2009 NHRA GATORNATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - DIXON DELIVERS,TASCA RACES ON SUNDAY -- SELL ON MONDAY
THE LEVEL OF EXPECTATION - Even the new President of the United States doesn’t command the level of performance drag racing fans 
expect from Alan Johnson and the Al Anabi operation.
On an unusually warm March weekend in Florida, Larry Dixon delivered his high-horsepower state of the union address as he drove the Alan Johnson Racing Al Anabi Top Fuel dragster to its first-ever national event win by stopping Cory McClenathan in the final round of the NHRA Gatornationals.
He didn't just win, he dominated nearly every aspect of the race weekend, qualifying No. 1 and establishing low elapsed time oh his way to the first victory for Alan Johnson and Al Anabi.
“You never think that far ahead, you just try and get your car down the track and qualified,” Dixon said of his fourth career Gatornationals title. “Qualifying doesn’t get you anything on race day except for the pairing that you are in. With as many changes as they made every round and to still have the car run that well was just amazing. Being with these guys they do make it look easy but it’s definitely not, Alan Johnson’s obviously a genius and Jason McCulloch is working right underneath him and getting his first win as a crew chief. I’m certainly honored to be able to get in the winner’s circle with this car.”
For two rounds the car ran straight as a string. The other two required the driving talents a 44-time national event winner commands.
“The first couple of rounds we had a good setup for it and then in the third round somebody oiled down in front of us and we had a bit of downtime,” Dixon explained. “In the semis it was like I was driving on water, I couldn’t get the tires on track but when I did get back on it the belt popped off. I was just fortunate that Brandon had more trouble than we did on that round. We ended up with lane choice in the final, too. To run as many runs within a hundredth, that’s awesome.”
Dixon missed the first race of the season in Pomona on a fluke, drew close to dominance in the second in Phoenix and in Gainesville, he drove the car that everyone expected him to have.
Is he confident that this is the race car that we will see for the rest of the year?
“I don’t ever get that confident,” Dixon admitted. “We [will] go to the next race, try and qualify then take it from there. It’s so hard to win these events. And to win at a place like this that I grew up and just wanted to compete at, let alone win, I’m as honored to win at this facility as I am just to race with this team.”
TASCA THE FIRST - Bob Tasca, III was Bob Tasca the FIRST on this Sunday.
Tasca scored his first national event win at a track that holds a special place in his heart. It was in Gainesville where Tasca came to the attention of Ford based on his performance at Gainesville Raceway.
“To come here, at a race track that is really close to my heart,” started Tasca, “you know that right lane has been really awfully good to me, I might even kiss it before I leave. I set the world record in alcohol funny car in that lane and I won my first race in that lane. It was a pretty special day for me.”
The final run wasn't pretty, but it was enough to take the final light for the first time. Tasca ran a 4.2 second, 280.720 miles per hour to Tony Pedregon's 4.536, 210.90. On the path to the finals, Tasca ran past Jim Head, team mate Tim Wilkerson and then John Force.
“I am speechless over it and that's hard to believe,” Tasca said after finishing victory lane ceremonies. “You qualified number one. You beat Tim Wilkerson, only John Force and only Tony Pedregon to get your first win.”
Tasca ran fairly consistent all day. Crew chief Chris Cunningham tuned the car to a 4.19, 4.19, 4.17 and a 4.20 with an engine that was expiring as the car cross the finish line.
“Unfortunately, I made a mistake first round and didn't get after it enough,” Cunningham admitted. “I underestimated the track and it ran 19. We were fortunate to get by.
“The second run, a .19, I was real happy with. The semis, extremely happy with a 17; it was spinning the tires hard at the finish line. It was actually was running better than a 17. The last run wasn't so pretty. It went out there and spun the tires, I think it might have knocked a rod out of it, but you do what you can when you need to win.”
While Cunningham saw the ugly in the final run, Tasca thought it was the best of the bunch.
“It was a pretty cool ride,” Tasca said. “It left beautiful and when you don't see the guy next to you it's even more beautiful. And, when you don't hear it, it's even more beautiful.”
Then the run got bad.
“I felt it come out of retard and man it was trucking on through,” Tasca remember. “Then I heard it take the tire off and I said, 'Oh boy'. It’s amazing how your brain slows everything down and I said, 'well, if he's on a run I'm about ready to see him. I didn't see him and I didn't see him and the motor kept climbing, climbing, climbing way higher and right when it went through the finish line I heard something let go. I saw the fire in the windows and I hit the button and pull the fire extinguishers.
“I knew I was past the finish line, I saw light on and I didn't care at that point. It was just an amazing feeling right then.”
Finished with the winner's interview, Tasca took a phone call from another guy who was experiencing his own amazing feeling, Ford CEO Alan Mulally. This was more than an important win for Tasca. This was an important win for all of Ford, Motorcraft and Quick Lane.
A WIN IS NOT A WIN - Jason Line always prefers to win. He just prefers some methods over others.
The former Pro Stock world champion from Troutman, N.C., beat Mopar front-runner Allen Johnson on a holeshot to win the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., for the second time since 2008.
Winning on a hole shot doesn’t leave the technically oriented Line with a warm and fuzzy feeling.
“The driver side of me is happy that I won on a hole shot but the engine builder side of me is upset that I had to win on a hole shot,” Line admitted. “We struggled all weekend and Mike Edwards made us look bad all weekend.”
Line is off to a good start in 2009 capturing two wins in the first three races of the season. The victory was his 17th career in 36 national event finals.
The next NHRA event is in two weeks at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Tex. Line said he and the Ken Black Racing team plans to test extensively on the week off from racing.
“We are staying in Gainesville to test on Monday,” Line said. “We definitely need it because we didn’t live up to our standards this weekend. We have a lot of work to do and in this class the work is never ending.”
When it comes to which generates the most pride, driving or engine building, it’s the speed the KB Racing cars generate on a regular basis that pleases him the most.
“The driving thing is more of a fear thing,” Line said, with a laugh. “I do it out of necessity. I am happy to be able to do it. The team did a great job because we clearly didn’t have the best car out there. I was thinking to myself before the weekend, the guy who drives the yellow car – Mr. Coughlin, rarely does he win by having the best car. We need to do the same thing because in this class you’re not always going to have the best car every weekend.
“We’re going to have to step up another part of it and for me, it’s the driving part. I’m doing the best I can and I thank the guys for working with me back at the shop. They really do try to help me.”
Good driving or bad, in the end, Line was more than pleased to be able to deliver a win for his longtime major sponsor.
“With the state of the economy the way it is, it is always good to do well for Summit Racing Equipment,” Line concluded.
DON'T HURT 'EM HAMMER - Hector Arana is a racer who never let the odds discourage him.
The Pro Stock Motorcycle rider from Milltown, Ind., raced for 18 seasons and 149 races before he won his first trophy.
Amidst an off-season where many of the experts said the Buell combination didn’t stand a chance against the new engine combinations of Harley-Davidson and Suzuki, Arana not only proved them wrong at the Pro Stock Motorcycle season-opener in Gainesville, Fla., he did so with an exclamation point.
“I didn’t let that bother me because we always hear rumors about who is running what,” Arana said following his NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals victory over prohibitive favorite Matt Smith. “All that matters is what you do at this first race that counts.”
Arana believes the new combinations of those other teams will be refined in due time, but for now he’s planning on making hay while the sun is shining.
On Sunday in Gainesville, the sun shone brightly on the Lucas Oil-sponsored rider.
“I struggled but I never quit,” Arana said of his victory. “I’m living the dream now.”
Arana established low elapsed time, 6.935 seconds, of the event in the first round of the NHRA Gatornationals final eliminations to defeat Junior Pippen.
“I had just as good of a bike today as I did last year,” Arana admitted. “I wanted to win another event so bad. I was hungry to win again. You just want more and more.”
