News and notes from Sunday at the 45th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. Compiled by the National DRAGSTER staff.
SUNDAY (Previous: Thursday | Friday | Saturday)
Last update: 3:35 p.m. Pacific (click to latest)
This is it (9 a.m.): Welcome to Day 4 of the 45th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals and the final day of the 2009 season. After an action-packed day here yesterday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona that included the coronations in Funny Car and Pro Stock of new NHRA champions Robert Hight and Mike Edwards and a well-worth-the-wait moment of drama in the final pair of Top Fuel qualifying, the stage is set for the crowning today of two more champions, in Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Right now we're under a totally cloudless, clear-blue-sky kind of day, the kind they feature in those cool Southern California postcards. The high temperature today is supposed to be around 74 degrees, perfect for high performance. Pre-race ceremonies will begin in about an hour, at 10 a.m. local time, with the first round of Top Fuel at 11.
Tony Schumacher
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The Top Fuel scenario: With his dramatic pole-stealing blast last night, Tony Schumacher -- who entered the event with a one-point lead in Top Fuel over Larry Dixon, then increased it to two markers Thursday, then dipped to a one-point deficit Friday and a two-point deficit Saturday morning -- again leads Dixon by a two points heading into final eliminations. Those two points may as well have been a complete round as it means that, to win his seventh straight NHRA Top Fuel crown, he'll only need to match Dixon's finish today.
However ...
Both drivers have backup runs to break Schumacher's 3.771 national record and snatch the 20 bonus points. Schumacher's 3.772 yesterday will back up a record anywhere between 3.770 and 3.734. Dixon has a much smaller target window, as he can set the record with a pass between 3.770 and 3.762. Those ranges, of course, are based solely on their qualifying numbers and could change with today's early rounds. The two could meet in a winner-take-all final round, much like the 1990 final between Joe Amato and Gary Ormsby. We'll keep our fingers crossed for that!
Hector Arana
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The Pro Stock Motorcycle scenario: It's a little more clear in the two-wheel world where Hector Arana has a 62-point edge on defending champ Eddie Krawiec. Barring a national record -- which seems out of reach here -- only 80 points are on the table today so Arana needs only to win his first-round race with Bailey Whitaker to all but certainly claim his first championship.
The national record, currently held by Arana, is 6.851, set last month in Memphis; Arana's field-leading pass this weekend is 6.918 and Krawiec's best pass is just 6.959 so a record seems unlikely but, just to be sure, Arana can lock his crown away for good by winning in the second round or if Krawiec doesn't win the event.
So that's the deal entering the first round. Anything could change between now and the final rounds later this afternoon, so stay tuned.
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Pre-race: An extensive pre-race ceremony covered a lot of ground including a parade of three dozen classic and custom cars that have been named winners during the year at the NHRA Motorsports Museum Twilight Cruises featuring everything from classic '57 Chevys to all manner of rat rods, a Boss 302 Mustang, a blown Olds 442, a Willys, Chevy Nomads, and more. It was a true California classic hot rod moment.
The fans on hand also were introduced to the 2009 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series champions as well as the 28 bracket racers taking part in today's final eliminations for the Summit National Championships.
Special awards were given to Chris Krejewski (Best Appearing Car), Ron August Jr. (Best Appearing Crew), and Michael Piranio (Best Engineered Car) and legends Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen were welcomed as the event's grand marshals.
Video tributes also were played for super veterans Connie Kalitta and Jim Dunn, who received special gifts from NHRA's Tom Compton and Graham Light celebrating their decades in the sport. Compton and Tom McKernan of the Automobile Club of Southern California also were acknowledged by the Beat The Heat for their contributions to battling illegal street racing
The ceremony closed with the acknowledgement of the end of Kenny Bernstein's long sponsorship relationship with Budweiser. The world-famous Clydesdales were on hand for a last ride with the Bud King down the return road to the appreciative roar of the crowd.
"I could stand here and name hundreds of names, from August Busch III and IV on down who have helped us over the years, and I thank them so very much. This is a special moment for us and a little bittersweet at the same time because we're happy that we do get to go on with Copart next year. Were very appreciative of what this company has allowed us to do, which is follow a dream I had from the time I was 15 years old to where it is today."
Bernstein was on the verge of choking up, but what came next really pushed him over that edge as he received the very rare honor of being given his very own Clydesdale horse. The presentation was made by Corey Christanell, Director of Sports and Entertainment Marketing at Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
“We are overwhelmed, “said Bernstein. “This is a huge honor and we’re looking forward to the ever present reminder of 30 years of Budweiser association.”
We're racing (11:05 a.m.): The first pair of Top Fuelers, Morgan Lucas and Dave Grubnic, are on the track ... it's time to award the final event Wallys of the year.
Top Fuel round one (11:35 a.m.): Cory McClenathan kept his championship hopes alive by beating Bob Vandergriff Jr. but only after swapping lanes, from the right to the left after watching Dave Grubnic light 'em up in the right just ahead of him. Cory Mac also got fortunate in that his engine only lasted until halftrack before expiring, forcing him to coast to a 4.43.
