NHRA LUCAS OIL NATIONALS - EVENT NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK – ROYALTY
RULES IN TOP FUEL, FORCE IS KING FOR THE DAY, COULGHLIN REACHES GOLD STATUS AND
HAWGS-A-PLENTY
SEVEN MORE - Seven more
drivers – Bob Vandergriff Jr. in Top Fuel, Mike Ashley, Jack Beckman, Tony
Pedregon, Gary Scelzi, and John Force in Funny Car, and Andrew Hines in Pro
Stock Motorcycle -- locked up spots in the Countdown to Four as the result of
the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Int'l Raceway.
With just the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals next weekend in
Whit Bazemore and David Grubnic hold down the two vulnerable spots in Top Fuel
while Jim Head is the eighth to nab in Funny Car. Kurt Johnson, Warren Johnson,
and Larry Morgan currently hold down spots 6-8 in Pro Stock and are still
vulnerable while the Pro Stock Motorcycle field remains wide open after the
three clinched drivers.
TOP FUEL
THE PRINCE REIGNS -
Brandon Bernstein beat Larry Dixon for his fifth win of the season -- a career
high -- and the 17th of his career. He improved his head-to-head mark over
"That's a great team
over there and they were running 4.50s all day just like us so we knew the
final would be a tough race," said Bernstein, who also won this race last
year. "It's wonderful to see the Budweiser car running so consistently
because Indy will be here before you know it and we really want to be as close
to perfect as possible when the Countdown starts.
"It was tough
watching Dad lose right in front of us. I could see the big screen and I saw
how close he was at the finish line. I know he wanted that one really bad and
for as much jubilation as we're feeling on our side of the pit we're bummed out
for them. I really wanted to get done with our race and give him a hug because
I could see he was down. It'll happen one of these days, hopefully for both of
us at the same time."
RACER OR FAN? – When Rod
Fuller lost to Clay Millican in the first round, he found himself a Cory
McClenathan fan. McClenathan matched up against Tony Schumacher.
“I’m lucky,” Fuller said.
“I never cheer against anyone, but as a competitor, you want to go into the
Countdown No. 1, so when (Tony) Schumacher went out, that made it more
comfortable on us. We were excited our teammate won a round. It was just a tough
weekend for us. We weren’t qualified well. We really were in test-mode this
weekend and we needed to do that to learn some stuff. You always need to try
and stay ahead and learn new things. We don’t have the luxury of testing like
most teams. We don’t hardly ever drop cylinders and it dropped a cylinder at
the hit of the throttle and (Clay) Millican made a good solid run and it wasn’t
our day.”
Her two round wins today
marked her first semifinal appearance since her major win in
“We made an enormous
change with this team in the past couple of weeks,” said Troxel. “It’s hard to say what exactly happened when
we were in Martin (Mi.) last weekend, but I feel the team’s attitude has
changed for the good. We’ve built up a
lot of confidence and decided we know what this car wants and we’re not going
to tiptoe around it anymore. We’re going
to go out there and run it. I think
we’ve put together 11 good passes down the track in a row now. Not only did we go the rounds, but also more
importantly, we have a car that can go to the next race, finish off the job,
and get us into the Countdown. We’re
excited to be out there racing and can’t wait to get to
Troxel has been dialed
into her car all weekend.
“That’s it,” she
said. “Our destiny is in our own hands
here. Consistently, I think over the
past four events, we’ve out-qualified the people we need to gain some ground
on, which has helped put us in position to be able to narrow it down to only
two points.
“We have a great car right
now and I can’t think of a better way for this to have come about. You need to be running well when you hit Indy
and we need to be on top of it to get into the top eight, but we also have some great momentum at this point
with only one race remaining. If we can
just get there, I feel we have a car that has a chance at the championship.”
FUN AGAIN – Morgan Lucas
has had enough bad fortune this season to know when things are fun.
Lucas reached the
semifinals today and it marked the first time since April that the 23-year old
driver had turned on the win light.
“We’re just having fun,”
said Lucas. “When you’re not in the
points and your teammate is, you’re trying to do everything you can to help her
out. I want the best for Melanie and her
team over there. I want to see her win
the POWERade championship and we’re going to do whatever it takes to get her
there. It would be a nice thing for
everybody.
“This weekend has been a
big turning point for us. We talked
about that before the race to find out what we need to do t be a
contender. We ran our best of what we
thought we could at that point and dropped a hole (cylinder) right at the
finish line. That might have slowed us
down a little bit, but it did knock us down a couple of mile per hour. Overall, I’m very happy. The car shows a lot of progress and I’m proud
of our team, Melanie’s team, and our whole group as an organization. We’ll keep going and hopefully that will make
this a good deal for us.
Remember, just five
weekends ago Force was in jeopardy of not making the playoffs.
Force beat Kenny Bernstein
in a battle of drag-racing icons to move all the way up to fourth place in the
POWERade Funny Car standings. The last time the two raced was in 1989 and the
last time they met in a final was at the 1988 Auto Club Finals at
The victory was the 125th
of Force’s career and it came in his 199th final round appearance. The No. 2 qualifier beat Gary Densham, Jeff
Arend, teammate Robert Hight, and finally Bernstein.
“It nosed over in the
lights and I thought he got me,” Force said. ”I thought he had me. I was on the radio but I couldn’t get anybody
to answer. Bottom line, a win’s a
win. (Bernstein) is showing everybody
that age isn’t that big a factor in this game, which is good for me ‘cause I’ve
got contracts with most of my sponsors that run for four or five more years. So I’m not going anywhere. I’m four years younger than him and that
means that if he can continue stepping on the gas like he is, so can I.
