I do tend to struggle with this moment each year, because after the build-up to the event and then living high on adrenaline for every day we’re here watching the event and running around talking to as many folks as we possibly can, all of a sudden it hits you like a big old over-sized fluffy pillow. Wha-bam! Fluffy pillow to the face. Stops you in your tracks. It doesn’t knock you over but for sure it stuns you for a minute. The event is done. Over. Pack up. Go home.

All we have now are the memories. Well, some of us have trophies. That’s pretty cool.

As I was transcribing Jeg Coughlin’s winner quote for the NHRA.com story, I looked up and saw Robert Hight walking on the deserted, hallowed track with his little girl, Autumn, on one side and Jack Beckman’s son, Jason, on the other. He had their little hands in his own, and Jason’s mom, Jenna, was crouched down taking a photo of the three of them walking down track. It was poignant, for sure. Not just because it was a pretty picture (I do so love a pretty picture), but also because it reminded me of how real our heroes are. I would guess that he’s just been through one of the craziest weekends of his racing career, but he still has enough in him to hold the hands of those little kids, and not worry about any kind of a tough-guy exterior. It’s something of a dichotomy, isn’t it? Wrapping those hands around the steering wheel of a 300+ mph Funny Car and then holding the tender hands of small children just a couple of hours later. Strange. And awesome. A fitting end to the long weekend for me, seeing that.

And now, on to Charlotte, where the Countdown to 1 begins. It’s a tremendous consolation to know that although this highly-anticipated, exceptionally exciting, whirlwind weekend has come to a conclusion, the road to determining who will come out on top and walk off with the Full Throttle Series championships has only just begun.
 

I probably could have made this post much, much longer if I gave myself the time, because there are no shortage of memorable quotes. The classic golf comedy that did wonders for the careers of Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and Chevy Chase is a must-see for those who haven’t already. It’s also part of the following, quintessential golf joke:

What’s the best movie about golf? Caddyshack!

What’s the worst movie about golf? Caddyshack 2.

You're rather attractive for a beautiful girl with a great body.
Finalists Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon are two of the most decorated drivers in Top Fuel history. As tough as they are week-in and week-out, they overshadow their peers even more when they come to Indy. The two drivers have swept the decade in Indy wins with Schumacher getting the much larger portion with eight wins to Larry’s two.

[tees off] Four!
[his ball hits Judge Smails in the crotch]
I should have yelled, "Two!"
Spencer Massey used a holeshot to take down No. 1 qualifier and Top Fuel points leader Antron Brown in the first round, 3.88 to 3.87. That had to hurt.

Whoa, did somebody step on a duck?
Massey’s day ended in an ugly semifinal bout with Larry Dixon in which he was late off the line after almost double-stepping it, and he didn’t have a car to get down and take advantage of Dixon’s issues. In the other pair in the semi’s, Brandon Bernstein’s team gave one away when they were unable to capitalize on Brandon’s huge holeshot because they lost traction.

I'm going to give you a little advice. There's a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball.
Ashley Force Hood has dealt with a lot of grief about her reaction times. She’s followed the advice of crew chiefs Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas in not putting too much into it, and she had what was perhaps her best day on the starting line with four lights between .061 and .085.

You've got to win this hole.
I kinda thought winning wasn't important
Me winning isn't. You do.
Great grammar.
Robert Hight had to beat his boss John Force in the semifinals to qualify for the Countdown to 1. I’ll leave it at that.

I have to laugh, because I've outsmarted even myself. My enemy, my foe, is an animal. In order to conquer the animal, I have to learn to think like an animal and, whenever possible, to look like one. I've gotta get inside this guy's pelt and crawl around for a few days.
Tony Pedregon has gotten under the skin of John Force. The current philosophical issues and past personal issues came to a head at the top end after the semifinal round in Funny Car with the two engaging in a heated verbal exchange. Pedregon historically fares well against his old boss and his drivers, so maybe the current quarrel will also have an affect of Tony getting further into the heads of the four usually unshakable JFR drivers.

I thought you'd be the man to beat this year.
I guess you'll just have to keep beating yourself.
Mike Edwards was “the man” all weekend but ended the weekend on his own accord when he red-lighted against eventual winner Jeg Coughlin in the semifinals.

Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion.
The most popular bet in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class was Frank Manzo against the field, but Bobby Martin stepped to the front of the pack with a No. 1 qualifying position on Friday and kept the ball rolling for the biggest win of his career. Martin chased his dream for several years with him and his wife making great sacrifices to run a low-buck operation on sponsor money alone before getting the chance of a lifetime behind the wheel of Frank and Dan Parker’s ride. The Parkers won Indy with Jeff Craig driving in 2003. Martin notched his first win in Norwalk last season and now belongs among the immortals by winning Indy.

It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!
Hector Arana wasn’t able to capitalize on the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle due to a costly red-light in the final, but the popular rider of the Lucas Oil Products Pro Stock Motorcycle was prompt with a .021 in the final to get his first Indy win.

(Quick aside: When my dad raced, our crew chief, Tom Matthews, threw Caddyshack quotes around and would usually throw his hands up while exclaiming, “It’s in the hole!” when the car got pushed into the trailer at the end of the night.)

So we finish the 18th and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.
Greg Stanfield didn’t get the Indy win despite an incredible effort for a driver/engine builder whose team is running on fumes and faces uncertainty for next year. The team was one-thousandth away from being a true Cinderella story against Jeg Coughlin, but they got the attention of most with their effort.

You know, you should play with Dr. Beeper and myself. I mean, he's been club champion for three years running and I'm no slouch myself.
Don't sell yourself short, Judge; you're a tremendous slouch.
Past performance was not an indicator of success in Pro Stock this year. Warren and Kurt Johnson, with a respective six and two Indy wins, failed to qualify. Five-time winner Greg Anderson fell in the first round.

I want a hamburger. No, cheeseburger. I want a hot dog. I want a milkshake. I want potato chips
You'll get nothing, and like it!
Joe Hartley, Cruz Pedregon, Matt Hagan, Warren Johnson, and Steve Johnson will all be reduced to the spoiler role after Indy when after failing to get into the Countdown to 1.

Well, that’s it. It’s been a great Indy, and I appreciate all the feedback about the blogs. Now the real work of putting the results of the event together for print begins. I’m also headed to the AC/DC concert at the Honda Center directly from John Wayne Airport tomorrow night, so I’ll be a busy boy. Time to hit the “post” button and leave the press room, so you know what I’ll be saying…

IT’S IN THE HOLE!
 

Sometimes you get lucky and get one; sometimes you get none. At the 2009 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, we got all four. Lucky us.

I mean, can you believe the Countdown drama? O-M-G.

Robert Hight needs all of the planets to align to get past Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon and jump from 12th to 10th place, and darned if he didn't do it. Teammate Ashley Force Hood took out Hagan in round one and darned if Hight's boss, the long-suffering John Force – who hadn't qualified at this event the last two years – took out Pedregon in round two, then lost traction against his driver in the semifinals to allow Hight to pass Pedregon.

Heated words are exchanged between Force and Tony Pedregon in the shutdown area after the semifinals, the tiff shown in all its glory on the big screen. Good lip readers here got an earful; the TV audience got better. Emotions were (and right now, still are) high. OMG.

All of this, of course, comes on a weekend that the JFR powerhouse was having to make do without Austin Coil on this most crucial of weekends. How'd they do? Four carsin the top five qualifiers, two cars in the final, Hight in the Countdown. Pretty darned good. Regardless, I bet Coil will be allowed in the pits in Charlotte.

In Top Fuel, qualifying got shortened so Joe Hartley and Clay Millican have one shot to continue their dream. Millican succeeds, Hartley does not. Major heartbreak.

Pro Stock Motorcycle on Monday is a four-way cluster with multiple scenarios that all get cleared up in one sad red-light by two-time and defending Indy champ Steve Johnson, who will sit out the final dance.

Pro stock Motorcycle features two guys – Hector Arana and Michael Phillips -- who have never been to an Indy final let alone won it, while Pro Stock has won guy (Greg Stanfield) looking for his first U.S. Nationals Wally. Very cool!

And Top Fuel? How fitting that the final Indy Top Fuel final of the decade features the two guys who have dominated the class this decade. And with a shot at history on the line for one of them. OMG!

Schumacher did as expected – well, at least as I expected (and predicted before the event, he said, patting himself the back) – and not only won the race and tied the record, but did it by beating the only driver of this era with a record at this event anywhere approaching his,

"I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else in the other lane," he said frankly, and I believe him.

"People pay a lot of money to come out and see this, and I don’t think anyone will be asking for a refund after that," he added. And I believe him. It was that kind of race. It was that good.
 

One of the nine items I had on my want-to-see/do list this weekend was seeing special visitors, and I have to admit, with none materializing before today, I was starting to get a little nervous it wouldn’t happen. Thankfully, that changed during and after the second round of Pro eliminations today when NASCAR driver Tony Stewart (aka "Smoke") visited the U.S. Nationals. Stewart came as a guest of Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher. The connection between the two Tonys is the U.S. Army, which sponsors Schumacher’s Top Fuel car and the Stewart-owned NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car driven by Ryan Newman. Stewart was on the starting line for Schumacher’s second-round pass, on which Schumacher defeated Rod Fuller. Stewart then visited Bob Frey in the announcer’s booth before making his way to the press room to speak with the assembled media.

“It’s awesome,” said Stewart of being at the U.S. Nationals. “It’s been a little over 10 years since I’ve been here to watch night qualifying. We’ve seen some good races today. Being able to hang out here with Tony and Don and Don Schumacher Racing and everybody with the U.S. Army is a lot of fun.”

Stewart is a racing enthusiast who has pretty much participated in every type of motorsport, the exception being drag racing. When asked about that, he said he would love to try.

“I tried this with [Joe] Gibbs one time when I signed my first contract with him,” he said. “We were sitting at the Indianapolis airport, and I said, ‘Well, there’s just one thing. I want to drive a Top Fuel car at the U.S. Nationals.’ Joe just looked at me like, ‘This is probably going to be a deal-breaker.’ I wasn’t serious anyway. I would love to drive one some time. John [Andretti] came over and did this for a while, and Doug Kalitta, who I raced with in Sprint Cars has obviously done really good over here. I’ve known [Ron] Capps and [Gary] Scelzi for a long time. I’ve got a lot of friends over here. A lot of the shops are so close to our shops down the road that we’re all neighbors. It’s something I’d really like to try some day.

 In Comp, 2007 Indy winner Jason Coan is still in the hunt as is David Rampy, who is both a national champion and an Indy winner. The rest of the survivors in the round of eight as all heavyweights including Brian Browell, Rick Brown, Al Ackerman, Joey Tanksley, John Frech, and Shane Gray, whose father, Johnny, cemented his spot in the Countdown to One in Pro Stock yesterday when Warren Johnson failed to qualify.

 As a side note, every driver who is left has faced a Competition Index Control adjustment although Brown, Gray and Rampy have barely been nicked while Coan has lost more than a tenth off the G/Econo Altered index and Tanksley and Ackerman are down by five-hundredths going into the quarter finals.

 There are also eight drivers remaining in Super Stock including Jimmy DeFrank, Larry Stewart Jr., and Frank Aragona, who are all former national champions. At least one champion will make it to the semifinals as Stewart is scheduled to face DeFrank later this afternoon when sportsman action resumes after the second round of the pros. Another Super Stock survivor is Jeff Niceswanger, who has appeared in numerous finals, but it still looking for his first NHRA national event victory.

 You want talent? Check out the eight drivers who are left in Stock Eliminator. Included among the Monday survivors are three former national champs, Michael Iacono, Jeff Taylor and Edmond Richardson. Taylor is already a three time Indy winner in Stock, Super Stock and Comp. Taylor’s Stock victory came in 1981, the same year that he and older brother, Charlie won respective championships in Super Stock and Stock.

 Speaking of Edmond Richardson, the sure-fire Hall of Famer has never won Indy and he has often stated that he’s going to return to O’Reilly Raceway Park until he does. Richardson is in an excellent position to achieve his goal as he’s also one of the five remaining drivers left in Super Comp. Richardson will be paired with another former Indy winner, Doug Doll Jr., in the quarterfinals while Division 1 ace Franklin DiBartolomeo will square off against Jim Perry, the Division 2 Jegs Allstars champ and a former E.T. finals winner. Greg Kamplain will receive the bye run into the semi’s.

The landscape at Indy has changed significantly over the years, from when the DA Lubricants Tower sat where today's Top Eliminator Club lives through the building of the famed Parks Tower and later the grandstand-topping skybox suites, and it's always one of my Indy rituals to take a good thorough tour around the facility to see old haunts and remember those no longer here.

The track has been around since the facility was built on a 267-acre farm purchased by local businessmen in 1958. Originally designed to host only a 15-turn, 2.5-mile road course, a dragstrip was added almost as an afterthought, but by 1961 had become the new home of the NHRA Nationals after a two-year ruin in Detroit. The NHRA purchased the entire facility in 1979.

The DA tower was moved to the top end and later over to the adjacent oval track. The tower stood for years just past the finish line on the left side of the track served as a great vantage point for top-end photographers, and I shared many memorable afternoons there with the likes of Steve Reyes, the Indianapolis Star's Vern Atkins, and others. I have some great photos in my collection of Indy mishaps.