“We’re just trying to let the drama all unfold itself,” said McClenathan. “Just about the time you’re getting comfortable thinking, ‘This thing’s going to haul the mail,’ boom, there it goes. We used a little bit of Valvoline up on it, but thanks to Nordic, Jegs, Prestone, we’re going to get it cleaned up. Sorry about the track. A little bit of delay here, but we’re going to see some more drama unfold. I can tell you one thing, we turned our win light on, now the rest of them have to do it.”
McClenathan's slowing pass will cost him lane choice against Larry Dixon in a must-win for both. Dixon beat Del Cox Jr. with a 3.822, low e.t of the round, while Tony Schumacher kept the championship a three-way fight when he easily advanced over Mike Strasburg with a 3.838.
“We’re just holding point,” said Dixon. “This is the Super Bowl. The first quarter’s down. We both scored touchdowns, and it’s on to the second quarter.”
“It’s not that I’m looking forward [to a final-round showdown with Dixon] because they’re a tough team over there; it’s just what I expect,” said Schumacher. “But they’re going to have to get by my teammate, Cory, now, and you can be assured, that’s what teams are all about. We’re going to go over and make sure that car can go fast and give us a chance to knock him out this next round. The reality is they just made an outstanding run, and we made an outstanding run, and it’s probably going to be a battle today.”
Six of the eight cars in the right lane smoked the tires, the exceptions being the fabled "Greek," Chris Karamesines, who gave Brandon Bernstein a run in a 3.87 to 3.95 battle, and Steve Torrence, who lost a 4.04 to 3.84 battle with Doug Kalitta.
Second-round pairings, lane choice denoted in bold: Schumacher vs. Lucas; Brown vs. Bernstein; Dixon vs. McClenathan; Massey vs. Kalitta.
Funny Car round one (12:05 p.m.): All four Force team cars advanced into round two, but just barely: Ashley Force Hood survived an offpace 4.24 after Bob Bode's machine took a hard right to the wall, which he lightly brushed; newly crowned world champ Robert Hight became one of the few to lose traction in the favored left lane but survived a pedalfest with Jerry Toliver; Force himself survived a close 4.24 to 4.16 battle with longtime pal Gary Densham; and Mike Neff became the first driver to win in the right lane when higher-qualified Jim Head smoked the tires against him.
Tim Wilkerson's victory over Jack Beckman moved him around "Fast Jack" and into fourth place and Ron Capps moved up a spot to third by edging Bob Tasca III despite nearly collecting the left wall. Both could finish as high as second place.
Second-round pairings, lane choice denoted in bold: Force Hood vs. Worsham; Hagan vs. Capps; Force vs. Neff; Hight vs. Wilkerson.
Pro Stock round one (12:35 p.m.): The left lane that the Pro Stockers all favored in qualifying briefly turned against them in eliminations as No. 7 qualifier Johnny Gray got really loose at halftrack and lost to Kurt Johnson, keeping alive K.J.'s hopes of extending his record of at least one win in each of the previous 14 seasons. Seeing Gray's plight, Allen Johnson switched to the right lane and benefited as Vinnie Deceglie also got loose in the left.
The real highlight of the round followed, a minute-plus staging burndown between Greg Stanfield and rookie Ryan Ondrejko that didn't faze either much as they had near identical lights before Stanfield edged ahead to win, 6.61 to 6.62.
The fact that Ondrejko went down the left lane convinced Greg Anderson, who with lane choice was already lined up in the right lane behind them, to switch back to the left against Dave Northrop. It paid off with a 6.580 at top speed of the meet, 210.73, and convinced new champ Mike Edwards also to choose the left, but surprisingly couldn't match Anderson as he netted "just" a 6.587.
Jason Line has the final say though by tying low e.t. and running top speed with a blast of 6.562 at 210.77.
Second-round pairings, lane choice denoted in bold: Edwards vs. Brogdon; Anderson vs. Stanfield; Krisher vs. K. Johnson; Line vs. A. Johnson.
Pro Stock Motorcycle round one (12:40 p.m.): Both Hector Arana and Eddie Krawiec did their jobs to keep the title bout alive (barely), and Arana did his half in spectacular fashion with low e.t. of the meet, 6.910. Krawiec advanced over Steve Johnson with a 6.950 at 194.91 (top speed), better than his qualifying effort, but now he needs Arana to lose in the next round and will have to win the event and reset the national record to repeat as champ.
Andrew Hines will get a chance to help teammate Krawiec as he'll take on Arana in round two. Krawiec will take on Jim Underdahl.
Second-round pairings, lane choice denoted in bold: Arana vs. Hines; Krawiec vs. Underdahl; Pippin vs. Cook; Hope vs. Horne
Top Fuel round two (1:35 p.m.): The track temp is 91 degrees and Massey opens the frame by showing that the right lane can produce a winner as he defeats Kalitta, the Winternationals champion, ending his Pomona win streak at five rounds.
Schumacher's almost routine 3.83 dismissal of tire-smoking Morgan Lucas ends Cory McClenathan's slim title hopes before Cory Mac even gets to the line to face Dixon at round's end.
After Antron Brown runs 3.85 to defeat Brandon Bernstein to end the Budweiser era in Top Fuel and align his name with Schumacher in the first semifinal pairing, the pressure's all on Dixon and the Al-Anabi team now and Cory Mac has a chance to help his DSR teammate clinch by eliminating Dixon.
