Mac Tools U.S. Nationals event notebook
Monday, September 07, 2009
News and notes from Monday at the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Compiled by the National DRAGSTER staff.
MONDAY (previous: Friday | Saturday | Sunday)
Last update: 5 p.m. Eastern (Click to latest item)
Welcome to raceday! (7:45 a.m.): It's Monday morning, Labor Day, and, more importantly to the survivors of the previous five days of the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, it's raceday, the day we will crown another set of Big Go champions!
We went to bed last night with dire projections of all-day rain but, typical Midwest weather, that has disipaited signficantly. Most of the projected storms have swung to the south and to the east, though the forecasters still are projecting possible rain later in the afternoon. Fingers crossed!
Pre-race ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.
National DRAGSTER staff blogs: The staff of National DRAGSTER also is producing a series of blogs at this event. Editor Phil Burgess, Senior Editor Kevin McKenna, and Associate Editors Candida Benson, Brad Littlefield, and Kelly Wade will be sharing their oberservations, thoughts, and tales from the 55th annual Big Go. You can find them, as well as daily event recaps, photo galleries, news links, and daily schedules here. It's also linked in the event box at the top of this notebook.
Countdown drama (7:55 a.m.): In addition to race winners, today we'll also set the final fields for the Countdown to 1 playoffs for the championships. We set the complete fields in Top Fuel and Pro Stock yesterday, but the final spots in Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle as well as the top seeds in Funny Car and Pro Stock are still up for grabs. Stay tuned to this column for the latest Countdown developments.
Special awards (10:55 a.m.): Super Stock racer Bob Bales won the Best Appearing Car award while Mike Lewis' Alcohol Dragster team won the Best Appearing Crew honors. Best Engineered went to Pro Stock racer Jim Cunningham's 2010 Mustang Pro Stocker.
Pre-race is winding down, and we're getting set for round one of Top Fuel. Stand by!
Top Fuel, round 1 (11:03 a.m.): We have nitro! Pat Dakin and Shawn Langdon are the first pair out under sunny skies.
Huge upset as No. 16 qualifier Spencer Massey beats No. 1 qualifier Antron Brown. Tony Schumacher also took away AB's low e.t. with a stunning 3.816, so he'll leave empty-handed. Shoe got a solo when T.J. Zizzo was unable to engage reverse after his burnout.
Second-round pairings (lane choice in bold): Massey vs. Shawn Langdon; Larry Dixon vs. Morgan Lucas; Schumacher vs. Rod Fuller (!); and Brandon Bernstein vs. Cory McClenathan.
Funny Car round 1 (noon.): Weirdness kicks off the flops. Del Worsham smokes the tires at the hit but Tony Pedregon's chute comes out early downtrack, but he still hangs on to win and clinch the top seed in the Countdown to 1. Right after that, John Force is on his way to a first-round defeat when Jim Head blows 'er up good with a small fire. Force gets the win on a holeshot, 4.28 to 4.25. We're down for oil.
The wackiness continues after the cleanup. Mike Neff and Jack Beckman engage in a pedalfest, with Neff out near the wall, but he hangs on to advance.
Countdown implications abound in the next two pairings. Low qualifier Robert Hight advances easily over killer Kiwi Grant Downing and Matt Hagan takes om Hight's teammate, Ashley Force Hood. AFH helps her teammate and ends rookie Hagan's Countdown hopes. The Force cars are four-for-four in round one.
Now it's down to Hight versus Cruz Pedregon, who's up next against Ron Capps. Cruzer wins and keeps his Countdown berth for now, but faces John Force in round two. If Cruz beats Force and Hight beats Bob Tasca III those two will face off in the semifinals. Hight needs to go two rounds further than Cruz to take his spot so that could be well worth looking forward to. Imagine Hight beating Cruz in the semi's and then needing to win the race to get the berth. The mind reels.
Jeff Arend, who got his first round-win in wo seasons with Team Kalitta by default in Reading when AFH came up light after beating him in round one, erases that asterisk by beating Jerry Toliver straight up. The round closes with quasi teammates Tim Wilkerson and Tasca facing off; BT3 gets the W.
