Rugged Liner NHRA Nationals
Brainerd, Minn.
(Aug. 15-18)
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21st annual |
| Sunday |
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Jeg, Scali's Kawasaki also win |
Top Fuel champion Kenny Bernstein closed the gap on current points leader Larry Dixon to just 80 championship points by beating his beer rival in a fantastic finale to the 21st annual Rugged Liner NHRA Nationals Sunday. Bernstein posted a 4.830-second, 303.16-mph quarter-mile pass in front of Dixon's tire-smoking 5.410 at 218.12 mph to take his 65th career win.
In Funny Car, 11-time champion John Force tacked 40 points on his lead by downing teammate Gary Densham. Jeg Coughlin closed his gap on the two men in front of him in the points by dismissing one of them, Greg Anderson, in the Pro Stock final. And Geno Scali logged the first Kawasaki victory in over a decade in Pro Stock Bike.
In a classic battle of the beer wagons, Bernstein's Budweiser machine powered to its fourth victory of the season and second final-round win over Dixon's Miller Lite rail with a 4.830 at 303.16 mph. The win kept Dixon directly in Bernstein's sights in the POWERade championship points standings as the gap closed to a mere four rounds.
 Kenny Bernstein
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Dixon had an early lead in the final when he left five-thousandths of a second ahead of Bernstein, but his car soon overpowered the racetrack and he was quickly reduced to spectator status, posting just a 5.410 at 218.12 mph.
"Some times you get lucky and get a big chunk of points back at one time and other times you have to just take them 20 at a time," Bernstein said. "You can never really expect more than that because you figure if you win the race, which is the best you can do, then you expect that other car to be right there at the end of the day.
"We got lucky in Round 1 and we were really lucky in the finals because I dropped a cylinder right at the hit. I was just waiting for him to pass me. I knew we were in big trouble right away. The car felt terrible. But he was having problems and we made it to the other end first.
"It's World War III every weekend because you have to stay up there with [Dixon] to chomp away the best you can at their points lead. This has been going on for a year and a half now. It's fun. That's a great team over there and Larry's a great driver and I know I have to get up for them or he'll beat us."
After a lucky first-round where he beat a red-lighting John Smith despite posting just a blower-belt-breaking 5.58, Bernstein got progressively quicker as the day wore on, even as the track temperature soared. He downed Cory McClenathan in Round 2 with a 4.64 and then earned lane choice in the finals by taking out No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta by a tenth of a second in the semi's with a 4.61. It wasn't until the finals when he showed any vulnerability.
Defending event champion Dixon marched past Luigi Novelli, won a thrilling pedalfest with recent nemesis Darrell Russell, and powered away from Tony Schumacher with a 4.67 to reach his 11th final of the year and his second consecutive money round at BIR. Top Fuel results
It wasn't pretty, but there are no extra points for style and Force will certainly take his 103rd career win and never look back. With an expiring motor, Force limped across the finish line with a 5.405 at 216.62 mph ahead of Densham's retiring, smoke-filled 6.929 at 130.27 mph.
 John Force
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Force has now won 10 events at Brainerd International Raceway, more than any other facility. His 140-point lead in the Funny Car class has been built on five wins this year in seven final-round appearances.
"Ugly or not, I'm ugly, too, so who cares. We got the win and that's all that matters," Force said. "It was trying to fly [in the finals] and all of a sudden it let go and that was it. She coasted through the lights. I was vulnerable. I was vulnerable twice today because [Dean] Skuza was hopped up to beat me but he red-lit. I got lucky today.
"I know there's a lot of controversy when I come up against one of my own cars but we have to do what it takes to keep these Fords out in front of the GM cars. That's what we're paid to do so I was happy my guys all went as far as they did. They all did their jobs today.
"I raced this ol' track for a number of years. It's always a fun race. I have fun with the people here and I like the way the pits are where everyone's right there with you. I guess they're rebuilding the track but we'll always love the way it was."
Force breezed to the finals in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, blowing past Scotty Cannon, Dean Skuza, and Bruce Sarver. Only first-round opponent Cannon gave him any sort of challenge and he lost by more than a tenth of a second.
