NHRA News: Grubnic, Scelzi, Anderson, and Johnson lead the way at Indy test session (8/24/2004)

Grubnic, Scelzi, Anderson, and Johnson lead the way at Indy test session

By Gabrielle Stevenson, NHRA Media Department
Testing photos by Racers Edge Photography
8/24/2004

Dave Grubnic

Defending Mac Tools U.S. Nationals winners Tony Schumacher and Greg Anderson looked strong Tuesday at Indianapolis Raceway Park during the opening day of testing for the world's most prestigious drag race. Top Fuel's Dave Grubnic, Funny Car's Gary Scelzi, and Pro Stock Bike's Steve Johnson also impressed with the quickest passes in their respective categories.

NHRA teams are utilizing the two-day test session in preparation for the 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Sept. 1-6, at the multi-purpose motorsports complex located just west of downtown Indianapolis. The $2.2 million race is the 18th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Schumacher, the current POWERade Top Fuel points leader, drove his U.S. Army dragster to a time of 4.652 seconds at 311.63 mph for the best time in his own car. David Grubnic posted the quickest Top Fuel time of the day, a 4.636 at 310.84 mph, in teammate's Scott Kalitta's car.

The test session was cut short due to a rain storm shortly after 6 p.m. Weather permitting; teams will begin testing again at 8 a.m. Wednesday. The test session is closed to the public.

Brandon Bernstein is third in the Top Fuel points and is chasing Schumacher and second-place Doug Kalitta. On this day, Bernstein drove his Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster to a 4.883 run at 227.84 mph.

"It was a good first day," Bernstein said. "We're trying to learn new things and Tim (Richards, crew chief) is trying a lot of new stuff. The first run we shook quite a bit, but the second run was good. We'll just come back and try again tomorrow."

Bernstein and Kalitta have just six events to catch Schumacher for the rights to the $400,000 POWERade Top Fuel championship.

"We're always trying to learn something and obviously testing (at IRP) could be very helpful in finding a good tune-up for the U.S. Nationals," Bernstein said.

Australian Andrew Cowin made his return to NHRA racing Tuesday. After more than a calendar year away from drag racing, Cowin turned in a 4.770 run at 302.96 mph in his family-owned Rocket Industries Top Fuel dragster.

"Today really could not have been better," Cowin said. "Despite not having driven here for nearly a year-and-a-half and our team not having raced under the recently introduced regulations, we recorded three consistent passes and finished only 0.14 seconds off the best time. Our goal was to be consistent and learn as much as possible, and we more than achieved that."

Defending Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon, who is currently sixth in the points, has one specific goal in mind. “Dicko (crew chief Dick LaHaie) says if we win this race, it will salvage our season," Dixon said. "This is our biggest race of the year and everybody puts a lot of precedence on it. We’re trying to sort out some engine and clutch stuff to make our car perform better.”

In Funny Car, Gary Scelzi led the way with a 4.821 at 321.73 in his Oakley Dodge Stratus. Teammate Whit Bazemore drove to a 4.858 at 313.07 in his Matco Tools Dodge Stratus.

Skoal's Tommy Johnson Jr. was fifth quickest with a 5.025. "“We worked on a hot race track tune-up,” Johnson said. “We struggled when it gets hot out, so we worked on being able to get the car down the track in hot weather. We got a nice tune-up now and when we need to go down a hot racetrack, we can put this tune-up in the car and it will go down the track. We didn’t yield big numbers, but we weren’t trying to go fast today. It was a positive day for our crew.”

Anderson, a two-time U.S. Nationals winner, continued to set the pace in Pro Stock with the quickest doorslammer run of the day. He drove his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac Grand Am to a 6.840 at 201.61 mph. Anderson, who leads the POWERade point standings, has 12 national event victories this season, which ties his record-setting 12 wins in 2003. Anderson also has 12 No. 1 qualifying awards and is searching for the perfect tune-up to defend his event title. Teammate Jason Line also took part in the test session, clocking a best run of 6.847 at 201.52 mph for the second-best time in the category.

"We made four passes for each car today and that's bound to help us when we all come back for next week's big U.S. Nationals," Anderson said. "Anytime we can test on the same track that is hosting the next event, it can't be anything but helpful for this team.

"We want to defend our U.S. Nationals title because that was one of the most satisfying victories of my career so far. We want to get the win but we need to do some more testing first. We saw some good things in both cars today, but there is always room for improvement."

Steve Johnson rode the quickest Pro Stock Bike during testing, posting a 7.234 at 185.43 on his K&N Filters Suzuki.

Best runs, by category and driver, for the Tuesday test session at Indianapolis Raceway Park. (Results by FastNews Network)

Top Fuel
David Grubnic: 4.636 at 310.84 mph (in S. Kalitta's car)
Tony Schumacher: 4.652 at 311.63 mph
David Grubnic: 4.668 at 308.64 mph
Larry Dixon: 4.717 at 267.08 mph
Cory McClenathan: 4.738 at 311.70 mph
Andrew Cowin: 4.770 at 302.96 mph
Brandon Bernstein: 4.883 at 227.84 mph
Doug Foley: 11.947 at 76.12 mph

Funny Car
Gary Scelzi: 4.821 at 321.73 mph
Whit Bazemore: 4.858 at 313.07 mph
John Force: 4.901 at 312.71 mph
Eric Medlen: 4.989 at 282.60 mph
Tommy Johnson Jr.: 5.025 at 268.48 mph
Del Worsham: 5.098 at 268.06 mph
Gary Densham: 5.568 at 178.95 mph
Phil Burkart: 5.665 at 172.63 mph
Jerry Toliver: 6.488 at 311.70 mph
Ron Capps: 6.608 at 137.18 mph
Tony Pedregon: 8.181 at 104.35 mph

Pro Stock
Greg Anderson: 6.840 at 201.61 mph
Jason Line: 6.847 at 201.52 mph
Steve Schmidt: 6.871 at 200.74 mph
Mark Whisnant: 6.896 at 200.95 mph
Dave Howard: 6.908 at 200.23 mph
Ron Krisher: 6.922 at 200.11 mph
Kevin Lawrence: 6.960 at 110.40 mph
Ben Watson: 6.966 at 198.20 mph
Ronnie Humphrey: 7.050 at 196.50 mph
Craig Hankenson: 7.081 at 167.22 mph

Pro Stock Bike
Steve Johnson: 7.234 at 185.43 mph
Fred Camarana: 7.605 at 163.79 mph

Related story: Testing begins at Indianapolis Raceway Park

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