Second-round pairings (lane choice in bold): Hight vs. Tasca; C. Pedregon vs. John Force; Force Hood vs. Arend; and Neff vs. T. Pedregon.
Pro Stock round 1 (12:15 p.m.): Ryan Ondrejko gets the first round win of his young career, and does it at Indy by beating Vinnie Deceglie. The monster matchup of the round between Jeg Coughlin and Greg Anderson goes to Jeg. Mike Edwards has low e.t. of the round at 6.617.
Second-round pairings (lane choice in bold): Edwards vs. Ondrejko; Rodger Brogdon vs. Coughlin; Jason Line vs. Johnny Gray; and Larry Morgan vs. Greg Stanfield.
Pro Stock Motorcycle round 1 (12:30 p.m.): Karen Stoffer keeps her Countdown hopes alive by beating L.E. Tonglet but the Countdown drama does not last not long after because Steve Johnson's red-light locks in both Stoffer and Shawn Gann and eliminates the two-time Indy champ.
Pro Bike Battle winner Andrew Hines red-lights to Craig Treble and loses his chance for a big double-up payday. Eddie Krawiec also loses, so both Harelys are out early.
Second-round pairings (lane choice in bold): Matt Smith vs. Doug Horne; Michael Phillips vs. Gann; Hector Arana vs. Stoffer; Treble vs. Chip Ellis.
Top Fuel round two (1:25 p.m.): It's already a great weekend for Brandon Bernstein, who announced a new sponsor yesterday and now is headed to the semifinals after beating a fiery Cory Mac. Spencer Massey continues his upset route from the No. 16 spot by beating Shawn Langdon. Larry Dixon beats Morgan Lucas and gets lane choice over Massey by a thou, 3.870 to 3.871. Speaking of grudge matches, Tony Schumacher beays old nemesis Rod Fuller
Semifinal pairings (lane choice in bold): Massey vs. Dixon; Schumacher vs. Bernstein.
We have a Tony Stewart sighting as the NASCAR star is hanging out with the Schumacher crew. he later does PA work with Bob Frey and visits the media center.
Funny Car round 2 (1:30 p.m.): T-Ped beats Mike Neff, but brother Cruz can't follow suit. After a mini burndown with John Force, cruz goes deep, but then smokes the tires. The pressue is all on Hight now, who can take away Pedregon's playoff berth by reaching the final.
He'll have to get by Bob Tasca III first ... and he does. Now he only has to beat his boss, John Force, in the next round. force has lane choice by a thousandth.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice in bold): Hight vs. Force; Ashley Force Hood vs. T. Pedregon.
Pro Stock round 2: Rodger Brogdon goes red against Je Coughlin, who pretty much shakes his fillings out but gets the W. Edwards edges Odrejko by .001 by overpoweing the rookie's better light. Jason Line earns lane choice over fellow former Sportsman star Greg Stanfield.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice in bold): Edwards vs. Coughlin; Line vs. Stanfield.
Pro Stock Motorcycle round 2 (1:55 p.m.): Low qualifier Matt Smith on Doug Horne's holeshot, 7.16 to 7.10. Mike Phillips advances over Shawn Gann and Chip Ellis over Craig Treble, Hector Arana wins despite a .157 light, but only because starting-line troubled Stoffer with a 7.00.
Semifinal pairings (lane choice in bold): Horne vs. Phillips; Arana vs. Ellis.
Top Fuel semifinals (3 p.m.): Schumacher reaches his eighth straight Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Top Fuel final by besting tire-smoking Brandon Bernstein. He's joined by his perennial Indy final dance partner Larry Dixon. They'll race for the title for the fourth time in eight years at this event; Schumacher has won twice ('02 and '07) and Dixon once ('05).
Schumacher will have lane choice as Dixon smoked the tires and had engine woes in beating Spencer Massey. Schumacher is seeking his eighth Top Fuel win at Indy, which would tie him with "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. Dixon is seeking his fourth U.S. Nationals win.Between the two of them, they've won every U.S. Nationals Top fuel title this decade.
