Championship Drag Racing

Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis
(August 28-Sept. 2)

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48th annual

Monday

Force, Jeg ride holeshots to wins; Schumacher, Savoie victorious, too

John Force and Jeg Coughlin won their fourth and third Mac Tools U.S. Nationals titles on holeshots and Tony Schumacher and Angelle Savoie their second "Big Go" crowns as final eliminations raced to a thrilling conclusion at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Force defeated Tommy Johnson Jr., 5.03 to 4.99, to score career win No. 104 while Coughlin tattooed Jim Yates, 6.95 to 6.93, to take the POWERade points lead by a single marker.

Schumacher bested an up-in-smoke Larry Dixon for Top Fuel while Savoie claimed her second straight Indy Pro Stock Bike win with a final-round defeat of Shawn Gann, 7.23 to 7.26.

Schumacher needed some luck to reach his third final round of the year. After cruising by a tire-smoking Darrell Russell in Round 1, the U.S. Army-sponsored pro won a wild pedaling contest with low qualifier Cory McClenathan that featured both drivers getting on and off the throttle several times. Eventually, McClenathan lost his blower belt and Schumacher took a 5.85-second win. He then marched past Andrew Cowin with a 4.70.

Tony Schumacher

"To win Indy is truly unbelievable," Schumacher said. "To do it two times in three years is unreal. Then, last year I didn't win, but our teammate, Whit Bazemore, won in Funny Car. My father's had a lot of success here. Let's face it, three U.S. Nationals trophies in three years is pretty stout. You look at your trophy case and the U.S. Nationals trophy is right next to the series championship trophy we won. They're all tough to get but Indy's special.

"This was a big weekend for the U.S. Army. We had three generals here and a bunch of other very important people because we were firming up our deal for the next several years, so it's awesome to win for them. I have to hand it to the NHRA because a lot of these guys had never been to a race and now they're all saying this is the most incredible thing they've seen."

Dixon's most crucial pass of the day, and arguably the year, came in the semifinals when he squared off with fellow championship contender Kenny Bernstein. With a 40-point swing in the standings on the line, the two beer rivals put on a race worthy of this prestigious event, with Dixon taking a holeshot win by 14-ten-thousandths of a second or just eight inches. Earlier in the day, Dixon had beaten Bruce Litton and Doug Herbert, both with a pair of 4.65-second passes.

With six races left, Dixon tacked 23 points onto his lead over Bernstein and now holds a 103-point advantage over his only true challenger. Dixon has seven wins and five runner-up finishes this year. Top Fuel results

Force legged out another win and a bunch more points in the POWERade championship points standings by taking a holeshot victory of Johnson Jr. in the Funny Car finale.

John Force

Not known for his starting line prowess, Force needed every bit of his .482 to .524-second starting-line advantage to beat Johnson with a 5.028 at 280.02 mph against a 4.996 at 308.43 mph. Force's car nosed over at 1,200 feet when the blower belt broke and Johnson charged hard into the lights, but it wasn't enough to deny the Force his fourth U.S. Nationals win and third national event victory in a row.

"I made a mistake in the semifinals and almost cost my guys a win because I wasn't focused on what I needed to do to beat Cruz [Pedregon] and I ended up having a terrible [.590 second] light," Force said. "So I was so pumped up for the finals I could feel my heart pounding against the belts. Boy, if I ever needed a light it was right there and to end up winning on a holeshot makes this my most exciting win ever.

"We had this old goofy looking car and I was ready to rip the stickers off of it but now I love this old heap. The belt came off in the final and the car just parked itself right before the finish line. I didn't know who had won.

"There's still a ways to go but can I start thinking about the 10 [championships] in a row Cruz denied me nine years ago? There's six races left and I don't want to jinx myself because I could go out in the first round and someone could gain 100 points on me quick. I don't even want to think about it yet, I guess."

Force kept his special-edition "11-time champion" Castrol GTX Ford Mustang in the 4.9-second range in recording wins against John Lawson, Bob Gilbertson, and surprise semifinalist Cruz Pedregon.

Skoal Racing's Johnson got slower as the day progressed but reached his third final of the year and first of the U.S. Nationals nevertheless. The recently engaged pro posted a 4.95 in a holeshot win over Scotty Cannon, a 4.97 versus a tragically late (.814 reaction time) Johnny Gray, and a 5.12 against a tire-smoking Dean Skuza. Funny Car results

Coughlin made it back-to-back victories on the POWERade tour by keeping Yates winless on the year. The 2000 champion also moved into the POWERade championship lead by a single point thanks to his four victories in the last six events.