My first trip to Indy wasn't for the U.S. Nationals, but rather the SPORTSnationals that were held here in May 1983. The parks tower was just a steel skeleton then, but a revolutionary one at that, and one copied many times over. It still serves as a hub of activity, housing the media center, race control, the announcing deck, and several corporate suites. National DRAGSTER has a suite there this year, at the far right of the top floor (far left if you're facing the tower); Linda Vaughn tells me that for years it was the Hurst suite.

One of the other Indy landmarks is the famed crossover bridge, which made its Indy debut in 1967 and for years was sponsored by Hurst. It used to be a lot closer to the starting line but had to be moved for construction of the Parks Tower. Now it's back by the staging lanes but still serves the vital function of allowing fans to go back and forth between the Pro and Sportsman pits without having to dodge racecars.

I made my annual pilgrimage across the old gal – just to say that I did – and could only imagine the millions of footfalls of eager Indy fans who have crossed it in the four decades since, fans running to see their heroes in the pits or headed back to the grandstands to watch the action.

It was a fun tour, and a great touchstone to the event's past. You could almost smell the decades of burned nitro permeating the wooden sides.
 

At select NHRA national events, NHRA members get to enjoy a place of their own, the NHRA Member Hospitality tent, where they can get out of the sun (or rain), buy some snacks, watch the races on closed-circuit TV, and, best of all, be selected the NHRA VIP Member of the Race on raceday. All NHRA members are eligible to sign up for that and other prizes, which are drawn throughout the weekend with The Big Deal of the Day picked Monday.

The VIP Member of the Race not only gets a ticket upgrade to the Top Eliminator Club but also gets to stand on the starting line between the first pair of Top Fuelers in round one. Sweet! Plus, before the round, they get to take part in a racer meet-n-greet before pre-race, getting "backstage passes" to the area behind the introduction stage where the racers mill and chat for a half hour or more prior to pre-race. It's the ultimate autograph and photo op adventure. They then get introduced to the crowd themselves. This event's winners are Ray and Brenda Quinn, 20-year NHRA members.

I dropped by the member tent this morning to watch National DRAGSTER Advertising Director Jeff Morton do his thing, engaging the packed house of members with his friendly and funny style as he drew names for the VIP member and various door prizes, including diecast cars, portable radios, books, tickets to future events, and tickets to the National DRAGSTER suite in the Parks Tower.

I cruised around the gathering, answering questions from the members about everything from the old Daily DRAGSTER newspapers we produced here for 20 years to questions about possible digital editions of ND and the well-being of Austin Coil. I made sure to thank everyone for their continued support of NHRA through their membership. We know in this economy that budgets are tight, and we appreciate their continued support, which is why we offer perks like the member tent, the online audiocast, live timing (coming real soon … I promise!), and more.

From there, I wandered down to the class winner winner's circle to see the plaque that O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis General Manager Ron Anderson helped create with input from the DRAGSTER staff (see Kevin McKenna's blog) to salute our old pal Eric Brooks, who shot class winner pics there for nearly 40 years. We lost Eric earlier this year, but we wanted him to be remembered by those whom he helped make famous. I wrote the line for the plaque that still seems spot on: "He was always as happy to see you are you were to see him."

We miss ya, Eric.
 

The tale of Jeffrey “the Dude” Lebowski is a case of mistaken identity gone awry with one of the most endearingly slacker characters in cinematic history played by Jeff Bridges finding himself in the middle of a kidnapping situation. The Coen brothers classic is chock-full of political undertones, bowling pins, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and white Russians.

I'm throwing rocks tonight. Mark it, Dude.
A couple of drivers threw some serious strikes today. Antron Brown ran the second-fastest speed of the 1,000-foot era while taking the No. 1 spot in Top Fuel. Matt Smith really laid one down with a 6.91 to take the pole in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

3,000 years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax... You’re damn right I’m living in the past!
John Force Racing has taken it’s fair share of lumps, but the historically-dominant team kept pressing forward with performances like they had in qualifying. Robert Hight, Ashley Force Hood, Mike Neff, and John Force qualified in spots Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5, with Cruz Pedregon breaking them up at the No. 4 spot.

The old man told me to take any rug in the house.
Pulling one over on people of wealth is something that Jim Dunn has done for a long time. He grabbed everyone’s attention when he tuned Jerry Toliver, he of two round-wins this season, to a fantastic 4.11 in the final session to get in the top half. Dunn’s wife, Dianne, mentioned that “Big Jim” really puts a lot of emphasis into the Indy and Pomona races.

Good night, sweet prince.
The bids to get in the Countdown to 1 ended for drivers Joe Hartley and Warren Johnson with their DNQs. Kurt Johnson’s 61-race qualifying streak also came to an end. For the first time since I-don’t-know-when, the race day field in Pro Stock is without a Johnson.

You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don't wanna know about it, believe me.
Kenny Bernstein is a certified marketing genius, but I don’t know how he was able to put together a big sponsorship package in the economic times we’re living in. With bad news like the announcement from Don Prudhomme yesterday, it’s nice to see new companies being brought into the sport.

Forget it, Donny. You’re out of your element!
Pro Stock engine builders who are not employed by Mike Edwards aren’t quite in the same ballpark as the No. 1 qualifier.

I could be just sitting at home with pee stains on my rug.
Being in a Funny Car explosion might cause one to reconsider their life’s path. Bob Bode and Bob Tasca III had some boomers during the final session.

You may think I mailed this one in. Well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more bloggin’ and an event recap as relayed to you by lines from everybody’s favorite movie about golf.

Downing’s effort marks only the third successful qualifying effort of his career (all this season) and his first such effort with more than 16 entries present. The run that got him in the show was the first that he made to the 1,000-foot mark this season after going through a slew of blower belt problems. Downing had to drive the wheels of his Silver Fern Racing entry to keep it off the centerline after dropping a cylinder, but the New Zealand transplant managed to keep it lit for a 4.23 at 283 mph.

The Silver Fern theme is a tradition among Kiwi athletes who put an image of the New Zealand national flower on their backs when they compete outside of their country. Though Downing and wife Lynne, a registered nurse, compete on their own dollar, they received help at this event from Classic City Auto in Auburn, Ind., and former Del Worsham backers Walery’s Pizza (Dave Walery) and Wible Realty (Bruce Scranage).

Downing’s Worsham connection comes from his longstanding employment as the exclusive chassis builder for Worsham and, now, the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Racing Funny Car team. Chuck Worsham is calling the shots on Downing’s car, and longtime friend Ashley McKean leads the all-volunteer team. The humorous individuals have such slogans such as the pictured poster taped onto one of the trailer cabinets. Downing is very well-liked among his peers, which includes first-round opponent Robert Hight, who often trades parts to Downing in exchange for fabrication work. Just don’t ask Grant if his accent is Australian.

Justin Schriefer (pictured) didn’t have as good a weekend as Head and Downing. However, the hardworking driver is happy to be able to make laps in the big show with Dale Creasy Sr.’s Creasy Family Racing Funny Car. Schriefer, who also races a ’70 Challenger in the Top Sportsman class at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago, is the classic story of a longtime crewmember who worked all the way up from wiping tires to the driver’s seat.

Schriefer, who works in the excavating profession in Chicago, went to Creasy’s house in 1990 to purchase a Hemi engine and ended up going to a race with his team and getting hooked on nitro racing. Schriefer began doing grunt work and has done the clutch and the bottom-end at different points.

“Dale mentioned something to me about driving a few years ago, and I jumped at the chance to make some licensing runs in Las Vegas in 2006,” said Schriefer. “John and Ashley Force signed my first licensing run, and J.R. Todd and Eric Medlen signed off my second run. I have pictures of everyone who signed my license, including one of Eric when he signed it on the hood of his car.”

Schriefer, Creasy, and co. have been learning the ins and outs of their Ty Baumgartner-built Funny Car that they debuted this season. Although the final result wasn’t what they were looking for, they were able to pinpoint an ignition problem that had been plaguing them for two events. Schriefer is a diehard racer through and through who puts some of his personal money into the racing operation. With his grit and enthusiasm, look for him to keep improving and possibly upsetting touring Pros on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Brian Thiel is the last remaining part-timer to be mentioned in this blog. A disagreement between he and car owner Paul Smith led to Thiel walking away from the operation on Saturday morning and severing his working relationship with Smith and his team. I won’t go into detail, only because I have not heard Thiel’s side of the story.

Thiel is a wildly successful rice farmer whose home track is Infineon Raceway. He was a college football player for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in his earlier days. His plans for next year include running the entire 24-race circuit with a nitro Funny Car that he will own while keeping his Top Alcohol Funny Car for his wife to learn to drive.

I'll give my tired eyes a hiatus from the computer screen before I post the daily recap in movie quotes, which has become something of a semi-sensation among my 10s and 10s of readers.

The more interesting battle, of course, is for the final spot in the field. Cruz Pedregon currently holds the 10th spot, but that could change depending on the outcome tomorrow. By virtue of qualifying No. 1 and Hagan qualifying 15th, Hight has now pulled into a tie with the rookie-of-the-year contender, and the two of them are 35 points behind Pedregon, meaning they need to go two rounds further than the reigning champ to knock him out. Pedregon and Hight are on the same side of the ladder and could potentially meet in the semi’s, which would be a must-win for Hight (he would also need to win the final to pass Pedregon). Hagan is on the other side of the ladder, which sets up a number of interesting scenarios. The most intriguing in my mind is if Pedregon loses in the semi’s or sooner and Hight and Hagan both go to the final — that would set up a winner-take-all final with the winner earning the final Countdown spot. If Pedregon were to lose first round and Hagan and Hight both lost in the semi’s, they would finish tied for the 10th spot, and we go to the tiebreaker. Hight would win the tiebreaker (he’s up 12 to 10 entering Monday).

At right you see Richard’s image snapped just this morning during the third round of Super Gas. That’s Dave Dailey, age 75, driver of the "Wild Mountain" ‘48 Anglia in the far lane, and his opponent is ‘70 Buick Opel GT pilot Dave Barrett.

Here’s where it gets really cool: Barrett and Dailey are cousins and have been racing here at Indy since 1973. The Super Gasser kinfolk both had decent lights, but Dailey was three-thousandths quicker off the starting line and won on a .004-second breakout by Barrett. Dailey will be racing on Monday at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

A few fun facts about the cousins for ya: Back in 1963 Dailey drove a sweet six-cylinder altered known as “The Fugitive.” Barrett, currently 6th in the Division 3 standings, built the Anglia that Dailey is currently driving back in 1992, and he built his own Opel GT in 2002.

Though the two have been racing here together for many years, the third round pairing was the first time they’d ever run one another at the Big Go.

Ah, the magic that is Indy.
 

Yesterday before receiving word of the troubles back home they shared some positive news: Daughter Nicole, a Top Sportsman racer who licensed in 2006 after attending Frank Hawley’s NHRA Drag Racing School, will race a couple of events this season in Brian Brown’s car in preparation for next season when she will drive a new Top Sportsman entry for Mickey Nickos and Richard Davis, who will be co-car owners and co-crew chiefs. Kevin says he’s also considering setting up his Pro Stock entry to allow Nicole to run as a B/Altered once or twice.

In the meantime, with Chicago-based engine builder Ted Karkazis (who has been hard at work and promises increased horsepower next year) on Kevin’s crew, as well as the help of Vince from sponsor Modern Carriage Werks, Joe from Hyperaktive Performance Solutions, and good friends like Chuck and Billy who accompanied the family to Indy, the team is looking towards a bright future, for sure.

You’re in our thoughts, Lawrence family.
 

In Pro Stock, the battle for the No. 1 spot is basically between Jeg Coughlin and Jason Line. Mike Edwards isn’t mathematically eliminated just yet, but it would be a pretty tall task for him. For Edwards to move to the top, he would need to set a national record and win the race and have Coughlin lose first round. Though Edwards is the person most likely to set a national record in the class, most of the people I’ve spoken with don’t really see that happening (stranger things have happened, though). So with that in mind, that leaves Coughlin and Line. Following qualifying, Coughlin leads Line by exactly 60 points, meaning Line needs to go four more rounds than Coughlin (Coughlin lose first round and Line win the event) to move around Coughlin for the top spot. If Line goes three rounds further than Coughlin (Coughlin loses first round and Line finishes as runner-up or Coughlin loses second round and Line wins), the pair will finish tied. The first tiebreaker is round-wins, and if my math is correct, Coughlin has the edge by one round.

The scenario is equally as interesting in Pro Stock Motorcycle as four riders — Michael Phillips, Shawn Gann, Steve Johnson, and Karen Stoffer — battle for the final three spots. By virtue of outqualifying Stoffer, Johnson has moved into a tie for 10th spot. Phillips is 44 points ahead, meaning Stoffer and/or Johnson would need to go three rounds further than him to move around him. Gann is just 18 points ahead of the 10th-place pair, so Stoffer and/or Johnson need just one more round-win than Gann to move in front of him. If Stoffer and Johnson go the same number of rounds tomorrow, they will finished tied, meaning a tiebreaker would be needed either to determine which of the two will make the Countdown playoffs or where they will be seeded if Gann or Phillips stumble and they both go around them. Entering tomorrow, Johnson has the edge in round-wins, five to four, so he would get the playoffs spot or the higher position. Junior Pippin is also still mathematically in the hunt as well, but it's a pretty tall order for him to get in. Pippin is 51 points behind Johnson and Stoffer, meaning he needs to go three rounds further than both of them. If Stoffer and Johnson both lose first round, Pippin would pass them with a semifinal finish. If one or both lose in the second round, he would then need to win the race to get the spot.