Funny Car semifinals (3:10): Robert Hight and John Force duel with everything onthe line for Hight; if he wins, he bumps Cruz pedregon from the Countdown. Force gets loose early and nears the wall, pedals it and stabs it again. but he can't catch Hight/ Hight locks in his spot in the Countdown by reaching the Indy final for the fourth straight year. Pedregon is out of the Countdown.
Ashley Force Hood will run her teammate -- and have lane choice -- in the final after taking out Tony Pedregon.
Pro Stock semifinals (3:20 p.m.): Greg Stanfield beats Jason Line on a holeshot, 6.67 to 6.65, to reach the final, where he'll face Jeg Coughlin, who advances on Mike Edwards' -.045 red-light.
Stanfield has never won the U.S. Nationals; Coughlin has won it three times, twice in Pro Stock and once in Super Gas.
Pro Stock semifinals (3:25 p.m.): Michael Phillips, runner-up two weeks ago in Reading, reache shis second straight final by beating Doug Horne; his opponent will be Hector Arana, who earns lane choice by two-thousandths, 7.050 to 7.052. Neither driver has won the U.S. Nationals previously.
Sportsman finals (4:30 p.m.): Gary Waldo joins brother Eric (2001) as a U.S. Nationals Stock champ by besting Michael iacono. World champ Brian Forrester bags Super Gas in a battle of topless Corvettes with Craig Anderson. Larry Stewart runs 9.926 on a 9.92 dial to defeat Michael Lund for the Super Stock win. Edmond Richardson, who had never won the U,.S. Nationals in his great career, joined his brother, three-time Indy winner Scotty, as a Big Go winner with an 8.902 decision over breaking-out Franklin DiBartolomeo (8.897) in the Super Comp final. Low qualifier Bobby Martin went wire to wire and won Alcohol Funny Car, defeating Steve Harker in the final. Ken Perry defeats Mike Manners on a holeshot in the Alcohol Dragster final, 5.404 to 5.402. And finally, David Rampy nabs his fourth Indy win by defeating Joey Tanksley in Comp. Wow!
Pros coming up!
Pro finals (5 p.m.): Hector Arana scores his first U.S. Nationals win in Pro Stock Motorcycle, beating Michael Phillips, 7.02 to 7.08.
Jeg Coughlin wins his fourth U.S. Nationals title (three in Pro Stock) by just .001-second over Greg Stanfield, 6.689 to 6.691, after Stanfield, seeking his first Indy win, got a .001-second edge at the Tree.
Ashley Force Hood becomes a two-time Indy winner, backing up her 2004 Alcohol Dragster title by beating teammate Robert Hight, whose engine goes away in a flash of fire at the top end, in the Funny Car final.
Tony Schumacher does what he does best: Win Indy. For a class-record-tying eighth time, the US Army driver collects Indy gold, winning easily when Larry Dixon's mount breaks traction.
And that concludes the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, which will rightly take its place among the legendary predecessors of this magnificent event.
SUNDAY
Welcome to Sunday: Another busy day on store at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indinapolis! We've got the first round of Comp, the final Alcohol Dragster and Alcohol Funny Car qualifying sessions, followed by their first round later today and, of course, the final two rounds of Pro qualifying to set the fields for Monday's final eliminations.
National DRAGSTER staff blogs: The staff of National DRAGSTER also is producing a series of blogs at this event. Editor Phil Burgess, Senior Editor Kevin McKenna, and Associate Editors Candida Benson, Brad Littlefield, and Kelly Wade will be sharing their oberservations, thoughts, and tales from the 55th annual Big Go. You can find them, as well as daily event recaps, photo galleries, news links, and daily schedules here. It's also linked in the event box at the top of this notebook.
Big doings: "Big Daddy" Don Garlits will return to the cockpit of the vehicle he pioneered nearly 40 years ago, a rear engine Top Fuel dragster. The eight-time U.S. Nationals winner will warm-up Antron Brown's Matco Tools dragster this morning.
Brown considers Garlits his racing hero, so it's only fitting that he approached the 35-time NHRA winner about starting his Matco Tools dragster at the most prestigious race on the NHRA schedule. The warm-up will take place at approximately 10:30 a.m. Top Fuel qualifying is scheduled for 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.