“In the championship,
we’ll just have to see what happens now that we’re in the Countdown,” Force
said, “but just to leave (Brainerd) with a win for Eric Medlen means everything
to me and to this team.”
THE JINX CONTINUES – Mike
Ashley had one of those good news/bad news sort of days. The bad news for him
is the No. 1 qualifier jinx bit him today against Gary Scelzi. The good news is
that he’s guaranteed a place in the playoffs.
Ashley maintained third
place in POWERade Championship points, moved up to second place from fifth in the SKOAL Showdown, and his team was
awarded the Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship Award for their consistent efforts
in qualifying as well.
After earning his fifth
NHRA No.1 qualifying award with a blistering 4.781/327.51, Ashley ran his
slowest pass all weekend against Scelzi, 4.903/305.42 to 4.841/317.19, and said
parts attrition caused the sub-par performance.
"It's bittersweet,
really," explained the 42-year-old driver of the Torco Race Fuels Dodge
Charger R/T. "Going out first round against Gary Scelzi is disappointing,
but if you look at the big picture, we're really in an amazing place.
"It was a $2 part
that broke and cost us the round. At 60-feet, a stud on the manifold broke, and
then another and another, till the 1000-foot mark where we had absolutely no
blower boost at all. It's one of those
things that happens, but, you never want it to happen in eliminations. Plus, we
were having brake problems, and I couldn't hold the car in the lights, which is
why
It is the second year in a
row that Ashley has set top speed at this event, last year running 326.32 mph
and this year 327.51 mph.
ANOTHER CLINCHER -
"Fast" Jack Beckman clinched his playoff spot today.
After qualifying No. 5, he
defeated his teammate and class points leader Ron Capps in the opening round of
eliminations, posting the third quickest E.T. of that round, then fell to Kenny
Bernstein in the quarterfinals on a holeshot after recording the
second-quickest pass of that round.
With Tommy Johnson's loss
in the quarterfinals to Beckman's other DSR teammate Gary Scelzi, Beckman
clinched a spot in the top eight for the Countdown to the Championship.
Beckman lost to Bernstein
by .0435 of a second, despite registering a quicker pass of 4.786/321.88 to
Bernstein's 4.826/320.81. The difference was in the reaction times: a
respectable .118 for Beckman, a stellar .035 for Bernstein.
"History will show it
as a holeshot win," explained Beckman. "I call it a holeshot loss.
Bernstein is phenomenal. He does a little deal with the clutch when he stages,
a little different than any other driver. I had an average light. I wanted to
have lane choice (in the next round), so we were shallow staging, which will
slow down your light, speed up your elapsed time, and it did all that. And I
got beat on a holeshot."
On Saturday, Beckman hurt
his right ankle, requiring a doctor's attention and some medication, but he's
confident it did not affect his performance in the car. "If you think it
has an effect it has an effect," he said. "You don't think about it.
And it's not feeling that bad right now. I won't be doing any jumping jacks
between now and Reading. I'll put ice on it occasionally. But, I don't think
that was a factor, because my lights were about the same as normal
shallow-staged qualifying lights."
How did it happen?
"I was actually
stepping out of the transporter and just felt a pop right on the top front of
my foot. I have no idea what happened. So, the NHRA's medic came over and
wrapped it tight. I will get X-rays next week just to make sure nothing's
broken. But, you know what; win lights always make it feel better."
Despite barn-burning performances
over the last month, Beckman’s still amazed at clinching his spot today.
"Five races ago, if
you'd have asked if we would be content to clinch a spot in the Countdown, I'd
have said, 'drag racers are never satisfied,'" Beckman said. "You
want to win every round at every race you go to and it's always a
disappointment to lose. But that's because we've got such a 'bad' hot rod right
now. And I think the fact that crew chiefs Todd (Okuhara) and Phil (Shuler) are
tuning both the MTS and Mopar/Oakley cars is going to actually not only be a
bonus to Scelzi's car, but it will help our car, because I think we're getting
more data per race now.
NOT HOW YOU START – Gary
Scelzi’s weekend may have started off on a sour note, but by Sunday everything
was just fine. Scelzi reached the semifinals despite qualifying on the bump
spot.
Scelzi fell to seventh in
the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings, but clinched
his spot after he defeated Tommy Johnson Jr.
in the second round. One race remains to solidify the top eight for the
Countdown before the next phase kicks in at the U.S. Nationals in
"I'm telling you,
there was a lot of drama here,” Scelzi said. “My God. Honestly, I tried to
prepare myself for the worst, and that would have been not qualifying, and then
it almost happened.
"Todd and Phil
changed this car from front bumper to rear bumper and everything in between and
put it exactly like Beckman's car. And there were a lot of differences, which I
was surprised at. The hard parts are the same, but they're doing some things
differently. And they really had to do that, so the cars would be similar. I
can't say enough about them."
This weekend provided the
vote of confidence that Scelzi needed.
"We had a hell of a
race car, we had a hell of a race, and I'm really excited about going to
"It turned out a lot
better than I thought it would. Everybody seems to be getting along and the
transition may not be as bad."
STILL ABOARD – Though his
long-term participation is questionable, Mike Neff worked with DSR in an
advisory role this weekend.