Densham shook off a horrible Western Swing where he won just one round in three events by reaching his fourth final round of the year. He beat Frank Pedregon with a 4.93, topped Whit Bazemore by .001-second after a .498 to .510 holeshot, and emerged from a pedaling contest with teammate Tony Pedregon in the semifinals. Funny Car results
It should be no surprise that the tightest class in all of drag racing has the closest points race. With today's win, Coughlin moved to within 35 points of the POWERade lead. He now trails his final-round foe, Greg Anderson -- who gained the points lead today for the first time in his career -- by 35 points and second-place points earner Jim Yates by just 10 points.
 Jeg Coughlin
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Anderson actually entered the final as the favorite and he even left the starting line first (.424 to .442), but his car's tires began to spin wildly almost immediately and Coughlin had already passed him by the 60-foot timers. Coughlin never looked back, winning with a 6.918 at 199.11 mph in front of Anderson's 6.984 at 199.82 mph
"It's going to be an exciting points race to the finish," said Coughlin, who is the only three-time winner in the class this season. "The 2002 season is going to crown a POWERade-type champion, no question. Pro Stock right now is zero tolerance. There is no room for error. The fields are so mixed up at every race. We've been able to take advantage of that a little bit and sneak up on some people.
"Getting by Greg in the finals was big. He's just catapulted up the rankings over the last 10 or so races. He's the toughest competitor there is behind the wheel and his car's performance has been second-to-none. It's a big accomplishment to beat him.
"I feel like we can win this thing. We have our eyes set on the first POWERade championship."
Emerging from the 15th qualifying spot, Coughlin used a pair of holeshot wins over Allen Johnson and Warren Johnson, as well as a steady 6.91-second victory over semifinalist Kurt Johnson, to put his Jeg's Mail Order Chevrolet Cavalier in its fifth final round of the season.
Anderson's Vegas General Construction Chevrolet Cavalier was one of the quickest cars all day as he out-paced Tom Lee with a 6.87, former points leader Yates with a 6.89, and surprise semifinalist Tom Martino with a 6.90. He has two wins on the year in six final rounds. Pro Stock results
For the first time since the late Dave Schultz claimed victory for Team Green at the 1992 Atlanta event, a Kawasaki found its way to an NHRA national event winner's circle. This time it was Scali claiming his long-awaited first career win on his Lake Mortgage Kawasaki. Scali used a near-perfect .404 reaction time to get an early jump on Craig Treble and then rode away for the win with a 7.277 at 183.05 mph ahead of Treble's 7.295 at 185.59 mph.
 Geno Scali
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"Pete Briggs [team owner] has been doing this for 15 years," Scali said. "He's a Kawasaki die-hard. Our goal, our dream at the beginning of the year, was to run as hard as we could at every race and get one of these Wallys. Now it's happened and it's incredible.
"You miss a lot to race at this level but that's what it takes to win. I even missed my brother's wedding. But it's worth it. I feel really happy right now, mostly for other people. I feel good inside but I'm not going crazy because I don't want to just win one race, I want to win a bunch. I want to win a POWERade championship. I want to feel like this a bunch more times."
Scali got a pair of red-light wins against Todd Doege and Thomas Miceli, and then posted a .403 reaction time against points leader Angelle Savoie's forgettable .543-second start to reach his fourth career final round.
Treble's Matco Tools Suzuki carried the championship contender to his 10th career final and sixth trophy round of the 2002 season with a string of 7.2-second wins over Mike Berry, Fred Camarena, and Antron Brown, who red-lighted. Treble's runner-up finish, his second of the season, pulled him to within 67 points of Angelle Savoie with just four Pro Stock Motorcycle races left.
Six of the day's 15 races were decided at the starting line when one of the two racers jumped the gun and drew a red-light violation. Pro Stock Bike results
In Lucas Oil Sportsman action, Arthur Gallant defeated Shelly Howard in the Top Alcohol Dragster final, 5.31 to 5.56, while Cy Chesterman captured Alcohol Funny Car over Kirk Williams.
David Rampy scored his 44th career win by defeating Al Bresch in the Comp final to lead an all-star parade to the winner's circle that also included Peter Biondo, who bested Rock Running in the Super Stock final; Dan Fletcher, who scored win No. 29 with a Stock final-round defeat of Anatol Denysenko; Sheldon Gecker, who defeated fellow all-star Mike Ferderer in Super Gas; and Gary Stinnett, who captured Super Comp over Michael Miller.
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