"We were filming our Getting Down With Brown segment with ESPN on Friday and we asked 'Big Daddy' if he wanted to hop in our Matco dragster and start it and he said 'of couse,' Brown said. "This is awesome for our team. Our guys are all excited about having 'Big Daddy' around our pit, and he also has a long-time relationship with Matco Tools. This is a win-win for everyone and I know the fans will love it."
"It's always an adrenaline rush when you climb into a Top Fuel dragster and hear that engine roar to life and cackle," Garlits said. "It's something I'd love to do again, but I can't. But I am having a blast driving my new Dodge Challenger this weekend here at Indy."
Schedule changes (10:35 a.m.): Due to some light rain sprinkles this morning, we've got some changes to the program. The fourth and final alcohol sessions have been cancelled and fields set, so we'll go straight into eliminations later today. The first round of Comp is scheduled to run soon.
New deal (11:10 a.m.): Allen and Joe Hartley are benefiting from backing from veteran car owner Johnny Loper and Loper'sSpeed.com, a deal that will be in place for the balance of the season. NHRA fans will remember the Loper name from his Lil' Hoss Funny Cars back of the 1970s and 80's driven by Tripp Shumake.
"Our goal is to help Joe and his family break into the top 10 within their first full season on the NHRA tour," said James Loper. "We are also using this exciting new opportunity to offer a very special exclusive discounts and other unique promotion offers to the NHRA membership and nhra.com fans beginning this weekend at the U.S. Nationals. We just printed some new autograph "hero" cards for the fans with a secret code we hope the fans will enjoy uncovering."
No radar love (11:10 a.m.): If you're a believer in weather radar projections, we may be due for a little dousing soon
We should be weather forecasters (11:20 a.m.): Ten minutes after the note above about the not-so-nice-looking radar, the rain has unfortunately begun to fall. We were midway through the first round of Comp, and the Pro Stock Motorcycles had begun to make their way up to the lanes. All of them have now turned around and headed back to the shelter of their pit areas. This isn't a light shower, so it's going to be a while before things pick back up.
Still raining (1:10 p.m.): It's lightened a bit -- it never got real heavy -- but it's going to continue for a little bit. We're still every bit of two hours away from running, I'd guess. Maybe more,
Update (1:35 p.m.): Stock and Super Gas for the day is secure. Both classes ran earlier in the day before the rain.
During the rain delay, Kenny Bernstein had a full (and dry) house in his pit area as he announced his new sponsor, Copart, a huge online automobile auction company. See the story here.
Drying begins (2:30 p.m.): It hasn't fully stopped raining, but it's let up enough for the Safety Safari to begin heading out to the track to begin pushing away the big puddles. It's going to be a long process, but it's a start.
Good news (2:50 p.m.) Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you an old friend of mine, making his first appearance of the day here at Indy ... Mr. Sun! Welcome, my friend.
More good news (3:45 p.m.): Looks like we'll be running by 4. Pro Stock Motorcycle has been called to the lane and will lick off the action, followed by the rest of the Pros. This will be the final qualifying session for the event, racheting up the drama for those seeking to make or keep Countdown spots.
Walking the walk (4:10 p.m.): The Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle crew chiefs are inspecting the track; we're minutes away from starting.
And here come the two-wheelers! This will be the event's final qualifying session. Let's go racing!
Pro Stock Motorcycle final session (4:30 p.m.): Wow! Matt Smith streaks to a 6.918 to steal the pole from Hector Arana, who has held it since the race started. Smith credits a new engine built overnight by Steve Tartaglia after they blew up their top motor yesterday. Arana falls to second and Andrew Hines to third while Michael Phillips surprises with a 6.971 to move to fourth.
Pro Stock final session (5;10 p.m.): With the countdown implications high, we enter the final session. Johnny Gray is alrady qualified, Warren Johnson is not. Gray can't make a run to better his position, pulling off before the burnout.
