Cory McClenathan, Tim Wilkerson, and Greg Anderson collected victories on a somber Sunday at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle.
Earlier in the day, Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mark Niver, 60, of Phoenix, was involved in a fatal incident when his dragster crashed in the shutdown area during the semifinals. Niver’s most recent NHRA national event victory was at this race in 2008, a season in which he also won the national event in Topeka. Niver was runner-up this year in Topeka in his last final-round appearance. For more on Niver's career, click here.
The Full Throttle winners were quick to salute Niver in their post-race comments. “I want to make sure everybody realizes that Mark Niver was a great competitor," said McClenathan. "He built every component in his race cars. I raced against Mark 20 years ago in Top Alcohol Dragster. This has to be about the family and what they’re going through and not about us because this whole circle of people that travels around is our family. He’s a great individual, he always had a smile on his face, and he was a fantastic person.”
Added Wilkerson, “When we were waiting for news about Mark Niver and found out about it, the focus just turned into leaving, to be real truthful. I raced alcohol cars with him for years. He’s a super-great guy. You try to take your mind off of it when you race, but you really can’t. The atmosphere ruins your heart. God bless Mark’s family, and I hope the Lord can take care of them somehow.”
“I’ve known Mark Niver forever, and I’ve watched him race on his own by making his own equipment,” said Anderson. “Obviously, he was a great engineer, a great fabricator, and he stayed at it. I was so proud of him when he won his first race because I remember how much he struggled by doing everything himself. When I heard what had happened, my heart just stopped.”
Cory McClenathan
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The Top Fuel final featured two drivers who have swept the three-race Western Swing, Antron Brown last season and McClenathan 13 years ago. This year, it was Cory Mac’s turn to kick off the three-race affair with a victory; he defeated Brown, 3.88 to 3.90, to collect his 34th Top Fuel victory and 38th overall and vault into second place in the standings.
“Before the final, I thought, ‘Antron and I have both won this thing [the Western Swing], and I wanted to be the first to do it two times,’ ” said McClenathan. “It’s a lot to ask for, and you can’t get there unless you win this one, which is what we did. [Crew chief] Todd [Okuhara], Phil [Shuler], and the guys did a great job getting it down the track all day.
“I knew from all these years to put on the darkest shield [helmet visor] that you can at this time of day. I put it down and thought, ‘This is so bright, I can’t believe it.’ That’s Seattle for you. You go up there and try to cut the best light you can."
McClenathan, who also won this event in Top Alcohol Dragster in 1990, reached his 62nd Top Fuel final by trailering Mike Strasburg, Dave Grubnic, and Shawn Langdon with a pair of mid-3.8-second passes and earned lane choice for the final with a 4.13 after Langdon’s cursed season with the Lucas Oil digger continued with a starting-line blower backfire at the green.
Brown, who won this race last year as the middle leg to his Western Swing sweep, reached the final again, his 21st in the class and sixth this year, by defeating Steve Chrisman, teammate Tony Schumacher, and low qualifier Doug Kalitta. Brown opened with a 3.90 but won his next two rounds with passes of just 4.16 and 4.15.
Tim Wilkerson
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Wilkerson, runner-up in Bristol and a winner two weeks ago in Norwalk, reached his third straight final for the first time and collected his second victory of the season when he defeated Ron Capps, 4.22 to 4.24, in the final round to score his 16th win. Wilkerson moved into fifth place with the achievement.
“We seem like we’ve kind of come into our own in this kind of weather,” said Wilkerson, who has scored more wins since the beginning of the 2008 season (11) than any other driver in the Funny Car division. “I looked stupid on Saturday. I got back to the pits, and my guys had glum faces, saying, ‘I can’t believe we smoked the tires two times in a row. We’re going to get our butts kicked tomorrow.’ I had to tell them we were trying something.
“The cooler racetrack came back to me and helped us. You make so much power at this place that it’s hard to pull enough back to make it go without smoking the tires in the middle. I think running an alcohol car for years taught me about these things: You tune it up when you go to the Midwest and tune it down when you go to the good air."
Wilkerson wheeled the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang past technology partner Bob Tasca III, Cruz Pedregon, and Matt Hagan to reach the 27th final of his Funny Car career.
Capps, who collected his first win at this event in Top Fuel in 1995, also won here in Funny Car in 1998 but had been relegated to runner-up in his next three Seattle finals (2001, 2006, and 2008). He reached his third final here in the last five years and the 62nd of his Funny Car career by racing his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge past Paul Lee (with low e.t. of the meet, 4.098), Ashley Force Hood, and teammate Jack Beckman.
Greg Anderson
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Anderson, hot off a sweep of the Pro Stock honors in Norwalk, where he not only won the K&N Horsepower Challenge but also Sunday’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, continued to remain red-hot by collecting win No. 62 on a 6.59 to 6.62 count against Johnny Gray.
“The addition of Tommy Utt has obviously worked out great, and his biggest contribution has been to calm us down, to keep us from making moves or changes that were too big,” said Anderson. “We were doing that in the past because we were behind, and we were trying too hard to catch up too soon. We had all the ingredients with a great team owner, great team sponsors, and all the resources that we need. We’re just doing a better job of utilizing them. Tommy and Rob Downing are absolutely in sync working together in their roles as co-crew chiefs. They see everything eye to eye. The changes that have been made were very small, but they were enough to get the car calmed down. And that has [helped] me get my confidence back. When you regain your trust in the car, you become a better driver again.
“We haven’t operated this smoothly in about three or four years. We’re looking forward to the rest of the year and certainly for the rest of the Western Swing. I guess I’m the only one left who has a chance to sweep the Swing because everybody else lost today. That would be an awesome accomplishment because each of the racetracks is so different with their conditions, and that’s what makes the Swing such a challenge.”
Anderson defeated Greg Stanfield and Rodger Brogdon in the opening rounds, then used a holeshot to defeat favored points leader Mike Edwards in the semifinals by just .007-second, 6.60 to 6.59. Anderson’s weekend moved him up to third in points.
Gray, a semifinalist this year in Atlanta and Englishtown, remains winless in the Full Throttle ranks in six finals, three each in Pro Stock and Funny Car. Paradoxically, he was a perfect three for three in alcohol-class final rounds. To reach the final this weekend, Gray defeated Larry Morgan, Ron Krisher, and Kurt Johnson.
Related stories:
Friday: Kalitta, Line looking for first No.1s of season in Seattle; Hight leads FC
Saturday: Edwards zooms to No. 1 in Seattle; Kalitta, Hight hold their Friday leads