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Scelzi's testing diary  Oakley Hemi Funny Car pro Gary Scelzi will provide a testing diary each day from Las Vegas. Well, we're 0-for-6 so far so I guess we're off the preseason favorites list. We made two passes Thursday and four today but we either shook the tires or smoked 'em every damn time. My false teeth are out there on the track somewhere. This is why you test. We want to figure this stuff out now, not in Pomona. Smoking the tires means we're trying to put too much power down. Shaking means we're too weak. So hopefully Mike [Neff] is closing the gap from each of those extremes and figuring this animal out. I have to say, ol' John Force looks stout. He will be a handful this year. He really wants that crown back. I watched Eric [Medlen] make a pass today and he did a real nice job. The car wanted to go to the middle but he kept it in the groove like a pro and put up a 4.81. I was standing right next to Force and I said, 'I know you're nervous about how that kid is going to do, but you don't need to worry, you definitely made the right choice.' I love John but my favorite Force is Ashley. Not only is she as cute as can be but that kid can drive. She really showed me something today. One time she did a burnout and the idle was real high. But she very calmly stopped and pulled the throttle loop back with her foot and got control of the car before she backed up. That's something a veteran does. Then she posts a 5.40 at 260-something mph. Wow.

Funny Car rookie Eric Medlen made his boss proud Friday during the opening day of NHRA preseason testing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Medlen, hired recently by John Force to drive the Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang that was vacated by Tony Pedregon after his 2003 POWERade championship run, was impressive in his official debut by clocking a 4.797-second run at 324.28 mph. He also posted a 4.810 at 317.79 mph in another attempt.

NHRA teams are utilizing the three-day test session – the first of three consecutive weekends of testing – in preparation for the 44th annual K&N Filters Winternationals, Feb. 19-22 at Pomona Raceway. The $1.7 million race kicks off the $50 million POWERade Drag Racing Series. Preseason testing sessions also are set for Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix next weekend (Feb. 7-8) and Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson, Ariz., Feb. 13-15.

Though Medlen raised eyebrows with his effort, it was Force who made the quickest runs of the day. The 12-time NHRA Funny Car champion posted three runs quicker than 4.8 seconds in his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang. Force's best effort was a 4.736-second run at 320.05 mph. He recorded two other runs – a 4.771 at 293.28 mph and a 4.774 at 329.18 mph.

Force Racing's third driver, Gary Densham, raced to a 4.784 at 319.67 mph in his Auto Club Mustang and followed that performance with a 4.824 at 306.26 mph.

Del Worsham was the only other driver to get close to the finish line under power, but elected to shut down his Checker Schuck's Kragen Pontiac Firebird early with a 5.027 at 237.35 mph.

Other notable drivers participating in the test who did not record a full pass included Whit Bazemore, Gary Scelzi, Ron Capps, Tommy Johnson Jr., David Baca, and Jerry Toliver.

Testing continues Saturday.

Las Vegas Blast-Off, Friday Race Report 1, action through noon – The temperature is around 59 degrees, humidity at 33-percent, and the barometer at 29.94 inches and dropping. Mild wind from the SE at seven mph.

10:42 a.m. Mike Strasburg:
.882 and up in smoke by the 100 ft. mark.

10:47 a.m. Gary Scelzi:
.895 and off the throttle before the 330 ft.

10:56 a.m. John Force:
.882, 2.271, 3.249/261.67, 4.050, 4.736/320.05. With the national E.T. record at 4.712, Force makes a big statement with a clean pass down the track.

11:08 a.m. Del Worsham:
Up in smoke at the hit.

11:15 a.m. Gary Densham:
.890, 2.306, 3.309/254.09, 4.222, 5.233/202.97. Good pass until just pass mid-track, where the Auto Club car started to move around a lot. Densham wisely backed off.

11:30 a.m. Whit Bazemore:
Too aggressive at the hit with instant smoke.

11:40 a.m. Eric Medlen:
.889, 2.293, 3.285/256.50, 4.108 4.810/317.79. Medlen follows Force's example with a strong leave and a straight pass to the lights. The engine looks to be suffering on the top end.

Friday Race Report 2, action through 2 p.m. – We now have high broken clouds and the temperature is around 63 degrees, humidity at 29-percent, and the barometer at 29.88 inches and dropping. Mild wind from the SE at four mph.

12:08 p.m. David Baca:
.857 then Baca joins the "Up in Smoke Club" before 100 feet.

12:11 p.m. Tommy Johnson Jr.:
.890, 2.315, The Blue Skoal car smokes the tires just after the 330-foot lights.

12:41 p.m. Ron Capps:
.903, 2.384. The Green Skoal doesn't quite get to the 330-foot lights before the big slicks start to smoke.

1:03 p.m. Mike Berry:
1.905, 2.994, 4.620/150.20, 6.049, 7.279/182.01. Berry may be the only Pro Stock Bike testing this weekend.