Body in white: Fans who cruised through the pit area at O’Reilly Raceway Park also got a chance to catch a glimpse of the Dodge Challenger package car in its raw form as the Teuton Family had their brand new “body in white” Challenger on display in front of their massive 18-wheel tow rig. As delivered, the new Dodge is surprisingly complete with the engine already installed and all non-essential equipment such as the radio, heater, and sound deadener already deleted. The engine choices include the popular 6.1 and 5.7 liter versions of the late model Hemi.  The Teuton’s who own a Dodge dealership in their hometown of Houma, La., already have three Hemi-powered ’68 Barracudas and a ’69 Super Bee Stock eliminator entry in their stable, expect to have their new Challenger, which carries serial No. 16 of an expected 50 units, completed in time for the start of the 2010 season. 
 
Tough day at the office: The first two rounds of eliminations in Stock were not kind to many of drag racing’s biggest sportsman stars as Dan Fletcher, Peter Biondo, Kevin Helms, Adam Davis, Lee Zane Jeff Strickland, Anthony Bertozzi and Jerry and Terry Emmons are all out of competition. With 32 drivers left, there is still plenty of talent left in the field as former national champions Jeff Taylor, David Rampy, Michael Iacono, Edmond Richardson, Jimmy DeFrank, and Jim Waldo are among the survivors.

CIC concerns: Shortly before the rain interrupted the day’s activities, weather conditions at O’Reilly Raceway Park were cool and overcast which wasn’t good news for the 64 Comp Eliminator qualifiers who were hoping to preserve their respective indexes as eliminations began. Just seven pairs of Comp cars ran before the wet stuff began falling and three drivers took CIC hits, although none of them were quick enough to be permanent. Jerry Arnold was the quickest with a (-.602) 7.958 run in his G/Econo Dragster while Shawn Vincent (-.584) 8.546 in C/Truck Automatic and Joey Tanksley (-.519) 6.931 will also have their indexes adjusted downward for the next round. With cool weather forecast for the rest of the day, it’s probably safe to assume that more CIC hits are going to take place whenever the round resumes.

During the rain delay, we all headed over to Kenny Bernstein's pit area for the press conference where he was expected to announce his team's new sponsor for 2010. There had been plenty of speculation and leaks about the identity of the sponsor, and he definitely had a packed house of curious media, fellow racers, and a number of associated team sponsors on hand, which led to a lot of second-guessing. Plus on the heels of Don Prudhomme's announcement yesterday, heck, anything can happen.

Forrest and Charlotte and Morgan Lucas, longtime backers of the Bernstein team, were in attendance, leading many to speculate that the Bernsteins would become yet another car to carry Lucas Oil as a primary name on its flanks, but before long the reception area also was filled with happy looking people in Copart shirts.

Kenny and Brandon weren't there; they were a few hundred feet away on the stage of NHRA Raceday with Dave Rieff and Copart President Jay Adair to make the announcement live on ESPN2. We had a feed in the pit area so that we could watch the show, which included the signing of the official contract by both KB and Adair.

The Bernsteins and Adair joined us in the pit area shortly after, where they were greeted with handshakes and hugs and applause. Benrstein addressed the assembled crowd, and he and Adair spoke, as did NHRA President Tom Compton, Copart CEO Willis Johnson, and Forrest Lucas.

The Bernstein car will be outfitted in blue livery next year, which will help the identity of the new backer and separate people's minds from the "Forever Red" Budweiser union that Bernstein has long enjoyed. Bernstein, who first met Adair in Sonoma, called the sponsorship a "rebirth" for him and his team and that he was looking forward to helping further increase awareness of Copart, which sells more than a million cars a year online through its Web site.
 

… there have been 334 U.S. Nationals winners in the past 54 years?

… 67 of those drivers have won the Big Go more than once? Two drivers have won it nine times, one has scored eight times, two have been victorious seven times, five have titled six times, another has won it five times, three have scored four times, 15 have done in three times, and 38 have scored twice. (To save you the math work, 267 drivers have won it just once.)

Bob Glidden won Pro Stock at the U.S. Nationals nine times, including this 1987 victory that he collected in the midst of a four-year winning streak in Indy.

… four drivers have won the U.S. Nationals four straight years, three of them in Pro Stock? Bob Glidden accomplished that amazing feat of dominance first (1985-1988), followed by Warren Johnson (1992-1995) and Greg Anderson (2003-2006). They are joined by Top Alcohol Funny Car's Pat Austin (1988- 91).

… three drivers have three-peated at Indy? Tony Schumacher and Frank Manzo both have won Indy three years straight twice in their careers. Schumacher did it in 2002, 2003, and 2004 as well as 2006, 2007, and 2008, and Manzo in 2000, 2001, and 2002 as well as 2005, 2006, and 2007. "Big Daddy" Don Garlits did it once (1984, 1985, and 1986).

 … 24 drivers have doubled up in Indy, winning two straight years? Glidden (1973, 1974 and 1978, 1979), Don Prudhomme (1969, 1970 and 1973, 1974), and Dave Schultz (1987, 1988 and 1993, 1994) all did it twice, and Joe Amato (1987, 1988), Brad Anderson (1984, 1985), Dale Armstrong (1974, 1975), Gary Beck (1972, 1973), Kevin Helms (1998, 1999), Kurt Johnson (1996, 1997), Doug Lambeck (1998, 1999), Ed McCulloch (1971, 1972), George Montgomery (1959, 1960), John Myers (1996, 1997), Cruz Pedregon (1994, 1995), Larry Pritchett (2002, 2003), David Rampy (1998, 1999), Scotty Richardson (1995, 1996), Joe Smith (1974, 1975), Glen Treadwell (2005, 2006), Angelle Sampey (2001, 2002), Lee Shepherd (1980, 1981), Gene Snow (1966, 1967), Terry Vance (1985, 1986), and Lee Zane (2003, 2004) all pulled off the feat once.

… no driver has ever won two classes on the same day in Indy, though several have come close. Austin was the first with his Top Alcohol Funny Car win and Top Fuel runner-up in 1991, and he has been followed in the near-miss category by Richardson (1996 Stock win, Super Gas runner-up) and Rampy (1998 Super Comp win, Comp runner-up).

… with a Top Fuel victory, Schumacher will have won eight of 10 U.S. Nationals this decade and will tie Garlits as the class' winningest driver in Indy?

Top Alcohol Funny Car star Frank Manzo is poised to become the winningest driver in U.S. Nationals history if he collects his 10th Indy win this year. His win in 2002 here also was his milestone 50th victory; he now owns 84 wins.

… Top Alcohol Funny Car wunderkind Manzo has the chance this weekend to become the winningest driver in U.S. Nationals history – regardless of class -- with a 10th victory? He also has two runner-ups here.

… Manzo has won the U.S. Nationals six times this decade?

… until Manzo tied him with an Indy win in 2007, former Pro Stock kingpin and home-state favorite Glidden had been the winningest driver in U.S. Nationals for nearly 20 years, since his last win here in 1988? How good was he?

… Glidden also has six runner-ups in Indy?

… the only person to beat Glidden more than once in an Indy Pro Stock final was Shepherd? He did it back to back in 1980 and 1981.

…  four drivers have scored in three classes in Indy? Pete Biondo and Richardson have both won in Super Stock, Stock, and Super Comp, and Jeff Taylor has won in Comp, Super Stock, and Stock. Montgomery also won in three classes in the 1960s (when class names shifted quite a bit), scoring twice in Little eliminator and once each in Middle and Sportsman.

…. Biondo has won twice in each of those classes, and Richardson just missed becoming a four-class winner when he was runner-up in Comp in 2007?

… only four drivers -- Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, McCulloch, and Jim Head -- have won the U.S. Nationals in both Top Fuel and Funny Car?

…  Prudhomme not only did it first, winning in Funny Car in 1973 after three previous wins in Top Fuel (1965, 1969, 1970), but with additional Funny Car wins in 1974, 1977, and 1989, he's the only driver with multiple wins in both classes?

… McCulloch is still the winningest Funny Car driver in NHRA history, even though his last fuel coupe win at the Big Go was in 1990?

John Force has won the U.S. Nationals four times, including with this special-edition gold car in 1998, but has DNQ'd the last two years.

… John Force has a chance to tie McCulloch at five wins this year, but that he's failed to qualify in Indy the last two years?

… Force hasn't qualified No. 1 at any NHRA national event since he qualified on the pole at the U.S. Nationals in 2006? That's a span of 66 races, the longest such drought of his Pro career.

… of the 17 NHRA events, past and present, at which Force has logged as many as 20 starts, the U.S. Nationals is the only event he has won fewer than 40 rounds (39)?

… Antron Brown has the chance to become the first NHRA competitor to win at the U.S. Nationals in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle? He earned two-wheeled titles in 2000 and 2004 and is a favorite to win this year in Top Fuel.

… in addition to Prudhomme, McCulloch, Bernstein, Head, and Brown, 12 drivers have wins in two classes: Darrell Gwynn (Top Fuel, Top Alcohol Dragster), Austin (Top Fuel, Top Alcohol Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock, Super Gas), Snow (Sportsman, Comp), Ronnie Sox (Pro Stock, Super Stock), Vance (Pro Stock Motorcycle, Top Fuel Bike), John Lingenfelter (Comp, Super Stock), Rampy (Comp, Super Comp), Dave Boertman (Super Stock, Stock), Larry Morgan (Pro Stock, Super Stock), Bob Riffle (Comp, Modified), and Pete Shadinger (Comp, Little).

… three of the four Coughlin brothers – Jeg, Mike, and Troy – have won Indy titles? Family patriarch Jeg Sr. was a runner-up in Little eliminator in Detroit in 1959. Looks like John's turn next.

The late Dave Schultz is still the winningest Pro Stock Motorcycle rider in U.S. Nationals history and will be for a long, long time.

… even though his last triumph here was 15 years ago, the late Schultz is still the winningest Pro Stock Motorcycle pilot in Indy history with six wins? He'll hold that record for a long, long time as only one other active rider (Steve Johnson) has more than one win.

… Gary Beck (1972) and Larry Dixon (1995) are the only Pro rookies to have won the U.S. Nationals in their first start in Indy?

… only two drivers -- Rick Santos (1993, 1999) and Bill Reichert (2006, 2008) -- have won Top Alcohol Dragster more than once at the U.S. Nationals?

… Mick Leiferman probably holds the record for Indy frustration? He reached the Stock final three straight years (1975, 1976, 1977) and finished as runner-up all three times. He has never won the U.S. Nationals.

… John Smith also is a three-time Indy runner-up without a win, finishing second in Pro Stock Motorcycle in 1993, 1995, and 2000?

… 20 other drivers have reached an Indy final twice and failed to win?

Will this be Ron Capps' year to finally win Indy?

… current NHRA Full Throttle superstars Ron Capps, Doug Kalitta, Tony Pedregon, Brandon Bernstein, Rod Fuller, and Andrew Hines have never won the U.S. Nationals?

… Capps has not only never won the U.S. Nationals but never reached the final here? Fuller has an Indy runner-up, but it was in Super Gas, in 1998.

… Former world champs Eddie Hill, Gary Ormsby, Mark Oswald, Chuck Etchells, Dick LaHaie, Scott Kalitta, and Jim Yates never won at the U.S. Nationals?

… Al Hofmann, Tommy Johnson Jr., Bruce Allen, and Jay Payne are among the list of drivers with 10 or more wins without a U.S. Nationals win?

… Comp racers Tom Trisch and Treadwell went exactly 10 years between their first and second Indy wins? Trisch first won Indy in 1971 and then scored again in 1981, and Treadwell went from his 1995 win until 2005 before he won again here. Treadwell didn't wait 10 years before capturing his third, however; he also scored in 2006.

… the record for the longest time between multiple Indy wins is 22 years? Al Corda won Stock in 1971 and in 1993.

And, finally, did you know that …

… I'm out of Did You Knows?
 

Let's get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. If I was informed correctly, the clock is ticking. Is that right, Jimmie?
Both Joe Hartley and Clay Millican will be battling for the last four spots in the Top Fuel field tomorrow while battling each other for the last spot in the Countdown to 1. Millican has a scant three-point lead over Hartley, and Hartley must get in the show to have any chance. Both teams tested one week ago, Millican with Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald on-hand to help friend Lance Larsen sort out his car.

Nobody's gonna hurt anybody. We're gonna be like three little Fonzies here. And what's Fonzie like? Come on, Yolanda, what's Fonzie like? “He’s cool.” Correctamundo!
The three Funny Car teams battling for No. 10 (Robert Hight, Cruz Pedregon, and Matt Hagan) are all in the show at Nos. 1, 6, and 11. Despite a great deal of pressure for each team to perform, they all kept their respective heads during the first two days of qualifying to likely delay the conclusion of their respective fates until Monday.

That's how you're gonna beat 'em, Butch. They keep underestimating you.
Does any contending car in Top Fuel get looked past more than Cory McClenathan’s Fram Tough Guard dragster? Cory Mac continues to lay down strong run after strong run, and winning the biggest race of the year might be the potent punch that knocks his fellow title contenders into a daze.

I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'ma get medieval on your ass.
Way down on the sheets heading into the third session, Tony Schumacher proved a point with a strong 3.85 that propelled him up the ladder and gave him a launch pad for an Indy title defense. After getting the wrong end of close race after close race in recent months, it’s time for “the Sarge” to reach the winner’s circle again where he has done it so many times before.

