffered mechanical problems and was unable to get his red ’68 Camaro fired.
“When Jim spun the motor over, it blew the burst panel in the manifold,” says Halsey’s crew chief Eric Davis. “It’s just one of those little things that seem to go wrong at the worst time. That was a very expensive burst panel.”
Besides being a classic nitrous vs. supercharged matchup between two competitive cars, the two racers’ driving styles were set to clash as well.
In the semi-final round, Halsey took his time staging against a very fast Scott Cannon. Halsey was off the line first by a big margin, .064 to .156, and took Cannon’s 6.16 out with a 6.20. Not known for being a late stager, Halsey looked to be taking advantage of it.
On the other side of the coin, Kenny Lang is known for his preference for going in last. Naturally, you can see the situation brewing going into the finals.
“I was going in last, that’s just the way it’s always going to be,” said Lang. “Not that Halsey hung Cannon out, but that wasn’t going to happen to me. I normally go in last, so we were just going to do our normal thing. It definitely would have been interesting if Jim would have been able to run!”
WHERE’S THE NEW CAR? – Danny Rowe has a brand new Tommy Mauney-built ’67 Camaro sitting at the shop in Rossville, GA, but he and crew chief Jimmy Rector have elected to stick with their tried and true ’63 Corvette for now.“The new car is great, but we still have to work it out,” said Rector. “We’ve made some test hits recently with the Corvette and it ran really well, so we decided to stick with it for now.”
“If we decide to run anymore ADRL races, we are going to dedicate the Corvette to that and run the Camaro at IHRA races,” Rector said. “This Corvette is ultra-light with all the weight out of it, so it will work better in the ADRL where there are no rules.”
Rowe is currently sixth in the Torco’s Competitionplus.com Pro Modified points standings.
ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
RUNNING WITHOUT DAD – Rob Atchison is chasing Mark Thomas for his third Alcohol Funny Car championship this weekend, but is having to do it without his crew chief and father, Bob. The senior Atchison is currently ill and didn’t make the trip to Martin this weekend.“It’s tough not having Dad here, he’s such an integral part of the team,” said the two-time champ. “We are a team that’s been around a while, so we know what we are doing. It’s still hard when you’re missing a piece of the puzzle though.”
The absence of Atchison Sr. seemed to be showing in the first round of qualifying, but the team pulled it together and laid down two nice runs Saturday.
“The car made nice runs and actually repeated, so we were as pleased with that as anything,” Atchison said. “The field is really tight, so if we can just pick it up in the backhalf I think we’ll be OK.”
Atchison started his Sunday by taking out current points leader Mark Thomas in an extremely tight drag race and running low ET of the first round.
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BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR – Dean and Cary Goforth’s office walls or photo collections must have been missing something. They mentioned to Competitionplus.com resident photog Roger Richards that they have plenty of photos of each car, but none of the two running each other.
They inadvertently solved their problem in Torco’s Competitionplus.com qualifying. Cary qualified 6th and his father Dean landed in the 14th spot, leading to a father-son showdown in the first round of eliminations today.“Jerry Haas came over and told me I was 5th or 6th, and I started thinking about Dad’s .47 holding up,” Cary said. “I knew there was a decent shot we were going to have to run each other, but the good thing about it is somebody from this team is going to the 2nd round. People started talking about how it was a bummer we had to run each other, but somebody is going to the next round and I’m going to be just as happy about it if it’s Dad as I will if it’s me.”
“There are no team orders over here either,” continued Cary. “We’re going to run all out. Dad said the only way he might consider not running all out is if it depended on one of us winning a World Championship.”
Though Dean’s car is a GTO and Cary’s is a Cobalt, they share a near mirror image setup, although Cary’s crew chief Gary Henry has been trying some new things recently.
“I’ve got a Ram clutch in mine right now, and we’ve also got a new set of Braswell carburetors we’ve been playing with,” said Cary. “I think we are going to go back to our basic setup for this first round though.”
Though Cary was the quicker car in qualifying, Dean had the car to beat when the first round matchup was over. Dean left his son on the starting line and steadily drove away from him, running a 6.44 to Cary’s 6.50.
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK
RICE ASH NATIONALS – If you have ever considered buying stock in
your favorite rice ash or traction compound company, there may have
never been a better time than now.