Jeg Coughlin

There was plenty of gamesmanship in this race. After completing his burnout, Coughlin backed up to the starting line and immediately lit both the pre-stage and the stage lights, seemingly putting a rush on Yates. By rule, Yates, a two-time series champion, had no reason to hurry up with the seven-second timer not activated until he broke his own pre-stage beam. But he seemed rattled anyway and rushed into the lights, only to give up a decisive .439 to .477 holeshot to Coughlin. At the other end, Coughlin won with a 6.953 at 199.08 mph to Yates' 6.934 at 200.08 mph, to claim his third Indy win.

"Jim taught me a valuable lesson in 1997," Coughlin said. "We were in Dallas and it was my first race as a pro. We qualified in the top half and I won my first round race. I was feeling pretty good about myself. Then I raced Jim and he pulled right in and lit both lights. It totally threw me off and I lost the round. He won the championship with the lap and he taught me a lesson I haven't forgotten.

"We've come a long way this year. When you leave Pomona and you haven't qualified, it's pretty disheartening. But this is a championship caliber team with good people, and with my pop running things, I always felt like we were ready to strike at any race. Seven, eight races into the year when we were 270 points back I just said to myself that we'd have to work hard and maybe eight, nine races from now we'll have made it up. That's where we're at and it's very gratifying."

Coughlin used consistency to emerge from the bottom half of the field and take his Jeg's Mail Order Chevrolet Cavalier to the final round. He posted 6.93s opposite Greg Stanfield and low qualifier Ron Krisher, against whom he recorded nearly a tenth of a second holeshot, and beat Allen Johnson by .004 second when both men carded identical 6.945-second passes.

SplitFire/Peak Pontiac Grand Am driver Yates was a bit of a sleeper coming out of the No. 7 slot, but he woke up today with back-to-back 6.91s against Mike Edwards and a red-lighting Mark Whisnant, and a 6.92 against incoming points leader Greg Anderson. Pro Stock results

Savoie successfully defended her U.S. Nationals championship with an end-to-end victory over Gann. After nearly identical reaction times, Savoie nailed down her fourth win of the year and 26th of her career by covering IRP's quarter-mile in 7.232 seconds at 183.39 mph against Gann's 7.263-second, 184.22-mph trip.

Angelle Savoie

Savoie's victory today pads her points lead in the POWERade championship points standings to 111. She entered this event just 67 points ahead of Craig Treble. For his part, Gann has now raced to two runner-up finishes this year.

"First thing I said into the cameras at the other end was that it would have been great to win some of that K&N money the other day but the main thing we came here for was points," Savoie said, referencing her first-round loss Saturday in the Pro Bike Klash. "All we've been focused on is going further than Craig Treble. We couldn't give up any more ground to that points chaser and it's hard not to because he's so good.

"I'm so proud of the way I improved on my lights today. I was tuned in. I know I didn't have any lights that people will talk about at the end of the year but I did enough and I was consistent enough to win. I changed my routine before I stage so I won't rush myself and, like I said yesterday, I used to worry about the other guys waiting on me and what they'd think. But no more Mrs. Nice Guy for me. I'm doing it my way for the rest of my career."

Savoie first extended her points lead with a big semifinal victory over her closest pursuer, Treble, by posting her second successive 7.21. When combined with her opening 7.24-second win over Greg Underdahl, Savoie's B&M Million Dollar Drag Race Suzuki was the quickest bike of every round.

Gann, Savoie's good friend who entered the day as the No. 3 qualifier, rode his Gann Speed Airtech Suzuki past Steve Johnson, Reggie Showers, and Antron Brown. His win over Brown was convincing due to his cosmic .402-second light. Pro Stock Bike results

Frank Manzo celebrated his 50th birthday in style, winning his milestone 50th career title and becoming a six-time U.S. Nationals champion with a final-round defeat of longtime friend and rival Bob Newberry, 5.73 to 5.75. Only seven other drivers have won the U.S. Nationals as many times

Alcohol Dragster winner John Haley made his first career national event win an even more unforgettable moment, claiming his initial crown at the U.S. Nationals with a final-round conquest of Duane Shields, 5.47 to 5.55.

Larry Pritchett, Michael Beachy and Rusty Hall scored their first U.S. Nationals win in Comp, Super Stock and Stock, respectively, with Pritchett ousting Jerry Arnold, Beachy holding off Mike Farrell and Hall driving his B/SA Mustang to the Stock title on Jim Roberts' final-round red-light.

In another big upset, Ray Connolly defeated Steve Cohen, who broke out by .002-second, while Super Gas was decided by a double-breakout affair with Thomas Stalba Jr. edging Greg Kamplain, 9.896 to 9.876.