Every time my fingers touch brain, I'm Superfly T.N.T. – I'm the Guns of the Navarone!
My mistake. The count is TWO Sam Jackson quotes with no swearing.

The enraged Jules in Pulp Fiction mirrors the four John Force Racing teams whenever they feel backed into a corner. The JFR entries are qualified 1-2-3-4 at the end of the day despite having to band together to fill the void of an absent Austin Coil.

I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take ME out and do WHATEVER I WANTED. Now I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good.
There must be a significant amount of pressure on Dickie Venables to perform. He was hired to tune Alan Johnson’s Del Worsham-driven Funny Car one race before the start of the Countdown to 1 even though incumbent Aaron Brooks had been doing a decent job. Venables is expected to lead this team to the next level, and he is doing a fine job so far by tuning Worsham to the No. 5 spot with a 4.10.

I tell you what now between me and you. There is no me and you. Not no more.
In a surprise turn, the relationship between rookie Funny Car shoe Brian Thiel, who plans to run the entire 2009 tour, and Paul Smith dissolved this morning. Smith is considering putting the car through technical inspection tomorrow to run with son Mike behind the wheel.

Look, go to the fridge and get the thing with the O.D. adrenalin shot.
This goes out to every Pro Stock driver who is not Mike Edwards. Edwards has used his horsepower to dominate every Pro Stock session. Barring a lapse on the starting line, the brains in the Pro Stock pits are going to have to go for broke to keep up with the man from Coweta, Okla.

Spoken like a true prodigy. How about you, Lash LaRue? You think you can keep your spurs from jinglin' and janglin'?
We all knew Andrew Hines would rise to the occasion in the final round of the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle due to his two previous wins in such occasions, not to mention his three world titles. No. 1 seed Hector Arana, on the other hand, is one of the class’ premier riders with the exception of his performance on the starting line. We all knew he had the bike to win and the talent to get the most out of it, but all eyes were in his lane when the three ambers came down. Unfortunately, Arana left too soon and gave it away to the accomplished Hines.

Check out the big brain on Brett!
I thought the line was “Check out the big brain on Brad” during my initial viewing of this film. That’s it for the day. It’s time to reward my hard work with a Royale with Cheese. That’s thirty minutes away; I’ll be there in 10.

The car he’s driving is a brand-new McKinney-built dragster that is a twin to teammate Del Cox Jr.’s entry. Paul Smith does the tuning on both. August got to know Smith while beginning the licensing process in Mike Strasburg’s Top Fueler in Salt Lake City earlier this summer, and he completed the feat at O’Reilly Raceway Park a week ago Wednesday with three full runs. King crewmember and sometimes-photographer Chris Graves was kind enough to shoot the pictured photo of August for me.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’m close with Ron and his family, and I wrench on his TAFC during my off weekends. Ron is a fun guy at 45 years old, and he has parlayed his success in racing and running the family business (California Air, which works with Lescure on some projects and is currently involved in the building of new schools) into the pursuit of a round-win in the fuel classes, the last of seven life goals he wrote down for himself when he was 18 that he has left to accomplish. Winning a round might be an ambitious feat in this field, but he’s realistic enough to know what a big accomplishment it would be to qualify.

His father, Ron Sr., is unable to hide his wide smile despite his hardass persona. “Senior” sold a Funny Car that he built for himself in the late-60s before he ever got to drive it so that he could start the family business, and seeing his son make passes in a fueler because of the sacrifices he made for his family would make any father gleam with pride. Ron Jr.’s 9-year-old son Christian is also proud of pops, and he’s even waived his longstanding Funny Car preference to favor his dad’s flamed dragster.

B is for Buff. Troy Buff doesn’t want to outright say that team owner/crew chief Bill Miller is using the biggest race of the year as a test session, but the driver from Spring, Texas, is happy to oblige himself as Miller’s Chuck Yeager. Well, maybe not “happy” per se, but Buff is a good soldier.

“Bill is doing some things to try and pick the car up on the back half where it was a little weak,” explained Buff. “The car started to nose over on the first run and burnt a piston right before I shut off. I shut off at the 330 on the second run even though it felt like it was on a great pass. That was really hard to do, but Bill told me to so I did it.”

The BME/Okuma team may have something for the series regulars if Miller’s theories pan out.

C is for Cox. Del Cox Jr. is taking a race off from fighting for his championship life opposite Bruce Litton in the IHRA series to compete in the most prestigious race of the year in Top Fuel for the first time. Cox has qualified in all four previous attempts this season in Mitch King’s RG Industries/Bexar Waste dragster. The former NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League competitor took over the seat formerly occupied by his good friend Spencer Massey.

Cox fared well while racing in the Top Dragster and Top Sportsman classes in the Division 7 ranks before he moved up to Top Alcohol Dragster last season. Cox became one of few A/Fuel dragster drivers to possess a 280-mph time slip when he posted big speeds in Curt Schendel’s Javid Marusich-tuned entry. Cox received his license upgrade in the minimum two runs in Las Vegas this preseason and has done well ever since. His grandfather, Toad, has been a great supporter of his racing efforts throughout his young career.

D is for Dakin. Pat Dakin competed at this event for the first time in 1971 and scored his first of two career round-wins at this event in 1995 by defeating Connie Kalitta in the first round. The veteran from Dayton, Ohio, got out of racing for several years after a nasty blowover in 1998 but returned to the saddle in one of Mitch King’s entries last season and qualified for the U.S. Nationals.

Dakin ran an impressive 3.88 at 315 mph in the third session to make the top 12. That run was quite a comeback from a troubled Friday morning run in which Dakin broke a crankshaft shortly after the hit and oiled the lane.

Dakin reunited most of his old racing pals to field his current entry, which was put together by Scott “Scoots” Graham after a conversation over 18 holes of golf. Graham had put together a complete operation with ample spares for Dakin’s brother, Mike, that was to be driven by Mike’s son, Chris. However, the declining economy prompted Mike to let his new operation sit idle, and Pat’s renewed enthusiasm gave Graham another project to put together this season.

F is for Fuller. “Hot Rod” Fuller grabbed everybody’s attention last night when he drove Bob Vandergriff Jr.’s untested McAllister Caterpillar entry up toward the top of the qualifying sheet with a 3.88 at 310 mph. We all know the story of the Sportsman-standout-turned-Top Fuel hitter who is clawing his way back onto the full-time circuit after the David Powers/Tim Buckley team folded unexpectedly this offseason. If he can extend his stellar showing late in Monday, the Las Vegas-based driver may come closer to doing just that.

H is for Haddock. People accustomed to seeing Terry Haddock on the tour might have had to take a second look at him at this race. His team was decked out in new uniforms, and his car sported a new look courtesy of versatile, painter-extraordinaire Brian Olsen. It’s difficult for a gritty, all-volunteer team like Haddock’s to prioritize a professional appearance when so much effort is required to get from race to race, but Haddock made a worthy and effective effort.

Doing a lot with a little is something Haddock learned from mentor Paul Smith in his earlier days, and the lessons continue to this day with the help of friend Gary Densham. Densham is on-hand preparing Haddock’s Funny Car for a match race in Martin, Mich. Next week as well as providing a sounding board for Haddock, who calls the shots on his own dragster.

Haddock’s dragster is showing more promise than it has all season with improved early numbers. Last night, Haddock ran a career-best .835 to 60 feet and followed with a very competitive 2.15 to the 330-foot mark before a pesky blower belt snapped. Haddock is excited by what he’s found in his dragster, and he could prove to be a worthy dark horse.

L is for Litton. Most teams have shops in Brownsburg, Ind., and consider ORP the home track. No driver is more at home than Bruce Litton, though, whose shop is literally right across the street. Crew chief Richard Hartman said that they have tested at ORP before by literally towing their dragster from the shop to the waterbox and adding the wings once they reached the staging lanes.

Hartman has spent several years as Litton’s crew chief and also as the tuner of Andy Kelley’s Funny Car after an eventful driving career. Though he loves being able to make a living in drag racing, Hartman admits that the driving bug still eats at him.

“I want to drive really bad,” said Hartman. “It’s an easy decision, though. I didn’t even get paid in my last couple of rides, and it’s hard to do it on your own dime. I might be able to drive for the Kelleys for a race or two, and I get to make laps in a Nostalgia Funny Car to keep the urge under control.

Hartman has tuned Litton to impressive results thus far this weekend considering that it is their first season with a thicker-tubed chassis as per NHRA specifications, and it’s the ebst racetrack they have competed on all season with the setup.

N is for Novelli. Luigi Novelli spent the day licking his wounds after a disastrous Friday night run in which his dragster broke a crankshaft and erupted into a huge fireball downtrack. The veteran racer, who is dubbed “the Rodfather” due to his Italian-American heritage, decided to use his resources wisely and sit out Saturday qualifying in hopes to put forth his best effort on Sunday.

Novelli’s first U.S. Nationals was in 1972, where he lost to Tony Nancy in the opening round. He qualified No. 21 in 1978 and lost to “Big Daddy” Don Garlits in the opener. His last race day start in Indy was in 1979 in yet another 32-car field; Novelli qualified on the bump and lost to Johnny Abbott. Novelli took a racing hiatus from 1981 to 1994, and he has yet to crack the top 16 at the Big Go.

“Qualifying at Indy is something I’d like to do one more time before I quit,” said Novelli. “I feel great, and work is still going good. As long as I’m able to make a little money, I’ll keep coming out here.”

Z is for Zizzo. T.J. Zizzo is hungry to earn his first round-win since Peak Antifreeze came onboard as a sponsor a few years back, and he is staying busy at this race mingling with fans and doing sponsor-related activities with Peak and track title sponsor O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Zizzo updated his dragster by parting with his second-generation Alan Johnson heads that he bought from Shirley Muldowney and installing AJPE-5 heads that he bought used from Kalitta Motorsports. Between the new heads and a new camshaft with a different profile, tuners Mike Kern and Tony Smith did well to figure it out quickly enough to run a 3.94 in last night's session.

"By switching heads, we went from the 1990s to the 2000s," said Zizzo, who runs a small body shop with father Tony. "We tested in Cordova, Ill., last weekend, but this is all mostly new to us. We had it so overtuned at the start of the weekend that we backed it down a bunch before last night's run, so I was pleasantly surprised it ran that number."

Zizzo, who battled current Top Alcohol Dragster hitter Marty Thacker in the UDRA ranks prior to racing in Top Fuel, prides himself in his team's professionalism in spite of being a very low-dollar operation. His team has fared well under the guide of crew chiefs Kern, whose father drove the Chicago Fire fuel altered, and Smith, a dedicated Zizzo crewmember of 18 years. They learned the nitro craft from initial influences Tim Wilkerson and former crew chief Dave Settles.

Tomorrow, I'll bring you the ABCs of Funny Car independents.

We filed into the media center's press conference room like excited kids and left like mourners. That's the best way I can describe it. When one of the heroes of your sport -– let alone a childhood hero to most of us – says we might not be seeing him around next year, it's lump-in-the-throat time.

Don Prudhomme had talked openly earlier this year in an interview with me in National DRAGSTER about the possibility of fielding two Top Fuelers in 2010 –- it was originally the reason he hired Spencer Massey before Spencer was promoted into the first-string cockpit following Larry Dixon's departure for the Al-Anabi team –- so I think we all went in there expecting that announcement. I know I did.

So when Prudhomme lieutenant/team manager Skip Allum read from a prepared statement that "the Snake" was looking for either buyer/investor/sponsor for his team, jaws dropped in unison. [Full story] Prudhomme fielded questions afterward and, while the first brush of the news is not good, I'm going to take a glass-half-full look at this.

Prudhomme says he wanted to get the info out so that everyone will know, but I'm looking at his chance to let the media help him get the word out that he's in dire straits and looking for some help. I don't think he's over the sport or no longer believes in it, but he's realist. He knows that some of his owner peers put some of their personal money into their teams, and can't or won't do that.

He also won't run the team on less than an adequate budget, and after all that he has accomplished in his career -– including the two Top Fuel championships that Larry Dixon earned for him in 2002 and 2003 –- you can understand why he wouldn't want to have his final seasons be anything less than representative of his hall of fame career.

"The Snake" said that best: "I don’t want to be a leaker; I want to be able to come to a race and fire our best shot."

We wouldn’t have it any other way either, "Snake."

It was an amazing, interesting, and fun experience, and there were many things that caught my eye. The obvious is seeing the drivers after the run with the raw emotion and initial reaction to the run, but I will save that for a moment because that is not what amazed or interested me most as I was down there. That instead goes to the track and safety workers. They work behind the giant inflatables that are on the left side of the track and are obscured from the view of most spectators, meaning most people don't get to see the great job they do. With everything that goes on on the top end, it could be a really chaotic place, but the Safety Safari and other officials have things down so well it never is — things work like a well-oiled machine, a carefully choreographed ballet, a … well insert your own favorite pun about things that are well planned and executed well here. I spoke with Kurt Johnson (no not the Pro Stock racer, silly, NHRA’s Kurt Johnson), and he said at an average race, they have 14 guys working at the top end, directing cars, assisting the drivers out, rolling up parachutes, and helping with whatever else needs to be done. Though the guys often occupy almost the same piece of real estate and are often working in nearly the same spot, they pull it off with great efficiency. It’s really an interesting thing to watch in action. We all know they are there, but I think we often forget about them since they do such a marvelous job.