Mixed in with the stellar record-setting performances were some real
bombs (pardon the pun). Through the first two qualifying sessions, we
suffered through no less than 9 major oildowns. Fortunately most, if
not all, of them were on the top end of the racing surface or in the
shutdown area, so the quality of the track didn’t appear to have been
compromised. Even so, the sheer number of stoppages caused to the first
round of Saturday’s qualifying to bloat to a staggering 4 hour, 38
minute runtime.
There were the typical nitro-induced explosions, but some unusual
suspects such as Pro Stock cars got in on the act as well. Alcohol
Funny Car racer Jody Gucwa shot 100%, causing major cleanup after both
of his qualifying passes. Other notables in the black flag club were
T.J. Zizzo in Pro Nitro Top Fuel, Kenny Lang in Torco’s
Competitionplus.com Pro Modified, and Chuck Demory in Torco’s
Competitionplus.com Pro Stock.
“It’s been pretty bad,” said IHRA National Event Director Satch Gragg.
“But to their credit, these guys are pushing it to the limit.”
On the bright side, we made it all the way though the Night of Fire with no major oildowns.
WANTED: GOLF CART WITH REAR VIEW MIRROR
– In the midst of all the action at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park, someone
got a little too excited when they hopped on their golf cart to leave
the courtyard area behind the tower.
Without looking, they backed their cart up and knocked over the primary
water main. With hundreds of gallons of water gushing out like a geyser
and flooding the area almost instantly, the poor soul attempted to shut
the water off. Unfortunately, he turned the valve the wrong way and
only sent the water higher.
With the Torco hospitality tent and Mike Ashley’s backup car within
striking distance of the water, it was quite a scene. The situation was
mitigated when track manager Jason Peterson arrived and was able to get
the water shut off and the main back in the ground.
KNOLL GAS TOP FUEL
QUICKEST FIELD IN IHRA HISTORY – Coming into the weekend, the
announced lineup of cars that would be competing in this weekend’s
Northern Nationals led many to believe the field would be stout. They
were right.
Tonight’s Night of Fire produced the quickest Knoll Gas Pro Nitro Top
Fuel field in IHRA history. The 4.725 bump spot supplanted the previous
record of 4.740 set at the ’05 World Finals in Rockingham.
THIS IS HOW WE DO IT
– Pacing the record setting field was IHRA veteran Doug Foley. All the
big NHRA hitters stepped up and dipped into the 4.50’s, but Foley
showed them how it was done with a beautiful 4.559 to reset his own
track record from last night.
Foley had plenty of the go but not enough whoa, as announcer Bob
Unkefor likes to say. He had trouble stopping the Mach Fuels
Accelerator machine and put the front wheels of the car in the sand.
The car suffered no damage and will be ready to go tomorrow when he
faces Bruce Litton, a matchup that promises to be one of the best of
the weekend.
THE DAILY SHOW –
Jon Stewart hosts a news parody show called “The Daily Show” on Comedy
Central, but don’t confuse him with Melanie Troxel’s current crew
chief. After all the shakeups in her crew this year, however, you could
call Troxel’s crew chief situation a ‘daily show’ of sorts.
Her current crew chief, veteran John Stewart, has been around the block
a time or two, and has extensive experience tuning for IHRA tracks. He
has worked with Scotty Cannon, Dale Creasy Jr., and Todd Paton in
recent years, but his more current work in a strictly-NHRA environment
had him a little trepid entering this weekend’s Northern Nationals.
“We were really gun-shy last night and today,” said Stewart. “These
IHRA regulars are used to these kind of tracks and they really put it
on us last night.”
“We’re going to really get after it tonight though,” Stewart promised.
Stewart certainly lived up to his word, as Troxel streaked to a 4.593 in the Night of Fire.
“That was one of the most fun rides I have ever had in a Top Fuel car,”
Troxel said after the run. “It was a little loose down there, but it
was flat out hauling the mail.”
KNOLL GAS NITRO FUNNY CAR
ASHLEY STAYS ON TOP
– Mike Ashley’s 4.81 from last night withstood the Night of Fire and he
remained on top of the Knoll Gas Pro Nitro Funny Car heap going into
tomorrow’s eliminations.
Ashley was doing everything in his power to make tonight’s run count, however.
“Fortunately we got out of that run with the car in one piece,” Ashley
said after a wild 5.037, 255.63 MPH run. “That was definitely not the
prettiest run, but we escaped with the #1 spot.”