1:21 p.m. Gary Scelzi:
.901. Scelzi makes another strong squirt and shuts off just after the 60-foot lights.

1:59 p.m. Gary Densham:
.898, 2.310, 33.302/257.26, 4.116, 4.824/306.26. The third Force Team car makes a strong pass until just about the 1,000-foot light where stuff starts to exit out of the engine. We are going to be down for a brief clean up.

Notable:

1:52 p.m. Shelly Anderson-Payne:
1.038. This is the third attempt in the new primered Pro Mod Camaro. The first was too aggressive, the second was too soft, and this one was just right until it started to move towards the wall.

Friday Race Report 3 Final – We now have high broken clouds and the temperature is around 65 degrees, humidity at 27-perecent, and the barometer at 29.81 inches and dropping.

2:28 p.m. Tony Pedregon:
.902 2.338 The new brilliant green Quaker State Funny Car makes a good leave and runs well to near the 330 foot lights, where he lifts.

2:31 p.m. Mike Corvo:
1.061 2.952 4.506 157.35 5.854 6.990 198.85

2:33 p.m. John Force:
.887 2.290 3.280 257.63 4.091 4.774 329.18 Force makes another very strong pass with almost the same numbers as earlier. The car starts to make a move towards the wall near the finish line and John has to fight it back towards the center of the track.

2:40 p.m. Del Worsham:
.903 2.350 3.430 206.39 The Red Car moved well until mid-track, where Del had to lift as the engine went away. The track guys are out doing a little dusting and cleaning.

2:51 p.m. Whit Bazemore:
.907 3.324 255.82 Whit has a better tune-up this time and gets just past mid-track after a strong leave.

3:10 p.m. Jerry Toliver:
1.102 2.528 3.715 181.25 The Toyota is all shiny black for the testing sessions. The car is a little lazy off the line and slows just before mid-track with fuel out of the pipes. Could be a belt.

3:25 p.m. Arley Langlo:
.000 2.560 The Titan Express car doesn’t get a 60-foot time, but has a cylinder out on the left bank at the hit. The engine is struggling before mid-track and he clicks it.

3:10 p.m. David Baca:
.000 Still no 60 foot times. Baca shakes the tires hard and clicks it off.

3:32 p.m. Eric Medlen:
.000 2.311 3.300 259.01 4.108 4.797 324.28. The Green Ford leaves hard and runs straight and clean. A new career best .

3:47 p.m. Ben Watson:
.000 2.934 4.506 156.63 5.857 6.995 198.29. Good pass for 2400+ foot altitude.

3:55 p.m. Gary Scelzi:
.000 The red paint on the Big O Hemi looks like it will glow in the dark! No joy here, as the Funny Car is up in smoke at the hit.

4:15 p.m. Tommy Johnson, Jr.:
.893 2.880. The blue cars leave well and then he has to lift right after the 330 foot lights, a little too aggressive for the track.

4:40 p.m. Mike Corvo:
1.035 2.909 4.491 154.49 5.873 7.051 191.00 The Motown Missile had better numbers in the first half of the track, but slowed on the top end.

4:45 p.m. Ron Capps:
.954 Looks like the green car was set up stronger than Johnson’s. Capps has to lift, when the tires went up in smoke at the hit.

4:48 p.m. Del Worsham:
.886 2.322 3.324 255.15 4.164 5.027 237.35. The CSK Red Car is strong off the line and runs well to the almost the 1000-ft. lights.

5:11 p.m. Gary Densham:
.893 2.290 3.275 255.76 4.089 4.784 319.67. Team Force has dominated the session so far. Densham has almost identical numbers to Force’s earlier run, but starts to drift towards the center line and may have crosses it after the last light.

5:31 p.m. John Force:
.880 2.278 3.257 259.86 4.059 4.771 293.28. Force was on a good one with nitro flames over the roof until about the 1,000-foot lights, where the car made a hard move towards the guard rail. Lots of wiggle, as John narrowly missed the wall. He still improves over his earlier E.T., but about 35 mph slower!

5:32 p.m. Whit Bazemore:
.891 2.895 Team Schumacher is still challenging the track. Once again, Bazemore’s car is up in smoke before the 330-foot lights.

5:35 p.m. Gary Scelzi:
.913 Same song, just started sooner. Smoke!

5:36 p.m. Jerry Toliver:
.000 No time for Toliver, as the car just keep rolling forward as he went up to stage. Hard to say whether it was no brakes or what??

5:44 p.m. Tony Pedregon:
.958 Looks like the last car to run today. Once again too much power for the track.

Notable:

12:55 p.m. Ashley Force TAD:
.962 2.463 3.600 218.65 4.572 5.418 262.08. The Darien and Meadows AFD is all white for the warm up. Ashley makes a strong and straight pass.

Thursday testing report