Dixon earns a season's paycheck on one run, keeping alive his title hopes with a holeshot win over Cory Mac. Dixon's .048 to .062 edge and 3.842 defeats McClenathan's low-for-the-round 3.829 by just .0014-second, but gives up lane choice to Massey by .001-second.
We're one round closer to a winner-take-all final.
“There is nothing easy about winning a Full Throttle championship. Guarantee, there’s nothing easy about it,” said Schumacher. “Fun? Absolutely. Heart’s pounding. You know, I’m like a little kid in a candy store. It’s amazing to be in the position.”
“There’s two more on the table today,” said Dixon. “That just keeps us on point. Like I said, this is like the Super Bowl. That’s two quarters down. We both scored a touchdown, and now it’s halftime."
Semifinal pairings, lane choice denoted in bold: Schumacher vs. Brown; Dixon vs. Massey
Funny Car round two (1:45 p.m.): New champ Robert Hight won't celebrate a double win as Wilkerson, with an eye on second place, defeats Hight, but Ashley Force Hood edges Del Worsham to better protect her second spot. She joins her sisters, Brittany and Courtney, who are in the semis in Alcohol Dragster.
Capps, also with an eye on second place, beats DSR teammate Matt Hagan on a holeshot, 4.14 to 4.12. Capps, wearing a championship medal won by his 8-year-old son Caden in soccer yesterday beneath his firesuit, will face Force Hood next round and will have lane choice.
The round concludes with Mike Neff beating his boss, John Force, who ends up nosing into the sandtrap, but with little damage to his Mustang.
Semifinal pairings, lane choice denoted in bold: Force Hood vs. Capps; Neff vs. Wilkerson.
Pro Stock round two (1:55 p.m.): K.J. keeps alive his hopes for a season-salvaging win when No. 2 qualifier Ron Krisher misses the Tree with a .142 light.
Edwards keeps alive his dream weekend by driving around Rodger Brogdon's .003 light with a 6.579 but Greg Anderson, also looking for some offseason salve, will have lane choice against him in the semifinals after meting out a 6.575 on red-lighting Greg Stanfield.
For the second straight round, Line has the final word, racing to a 6.571 to beat an out of shape Allen Johnson. When's the last time that Mike Edwards had the third quickest of four cars?
Semifinal pairings, lane choice denoted in bold: Edwards vs. Anderson; K. Johnson vs. Line.
Pro Stock Motorcycle round two (2 p.m.): After Doug Horne defeats David Hope and Junior Pippin advances on Larry Cook's foul, here's the big show: Eddie Krawiec keeps his hopes for the title alive with a 6.95 beating of Jim Underdahl, but his teammate, Andrew Hines, will need to stop Hector Arana here for Krawiec to still have a chance.
Arana, with a chance to clinch, red-lights with a -.012 reaction, keeping Krawiec's hopes alive. A win for Krawiec over teammate Hines in the next round might seem like a foregone conclusion, but it's the least of his worries. Krawiec needs to win the event and reset the national record which, at 6.851, seems pretty far out of reach. He'll need to run at least 6.918 in the semifinals to get a backup to run 6.850.
“It’s a little bit of a bittersweet feeling,” said Krawiec. “Unfortunately, we stumbled a little bit out here in qualifying. To set the national record, it’s a tough task to do. But we’re going to just give it our best shot and maybe make Hector sweat it a little bit. Hats off to those guys, and hats off to our crew. We’d like to get a Wally and hopefully bring that back to Indiana.”
Semifinal pairings, lane choice denoted in bold: Hines vs. Krawiec; Pippin vs. Horne
NHRA honors firefighters (3:05 p.m.): As part of today’s activities at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, NHRA honored members of Los Angeles County Fire, the U.S. Forest Service, and CAL Fire for their outstanding service to Southern California during the recent wildfires that swept through much of the region. More than 25 members of the three agencies are at the track today as special guests of Don Schumacher Racing and include LACFD Battalion Chief Ken Wiles, U.S. Forest Service Battalion Chief Eric McCormick, and CAL Fire Division Chief Arnie White. The group paraded in front of the grandstands just prior to the semifinals in Top Fuel.
Top Fuel semifinals (3:20 p.m.): Here it is, the most important round – so far – this season. Larry Dixon needs to beat Spencer Massey to keep alive his hopes for a third world championship. Massey, of course, drives for Don Prudhomme, whose team Dixon left this season. Ironic, eh?
If Dixon wins, right behind him, Tony Schumacher will need to beat Antron Brown to keep his chances alive. If they both lose, Schumacher, with a two-point lead, will be the champ. Here we go!
It's over. Dixon smokes the tires early, and Schumacher's crew goes wild. Schumacher is the world champion again, his sixth straight.
“You know what, I came into this race with an opportunity to win a championship, and I hadn’t had that for quite some time,” said Dixon. “I want to say thanks to Sheik Kalid for forming this team. We’ve got two cars out here when there’s a lot of cars going away and sponsorships going away. There’s two cars out here because of him. We didn’t get the No. 1 on the car, but I promise you we’re going to go harder at it for No. 1 next year.”
And then ...
Another stunner! Schumacher also loses, falling to Brown, 3.82 to 3.83, butwins the championship by two points over Dixon, 2571 to 2569.
Massey will have lane choice over Brown in the final.
