Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis
(Sept. 5-7)
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| Sunday |
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Wilkerson, Anderson also score |
Reggie Showers, a heroic double-amputee racer, now will be known for another double as he backed up his victory at the K&N Filters Pro Bike Klash with a Pro Stock Bike win at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, defeating Shawn Gann, 7.23 to 7.26, to win not just his first career national event by a $10,000 double-up bonus from NHRA.
Tony Schumacher became just the third driver to win Top Fuel at Indy back to back when he defeated Darrell Russell, 4.49 to 4.61, while 1997 Indy runner-up Tim Wilkerson made good this time around, besting Johnny Gray, 4.84 to 4.90, to become NHRA's 500th Funny Car winner. In Pro Stock, points leader Greg Anderson defeated second-place Kurt Johnson, who red-lighted.
Schumacher joined four other drivers as a three-time U.S. Nationals winner by beating a team that is owned by one of that club's members when he zoomed away from Joe Amato Racing pilot Darrell Russell with the lowest elapsed time of the weekend, a stunning 4.498 at 328.54 mph. Russell, winner of this race in 1997 in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, made a go of it but his 4.613 at 290.19 mph couldn't measure up.
 Tony Schumacher
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This is Schumacher's second win of the season in three final rounds. It is also the ninth victory of his career, which means one-third of his wins have come in Indianapolis.
"This is incredible," Schumacher said. "To do something that only a very small handful of people have done in the past is awesome. We brought this new car out in Brainerd and it's been great. To be honest, I was a little disappointed in qualifying because even though we were running mid-4.5s all day long, which is great, there were teams running quicker than us.
"That changed today and I owe it all to my team and my crew chief, Alan Johnson. The guys brought it together and had no stumbling points even though there were all kinds of things happening throughout the day. I've just got to stop questioning what Alan said. He told me I'd run a 4.4 and win the race a week ago.
"To actually go out and win the U.S. Nationals with a career-best pass is unreal. Darrell is a good friend and I went over there before the final and said that I felt either way I would be happy because if I didn't win then I'd see my good buddy win his first U.S. Nationals Top Fuel title. But I was lucky enough to get it this time and I couldn't be happier."
Schumacher's U.S. Army rail was easily the quickest of every round, carrying the 1999 series champ to a 4.51-second win over John Smith, and a pair of 4.52-second victories against Doug Kalitta and his cousin, Scott Kalitta.
Sporting the colors of DeeZee Truck Accessories at this event, former Rookie of the Year Russell raced to his third final of the year with steady wins over Paul Romine, who broke at half-track; low qualifier David Baca, who smoked his tires; and Kenny Bernstein, who also lost traction approximately 400 feet into his pass.
Russell's loss dropped him to 0-3 on the year and 5-10 overall. He maintained third place in the standings but Schumacher has closed to within 44 points. Top Fuel results
Wilkerson did his own version of the Indy 500 by becoming the 500th Funny Car driver in NHRA history to hoist a national event trophy. This victory, the second of his career, came at the expense of Johnny Gray, who ran a 4.903 at 314.24 mph against Wilkerson's 4.841 at 321.19 mph.
 Tim Wilkerson
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"That's what we're here for," Wilkerson said as he was handed the trophy from Mac Tools officials. "Oh my, I just don't know what to say. I'm so happy for my guys and for Levi, Ray & Shoup. They stood behind us all this time and I hope they're proud of us today.
"Earlier this year in Englishtown, Dick Levi called me and said he'd been watching me race and he thought I looked nervous. He told me to relax, that they were with us 100 percent, and that they'd be here next year and in the years beyond. It totally changed our thinking and we've been running a lot better ever since.
"We swapped lanes right before the final and I hear that Del and Chuck [Worsham, team owners of Gray's car] are upset. But until we fire those motors, that's my prerogative. The guys saw a bald spot out there and they wanted to change. I really don't think it would have mattered.
"I remember in 1997 I got to the finals here and lost to Whit Bazemore. At the other end he told me I didn't win because I hadn't earned it yet. I wish he was up here now."
The personable Wilkerson started the day with a shocker when his Levi, Ray & Shoup Pontiac Firebird posted its quickest pass of the weekend, a 4.829, against No. 2 qualifier Gary Scelzi. He then took out Scelzi's Oakley teammate, Scotty Cannon, when Cannon smoked his tires, before powering away from semifinalist Dean Skuza by a 4.86- to 5.09-second margin.
Gray raced his Checker, Schuck's & Kragen Pontiac Firebird to its third final of the 2003 season and the third money round of his career by taking out teammate Phil Burkart Jr., No. 1 qualifier and defending event champion John Force, and Force's stablemate, Gary Densham.
Currently second in the POWERade points, Whit Bazemore failed to capitalize on Castrol Syntec driver Tony Pedregon's fourth Round 1 exit in the last five races when he also bowed out early. Bazemore did gain four bonus points in qualifying, so he now trails Pedregon by just 57 points. Funny Car results
This was the second U.S. Nationals win of the last three seasons for Pro Stock champion Anderson, who raced the only other car that is even competing in the same realm as the current POWERade points leader, the hot rod of his good friend Kurt Johnson. This one was gift-wrapped when K.J. jumped the Tree with a -.010 foul launch.
