Five things we learned at testing
Silly Season Scorecard
A look at the Funny Car performance surge
Does Winternationals success equal season success?
Intriguing storylines to kick off the 2017 season
2016 Champions By the Numbers
2016 Pro Stock Qualifying by the Numbers
2016 Nitro Qualifying By the Numbers
Saving the best for last
It all comes down to Pomona
One down, three to go
Rookie report card
Thinning the herd
Survival of the fastest
A St. Louis Shake-up
Welcome to the Countdown
Land of 10,000 horsepower
Upset winners
Emerald City makeover
Heard it through the grapevine
Prime-time players
Sweeping the Western Swing
Chi-Town Turnaround
Funny Car milestones
'Eastern Swing' MVP
A storm is a-brewin'
Super Summernationals
An epic Epping
Holding the Line
Record weekend
Emerald City makeover
The Northwest region of the United States has produced a bevy of tough racers over the years, from Gary Beck to Herm Petersen to Jerry Ruth to Pat and Bucky Austin, among many others. The track itself was a Funny Car haven in the 1970s with Bill Doner promoting special events that brought in 64 floppers at a time. However, one reputation it had to earn back in recent years was that of a national record-setting facility.
Partially due to warm conditions often present in August and sometimes due to the condition of the racing surface, it had been a long time since a record had been set in Seattle in a nitro category before Jack Beckman went a then-unheard-of 3.912 in 2015. In fact, the last records predated the Western Swing when the Seattle event was held in the fall of 1988 and the elapsed time national records were set in Top Fuel (5.052, Darrell Gwynn), Funny Car (5.305, Don Prudhomme), and Pro Stock (7.319, Bob Glidden). Incidents such as a heated starting-line confrontation between outspoken Funny Car driver Whit Bazemore and then-track operator Jim Rockstad regarding a bump on the track that made the television coverage of the 2000 event painted an unflattering picture of a dragstrip that current track operator Jason Fiorito has brought up to excellent condition in recent years.
Aided by cool conditions this season, the numbers produced at Pacific Raceways have transformed it to the Maple Grove Raceway of the Pacific Northwest. The dragstrip that was given the honorary title of Mark Lyle Blvd. this past weekend generated performances befitting of the late NHRA chief starter.
The Funny Car e.t. record was shattered for the second straight season. Beckman had turned the world on its axis in 2015 with a 3.912 that seemed unfathomable before the rest of the class got wise to the laid-back headers that helped signal his uptick in performance. One year later and just as the Funny Car performance revolution seemed to be approaching its crescendo, there were 33 runs quicker than the 3.912-second incoming track e.t. record and eight runs quicker than the 3.862-second incoming national e.t. record.
Del Worsham has a long history with Pacific Raceways that includes breaking an eight-year winless drought in 1999 and scoring a Top Fuel win during his first championship season in 2011. He dominated qualifying by leading all four sessions and running 3.841 and 3.832 on Saturday, both at speeds in excess of 330 mph. His incremental numbers on the final attempt on Saturday — .858 seconds to 60 feet, 2.202 seconds to 330 feet, and 3.105 seconds at 284.21 mph to the eighth-mile — read like something that may have been common with a lighter Top Fuel dragster one year ago, and there were competitors who were even quicker to 60 feet. Worsham qualified No. 1 at consecutive events for the first time in his Funny Car career (he accomplished the feat in his final two races in Top Fuel in 2011).
"It's an honor to get to be part of this group," said Worsham of the Jon Oberhofer- and Nick Boninfante Jr.-led DHL Toyota Camry team. "I got to be a part of setting records with Alan Johnson and the Al-Anabi team in Top Fuel in 2011. I didn't think 3.83 was going to happen this fast. When you get a team like this in these kind of conditions, runs like this can happen.
"My career turned around when I won this race in 1999. I won this race again with Alan Johnson in 2011. I feel like we turned it around again this weekend."
Worsham, who found his stride at the right time last season in an NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoff effort that resulted in a world title, appears to be doing the same this season. Many factors appear to be coming together at once on a well-rounded team that benefits from Boninfante’s clutch expertise, Worsham’s intimate knowledge of the increasingly popular Don Jackson Engineering do-all valve that he had a hand in developing a decade ago and has run all season, Oberhofer’s leadership and mechanical ability, and the resources at Kalitta Motorsports that include a fabrication department which built the Bounty Chassis chassis that Worsham debuted in Denver. Worsham and Ron Capps traded runs that were low e.t. of the round in eliminations before incoming rain postponed their matchup until the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd.
"It's too bad. You kind of want to finish what you started," said Worsham. "It definitely interrupts [momentum]. The car has been running great all weekend. It's been a turnaround race for us. I really, really wanted to finish the race, but it's Mother Nature. There's nothing you can do about it. It's the same for everybody."