Now onto the guys and gals the safety crew is up there assisting run after run. Watching the drivers emerge from their cars and seeing the unfiltered, genuine emotion from all of them is absolutely fascinating. Though it’s hard to keep up with the times and how each driver did on their run, it is readily apparent by how they come out of the car or carry themselves. This is most pronounced in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Take John Nobile in Pro Stock for example. He bounded out of his car, let out a loud, ‘Woo,’ then began asking anyone and everyone nearby, ‘What’d it run? What’d it run? What it ran was a 6.665 that moved him from 29th to 15th on the sheets.

Equally excited was newcomer Ryan Ondrejko, who ran a career-best 6.641 to move to the top half of the field — if he remains there, it will be his first ever start from the quick eight. “My first U.S. Nationals,” said Ondrejko excitedly. “I always wanted to come here when I was Sportsman racing but never could, so to be here and doing so well is so cool.”

On the other side of the coin, it was also painfully obvious when things didn’t quite go according to plans. Some drivers lingered a bit in removing their helmets or getting out of their cars as they contemplated what went wrong and what could have been. Others just shook their heads or found comfort with a fellow racer, explaining what they thought may have happened. Some bike riders found an out-of-the-way corner to escape everyone and collect their thoughts.

It was definitely an interesting way to watch the round of qualifying.

“This body gives us something to compete with against the GXP and Stratus,” said Enders, the only active and fifth of all time female Pro Stock car competitor. “To be a part of the Ford program is really cool. We’re very excited, and next year will be very good for us.”

While the blocks and heads are being finessed, surely with much attention to detail, the bodies have been completed with great care - including the paint. Cunningham was keen to point out the fine airbrushed artwork on the nose of his prized new ride.

“Jim Hooker touched up both cars and his son did the airbrushing,” said Cunningham. “He did such a good job, right down to the Mustang horse on the front.”

Hooker couldn’t help adding a little personalized finishing touch. The dashboard on Cunningham’s ride has a hand-painted “radio,” with a sly inclusion of Hooker’s name on one of the buttons.

Erica’s car needed a slight modification and her crew guys were happy to help. The petite drag racer couldn’t quite make the reach to the reverser, so the helpful fellas customized an extended version, complete with a series of star cutouts to complement her Dragstar sponsor.

It was a pretty interesting visit, and as I said my goodbyes, CMS. Gen Mgr. George Lark, the do-all guy who handles just about anything that needs handling on Cunningham’s team, pulled me aside for a quick word.

“You know, if you looked up the word perseverance in the dictionary, you would find Jim Cunningham’s picture,” he said. “This team has gone through so much just to get here. We started the motors Sunday and Jim’s seized. Marcus [Bowen, crew chief] flew home and got a crankshaft and carried it on the plane so we could put the motor together. Then in St. Louis while they were testing Erica’s car, a lifter broke. Someone flying in on Thursday at 4pm was able to get the lifters we needed and fly them out. This team is no holds barred and no expense has been spared to do what needs to be done to get these cars on the racetrack.”

 

Cunningham's Mustang

Enders' near-identical ride

Hartford, who won the NHRA Modified-class sport compact championship in 2002 and was second in Pro RWD in 2005 is joined in competition at this year's Big Go by Justin Humphreys,  Brad Personett, and Grant Downing.

Everyone knows Pro Stock star Humphreys, who also is a former Modified champ with a turbocharged Lexus. Brad Personett, who won the Pro RWD championship in the series' final three years and won more than a dozen events (won here in 2005 and 2006 with the turbocharged Titan Motorsports Toyota), is competing in the Get Screened America Pro Mod exhibition series (still with turbo power!).

Grant Downing, who won the Pro class championship in 2002 and racked up two event wins with a Toyota truck as part of the powerful Venom team, is compeing here as a privateer in Funny Car and is a successful chassis builder.

Matt Scranton, who went undefeated in winning the 2002 Pro V-8 class with his Toyota Celica, recently campaigned in Pro Stock and was a semifinalist in Gainesville in his debut but since has parked his team.

Bruno Massel, who covered the series as a color commentator, is on a hot streak this season with his turbocharged Cobalt in Comp, notching several big wins this year.

Lisa Kubo, a star in both the Hot Rod and Pro FWD classes (teamed, in the latter, with former NHRA Funny Car star Jim Epler, who was team manager) has been a constant site in the nitro pits and has fuel Funny Car aspirations, while former All Motor racer Scott Kelley has run in Comp in the past and will run in Super Stock next year with a Scion xB in the SS/EX class.

A couple of former sport compact stars, world champs Ed and Ron Bergenholtz and Gary Gardella are now car owners in the Formula Drift world (for Justin Pawluk and Ryan Tuerck, respectively), where Steph Papadakis and Shawn Hillier also lend their mechanical talents.
 

Proud papa: In addition to his regular duties as a crewman and clutch tuner for rookie of the year contender Douglas Horne, Gary Tonglet Sr. is also watching carefully as both of his sons, Gary Jr. (GT) and Lewis (LE), compete in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. GT, who is a former NHRA rookie of the year award winner, is riding the family’s Suzuki, which is the same bike that LE rode earlier this year in Houston and Atlanta. Meanwhile, LE is riding for Matt Smith this weekend aboard one of his Buell V-twins. “We were going to put LE on this [Suzuki] this weekend but at the last minute he got a call from Matt, who asked him to ride his Buell,” said Tonglet Sr., “That was too good an opportunity to pass up so we just decided to put GT on our Suzuki. We had some problems last night but we should run at lot better today. I’d be tickled if they both qualified.”

Ellis returns: Chip Ellis is making his first start of the season aboard a Vance & Hines-powered Suzuki and despite being out of the seat for the better part of a year, he showed that he’s still one of the class elite riders with a 7.056 in Friday night’s opening session that is currently good for the sixth spot. Regardless of where he qualifies, Ellis, who works full-time at Vance & Hines Motorsports in nearby Brownsburg, is happy to be back on a bike. “I really enjoy the work I’m doing but I miss being out here,” said Ellis. “We put this deal together because we wanted to test some Suzuki engines we’ve been working on. Right now, this is just a one-race deal so I’m determined to make the most of it.”

Angelle sighting: One interested spectator seen roaming the Pro Stock Motorcycle pits yesterday was two-time U.S. Nationals winner Angelle Sampey. Without a ride this season, Sampey has intentionally avoided the race track attending only the traditional Pro Stock Motorcycle season opener in Gainesville while she concentrates on her home life, which includes renewing her nursing license and helping her boyfriend, Seth, operate their budding coral and aquarium business. In the span of about 10 minutes, Sampey signed numerous autographs and on more than one occasion had to answer the obvious question, “When will you be racing again?” 

“After I got home from Gainesville, I told myself that I was 100-percent over racing a motorcycle and that the only way I was going to race again was if a really, really good deal came along,” she said. “Now, I’m maybe 75-percent over it. If there was an opportunity, I’d come back because I do miss the thrill of riding that motorcycle. Of course, I’d still like to try a Top Fuel car. We’ve had some discussions with some people but nothing concrete is happening right now. I am renewing my nursing license because no matter what happens in racing, I plan on having a good job to fall back on.”

The next generation: During her travels, Sampey got the opportunity to meet 18-year-old Pro Stock Motorcycle rookie, Katie Sullivan, who was just 5 years old when Sampey made her debut at the 1996 Denver event, told Sampey that she and fellow rider Karen Stoffer were her idols growing up and that they were a major influence on her decision to race a motorcycle. In return, Sampey also gave Sullivan some good advice and also relayed some stories of about the struggles she faced on the road to becoming a three-time world champion.

“I just told Katie not to worry about what anyone says to you or about you,” said Sampey. “I told her to just do your own thing and you’ll be fine. This class has changed a lot so hopefully she won’t have to go through some of the things I had to.”

The Parks Tower has been an Indy landmark since 1984, and it's home to a variety of services, including the announcing deck, the media room, and corporate hospitality suites. Last night it again served as my viewing platform for the Pro qualifying session, but not from the second-floor media room. I was, as the Drifters used to sing, "Up on the roof."

It's an interesting perspective to view the action and not one available at many tracks. . Being five stories up, it provides a panoramic view of O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. From the front, you can see from staging lanes to top end, taking in the spectacle of the new eastside grandstands, the event and track logos painted on the grass, and the cars as they race down the track. Stepping to the back you can see the staging lanes and the Pro pit area. It's quite a few; unfortunately, it's not accessible to the average fan.

Being five stories up and behind the starting line provides a whole different perspective than a grandstand view or even a coveted spot in the photographers' area, and not just from a visual perspective.

In the pre-run silence, you can clearly hear the psssssssssssst of the team's arming their air system before firing the engine, the noise easily climbing the front of the tower which sits well behind the starting line and almost even with where the teams light their machines. Being behind the noise, allows you to clearly hear the tires chirp as they hook up at the end of a burnout, which is often lost in the cacophony of the starting line and even from the grandstands, where the roar of the echo of the car's exhaust pulsing from the headers can drown it out.

Also, being up high, the smell of nitro lingers high in the air, even 50 feet up, stinging the eyes and seeming to settle into an inversion layer on high.

And when the cars run? It's a magnificent view. You can see the drivers struggle to keep their machines in the groove, which is plainly visible. You can see both cars and, especially at night, see whose header banks are uneven or faltering. Overall (so to speak), it was an interesting audiovisual and olfactory experience that I wish you all could enjoy at least once.
 

It's a formidable scent... Stings the nostrils... In a good way.
Thursday at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil is typically a long day that builds a great amount of anticipation for the first, distinctive whiff of nitromethane. Nitro is an addicting fragrance that is never denied, unlike the fictional Sex Panther cologne which boasts the motto: “60-percent of the time, it works every time.”

I don't know how to put this, but I'm kind of a big deal.
Antron Brown is the big man on campus this year in Top Fuel. So what? Larry Dixon has four wins and five final round appearances in the last five races if you discount the Western Swing, and the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Racing team added to its growing swagger with a No. 1 qualifying effort to start off the event. Not a bad way to impress the Sheikh.

Great Odin's raven!
Half of the top 12 spots in Top Fuel are comprised of nontouring drivers looking to make their mark at the Big Go. Rod Fuller was the best of the bunch, driving Bob Vandergriff Jr.’s Caterpillar entry into the No. 3 spot with a 3.88 that held as No. 1 for most of the session. Bruce Litton, Troy Buff, Del Cox Jr., legendary Chris “the Greek” Karamesines, and Terry Haddock are also giving hope for the little guys.

We need you. Hell, I need you. I'm a mess without you. I miss you so damn much. I miss being with you, I miss being near you. I miss your laugh. I miss your scent; I miss your musk. When this all gets sorted out, I think you and me should get an apartment together.
Robert Hight was only separated from crew chief Jimmy Prock for one race, but they reconnected here because of the medical circumstances with Austin Coil with one shot left to get into the Countdown to 1. The Prock Rocket went straight to No. 1 with a 4.10 at 305 mph. It could be a long weekend for 10th-place combatants Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon.

Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you're doing and listen. Cannonball!
As exciting as the first round of Pro Stock qualifying session was, the conclusion was exactly the same as it has been in most instances this season. Mike Edwards made a nice run and used the horsepower made from his Charlotte-based engine shop to lead the pack once again.

I'm a man who discovered the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal and brawn. That's what kind of man I am.
It’s human nature for a man to want to prove his mettle after experiencing a setback. Pro Stock’s Allen Johnson suffered a surprise DNQ in Reading two weeks ago, but he made sure that wasn’t going to happen again when his Hemi propelled him to a fine 6.64 that held as No.1 until he was bumped to No. 4 in the final two pairs.

What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole wheel of cheese? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad; that's amazing.
Ron Burgundy’s fictional mutt, Baxter, is amazing indeed, so I hope comparing him with the No. 1 ranked driver in the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle is taken as the compliment for which it’s intended. Nobody knows quite how Hector Arana keeps making amazing happen on the Lucas Oil Buell V-Twin during qualifying, but his adversaries voice few complaints about the likable veteran. With help from Larry Morgan on the engines and a lot of grit and experience, Arana has been downright impressive with his runs, his riding (even though his lights leave something to be desired), and his continued progress.

Knights of Columbus, that hurt!
The crowd was impressed when Karen Stoffer lit up the scoreboard with a 6.95 at 196 mph, which would have been the third-fastest speed in Pro Stock Motorcycle history had it been a legit time. Shawn Gann had red-lighted by a bunch in the other lane and tripped the beams in her lane when he took out a cone at the top end. It was too bad for Stoffer, because she was on a great pass in the 6.96-to-6.98 range as evidenced by her stellar 1.05 60-foot time and her incremental times after that. Stoffer sighed it off with a positive twist. Said Stoffer, “Something crazy always happens to us in Indy. The way I look at it, at least it’s over and done with on the first day.”

He had a voice that could make a wolverine purr and suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo.
Although his time in competition ended on Thursday in his Stock eliminator debut, nobody commands respect at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis like the legendary “Big Daddy” Don Garlits. His presence alone adds prestige to the biggest event of the year.

Prepare yourselves for an exciting day of racing on Saturday. More importantly: stay classy, Indianapolis. I’m Brad Littlefield?
 

Yep, that sounds like John: “After I ran low e.t., John [Force] said, ‘I want to switch cars again.’

Who are all of you?!?!: “I was joking that I didn’t recognize anybody up here because it’s been a while since I’ve been up to the press room to talk.”