Funny Car semifinals (3:25 p.m.): It'll be an all-team Force final as Ashley Force Hood beats Ron Capps and locks up second place in the standings behind teammate Robert Hight and she'll race her other teammate, Mike Neff, who bested tire-smoking Tim Wilkerson. Neff will be seeking his first career win, but Force Hood will have lane choice.
Pro Stock semifinals (3:30 p.m): World champ Mike Edwards won't double up as his Pontiac gets loose on the launch and he watches Greg Anderson advance to the final with a 6.576. Jason Line tries hard to make it an all-Summit final and has the car with a dazzling low e.t. 6.552, but he's way behind K.J.'s .001 light and loses to Johnson's 6.624 by .0064-second.
Pro Stock Motorcycle semifinals (3:35 p.m): Doug Horne reaches his third final of the year, but all eyes are on the pair behind him as Eddie Krawiec needs to beat teammate Andrew Hines and run at least 6.918 for a national record backup to keep his title defense hopes alive. Hines goes red (-.010) and Krawiec makes a full run, but it's not near enough with a 6.953.
Hector Arana is your 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock Motorcycle champion!
The finals (5 p.m.): Krawiec didn't win the championship by did win the event, scoring on Horne's close -.001 foul. Krawiec, like Dixon, finishes two points behind his class champion. Greg Anderson also scored on a red-light in Pro Stock when Kurt Johnson turned it red by .017-second. With the failure of both John Force (22 seasons) and Johnson (14 seasons) to extend their streaks of consecutive years with at least one win, Anderson is the new leader in that category with wins in nine straight seasons.
In the Funny Car final, Mike Neff smoked the tires at 60 feet and appeared dead in the water until Ashley Force Hood smoked her tires 200 feet out. Neff recovered better and while Force Hood was sashaying wildly all over the track and eventually tagged the wall, Neff was long gone to a 5.13 to record his first win.
Antron Brown collected the Top Fuel win when Spencer Massey, a terror on the Tree all year, left .008-second too soon. It might not have mattered as his car also went up into hard smoke shortly thereafter while Brown steamed to the win, his eighth in the class.
We've still got 45 minutes to an hour of Sportsman competition to wrap up the 2009 season but, well see you again here in less than 90 days for the spectacular 50th Anniversary Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals.
SATURDAY
Welcome to Saturday (10 a.m.): Welcome to the third day of the Auto Club NHRA Finals.in Pomona. Today we'll set the fields for the final race of the season, which may go a long ways toward deciding this year's world champs.
Yesterday's Top Fuel qualifying had everyone shaking their heads as Larry Dixon turned a two-point deficit to Tony Schumacher into a one-point lead over "the Sarge" by earning three bonus points as the session's quickest driver while Schumacher got shut out after smoking the tires. As both Dixon and Schumacher pointed out on consecutive days, if you enter eliminations Sunday with even a one-point lead it's the same as having a full-round lead because at that point all you have to do is match the finish of your pursuer.
Even though Mike Edwards' provisional points total in Pro Stock has given him an insurrmountable lead, we won't be able to officially crown him until the close of qualifying. It's close to the same situation in Funny Car where Robert Hight needs to just just finish qualifying 101 points ehad of teammate Ashley Force Hood. He's leading by 110 points right now, but with six bonus points available today plus the actual qualifying-position points, if she scooped all six and qualified four positions ahead of him, she could drag the drama out to Sunday. Hight is currently qualified second so she's got her work cut out for her, and she'll need some help from others to bump him down.
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Force, on Force (10:45 a.m.): He hasn't qualified No. 1 since the 2006 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, the longest drought of his career, but John Force is leading Funny Car qualifying halfway through, giving some hope for what's been a tough season. This is the furthest that John Force ever has gone into a season without at least reaching one final round – he's made at least one final the last 25 years straight and won at least one race in 23 straight – and he's the only driver in the Funny Car Top 10 who hasn't gone to a final round this season (he's reached the semi's six times).
His history in Pomona might well be what gets him over the hump. He's won 12 races and 101 rounds at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and has gone to the final round 11 times with seven wins over the years at the Finals and, interestingly enough, all of his wins at the Finals came in even-numbered years, the most recent in 2006, the last time he won the championship.
"I haven't been all that good since I crashed [in Dallas in Sept. 2007]," he admitted to the media yesterday. "I've been trying to get back up here to see you guys. It's gotten so bad that Densy [longtime publicist Dave Densmore] started asking me, 'Any chance of a fire?' but I couldn't even run fast enough to get a good fire where you'd at least feel sorry for me and let me in here.
"But I think I'm back okay. In 2010 I can run for the title. I got asked if Robert or Ashley wins the title if I'm going to be passing the torch and I got mad. What, that means I'm done? I kicked him out of my bus. I've got some years left.
"I love this; I love being out here and knowing that I’ll have cars to stand next to even when I'm done driving. On the way over to Vegas my wife said, 'You know, they even stuffed Trigger. You love all this, I just figure that when [you die] we'll just stuff you.' I'll go on tour like Prudhomme's Hot Wheels car. They'll just take me around in my box and set me up to sell some t-shirts. For me, this is the greatest life in the world."