"We were trying to
run 4.80 flat to a mid to high 4.70,” said Capps. “Ace wasn't being shy. It's
not too often the Brut Dodge doesn't get to the finish line with the 'chutes
out, and that run was surprising. But we knew that's what Ace wanted to try. We
were really getting after it.
"Yes, we are still
testing. We kind of went back to what Ace has always done on race day in his
approach, but we still have some parts in the car that we're trying to learn
from and we think if we can corral them and find out what makes these parts
work well it will benefit us down the road.
"It may not be until
next year these parts may benefit us, but we need to find out in case we have
to run them in the Countdown. It's a work in progress, for sure.
"The Brut guys are
100 percent behind everything we do and every call that Ace makes. I've got to
focus on my driving more than ever right now because it's more important now
when we're trying things. I just can't let Ace down. As a team, it's very
tough, because we feel sorry for our fans that we're testing some things and
we're giving up a few rounds here and there. I guarantee, it's going to pay off
in the long run."
PRO STOCK
GRABBING THE GOLD -- Jeg
Coughlin, Jr. grabbed his place in drag racing history with a 50th
career national event win. Only ten other drivers have reached the prestigious
milestone in the 56-year history of organized drag racing.
Coughlin took out POWERade
points leader Greg Anderson in the final round to record the win, his third of
the season. Just as he had all day, Coughlin left first on his opponent and
managed to drive away for the win with a 6.667 at 205.94 mph to
"This was big,"
Coughlin said. "To get our 50th win against the competition we run these
days is special. Today's a great example of how tough it is; I had Allen
Johnson, who's fourth in the points, Jason Line who's fifth, the big cowboy,
six-time champion Warren Johnson, and then the best driver in the class over
the last four years in Greg Anderson.
"Getting to 50 wins
was one of my goals when I returned to Pro Stock. It's special to think that
only 10 other people have achieved that mark in 50-plus years of drag racing.
Fortunately, I've had a great hot rod with [team owner] Victor Cagnazzi and his
entire team of technicians and mechanics and they've given me a car capable of
winning races."
The 37-year-old Coughlin
collected his 50 national event wins in five different classes. He now has 37
Pro Stock wins to go with 13 Sportsman victories in four different classes.
He's won seven times in Super Stock, four times in Super Gas, and one time each
in Competition Eliminator and Top Dragster.
"I remember winning
Indy in 1992 [in Super Gas] and standing in the winner's circle with [NHRA
founder] Wally Parks," Coughlin said. "That was my second win and now
I look back and see how far we've come as a sport. It's just phenomenal the
vision Wally had and how it's grown."
“I’ll tell you, we really
worked hard to get where we are at this race,” said Morgan. “It’s just too bad we didn’t get the Lucas
Oil Pro Stock car in the finals. We were
close and were only a hundredth away, but that’s drag racing. We’re just so happy to have the Lucas’
supporting us. Let me tell you something,
they are the greatest people there are.
I’ve had many good sponsors, but they are the best.”
With that great effort of
reaching the semis, Morgan has further secured his position in the NHRA
Countdown to the Championship and has now accumulated a total 734 points, but
so far hasn’t locked him in a position with only one race left in the regular
season before the playoffs begin.
“We're still hanging in
there,” Morgan said. “It looks like the
other two guys (V Gaines and Richie Stevens) will have to either win the race
and I wouldn’t qualify for them to get in.
We just have to perform, that is why we’re here. I am not going to worry about it and whatever
happens; happens. We’re sure are pumped
to have our Lucas Oil car in the Countdown for now.”
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
HAWGS OF A FEATHER -
Three-time and reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Andrew Hines got bragging
rights over teammate Eddie Krawiec with his wire-to-wire job here. Hines left
with a .034 to Krawiec's .091-second start and just rode away for his 11th
career victory, winning with a 7.009 at 188.20 mph to Krawiec's 7.077 at 183.94
mph. Both men ride identical Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rods.
"It's always a great
deal when you can run your teammate in the final," Hines said. "It
doesn't matter who wins or loses because the team has already accomplished its
goal. It's so tough to get one bike to the final round these days, let alone to
get both of them there. It was a great day for the entire Screamin' Eagle Vance
& Hines team."
Moving up to second place
with his win, Hines was the only rider to clinch a spot in the Countdown to the
Championship this weekend, leaving five open spaces. Krawiec's second
final-round appearance in as many races has lifted him from 12th to eighth
place in the POWERade points.
NEEDED TO GET ONE – Matt
Smith said going into this weekend that his goal for the weekend was to get
teammate Chris Rivas into the Countdown to the Championship. Sitting in the
ninth position, a little over one round out of the top-eight, Smith and Rivas
knew that was going to be a tough task.
The two faced a monumental
battle as the Team Torco operation squared off against both U.S. Army bikes in
the first round. Both fared successfully with Smith beating Antron Brown and
Rivas eliminating Angelle Sampey.
In an odd twist of fate
the teammates raced another two bike team but this time lost to Andrew Hines
and Eddie Krawiec.
Smith cut a good light and
had a great surge at half track, but would end up just a little short as he
would lose the round to Hines. Rivas would end up leaving on Krawiec second
round, but would lose the round due to the bike not being able to go into high
gear.
“It is tough out there,”
said Rivas. “We are doing all we can to get in the top-eight. We will have one more shot at it next
weekend, so hopefully we will be able to get it done. Matt and Evan have done all they can, it is
just real tight field out there.
Everyone is good. Everyone is
running fast, and I can’t wait to get back at it in
TOUGH WEEKEND FOR JOHNSON
– Steve Johnson is going to need more than a rabbit’s foot if he hopes to make
it in the 2007 NHRA playoffs.