Kurt Johnson races into the field with a 6.701 and next up is his dad, Warren, who needs to at least qualify to stop Gray from taking over his 10th and final spot in the Countdown field. It's a cruel dilemma for W.J. If he qualifies, his hopes are alive, but he'll have to bump his kid from the field to do it.
WJ runs 6.703 to miss by a few thou, locking Gray and Rickie Jones into the Countdown. The good news for KJ doesn't last long, as Larry Morgan runs 6.65 to bump him from the show. Rickie Jones ends up onthe final bump spot with a 6.689.
Funny Car final session (6:30 p.m.): Bob Bode sets what surely is a new modern-day altitude record for a Funny Car body toss as things go awry for his Alard machine at the top end. A huge explosion catapults the Impala body a good 50 fet into the air. He's not injured, but we're down for cleanup for a short time.
Cruz Pedregon makes the biggest move of the round, a a 4.098 that takes him from sixth to third and breaks up the four-car Force lovefest at the top, but low qualifier Robert Hight still has the best run of the round, a 4.095.
Top Fuel final session (7:15 p.m.): New day, same outcome for Luigi Novelli who again leaves oil on the track after an fire-breathing engine failure in the first pair.
Larry Dixon's lead is finally bettered by Brandoon Bernstein (3.846) which is then in turn bettered by Tony Schumacher (3.836) and finally by Antron Brown in the final pair with a 3.835. Brown's speed of 319.22 is second only to his 319.75 at Bristol earlier this year.
We'llclose out with the opening rounds of Alcohol racing, then some more Sportsman action to set the stage for Monday.
SATURDAY
Welcome to Saturday: Welcome to Day 4 of the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, There's another big day on tap with the running of the annual Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, two more rounds of Professional qualifying, and more Sportsman eliminations.
Pro Stock will run at noon and, following an introduction ceremony for the eight riders, we'll run the first round of the Battle, followed by the remainder of Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying, then the nitro cars.
Follow along: Low qualifiers after each Pro session can be found on NHRA's Twitter page,
http://twitter.com/NHRA. You can sign up to have these text-message-sized reports sent directly to your mobile device or read them online. Reports are posted minutes after each session is complete.
National DRAGSTER staff blogs: The staff of
National DRAGSTER also is producing a series of blogs at this event. Editor Phil Burgess, Senior Editor Kevin McKenna, and Associate Editors Candida Benson, Brad Littlefield, and Kelly Wade will be sharing their oberservations, thoughts, and tales from the 55th annual Big Go. You can find them, as well as daily event recaps, photo galleries, news links, and daily schedules
here. It's also linked in the event box at the top of this notebook.
Alcohol Dragsters on the track (11:15 a.m.): The Top Alcohol Dragsters are taking to the track for their second qualifying run of the weekend. The dragsters were moved out of the lineup yesterday due to time constraints, but they will get three qualifying runs like the Top Alcohol Funny Car contingent, which will follows the dragsters this morning. The TAD class will return this afternoon for the make-up run, likely hitting the track around 4:30 (there is no exact time on the schedule at this point, but they will precede the Pro Mods, which are slated for 5:15 p.m.).
Wow! Brandon Booher came about as close as you can come to tipping over an Alcohol Dragster without actually doing it, breaking traction in the right lane and getting his digger up on two wheels. He was on two wheels as he headed to the guardwall but managed to land it just before contact, but still smacked the wall. He coasted to a stop before the finish line and appears uninjured.
Pro Stock up next (12:35 p.m.): We're a little more than a half-hour behind schedule. Alcohol Funny Car is just completing (Bobby Martin ... 5.57 ... wow!) and Pro Stock will be up next for its second session.
Bernstein announcement: There will be a press announcement at 12:15 p.m. tomorrow in Kenny Bernstein's pit area. It's expected that the six-time world champ will be announcing his new sponsor for next season.
Pro Stock session 2 (1:15 p.m.): Mike Edwards just can't be stopped, at least when it comes to qualifying. One pass after Jason Line steals the pole with an inspiring 6.620, Edwards, who has qualified No. 1 at nine times in 17 events this season, destroys Line's number with a 6.581. Edwards has a nearly four-hundredths gap on the field and, as Bob Frey points out, there's only a three-hundredths gap between the No. 2 and 12 qualifiers.
