The 3rd annual Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway Int'l Raceway was planned for a nighttime finish to beat the heat of the St. Louis summer, but the idea was carried to an extreme as morning rainshowers delayed the start of eliminations by nearly three hours.
The race concluded after 2:30 a.m. Central time, a marathon event, and, in the end, experience paid off as two reigning Winston champs and a former Winston champ carried off the honors in the top three Pro classes and two reigning champs and a former champ scored in the Sportsman classes.
Gary Scelzi |
Winston Top Fuel champ Gary Scelzi gave his title defense hopes a real shot in the arm with a big victory, coupled with first-round losses by first- and second-place Mike Dunn and Doug Herbert.
Scelzi improved on his first-round cylinder-dropping 4.76 victory over Steve Smith with a 4.63 triumph over up-in-smoke Bob Vandergriff in round two. Scelzi and tuner Alan Johnson got even better in the semi's with a 4.594 to beat tractionless Cory McClenathan in the semi's.
Tony Schumacher's 4.653 first-round victory over fireballing Jim Head was the second quickest of the round and his wild 4.577 against Larry Dixon's equally stellar 4.578 in round two was low e.t. of eliminations. Schumacher then showcased his driving skills in a backpedaling contest with Kenny Bernstein, 6.14 to 6.31.
Schumacher, with the knowledge that a win would qualify him for the Winston Showdown, tried hard but was up in smoke again in the final, giving the win to Scelzi, who streaked to a solid 4.60.
Top Fuel results
John Force |
John Force and Tony Pedregon showed the early-season dominance that had one of them in every final round of the season's first eight races, as the Castrol teammates paired off in the final.
Pedregon was never seriously challenged in the first three rounds, running 5.039 and 4.918 (low e.t. of eliminations) against out-of-shape Del Worsham and Dean Skuza and 4.925 after low qualifier Tommy Johnson Jr. went up in smoke just off the starting line.
Force could muster just a 4.99 best, against No Bull Challenger Al Hofmann's crossed-up Firebird in round one, then ran 5.076 to beat up-in-smoke Whit Bazemore and 5.647 against sideways Jim Epler, a win punctuated by an exploding supercharger.
But the boss pulled it back into winning shape in the final, bashing out a 4.94 when Pedregon's machine went up in smoke just off the starting line.
Funny Car results
Jim Yates |
Jim Yates, winless since the 1998 Winternationals, scored a big win in a tight Pro Stock final-round victory over Allen Johnson, a race decided by just .002-second.
Yates had beaten Steve Schmidt on a three-hundredths holeshot, 7.073 to 7.071in round one then got a freebie when Mike Thomas shook in round two. Greg Anderson fell to Yates in the semi's, 7.02 to 7.03, after getting loose at half-track against Yates.
Johnson had defeated Ron Krisher. Mark Pawuk, and Tom Martino with runs of 7.02, 7.00, and 7.04, but was devastating on the line with reaction times of .437 and .413 in the first and third rounds and a psychic .401 in round two. The final was exciting, but Yates got the drop on Johnson off the line, .413 to .423, to hang on for a 7.01 to 7.01 victory.
Pro Stock results
Pro Stock Truck points leader Mark Osborne aided his cause with a runner-up finish. He opened with a 7.69 to beat two-time 1999 winner Randy Daniels then beat Brad Jeter, second in points, with a .402 light and a 7.70 to Jeter's close 7.727 174.12. Mike Coughlin then gave it away to Osborne in the semi's with a .387 red-light.
His final-round opponent, Bob Panella Jr., got quicker as eliminations went on, running 7.66 to beat Dave McConnell, 7.64 to trailer John Coughlin, and a 7.62 to trounce Tim Freeman, then defeated Osborne, whose S-10 broke just off the starting line in the final. The victory was Panella's second of the season.
Pro Stock Truck results
Angelle Seeling |
Angelle Seeling, winless since her victory in May at the Mopar Parts Nationals, got red-lights from Joe DeSantis and Antron Brown in rounds one and three, sandwiched around a second-round conquest of Gary Tonglet with her best of eliminations, a 7.350. That moved he rinto the final to face Winston champ Matt Hines, who had opened eliminations with an easy 7.30 conquest of David Schultz , then ran 7.33 to defeat Greg Underdahl. Hines then got an unusual bye run in the semi's, the result of both Tony Mullen and Craig Treble losing fire and not being able to restart against one another in their second-round bash.
The final round went to Seeling on a close 7.31 to 7.32 decision to boost her points lead over Hines, who moved into second place past Antron Brown.
Pro Stock Bike results
Fram Route 66 Nationals Federal-Mogul Dragster champ Rob Wendland made it two wins in three races when he drove the In-N-Out Burger machine to a 5.57 to carry him past A/Fuel Dragster veteran Keith Stark, who got loose near the centerline and slowed to a 5.67.
Federal-Mogul Dragster results
Cy Chesterman scored the victory in Federal-Mogul Funny Car, slapping a holeshot on veteran Vern Moats in the final round and holding him off on the top end, 5.90 to a quicker-but-later 5.85.
Federal-Mogul Funny Car results
Defending Federal-Mogul Comp champ Bob Andrews scored the first victory of his title defense when he defeated red-hot David Cook Jr., who won Comp at the Division 5 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado last weekend in his first outing in Tom and Meredith Haner's B/D. Cook's great run came to an end when he red-lighted in the final to Andrews.
Comp results
Reigning Federal-Mogul Super Stock champ Dan Fletcher, winner last week of the Federal-Mogul Allstars title, kept that momentum rolling with a strong Super Stock victory, capping it with a perfect 10.580 on a 10.58 dial to beat Jeremy Duncan, who also ran on his dial of 10.20. It was Fletcher's second straight victory at the Sears Craftsman Nationals.
Super Stock results
Edmond Richardson, who won the Stock title at this season's Castrol Nationals in Dallas and Super Comp at the Fram Route 66 Nationals, scored two wins for the third time in his career when he collected the victories in both Stock and Super Comp in St. Louis.
Richardson bagged the Super Comp title in a battle with former season champ Steve Cohen, winning with an 8.91 that forced Cohen under with an 8.894. He then defeated Monte Howard in the stock final to claim the hat trick of doubles. He also doubled in Super Comp and Super Street at the 1992 Southern Nationals and the 1993 ATSCO Nationals.
Stock results Super Comp results
Fram Route 66 Nationals Super Gas champ John Vineyard lost a shot at his second win of the season when he red-lighted, giving defending event champ Brian Folk the Super Gas victory and his second win of the season, following his Super Comp victory at the O'Reilly Nationals in Houston.
Super Gas results