Arana’s victory marked his second since last season’s triumph at Summit Racing Equipment Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
“I was just trying too hard to make something happen,” Arana admitted. “I look back and I knew I needed to relax more.”
AN UNLUCKY LUCKY FELLA - He didn’t win the event. The luck just ran out.
Cory McClenathan made a withdrawal from the luck bank, landing in his 54th career final round and the first at the NHRA Gatornationals despite experiencing two spectacular fireballs in the FRAM Top Fuel dragster in his quarterfinal and semifinal runs. He ended his day as runner-up to Larry Dixon.
"We have nothing to complain about today," said McClenathan. "As a racer you see a lot of times where somebody else had the luck. Well, today, we did well against our teammate and won the round and hurt some parts. That semifinal run was pure luck. We hurt it early and Bobby Lagana had a shot of beating us. We almost beat ourselves there, but the FRAM guys reeled in, did what they could for the final round.
"We knew the right lane could only hold so much. We knew that AJ (team owner Alan Johnson) and Dixon were going to try to run another 3.88 (-second pass). They did exactly what they said they were going to do."
McClenathan made a big move up in the point standings, into sixth place, just 81 markers short of the top spot.
"We had a good weekend, we did well in points,” he said. “This is really going to help us. The whole FRAM team is working really hard. All the brain trust we have here at DSR is giant for us. We appreciate all the help that everybody has given us from the Army car to (team manager) Lee Beard and everybody else who's come on board.
"This thing is going to pay off. Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler are going to make it happen."
As for the two blow-ups, "Two completely different situations," he said. "The quarterfinal was one of just sheer 'I'm not going to get off the gas.' I pedaled it once. I knew Tony was right there, I knew we could make it to the finish line, but I knew it was going to cause some damage .
"The one in the semis was purely an ignition problem. You can only do so much when you have to replace so many things (between rounds) and something bit us in the ignition department. Fireballs in Top Fuel are nothing. When you're driving a dragster it's no big deal. The fire is behind you."
STILL THE LEADER - Despite his early exit in the opening round of Funny Car eliminations at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, Ron Capps continues to lead the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series class point standings driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger. He is now 38 markers ahead of Bob Tasca III, winner of the third event on the 24-race tour.
Capps snapped his win streak of two-for-two in the first events of the 2009 season when he lost a close race to Tony Pedregon.
"That's the way it goes," said Capps. "The NAPA Dodge ran great, I think it was sixth quickest of that round. And I've been on the other side of that deal when I've won.”
ROOKIE? YEAH RIGHT - Matt Hagan may be a rookie racer by NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing standards but his actions on and off the track, leading into and during the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., suggests otherwise.
Hagan learned in the days leading into the third stop on the twenty-four race NHRA tour that he was replacing major sponsorship on his Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger Funny Car.
Instead of letting the scenario of losing major backing serve as a major distraction, the Christiansburg, Va. native, instead hunkered down and promoted his family’s Shelor Motor Mile (Shelor.com) dealership now adorning the side of the 8,000-horse flopper, all the while letting the racing community know the space on his car was for rent.
That kind of action is certainly not the trademark of a rookie.
Neither is qualifying seventh in a stout sixteen-car field and systematically eliminating half of John Force Racing’s Funny Car team knocking off former rookie of the year winners Robert Hight and Ashley Force Hood.
A loss to former world champion Tony Pedregon was all that kept the rookie driver from his first NHRA final round.
“We were right there this weekend and I could taste the final round,” Hagan said. “I just left a little bit on the tree and I think we might have left a little bit out there.”
If you ask Hagan about the trying week headed into the event he’ll tell you that it was a tough one but life is tough. He’s a forward thinker and his driving style doesn’t differ much from that principle.
“We've had a lot of issues to deal with, with our sponsorship,” Hagan confirmed. “So, not only learning to drive the car, I've got to worry about stuff like that too. It really plays mind games with you a little bit. But, you when get down in that car and you strap in there, you just try to do the best you can do.”
In the technical sense of the word Hagan is no rookie, having been a Funny Car racer last season on the IHRA tour. He was a championship runner down to the last race but in the end oil down penalties against the team cost him valuable championship points which could have netted a title.
Hagan believes last year’s experience has played a large role in his success three races into his association with DSR. He qualified in Pomona, reached the quarters in Phoenix and the semis in Gainesville.
“I was sitting in the car thinking about it,” Hagan recollected. “We had a couple of oil downs in front of us and I had lot of time to just sit there and go through my head what I need to do and go through my routine.”
Hagan was a three-time national event winner in IHRA competition.
“Having that under my belt last year I think really helped me get into the groove of things,” Hagan said. “I'm not making the same mistakes I made last year. I don't think I would want to do it any other way. It [IHRA] was a good way to introduce myself into fuel racing and we got the attention of a lot of people.”
He can only hope 2009 brings the same attention from the media, who elect the NHRA rookie of the year winners. His Gainesville success sends an early warning that he leads fellow nitro racer Spencer Massey, last year’s IHRA Top Fuel champion and current driver for Don Prudhomme, in the popular opinion poll.
“I would like to think so, but I try to put that out of my mind,” Hagan said. “We are just out there to do the best we can. Not to take anything away from those guys running Top Fuel, man these Funny Cars are a handful to handle. Not saying a Top Fueler's not, they run really fast, but the Funny Cars – they’re animals out there. When we can go out there and do what we did this weekend it really proves what are team is made of and the capability that we are going to have this year.”
ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH - There comes a point and time when a racer must abandon innovation for the proven. Funny Car racer Tim Wilkerson had reached that point when it came to chasing a set-up for his new 2009 three-rail chassis, before Gainesville.
Three good qualifying laps, two good elimination rounds, and a competitive race car all added up to a positive step forward, and Wilkerson now looks ahead with a slightly improved outlook.
"We weren't going to keep banging our heads against a brick wall chasing this new three-rail chassis much longer, if we weren't starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. But, this was a good weekend and it makes us all feel a little bit better. It wasn't a great weekend, but it was good and we got better as we went. Our three quickest laps were the last three we made, so we're gaining on this thing, and now the car is cooperating and doing what we ask it to do, so we're in good shape. We're not quick enough, yet, but we'll get there."
Even with the round win, Wilkerson slipped a spot in the early-season standings when John Force and Tony Pedregon both advanced beyond the second round and moved around him.
Wilkerson leaves Gainesville in 12th, with his 3-2 record.
NO MORE FOR YOU - The following story is proof of the volatility of Full Throttle Energy Drink and the high intensity of 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force.
Force was so over-amped that top-end announcer Alan Reinhart instructed the top-end crew not to provide any more Full Throttle.
His first round interview left those in the media center scratching their heads when he told five stories in 30 seconds. That opening interview paled in comparison to his second interview of the day.
Force had just defeated former nemesis Jerry Toliver in the quarter-finals when Reinhart dared stick a microphone in his face.
“Ah … uh … thirsty,” Force said following a gulp of Full Throttle Energy Drink.
“Everything that could go wrong went wrong. Number one, he didn’t completely unhook the strap in that Ford Flex … it’s completely new to him. He’s used to an Excursion but he loves the Flex. He pulled up and ran over one of the crew members and he got up … guy tougher than nails. ‘Don’t worry about that we can win this race.’ His old leg looked like it was broke. Let me grab the fuel and he grabbed it.”
Reinhart pulled away the microphone and Force was still screaming, his voice inaudible.
Thirty seconds later he was still talking. You have to wonder if Force's head was about to explode.
The Castrol Edge driver’s crew had their driver ready for a semi-final intra-manufacturer rivalry with Bob Tasca III.
Force left on Tasca by .003 of a second but fell off the pace in the lights, in a race that ended in an odd fashion.
Three-quarters into the match, Tasca began drifting left towards the center-line and Force simultaneously drifted right towards his opponent. Once they crossed the finish line Force’s Mustang inexplicably darted right and drafted Tasca momentarily.
Force corrected and returned to the left lane.