“Our backs are against the
wall,” Johnson said. “We have only one
more chance to qualify for the Countdown, and that’s next weekend at the Toyo
Tires Nationals in Reading, (PA), but in order for us to make it we’re going to
have to be very lucky, and the people ahead of us in the standings are going to
have to have the kind of weekend we had here in Brainerd.
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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - ARMY CONQUERS BRAINERD, ASHLEY BECOMES A PAIN FOR FORCE, LINE NOT SATISFIED AND GEORGE BRYCE'S DOUBLE TAKE
TOP FUEL
AN ARMY ON ONE – In case you haven’t figured it out, you
can’t count Tony Schumacher out. During today’s third qualifying session the
defending world champion gave an excellent example why.
Schumacher nailed his 42nd No. 1 qualifying position in 237 races with a 4.548-second quarter-mile tour at 328.54 mph run. That performance vaulted him from 11th to 1st.
"We got a bit lucky in the sense that we had some cloud cover move over to cool the track down some," said the defending NHRA POWERade world champion. "But, we're certainly not going to complain at all. Now, we have to concentrate on racing."
Schumacher will take on 16th-place qualifier, Cory McClenathan, in the first round of eliminations starting at 11 a.m. CT.
Schumacher came into this weekend with two straight wins and three victories in his last five events.
"Our intent is to remain successful both here in
Brainerd and at
SOMETHING SPECIAL – Drag racing is a forward thinking sport, but Hilary Will can’t help but live in the past when she comes to Brainerd. A win tomorrow would be special for Will.
“A win at BIR would be special,” said Will. “This is where Ken Black, team owner of KB Racing, and Kalitta Motorsports hired me. I cam here as an aspiring driver and now I have the best job in the world. It will be even better if we win Top Fuel and get a spot in the top eight in points.. I’m confident going into tomorrow’s eliminations as we improved each session throughout qualifying.”
TESTING, TESTING – Rod Fuller was the quickest in Friday qualifying with a 4.607 elapsed time. Despite improving slightly, Fuller’s stock fell to the seventh position in a quick third session. His final attempt yielded tire smoke.
“We were trying some stuff this weekend,” Fuller said. “We
learned a lot of stuff. We missed the one run we need to run good at, on
Saturday morning. Then we pushed it too hard on the last run and just
overpowered the track. That showed 
how awesome Brandon Bernstein’s 4.55 was on
that last run. We’re ready for race day. I have a lot of confidence in my race
team. I want to earn enough points to seal the No. 1 spot up this weekend.”
Lucas, driver of the Lucas Oil dragster, recorded an elapsed time of 4.602 seconds, 327.19 mph and his Troxel ran an almost identical time of 4.590 seconds, 330.88 mph to hold down the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively.
“I’m having a ball racing two dependable race cars this weekend,” said Lucas, who also races on the NHRA Lucas Oil drag racing series
campaigning for its championship. “Our
Top Fuel program has been basically flawless this weekend under some conditions
that have been hard to contend with.
It’s the crew chiefs that have put their heads together to come out with
a combination that works on both of our cars.”
Troxel saved her best qualifying pass of the race of the weekend on her last run recording ‘Top Speed of the Meet” of 330.88.
OOOH RAH! – Troxel’s Vietnam Veterans/POW-MIA dragster crew won the Full Throttle NHRA Pit Crew championship at the Lucas Oil Nationals with their great consistency and will collect $3,000 in Sunday’s pre-race ceremonies.
LEAVING NOTHING ON THE TABLE – Mike Ashley wants a spot in
the playoffs and he’s doing everything to ensure it comes to fruition.
His 4.781 at 327.51 mph in today’s first session of qualifing came after several racers had passed his Friday night mark of 4.833. Unfazed, he cruised down the strip in his Torco Dodge Charger R/T to collect his second straight low qualifier award.
"Being the quickest and fastest of every session is pretty impressive," Ashley said. "The last few races we've been sidetracked a bit trying different things. We decided to go back to what got us to the dance in the first place and just make absolutely sure we get down the track every run.
"You want to try and be at a certain level of consistency going into the Countdown and I think we're there. We went back and examined the entire season and we're doing all the things that worked for us and eliminating the mistakes. We're really pleased with where we're at right now but I look at the sheet and I got Gary Scelzi in Round 1. Nothing is going to come easy."
A CAREER VALIDATED - It’s amazing what a drag racer will deem an honor. For Mike Ashley, just getting on John Force’s radar screen early in his career would have been quite the feather in the cap.
Force qualified second to Ashley and when asked about the Torco Race Fuel-sponsored driver’s performance this season, he responded, “You know that Mike Ashley is quickly becoming a pain in my butt.”
Ashley when informed of that statement, smiled.
“It’s an honor to be a pain in John Force’s butt,” Ashley said. “I think my career is complete now.”
BENEFITS OF SHARING – When you share your crew chiefs, it
can have its advantages. Jack Beckman’s crew chief duo of Todd Okuhara and Phil
Shuler are not only tuning their regular driver but also Gary Scelzi while Mike
Neff has been reassigned to an advisory role.
"The cool thing about what's happening," he said,
referring to the re-assignment of DSR crew chiefs, "now that Todd
(Okuhara) and Phil (Shuler) are overseeing the Mopar/Oakley car that Gary
Scelzi drives and the MTS car, is
KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT – Gary Scelzi knew this weekend’s event
would be a challenge. He ended the day on the bump spot.
