Mac Tools Thunder
Valley NHRA Nationals
Bristol, Tenn.
(April 25-27)
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| Sunday |
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Bernstein, Worsham take nitro wins |
A sun-splashed day in historic Thunder Valley ended with a jubilant Winner's Circle celebration as the third annual Mac Tools Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals crowned its 2003 champions. Brandon Bernstein, Del Worsham, and Kurt Johnson all mastered Bristol Dragway to claim victory Sunday.
Bernstein's win over Doug Herbert was huge as it moved the rookie driver into the Top Fuel points lead for the first time in his brief career. Worsham also moved up in the points to third place when he dismissed a tire-smoking Whit Bazemore in the Funny Car finale. In Pro Stock, Kurt Johnson padded his lead by driving around a game Mike Edwards in a thrilling money round.
Bernstein stayed a perfect 3-0 in final rounds with his unlikely win over Herbert. His penultimate pass of 4.625 seconds at 320.13 mph was his first run of the day where he remained under full power from one end to the other. Nevertheless, he supplanted Larry Dixon from the POWERade points lead for the first time in 28 national events.
 Brandon Bernstein
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Competing in his 200th career NHRA race, Herbert encountered tire shake a few hundred feet into his run and quickly pedaled his way back into contention, but it was too late to stop Bernstein. Herbert's 4.880 at 282.72 mph left him in second place.
"I feel very lucky right now," Bernstein said. "I certainly got plenty of experience pedaling the car today in the first three rounds but when we needed it the most Tim [Richards, crew chief] and the crew came through and gave me a great racecar. He found out why the car was doing what it was doing and made an adjustment right before the final. I do feel extremely lucky, though, and I sure hope we didn't use up all of our luck at one time.
"It feels really good to get the points lead but Dixon has a great team over there and they'll be on us again in no time. I'm sure they'll bounce right back next weekend in Atlanta.
"I can't say enough about this track. It's my first time here and I'm the low qualifier, win the race, and take over the points lead. What's not to love? It's a great facility from top to bottom."
Luck was riding on Bernstein's shoulder for most of the day as he survived three straight tire-smoking duels to reach his third final of the year. The Budweiser pro out-pedaled Josh Starcher, Cory McClenathan, and Darrell Russell, never going quicker than 5.17 seconds.
A six-time winner at this track when he raced on the IHRA circuit, Herbert used his local knowledge to reach his 16th NHRA final round. After surviving a 4.83-second win against first-round foe Rhonda Hartman-Smith that ended in a blower explosion, he powered by Bruce Litton and Jim Head with a pair of 4.6-second passes. Overall, Herbert has seven NHRA wins in 16 finals. Top Fuel results
Worsham re-stamped his program with the designation of title contender with his solid win over Bazemore. Worsham marched straight down the valley in the final with a convincing 4.924 at 310.41 mph to easily beat Bazemore, who was up in smoke at the hit of the throttle. Bazemore did try to pedal his way out of trouble but soon realized Worsham could not be caught. He clicked off and drifted through with a 6.500 at 194.35 mph.
 Del Worsham
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Bazemore did take solace in the fact he moved up to second place in the POWERade standings, 67 points behind leader Tony Pedregon, while Worsham was ecstatic about his move into third place, 34 back of Bazemore.
"Unbelievable!" Worsham said. "We finally got another win. I had a great, great racecar today, not any different from the one I had two weeks ago in Houston, and dad and the guys were smart enough not to change too much. I didn't do anything stupid and at the end of the day we're standing here in the winner's circle. That's how it's supposed to work.
"I almost felt like I had to win today to stay in the points race. Tony Pedregon has been so strong and you certainly get a feeling that you can't give away the ones where you have a real good chance of winning and this was one of those races for us. It's my wife Connie's birthday tomorrow so she is really excited right now."
A two-time runner-up this season, Worsham reached his second successive money round with victories over Ron Capps, 12-time and reigning champion John Force, and his Checker Schuck's Kragen teammate Johnny Gray. This win was the 12th of his career in 22 final-round appearances.