TWEET BECOMES MEET FOR LUCKY FAN - The first tweet went out at 10 am. Anyone on track property at Gainesville Dragway who 
wanted to meet Ashley Force Hood should show up at the hauler in one hour. The second tweet went out one hour later.
Through a sea of fans waiting to get a glimpse or an autograph from Ashley Force Hood, on cue Melissa Waterman's hand shot high in the air. If only the others in the crowd had been “tweeters”.
On her first trip to Gainesville Dragway, the Rhode Island native, scored one of the biggest coup's of the weekend – a personal visit with Ashley.
“That was great,” Waterman said, a huge smile on her face, when asked about her meeting. “We've got to see them in the pits before, at other races but you don't get to actually go up and meet them. You always have other people in the way and you're trying to fight other people to get there.”
In truth, Waterman had no idea that by following the “tweet” she was going to get to meet a Force. When Elon Werner, Force's publicist, waved her back behind the barricade there was a moment of nervousness.
“Yea, I was a little nervous,” Waterman admitted. “I had no idea I was going to actually get to meet Ashley.”
Waterman signed up for Twitter for one reason, “Because of John Force Racing, the website. You always know what's going on. Yesterday (Friday), I was updated every time a round was through on where the Force teams stood.”
Attracting just one single fan from his tweet was not a disappointment for Werner. He knows it all starts with one voice and Melissa Waterman is going to be one strong voice spreading the word.
Twitter, a social networking tool, could fast become a very important tool in the public relations arena, not just in drag racing, but in any function where people want to know what's happening now, right now, not later.
SOMETHING’S GOTTA CHANGE – Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s Chevrolet Cobalt shook the tires, and then turned sideways forcing him to abort his quarter-final match against Allen Johnson.
"We got what we needed at the tree and it could have been a close one at the other end but we didn't get it done today," Coughlin said. "We win as a team and we go down together. I know there are a lot of champions in this group so we'll get together and fix what we need to fix and get after it again in Houston.
"I'm an optimistic person by nature but it's hard to avoid the fact that we struggled this weekend. We just didn't have a good car. The guys changed the engine out overnight but now we don't think that was the problem. We thought we knew what to give the car but it didn't like what we did."
Coughlin believes this weekend’s outcome warrants wholesale changes to their combination.
"We need to rework the recipe with the entire car and start fresh," said the 38-year-old from Delaware, Ohio. "We're seeing that the (lower elapsed time) numbers have been out there to get at each of the first three races but we've been just a click or two back. We just need to close that gap up a little and we'll be fine."
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -
THE EDWARDS NICHE MARKET - Mike Edwards has come to realize that every Pro Stock driver has to have a niche if they hope to have 
a fighting chance of competing.
For the former sportsman world champion from Broken Arrow, Okla., his role is to be the driver who is able to make the most with the least, while simultaneously fighting to keep his place in the game, against many of the higher financed operations. To that end, Edwards and partner Roger Stull, a successful businessman, have invested their money wisely creating a team that can run with the best the class has to offer.
Edwards drove his way to his second consecutive pole position in 2009, improving on a Friday run at the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals that he deemed beatable by everyone but himself.
After two more rounds of qualifying, Edwards prediction came true with a single exception. His competitors beat his time, but no by nearly enough, as he drove his Pontiac to a 6.582, a ful hundredth of a second faster than Greg Anderson, in a division measured in thousandths of a second.
He used the third stop on the NHRA Full Throttle tour to provide yet another platform to showcase how he is making more with less, slaying the division giants in the process.
“I think that is an overstatement. We just try,” Edwards said humbly. “That's all we can do it try. You just do the best with what you've got. Right now, I'm probably in the best shape I have ever been since I've been racing as far as my engine program and the people I have in place. It's kinda on my shoulders.”
Those who have supported Edwards over the years in his quest to make his place in Pro Stock know how deep is his desire to succeed. They know what drives this soft-spoken man who takes being humble to a new level.
He’s never carried the large corporate backing with unlimited budgets. Edwards has carried enough backing over the years with large corporations such as Penhall, to get the job done. He’s even found a way to provide the necessary goodwill and humanitarian support to Young Life, an organization that works with inner city kids, in an attempt to give back to society what he has been blessed to have.
Gainesville became an opportunity for Edwards to give back to a sponsor who has supported him faithfully over the seasons.
Edwards made his 2009 debut with Derek and Cathy Steinbach’s Applied Racing Technology [ART] in the primary sponsor role. He believed the southern Florida-based company could benefit most from the exposure.
“They are kinda the last man standing for us this year,” Edwards said. “We've lost all of our sponsors. They've [ART] hung in there with us. We wanted to represent them the best way we could and give them recognition and hopefully we can do a good job his weekend and have a good race for them.
Nothing says recognition like a No. 1 qualifying position in arguably the most competitive class in professional drag racing.
Nothing describes this kind of success for Edwards that being strongest at his monetary weakest.
“You dream of having enough stuff to run really, really good and having a chance to come to a race,” Edwards admitted. “We used to come to the races hoping we could just qualify and now we come thinking you can win. That's the mindset you have to have going in when you're in a position like we are now. It because of hard work, a lot of dedication and all the guys, Roger, the funding and all of our help.”
Edwards has clearly proven to be one of the more mild-mannered racers, choosing to let his actions serve as his Christian testimony. There are times, in the heated nature of a competitive class such as Pro Stock, that he can’t help but feel like a wounded animal pushed in a corner.
Consider his back-to-back No. 1’s as his way of fighting back.
“These guys in Pro Stock are awesome but they'll rip your head off,” Edwards revealed. “They take no prisoners up there. So, you gotta be ready and on your game.”
Frugally and mentally, Edwards is on his game.
TASCA’S VISION - Bob Tasca III had a vision fifteen months ago and he wanted Chris Cunningham to buy into the concept.
Tasca, then a Top Alcohol Funny Car standout, wanted Chris Cunningham, an up-and-coming tuner then employed with Del Worsham, to see his vision and join Tasca's quest to go NHRA nitro Funny Car racing.
Tasca carried on the phone conversation while standing in the bathroom of his Cranston, Rhode Island home.
He had no parts.
He had no employees.
All Tasca had was minutes of sweet talk and a vision.
Tasca spoke of the day when they could challenge the leaders of the class with a Ford-backed nitro team, a team they could assemble and grow together.
The record will reflect, that day arrived on Saturday, March 14, 2009 in Gainesville, Fla.
Tasca and Cunningham combined to lead the Funny Car division at the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals and will race on Sunday as the No. 1 seed.
The day couldn’t have come soon enough for Tasca.
“We have worked tirelessly through the off-season,” Tasca admitted. “Just to be able to do this for Motorcraft, Quick Lane and the Ford Motor Company – these people believed in me and that was such a motivating thing.”
Even more motivating, on this day, for Tasca’s sponsors was the fact four of the top five Funny Car qualifiers drove Ford-branded vehicles.
Even more motivating for Tasca was weathering the storm that it took to get to this point.
“I told my team that we were determined to make this thing happen,” Tasca said. “Bringing in Mark Denner and Tim Wilkerson to work with Chris, we have really stepped up our game.”
One had to feel for Tasca in his first season. He faced the double challenge of being a rookie driver and nitro team owner and never once winced, publicly.
Tasca weathered the storm of 15 first round losses and two DNQs and countered those shortcomings with a semi-final finish and six quarter-final appearances. In the end he finished 12^th in the point standings.
In Gainesville he was first.
A year ago, he struggled to do the right things.
Experience has been the best teacher for Tasca.
“The human brain is the most amazing organ,” Tasca admitted, when noting the difference that a year has made. “The first 35 runs I ever made in that car were probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
“I can think back to the days when Cunningham would tell me that I was late in shutting the car off. By the sixth time he told me that I asked him how late I was in shutting the car off. He told me I was about thirty feet and I was elated because I had never saw the finish line. It’s amazing how you can slow down as things are thrown at you.”