PLAYING LIKE A ROCKSTAR – Nobody can work a room like Jerry
Toliver. Today he ended up in the top half of the field with a 4.843, 317.19
lap.
"I'm pretty excited," said Toliver. "The gremlins we've had in the car are gone and we finally showed what kind of race car we have."
Toliver races Tommy Johnson (No. 9, 4.863 at 313.44) in the first round.
"We might have done better on that run," added Toliver, "if we hadn't been the first pair down the track. Dale (Armstrong, crew chief) pushed the tune-up as hard as he could to see what we could get away on our last run (when the tires lost traction early in the run). I think we have a pretty good handle on the tune-up for Sunday."
UNCHARTED TERRITORY – Qualifying outside of the top half of
the field is something that point leader Ron Capps is unaccustomed to. For only
the second time this season he’s on that side of the ladder in the 12th
position.
LAYING IT ON THE LINE – Defending world champion Jason Line
ended the day as the top qualifier but clearly he wanted more.
SATURDAY, MUCH BETTER – Kurt Johnson couldn’t do anything
right on Friday. Saturday was much better. He went from unqualified to the
fifth spot.
“Ironically enough, coming into this race, we had some concerns with our performance in the first 300 feet, and we fixed that. Now we just have to figure out the rest of the run. Fortunately, our time was good enough to earn lane choice for the first round, which is vital in this category. Throughout the weekend, the left lane has been between one and two hundredths quicker, so it will be nice to choose our lane in the morning. We’re pleased to have run as well as we did today, but that’s only the start. We’re looking to have a long day tomorrow.”
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – LET THE
CONTROVERSY BEGIN, SHARK BITES AGAIN, CLINCHING ON ASHLEY’S MIND, TESTING FOR
LINE AND JOHNSON RACING FOR
UH OH - A controversy is
brewing that could come to a head during this weekend’s NHRA Lucas Oil
Nationals in
Last week Cory McClenathan
announced that he was leaving Scott Griffin Motorsports and forming his own
team with an operation leased from Don Schumacher Racing. McClenathan also
brought backing from FRAM/Autolite, as well as sponsorship from key associates
carried over from the Carrier Boyz Racing days.
Torco’s
CompetitionPlus.com has learned through sources that
Torco’s
CompetitionPlus.com has learned that Steve Torrence is scheduled to drive
"I was trying to do things
amicably by helping Scott wherever I could,” McClenathan said. “Obviously that
hasn’t worked out too well. In this situation, I have Fram’s back, not Scott Griffin’s.
I am going to take care of my sponsors. They come first.
“Scott Griffin has not
done me any justice in any way shape or form in this. I am looking out for
Fram.”
McClenathan said it was a
key meeting between Fram management, himself, and
“When Scott first took
ownership, they had a meeting and they decided – with me in the room – they
would keep going for the rest of the season and give Scott a chance to make up
for things that had happened in the past,” McClenathan said. “The bills were
piling up from vendors and this is such a small community that you can’t do
those kinds of things.
“I, in the same realm,
gave Scott a chance. Just like them, I felt Scott was the part owner with Mark
and Andy Carrier. When it came down to it, the paperwork that we finally
received said that Scott bought the team back in January and not May 1.”
McClenathan said he
witnessed three different dates of purchase on the contract.
“There has been a lot of
uncertainty and mistrust,” McClenathan said. “People were just not above the
board on this whole deal. That created mistrust with people out here, including
me.
“I was all willing to give
a second chance in May to run the team and make sure the sponsors were happy.
When it came down to it, things were not getting done as they should. I was
getting calls from vendors and as a driver, that’s not conducive for me to go
out and do my job. There have been times in the past where I was promised $75K
to drive Scott’s car on the IHRA side and then got bumped out by Scott Weis.
Then the thing never happened. There have been too many things I’ve let go
under the bridge.
“I let the money go and
even though it was a verbal commitment, accountable in a court of law. I never
asked for it or do anything about it. I never did anything about it.”
McClenathan said that Fram
was through when they got to
“Scott basically gave Fram
the ultimatum to let him know if things were going to happen long term,”
McClenathan said. “The folks at Fram in the meeting, we were all there, said
that they couldn’t commit long term. They told him they had a lot of offers and
they could help him make it through the season or he could park the operation
and sell the stuff while it still had value.
“Scott admitted that he
didn’t have the money to run the car the way it needed to be run – in
championship form – with the good parts and pieces. He was not able to give the
committal should any safety issue come up and we know how I am about safety. If
it doesn’t have the good pieces and parts, I am not going to drive it. That’s
just the way it is for me. We’ve all seen what can happen i.e.
“Being in the sport as
long as I have, I watched Scott given the chance to go ahead and he chose not
to go any farther with it. Fram decided to go in a different direction. Scott’s
biggest issue was will I have a job. They had some offers from other teams and
some directions they could have gone that I would have had a job.
“Thank God that Fram chose
the way to go that kept me with a job. That’s the story of why I left. Plus,
they tried to sell me as an asset and I am not an asset. Slavery was abolished
a long time ago. I’m not a racehorse or any animal. I’m not a part of a race
car. I am a human being.
“I think at the time of
the sale, my contract became null and void. I have to look out for FRAM, GMC,
Prestone, Autolite, Lucas Oil, Jeg’s.com, Mac Tools, Bendix and Cleavite,”
McClenathan said. “Those are the people I am looking out for, including
myself.”
