NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - SPORTSMAN NOTEBOOK
Keep up with this weekend's sportsman action in Indianapolis by reading our behind-the-scenes event notebook. We will bring you the stories behind the numbers and win-lights throughout the course of the weekend. Tune in daily for the latest news from the pits.
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MONDAY FINALS
Monday's Lucas Oil sportsman final results from the 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. The race is the 18th of 23 in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:
Top Alcohol Dragster -- Marty Thacker, 5.390, 264.91 def. Dave Hirata, 5.442, 260.81.
Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Frank Manzo, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.562, 263.15 def. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 5.779, 248.43.
Competition Eliminator -- Jason Coan, Ford Bantam, 8.357, 153.47 def. Scott Richardson, Chevy Roadster, 7.932, 162.59.
Super Stock -- Brandon Wilkinson, Chevy Corvette, 9.114, 131.11 def. Michael Mans, Pontiac Formula, 10.912, 118.77.
Stock Eliminator -- Peter Biondo, Chevy Camaro, 10.688, 114.72 def. Matt Welker, Camaro, 11.022, 109.76.
Super Comp -- Pat Fitzpatrick, Dragster, 8.901, 153.47 def. Ron Erks, Dragster, 8.892, 177.74.
SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - TOUGH CONDITIONS, RACING SEVERAL ROUNDS, LOOKING FOR MAGIC NO. 9...
TRICKY CONDITIONS – The long weekend of the “Big Go” makes for some grueling conditions for all racers, including sportsman. Aaron Olivarez with his A-Fuel Top Alcohol Dragster is having a successful weekend so far, but it’s been a difficult one.
“I’m pretty happy,” said Olivarez. “We have a tendency to make a lot of power, especially through that one to two second or three-second range, or the car wants to blow the tires off. We’re really tiptoeing it down through there. It changes our tune-ups considerably. Anytime you can’t leave the starting line the way you want to leave, it’s always a little tricky as well. It’s always interesting to get into these types of conditions when you are tiptoeing. For one, with this car when we have to back things up so much, my reaction times go away. It’s tough for me.
“In some aspects you have to look at this like any other race. I believe it’s always good to want something bad, but when you have rivalries or get into certain types of races you look at differently I think you do stupid things. Having said that, Indy, I want it bad; ever driver does. It’s a great field with absolutely incredible competitors, so in that aspect it is different. There are a lot of cars here, but I want it.”
FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT – Not only are the temperatures rising, but so is the competition. Top Alcohol Dragster veteran Bob Tasca III is hoping to gain a big win at Indy.
“It’s going to be a little different race track out there,” said Tasca. “I think it’s 135 degrees [on the track] right now; I think this morning it was 96, so it will be a little tricky out there. We have some good data on this track when it was hot. We’re going after it. We’re not going to back it down much. Mick [Snyder] can pull off a number. He’s a great driver, and we take him real serious, as he takes us.”
KEEPING THE MOMENTUM ALIVE – Unlike the pro class racers, sportsman racers will go several rounds a weekend to obtain an event win. Just because a sportsman racer gets past the first round or two it doesn’t mean they are almost home free. Often times, it will take several days of going rounds just to earn a Wally.
When the name Coughlin is brought up, people often think of pro class racing, or the family business of Jeg’s Mail Order, but the name is also a powerhouse in sportsman racing.
Super Stock racer John Coughlin said, “we have raced one round so far today, and now we have three more tonight. [The car] is running pretty good; we’ll be all right. We’ve been okay the last few races.”
BACK UP PLAN - The beauty of running two cars in two classes is if one car doesn’t do well, you have a back-up plan. Jay Payne had a less then stellar day in Pro Mod competition but after one round of competition Payne is still alive and strong in his Top Alcohol Funny Car.
“It’s pretty cool,” declared Payne. “It ran slow, but it went down the track and did fine. The Pro Mod car blew up and the driver didn’t do good, but now I’m over here leaning on Frank [Manzo] trying to get some of his luck.”
LOOKING FOR NO. 9 – Frank Manzo has an impressive eight U.S. Nationals wins, but is looking to make it nine. After shooting to the top of the field in the final qualifying session on Sunday, Manzo also grasped a round win later in the day.
“Anything can happen here. It’s a different track then most of them, a lot of weird things happen here. It’s the U.S. Nationals, we’re just going to go out and do the best we can. It’s going to be a little tougher to get down the track, and NHRA isn’t giving us much time between rounds, so we’re just going to have to be careful.”
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - MOST INDY WINS, ENGINEERING WORK OF ART, SITTING AT THE TOP OF THE PACK...
WE’RE NO. 1 – One of the younger stars of the Top Alcohol Dragster class is Spencer Massey of Ft. Worth, Texas. Going into Sunday’s final qualifying session, Massey is looking good in the No. 1 position with his weekend-best run of 5.23, 272.94 MPH.