For Tasca, he had to slow down to speed up in Gainesville.
Friday’s 4.124 top qualifying time felt like the slowest, quickest, qualifying run he’d ever made.
A REAL HEADACHE
FEAST OR FAMINE - Larry Dixon earned his second consecutive pole position, taking the top stop in Top Fuel for the ACDelco NHRA 
Gatornationals with a 3.886 second, 308.28 mile per hour run, a strong .076 seconds faster than Spencer Massey.
Dixon started the season in Pomona with a DNQ (Did Not Qualify) but has ruled the qualifying roost since. It has been, according the humble driver to be, “feast or famine.”
Unsure if his Friday time would hold up, Dixon revealed the team got exactly what they wanted out of the race car in the final run.
“The car ran good, obviously the last two or three runs they've been looking to try and run an 80 and it hadn't. I'm glad they found it. I thought it was take an 80-something to stay on the pole and I'm just glad it came from us.”
Dixon will face 16th qualifier and Pomona winner Doug Kalitta in the opening round. For Dixon, who he faces in the first round is not as important as his goal each time he races.
“I just hope for four win lights,” said the Van Nuys, Calif., native who now makes his home in Avon, Ind. “If you going to attempt to win an event you have to race everybody anyway. Whether its first round, third round, final round you have to be on your game every round. We'll just have to start off the day well.”
While the pundits and followers of the sport believe Dixon should expect to perform well, given he’s the driver for Alan Johnson, the former crew chief who won four Top Fuel titles with Tony Schumacher, turned car owner. Dixon doesn't expect instant success; he just expects to do his job.
“No, I'm not that kind of guy,” he says. “You just go in there, you put in your work, everybody else puts it in. Obviously, what they had last year was a great package; a historic package. To expect that, that's not my m.o. I don't think like that. Everybody just does their thing and if it all lines up right you get to see the results.”
The pole secure, it’s a waiting game for driver and team as to what it will take to win on a track that appeared to as quickly as the weather changed from sunny to partly cloudy.
“I think, my opinion is, is that it will have to do more with the weather conditions than anything. Today, in the first session we had more clear skies and it put more heat on the track and then on the afternoon session there was more cloud cover and it gave the track a little bit more grip. How I look at it, you see the pro stock cars and the bikes and their running really well, so you know the air is good. It's just a matter of whether the fuel cars can grip the track. You're always relying on grip to be able to put the number down.”
GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION - Nothing leaves a good first impression on the boss like the new employee landing atop the qualifying list 
at his first race.
Just ask Matt Smith who maintained the No. 1 spot he earned in Friday's Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying rounds through two Saturday sessions to claim his first No. 1 qualifier for Don Schumacher Racing, his first at the Gatornationals, and the 15th of his career.
Smith posted his quickest pass, a 6.945, 189.44, right out of the box on Friday, then followed that up with a 7.051,183.92 and the only six-second run on Saturday under warmer conditions, a 6.999/186.61 in the third session.
"This thing is a rocket ship," he said at the top end. "I'm excited to be on it.
"We have a good Nitro Fish Suzuki this year and for this race. This thing is pretty awesome. We tried something on the Q4 there. We figured we would use it as a test session and we're learning from it. It bogged down there pretty bad and it bogged down there when I put it in sixth gear. All in all, a very good day for us."
Before joining DSR, Smith had raced Suzukis earlier in his career as well as Buells more recently. "To come back to a [Suzuki] team that is this good has made my job easy just to come over here and ride," he said. "One pass and I was back on stride for stride on the Suzuki. It's been pretty easy.
"I don't know about what the rules change is going to do with the Harleys this year. If everybody had the same thing as last year they're all close. It's just how good you ride it and how good the tune-up is, and who makes the best lap in the quick session. And we did that yesterday.
"I'm looking at the computer and talking with Steve (Tartaglia, crew chief) and throwing ideas up to him and telling him what I feel on the bike that the computer doesn't show," added Smith referring to his no longer working on the bikes he races, "so I'm not physically hands-on doing anything but, besides that, it's all good, I'm more relaxed."
THE FINAL RACE FOR GOLDMEMBER ...
BUMPY ROAD FOR CAPPS – The road to a third consecutive NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series national event title has been a bumpy road for Funny Car points leader Ron Capps, literally.
Capps concluded qualifying as sixth but not before making a few runs where his NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car darted around the finish line and dangerously close to the guard wall on occasion.
"There are a lot of bumps out there," said Capps at the top end after his final qualifying attempt. "It did it again. It pulled a hard left. If you look at every run, the guys are all over the place. It's just demanding out here right now. The track temperature is over 115 degrees. I saw I was pretty close out the window and I thought I'd better throw her sideways.
"This race can easily turn into a battle of attrition and the little bit of heat and humidity we saw today took a lot of teams by surprise," added Capps, who will face Tony Pedregon in first round of eliminations on Sunday. "We fully expected to run a 4.09 or 4.10 in the final session, but when it hit the bumps it put a cylinder out. Sometimes you can't help that; you just have to try to go through there.”
WORKS FOR HIM - Tim Wilkerson might be on the verge of gaining the momentum he’s needed to replicate 2008’s success. A No. 8 effort, though in the middle of a stout Funny Car, might just be the break he’s needed.
"I've been saying that this new car is coming around, but I wouldn't be surprised if some people thought I was just trying to convince myself of that," Wilkerson said. "But, it has been throwing us little nibbles as we go, and even when you smoke the tires like we did earlier today, you're learning what the car will take and what it doesn't like. Going into that last run, we weren't going up there to run another 4.20-something, I can tell you that, and the plan was to run a 4.17. So, we all feel pretty good with the 4.16 we ran.
"Hey, look at it this way. We're a hundredth of a second behind Del Worsham (who ran 4.152), so if all this hard work means we're a hundredth of a second behind a high-dollar operation like that, with a guy like Del driving it, I can't feel too bad about that. Our teammate Bob Tasca is number one, and we're right there with everyone else. We're only a hundredth out of the third spot, so we're getting a handle on it. Of course, when you're in the 8th spot you race the guy who is closest to you in E.T., so we'll be going up there against Jack knowing that it's going to be a really even battle and a tough one to win."
TOUGH COMPETITION ...
WHAT THE HECK IS A TWITTER? - Twitter....Twitter...Tweet...Tweet....
Not the sounds you would expect coming from deep within the pit area at a NHRA drag racing event. Yet, that is exactly what Ashley Force Hood was doing prior to making the fourth fastest run Friday morning at Gainesville Dragway in Gainesville, Fla Friday morning.
Force spent a few minutes micro-blogging on @FordRacing on Twitter. Fans or even the casual observer, who might not otherwise have access to Force were able to ask questions ranging from her racing to her cat, Simba and her recent opportunity to return to her alma mater (Cal Fullerton) to meet and introduce Reba McIntyre.
QUESTION: Is it easier or harder on race weekends now that you are married?
ASHLEY: The same. My husband works with me. Home or at the race we are together.
QUESTION: What track to do you like best and why?
ASHLEY: Love Sonoma. Like our home track. Lots of friend and family are close. We always do well. We have won 3 straight so this year is my turn.
QUESTION: Do you have a favorite foreign food?
ASHLEY: Love English Tea and Americanized Chinese food.
QUESTION: Did Simba [your cat] make the trip cross country to Gainesville?
ASHLEY: No he is home with sister Courtney to protect the house.
QUESTION: Just saw you got to meet Reba McEntire?
ASHLEY: Just did a scholarship fundraiser at my alma mater Cal State Fullerton and I got to introduce her. It was really fun and she was nice.
Tweeting has taken off faster and stronger than a John Force Racing Funny Car. Twitter has become a very important tool for spreading the message for Ford, Ashley and the NHRA.
Two months ago, Force Hood couldn't have told you what a Twitter was. And, technically she doesn't twitter herself. She twitters through the team publicists Elon Werner and Dave Densmore. Typically Force sends a text message to Werner who then Twitters, sending out the 140 character tweet.