“That last run was hairy, but other than that I’m having so much fun out here,” said the former Pro Mod driver.
MOVING UP? –
Terry Haddock, coming off his win in Edmonton, laid down a nice 4.99 in
Friday’s qualifying session to lock down the third position. The
unsponsored, under-funded team has shown promise lately, and they are
hoping their recent performance isn’t going unnoticed. Haddock would
love to lose the underdog label and race comfortably.
“I’m hoping our performance can bring some sponsor help to this team,”
said Haddock. “This car is running great, qualifying in the top half of
the field, and even picking up a win.”
Haddock, coming out of Lynnwood, WA, ran into a stopping situation
after his run last night. “We put together a good run, and when I went
to grab the brakes there were none,” Haddock said. “We hit the sand,
but we’ll be able to get it fixed by tonight’s Night of Fire session.”
With the extra competition on hand, Haddock hopes to step it up but
stay within his budget limits. “When these other guys come to town we
have to be on our game, but stay within our normal program. Those guys
don’t run on these tracks all the time so have a little bit of an
advantage there, but we worry when these guys show up because if we
don’t qualify we can’t make it home, much less make it to the next
event,” Haddock said.
STIFF COMPETITION – IHRA regular Bob Gilbertson was on a pass
last night, one that he feels could have reclaimed the track record
back from NHRA stalwart Mike Ashley. Gilbertson’s 4.860 put him in the
#2 spot, however.
“I got out of the groove and decided to click it instead of running
over all the clocks like some people do,” said Gilbertson. “It was
running 312 MPH when I shut it off, so it would have been a 4.78 or 79.”
“That Ashley team is tough though,” Gilbertson said. “They’re on top in
NHRA, so you know they’re going to be tough over here. We’ve learned a
lot of lessons about crossing back and forth between the two series’,
but we still haven’t gotten it all the way figured out. Tonight should
be good though.”
The Charlotte, NC based driver is looking forward to getting back on
the NHRA tour and causing some trouble after sitting out most of the
western swing.
“We’re going to hit the majority of the rest of the races,” said Gilby.
“We’ll probably mess somebody up in that shootout they have going on
over there. Somebody will end up hating us for life, but we’ll go there
just to mess them up. It’ll be cool.”
TORCO’S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM PRO MODIFIED
JANIS’ MOONSHOT
– Two-time IHRA Pro Modified World Champion Mike Janis laid down the
killer run of the weekend, setting both ends of the track record with a
6.033, 240.42 MPH pass to take the pole and the Last Man Standing award.
“I don’t know what to say,” said an ecstatic Janis. “We made some quick
changes right before that run to see if we could knock the fence down
and I guess it worked.”
The run also marked Janis’ first trip into the 240 MPH zone in his ultra-slick Eaton Cobalt.
“I’m just happy to do it at this great facility in front of all these great fans and the Eaton people,” said Janis.
Janis and his son/crew chief Mike Jr. have had quite a week. Mike Jr.
got married last weekend, and has come out and tuned his father to the
number one qualifying position this weekend.
UNIQUE MACHINE
– A wild new twist on the all too commonplace ’67 and ’68 Camaros seen
in Torco’s Competitionplus.com Pro Modified debuted last night.
Jason Stock from Lino Lakes, MN made his IHRA debut in an extremely
lowered, sectioned, and mean looking blown ’68 Camaro. The car was
built by Jason Lang at Greenlight Performance in Wisconsin.
“This is the first true Pro Mod car we have built,” said Lang. “The car
only has about 10 full passes on it, but we have already been a 6.07
with it. We did that a couple weeks ago at Brainerd. We’re a young team
and we’re learning.”
When Lang set out to build the car, he wanted to make it unique. “Some
of the engineering in the tubing allowed us to make a real low car,”
Lang said. “We did it mainly for aerodynamics, but it came out with a
really unique look, too.” In a field of 7/8th size cars, the full-size
Tim McAmis body sticks out like a sore thumb.
“We hope to be in Milan in a few weeks, and we’ll have to see how it
goes from there,” said Lang. “We hope to put together a full season
next year, however.”
Stock had problems on each of his runs and failed to crack the 6.336 bump spot.
