Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals
Columbus, Ohio
(June 10-13)
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40th annual |
| Sunday |
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Worsham and Hines also get wins |
Top Fuel racer Darrell Russell gave drag racing legend Joe Amato the ultimate gift for his 60th birthday with a huge win over points leader Tony Schumacher in the final of the Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals presented by Summit Racing Equipment. Russell powered through the timers in 4.56 seconds, ahead of Schumacher's 4.60-second pass.
Del Worsham closed back in on the Funny Car points lead he held for six races earlier this year with an exciting, tire-smoking victory over Gary Scelzi. The Greg Anderson juggernaut continued in Pro Stock, where the points leader gave his wife Kim a 34th birthday to remember with his eighth win of the year. In Pro Stock Bike, Andrew Hines scored another big win for Harley-Davidson.
Russell had to survive a timing hiccup that cost him lane choice in the final. But it didn't seem to matter as he powered down the right-hand lane with a dead-straight 4.569 at 326.00 mph to earn his sixth career win and first since the 2002 Seattle race.
 Darrell Russell
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The former Rookie of the Year beat Larry Dixon in the semi's but did not receive a time or speed due to a clock malfunction, which gave lane choice in the final to Schumacher. Going into the semi's, Russell had run four consecutive high 4.5-second passes, including the last two rounds of qualifying and the first two rounds of eliminations.
According to Russell's crew chief Wayne Dupuy, the onboard data system showed another 4.59 against Dixon, which would have earned the Keystone/DeeZee team lane choice in the money round, a seemingly huge advantage at this track. But with both the regular clock and the back-up clock on the fritz, Schumacher got to pick his lane in the final. In the end, it didn't matter.
"It was definitely nerve-wracking going into the final," Russell said. "I think we would have had lane choice if we had gotten a time against Larry but there was an electronic problem so Tony got it. Maybe it played to our favor because they couldn't look at what we had done in the semi's. All I know is we raced the lane we had and that thing accelerated so hard from mid-track on that I knew we were on a run.
"Joe is upside-down right now. It's really cool to see him this happy. It's so cool it happened on his birthday and it's a great lift for the team all the way around. We needed this. It had been almost two years since we won and you do start to doubt yourself at times.
"To run 4.50s all day in hot conditions like this is a credit to my crew chief, Wayne Dupuy. He likes it when it's hot and maybe this will be the start of a big summer for us. He put a new chassis into service for us this weekend and, heck, at this point it's undefeated."
Schumacher's runner-up finish put him back in the POWERade points lead by 39 markers over Brandon Bernstein, who lost in the opening round to final qualifier Mitch King. Schumacher has now led the points after nine of 10 races.
Russell's victory came at the expense of John Smith, Scott Kalitta, back-to-back NHRA champion Dixon, and Schumacher. The Texan surpassed the 100-round win mark in the opening session, while moving from seventh to fourth place in the points on the day.
Until the 4.60 in the final, the U.S. Army car had slowed slightly each session as the temperatures increased, but it was still quick enough to dismiss Luigi Novelli with a 4.55, Bob Vandergriff with a 4.60, and Doug Kalitta with a 4.62. This was Schumacher's fifth final of the year and 36th of his career. Top Fuel results
Worsham showed his driving prowess in his win over Scelzi after both lost traction just past the 330-foot mark. The pedaling contest was on from that point forward and fans had to wait for the smoke to clear at the finish line to see who had won because Worsham's 5.487 wasn't noticeably ahead of Scelzi's 5.651 through the haze.
 Del Worsham
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Worsham's big day puts him back to within 21 points of the POWERade lead he held for six races earlier this year. Points leader Whit Bazemore, who has been on top after the last three races, lost in Round 2 to Eric Medlen.
"Whit's been to five finals and we've only been to three yet we're right there with them, which is awesome. But we all know there's a long way to go and I still say John Force will be in the mix before it's all said and done," said Worsham, whose three wins this year all came when he started in the bottom half of the field.