Schedule update (10:55 a.m.): Things are just a little behind schedule this morning, and the third qualifying session for the Pros will be a little delayed. The first pair of Comp cars, Allan Ellis and Jay Payne, are rolling up for their first-round match. Following the first round of Comp, Pro Stock Motorcycle will then be up.
Summit National Championships (11:05 a.m.): Bracket racers from across the country are getting a chance to showcase their skills on the "big stage" this weekend at the NHRA Summit Racing Series National Championship. The champions from the seven geographic divisions in Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman, and Super Pro Motorcycle will compete in three-round eliminators tomorrow to determine the national champ in each of those classes. For more on the Summit National Championship event, click here.
Pros ready to go (11:50 a.m.): That took a little longer than expected as a nostalgia Funny Car exhibition was also run in between Comp and the Pros, and one of the nostalgia cars had troubles and oiled the track. After the clean up and another pair of cars, we are now getting ready for Pro Stock Motorcycle. Rhett Lougheed and Dawn Matthews Baugues are sitting in the waterbox. We will still have a little bit of a wait because it appears one of the nostalgia cars had some troubles and is still sitting on the track. Once that is cleared, we will go into the third qualifying session for the NHRA Full Throttle Pros.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, session three (12:20 p.m.): Hector Arana just hammered the field with a 6.918 that gave him three bonus points and the No. 1 spot on the ladder. Arana leads the field by nearly four-hundredths with rookie of the year candidate Doug Horne in second spot at 6.956. Matt Smith was third-quickest at 6.963. Karen Stoffer, the leader after the first two qualifying sessions, improved to a 6.969 but slipped to fourth. Arana's points rival Eddie Krawiec struggled on his run and slowed to a 7.16; that means Arana added three to his lead and is now up by 57 points.
Pro Stock, session three (12:45 p.m.): In somewhat of a surprising twist, Mike Edwards was not the top runner in the third session. That honor went to Ron Krisher, who ran a 6.587. Jason Line also ran 6.587, but the higher spot and three bonus points went to Krisher on his better 209.69 speed (Line ran 209.49). Edwards was third-best with a 6.592. Though he wasn't best of the round, Edwards remains No. 1 on the sheets thanks to his 6.575 from yesterday.
The round did have a strange ending when Greg Anderson's parachutes popped out when he rolled up to the waterbox. Anderson's crew scrambled to pack them back up. The team was thisclose to missing their chance to run (officials had begun to walk to the car to tell them they would not make it) when they got the 'chutes packed back up and the car fired. Edwards in the lane next to him showed how much of a champion he really is by waiting for Anderson. Though there was much distraction, Anderson still made a strong run, posting a 6.604.
Funny Car, session three (1:25 p.m.): A tough session for the floppers as most of those in the right lane weren't able to make a full pull, and few in the left lane were able to really step up. Tim Wilkerson improved on his earlier 4.154 best with a 4.089 that jumped him from 10th to fourth to earn three points as the session's best run. Jack Beckman's 4.140 was the second best of the round and those two points moved him past Cruz Pedregon into third place.
"I made some mistakes the last couple of runs and just needed to get our stuff tuned up a little bit," said Wilkerson after his run. "The air's coming to us a little bit. We're just trying to catch up to the tune-up really. I just didn't do a good job the first couple of days. I'm really very proud of my crew. We went all year, and I tell ya honestly, we've only lost one motor all year. For a team to make 160, 170 runs in a nitro Funny Car and lose one motor, I'm pretty proud of my guys. They do an excellent job."
John and Ashley Force closed the session with a popular pairing and though both failed to make it down the track, Force still remains atop the qualifying pack based on his career-best 4.060 yesterday. Cruz Pedregon is on the bump with a 4.31.
A quick run down the track with the tractor after Force shutoff with a small blower backfire, then we're into the fuel diggers.
Top Fuel, session three (2:10 p.m.): Although the actual position shuffling went on well down in the field and the top eight went untouched, and there were plenty of uncompleted passes, there was a lot to talk about.
While many teams struggled for traction, Tony Schumacher made a "message" run of 3.822 to improve on his Thursday 3.832 and it looked like that might be the session's big highlight until the final pass, where Larry Dixon not only ran 3.802 (just a tick off his leading 3.801) but also became the first driver to exceed 320 mph at the 1,000-foot distance with a trap speed of 321.58. Because his was the best run of the session and Schumacher's was second-quick, Dixon extended his lead from one to points over Schumacher.
Denmark's Stig Neergaard sits on the bump spot with one session to go with a 4.087.
"Well, 321, man, that's awesome -- awesome, Al-Anabi," said Dixon. "Alan [Johnson, team owner] ain't leaving nothing on the table because it ain't going to do no good to take it back to Indianapolis over the winter. That 321 is awesome. The 3.80 is big just from the fact to be able to out-point Tony in the session. There's six points given away today, and we're trying to get six; we got three and we'll try to get three later."
Alcohol incident (2:45 p.m.): A huge accident in round one of Alcohol Funny Car as Steve Gasparrelli loses on oil line on his launch against Mickey Ferro. The car made a near-immediate right turn from the left lane, a pivot so quick that he takes out the 60-foot clocks on its two left wheels. The car makes one complete barrel roll and impacts the right guardwall with a crunch. Gasparrelli, whose father, Lou, experienced a wild midtrack crash at the 1984 Winternationals here, gets the engine quickly shut down and exits the car unhurt, testament to NHRA's strict safety rules.
