O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
Bristol, Tenn.
(April 30-May 2)
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Fourth annual |
| Monday |
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Anderson join him in Bristol stomp |
Twelve-time Funny Car champion John Force returned to form Monday in Thunder Valley, powering to his record 110th career victory – and first at Bristol Dragway – with a convincing win over Whit Bazemore. Class frontrunners Tony Schumacher and Greg Anderson padded their leads in Top Fuel and Pro Stock, respectively, at the rain-delayed O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Quaker State.
Both Force and Schumacher took advantage of their opponent's misfortunes in the money round, with Bazemore and Clay Millican both overpowering the racetrack. Anderson merely needed to outrun his teammate, Jason Line, in the second straight all-KB Racing title round.
Any lingering doubts about Schumacher's burgeoning dominance of Top Fuel were laid to rest in Thunder Valley as he rode crew chief Alan Johnson's tune-up to the quickest pass of every elimination round en route to his fourth win of the first six events. Schumacher pushed his 2004 season final-round mark to a perfect 4-0 with a nail-biting tire-smoking victory over Clay Millican, who simply started spinning his tires well before Schumacher did. The final numbers had Shoe winning with a 5.802.
 Tony Schumacher
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As the low qualifier and race winner, Schumacher maximized his Bristol experience by gaining the largest number of points available without setting a national E.T. record - 118. He padded his lead over second-place points earner Brandon Bernstein to 181 markers, 576 to 495. After those two, the standings drop all the way down to Doug Kalitta's 394 points.
"A father came up to me earlier this weekend and told me he lost his son, Private First Class Tommy Young, in the war," Schumacher said. "I asked his spirit to ride with us this weekend and let me tell you, when you have an angel on your wing you're tough to beat. We won this one for him and his family. What they went through makes this look like nothing but fun and games.
"Being 4-0 sounds great until you stand next to Greg Anderson and see that he's 5-0. Man, that's incredible but we're not doing too bad either. I'm so proud of this entire Army team.
"We have to thank the diehard fans who stayed with us through the rain. I think we have every fan who was able to come back here today partying right here with us in the winner's circle and they deserve our thanks."
Johnson and the U.S. Army team helped Schumacher reach his 15th career win in 35 final rounds by tuning him to a string of lightning-quick passes against Rhonda Hartman-Smith, Doug Herbert, and a red-lighting Bernstein. Bernstein posted a competitive 4.509 to Schumacher's 4.503, but had a -.055 foul start. The run against Herbert, a 4.477 at 331.36 mph, reset the Bristol Dragway record for Top Fuel.
Millican's second straight final-round showing in the 104+ Octane Boost dragster moved him up to ninth place in the POWERade points. He ran a pair of high 4.5s in wins over Scott Kalitta and semifinal foe Scott Weis, but got a break against quarterfinal opponent Dave Grubnic when Grubnic jumped the start and was disqualified. Millican needed the free pass as he suffered a multitude of mechanical problems during a 5.96-second pass. Top Fuel results
A classic Funny Car match-up ended with Force taking out his nemesis Bazemore for his 110th career win. This one was never in doubt as Bazemore instantly went up in smoke at the hit of the throttle. Force would have been tough to beat anyway, carding a slick 4.781 at 322.88 mph.
 John Force
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The current POWERade points standings show Force in the No. 2 position, 42 points behind Del Worsham. Bazemore advanced to sixth place, but would have been as high as fourth if not for a pair of oildowns, which cost him 25 points.
"[NASCAR driver] Rusty Wallace told me I was a weak dog the other day, and that I needed to just go out there and win, just get it done," Force said. "He did it a few weeks ago in Martinsville [Va.] and now I finally got my 110th, so I guess we both still have some left in the tank.
"It really was great to watch all three of my teams work together this weekend. Eric Medlen went out there and took out the reigning champ and then he knocked off the points leader. Gary Densham and that group did a good job. It was a great team win.
"It's great to slide in here and finally win one at Bristol. Beating my old buddy Bazemore in the final was just a bonus. The Funny Car race is going to be tough all year. Del Worsham has the baddest hot rod and we're all chasing him."
Force is starting to look like a 12-time champion again, racing his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang past Tony Bartone, teammate Gary Densham, and a red-lighting Phil Burkart Jr. to reach his record 170th final round. His slowest pass of the day was a 4.813 from the first round. Force's 325.37-mph top speed in Round 2 was a track record.
Bazemore's Matco Tools Dodge Stratus R/T looked strong in the opening two rounds as he dispatched Bob Gilbertson and teammate Gary Scelzi. But the team's semifinal victory over Eric Medlen was earned solely by Bazemore as he fought a tire-smoking problem all the way down the racetrack to get the win over an equally handcuffed Medlen. This was Bazemore's 38th money-round showing. Funny Car results
Anderson's dream season continued with his fifth victory of 2004. Just as he did two weeks ago in Houston, Anderson dismissed teammate Jason Line in the trophy round, posting a steady 6.754 at 203.12 mph over Line's 6.790 at 202.99 mph.
 Greg Anderson
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This was Anderson's 21st career win and eighth in his last nine NHRA starts. The POWERade points now show Anderson leading Kurt Johnson, 668 to 470, a margin of 198 points. Line has moved from 11th place to third in the last three races. He has 373 points.
"Jason did a great job all weekend and he was cutting the Tree down today," Anderson said. "I knew I had to be ready in the final or he would kick my butt, too. He still had a great pass, the best of the day by far in that right lane. It was a good race for all of us. A great day for KB Racing and Ken Black. We're all enjoying ourselves so much right now.
"We all shake our heads every day. You just never expect to run like this in this class. And to put up these kind of numbers at altitude is just another big boost for us. I can't believe it's happening, but it sure is fun. Maybe not for everyone else, but it is for us."
Anderson's Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am remains the best car in the class as he easily posted the quickest E.T. of each elimination session. He started with a 6.771 against Ken Koretsky, used a double-track-record 6.745 at 203.25 mph to put Darrell Alderman on the trailer, and then powered away from Bruce Allen with a 6.750 to rack up his 32nd trophy-round appearance.
Line moved to the forefront of the Rookie of the Year balloting with his second consecutive final-round appearance. This time, Line's KB Framers hot rod carried him around Troy and Jeg Coughlin and Kurt Johnson. Pro Stock results
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