"Maybe our key to winning is starting off in the bottom half. It's sure seemed to work. We had times where we were in trouble today but fortunately the guys in the other lane were also. I only saw Scelzi once but I know he was out there. We just got hooked enough to get to the other end first."
Emerging from mid-pack, Worsham's Checker Schuck's Kragen Chevrolet Monte Carlo beat reigning champ Tony Pedregon, Jerry Toliver, and CSK teammate Phil Burkart Jr. to carry Worsham to his third final of the year and 27th of his career. Like the final, win over Toliver was a thriller with both men on-and-off the throttle a few times each. Worsham finally won with a 6.19 to Toliver's 6.24.
Scelzi's 42nd career final was his fourth in Funny Car and second of the 2004 season. To get there, the Hemi Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T driver beat Tommy Johnson Jr., Gary Densham, and Medlen with a string of mid-4.9 second runs.
Funny Car results
Connolly did what he could in the Pro Stock final, posting a .022-second start to Anderson's mediocre .050-second launch, but the reigning series champ had reeled him in by the 60-foot timer and went on to an easy 6.854 to 6.937-second victory, his eighth of the year and 24th of his career.
 Greg Anderson
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"A three-peat at National Trail Raceway," said Anderson, who also won here in 2002 and 2003. "That is very cool. This is a tough place to win and to end the day in the winner's circle is quite an accomplishment. This is always a tuner's race, not a horsepower race, so it's special to win.
"Last year was so emotional with my teammate [Jason Line] flipping his car. It was probably the toughest day, professionally, that I've ever had to deal with and yet we ended up with a win then also.
"We're doing some special things and you never know when it's going to end. You hope it never does. We have big goals and things we want to accomplish but the main thing is to get set for next weekend and the next race."
Anderson wasn't as dominant as usual in his Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am, but his string of mid-to-low 6.8-second passes still earned him wins over Mark "Cowboy" Pawuk, Kurt Johnson, and Bruce Allen. The 36-time finalist, who has been to nine of 10 trophy rounds this year, has already earned 1,116 championship points, 378 more than second-place points earner K. Johnson.
Connolly's impressive season in his Bullet Motorsports Chevrolet Cavalier continues with his second final-round appearance of 2004. This time, the 21-year-old beat Ken Koretsky, Jason Line, and "Tricky Rickie" Smith (with a holeshot) to get a chance at glory.
It was a good day all the way around for Connolly as he was the first driver in Super Gas to run dead-on his index, which earned him the $250 Strange Engineering "Perfectly Strange" performance award. Pro Stock results
Hines earned his and Harley-Davidson's second NHRA victory by annihilating surprise finalist Steve Johnson in the final, 7.131 at 185.56 mph to 7.447 at 180.16 mph. Hines clearly had the best bike on the weekend, rolling from the No. 1 qualifying position to the victory and padding his POWERade championship points lead to 119 points in the process.
 Andrew Hines
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"We had the fastest bike all day," Hines said. "It was awesome. This Screamin' Eagle Harley is so consistent and easy to ride. It just flies. I know that all I have to do is do my deal and we'll win.
"The Pro Stock Bike class has gotten tougher and tougher over the last three years and we really have reached a point where anyone can win. Right now looks like it's our time. I'm just going to stay focused on the championship and getting points. We're a third of the way into our season and it's great to be out front. I don't want to look back.
"The crowd support for our program has been tremendous. People love to see these Harleys go fast and beat up on the Suzukis and the Kawasakis. It's another manufacturer in the class and that can only make it better."
The only time Hines looked remotely vulnerable on his Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson V-Rod was in the quarterfinals, when he only managed a 7.21- to 7.25-second win over Antron Brown. His other wins, over Redell Harris, Geno Scali, and Johnson, were by at least a tenth of a second.
Johnson's first final in three years and sixth of his career came after victories over Michael Phillips, Keith Dennis, and three-time champion Angelle Savoie. The runner-up finish helped Johnson regain a strong, ninth-place foothold in the POWERade Top 10. Johnson is now 0-6 in final rounds. Pro Stock Bike results
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