BURTON’S BAD LUCK
– Burton Auxier has had his share of tough luck over the past few
seasons, probably going through more front end clips than anyone in Pro
Modified. He tore through a couple last year, but has had the same
front end on the car since his season started in March at the ADRL
Dragpalooza event in Houston. Burton did smash the front end into the
fence at the end of the track at that race when his chutes failed to
deploy, suffering only minor damage.
He experienced more of the same Friday night in qualifying. After
shaking the tires and pedaling the car to the finish, Auxier’s chutes
malfunctioned once again and he careened into the sand trap.
“One chute went into the other and kept both of them from blossoming,” crew chief Jack Foster said.
The crew pulled an all-nighter to repair the damage to the carbon fiber
front end. Lucky for Auxier however, Foster is also an accomplished
body man.
“We were up until 4 this morning,” said Foster. “We had to find all the
little pieces and glass it back together. It was a mess.”
“I’m getting a lot more experience in the body work field working for Burton,” joked Foster.
Auxier ran into clutch trouble in both of Saturday’s passes and failed to make the show.
ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
NOAKES IS AT IT AGAIN
– Paul Noakes, as we mentioned yesterday, is on quite on a roll. He is
doing his absolute best to prove his performance in Grand Bend was not
a fluke, and did so tonight with a 5.843, 242.76 MPH pass to move him
up to #2 in qualifying. He also got the Last Man Standing award, but
didn’t have quite enough to match Mark Thomas’ 5.814 from Friday, which
held on for #1 spot.
“I’m just happy that last night didn’t reoccur tonight,” said Noakes.
“We had a mechanical failure last night and it took almost all the
pistons out of the car. I don’t have any spares left!”
It wasn’t a perfect run according to Noakes, but he received explicit
instructions before he staged that kept any thought of clicking it
early out of his mind. “My crew chief Les Mellows looked in the window
and told me to drive it like I stole it,” said Noakes. “I shook a bunch
out there, but I saw shift lights and did my job as a driver.”
DRIVIN’ DOBBS
– Larry Dobbs has had a resurgent 2007 campaign, currently sitting in
the fourth position in IHRA Alcohol Funny Car points. The Welland, ON
based runner continued his fast pace Friday night, qualifying 2nd with
a 5.843.
“We’re really pleased with the way the car is running,” said Dobbs.
“I’m concentrating more on doing the driving, and the kids are doing
more of the tuning and it’s really working out.”
As Rob Atchison has tripped up a little this season, Mark Thomas and
Terry Munroe have capitalized on the opportunity with strong
performances all year long. Dobbs is not far behind Atchison, and is
well ahead of his next closest competitor, Terry McMillen.
Even more important than making backbreaker runs to a low-budget
operations such as Dobbs, the team has been able to conserve parts and
keep costs down.
“We’re paying a little more attention to the clutch stuff and we’ve got
a good blower on the car,” Dobbs said. “It’s going fast and it’s not
hurting itself.”
TORCO’S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM PRO STOCK
GUGLIOTTA GOES TO THE TOP
– Frank Gugliotta’s 220.22 MPH speed in today’s first session ended up
being just as important as his 6.386 ET. Peter Berner matched
Gugliotta’s ET to the thousandth, but only ran 218.51 MPH to fall into
the #2 spot and give Gugliotta the pole.
The most impressive aspect of Gugliotta’s run in the Pirana Z Cobalt
was that it was made in the heat of the day, something that more than
likely is weighing heavily on the rest of the field’s minds. If the Mt.
Airy, MD native can put together a few repeat performances in
tomorrow’s eliminations, he will be tough to handle.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Brian Gahm made the proverbial
trip from hero to zero, following up his record setting performance in
Grand Bend with a DNQ here.
NEW RIDE FOR NED
– Some that took a quick glance at the first Pro Stock car down the
track on Friday may have thought they were looking at Dave Connolly
taking a stab at the Torco’s Competitionplus.com Pro Stock field.
It wasn’t Connolly, though the fact that he could be spotted walking
around the pits certainly added to that suspicion. The car was actually
the brand new ride of Ned Katuran from Philadelphia, a veteran Top
Sportsman driver and partner at Atco Raceway in New Jersey.
“This is a former Connolly car, but he never drove it,” said Brian
Prince, Katuran’s crew chief. “It’s got an 820 inch Sonny’s motor
that’s been redone by Gil Davis Racing Engines. “We just picked it up
from Jerry Bickel, and we are going to see what we can do here this
weekend.”