“I think it’s great for the whole sport,” Force Hood said. “We're not only attracting people that come to our events, but really reaching out to people who can watch us through the Internet, television, radio and different ways like that.
Force understands the demands of today's society when it comes to news and information. They don't want it tomorrow, or even tonight. People want it now. Twitter is now.
“It seems recently there is that world need, they want something right away. They want the latest news. They don't want what happened yesterday. Even the Internet isn't fast enough, anymore. They want texting and tweets. If you can keep up with all that stuff you can stay ahead of the game, if you have the right people working with you. I couldn't do it all on my own.”
When she has the time Force also maintains a My Space page for both herself and another page for her cat, Simba.
Even with Twitter, there are still small facts for an onsite reporter to dig out. If she could, Force would love to do a guest appearance on her favorite show CSI (Las Vegas), as long as she isn't the victim in the story. She would also love to be a guest of the Regis and Kelly show. Given the opportunity to meet anyone in the world, she fell back on her love of CSI and expressed a desire to meet the actor who plays Gil Grissom, William Peterson. Peterson just left the show to return to the stage in Chicago, which means Force Hood may try to squeeze in one of his shows this summer when the tour visits Route 66 Dragway.
Oh, and if she could have sent out a tweet during the interview it would have read, “We qualified number four. It’s really hot here and we're going to have a tan here this weekend, for sure.”
HANGING IN THERE ...
MASSEY AND THE SNAKE'S SWAGGER - Be happy for Spencer Massey, but not because he’s earned the driving gig of a lifetime. Be 
happy because he’s learning the swagger from the king of swagger – his team owner Don “Snake” Prudhomme.
“He's taught me a lot about presenting myself better,” Massey admitted, when asked about the most valuable lesson he'd learned from Prudhomme.
“I'm not the most clean cut guy and Snake is THE clean cut guy. He's Mr. Smooth. He has the best looking stuff out here. Look through the staging lanes with all the Top Fuel cars and ours is one of the best looking one out there. Not that he's really had to clean me up, but you know, it’s the image there and that's what he's helped me understand.”
Forget driving tips from a four-time world champion with 49 victories in 68 final rounds.
Massey is clearly enrolled in Image 101 lectured by Professor Prudhomme, who holds a doctorate in “cool”.
Image trumps driving tips from the Snake.
“You gotta look like you're worth it,” Massey said of what he had learned. “That is basically it. Look like you're worth it and act like you're worth it.”
Massey was clearly worth the investment of time and effort for Prudhomme. Driving with the financial backing of nitro legend Gene Snow and facilitated by Mitch King, Massey made his Top Fuel debut in 2008 and won the first two IHRA Top Fuel events he entered.
Massey led the points from start to finish and won an IHRA world championship.
Still, he had so much to learn from Prudhomme.
“We never had any big sponsor deals, never had to worry about it. We just got out there and raced,” Massey said of his IHRA experience. “We were just a bunch of good ‘ole boys from Texas who wanted to have fun and that's what we did. We didn't have to worry about PR stuff.”
Welcome to the world of Prudhomme, kid.
“This is drag racing today. This is the world now. PR and marketing and looking clean and doing the right job is the name of the game. That's what I am here to do,” Massey explained.
Prudhomme initially signed Massey as a spare driver in the midst of the uncertainty surrounding driver Larry Dixon and whether he would leave DPM and join Alan Johnson’s new venture.
Massey was officially named Dixon’s replacement in December.
His hiring meant no more getting his hands dirty with the chores of maintaining the race car. That kind of an directive can be a tough pill to swallow for an up-and-coming driver whose mantra is being a hands-on driver.
“I'm standing around here twiddling my thumbs waiting to jump in and help somebody, but I'll get my head chopped off if I do because everybody has their job,” Massey admits. “Back in the shop I get to help anybody, doing the heads or helping do whatever it takes which is cool because at least they let me do that.”
The crew, Massey holds them in high esteem.
“It couldn't be any better working with Donnie Bender and Todd Smith and this entire crew. They are the salt of the earth and the best out here,” Massey said. “I feel like we have the car that is very capable of getting the win every race that we go to; it’s just little fine things that bite us and that’s part of drag racing.”
Massey has been counseled not to worry, not to feel pressured. The wins, he has been told, will come in time. If only he could be that relaxed.
“Nobody is really putting pressure on me to win,” Massey said. I have the pressure to do my job. I think I give myself more pressure than anybody else gives me, because I want to try to cut a light, I want to try to keep it in the groove. It's my job to do all that and if I don't do it we don't get a win light. The pressure it always there.”
The pressure of getting adopting the Prudhomme swagger, is, for the moment, the most overwhelming.
TOUGH DAY FOR PRO MOD - With chamber-of-commerce Spring-break weather at the ACDelco NHRA
Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., drivers in the Get Screened 
America
Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx mostly adapted to the
conditions and delivered thrilling performances, while others struggled
to keep their cars from riding the guard rails.
Qualifying was greatly abbreviated due to the extensive track cleanup
required after George Landis banged the wall in his '05 Stratus.
According to the local Florida racer, he blew a piston through his
engine and punctured the diaper, spreading oil and engine fluids down
the full length of the track. Landis was unharmed in the incident, but
his Stratus will need serious repair..
In all, only five racers made a pass in the third round of qualifying
and the field was set based on the best times of the event. Friday's
pole-sitter Roger Burgess held on to the No. 1 position with his
career-best 5.993/243.55, and Taylor Lastor held the bump with a
6.132/232.95.
In the first round of eliminations, Jay Payne and Rickey Smith faced
off in a staging duel that saw Payne take the pre-stage light first and
Smith waiting till he was "good and ready" to go in. As the lights
turned green, Payne was off first but his ‘68 Camaro danced around the
lane, almost crossed the centerline, rolled up on two wheels and then
lightly tagged the left guard wall before coming to a stop. Payne was
uninjured and his car was only lightly scratched.
In the very next pair, Harold Laird and Tim Tindle faced off for a
great side-by-side race with Laird crossing the line first,
6.063/234.61 to 6.077/237.42. As the Pride, Louisiana driver pulled his
chutes, however, the rear end of his '63 Corvette jumped slightly to
the left and aimed the car at the guard wall. Laird banged the front
right of his car into the wall and slid down the track to a stop.
"It was just the craziest thing," Laird said. "It happened so fast,
like the parachutes just picked the rear of the car up and headed me
toward the wall."
Tindle said, "We were both on a good pass until after the finish line
when he just took a hard right into the wall when his chutes came out.
It was weird, but I'm just glad he's ok."
If Laird can get his car repaired before eliminations Sunday afternoon,
he will face off against Rick Stivers who ran a career-best
5.987/240.25 against Mike Knowles.
Stivers said, "Brad had this car hopped up and loaded for bear. That
run was on a string, right down the center of the track, and I knew
when I left the line it was going to be awesome!"
His time of 5.987 seconds was low for the round and the event thus far,
and one of only two drivers to break into the five-second zone.
Pole-sitter Roger Burgess also advanced into round two, as did all
three nitrous cars from the Al Anabi stable: Rickie Smith, Burton
Auxier and Mike Castellana. Castellana beat IHRA world champion Kenny
Lang in the first round, 6.039/232.19 to 6.097/240.81, and will face
Burgess in round two.
Burgess said, "When you qualify number one, you know everyone is coming
after you, but I know that Al [Billes, Burgess' crew chief] has the car
ready to fight off the competitors.
"Al has everything ready for tomorrow, and so we're just going to come
out here and get after this thing one round at a time -- 'uno alla
volta' - one at a time," Burgess said.
Eliminations in the first of ten events in the Get Screened America Pro
Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx are scheduled to be completed
Sunday afternoon.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON CARNAGE
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - DIXON ADJUSTS, TASCA GETS THE BREAKS AND EDWARDS CONTINUES TO SHINE
DIXON: FINDING THE GROOVE - Even for a seasoned driver like Larry Dixon, the more runs a driver makes the more in tune the driver 
gets with his car.