The Gasparrelli family, Pomona favorites for decades, are met with well wishes on the starting line from fellow alcohol racer as they assess the damage. Family partiarch Lou, who is battling health issues, checks out his son, as does John Force. As he climbed into the crewcab, the younger Gasparrelli turned and, in half-joking fashion typical of drag racers, asked "What was my light?"
We're down for a two-lane cleanup.
Looks like we're postponing the first round of Alcohol Dragsters as they're all towing away. Just one pair left in Alcohol Funny Car and then we'll be quickly back into the final Pro session of the day.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, session four (3:40 p.m.): Hector Arana once again paced the field with a 6.943 that gave him three more points. Shawn Gann was second-best with a 6.951, and Eddie Krawiec did limit the damage a little by gathering one bonus point with a 6.959. The three bonus points here combined with regular eight qualifying points he earns as No. 1 qualifier gives Arana a 62-point lead entering race day. Though not completely out of reach for Krawiec, this does put the championship into unlikely territory as that means Krawiec needs to go four more rounds than Arana to win (or three more rounds plus a national record). That means without a record, Krawiec needs Arana to lose first round and he needs to win the event.
Pro Stock, session four (4:05 p.m.): Mike Edwards did it again, punctuating his championship-clinching qualifying effort with a 6.562 that was not only the best run of the final session but the best run of the weekend. Jason Line had the second-best run of the final session at 6.589, and Greg Stanfield was third-best at 6.604. Edwards is now officially the 2009 Pro Stock world champion.
Funny Car, session four (5 p.m.): She may have lost the war, but for today, Ashley Force Hood won the battle. Force Hood paced a spectacular final Funny Car session with a 4.059 that gives her the No. 1 starting spot. Force Hood's father, John Force, also ran a 4.059, but she got the nod on speed, 310.20 to 209.20. Robert Hight, who sealed the championship when he qualified No. 3, was the third-quickest of the round with a 4.067, his best run of the weekend.
Top Fuel, session four (6:45 p.m.): With multiple oildowns, the final Top Fuel session took quite a while, but it was well worth the wait. Tony Schumacher clocked the second-quickest 1,000-foot time ever at 3.772 to not only grab the three bonus points for the sesson but the No. 1 spot as well. Larry Dixon struggled on his final run, so Schumacher's three bonus points combined with the eight points he gets for No. 1 gives him a two-point advantage (Dixon finished second on the sheets for seven qualifying points). Antron Brown was the second-quickest driver of the session at 3.813, and Spencer Massey's 3.819 was third-best. Interestingly, both Schumacher and Dixon have the numbers for a national record back up, so if conditions are good enough for one tomorrow, that could make things even more interesting (if that's even possible) in the title chase.
FRIDAY
Welcome to Friday (9 a.m.): Welcome back to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and Day 2 of the 45th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. We're in the middle of the first round of Stock eliminations, and we'll continue with Sportsman eliminations until about 11 a.m., when we'll run comp qualifying, followed by alcohol, and then the second round of Pro qualifying at 1:30 p.m.
Thursday's action brought the cream to the top, so to speak, with points leaders Tony Schumacher, Robert Hight, and Mike Edwards earning provisional No. 1 berths in their classes. The final Top Fuel pairing of No. 1 Schumacher and No. 2 Larry Dixon yesterday brought the house down as they qualified 1-2 within a thousandth of a second of one another.
There were plenty of folks who struggled yesterday, including perennial qualifiers Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon, and Matt Hagan, but yesterday's pass was just the first of four they're allotted, so there's plenty of time to turn their situation around.
Skies today are partly cloudy with a reported 10 percent chance of rain. There's a slight headwind blowing up the track, ruffling the flags atop the grandstands. The rest of the weekend looks good, but it's going to be cool.
Update (noon): Just a quick update as we race along. We had some very brief sprinkles here about an hour ago, not even enough to stop the action, though it's still plenty cloudy around. I don't think it's going to drop any wet stuff, but it's doing a good job of keeping the air and track cool.
Right now, the division winners from the Summit Racing Series are getting their first time trials in preparation for their National Championships competition on Sunday. It's pretty cool to see these bracket bombers getting to show off on the big stage.
After this, we're supposed to go into alcohol and then into the second Pro session.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, second session (2 p.m.): In somewhat of a surprise, Larry Cook, who made his first PSM appearance in nine years at the Las Vegas event two weeks ago, was low of today's lone session, clocking a 6.987 to steal the three bonus points and move up to third in the order. Doug Horne was second-best with a 6.989 that places him fourth. After struggling yesterday, Eddie Krawiec rebounded today with a 6.995 that gives him one bonus points and moved him up to fifth on the sheets. Hector Arana, who is now back to a 54-point lead, struggled on his run and slowed to a 7.091. Polesitter Karen Stoffer also had troubles on her run as did Krawiec's teammate, Andrew Hines.
Pro Stock, second session (2:10 p.m.): The session gets kickstarted with outgoing season champ Jeg Coughlin, who didn't get down the track yesterday, but goes straight to the top of the pack witha 6.632. More to come.
