NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Since last year’s event, things have changed at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, and it’s not hard to tell the most obvious improvement as the latest edition of the Parks Tower stands front and center on the starting line. The new tower, more than a year in the making, provides a home for race control, announcers, the TV broadcast crew, as well as corporate guests, who have access to four individual suites and a rooftop patio that can accommodate nearly 500 guests.

The new tower represents the completion of the first phase of improvements at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Future renovations to the historic facility will include new restrooms and a main entrance on the west side of the track with the Pro competitors eventually moved from the east to the west side.

Wednesday's opening scheduled includes multiple rounds of qualifying in Super Stock and Stock, time trials for Super Comp and Super Gas, and the first round of qualifying for the Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge.

***

On Tuesday, as the pit area began to fill up and the anticipation continued to build, Indy Sportsman competitors gathered in the IRP Top Eliminator Club building for the third annual NHRA Sportsman Appreciation Dinner. The event kicked off with a moving tribute to Forrest Lucas, the founder of Lucas Oil Products, who has been a longtime supporter of NHRA and Sportsman racers in particular. In addition to free food and beverage, and gift bags for all, attendees had the chance to win more than $80,000 in door prizes and giveaways. The highly anticipated event also provides a chance for competitors, who encompass all seven NHRA Divisions as well as a few International competitors, to socialize ahead of the long week of competition. 

***

For any racer in any category, a win at the U.S. Nationals is almost certain to be a life-changing event. This year, one lucky U.S. Nationals Sportsman champ is going to receive an added bonus in the form of a massive 84-inch toolbox courtesy of event sponsor Cornwell Tools. On Monday afternoon, each of the Sportsman winners will be entered into a lottery-style drawing, and the winner will receive the toolbox, which has a reported value of more than $17,000. Each of the Indy winners in every class also gets to keep the commemorative banner and, of course, the coveted U.S. Nationals Wally.

***

A few minutes after 8 a.m., the first Stock eliminator cars made their way down Bob Glidden Blvd. to kick off the Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Drivers in Stock and Super Stock came to Indy well aware that the Automatic Horsepower Factoring System (AHFS) was in full effect, meaning that any run exceeding a certain performance parameter might be subject to a horsepower adjustment. That didn’t stop 24 Stock racers from running one second or more under their respective index.

Doug Hoven drove his U/SA entry to a run of 13.685 seconds, which is 1.165 seconds under the index to lead the way in the first session. Later in the afternoon, veteran Jim Boudreau took over the top spot in Stock when he wheeled his B/SA ’69 Camaro to a 9.985, which is -1.265-second under the index.

***

The opening round of Super Stock was a bit more tame with just a half-dozen racers breaching the one-second barrier, including Tony Mandella, who provided a fitting tribute to his late car owner Don Kennedy with an 8.900, a run of 1.100 seconds under the index. Mandella won last week’s Division 3 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Bowling Green, Ky.

***

Bo Butner was a last-minute entry to the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals in Super Gas with his Corvette roadster, which is surprising because Butner has had a bit of success in Indy. Actually, Butner has had massive success at the sport’s marquee event with three straight wins in Super Gas. Butner, who already has wins in everything from Super Street to Pro Stock, will attempt to extend his 24-round winning streak when the race begins tomorrow.

***

Stock qualifying doesn’t typically involve much drama, but apparently no one told that to Gary Emmons, who performed two giant wheelstands with his supercharged FS/A Cobra Jet Mustang. In Q1, Emmons got all four tires off the ground briefly but recovered in order to run a respectable 9.099. Most expected Emmons to calm the car down for Q2, but that didn’t happen. On his second run, the car made a hard move toward the centerline and then came close to making contact with the left-side guardwall. Emmons got the car stopped without any damage, but he's clearly got a few adjustments to make ahead of final qualifying and class eliminations. (Evan Smith photo)
 

***

The opening round of qualifying for the Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge did not disappoint as a fleet of vintage Dodge and Plymouth factory race cars put on a tremendous show with sky-high wheelstands and performances in the 8.2s at more than 160 mph. Heading into Friday, the entire field is chasing Stephen Comella, who ran 8.298. Comella is followed by four-time Pro Stock champ Jason Line at 8.325, multitime Hemi Challenge winner Jimmy Daniels at 8.331, and Buck Hess at 8.356. A total of 17 cars recorded elapsed times during Wednesday's lone session.