“We’re feeling good,” said Massey. “We get one more qualifying run tomorrow morning. We’re just trying to be consistent, and stay low of the pack. We just want to be consistent and go rounds. We’re kind of caught up in the Championship chase right now, and this is getting down to the wire. We have to do well in the last few races and go rounds. I feel confidant about it, but we can’t mess up.”
THE MAN TO BEAT – Of all the drivers in competition this weekend at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, there is one man who has won more times here then anyone else. With an impressive eight U.S. National wins, Frank Manzo is hoping to make it nine.
“We’re No. 2 now,” commented
Manzo. “We have a qualifying run
tomorrow morning at 9. I think it will
be very fast and the whole field will get shuffled around. Right now, we are having issues with our
car. The Lucas Oil car right now is not
grabbing the track in the initial five feet.
The car is spinning the tires, and they have been trying to fix it;
we’re having a problem fixing it. We’re
just having a little issue trying to stop it.
We just made a change and we’ll try something tomorrow.”
Manzo went on to say, “I just come here to race my car, and qualify the best I can. Eliminations will start tomorrow night, so hopefully I can get past round one and be here Monday. This track here at Indy is traditionally full of surprises. It’s not a track where the No. 1 qualifier, No. 2 qualifier meet in the final. If you go through most of the records about Indy, it always has a lot of surprises. A lot of 13, 14, 15-place qualifiers will be in the final and have an opportunity to run for the trophy. We’re here for five days. We make a lot of runs. It’s five days with the track changing everyday. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be hotter; we’ll have direct sunlight tomorrow on the track, and will make the track a little more slippery. Sunday, it’s even going to be hotter I understand with a lot of direct sunlight. That is going to make the track slippery. So, we’ll have to be on our game. Right now, we have a plan. We hope everything will go according to our plan, and we’re just going to go out there. We don’t put any added pressure. It’s a race, and every race we go to, we try to win, whether if it’s Indy or if it’s Englishtown, or where ever we’re going. But, Indy here is quite different. It would be great to win this weekend for my sponsor. It’s going to be a tough race; there are a lot of tough cars here. This is Indy, there’s no doubt about it. I can tell you this is just another race and down play it, but it is the US Nationals, Indy. It’s the granddaddy, and the one. This is NASCAR’s Daytona. Hey, we all want to win it.”
BEST ENGINEERED – With a new car at their first national event, Steve Matusek just wanted to see his new Larry Larson-built, Comp Eliminator, BB / AT 2008 Mustang run well. Much to his delight but surprise, he was honored Saturday morning with the Best Engineered award.
“We’re pleased,” said Matusek. “Humbled, but to be honest, not surprised. The car is quality through and through. It’s unique. It was designed and built to be that way; just like everything else we do at Aeromotive. Again, we’re humbled and pleased, but frankly not surprised.”
OH THE SUSPENSE OF IT – In a situation unusual to Snyder Motorsports,
the
team is heading into the final qualifying session on the outside looking
in. Currently sitting in the No. 17
spot, Mick Snyder is hoping to turn the luck of his Torco Racing Fuel team
tomorrow.
“We had a good shot,” said Snyder. “It was clean and everything; the car went down the track and it went straight. We just weren’t tuning on it enough I guess, so we’re going to go and get her out tomorrow and try to get her in. It’s a tough deal here. We’ll see tomorrow; we’ll get it in. It’s interesting.”
Snyder went on to comment, “It’s always nice when Evan Knoll and Latrell Preston show up. As far as extra pressure for Indy? No. Everyone has his thing with the Big Go, but Indy is only two hours from my house. I’ve been coming to Indy since I was five years old or so. Indy has become just another race for us.”
COMFORTABLY IN – In an attempt to be a major spoiler in the Top Alcohol Dragster class during the U.S. Nationals, Jeff Bohr is showing the world he has what it takes to win the Wally.
"I haven't been this excited to go to a race in a long time," said Bohr. "We were the runner-up here at the divisional earlier in the year, but we fought tire shake all weekend. We finally got the shake out of the car in Reading. We made some adjustments to the tune-up and it finally responded. Running that 270 mph was a big accomplishment for us, and hopefully we can perform at that level this weekend. It will be a tough field, but we're hoping to make a good showing for Bar's Leaks and Rislone. Bob and Fred Mermuys from Bar's Leaks will be out this weekend, so we would love to reward them for their support of our team."
"We ran a 5.39 at the divisional here in the heat, so hopefully we can improve on that this weekend," Bohr continued. "We definitely feel like we have this Bar's Leaks hot rod heading in the right direction."
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -
YEAH, IT’S GOT A HEMI – The big winner of the day was Rick Houser, driver of Jim DeFrank’s Gary Hansen-built 1968 Barracuda. The long-time sportsman racer took home a $10,000 paycheck for his final round performance over Jim Pancake.