Pro Stock, second session (2:30 p.m.): Though Jeg Coughlin's run early in the session, it ultimately wasn't good enough to keep him at the top of the heap. Mike Edwards punctuated yesterday's championship-clinching run with a 6.575 today that moved him back to the No. 1 spot and earned him another three points. Allen Johnson jumped up to second with a 6.611 that banked him two points, and Rodger Brogdon maintained his hold of third when he improved to a 6.621.
Top Fuel, second session (3 p.m.): Huge cheers for "the Greek," 81-year-old Chris Karamesines, who powers to a career-best 3.891 to make the field for now.
Dutch pilot Lex Joon also made a pass that looked like it night get him into the quick 12, but he brushed the left-side wall near the finish line and lost a 3.952 pass. More soon.
Top Fuel, second session (3:25 p.m.): We have a new points leader in Top Fuel -- Larry Dixon is now in front by one after he scored the three points with his 3.801 run that gave him the provisional No. 1 spot. Points rival Tony Schumacher struck the tires on his run and slowed to a 5.255. Though he didn't improve his time, Schumacher still sits third on the ladder. Rookie of the year frontrunner Spencer Massey was second-best in the session with a 3.809 that puts him second in the order, and Brandon Bernstein was the third-quickest driver with a 3.832. Bernstein's time tied that of Schumacher, but "the Sarge" was faster, relegating Bernstein to fourth overall.
Funny Car, second session (4:10 p.m.): John Force paced a spectacular session, posting a career-best 4.060 to grab the provisional No. 1 spot. Ordinarily, Force would collect three points for the run but because he is over the testing limit, he is not earning points this event, and those three points go unclaimed. Robert Hight was second-quickest with a 4.069 that gives him two more points and the second spot on the sheets. Ron Capps was the third-best driver with a 4.076. After struggling yesterday, Ashley Force Hood got back in the groove, posting a 4.098 that just put her outside the bonus points, in fourth. Hight is now 110 points ahead of his teammate.
THURSDAY
Welcome to Pomona: Welcome to Day 1 of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, the final act of the 24-episode NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. We're going to crown four Professional champs this weekend, two of which should come pretty early in the event and two that could go the distance.
In a beautiful, cool morning here in SoCal and the forecast for race weekend is California Awesome. It looks like Mother Nature wants to pay us back for all of the grief she's been giving us all year. Today's forecast calls for highs in the high 60s the first three days and the low 70s on Sunday. Can you say national records? There is a very, very, very (did I mention very?) slight chance of some very, very, very (did I say very yet?) light rain around 4 p.m. At least that's what the weather guy said last night.
Right now we're running some Super Gas time trials. Comp is scheduled for 11:30, alcohol at noon, and the first of four Pro sessions at 1:30 p.m. There's one Pro session today, one tomorrow, and two Saturday.
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Cory's story: Somewhat overlooked in all the hoopla of Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon being separated by just one point in their battle for the Top Fuel crown, Cory McClenathan is just 48 points behind his teammate, Schumacher, and still very much in the hunt for what would be his first crown after four second-place finishes, so he's well-versed on championship drama.
"Tony has been here before, too, and won the whole thing, set a record to do it and went on to win the championship that day [in 2006], so anything can happen," he said. "I can guarantee one thing: We're going to be throwing down. We want three points per qualifying session, they're up for grabs, so that's going to make a big difference right now with Tony and Dixon one point apart. Right now I need one qualifier to go my way. Those are precious points. The three two one deal that they brought in for the qualifying thing has really made a big difference, bigger than I thought it would actually.
"It's one of those deals, we're going to have to go out there and take it day by day. Looks the weather is definitely going to be there. We all know Pomona, you can run some big mile an hour and some low ETs and I wouldn't be surprised to see a record here this weekend.
Like Schumacher's U.S. Army team, McClenathan's Fram Tough Guard team stayed over in Las Vegas after the last event to use up their last of four allotted test days and made two passes Monday, including an early shutoff 3.85.
"Both Tony and I both ran good during testing, and that's something we have to look at," he noted. "We have to look not only just to the next race but on to next year. Everybody is kind of being careful in the economy we're sitting in right now, but at the same time you have four days of testing; better use them.
"I don't know what's going to happen, I just want it to happen. It's time. Let's get with it, let's get down there."
Methanol madness (12:50 p.m.): We just completed Alcohol Funny Car and raced right into Alcohol Dragster as the Pros begin to assemble for their first qualifying pass. It's downright cool here, with a heavy but slightly scattered cloud cover. A less optimistic person might be afriad it was going to rain.
Double duty (12:55 p.m.): As he did at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, Ron August Jr. is again competing in both Mitch King’s Top Fuel dragster and his family's Ford Mustang-bodied Top Alcohol Funny Car, which just made its first pass of the weekend. Both entries are once again flying the colors of his long time sponsor, The Lesecure Co.
“To be completely honest, this weekend is all about having fun for us,” he admitted. “On Friday, we will be celebrating my father’s 70th birthday and I’d love nothing more than to give him a great birthday present by putting both Lesecure Co. cars in the field. We know it’ll be very difficult but I think we have a puncher's chance.”
This will be August's third NHRA national event in Top Fuel. He'll again be driving one of Mitch King’s dragsters, tuned by Paul Smith.