“The car only has about a dozen runs on it total, all ones that I’ve
put on it in testing,” said Katuran. “I’ve run Top Sportsman for about
six years, and been bracket racing for about 25 years. If we run well
here we hope to hit two or three more races before the season is over.”
Katuran had major tire shake on his first two qualifying attempts, even
breaking the wheeliebars on the first pass. He softened it up for his
final attempt, but went too far and buzzed through the clutch, failing
to make the field.
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK
KNOLL GAS TOP FUEL
FOLEY IS FLYING
– Doug Foley took his Mach Fuels Accelerator machine down US 131
quicker than anyone in history, setting the track record and capturing
both the provisional pole and the Last Man Standing award with a
blistering 4.579. He also briefly held the track speed record until
Bruce Litton took it away later in the same session.“You don’t look at speed that often, but to make a full pull and get both ends of the track record was awesome,” said the Sewell, NJ driver. “It’s great to do it at a facility like this, too. You know they put in a lot of work to give us a facility capable of producing these numbers. We hate we lost the speed record, but the ET is what matters and we’ll take it.”
In somewhat of a rare situation, the majority of both Top Fuel and Funny Car drivers were able to take their cars the full length of the track. Foley attributed it to the top-notch Knoll Gas Motorsports Park facility once again.
“At 300 MPH you have to make split-second decisions, and lighting is important,” Foley said. “So when they give us a track like this with a great surface and great lighting, it puts your mind at ease and you are able to make those decisions quickly, not to mention keep the car in the groove better.”
LITTON LIKES IT
– Bruce Litton, a veteran of both the IHRA and NHRA tours, is looking
forward to the added competition this year’s stop at Knoll Gas
Motorsports Park.“Everybody is going to have to step it up this weekend,” said Litton, who currently sits in second place in the IHRA Knoll Gas Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel points standings. “We’re going to have to run the best we possibly can, that only makes everything better for the fans and everyone involved.”
Litton has competed against many of the cars visiting the IHRA circuit this weekend such as Melanie Troxel and JR Todd, but hopes to have a little something extra in his corner since he has extensive data at this track.
“This is a great track, and one that will certainly hold some great ETs,” Litton continued. “We’ve run here many times so hopefully that will play into our hands. We’ll just have to shake it out and see where we stand on Sunday.”
The warm weather this weekend in Martin, MI figures to be a major factor according to Litton. “The heat is going to be an equalizer for everyone. You’ve got to run well at night and get down the track in the day, so it’s two different races. I think it well affect every team out here, not just us though.”
Litton certainly had the tune-up for Friday night, as he streaked down the Knoll Gas Motorsports Park quarter mile with a track-record 328.54 MPH pass.
TWICE FOR TODD
– This marks JR Todd’s second trip to Martin in Pro Nitro Top Fuel
competition. Last year he qualified 5th for a stout field with a
respectable 4.722, but he lost to eventual winner TJ Zizzo in the first
round.There are lots of things different about this year’s team, so Todd is looking forward to a more promising outing than last year’s.
“Last year we were trying to run two cars with one crew,” said Todd. “Scotty’s guys are handling the duties on Evan’s car this weekend, so that will allow us to focus more on our operation”
As a result of this being his first IHRA race of the season, Todd has no intentions of running for points and hopes to use this weekend’s data towards his NHRA championship pursuit.
“We’re using this weekend as a test session,” Todd admitted. “We’re going to go out there, make some good runs, and put on a good show for Evan and all the fans here while learning something at the same time.”
There has been lots of learning to be done in Todd’s Skull Shine pits over the course of the 2007 season. Todd’s carousel of crew chiefs has Kevin Poynter in the position currently, and the team’s recent success on the NHRA’s western swing has shown promise for the new driver/crew chief combination.
“Kevin’s emotion and passion keeps the guys pumped up,” said Todd. “He’s never down and out, and he’s learning the crew chief position really quickly so that has definitely helped out in the last couple months.”
Does Todd plan on taking it easy on sponsor Evan Knoll should they meet in eliminations?
“Nope, because I know he’s not going to take it easy on me,” Todd said with a grin.