“It’s been a six- year journey from the time Jim DeFrank started putting this deal together with Joe Allread, the engine builder,” said Houser. “This is just the fruit of all the labor. If it wasn’t for Jim, Joe and everyone else working so hard on this, it never would have come to pass. It was just our time. We got it together here finally. We had a problem with the chassis all weekend, and never really got a good perfect run. We were chasing it, and it made it real interesting. The car was drifting towards the guard wall just about every pass, and I’d bring it back. It got into some radial tire shake, but we just persevered. It’s just a great feeling.”
DOUBLE AMBITION – More often than not, the pressure to perform is on the team at the top, and such is the case for Bill Reichert. The 2006 U.S. Nationals Top Alcohol Dragster champ is now hoping to be the first in his class to have consecutive event wins in TAD.
"I just found out that nobody has won this event back-to-back in Top Alcohol Dragster," said Reichert. "Rick Santos won this race twice, but not back-to-back. It's such a great accomplishment to win this event in general. The car has been running good, so hopefully we can make another good showing for Rislone and Bar's Leaks. Bob and Fred Mermuys will be out here this weekend, so we would love to give them another Wally."
Reichert is not only feeling pressure to make history this weekend, but he is also keeping his eyes focused on the championship. With only a few races left in 2007, Reichert is hoping to repeat his success with another championship finish.
"It's not a done deal by any means," stated Reichert. "Whiteley, Lucas, and Massey can still catch us, and they're all great teams that are capable. We just have to focus on going rounds and let the points take care of themselves."
FOURTH TIME’S A CHARM – After an impressive three final-round appearances this season, Chuck Cheeseman feels Indy would be a great place for a big win. Driving his Knoll Gas / Torco Racing Fuels Top Alcohol Funny Car, Cheeseman and team are hoping to take their Division 3 success and duplicate it on the national level.
“Indy is one of the biggest and longest races of the season. I feel good about the weekend. The car seems to be running pretty well right now and it will be nice to see what we can do on a national event prepped track. We are going to go out there and give it our all and hopefully on Monday we will be in the winner’s circle.”
I LOVE INDY – After a big divisional win here just last month, Marty Thacker and the Knoll Gas / Torco Racing Fuel-backed Rapid Transit Top Alcohol Dragster team is hoping to repeat their success.
“Last weekend, the car was running really well all through qualifying in the heat and then in the first round we broke a bracket and that was the end of our race. But that is the way racing goes sometimes. I am glad we get another chance at it this weekend. And it is the biggest race of the season,” said Thacker.
The team currently sits in second place divisionally and sixth place nationally. By going rounds this weekend they have the possibility of moving up in the national standings.
“This race is pretty close to home so we have a lot of people come out and watch us throughout the long weekend. We would love to give them all something to cheer for on Monday. There is only one U.S. Nationals and a win here can make a good season great or a bad season good. This year we hope to bring home the Wally for Evan and all the great people at Knoll Gas and Torco Racing Fuels.”
NEW CAR EXCITEMENT – Former champion Randy Meyer Racing is racing at the “Big Go” with a new Top Alcohol, A-Fuel Dragster. Taking some time mid-summer, Meyer and team built the new car from the ground up.
“We have a brand new car we just built this summer,” said Meyer. “We took off a couple of months, and just debuted it in Brainerd. We are going to use the rest of the year to try and get the bugs worked out, so we are ready to rock-and-roll for next year. We have nothing to lose at this point as far as points are concerned, so we are focusing on this program a little more. It would be great if we could repeat last year and get to the finals here, but what happens – happens. We are also using it to do some testing and see how we are stacked up against the other cars.”
NEW CAR, NEW CLASS – Steve Matusek, president of Aeromotive Fuel Systems, is back in the driver’s seat. This time however, Matusek is behind the wheel of a new Larry Larson-built 2007 Ford Mustang BB/AT Comp Eliminator car. The car with very few passes on it was able to make it down the track in good shape, running an impressive elapsed time of 6.84 seconds.
“If you ain’t first, you’re last,” said Matusek. “The car ran okay. This is our first national event with this car. We’ve got good people working with us on the car, and we all seem to like each other, at least we all do right now. I don’t know what will happen in another day or two, but it’s all good right now. Goal No. 1 was to get licensed. Goal No. 2 was to get down the track, which might have interfered with goal No. 1, but overall the goal was to get here. We’re here, so we are pretty happy about it. My wife keeps asking me what we’re doing and when is the next race. I can’t get past the one we are at, so it’s just a one race at a time deal. We want to figure out where the car is at. We don’t have any solid plans right now, but I’m sure we’ll be doing more this year.”
OOUCH! THAT LEFT A MARK - Jay Payne is one of the more veteran drivers in Top Alcohol Funny Car. But even the most seasoned drivers can have accidents. During his second pass of the day, Payne’s car got out of shape and hit the guard wall. Now, the powerhouse team is in an unusual predicament for themselves being not qualified and a little banged up.
“The tires got lose, and it made a hard turn and got ahead of me,” said Payne. “Right now I feel a little… [The plan for tomorrow] is to go out and go fast. We’re just struggling here at the end a little bit. It’s not the time to go into a drought, but we’re just not doing really good.”
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