Dixon, in his third race as driver of the newly formed Alan Johnson Al Anabi team, already has a leg up on his second pole position. Clearly two out of three isn’t bad for the 43-time winner.
Dixon ran a 3.902 elapsed time at 310.20 miles per hour to qualify No. 1 during the first day of the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.
“I am getting less coaching on the procedures of the car,” Dixon said. “I am in a routine now.”
One might find it hard to believe a driver of Dixon's caliber needs any kind of coaching. He’s quick to point out there’s always something to learn when you join a new team, as he did this season.
“If you want to be able to help the team you do whatever you can,” Dixon explained. “Obviously what they were doing last year as a group worked well. I think it’s more important that I fit in with them as opposed to them changing for me.
“I have a great working environment and this is a laid back group of guys. It’s fun to hang out with them.”
Dixon hopes they hang out on Saturday evening as the number one qualifier, although he doesn’t expect Friday’s run to hold for the duration. He expects Saturday’s runs to dip into the 3.80s with the right weather conditions.
“The first day is always slower here,” Dixon said. “On the second day the teams adapt better to it.”
Saturday’s forecast calls for a high temperature of 83 degree with increased cloudiness.
Friday’s atmospheric conditions were good, but the track wasn’t broken in enough for the team’s to take advantage of Mother Nature’s gift. The imbalance of the elements made the teams, including the Alan Johnson Al Anabi dragster take a more conservative approach.
“You had to calm the car down to get it down the track,” Dixon said. “We were real fortunate to get that .90 on the board. It keeps us in the top 12 and that’s always important.”
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES - The same run last year would have ended in disappointment. .
This year, the run puts Bob Tasca III and his Motorcraft Mustang Funny Car on the provisional pole at the NHRA Full Throttle AC Delco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida.
Tasca turned in a solid 4.124, 296.76 in the first qualifying session and then backed it up with a 4.189, 293.98 in the second session. While the second run was smooth from start to finish, it was the first run, despite issues which was fastest.
“The interesting thing on that (first) run, I never would have been able to make that run last year from one standpoint, I wasn't straight going into the first beam,” Tasca explained. “We've got a new guy backing me up and I was crooked. Shame on me, I should have picked it up earlier. I knew I wasn't in the right direction. I was pointing at the walls.”
Last year, as a rookie, Tasca clearly would have let the issue disrupt the run. Not this year.
“I actually turned the wheel a half turn and rolled into the beam so the tires were pointing right, because I figured with these cars it lift the wheels off. From the hit of the throttle it was going to move me to center and it did just that. As I felt it start going to the center line, as a rookie it happened to me more than once, jerk it back and it washes out and knocks the tires off. I did more driving on that first run then I did on the second run. So, I didn't enjoy it as much. That last run I said to my son Austin, 'I could have put you in there.' It was as straight as an arrow.”
Tasca might not have enjoyed the run as much, but he is enjoying being the fastest after two qualifying runs. Sitting on the pole, even provisionally, is how he pays back his sponsor and team.
“The greatest gift you can give somebody is to believe in them and November 1st , 2007 I didn't own a race car, didn't have an employee, nothing and the Ford Motor Company, Motorcraft and Quick Lane believed, in me and my family, that we could build a program on and off the track. At the end of the day, I owe all the credit to the team on this hot rod.
“It makes me feel good, that even through these challenging time, the Motorcraft brand and the Quick Lane brand have really identified this sport as an integral part to their training, activation and hospitality.”
Tasca was joined at the top of the ladder by the Fords driven by John Force and Mike Neff.
BETTER GET USED TO IT - Mike Edwards still finds success a foreign experience.
For the second event in a row, the ART-sponsored driver heads into the final day of qualifying as the Pro Stock provisional low qualifier.
Edwards turned in a 6.582 elapsed time at 209.10 miles per hour to lead Greg Anderson by over .01 of a second. It's a feat he would have dismissed a year ago as fantasy talk.
He’s learning that 2009 is quickly becoming the season where fantasy crosses paths with reality.
“I’m not real used to this to be honest,” Edwards admitted. “This is very nice and rewarding at the same time when you put this much effort in and get these kinds of results. This is rewarding. I am appreciative of everything and want to give God the glory for our accomplishment.”
Should Edwards’ low qualifying effort hold up, the No. 1 position will be his eighth since 2001, when he captured the pole five times. He then experienced a seven year dry spell.
The success now flows at a steady rate for Edwards.
Edwards isn’t so naïve that he believes his Friday runs will hold up on Saturday but for now he’s taking in the moment.
“We made an awesome run and I don’t know that we can improve on that tomorrow but we’re going to give it our best shot,” Edwards said.
“The car is running extremely well,” Edwards said. “I don’t always have the most faith in myself. I sometimes go beyond in criticizing myself. I know I am capable of pulling it off, it’s just sometimes I have to do it.”
Right now is the best time for Edwards to shine. This is his sophomore season with an in-house engine program for team owner Roger Stull. The loss of GM sponsorships in Pro Stock has changed the black and white lines separating the haves and have nots to a solid shade of gray.
“Financially that loss brings all the teams closer together,” Edwards said. “I just thank God we started our program last year when we had GM because now we’d be starting with nothing. At least we had one year under our belts to get some parts.”
SEAMLESS TRANSITION - Some riders are natural performers.
Former NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith needed only a few laps on Don Schumacher Racing’s Suzuki to re-acclimate himself with the style of bike he drove when he first learned how to race.
Nine runs, seven in testing, and he is the provisional low qualifier at the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals. This event in Gainesville, Fla., is traditionally the season-opener for the 17-race Pro Stock Motorcycles.
On the first run in qualifying for the new season he went immediately to the top. The second backed up his claim for the provisional pole effort.
“I had to change my riding style,” Smith admitted. “I haven’t rode the Buell any this season. I’m trying to stay away from it and focus in on the Suzuki.”
The separation isn’t absolute considering Smith’s fiancée Angie McBride rides his former Buell and will have Nitro Fish backing for at least four events in the early part of 2009. He also builds the engines for her.
McBride is qualified fourth after two sessions.
“I am focused on my Suzuki,” Smith added. “I want to try and win some races and get some poles.”
Considering the intricate differences between the two combinations, Smith literally cannot ride a Buell at all.
“One vibrates like a tractor and the other is smooth,” Smith explained, comparing the Buell to the Suzuki. “There is hardly any rpm on the Buell [9,400] and with the Suzuki, we are at 13,500. It’s nice and smooth. The clutch is different. The throttle is different. It’s a big adjustment.”
Smith was willing to make those adjustments in order to keep racing.
He had backing from Nitro Fish through the company’s owner Kenny Koretsky but the loss of several associate sponsorships made fielding his own team a challenge Smith wasn’t willing to accept.
Smith would have likely fallen from championship contender to also-ran minus the additional funding.
It was just a year earlier that Smith had lost major backing from Torco Race Fuels as he look to defend his 2007 championship. An eleventh-hour deal from Koretsky’s Nitro Fish kept him in the game. This year, there was no eleventh hour deals to be made.
Smith signed a deal to drive for DSR and Koretsky followed with the necessary sponsorship to seal the deal.
“Kenny is a really great guy and I called him after the PRI show and told him that Don had offered me a riding job,” Smith said. “I was unable to put together enough small sponsorship programs to make our deal what it needed to be.”
Smith confirmed that he offered to increase Smith’s sponsorship to keep him as a full-time team owner but that participation had to be limited because of Koretsky’s desire to sponsor other classes as well.
“I totally understood his position so I went with Don Schumacher,” Smith said. “Kenny is tickled to death and together we have a great program.”
KABOOM!
TIMES ARE TOUGH -
The 96-time NHRA Pro Stock national event champion is running a single-wheel wheelie bar during Friday’s qualifying.