HARKER BACK – Just one
race after a scary Top Alcohol Dragster blowover, Kate Harker was back racing
this weekend in a dragster formerly driven by Morgan Lucas.
Harker showed no ill effects
from the crash as she qualified 5th with a 5.514 elapsed time at 259.96 mph.
TOP FUEL –
SHARK BIT – This shark
might nibble on the first pass, but you can always count on a firm bit the next
swim-by.
Rod Fuller continued his
torrid pace in Top Fuel qualifying by driving his unsponsored “Great White”
dragster to the top of provisional qualifying with a blistering run of 4.607
seconds at 324.83 mph.
“I made a mistake on the
first run,” Fuller said. “They had the car setup light to get down the track
and it felt funny like it was spinning the tires, so I lifted. It was running
smooth and should have ran a high 4.60. It was my responsibility. I was hard on
myself after that run. I came back to the pit and apologized to my guys. We’re
all behind each other.
“On the night run, it felt
great. At the end of the track the guys gave me thumbs up and I knew it was
good. I’m surprised it held because there were a lot of good cars behind us.
It’s cool to give back to the team. This just continues our dream season.”
If the time holds on
Saturday, it will be Fuller’s fourth pole of the 2007 season (
RAMPING UP - Tony
Schumacher has risen to second-place in the standings behind leader, Rod
Fuller.
“We’ve won three out of
the last five races, so we’re definitely moving in the right direction,” he
said. “We’re in the Countdown, so the pressure is off in that area. But, we
still need to sort everything out prior to the U.S. Nationals when it will
start counting for real.”
Part of that sort out
process will begin in Brainerd when the U.S. Army team finally unloads last
year’s record-setting car.
“We’re planning on
bringing out the car from the
No matter the car,
Schumacher can’t wait to challenge for an unprecedented fourth straight crown.
“We have to do it for all
of our soldiers,” he said. “Without question, they deserve another world
championship.”
Schumacher is currently
11th in the provisional field with a 4.688 elapsed time at 313.66 mph.
BACK FOR THE FIRST TIME –
BIR made a good first impression on Clay Millican as he drove the Evan
Knoll-owned Ratt “Back for More” dragster to the 4th spot in provisional
qualifying.
The driver from Drummonds,
“We are very happy with
the way the car ran last weekend and we want it to continue doing that at
Brainerd,” Millican said. “This is another place I know zero about, but it is
fun to visit new places and learn about new tracks. I have heard a lot about
the track and the campers. It sounds interesting.
“Our goal is to go down
the track consistently and win some rounds. We’ve qualified well at a lot of
races this year but haven’t been able to put together round wins.”
The RATT Mobile qualified
second once and third four times yet the veteran driver has struggled, winning
just three rounds.
“We ran well last weekend
in weather conditions similar to what we are likely to see at Brainerd,” added
Millican. “I hope that helps. All I can say is bring it on.”
Millican made a solid run of
4.634 seconds at 319.98 mph on a hot BIR racing surface to claim the No. 4
provisional starting spot with two more runs on tap Saturday. The RATT Mobile showed promise in the first
session before smoking the tires, forcing Millican to get out of the throttle.
He coasted through in 5.865 at 149.81 mph.
AT LEAST IT STARTED – Cory
McClenathan knew this weekend wasn’t going to be an easy one.
McClenathan’s new team --
announced 10 days ago -- "shows promise, but we hurt motors on each
run," McClenathan said. "We
had the quickest 60-foot time and all our (incremental computer) numbers were
good early in the runs. We did have two oil downs, which is not the way I
envisioned it, but the car was trying to run good. We are lucky to be in the show right now.
"Keith (
McClenathan has two more
qualifying attempts Saturday to improve his 15th position.
SECOND RUN CRITICAL – Whit
Bazemore smoked the tires in the opening session, but didn’t make the same
mistake the second time around.
“We knew the night run
would be very critical after the high temperatures during the day,” Bazemore
said. “We ran a 4.62 and that put us near the front of the pack. Our teammates
did a good job and these two David Powers cars are one and three. We’re really
excited. We didn’t expect to hang on near the front because the guys in the
back ran on a cooler race track, but they weren’t able to capitalize on it.
We’re very happy.”
FUNNY CAR
IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF
THINGS – Sometimes racing comes secondary. It did for Mike Ashley this weekend
on his day job – the mortgage banking industry.
"It was really a difficult week in the mortgage industry that
saw some of the largest players in the industry fail and the federal government
jump in to try to balance the playing field. Our company, Lend
"It was great, coming up here to Brainerd to race. And with the support of
Torco and Evan, along with an incredible car tuned by Brian Corradi, everyone
on the Gotham City team will have a well deserved good night sleep heading into
qualifying tomorrow," he said.
If Ashley holds onto the top spot, it will be his sixth of the year, including
the past two races he has attended, the NHRA event in
"I'm extremely confident about the business as well as the racing, and I
am really looking forward to the rest of this weekend. When you work so hard on
things, it gives you a great feeling inside when it all comes together,"
he said.
ONE TRACK MIND – Mike
Ashley entered this weekend’s event with a clearly defined objective. He wants
a spot in the playoffs and ranked third in the points, he’s in prime position
to pull it off.
"At the beginning of
the season we had a team meeting and we talked about the determination it would
take to win a championship. We had compelling reasons -- we wanted to win - and
we have stayed focused on that goal," Ashley said.