KNOLL GAS NITRO FUNNY CAR
FANTASTIC FIRST RUN
– Mike Ashley is debuting a brand new racecar at this weekend’s
Northern Nationals, and it showed incredible potential on its maiden
quarter mile voyage, posting a track record 4.812 elapsed time.“I can’t explain this feeling, this is such a wonderful atmosphere over here at the IHRA,” said Ashley, who currently is third in NHRA Funny Car points. “I’m just so happy for Brian Corradi and my crew. You have to realize that every nut and bolt on that car is brand new.”
Ashley was shooting for 4.70s, but had to click it just a little early.
“The air hose going to my helmet is a little too short,” said Ashley. “My helmet was sideways going down the track.”
MAKE THAT 8 IN A ROW
– There has been much to-do about the NHRA’s recent stretch of six
consecutive races in a row. But for many of the NHRA regulars
moonlighting with IHRA this weekend, it will actually end up being
eight races in eight weeks. One of those regulars is Knoll Gas Pro
Nitro Funny Car pilot Gary Densham.“Honestly, it’s more wear and tear on our crew than it is on the parts,” said Greg Amaral, Densham’s crew chief. “Don’t get me wrong though; we go through some parts. But their attrition hasn’t been any worse than it has been in other years.”
Densham and Amaral skipped the IHRA’s Canadian swing in favor of the NHRA’s western swing, and are making their first IHRA appearance since Tulsa in May.
“We like coming to these races,” said Amaral. “The tracks are prepped a little differently, but not enough to make a huge difference in our program. They are actually good enough that we can test, since we can’t test when we are running race after race like we have been.”
Like any competitive drag racers, Amaral and his crew aren’t quite content to come to a race and just test. “We want to test, but we want to walk away with a trophy and a check, too,” Amaral said.
Last week’s NHRA broadcast featured the story of Densham, the former teacher, and Amaral, his former student. Though he’s gotten calls from friends and family about the story, he admits that even if a high-dollar team did come calling for his services, he would be hard pressed to leave Densham.
“I probably wouldn’t go,” Amaral confessed. “I love racing with Gary, and I have more fun here than I would anywhere else. I’m not going anywhere.”
TORCO’S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM PRO MODIFIED
FAMILIAR FACE – Scott Cannon is becoming a very familiar interview after qualifying on Fridays. Cannon once again paced the Torco’s Competitionplus.com Pro Modified field with a 6.118, 228.96 MPH blast. Not only did he go low for the session, he was the Last Man Standing as well.
“That wasn’t a great run,” said the younger Cannon. “It spun hard down low and only ran a 1.03 60-foot. It was chewing on the motor all the way down but I stayed with it.”
Cannon has been stellar in qualifying this season, but that success hasn’t translated into consistent round wins just yet.
“I’ll take those Last Man Standing points,” said Cannon. “I’ll take points any way I can get them. I’m not going rounds so I really need them.”
AN OFF DAY? NO WAY
– Defending Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Modified World Champion
Quain Stott has never been one to rest on his laurels. He hasn’t shown
quite the same form that garnered him the championship last year, but
he is coming off a recent runner-up finish at the Skull Shine Sooner
Nationals in Tulsa. That hasn’t stopped him from testing the wheels off
his new Wally Stroupe-built ’63 Corvette.“We tested all day Monday at Grand Bend,” Stott said. “We drove all the way home to North Carolina and serviced the car, then tested Tuesday at Farmington Dragway. We got home at about 2 AM that night, then serviced the car again Wednesday.”
But Stott thought it might be a good idea to squeeze in one more test session. “We left Wednesday at about 7 PM and drove to Milan, MI to test there all day yesterday,” he said. “We pulled in here at Martin at 2 this morning, and now we have to service the car from yesterday’s test session.”
Stott is quick to point out that all that testing wasn’t for nothing. “We definitely found something,” he said. “Now it’s just making it work. But everyone can say that, right?”
Stott is set to face his old nemesis Jim Halsey Saturday in the first round of the Torco’s Competitionplus.com Pro Mod Shootout. “We can’t seem to get away from Halsey this year,” Stott said. “We are Gene Fulton’s only two cars out here in Pro Mod, and we are trying to fly his banner high but we keep having to take each other out.”
VICK MAKES THE HAUL
– Veteran Pro Mod pilot Steve Vick made the tow from North Carolina to
US 131 this weekend, marking his return to Pro Mod action after sitting
out the Canadian swing.Vick has had moderate success in various quick 8 races in the Southeast recently, most notably qualifying number one at Motor Mile Dragway’s Extreme race two weeks ago.
