The 1993 Sears Craftsman Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka delivered a double dose of history when Chuck Etchells and Jim Epler broke Funny Car's four-second and 300-mph barriers, respectively.

Etchells became the first Funny Car racer to run in the fours with a 4.987 from his Tim Richards-tuned Kendall GT-1 Daytona, and Epler recorded Funny Car's first 300-mph run with a 300.40-mph charge in his Mike Kloeber-tuned Rug Doctor Cutlass.

Etchells' Dodge was in the first pair of Funny Cars in Friday's opening qualifying session and ran a 5.13 at an all-time-best 296.73 mph, despite dropping a cylinder for two seconds. That less-than-perfect but still great run would be the appetizer for the most significant Funny Car run of the last 18 years.

"At [the Keystone Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway two weeks earlier], Tim and I decided that we were going to stand on this thing from now on," said Etchells. "John Force had already won the Winston title, so we were going to try for that four. We had run a 5.06, 292.20 at Maple Grove and felt coming into this race that we could do it. We ran a 5.04 blowing a blower at 1,200 feet [in Englishtown] in July, so we had the power for some time. What we needed were the conditions.

"As soon as we arrived here, I got the feeling that we had a shot at it," continued Etchells. "As soon as we got out of the truck, we could tell that the air was good, and our first run told us that the track was smooth and in excellent shape. The other thing that built our confidence was that dropped cylinder on the 296-mph run. If [the car] hit on all eight [cylinders], it had to run better."

Cory McClenathan, near lane, paced the record Top Fuel field with a 4.78 and reset his own national e.t. record with a 4.762 in round two against Ed McCulloch.

Just before the historic second session, Castrol GTX Motorsports Manager John Howell announced the creation of the Castrol 4-Second Club for Funny Cars, which would award $25,000 to the first driver in the fours.

A confident John Force, whose Castrol GTX Cutlass had run a less-than-perfect 5.08 in the first session, boldly offered to pay half of the $25,000. Shortly thereafter, Force's enthusiasm turned to disappointment when his car's left front brake caliper broke on the burnout, forcing him to shut off.

"The caliper was locking up the wheel," said Force's crew chief, Austin Coil. "John could feel the shudder when he used the brakes after the burnout. When he released the brakes, the car wouldn't roll."

Etchells collected the $25,000 bounty three pair later.

"Inside, I felt that if Force didn't step up dramatically, we could get it," said Etchells. "We stepped the motor up a little from the 5.13 and went after it."

Epler's accomplishment was the most stunning of the race. Etchells and Force had come close to running a four, but no Funny Car driver had come close to running 300 mph; Freddie Neely's national record of 295.27 had been the fastest.

After running 299.90 mph in qualifying Friday afternoon, Epler busted the 300-mph barrier in his first-round win against Gordon Mineo.

"At [the U.S. Nationals], we set top speed against the best cars in the sport at 291.54 mph and backed it up with a 291.26," said Kloeber. "The conditions were much better here than in Indy."

Chuck Etchells made drag racing history at Heartland Park Topeka in 1993 when his Kendall GT-1 Daytona recorded the first four-second Funny Car run, a 4.987.

Unfortunately for Epler, his weekend came to an abrupt end after his black and red rocket exploded in a ball of fire in the shutdown area after beating Al Hofmann in round two.

"No one likes to blow one of these cars up, especially a guy like me with a limited budget," said Epler. "Running that 300-mph pass is something that will last a lifetime. If the price [for that] was this car, so be it."

Etchells almost matched Epler's accomplishment when he ran a 5.08 at 299.50 mph in the final to beat Force's 5.09, 292.30.

The 1993 Topeka event was also the quickest and fastest in Top Fuel history. Cory McClenathan paced the record field (4.931 bump) with a 4.78 and sped to a then national record 4.762 in his second-round defeat of Ed McCulloch. Scott Kalitta, who qualified No. 2 with his first 4.7-second run, a 4.79 blast, ran 308.64 mph, the sport's fastest run, in winning his first Top Fuel title against McClenathan.

In Pro Stock, Warren Johnson qualified No. 1 with a 7.09, good for low e.t., and clinched his second straight Winston championship. But Larry Morgan, who was runner-up five consecutive times in 1993, defeated first-time Pro Stock finalist David Rampy in the final, 7.19 to 7.24, to win the race.

Dave Schultz won Pro Stock Bike for the fifth time in as many races with a final-round victory against John Myers, 7.76 to 7.81. Schultz qualified on the pole with a track record 7.66 en route to his seventh win in 10 events.