"Over the past
several weeks, we have gone through some really incredibly strenuous and trying
times - testing our stamina and motivation, but I have to say that this team
has passed the test, and as far as I'm concerned, I give my guys an A-plus.
"I am so proud of
Brian [Corradi, crew chief] and all of these guys. They are the very
best."
Ashley drove to the top
spot on Friday with a 4.833 elapsed time.
"It's definitely hot
out there but I feel like we have a really good hot weather tune-up,"
Ashley said. "When we're not trying new things or breaking in new parts,
our car is very consistent."
BRING SON TO WORK DAY –
Gary Scelzi brought his 10-year-old son Dominic to the races for a long-overdue
"bonding experience."
Dominic has been competing
in a Restricted 600cc Mini-Sprint on Plaza Park Raceway's oval in Visalia,
Calif., this season, while his car-owner and full-time cheering squad dad has
been battling it out on the nation's premier quarter-miles.
"I'm taking Dominic
with me on this trip, without his mother (Julie) or his little brother
Giovanni," says Scelzi, who stands sixth in Funny Car points as the next
phase of the Countdown to the Championship begins for the top eight after the
next two events. "This could be one of the last trips to Brainerd for me,
and Dominic starts school soon. Also, it's my birthday on Saturday.
"We haven't done this
kind of trip together since I was testing a Funny Car for Schumacher about
three or four years ago in Indy when Dominic and I were the only ones in the
family who went. We had such a great time and we haven't been able to do it
again.
"Giovanni is a little
bit young, being 5 years old, but Dominic now can help me pack the parachutes
and we can get him to maybe help wash some parts and to start to learn what's
going on.
"There's always that
chance that I may not be back at Brainerd again. So, I think it's going to be a
great time for us to bond together, have Dad cook in the motor home, have to
get up at a certain time to catch airplanes and all those things. I'm sure
we're going to tire him out, but I'm really looking forward to spending the
time with my son one on one."
LOOKING POSITIVE – Scelzi
is barely in the field with an off-pace 5.247 elapsed time. The four-time NHRA
champion said prior to the weekend that he was taking the weekend with a
positive outlook.
"Obviously we've had
a major change at Schumacher Racing. I won't call it a shake-up, it's just a
change," Scelzi says. "I'm going to miss Mike Neff beating on the
hood of my car, but I'm also going to go into this race and I'm going to show
Todd and Phil why this team won a championship (Funny Car in 2005), and I think
everybody on this team is going to give it their all and then some.
"We're in the middle
of this Countdown and I don't want to lose any momentum. I think if we go in
there with good, positive attitudes and a strong work ethic, that I know we
have, good things are going to come from it.
"I think the only way
you can approach something like this is in a positive way and that's the way
I'm going to look at it."
YOU MEAN THERE’S A RACE? –
Jack Beckman came for the race, but he’s likely to get sucked into the “zoo.”
In case you’ve been out of touch with the drag racing legends, the “zoo” is the
campground area in Brainerd. It’s not the ideal setting for those of the
straight-laced nature.
"The interesting
thing is that sometimes at the tracks we go to, the star is the scenery, like a
"I swear there are
people in
CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS –
This weekend should produce a few teams clinching playoff berths. There should
also be a few clinging on for dear life with the cut-off rapidly approaching.
If Del Worsham wants to
earn a spot in the playoffs, he’s got to leapfrog Jim Head. Today Worsham
out-qualified him by six spots. At this point, Worsham trails Head by 85 points
with only two races left in the first-half of the season.
"If you want to know
what all of us think of the Countdown, just sit in the tuning room with us
while we all count points," Worsham said. "Our math isn't all that
good, but we finally got the official sheet and we saw we had landed No. 5,
while Jim is 11th. I can tell you without much doubt that we've never been this
caught up in POWERade points at Brainerd, so the Countdown has obviously added
a whole new phase to all of this.”
Worsham will have to wait
until tomorrow to see if Mother Nature is a fan of his team.
"A lot can happen
tomorrow, but if it's as hot as today, I bet most of what you'll see happen
will go on in the mid-4.90 range,” Worsham said. “The bump spot is still a
5.24, and there are actually two guys down there with 5.24's, so there will be
some action on the ladder, I think, no matter how hot it gets. If it's as
brutal as it was during today's two runs, it will be tough to run better than
4.95. Not impossible, mind you, because we saw Mike Ashley run 4.88 when it was
just absolutely scorching during today's first run.
"All we can do is our
best, and the car is rewarding us right now with some nice solid passes, just
like in
PRO STOCK
TESTING THE LINE – Many
teams are using the final stops before the next round of the NHRA Countdown to
the Championship to test new parts and pieces for crunch time.
Defending World Champion
Jason Line said that’s exactly what he’s doing.
"Both Greg [Anderson,
teammate] and I are already in the Countdown to the Championship field so we're
using these final two races before the first cutoff to test some things so we
can be at full speed when the next phase starts," Line said. "I know
I'm going to be working on my driving quite a bit. We're still looking for wins
also."
HOT STUFF - It was hot
today in Brainerd but not as hot as Jeg Coughlin, Jr.
"It's hard to be
upset with our effort today," he said. "We made a good opening pass
and found a way to improve in the evening, which is always important. It still
looks as though we left some on the table so we'll work to improve in tomorrow
morning's first session. Hopefully it won't be too hot by then.
"The car was just
heavy feeling when I let the clutch out. I'll go have a look and make sure I
wasn't dragging a boat anchor down the track because that's about what it feels
like when you have a slow start at the hit. I'm sure the guys will get it figured
out."