Pro Bike Battle round one (1:45 p.m.): Hector Arana hammered Matt Guidera and solidified his spot atop the field with a 6.93 to lead first-round winners in the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle. He'll face Matt Smith in the semifinals; Smith ran 6.96 to beat Karen Stoffer. Harley teammates Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec will race in the other semifinal after respectively besting Steve Johnson and Craig Treble with times of 6.97 and 7.05.
Top Fuel session 2 (2:05 p.m.): The second fuel dragster session opens with more disappointment for Countdown Joe Hartley, who again goes no more than 10 feet before smoking the tires. Pat Dakin duplicates that and adds a backfiring supercharger and a small fire. We're down for oil
Much, much later ....
Larry Dixon has the best run of the round, 3.88, a few hundredths shy of his field-leading 3.85 from last night with No. 2 Cory Mac chalkin gup a decent 3.90, four hun shy of his friday night ripper. The Greek, Chris Karamesines, is on the 12-position bump with a 4.169.
Funny Car session 2 (3:45 p.m.): Defending season champ Cruz Pedregon shows that he's serious about staying in the Countdown top 10 by reeling off a 4.134 to complement his Friday-evening 4.124. Cruzer's run is low for the round but not enough to get past either Robert Hight or Mike Neff (who ran 4.14 and 4.16 just after Pedregon). John Force ran a 4.153 that improved upon his Friday 4.17, but the run was later DQ'd due to body height.
A little precursor (3:45 p.m.): It’s been awhile since Pro Stock's John Nobile has made an appearance at an NHRA event (his last was in Richmond last season), but soon-to-be Ford campaigner Larry Morgan asked Nobile in Reading if he would like to drive a second Lucas Oil Dodge here at Indy, and he gladly accepted. “We tested in Michigan and did about a half a dozen laps,” said Nobile. “For the rest of the year, we’ll take it race to race, but we’re looking forward to racing Ford with Larry Morgan next year in a second car and we plan to run the whole season.”
Daily update (5:30 p.m.): There's a lot of things going on here and a lot of news floating around (say it ain't so, 'Snake.") but here's the latest. We're running the third Alcohol Dragster session, which was cancelled yesterday and we've been notified that the first round of Comp, originally scheduled for today, has been moved to tomorrow.
As soon as the alky burners are done, we're into Bike Battle semifiinals, then Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle and the nitro cars, with the Bike Battle final mixed in there somewhere.
Bike Battle semifinals (5:50 p.m.): Andrew Hines beat Harley teammate Eddie Krawiec, 6.95 to 7.02, and will get the chance to tie big brother Matt's record of four wins in the special event. He'll face Hector Arana, who defeated Matt Smith, who red-lighted by .008-second, tossing away a quicker 7.01 to Arana's 7.02.
Pro Stock Motorcycle, session 3 (6:10 p.m.): Hector Arana stayed atop the field and Hines moved to second. Matt Smith is third and Shawn Gann, battling for his playoff life, is a surprising fourth. Steve Johnson and Karen Stoffer, also fighting for a top 10 spot, are sixth and ninth, respectively.
Pro Stock session 3 (7:10 p.m.): Nothing changes as Edwards not only stays No. 1 but also has the best run of the session, a 6.662. It's not a 6.58 like yesterday, but still better than anyone else.
Top Fuel session 3 (7:35 p.m.): The session got off to a great start with Pat Dakin bouncing back from a broken crankshaft this morning to blast to a 3.88, albeit with a trail of oil. We're down (again). Del Cox just ran 3.97 and Tony Schumacher got his stripes back straight with a 3.855 that jumped him up to No. 2 behind Larry Dixon's 3.850. Then in a double-whammy, Joe Hartley went good news-bad news, finally making it down the track but torching a head gasket and banging the blower on a 3.919 while terry Haddock, in the other lane, appears to have the throttle open well past the finish line (stuck perhaps?) and throws the rods out well past the finish line in a ball of fire. More oil. :(
And we're back ...