Is it a performance advantage?
It’s not as much a performance advantage as it is better for the team’s economic bottom line, Johnson joked.
“Times are tough right now and that's all I could afford is one wheel,” Johnson said with a smile. “Some men hold up their pants with suspenders, some use a belt. It's just two different pieces of equipment to do the same job.”
MILLICAN: RACING PAINLESS AFTER SURGERY - Clay Millican felt this story was better left untold.
Weeks before the NHRA season-opener, Millican underwent surgery to correct a back injury sustained as a sportsman racer in 1997.
Millican can honestly say when he rolled to the starting line for the first round of qualifying at the NHRA Kragen Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona, Ca., he did so for the first time in his Top Fuel career without pain.
Millican remembers the day he hurt himself at a drag strip.
A competitive sportsman racer, Millican pulled a wheelstand in his A/Econo Dragster and rode it until the edge and then lifted sending the dragster crashing back to the ground. The impact of the unsuspended vehicle sent his back into a compressed position.
Millican wrote off the incident as a one-time soreness and accepted the pain as just one of the byproducts of youthful exuberance.
“I've had back problems for many years,” Millican admitted. “I just dealt with it. Like every hard-headed man tends to do, you just deal with whatever bothers you.”
A simple morning routine of brushing his teeth reminded Millican that he wasn’t invincible. He was brushing his teeth on a Sunday morning while leaning over the sink when a cough, while in an awkward position, caused excruciating pain.
It was the kind of pain that forced Millican to sit down. Sitting down made the pain worse to the point he blacked out, fell and struck his head.
“I called [wife] Donna and the next thing I remember I woke up on the floor,” Millican admitted. “I guess I reached a pain level to the point that I actually passed out.”
Millican went immediately to see his family physician, Dr. Stephanie Robbins, who he refers to as phenomenal.
“She walked us right through the process,” Millican said. “Got the MRI done and after we had the MRI done we found out what was wrong.”
The MRI revealed that Millican had a problem at the L5. The L5 was protruded which, according to Millican, meant the disk was broken and pushing into the nerve bundle.
The combination of leaning over, brushing his teeth and coughing raked up and down the nerves creating a problem that could only be corrected through surgery.
Millican was referred to Dr. Seal, the physician for the Memphis Grizzlies. What once would have been a major surgery with a lengthy recovery time is now an in and out surgery.
Ten days later he was back in a race car.
“It has been absolutely fantastic ever since,” Millican said. “I have been real careful. I'm not putting fuel in the car, anymore. He [Seals] told me to give it as much time as I could before I lifted any weight and now I am taking full advantage of that. I can lift a little weight now, but I am taking full advantage - letting my wife carry my luggage, letting the guys pour the fuel in the car and making the kids load everything in the trailers to go to the races.”
Millican hardly considers himself an expert on counseling those with back injuries, but can’t help but suggest those with back pain seek medical advice.
“Years ago it would have been a major deal but now they go in and I didn’t even have stitches,” Millican explained. “In fact they did stitches internally and they glued the incision on my back together. Granted I woke up and it was sore for a few days like someone had punched me, but it didn’t hurt the same way like it had. I had almost forgotten what living without pain was like.”
Thinking back over the surgery, Millican smiled, paused and then related that the doctors knew who they were dealing with before the operation.
“My son was flipping through the channels on the television in the room and happened across ESPN Classic,” Millican revealed. “It just so happened the race on television was the 2004 event in Bristol, Tenn., where we finished runner-up.
“The doctor knew I was a professional drag racer. He knew what Top Fuel was, but for him to get to see what I was doing a few minutes before cutting me open, that was kinda cool.”
For Millican, racing without pain is even cooler.
NOT A GOOD THING -
NOT A GOOD, PT. 2
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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK -
NEW DIRECTION - Kalitta Motorsports driver Jeff Arend hopes radical changes to his nitro-fueled flopper will allow him and his team to 
get a fresh start to the 2009 season this weekend.
“We’ve made some drastic changes to our car since Phoenix (previous event),” Arend, a 46-year old resident of San Dimas, Calif., said. “Sometimes it’s time to hit the reset button and kind of start over. Our DHL car makes as much or more horsepower than all of the Funny Cars out there, but we’ve really been struggling on how to get that to translate into good lap times. We changed a lot of things in the clutch of the car and even some things on how we run the motor in the past couple of weeks.
“Going into one of the biggest races of the year this weekend in Gainesville with a new combination is a little daunting, but the season is early and now is the best time to make the big, wholesale changes if we want to put ourselves in contention to run for the championship, and of course we do. Our DHL team is up to the challenge.”
At the first two events of the 2009 NHRA season, Arend has qualified 10th and 16th respectively, but as of yet has not won a round of eliminations.
Arend joined Kalitta Motorsports in 2008 to assume the driving duties of the DHL entry after the tragic death of Scott Kalitta as the result of injuries he suffered in a high-speed racing accident in June in New Jersey. Arend is a 14-year Funny Car veteran with one NHRA Funny Car national event win to his credit – Reading, Pa., 1996. He is married to Windy, and they have a daughter, Jenna, 9.
MORE MOMENTUM, MORE VICTORIES - Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin Jr. might have one-upped himself in gaining confidence headed into Gainesville.
The 38-year-old pro not only arrives at this historic race as the defending event champ, he also comes to town fresh off a big victory at the NHRA's last stop in Phoenix. Just two points out of the current Full Throttle lead, Coughlin also hits town as the reigning and back-to-back world champion in a class most consider to be the toughest in all motorsports.
"We've been on a tremendous roll, for sure," said Coughlin, who also won the Gatornationals in 2001. "Last season was an incredible ride for us and yet somehow we're a little ahead of where we were as we've already won a race. The Gators was our first win of the season last year but we managed to take the trophy in Phoenix so we're feeling great coming into the race.
"I think what really has us excited is we all feel there is room for us to improve. We're still a hundredth of a second or two behind a few other cars and this class has always been measured in hundredths of a second so we need to continue working on tidying up our tune-up and making this JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt as efficient as it can be."
Helping the team reach that goal in Florida will be Jeg Coughlin Sr., who regularly consults with crew chief Roy Simmons and his son on the engine tune-up and chassis set-up. Most of the time, at least early in the year, Coughlin Sr. keeps in touch over the Internet and via cellular phones, but he'll actually be in attendance at this event, which is just up the road from his vacation home.
Also on hand will be the team's good luck charm, Jeg III, who will be on spring break from his school studies.
"It's always a big boost for us whenever Pops is able to attend a race," Coughlin Jr. said. "His wealth of knowledge is incomparable. He's forgotten more than most people will ever know.
"Little Jeggie is already living up to his role of our good luck charm. He was in Phoenix and we won the race. You can't do much better then that. It's awesome when his school schedule allows for him to come to the races.
"This is going to be a huge race for us. We've got a lot of momentum but we've still got to start from square one when we get there and make some solid qualifying passes. This class is so tough and nothing is ever handed to you. I love the Gators because it's our first visit to the East Coast and the race has so much history. It's one of the races you grew up reading about, wanting to be there in the sunshine. Hopefully the sun will shine on us again this year."
NEW LOOK FOR HAGAN - NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year contender Matt Hagan will be sporting a new look headed into Gainesville. Gone is the Brakesafe livery and replaced with his family's Shelor.com colors.
Hagan confirmed the change in sponsors but declined to provide any details.
"In these tough economic times, I think it's a good thing to support our family business," he added.
Shelor.com is a 24/7 web site, representing eight new-car franchises and a used-car super store in Southwest Virginia. As one of the largest automotive groups in the nation, it provides a huge selection with big-volume discounts.
The switching of sponsorships is expected to make barely a ripple in the waters for the up-and-coming rookie driver.