For all intents and
purposes, Coughlin is strictly racing for his fourth Brainerd trophy this
weekend, which would be the 50th national event win of his career.
MAD DOG IS BACK -
Operating on the theory that three solid Pro Stock minds are better than two,
Justin Humphreys has added Bob Glidden, one of the category’s greatest
performers, to his RaceRedi Motorsports/Knoll-Gas Energy Pontiac GTO team.
Glidden -- who amassed 85
Pro Stock wins, won 10 world championships, and was chosen number 4 in NHRA’s
Top 50 drivers from its first 50 years -- joined the team during Monday and
Tuesday testing sessions in
“I’m excited,” said
Humphreys, in his first season of Pro Stock competition. “Bob worked with
Richard [Maskin, the team’s veteran engine builder] and Eric [Luzinski, crew
chief] during testing, and things went well. They were making little changes
here and there to the engine, chassis, and tune-ups. ”
Humphreys and his new
lineup will make their POWERade Series debut Friday when the Lucas Oil NHRA
Nationals gets under way at Brainerd Int'l Raceway. It marks the driver’s first
appearance at the racing facility northwest of the Twin Cities. But this stop
is nothing new for Glidden, Maskin, and Luzinksi.
“Eric is the crew chief,
Richard builds the engines, and Bob will be overseeing everything from the
driver to the car to the engine tune-up,” Humphreys said. “We had two smart
minds, and now we added a third. There’s a lot of history there between the
three of them. I definitely think this is for the better.”
FIRST GRADE – The
educational process always starts with the first grade. For Warren Johnson, it
started in Brainerd.
Having been born in nearby
“My first contact with
drag racing came in the early 60’s at Minnesota Dragways, first as a spectator
and a couple years later as a participant,” said Johnson. “I had a ’57 Chevy
with a 327 in it with two four-barrel carburetors that I would drive down to
the track to compete in. Back then, the tracks were basically a strip of
asphalt in the middle of a field, so Minnesota Dragways was way ahead of its
time with a concrete starting line similar to what we use today, as well as
paved areas for both the racers and the fans.
“In fact, when I started
racing there in 1965, they had a rudimentary version of the starting line
Christmas tree, which was actually two traffic signals suspended over each lane
on a cable. The level of participation was tremendous, with car counts regularly
exceeding 500 cars, including five or six Top Fuel Cars. I was also fortunate
to have Twin Cities Dragway within 10-12 miles of my house, where I also raced
on a regular basis. At the time, I believe it was the oldest operating track in
the
“Brainerd didn’t come on
the drag racing scene until a few years later, around 1969 or 1970, and I won a
few races they had scheduled up there prior to getting a national event, mostly
in the street eliminator category. They traditionally had few events throughout
the course of the year which were always well attended by both competitors and
spectators.
“Those were the tracks and
cars on which I cut my racing teeth, learning how to tune and drive well before
I ever went to a national event. My first actual organized race was a Division
5 points meet, where I was the runner-up to the legendary Lutz and Lundberg
team, who at the time were the A Gas national record holders. Looking at where
we have gone since then, I guess you could say that my
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
ON A
When the NHRA POWERade
Series travels the nation we’re all very interested to see how much publicity
the series and the competitors generate,” he said from his race shop in
“When that news broke it
stunned everyone on our race team. Our first thoughts were, Have we lost anyone
we know? Anyone who’s part of the drag racing family? But, we quickly realized
that this was about much more than drag racing. Reading the newspaper stories,
and watching the coverage on television, you couldn’t help but notice how all
of Minnesota had suddenly become one big family, and we realized that a whole
state had become the same kind of close-knit family that all of us in drag
racing feel we’re a part of.
“Everyone knows that we’re
in the fight of our lives to be among the top eight points earners when the
U.S. Nationals begins in
“But, as much as we’re
going to concentrate on making the Countdown – we have just two races left in
which to qualify, but we’re right in the thick of things right now – we’re
going in to the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd with the people of
“It may sound kind of
corny, but we’re going to try and win one for
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN - While
Matt Smith has been red-hot all year long, especially with his recent winning
streak over the last two races, his Torco teammate Chris Rivas has been
striving to stay in the crucial top-eight. Last time out in
"We have been running
well all season," said Smith. "We have however struggled somewhat with
Chris's bike, because we haven't been able to push it much since we only had
one motor. We now have a second motor for his bike so our goal right now is to
get Chris back in the top-eight. We will do whatever it takes from here on
out."
"I am excited and
anxious about these next two races," said Rivas. "We now have the
equipment to be able to push the limit somewhat and hopefully that will be
enough to get us back up in the top-eight. It is crunch time and I am more than
ready to get the ball rolling. Evan and Matt have given me what I need and it's
time to get it done."
ROLLING THUNDER – Andrew
Hines and Eddie Krawiec joined hundreds of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts
for the 67th annual
While Hines has made the
Sturgis-Brainerd shuffle three times before, this is Krawiec's first visit to
both venues. The
"This is another new
thing for me but I have to admit I've been looking forward to going to Sturgis
and Brainerd for the first time for a while now," Krawiec said. "I've
come to realize that the Harley-Davidson crowd is incredibly diverse and they
really are the most loyal group I've ever come across. I can't wait to hang out
with them at the biggest rally before going to Brainerd.
"I've heard so much
about Brainerd and how people camp out for days just to get in the campground
for the race. Everyone has said that the Brainerd crowd not only knows racing
but they also know how to make the event even more fun.
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