A lot of swapping aaround in the middle, with drivers taking turns battling for the spot behind leader Larry Dixon's 3.850. Antron Brown runs 3.852 but Cory Mac goes one better with a 3.851. Dixon slows but will still lead the field into Sunday.
Pro Bike Battle final (8:15 p.m.): Hector Arana goes red in the final and Andrew Hines ties brother Matt with his fourth Ringers gloves Bike Battle win and a cool $25,000 payday.
Funny Car session 3 (8:45 p.m.): John Force wows 'em by racing to the head of the field with a 4.107 that ties teamnmate Robert Hight'spass but earns the top spot based on a better speed. Will it stick?
Nope. Force's teammates knock him down to No. 3 as Robert Hight reclaims the No. 1 spot with a 4.083 and Ashley Force Hood goes to No. 2 with a 4.093.
Mike Neff then pushes the boss back one more spot, but he probably won't mind as it's the four Force cars in the first four spot.
Cue fireworks! We're done for the night.
FRIDAY
Welcome to Friday: Welcome to day three of the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil. After two days of Sportsman time trials and class eliminations, the action really picks up pace today with the running of the eagerly awaited Mopar Hemi Challenge for SS/AH entries and the rest of Super Stock class eliminations. Later this afternoon, the Full Throttle Pros will get their first crack at the O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis surface for their first of five scheduled qualifying attempts at this crucial event, the last one in NHRA's regular season Countdown to 10 segment. The Pros don't run until 5:30, so there's a whole day of Sportsman action on tap before then.
Follow along: Low qualifiers after each Pro session can be found on NHRA's Twitter page,
http://twitter.com/NHRA. You can sign up to have these text-message-sized reports sent directly to your mobile device or read them online. Reports are posted minutes after each session is complete.
National DRAGSTER staff blogs: The staff of
National DRAGSTER also is producing a series of blogs at this event. Editor Phil Burgess, Senior Editor Kevin McKenna, and Associate Editors Candida Benson, Brad Littlefield, and Kelly Wade will be sharing their oberservations, thoughts, and tales from the 55th annual Big Go. You can find them, as well as daily event recaps, photo galleries, news links, and daily schedules
here. It's also linked in the event box at the top of this notebook.
Early Sportsman highlights (noon): Charlie Westcott Jr. blasted to low e.t. of round one of the Mopar Hemi Challenge with a stout 8.48. He and his father both advanced to round two. In Super Comp, the upset of the day (so far) is Charlotte Lucas taking out two-time Indy champ Steve Cohen on a double breakout in round one of Super Comp, 8.89 to 8.88.
Return of a veteran (3:30 p.m.): Pat Barrett, former long-time Warren Johnson crew member who was by "the Professor's" side for multiple championship seasons beginning in the early 1970s and lasting through several decades, has joined Greg Stanfield in the pits this weekend to help out wherever needed. Though Stanfield claims he had to beg the venerable Pro Stock veteran for two days, Barrett, who formerly worked on Johnson's team with Stanfield's assistant crew chief Mike Stryker, is happy to be along for the ride here in Indy. Beyond that, he's non-committal. "You'd have to ask my wife," said Barrett.
Gotta have Hart (3:30 p.m.): Matt Hartford hasn't been seen on the NHRA Full Throttle Series tour in quite awhile - his most recent previous event was in Bristol last season - but he's piloting Kenny Koretsky's Nitro Fish Dodge, the same car Johnny Gray drove for several events earlier this year, this weekend after testing in the car in St. Louis. Hartford, who is being tuned by Nitro Fish crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia, has been staying active and is currently fourth in points on the ADRL circuit. His ADRL crew chief, Justin Elkes, is getting his hands dirty here in Indy this weekend, too. Elkes is handling crew chief duties on the third Summit Racing entry driven by Ronnie Humphrey.
Schedule update (4:15 p.m.): Today's second Alcohol Dragster qualifying session hs been canceled as we work to get back on shcedule afetr several lengthy downtimes. They'll make it up tomorrow, Right now, we're in the third Comp qualifying session, which will be followed by Alcohol Funny Car, the semi's of the Hemi Challenge, then Pro Mods before the Full Throttle Pros take centerstage. Between Pro Stock and Funny Car, we are expecting the final of the Hemi Challenge.