Bazemore's Matco Tools Dodge Stratus R/T remains one of the best cars in the category having raced to at least the semifinals in the last five events, which includes his runner-up finishes in Las Vegas and Bristol. The defending event champion beat Tim Wilkerson, Tommy Johnson Jr., and No. 1 qualifier and points leader Tony Pedregon with a string of mid 4.9-second passes. Funny Car results
The Pro Stock final was extremely close with Johnson edging Edwards by .004 of a second. After patiently waiting several minutes for a late-arriving Edwards to get to the starting line as officials watched the clocks, Johnson nearly regretted his sportsmanlike decision when Edwards left him at the lights with a near-perfect .003-second reaction time. But Johnson's horsepower kicked in and delivered him to the finish line first with a 6.899 at 200.92 mph to Edwards' game 6.925 at 199.37 mph.
 Kurt Johnson
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Johnson's impressive win, the 26th of his career, moved him into a tie with Lee Shepherd for fifth place on the all-time Pro Stock victory list. He now has three victories on the season and extended his lead in the POWERade standings to 95 points over second-place points earner Greg Anderson.
"We're just making the right calls at the right times lately," said Johnson, who is 15-1 since switching to the 2003 Cavalier body. "The guys working on this car and dad's car have been relaying a lot of info back and forth and that has certainly helped both of us. Racing him in the semi's was a chore, trust me.
"I had my best light in the final and I needed it because the margin of victory was pretty slim. It's brutal out there. Every single round I've raced this year has felt like a final round to me. The difference has been my team. You hear Winston Cup guys talking about chemistry all the time. Well, we've got some serious chemistry going on within this ACDelco team."
K.J. advanced his ACDelco Chevrolet Cavalier to its fourth straight final despite slowing slightly in each of the earlier rounds. He opened with a 6.89-second win over Barry Grant, posted a 6.90 versus Bruce Allen, and used a 6.92 to dismiss his father, Warren Johnson, who had a regrettable -.007 foul start. Then K.J. returned to form when he needed it the most, posting the 6.89 against Edwards to take the trophy.
After starting the season with a pair of DNQs, Edwards has taken a big step upwards each race with a first-round appearance in Gainesville, a quarterfinal finish in Las Vegas, a semifinal effort in Houston and his 23rd career final here in Bristol. Sunday's victims included Mark "Cowboy" Pawuk, Greg Stanfield, and surprise semifinalist Taylor Lastor III. Edwards' recent efforts have lifted him into the POWERade Top 10 to seventh place. Pro Stock results
Fred Hahn scored his first AMS Pro Mod Challenge victory of the 2003 season, driving Jim Oddy's Summit Racing '02 Corvette to a 6.23 after opponent Mitch Stott got crossed up in his Radiac Abrasives '63 Corvette and nearly crossed the centerline.
No. 1 qualifier Doug Vancil powered the Vance & Hines Harley to a final-round 6.70 to take the opening round of the Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley exhibition. Final-round opponent Mark Cox had to shut down his Bojangles Harley.
David Rampy scored his 47th career victory, taking an easy final-round pass in Comp with his Winnebago-sponsored A/EA Bantam after first-time finalist Jerry Hemmingson red-lighted in his B/A Lumina.
Craig Marshall defeated defending event champ Lincoln Morehead in the Super Stock final, wheeling his SS/BA '65 Mopar to the winner's circle. Kevin Helms continued his recent hot streak with a Stock win, beating Bryan Merkle in a double-breakout final, 10.52 on a 10.53 to Merkle's further-out 11.14 on an 11.16.
Edmond Richardson scored his 40th career win in Super Comp, defeating last year's second-place finisher Kent Hanley .003-under effort. Bob Phillips scored his first win in more than 15 years on Ron Brady's final-round foul in Super Gas while Michael Sawyer took a double-breakout Super Street final, running a 10.897 to be closer to the class index than the 10.861 pass of runner-up David Anspach.
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