“We are just going out here tonight and trying to get the car down the track,” said crew chief Aubrey Smith. “We’d like to run a good number, but getting down the track will be more important. We’ll go for the killer run tomorrow night.
Vick didn’t get that killer run Friday night, nor did he get down the track as Smith wanted. The Mocksville, NC native’s American flag-themed ’63 Corvette shook the tires hard off the launch and Vick was forced to quit.
The addition of Vick to the standard set of nitrous cars that have attended every national event (Castellana, Jenkins, Halsey, Auxier, Stoken, and Martin) brings the total to seven. Blown entries fill out the remainder of the 16-car Pro Mod field.
ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
THOMAS TERRORIZING THE FIELD
– Multi-time World Champion Mark Thomas has been a nightmare for the
rest of the Alcohol Funny Car field in 2007. It’s been a two-car show
between Thomas and Terry Munroe, and Thomas continued his romp Friday
night with a 5.815, 245.85 MPH run to sit atop the provisional ladder.
Thomas was also the Last Man Standing.“We had some good data from when we went a 5.81 here last year, so we just plugged that back in and we got the same results,” said Thomas. “The track is awesome as always, and the air is very similar to what is was a year ago.”
Thomas’ top foe over the past several seasons, Rob Atchison, and others struggled during the night session. “I think a lot of people underestimated the track and got in trouble,” Thomas said.
“We’re really happy with that run, but we have some more in it for tomorrow night.”
THE TEMPTATION OF WINNING
– Canadian Paul Noakes has a winning percentage many racers would love
to boast. In 2006 he competed in only a handful of IHRA national
events, yet took home two Ironmen. He is up to the same old tricks in
2007, finding the winner’s circle in his first race of the season at
Grand Bend.“To win our first race out was incredible,” said Noakes. “A lot of people say they would love to do something like that, but for it to actually come true was like a dream.”
Some have called Noakes lucky, but there was nothing lucky about his win. “We really had to fight for it, there was nothing given to us,” Noakes said. “Terry McMillen ran a 5.89 against us first round, Dobbs put up an .88 against us second round, and fortunately in the final our 5.94 was enough against Atchison.”
Noakes had no certain plans to run any of the remaining Knoll Gas Nitro Jam races, but it’s funny how winning can suddenly change one’s outlook. Call it the temptation of winning.
“We are tight on the budget, and it was awfully hard to sit there and watch the first four races go by,” said Noakes. “We weren’t going to go to Epping, but we are now. If all goes well there, you’ll see us in Budds Creek as well.”
“We just have to play it one card at a time,” Noakes continued. “My main goal is to qualify at each race and not hurt any parts, but my crew has other plans. They tell me to forget all that, we are going to win!!”
TORCO’S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM PRO STOCK
No. 1, BUT NOT THE LAST MAN – Defending Torco’s Competitionplus.com Pro Stock World Champion Pete Berner set the low elapsed time of Friday’s first qualifying session with a 6.409 pass. He didn’t, however, get the Quarter-Max Pro Stock Challenge bonus points and cash. Those rewards went to Frank “The Flying Meatball” Gugliotta, who ran a second-best 6.414.
Berner hurt his main powerplant while testing Tuesday, and it took overtime heroics by his crew to get the car ready for today’s qualifying session.
“I owe this one to them and there was no way I was going to let them down today,” Berner said. “They pulled the motor out of the car and took it to Jon Kaase’s shop. They worked on it all day and then drove straight back.”
On top of all the work involved, Berner’s crew traveled from Chicago to Georgia and back, then to Martin. The operation was completed an hour before Berner took the provisional pole.
ANOTHER LOOK AT ANOTHER RECORD
– You don’t break the 6.40, 6.30 and now the 6.20 barrier in Torco’s
Competitionplus.com Pro Stock with luck alone. Lucasville, Ohio’s Brian
Gahm has been back on his game this year. The former two-time World
Champion is back in winning form, sitting in sixth place in points and
aiming for a third championship.Torco’s Competitionplus.com sat down with Gahm to take another look at his 6.299 moonshot that made him the first member of the Jerry Haas 6.20 club.
“Honestly, we didn’t do anything special,” said the former Pro Modified standout. “We changed the transmission around a little for the air, but we stayed with our basic combination and just made a good hit with it. Cliff (crew chief Cliff Moore) fought himself all day about what to do with the transmission, but he certainly made the right call and it paid off.”