There’s no place like home: “I had a great time driving for Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderley in Reading. We went a couple of rounds, but this car that I’m driving with Jimmy Prock, that’s like your couch; it just feels right, it’s home. When I got in there tonight and they strapped me in, it just feels like that’s my car. There’s lots of little differences between the cars, and I didn’t feel quite as comfortable in John’s car. We did fine with it, but this is home.”

Get well soon: “We wish Austin Coil a speedy recovery and get back out here with us because we miss seeing him, and we need him out here.”

A big confidence boost: “That was huge for my confidence because your confidence can go up and down so quick in this sport. Putting John in my car last week and him going down the track five runs in a row, you start thinking, ‘Whoa, maybe it’s me, the driver.’ But I’ve been saying all year long, ‘We’re not that screwed up, we’re not that lost, we’re close to breaking through. We’ve just had some bad luck, bad parts, and we’ve changed a lot of things.’ Looking back on it, we never should have changed anything. There’s always going to be the breaks and things that go wrong, but it does mess with your confidence. This was huge tonight, going down the track and being low e.t. in Jimmy’s car and being a perfectly straight run.”

“I’ve seen tape of the crash one too many times,” said DeJoria, as she tended to 6-year-old daughter Isabella, who was restless in the backseat of their tow vehicle in the staging lanes. “Nick [Bastiao, fiancé] and I went on a cruise, and the timing was perfect because I would have gone crazy sitting at home while all these races I was missing were going on."

The cruise she is referring to took place on the Italian Mediterranean. Shortly after her accident, she was informed by family members who were going on the fully-booked cruise that Roger Daltrey of legendary rock band The Who and his plus-one had to cancel, opening up spots for her and Nick.

The first runs in her new, S&W Race Cars-built Ford Mustang were made with checkout laps in Atco, N.J. prior to the race, and she opened up with a 5.71 that currently has her at No. 11 on the qualifying standings after two sessions. Crew chief Bob Newberry, who won the 50th anniversary of this race as a driver in 2004, mentioned that extra safety features were built into this car that are not mandatory by the NHRA Rulebook. DeJoria’s svelte frame (as compared to, um, stockier contemporaries like Frank Manzo and Jay Payne) allows her to add extra safety items to her car while still keeping it close to the 2,300-pound TAFC minimum weight.

Back in the saddle like Gene Autry, DeJoria hopes to pour it on in her shot at Indy glory. Her days of going bottoms-up are already behind her.

Payne relieved: Jay Payne bounced back quickly from his crash in Heartland Park Topeka last weekend. Though his FireIce Top Alcohol Funny Car is not in competition, it has already been front-halved at Murf McKinney’s shop, and crewmember extraordinaire J.R. Clark brought it to ORP at noon today. Payne will race at the Division 2 event in Atlanta next weekend and will go for his second Indy title in his Pro Modified entry.

Too cool for fuel: Top Alcohol Funny Car entries were banned from cooling their fuel in the staging lanes this July, and a rule was subsequently put in place that a team’s methanol must meet a minimum temperature when tested. 2008 runner-up Roger Bateman’s fuel was too cold before the first qualifying run, so he was forced to sit out. The Canadian team bounced back by beginning their weekend with a strong 5.62 in the second qualifying session. Though the fuel issue has been resolved, it leaves me to wonder how cold they keep their adult beverages in the pits.

Hutchmeier for hire? Dan Hutchmeier, who was an integral part of sidelined driver Cy Chesterman’s team along with Les Davenport, is lending a hand to veteran Vern Moats. Moats, one of the last known TAFC drivers to switch from shifting with handles to the conventional push-button setup (Bret Williamson still uses handles), entered the computer age by adding a RacePak data recorder this season.

Lewis is low: Though the Top Alcohol Dragsters only got one session today, Mike Lewis sits firmly on top with an outstanding 5.27 in Tom Conway’s A/Fueler. Lewis, a track manager for ORP in one of his many past lives, has a half-tenth on reigning world champ Bill Reichert. Lewis is a fairly new name as a TAD driver, but he has established an extensive drag racing pedigree. Part of the family that runs Maple Grove Raceway, Lewis currently holds the position of Sr. Vice President at Don Schumacher Racing. Additionally, his daughter Aly is the office manager at Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Racing.

Blown crusaders: Blown alcohol drivers Jim Whiteley, Ken Perry, and Chris Demke take up the Nos. 3, 4, and 5 spots in the field with 5.3-second runs. All three drivers have something on the line. Whiteley, of course, is battling with Reichert in an attempt to win his first season title. Perry still owns the quickest timeslip among blown alcohol dragsters in history and wants to be the premier blown driver once more. Demke, whose Jerry Maddern-owned dragster won here with Darren Nicholson driving in 1998, is looking to earn his first win in a national event final on the biggest stage possible.

…and twins: Aussie twins Kate and Diana Harker are competing at the same event. They’ve done so before, but this is the first time that one of them is driving a family-owned entry. Diana is driving father Steve’s blown alcohol dragster, while Kate is driving Randy Meyer’s A/Fueler. Steve's Top Alcohol Funny Car and Diana's dragster are both tuned by Steve and run out of his trailer. Needless to say, Steve has his hands full. He also has the responsibility of preparing two race cars.

I think ... that the timing is ripe for Tony Schumacher to tie Garlits' record of eight Indy wins. Indy is Tony Time for sure; "the Sarge" has won "the Big Go" seven times in the last nine years, an Indy dominance unseen in the event's history. Sure, the U.S. Army car ain't what it was last year, but he's got the mojo. Best bet is that he and Larry Dixon – the only other guy to win the race this decade – will square off in the final, which would be a real toss-up. Either way it's a great story.

I think ... that even though John Force has failed to qualify at the last two U.S. Nationals -- I know … shocking! – he'll definitely qualify this weekend despite the absence of Austin Coil. "Way to go out on a limb, Phil," you say? Sure, well tell that to Force last year when no one thought he'd possibly DNQ twice in a row at the race he's won four times.

I think ... this will change: According to his event press release, former NHRA Pro Stock world champ Jason Line has never reached even the semifinals of the U.S. Nationals. I'm not saying that that the 19-time winner will reach 20 here, but I bet he makes the final.

I think ... Jeg Coughlin is serious about winning Indy and the Countdown to 1.  While the rest of his peers were traveling to the race or perhaps enjoying their last day of pre-battle peace, the reigning world champ tested Tuesday before the event at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, N.C., some 400 miles from Indy. Not only did he get a chance to last-minute test for Indy, but he also gained some valuable familiarity with the zMax track, which will host the next event and the all-important first race of the Countdown to 1 playoffs.

OK, so Bob Wilber scooped me (of course in all fairness, I was waiting as not to spoil the surprise), but I thought the new decals on Tim Wilkerson’s car were so cool they deserved double the coverage. So, extending the cross-blogination that began earlier to day, more on the Fink decals. To catch up those of who you may not have visited Wilber’s blog just yet (what are you waiting for?!?!), the team wanted to do something nice for crew member John Fink, who hails from nearby Auburn, Ind., and has many friends and family members out at the track over the course of the weekend. But rather than doing just a generic decal, Wilber got creative and came up with a couple of “new sponsors” baring Fink’s name, both fitting with Fink’s responsibilities on the car. The decals appear on the spill plates, and the team did a great job of making them look like genuine sponsor decals. I have to admit that at first glance I didn’t even notice them as out of place or not real company decals. Upon further look, though, I did, and I got a good laugh out of them. I’ve included a picture of the spill plate with one of the decals on it, but if you want a close-up view, visit Wilber’s blog here (they are the final two pics in the gallery).

And, while were cross-bloginating (huh?), to answer your question BW, no I cannot can-can. Cha-Cha? Yes. Can-can? No. Perhaps I should look into a can-can class one of these days because it does seem to fit!

Oh my, how time flies. I forgot that about Indy; you get here early, but there is so much to do and see that before you know it, the day is over. It actually makes me just a little bit sad because I can already sense that it's slipping away, but it's also pretty exciting because we are that much closer to finding out who is going to walk away with the event trophies on Monday. This morning when we arrived the Super Stockers were in the lanes and the Mopar Hemi Challenge participants were gearing up for another round of action. These cars are beautiful, and that fact provides an added dimenision to drag racing, doesn't it? I have a fondness for all muscle cars and I'm a little bit of a Chevy girl at heart, but I will admit that I have an appreciation for Hemi power, and those 'Cudas and Darts are just flat out cool to look at.

Earlier this morning I made my way through the Pro Stock pits, and though my intention was to speak to everyone on the entry list for the class right here on day one,it's actually a bit of a balancing act. Especially when so many people have so many interesting things to say. I can't divulge everything that I learned today, but check the event notebook for a few tidbits, if you're so inclined.

Other than what's in the notebook, I will tell you that part of my so-far very full day consisted of spending some time talking to the Dave River Pro Stock team. River is ultra-friendly to everyone he meets and though he's serious on the track, he has a knack for keeping everything in perspective. His crew consists of two of his kids, Amanda and Robert, as well as family-friend Shark (I could tell you his real name but I'd have to k... well, you know). River is competing in his fifth event of the season and though he has yet to make the field, he sure has a lot of heart and that's a darn good foundation for success. Kind of interesting to ponder what the future may hold.

I also received word that an upcoming book detailing the expansive history of Mopar will include former drag racer and current engine builder Roy Johnson, master of the Pro Stock Hemi since 1997. The book is in the final stages of production and tomorrow I plan to do a little legwork to determine when it will be available for purchase. Meanwhile, Roy and the J&J Racing team, including co-crew chiefs Mark Ingersoll and Jeff Perley and driver Allen Johnson, are making sure their ducks are in a row for a full recovery from their unusual DNQ in Reading.

There was so much more, but the semi's are complete for the Hemi Challenge and Top Alcohol Funny Car is pulling up to the line. From here, this day is gonna get even faster, and I'm leaving blog land to soak it all up before it passes me by. Until tomorrow, drag race fans!

Brooks, who began his career at Suffolk Raceway in Virginia in the early 1960s, assumed his familiar top-end post in 1969 at the urging of late National DRAGSTER photo editor Leslie Lovett.  From 1969 through 2008, he never missed a race.

Each year at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, there are more than 100 class winners crowned in Super Stock and Stock (as well as Comp and Modified throughout the 1960s and 1970s). Throughout the weekend Class champions often filter into the winner’s circle at their leisure making for some long days yet Brooks rarely missed a photo. Two weeks after the event, Brooks’ photos were featured prominently in the National DRAGSTER sportsman results, which feature each class champion proudly posed next to his or her race car.

This year, longtime National DRAGSTER photographer and longtime Division 3 lens man Richard Brady stepped in as the official top end cameraman and like Brooks before him, Brady has spent the better part of two days snapping photos of each happy class winner.

While Brooks may be gone, he has not been forgotten as his familiar spot at the top end has been marked by a plaque t that pays tribute to his many years of service to NHRA, O’Reilly Raceway Park, and the many U.S. Nationals class champions who annually looked forward to spending time with him in the winner’s circle.

Friday in Indy is always a very odd type of day for me because there’s this strange calm that hangs over the Professional pits, particularly in the nitro classes, that just doesn’t seem to happen at many other events or any other day here. It’s the calm before the storm, and much like the track versus corn fields side of the road (see my previous blog post), it’s kind of a weird contrast from what we will see in the coming days. With the Pros not slated to run until 5:30 p.m., it opens the door for a more relaxed start to the U.S. Nationals for those teams. As I walked through the pits at about 11 a.m. this morning, I couldn’t help but notice how quiet things were as many teams took the opportunity to sleep in and those who were in the pits worked at a slower-than-usual pace methodically preparing for what comes later. That calm, quiet atmosphere, of course, will soon be replaced by bustling, the sounds of tools working on the engines, the large crowds of people marveling at what is happening, and more … an electricity that charges the air and amps up the excitement. I don’t think one could really compare the two environments as they are vastly different, but I found the calm, quiet of this morning a little intriguing and kind of a nice way to start the day … start out slowly and work into the excitement and energy. I wouldn’t have minded the usual, more noisy start either, though.

One of the advantages of coming early is getting to check out the great Sportsman racing, particularly the Mopar Hemi Challenge, and that allowed me to cross off one item on my nine-item to-do list I posted the other day. When I saw Bob Frey this morning, one of the first things he asked was how I was doing on the ol’ list, so I thought it might be fun to go through and see how many I have been able to check off so far. Some will have to wait until Monday (not sure how to find out who wins before that), but I have made progress on others. Watching the large Sportsman fields? Check. Seeing old friends? Check … had many opportunities as I wandered the pits. I saw Hollis and Bobbie Colleasure, aka Debbie Pierce’s parents, who are continuing their whirlwind tour of races across the country with a stop at the Big Go. Whle talking with the Colleasures, I also got to meet former Super Gas national champ Iggie Boicesco, who's name and resume I was familiar with but whom I hadn't yet had the pleasure to meet before now. So, though it wasn't on my list, I was also able to make a new friend today as well. I also ran into NHRA.com's most consistent and persistent blogger Bob Wilber and hitched a ride with him on the Team Wilkerson golf cart as he took Krista Wilkerson to the motorhome area so she could venture off to purchase food for the weekend. I also got a chance to check out some cool new decals on Wilk’s car, but I will save those for a little later. Turning the corner from Raceway Road onto 30th Street? Check. The roundabout on Raceway Road? Check … went round and round with Brad Littlefield and Kelly Wade in tow. So, that’s four out of nine I’ve been able to accomplish … not a bad start for day one!