 Greg Anderson
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It might have been an eyelash finish if not for the red-light as Anderson posted a 6.803 at 203.40 mph to Johnson's comparatively quick 6.808 at 202.39 mph. Anderson, who now leads K.J. by 176 points in the championship chase, is 4-0 against him in final-round action.
"This one shows that we're for real," Anderson said of his eighth victory of the year. "The first one was great but it's like a pro golfer winning a major -- unless you come back and validate the first one then people can always say it might have been a fluke. Today we proved that we're no fluke.
"If somehow we go on to win the championship this year then it'll be so much sweeter knowing we won Indy in the same season. That's big to me. This was the next piece of the puzzle. I still have a lot of the puzzle left to do but I did add another piece today.
"I'll tell you how big this race is; I never get nervous anymore but when I come here and pull in the gate I'm a mess. It's Indy. It's what drag racing is all about."
Vegas General Construction driver Anderson built his 12th career win and 22nd run to the finals with impressive passes against former boss George Marnell, Ron Krisher, reigning series champ Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Johnson. As he has on numerous occasions this year, Anderson managed to post the quickest pass in every elimination session.
No. 1 qualifier Johnson raced to his eighth final of the year and the 48th of his career by driving his ACDelco Chevrolet Cavalier past red-lighting Troy Coughlin, Anderson teammate Jason Line, and surprise semifinalist Larry Morgan. His slowest pass of the day was a 6.831 in Round 3. He is now 27-21 lifetime when the title is at stake. Pro Stock results
Showers finally completed his dream weekend by "doubling-up" with victories in both the U.S. Nationals and the K&N Filters Pro Bike Klash, which was run last weekend before the rain delay. The extraordinary feat netted him an additional $10,000 from the NHRA.
 Reggie Showers
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But it was obvious at the top end after he collected a breathtaking .001-second holeshot victory over Shawn Gann that money meant little to the double-amputee as he jumped into the arms of his jubilant teammates to celebrate his first national event win.
"I've watched my heroes, John Myers and Dave Schultz, win this race and for me to do it myself is just unreal," Showers said. "On a holeshot no less. I don't think this will sink in for quite awhile. I still don't understand what I've done here.
"I've been on an incredible journey. Last year I made a tough decision to change crew chiefs even when I had no idea George Bryce would be available. But I guess God had a plan and he got us together, and look what's happened. I used to know my place. I was a bottom-half qualifier who maybe could luck-out and win a race. Now we're a team that can run with anyone."
Showers rode crew chief George Bryce's tune-up to elimination round victories over Craig Treble; low qualifier and defending series and event champion Angelle Savoie, whom he beat on a holeshot; current POWERade points leader Geno Scali; and Gann, who is second in the points. This was just the second career final for the Prosthetic Design Inc. Suzuki Hayabusa rider.
Mac Tools challenger Gann used three consecutive red-lights by his opponents to gain his eighth chance at an NHRA trophy. Chris Reuter was .007-second early, GT Tonglet jumped the Tree by .024, and Antron Brown fouled out by .005-second.
By virtue of Sunday's runner-up finish, Gann has closed to within 152 points of Scali in the standings. The Pro Stock Bike class has four events left on its schedule. Pro Stock Bike results
Rickie Smith drove his Valspar '63 Corvette to victory in the final round of the AMS Pro Mod Challenge, running a 6.24 in the final round to beat Von Smith's '03 Mustang, who trailed with a 6.28.
It was blown alcohol dragster versus A/Fuel Dragster in the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster, with the win going to the injected nitro car Morgan Lucas powered the Lucas Oil A/FD to a 5.41 to best Shelly Howard's 5.51.
In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Jeff Craig completed one of Indy's longest shots when he advanced from the No. 14 qualifying spot with his Lane Automotive R/T and then beat heavy hitters Frank Manzo, Jim Sickles, and Bucky Austin to make the final, where Marc White's Bar's Leaks Firebird red-lighted by just .002-second.
Larry Pritchett scored in Comp for the second straight year, defeating No.1 qualifier Mike Trumble Jr. in a battle between Pritchett's A/SM Sunfire and Trumble Jr.'s nearly identical A/SMA Sunfire. Charles Bohannon piloted his GT/TA truck to the Super Stock win, besting David Bogner GT/FA in a double-break out title clash, running 10.05 on a 10.08 index to Bogner's 10.12 on a 10.19.
In another double-breakout final, Lee Zane scored an upset victory in the final of Stock, piloting his Zane & Johnson K/SA Buick Apollo to victory over Dan Fletcher's Summit Racing B/SA '69 Camaro, 11.840 on an 11.90 dial to 10.697 on a 10.76 target.
Aided greatly by a .003 reaction time, Steve Cohen powered his way to a tight final-round victory in Super Comp, running 8.93 to edge Kyle Rizzoli's better 8.917 by .006-second. David Tatum III scored in Super Gas with a 9.917, besting Bill Yates Sr. who broke out by .006-second with a 9.984 in the final round.
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