The best of the rest: There were so many incredible performances and memorable moments from the 2016 Protect the Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Lucas Oil that they require bullet-points.
• Five different Top Fuel drivers (Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown, Steve Torrence, J.R. Todd, and Richie Crampton) recorded 3.6-second runs during the event. Prior to Seattle, only five total drivers have been in that performance range. It was a first for Schumacher and Todd at an NHRA event. Torrence’s performance of late would seem to make him a favorite in the final, though opponent Antron Brown has his number in head-to-head competition. With both drivers qualified for the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout that takes place during qualifying in Indy, they both have opportunities to double at the next two events. The same can be said for Ron Capps in Funny Car and Del Worsham if he is able to win the lottery drawing based on fan votes.
• Strong wasn’t the only independent team that made waves. Jeff “the Surfer” Diehl, who had never won a round in a Professional category before this season, reached the semifinals for the second time this year. He ran a career-best 4.021 in the second round against Cruz Pedregon. His crew was assisted in the between-rounds service by members of several teams, including those of Scott Palmer, Terry McMillen, Tim Gibbons, and Chad Head.
• For much of the season, it didn’t seem like the Top Fuel class had the quality of depth that the Funny Car field carried, but that appears to have changed. Cars outside of the top 10 played a significant role at this event. Terry McMillen and TJ Zizzo both dipped into the 3.7-second range during qualifying. Morgan Lucas rolled out a new-look Protect the Harvest dragster for the first time since Gainesville and played spoiler to Don Schumacher Racing teammates Leah Pritchett and No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher. Even Ron Smith, who keeps his dragster in an airplane hangar and runs only this event, qualified for the field and recorded a career-best 4.00.
"It's an honor to get to be part of this group," said Worsham of the Jon Oberhofer- and Nick Boninfante Jr.-led DHL Toyota Camry team. "I got to be a part of setting records with Alan Johnson and the Al-Anabi team in Top Fuel in 2011. I didn't think 3.83 was going to happen this fast. When you get a team like this in these kind of conditions, runs like this can happen.
"My career turned around when I won this race in 1999. I won this race again with Alan Johnson in 2011. I feel like we turned it around again this weekend."
Worsham, who found his stride at the right time last season in an NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoff effort that resulted in a world title, appears to be doing the same this season. Many factors appear to be coming together at once on a well-rounded team that benefits from Boninfante’s clutch expertise, Worsham’s intimate knowledge of the increasingly popular Don Jackson Engineering do-all valve that he had a hand in developing a decade ago and has run all season, Oberhofer’s leadership and mechanical ability, and the resources at Kalitta Motorsports that include a fabrication department which built the Bounty Chassis chassis that Worsham debuted in Denver. Worsham and Ron Capps traded runs that were low e.t. of the round in eliminations before incoming rain postponed their matchup until the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd.
"It's too bad. You kind of want to finish what you started," said Worsham. "It definitely interrupts [momentum]. The car has been running great all weekend. It's been a turnaround race for us. I really, really wanted to finish the race, but it's Mother Nature. There's nothing you can do about it. It's the same for everybody."
The best of the rest: There were so many incredible performances and memorable moments from the 2016 Protect the Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Lucas Oil that they require bullet-points.
• Five different Top Fuel drivers (Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown, Steve Torrence, J.R. Todd, and Richie Crampton) recorded 3.6-second runs during the event. Prior to Seattle, only five total drivers have been in that performance range. It was a first for Schumacher and Todd at an NHRA event. Torrence’s performance of late would seem to make him a favorite in the final, though opponent Antron Brown has his number in head-to-head competition. With both drivers qualified for the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout that takes place during qualifying in Indy, they both have opportunities to double at the next two events. The same can be said for Ron Capps in Funny Car and Del Worsham if he is able to win the lottery drawing based on fan votes.
• Strong wasn’t the only independent team that made waves. Jeff “the Surfer” Diehl, who had never won a round in a Professional category before this season, reached the semifinals for the second time this year. He ran a career-best 4.021 in the second round against Cruz Pedregon. His crew was assisted in the between-rounds service by members of several teams, including those of Scott Palmer, Terry McMillen, Tim Gibbons, and Chad Head.
• For much of the season, it didn’t seem like the Top Fuel class had the quality of depth that the Funny Car field carried, but that appears to have changed. Cars outside of the top 10 played a significant role at this event. Terry McMillen and TJ Zizzo both dipped into the 3.7-second range during qualifying. Morgan Lucas rolled out a new-look Protect the Harvest dragster for the first time since Gainesville and played spoiler to Don Schumacher Racing teammates Leah Pritchett and No. 1 qualifier Tony Schumacher. Even Ron Smith, who keeps his dragster in an airplane hangar and runs only this event, qualified for the field and recorded a career-best 4.00.