Kurt Johnson will clinch his berth just by making a Pro Stock qualifying run today and Top Fuel's Doug Kalitta and Funny Car's Mike Neff will clinch if they qualify for Monday's eliminations.

Last year's U.S. Nationals was chock full of Countdown drama. In Top Fuel, Morgan Lucas needed to qualify to stay in the hunt but surprisingly missed the field, locking teammates Kalitta and Dave Grubnic into the Countdown. In Pro Stock, Greg Stanfield entered the event in the final spot but failed to qualify, leaving the door open for six-time Indy winner Warren Johnson. "All" that W.J. had to do was reach the final to bump Stanfield out, but "that punk," Dave Connolly, sent "the Professor" packing in round one.

The real drama though was in Pro Stock Motorcycle, where Karen Stoffer and Hector Arana were battling for the final spot in the Countdown. Miraculously, the stars aligned in qualifying and the two had to face off in a winner-take-all first-round battle, which Stoffer won on a holeshot, 7.019 to 7.017.

This year, Kalitta's position obviously a little more safe, so the final spot will probably go to either 10th place Clay Millican or 11th place Joe Hartley. Those last two are separated by just three points, so even the results of qualifying could mean the difference. As much as I'd like to see the Hartley family rewarded for their brave assault on the complete schedule this year, Millican will be a tough out. Nothing against Millican because I like him a lot, but I was thinking it would be cool if Hartley had squeaked in there if for no other reason than to reward the gumption that he and his dad showed by tackling the entire NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series  tour this year. They deserve some kind of medal.  So why do I think Hartley will just miss? Well, unless he DNQs (could happen) Kalitta is too far out of reach with an 86-point edge on Hartley. Millican is just three spots ahead but his crew chief, Lance Larsen, is getting assistance from good pal Brian Corradi, who just happens to be the tuner for points leader Antron Brown. That's not good news for the Hartleys.

Clay Millican

However, because there are just three points separating then, this could all be decided in qualifying. If Hartley can earn three more points than Millican in qualifying (a top half for him, bottom half for Millican) and both lose in the same round, Hartley might have a shot. Millican has twice qualified No. 4 this year (season high) and has a qualifying average of ninth, but he's been 11th twice and 13th once in the last five events. Although Hartley's season best is a No. 2 (at the opener in Pomona), he's averaged a No. 11 this season and been in the bottom half of the field at 15 of 17 events.

In Funny Car, Force's teammate, perennial championship contender Robert Hight, has a tall mountain to climb if he wants to go from 12th place to 10th. Standing in his way are 11th place Matt Hagan, who's having a great rookie season, and defending season champ Cruz Pedregon, who's having a dismal year yet still clings to the final position. Hight's teammate, Neff, technically has not locked up a spot yet but is comfortably in ninth. My money is on Hight, but it's going to take a monster performance.

Warren Johnson

Pro Stock boils down to just two drivers, veteran W.J. and hard-charging Johnny Gray. Gray was just the runner-up in Brainerd while Johnson ahs struggled all year. In W.J.'s corner certainly lies experience and six Indy Wallys; Gray has Mopar power brokers Allen and Roy Johnson slinging the wrenches for him. It's a toss-up, but I think W.J. will hang on.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Michael Phillips, Shawn Gann, and Karen Stoffer are within 41 points in places eight through 10 and former two-time Indy winner Steve Johnson is just two markers behind Stoffer. Phillips has a hot bike right now and should be fine, and I think Stoffer will turn around her tough year behind the handlebars with a good enough performance to hang in there, too.

Steve Johnson is less than a round behind Gann and even though Johnson doesn’t have quite the bike he had when he won here last year, I still like his chances of catching Gann and bumping him from the field.

The drama begins at 5:30 tonight.
 

So there we were, taxiing to the gate after landing in Dallas en route to Indy. I turned on the cellphone to check for messages. Our managing editor, Juan Torres, wanted to know about the order of some stories for next week's issue of National DRAGSTER and Michael Padian from the Media Dept. wanted to confirm the timing of a press release for NHRA.com. I replied and then the phone started ringing; it was Elon Werner, publicist for John Force Racing. I make a rule of not talking on the phone in a crowded airplane, so I texted him back that I would call him when I got into the terminal, but my curiosity got the better of me, so listened to his voice mail.

"Phil, just wanted to let you I know I just shot you a release about the medical condition of [snap … crackle …. pop]. Can you get it posted on NHRA.com as soon as possible?"

Huh? Wait. What?

I texted him: "Who?"

"Coil."

Damn. What could it be? Heart attack? Car accident? Roller skating injury?

I broke my rule and speed-dialed him back and got the info, which was not great but not horrible, and at least allayed my worst fears. I mean, hey, roller skating can be dangerous.

(The last time our phones rang getting off an airplane, Kelly, Brad, and I had just landed in Cleveland en route to Norwalk when we heard that Michael Jackson had died!)

So Austin Coil was going to have to sit out The Big Go and tune from his hospital bed? Robert Hight is going to be reunited with Jimmy Prock for their last-ditch shot at making the Countdown (pretty poetic, I think), and Bernie Fedderly will tune for John Force with assistance from Guido Antonelli? Got it.

Fortunately I had borrowed an air card from the IT department for this weekend (okay, I borrowed it last weekend for my trip to Sonoma but "forgot" to turn it in, but who's counting?) so I grabbed a spot in the lobby just outside the gate and got to work posting it while Kelly and Candida sought out a lunch spot for us.

We keep a folder of homepage "teaser" photos on our laptops for just this occasion, but I didn’t have one of Coil, so I used one of Hight just to get the story live while I connected to NHRA's servers to root around for a proper Coil photo.

The gals had grabbed us a spot at TGIFriday's, and after we ordered I went to work creating a better homepage photo of Coil, using a composite of a vertical headshot and a Force car pic. The challenges were many: Download a couple of huge high-rez photos; email them to my web account; work with PhotoShop's lasso tools with a touchpad instead of a mouse (you try it!) to produce an outline of Coil; and try not to spill a Diet Coke in my keyboard. Kelly Wade, camera ever at the ready, captured the moment (and immediately posted it to her Facebook wall!)

It's going to be a weird Indy without Coil, who first captured headlines here in 1982 when he tuned Frank Hawley and the Chi-Town Hustler to a huge win at the Big Bud Shootout, a payday that no doubt kept the Hustler on the road to the season championship that year and the next.

I'm sure Coil had a lot of things on his agenda this year, not the least of which is getting his car qualified for the U.S. Nationals, which he had been unable to do the last two years, and helping teammate Hight get into the Countdown to 1.

I have no doubts that the multiple layers of redundancy built into the Force camp (let's not forget that Mike Neff also was a crew chief) and while I'd never say they won't feel the impact of Coil's absence, I'm sure his telephone tune-ups and the massive amount of talent in the JFR camp will see them through.
 

Over the weekend, Bell and Mann waited while the engine was completely rebuilt. After paying a hefty repair bill, they finally got on the road early Wednesday and arrived at Indy, 2,100 miles later at 4 a.m. on Thursday. With just one qualifying run remaining before the start of Friday’s class eliminations, Bell drove to a 9.40 for the No. 6 spot while Mann got on the qualifying sheet with a (-.465) 10.085 and will have to improve to make the field.

“The thought of not getting our truck fixed never crossed my mind,” said Bell. “This is Indy and I want to be here and I figured that as long as I had a chance to make one qualifying run, I was going to go for it. It wasn’t fun but the cool thing about it is that 20 years from now we’ll still be talking about our road trip to the 2009 U.S. Nationals.”

Filling up
With the exception of a few Pro Stock teams, who continue to test at Gateway Int’l Raceway in Madison, the pits at O’Reilly Raceway Park are almost completely full. By late Thursday afternoon, most of the nitro and alcohol teams had set up shop in the East side pit are while on the west side, the Pro Stock Bike rigs have filled the last empty spaces behind the main grandstand. Further to the West, the teams participating in the Get Screened America Pro Mod exhibition are lined up along the fence, next to the area that housed most of the Super Stock competitors in Friday’s Mopar Hemi Challenge. By a conservative estimate, there are well over 1,200 race and support rigs crammed into the vast expanse of O’Reilly Raceway Park. As late Charlotte Observer motorsports reporter David Poole once noted, “An NHRA event is like a State Fair for gear heads.” That about sums it up.

Big Daddy misses the cut
Sadly, Top Fuel legend “Big Daddy” Don Garlits will not be among the 128 Stock Eliminator drivers that take part in Saturday’s opening round of eliminations. Garlits had two shots to qualify his 2009 Dodge Challenger on Thursday, but his 10.432 best was just .868-under the index, well short of the -1.016 that is took to make the field.

Despite the setback, Garlits’ Stock Eliminator debut was not without its highlights. In Thursday’s opening round of A/SA class eliminations, Garlits was paired with sportsman star Dan Fletcher and gave the 63-time national event winner a taste of his own medicine with a .007 reaction time although Fletcher quickly made up the difference and claimed a 10.33 to 10.48 win over Garlits.

“I didn’t really get a chance to say much to him and I’m sure he wasn’t happy with the way his car was running, but it’s pretty cool to say that I got to race against Don Garlits,” said Fletcher. “That’s not something that I ever though would happen to me.”
 

Comp gets started
Comp Eliminator racers hit the track at Indy on Thursday for their first two qualifying passes. After one run, Dave Yedney was the provisional top qualifier with an (-618) 8.872 in his L/Altered Opel, which was previously campaigned by Canadian racer Allyn Armstrong. The only other drivers more than six-tenths under their respective indexes are Pat Nahan who posted a (-.607) 7.513 in his front engine E/Dragster and Charlie Greco, who wheeled his D/AA GTO to a (-.604) 7.646.

Disabled list
West coast racer Steve Wann, the winner of last weekend’s Lucas Oil Series race in Topeka, and Division 1 Stock driver Bill Hawk are both reportedly done for the weekend after damaging their race cars during early qualifying. Wann broke the engine in his SS/HA ’69 Barracuda and has parked that car although he is still in competition with his F/SA Dodge Dart. Hawk, who was considered a leading contender for the class title in B/SA with his ’67 Shelby, is also parked after a big wheelstand and subsequent hard landing damaged the front end of the car.

It’s that time of year again when we faithful NHRA reporters foray from the medium of print to bring you up-to-the-minute news and reports from the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil via the blogosphere. Phil Burgess, Candida Benson, Kevin McKenna, Kelly Wade, and I will seamlessly transition from being National DRAGSTER editors to being your online orators of ORP, the raconteurs of Raceway Park, the hosts of high-horsepower on high-speed Internet, the narrators of the Nationals, the Lords of Blogtown, if you will.

I, for one, can’t wait to exit the air taxi and step foot in the Midwest and venture about O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis for the most prestigious event of the year. Most racers claim that they go to the racetrack to see their friends. Well, the U.S. Nationals is like a big family reunion.

I also compare Indy to a big music festival that all your favorite artists are taking part in. Even though the race spans six days, you kind of have to time it so that you don’t miss the performers you came to see but still have time to check out everything on display, cruise the facility, and pick the occasions to take a load off. The biggest difference between the two events is that being in the pits at the drag races is like seeing your favorite bands backstage, with a few whaps of the throttle being the dress rehearsal before the show.

I’m going to keep better track of my time this year so I can come up with somewhat of an itinerary for like-minded racing fans and to make my use of time as efficiently as possible at future events. As long as the event is, I still leave feeling like I didn’t get to ride every roller coaster at an amusement park. There is also so much to see and do that intentions of waiting around for one thing in particular can make the Big Go seem like the Big Slow.

Between doing my regular job at a national event (covering Top Fuel, Top Alcohol Funny Car, and pieces of the overall event), blogging here, and a debilitating Facebook addiction (I blame you, Burgess), I expect the pace to be nothing short of frantic, which I enjoy. I’ve grown up with a drag racing sickness that gives me a twisted sort of joy out of trying to do a lot in a short period of time. Driving into the facility for the first time gives me a rush similar to a football player leaving the locker room and running through the tunnel before the game starts.

This weekend, you can expect me to post blogs that recap my experiences from the race, profile racers, throw tidbits at you, poke fun at myself and others, and include obscure pop-culture references. I’m committed to bringing you, the reader, the news as it happens. If Alan Johnson drops a wrench, you’ll be the first to know.

This is the one of only one or two races this year where I make ill-fated attempts to take photos to post them onto blog posts. I'm going to have to have Marc Gewertz or Jerry Foss refresh my memory, starting with where the button is on the camera that I need to hold to take pictures.

Please be sure to check out all of our blogs, which will have something for everybody coming from our different perspectives of the race. Phil is not only our boss; he’s our Pat Foster, our “Mr. Everything.” His experience and storytelling ability will offer compelling reading, as those of you who read his other blog already know. Candida gives a great firsthand account of the event from her end as well. The two can get pretty landlocked due to their duties to all things NHRA.com, but it gives them a great overall feel for the race from seeing much of it from the tower, and they also provide great insight from their individual escapades to the pits.

Kevin McKenna has been in his own version of horsepower heaven having spent the week in Indy, going to the Moto GP event last weekend. I’m sure the two-wheel enthusiast will have stories that include Valentino Rossi along with his usual, unparalleled insights on Pro Stock Motorcycle racing and the NHRA Mopar Hemi Challenge. If Charlie Westcott stubs his toe, you’ll find it on "K Mac’s" blog.