Hagan's rookie season is already off to a good start with the Virginia native has qualifying for each of the first two races and winning his first round of pro Funny Car competition at the last event in Phoenix. Standing No. 10 in the rankings, he's aiming to win even more rounds this weekend, driving the Shelor.com Dodge Funny Car.
"It feels great," he said of his strong season start. "I think we have a great race car underneath us. And we were right there in the middle of the pack in qualifying in Phoenix (No. 8 qualifier). It shows that we can run with everybody out there. So, I'm excited to get to Gainesville. I've always had a lot of success there in the Pro Mod class. I like the track.. It has plenty of shut-down area, it's a historic race and there are always a lot of fans there, so it's pretty cool. And, I actually got my Alcohol Funny Car license from Frank Hawley there in 2004."
Hagan's confidence level has risen but he'll quickly testify that he's a long way from being a "seasoned veteran."
"I don't think I'll ever feel like I'm a seasoned veteran," he said with a laugh, "even years from now. You're always learning in these cars. Every lap is different and you just take it, run with it and learn from it. I definitely feel more comfortable in the car but I certainly don't feel like a seasoned veteran."
But he does get support from a true seasoned veteran, his teammate Ron Capps, winner of the first two Funny Car events of the season in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge. "Ron's been spectacular as far as coming over and giving me a few pointers here and there," said Hagan. "He's really gone out of his way to be nice and to offer some opinions. That goes a long way in my book."
CAGNAZZI POWERING BROGDON - Rodger Brogdon and the Steve Kent Racing Pro Stock team had completed a considerable amount of on-track testing in the last
two weeks and were able to address the areas that needed
attention. Their attention turned towards Gainesville when a Cagnazzi
Racing engine became available for both Gainesville and Houston.
“It’s a perfect opportunity for us," Brogdon said. "We’ve addressed
some situations in our setup that we had identified, and both of our
engines showed very good power in testing, so we were happy with the
progress we’ve made, but being able to run with an engine from Victor’s
race shop should allow us to refine our setup even more. With the power
that they’ve shown in the Jeg’s car this year, this should be an
interesting weekend.”
“Gainesville is a track that’s been good to us.” Brogdon added, “In
2007 when we ran Pro Stock we qualified 10th, the best we qualified
during our early Pro Stock run. Last year we were back here in Comp and
were able to leave with the Wally on Sunday. With the improvements that
we accomplished testing, and Cagnazzi power for the event, hopefully
this year’s trip to Gainesville will rival the excitement of years
past.”
YOU GO GIRL - Not many girls growing up in the Winston-Salem, N.C., area were
attracted to fast motorcycles like Angie McBride. She not only turned 
that fascination into reality more than a decade ago, she took her quickest two-wheel quarter-mile ride Monday.
It came during a test session in Cecil, Ga., but the 6.950-second
effort aboard the Nitro Fish Buell brought a satisfied smile and a big
boost of confidence as she prepared for the season’s first NHRA Pro
Stock Motorcycle race.
“We had an awesome test session,” McBride said. “We were the quickest
bike of the day. We also had runs of 6.99 and 7.02 so I was very
pleased with what we did.”
This is McBride’s first of four guaranteed races and her first aboard a
motorcycle capable of winning rounds and races in this
highly-competitive category. Matt Smith, her fiancé, qualified No. 1
seven times, won four races and finished third in 2008. He is riding
a Nitro Fish Suzuki this year for Don Schumacher Racing.
“I know the bike is capable,” she said. “I’m all about comfort and
with me never having ridden this bike before, I was a little nervous.
The first pass we threw out because I had to adjust the clutch levers
so we really didn’t know where we were. After that, every pass felt
more and more comfortable and by the last pass I felt ready to go to
Gainesville.”
McBride says she started racing “eight or nine years” ago, advancing to
the Outlaw Pro Street motorcycle class. “The Outlaw Street bikes go
just as fast as the Pro Stock bikes with nitrous but without a wheelie
bar. I was the only girl to win in that class, and actually I won 11
races. My quickest run was 7.12 seconds at 194 (mph).”
She qualified sixth at Gainesville last year and advanced to the
quarterfinals. Overall, she started 10 times in 2008 and finished 13th
in points.
McBride’s ride comes with more responsibilities. She and Robbie East will share crew duties.
“Matthew taught me what to do with the computer and he will be a
consultant,” she added. “I know it’s a fast bike and I know that bike
is a lot better than what I had last year. It’s a better chassis and
we have tons of information from when Matthew ran the bike last year.
“I just want to go out there and do a very good job.”
GOING FOR FOUR - Three-time and defending NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster champion Bill Reichert and his Rislone Engine Treatment team will begin their title defense this weekend.
Reichert is enthused with the opportunity to begin yet another title defense season.
“We just finished the car this past weekend, and we are very eager to
get it to the track," Reichert said. "We have really high expectations
for the car this weekend, and Gainesville has always been pretty good
to us,” said Reichert.
Subscribing to adage of leaving well enough alone, Reichert made few changes in the off-season.
“Truthfully, we’ve avoided any wholesale changes to the car. It was
running great at the end of last year, and we hope to basically pick up
in Gainesville where we left off.” He went on to add that “NHRA has
mandated a nitro percentage change in an effort to slow everyone down a
bit, so we’ll have to tune the car appropriately to deal with that.
But we are heading into the event prepared to make changes as needed;
we even have some different cylinder heads and a different camshaft we
can utilize if needed.”
Gainesville is frequently noted for its favorable track conditions that
often produce spectacular results, and that’s what Reichert is counting
on.
FAN INTERACTION - Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD) returns to Gainesville with The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing Experience, an interactive 4,800 square foot display that features the "Quick Lane Challenge" and the "Motorcraft Holeshot Challenge."
Motorcraft and Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center brands have partnered with the NHRA for a brand awareness campaign that will give the division a major presence at 10 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events in 2009, starting this weekend.
For the second consecutive season, Motorcraft and Quick Lane are the primary sponsors on the Ford Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car driven by Bob Tasca III.
Visitors can sign up to race virtual dragsters, compete against the clock while changing tires and oil filters, and spin the Ford Custom Accessories wheel for a chance to win valuable prizes. Fans can also pick up Motorcraft and Ford Custom Accessories brochures and branded merchandise. Fans will also have the opportunity to register to win a 2010 Ford Mustang GT with $3,000 in Ford Racing Performance Parts and up to $5,000 in Custom Accessories. Motorcraft and Quick Lane representatives will be offering up plenty of other free giveaways, including discount coupons for Motorcraft products and services at local Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers.
"Last year we brought The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing Experience to the NHRA and we were welcomed openly by the fans,” said Darryl Hazel, Ford Customer Service Division Vice President. "We are excited to return to Nitro Alley with our 2009 display. Our first year was amazing and the fans helped make our Racing Experience the place to be. Our display is unique because it allows fans to experience our brands and connect with Motorcraft, Quick Lane and Ford Custom Accessories in a fun and interactive way."
The Motorcraft Holeshot Challenge starts with two contestants sitting in drag racing simulators. Participants will undergo the entire Funny Car experience as they heat up their tires, line-up their car, follow the Christmas Tree and steer their virtual Mustangs down the track in a quest to win Motorcraft prizes. Crash sequences, sound effects, simulated smoke, motion seats and compressed air all help in making the contestants’ runs feel as real as possible. Each day, driver Bob Tasca III, will visit the display and set a holeshot time for participants to beat.
The Quick Lane Challenge pits two contestants against each other in a timed competition. Participants will remove and install oil filters, batteries and air filters, along with removing and replacing lug nuts on the wheels, of their respective vehicles for their chance to win Quick Lane branded prizes.
Fans will have an opportunity to see the latest production and racing Mustangs in The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing Experience – a 2010 Ford Mustang GT and 2008 Ford Racing Cobra Jet Mustang.
Consumers visiting The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing Experience can sign up to win a brand-new 2010 Ford Mustang GT equipped with Ford Racing Performance Parts and Ford Custom Accessories.
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