Gahm had a trying 2006 campaign. It reached its low point when Gahm, in an act of total frustration, drove his car all the way back to his pits after another tire shaking qualifying attempt that resulted in a DNQ. He even passed his crew as they were on the way down to tow him back.
“Yeah that was a pretty good one,” laughed Gahm. “We’re having a lot better time this year. The new car has been great from the first time I dropped the clutch, the motors have been running great, and Cliff has really been on point.”
“I can’t say enough about this new Jerry Haas Mustang,” said Gahm. “We were running a car that was 3 years old, and Cliff had been preaching and preaching that we needed a new car. I didn’t think we needed a new car, but when we got this thing, the difference was night and day. It’s just awesome.”
Cars had been close, but it seems as if no one was ready for it when Gahm knocked the 6.20 barrier down. He has everyone’s attention now.
“There are about four other cars that can run ‘20s,” Gahm said. “You’re going to see some more ‘20s. It’s coming. These boys are going to be shooting for it hard now.”
The conditions won’t be favorable for 6.20 runs this weekend with the high temperatures, but Epping and the upcoming Torco’s Competitionplus.com Pro Stock shootout in Budds Creek both usually provide optimum settings for killer passes.
Between Gahm’s run and the buzz surrounding Torco’s Competitionplus.com’s countdown of the 20 greatest mountain-motor Pro Stock drivers of all time, excitement around the class is as high as it has been in years. Keep an eye on Pro Stock, things are just getting good.
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THURSDAY, August 2, 2007
Racer Gates Open 9:00am Tech Open 10:00am - 9:00pm
Credentials / Parking for Racers Ends 1:00am
FRIDAY August 3, 2007
Racer Gate & Tech Open 7:00am
Tech Closes at the end of each classes’ Final Qualifying Session
Sportsman Qualifying 8:00am
Run Order Q1: HR, ST, QR, SS, TD, TS, SR, Top ET, Moser TT, Mod ET
Run Order Q2: HR, (*ST-Class), QR, SS, TD, TS, (ST Class), SR, Top ET,
Moser TT, Mod ET (*2nd Round of ST qualifying counts as 1st Rd of class
eliminations)
Starting Line Closed to Crew Chiefs & Teams 6:40pm
Pre-Race Ceremony 6:45pm
PRO Qualifying 7:00pm
Run Order: PS, Moser E1, AFC, PM, Moser E2, TF, NFC, Motz
SATURDAY August 4, 2007
Racer Gate Credentials & Tech Open 8:00am
Tech Closes at the end of each classes’ Final Qualifying Session
God Speed ‘Church Service’ 8:00am
Sportsman Eliminations (2 rounds) 8:00am
Run Order: HR, ST, QR, SS, TD, TS, SR, Top ET, Mod ET
Torco Pro Mod Shootout Contestant Photo 11:00am
PRO Qualifying 12:00 Noon
Run Order: PM, (Torco PM Shootout Rd 1), PS, AFC, NFC, TF (2nd PM
qualifying session counts as Rd 1 of the Torco Pro Mod Shootout)
Sportsman Elimination’s Continue After PRO Round
Torco Pro Mod Shootout Semi-Finals & Moser Axle Mania E3 4:00pm
PRO PIT PARTY 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Starting Line Closed To Crew Chiefs & Teams 6:40pm
Pre-Race Ceremony 6:45pm
“NIGHT OF FIRE” PRO Qualifying 7:00pm
Run Order: PS, Moser Semi Finals, AFC, PM, Torco PM Finals, Moser Finals, NFC, TF, Motz
SUNDAY August 5, 2007
No Racer Gate Credentials Spectator Will Call
God Speed ‘Church Service’ 7:30am & 8:15am
Special Awards 8:30am
Sportsman Eliminations Continue 9:00am
Run Order: Mod ET, Top ET, HR, ST, QR, SS, TD, TS, SR
Pre-Race Ceremony 10:15am
PRO Eliminations (Rd 1) PS, PM, Sportsman 10:30am
PRO Eliminations (Rd 2) NFC, TF, AFC, PS, PM,
Sportsman
12:00pm
PRO Semi-Finals: PS, AFC, PM, NFC, TF
2:00pm
Finals: Sportsman, PS, AFC, PM, NFC, TF, Motz 4:00pm
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