I’m always interested to read what Kelly Wade finds, as she is our bottomless well of enthusiasm that my cynical outer shell restrains me from matching. Her tales are endearingly wide-eyed, though she has gotten pretty keen on her favorite class. I may have to request her approval to converse with some of my companions in the Pro Stock pits.

I want everyone to feel free to send any questions or comments to blittlefield@nhra.com. Complaints can be sent there, too, but go easy on me.

I’m going to Indy with an open mind, a laptop, and some blank notepads ready to be filled. My agenda is loose because I’ll let the course of the event dictate the stories. As the great Snoop Dogg once said, “I don’t get ready, because I stay ready.”
 

For many of my National DRAGSTER co-workers, the annual six-day road trip to Indianapolis qualifies as “just enough” in terms of time away from the home front, but this year, I opted for the extended tour as I willingly and happily signed up for more than 10 adventure-filled days in the great state of Indiana.

My reasons for the extended trip, which began last Saturday, were twofold. Being a fan of all types of racing and motorcycle in particular, I wanted to check out the Indy Mile AMA Flat Track event held Saturday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and then head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Moto GP race. I also wanted to catch Wednesday’s Sportsman action, which includes the first qualifying round of the Mopar Hemi Challenge and the much-anticipated return of “Big Daddy” Don Garlits in his Dodge Challenger Stock eliminator entry.

I’ve yet to find anything in motorsports that I enjoy as much as drag racing, but both of this weekend’s Indy motorcycle events scored high marks. I was joined at the Indy Mile by most of the Screamin’ Eagle Harley team, including riders Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec and crew chief Matt Hines. Apparently, other NHRA folks feel the same way as it didn’t take long before we ran into some familiar faces, including Top Fuel racers Brandon Bernstein and J.R. Todd and fellow Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Craig Treble. Since this is a drag racing blog, I’ll spare the details of each event other than to note that both were extremely entertaining (although I’d like to think that for a reported $35 million a season salary, Moto GP star Valentino Rossi could stay on his bike for more than five laps). After much debate, we’re still trying to decide which style of racing is more intimidating, but even experienced riders like Hines and Krawiec admitted that neither is contemplating a career change. 
 
On Monday, a full 48 hours before the first Stock eliminator cars were scheduled to turn a tire on the O’Reilly Raceway Park quarter-mile, the track was already a beehive of activity. While the NHRA safety crew got to work prepping the track surface for what promises to be several thousand passes over the next seven days, a maintenance crew was hanging banners and putting the finishing touches on the big Mac Tools U.S. Nationals sign that hangs behind the starting line.

The real action, however, is taking place just inside the front gate of O’Reilly Raceway Park, where several hundred Sportsman competitors were stacked and eagerly waiting to be parked. Motorhomes, toter homes, 18-wheelers, crew cabs, and trailers of almost any size and description imaginable are arranged nearly in columns as they waited patiently for NHRA pit-control workers to escort them to the spot that will be home for the next week. The Indy pit area is vast, but for all of the racers, manufacturers, and other support vehicles to fit, the pieces must be arranged carefully, and it’s the responsibility of the pit-control crew to assemble what amounts to a 900-piece jigsaw puzzle.

At an event like Indy, there are so many Sportsman competitors that it will take more than a full day to park them all. On Monday, parking began shortly after noon, and by the time the weary event staff called it a day more than eight hours later, approximately 400 rigs were tucked safely inside the gate with maybe 100 sitting in the staging area. 

For many Sportsman racers, the road to Indy began immediately following the conclusion of last weekend’s Lucas Oil Series races in Bowling Green, Ky., Rising Sun, Md., and Topeka. Knowing that a long line is beginning to form Sunday night, many racers load up and hit the highway as soon as they are eliminated. Once they arrive in the staging area just inside the gates of O’Reilly Raceway Park, each Sportsman competitor is assigned a number, and rigs are parked on a first-come, first-served basis. That usually means that without looking at results, it’s fairly easy to tell that any racer who occupies one of the first 100 or so spots in the staging area probably didn’t win many rounds at the previous day’s Lucas event while those who reached the final rounds are likely to be buried deeper in the long line and probably won’t land a prime parking spot.

By Tuesday, the rest of the Sportsman entries have nearly all been parked, and now the line has formed at the head of the staging lanes as competitors in Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, and Super Gas go through the technical-inspection process. Throughout the pit area, oil changes, tire swaps, valve adjustments, and other routine maintenance issues are being addressed in anticipation of Wednesday’s first qualifying and time-trial runs. Meanwhile, the Pro pits are beginning to take shape as several nitro and Pro Stock rigs are beginning to dot the landscape. Many nitro teams are based in nearby Brownsburg, which means the crews not only have the luxury of sleeping in their own beds, but they can also service their cars and equipment in the comfort of their team headquarters. Regardless, by Thursday afternoon, it is likely that nearly 1,000 race rigs will be neatly arranged within the confines of O’Reilly Raceway Park.

1. The battle for the final playoffs spot: After 17 other events and seven months, it all comes down to this. Just one race left to determine who will make up the 10-driver playoffs in each class, and boy did the drivers near the cutoff keep things interesting. Entering Indy, only three points separate Clay Millican and Joe Hartley in the battle for the final spot in Top Fuel. Only 38 points separate Cruz Pedregon, Matt Hagan, and Robert Hight in Funny Car. Johnny Gray is just nine points behind Warren Johnson in the fight for 10th in Pro Stock, and Steve Johnson sits a mere two markers behind 10th-place Karen Stoffer in Pro Stock Motorcycle. That means it’s going to be interesting all weekend in Indy with seesaw battles that can change during qualifying and then change again in eliminations. I’m glad I’ll have a front-row seat to watch it all unfold.

2. The Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle: Can the Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson team continue its recent domination of this special event and win a sixth straight? Or will Hector Arana continue his strong performance and dethrone the Harleys? What about Matt Smith — could this be his turnaround point for the year? And Craig Treble certainly hasn’t been a slouch this year … could a second Ringers win be in his future? So many questions, and I can’t wait to get the answers!

3. The large Sportsman fields: Everybody knows Indy is the place to be, and that is reflected in the entry lists for the Lucas Oil Sportsman classes, which are at their peak for the U.S. Nationals. Every class will be featured, and with alcohol fields of 24 racers or more, a 64-car Comp show, the Mopar Hemi Challenge, and enormous, filled-to-capacity fields in the other classes, the action is certain to be intense and exciting to watch. And, who could forget “Big Daddy” entering Stock?

4. Seeing old friends: Indy is the place to be, and that means it’s a great chance to catch up with old friends. Sure, we get to see people at various races throughout the year, but Indy is definitely a one-stop shop for catching up with everyone. Walking through the pits or staging lanes, you never know who you will run into, and that’s a big part of what makes Indy fun.

5. Special visitors: Indy always seems to attract high-profile visitors to check out the action (think Peyton Manning, Jesse James and Sandra Bullock, and NASCAR’s Kurt Busch), and though I haven’t heard any names bantered about so far, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more special visitors again this year.

6. Turning the corner from Raceway Road onto 30th Street: There’s just something about making that final turn to head toward the track. When you get around the corner, the track is finally in full view; you know it’s been there all along, but now you see it, and your heart gets racing. I also find the contrast between the bustling track on one side of the street and the calm of the cornfields on the other to be particularly intriguing. Not sure why, it just fascinates me every time.

7. The roundabout on Raceway Road: While on the subject of driving, I can’t forget the roundabout and our annual ritual of going around it at least once. Brings a smile to my face just thinking about it!

8. Corn dogs and lemon shakeups: What Labor Day weekend would be complete without the official lunch of the U.S. Nationals?

9. Who will win: Last, but certainly not least, who will win the Big Go? Can Tony Schumacher make it four in a row and tie “Big Daddy” for the most Top Fuel wins at the prestigious event? Can Robert Hight make it to the final for the fourth straight year and pick up a third win? Will we have a first-time Indy champ? Will there be any big surprises? Once again, many questions, and I can’t wait to find out the answers! When does our plane leave again?

I know that (age aside) I’m still a baby when it comes to the ND staffers, but this will be my third trip to the Big Go, and in the past two excursions, I have accumulated a rather diverse and pleasing plethora of memories. To be front-row center for history in the making never ceases to thrill me, and the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil is known for monumental announcements and historical happenings. Last season, for instance, remember when Alan Johnson announced he would be leaving Don Schumacher Racing to partner with His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani to form Al-Anabi Racing in 2009? And then remember when Tony Schumacher, under the tune of Alan Johnson, drove the U.S. Army dragster to a sixth consecutive victory of the year and his seventh Indy win in nine seasons after struggling to even make the field on the first two qualifying passes? Oh, the excitement! We were up, we were down, and we were sitting on the edge of our seats there in the old Indy tower. It was downright exhilarating watching it all play out.

Four-time Indy winner and 14-time Funny Car world champion John Force missed the field last season, and he did so for the second year in a row. Not the most fun thing I’ve witnessed in Indy, but still pretty monumental. Adding insult to injury for the champ last season, all of the John Force Racing stable cars exited early except that of Robert Hight, who went the distance and brought home the trophy, his second U.S. Nationals victory for the venerable team in his third consecutive final round there. With Mr. Hight surprisingly fighting to secure a spot in the Countdown this year, his performance will be no less critical, and it will be every bit as thrilling to watch the drama unfold.

At last year’s event, I was lucky enough to stand at the top end with Jill McKenna from NHRA Marketing for the final round of Funny Car’s U.S. Smokeless Showdown. Balanced on the back of a golf cart was the oversized cardboard check for $100,000 that the victor would hold up for the flashing cameras, signifying the cold, hard cash for a winning effort. The names of the finalists were reverse-printed on stickers for easy application, and Jill held one possible winner’s sticker in her hands, and I held the other, poised and ready to secure in place as soon as we received word of the outcome. Cruz Pedregon beat Tim Wilkerson to claim the Showdown title, and I was remarkably impressed with the skill and efficiency with which Jill smoothed Pedregon’s name onto the big ol’ piece of cardboard. Seeing the whole process made me feel a little bit like the behind the scenes of a magic trick had been revealed, and the energy in those final moments before the name was smoothed onto the check was prickly with electricity and giant question marks hovering overhead: Who would emerge victorious?

I can’t wait to get out there and feel that electricity again. Though the Showdown won’t be held this year, there will be a winner in the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, and drivers will be racing for the Indy Wally in each of the Pro classes - plus seven Sportsman categories. Memories are waiting to be made, history is about to be written, and National DRAGSTER will be there to cover it all. Sweet!

I’m ready to ditch the sweltering and smoky West Coast and head to the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Let’s get this show on the road!
 

This will be the fifth straight year that members of National DRAGSTER will be sharing their Indy observations, thoughts, and memories on NHRA.com through a series of dedicated blogs. ND Senior Editor Kevin McKenna, Associate Editors Candida Benson, Brad Littlefield, and Kelly Wade, and yours truly will be scouring the grounds at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis looking for tales to share from behind the scenes of NHRA's biggest, oldest, richest, and most prestigious drag race. To get your juices flowing with a preview of what kind of stuff you can expect, you can find last year's blogs here, and if you’re interested, here are the links for 2007, 2006, and 2005 as well.

It's my 27th straight U.S. Nationals, and I'm every bit as giddy as I was for my first, way back in 1983, when Tony Schumacher wasn't even old enough to drive a street car let alone a Top Fueler. Yeah, me and Indy go back a ways.

I'll be sharing that 27th anniversary with 26-year-old Tyler Moore, whose grandma, Indy local Peggy Verhonik, will be enjoying the Big Go again with him. Wait. What? A 26-year-old enjoying his 27th Indy? Explained Verhonik, whose parents owned the first dragstrip in Terre Haute, Ind., in the 1960s, "He was on my lap with big red headphones and a diaper every day of the 1983 Nationals but was not 1-year-old until two months later. He has not missed a day since and does not ever plan to miss the event." They'll be watching from the top row of the Top Eliminator Club, where they've been every year since 1988.

Our consecutive-Indy streaks, though, are nothing compared to that of super fan Bill Nelson, whom I met a few years ago at Indy and who will be attending his 50th straight U.S. Nationals. He's promised me a cold drink and some warm hospitality, so I'll be sure to take him up on that.

Yesterday, the 10-day forecast was calling for high 70s clear through until Monday, with nary a drop of rain in sight, but you know the old saying – "Welcome to the Midwest; if you don’t like the weather, stick around. It will change." – and the forecast has, but I have a good feeling about this U.S. Nationals.

There are going to be a lot of things worth watching this weekend, not the least of which is the battles for the final berths in the Countdown playoffs and whether Tony Schumacher, who has won the Big Go seven times, can go eight for 10 and tie "Big Daddy" Don Garlits as the event's winningest Top Fuel driver.

I'm also going to go out on a limb and predict that this is the year that Ron Capps finally wins the U.S. Nationals. Although he's had success in the various Shootouts at Indy, he's never done well come Monday – in fact, he's never reached the final round – but he has a six-time Indy winner, crew chief Ed McCulloch, in his corner. Brad did a nice feature on the two for the souvenir program that's for sale at the event, so be sure to check it out.

I've already gone on record in our preseason predictions that this also is going to be Capps' year to win the championship, and my old pal sure has made me look good this year so far with five wins and two runner-ups. It will take a small miracle (like an event win, maybe?) for him to overtake Tony Pedregon's 73-point lead to enter the playoffs as the top seed, but, hey, this is Indy, where incredible things happen, right?

I can’t wait.