NHRA News: Testing begins at Indianapolis Raceway Park (8/24/2004)

Testing begins at Indianapolis Raceway Park

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
8/24/2004

"We've got a few more highlights in us before this year is over."
– Del Worsham

A two-day testing session for drivers competing in the 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals will take place this Tuesday and Wednesday at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Many of the top professionals in the POWERade Drag Racing Series have signed up for the test, which begins each day at 10 a.m. and runs until 8 p.m. The test session is not open to the public but NHRA.com will provide coverage each day.

Considering the historical significance of this year's race, teams are pushing themselves to make sure they're in top form when the race begins Sept. 1-6. Included on the testing roster are NHRA champions Larry Dixon, Tony Schumacher, Gary Scelzi, John Force, Greg Anderson, and Jim Yates, as well as many other prominent drivers.

"We've got a few more highlights in us before this year is over," said Funny Car favorite Del Worsham, who together with teammate Phil Burkart will also participate in the test. "I can feel good things happening and I'm excited as I can be to head to Indy. We'll make some test laps this week, and then we'll be ready to go a week later for the race."

Worsham, Burkart, and six other Funny Car hopefuls have two races to prepare for this week. After qualifying well over the past 23 national events, Worsham and Burkart will join the other six select drivers in the $100,000 Skoal Showdown, a special race within a race that will be contested Sunday, Sept. 5

"The Skoal Showdown is huge because of the money involved," Worsham said. "And we'll be racing a special Mac Tools/CSK Monte Carlo body at Indy, and it's our biggest race of the year, so it's important to feel good heading into race weekend. We'll be ready."

Other drivers who have committed to test this week at Indianapolis Raceway Park include Brandon Bernstein, Australian Andrew Cowin, Cory McClenathan, Doug Herbert, Whit Bazemore, Gary Scelzi, Tommy Johnson Jr., Ron Capps, Gary Densham, Eric Medlen, Tony and Cruz Pedregon, Jerry Toliver, Larry Morgan, Antron Brown, Andrew Hines, GT Tonglet, and Steve Johnson. Many more are expected to join the group.

Just like the Funny Car pros, many of the Pro Stock Bike riders who will be testing this week have double-duty during the U.S. Nationals as the 14th annual K&N Filters Pro Bike Klash presented by eHomeCredit Corp. takes place Saturday, Sept. 4. Like the Skoal Showdown, the K&N Klash invites the top eight qualifiers from the previous year to compete for huge cash prizes.

"It's a big deal for us," said Brown, a former Klash champion. "It's the largest single race payout of the year. I'm glad we're coming in off a win, because that tells me we're running well. But we still have things we want to test this week."

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