Into the Pros (1:30 p.m.): The first pair Pro Stock Motorcycles are being fired up right now, so we are now into the first Pro qualifying session of the 2009 Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, session one (1:50 p.m.): Though all eyes were focused on the two championship contenders, Hector Arana and Eddie Krawiec, two other riders stole the spotlight. Karen Stoffer jumped to No. 1 in the order after posting a 6.982. Andrew Hines finished second at 6.986. Arana was able to add one point to his lead when he ran a third-best 6.997. In a surprising twist, Krawiec had troubles on his run, slowing to a 7.164 that has him outside the top 12.
Pro Stock, session one (2:20 p.m.): Mike Edwards added three more points to his total and now has enough points to claim the 2009 NHRA Pro Stock world championship. The title will not be officially given to him until Saturday because points are not awarded until qualifying is over. However, his 6.637-second run that gives him the provisional No. 1 also will help him breathe easier as it has for all intents and purposes also given him his first Pro Stock championship. Greg Anderson made a valiant effort to keep his hopes alive, posting a 6.647 that puts him second on the sheets. Rodger Brogdon currently holds down the third spot with a 6.648.
Funny Car, session one (3:05 p.m.): Robert Hight put the championship further out of reach when he led the first qualifying session, banking another three points. Hight blasted to a 4.093 that put him far above everyone else. Hight's nearest points pursuer, teammate Ashley Force Hood, could only muster a 4.21 that places her eighth on the sheets, meaning Hight extended his advantage from 105 points to 108. Hight's teammate Mike Neff was second in this session with a 4.137 that was more than four-hundredths behind Hight. Jack Beckman finished third with a 4.145.
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Hight-ened awareness: Robert Hight enters the season finale with a basically insurmountable lead in Funny Car. After nearly missing the Countdown to 1 playoffs, he entered the race 105 points ahead of teammate Ashley Force Hood as they battle one another for what would be a first championship for either. Hight's Automobile Club of Southern California Mustang has been one of the series' hottest entries since the playoffs began, but Hight isn't donning his crown prematurely.
"[People are calling this] an insurmountable lead; I wouldn't say that," he cautioned before th event. "We failed to qualify twice this year with my car. So that's first and foremost. We've got to get out there and qualify well, and when you see the conditions that we might have, it is possible to set a record. That's what it's going to take for somebody to get us if we qualify well.
"Ashley has had a great race car all year long, and then they just stumbled last weekend, and it ended up being some parts problem. That's the kind of stuff that can keep us from winning this weekend. So we've got to stay focused and just worry about every run and do our best because it's not that easy. These cars are tough. There's a lot of tough competition, and just do our best to try to get qualified. That's No. 1 for us right now.
With both the event and the venue sponsored by his sponsor, the Automobile Club of Southern California, this is virtually a home game for Hight.
"It couldn't be better if we could win this championship here and celebrate with all the Auto Club folks," he acknowledged. "I know a lot of them are going to be out at the races. They've been with us for nine years, and they've been waiting for this as well as we have. It couldn't be better for me. This is going to be perfect if we can actually clinch this thing and go on to win. But in front of all of our family, because they are family, it's not just sponsors, they love coming to the races. This is a perfect opportunity for us right now."
Top Fuel, session one (3:40 p.m.): The much-anticipated and much-hyped final pair in Top Fuel lived up to expectations with runs within one-thousandth of a second. Tony Schumacher was the better of the the pair with a 3.832 that allowed him to add another point to his advantage, doubling it to two markers over Dixon, who finished just behind "the Sarge" with a 3.833. Doug Kalitta is third on the sheets with a 3.836.
A familiar spot (3:45 p.m.): Tony Schumacher enters the season finale in a familiar spot, in a tight battle for the championship that very well could come down to the final run just as it did in 2006 when Schumacher won the title on “the Run” in the final and 2007 when he won the championship by winning the final round. Schumacher entered this year’s Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in first place but just a single point in the lead. “Every day is just going to be brutal,” said Schumacher. “It’s going to go back and forth. We all have great cars, and it’s not just us three; there’s 10 good cars out there right now. If you guys watch the racing, it’s pretty intense. So we look forward to it. I look forward to not knowing the outcome on Sunday; I look forward to creating it. I look forward to waking up every morning and living it and making it so that the outcome is caused by hard preparation, dedication, and intense work.
“The pressure is always big, but our car has always been one that’s performed the best under pressure, so I enjoy it. I kind of look forward to that pressure. And all my friends, 2,500 people texted me and said, ‘Wow, Cory beat you and now it’s one point; you love that stuff.’ No, I don’t. Uh-uh. I’d rather have showed up here with it closed up. I want it known right now that if Dixon doesn’t show up and lets me and Cory and battle it out, I’m fine with that. We’re all clear on that. [Laughs]
“But it’s been fun. We’ve had five wins this year. He’s had five wins this year. Separated on our teams, he got my whole team from last year and five championships’ worth of my guys, and we’re one point coming into the last race. You couldn’t have written that in a better script. NHRA couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Comp crash (4:30 p.m.): Comp eliminator racer Jim Cowan, from Dewey, Ariz., was transported as a precaution for observation Thursday to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. Cowan’s Chevy Cobalt went out of control and crashed at the top end of the track during qualifying. Cowan exited his car under his own power and was complaining of pain in his lower back when he was checked by NHRA emergency services officials prior to being transported.