There was a nasty looking raincloud that wrapped around the track both south and east but appears to have mostly blown by.
Challenge final set (4:30 p.m.): David Barton and Charlie Westcott Sr. will duel in the final of the Mopar Hemi Challenge, though Westcott had to abort his semifinal solo after a cloud of smoke came from beneath his Cuda.The Safety Safari checks the track and it's clean, so we'll have to wait and see.
It's still summer, right? (4:40 p.m.): What happened to the old Roger Miller tune ... "And it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime"? Okay, this doesn't really count as rain, but a very fine mist of light sprinkles has on on hold partway through Alcohol Funny Car.
Back to biz (4:45 p.m.): See? "Light mist." Whew. Back to the alky burners.
Fixed quick (5 p.m.): Rickie Jones and crew were thrashing in their Pro Stock pit this afternoon to install a new powerplant that was delivered to the track. "Our race motor dropped a valve in testing in Michigan on Wednesday, and Larry Morgan was kind enough to loan us this one," said Jones. "We'll see how it goes." Jones has not yet clinched a spot in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs and enters the event ninth, battling for the final two positions with Warren Johnson and Johnny Gray.
Pro Stock Motorcycle session 1 (6:30 p.m.): Hector Arana continues his hot streak aboard the Lucas Oil Buell by racing to the No. 1 spot with a 6.985. Andrew Hines is not far back with a 6.989 with Matt Smith third at 7.018.
Both Wesley Wells and Shawn Gann went bowling for timers and came away with strikes, each taking out the finish line timer. Gann's hit invalidated Countdown hopeful Karen Stoffer's run in the other lane.
Pro Stock session 1 (7:10 p.m.): No surprise here, as Mike Edwards is at the front of the field after one session, driving the ART/Young Life Pontiac to a 6.624. Greg Anderson is second at 6.635 and top speed of the session at 208.20. Best surprise so far is Steve Speiss way up in the No. 6 spot.
Westcott again! (7:15 p.m.): The Westcott family wis the annual Mopar Hemi Challenge again, but this time it's Charlie Sr. instead of his son who cashes the big check. Westcott had wounded an engine in the semifinals but got lots of help to make the swap. The final was never in question after the green because of David Barton's .498 reaction time. Westcott was long gone with a clutch .013 light and roared to an easy 8.62, 156.15 to 8.80, 152.87 win.
Just practicing (7:30 p.m.): After a pair of exhibition runs featuring nostalgia Funny Cars against fuel altereds, we're into a quick set of time trial passes for the eight riders in tomorrow's Ringers Glove Pro Bike Battle. They get this extra pass, which does not count towards qualifying, so that they have had a run in each lane prior to the big-money bash, but only five of the eight riders decided to make a run. Andrew Hines improved on his earlier pass with a 6.982 to lead the mini session. Other passes: Eddie Krawiec (7.034), Matt Guidera (7.053), Steve Johnson (7.094), and Craig Treble (7.148).
Boom (7:55 p.m.): We're down for oil at the top end after Jim head has a little blower bang and a small fire at the top end. Damage is definitely minimal )at least externally).
Funny Car session 2 (8:35 p.m.): Robert Hight needs a good start in his bid to bump into the Countdown to 1 playoffs and he has it here with a 4.10 that leads the field. Teammate Mike Neff is just a few ticks back at 4.113.
Top Fuel session 1 (8:45 p.m.): The session kicks off with newly licensed former Alcohol Funny Car pilot Ron August Jr. in Mitch King's car. IA few pairs later, Luigi Novelli greases 'er good with an Exxon Valdez-worthy slimer from 100 feet to halftrack. We're down for a long time ,,,
.... 55 minutes later we're back in business. Man, that was one of those all-timers.
How good is the NHRA Safety Safari? Rod Fuller drove right down the slimed left lane to a 3.88. It doesn;t hold though as both Cory McClenathan and, finally, Larry Dixon better his number.
That's it for Day 1!