Tue, 12 Feb 2008, 10:20 PM One Of These Days...

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2008 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Tony Pedregon

...a great run by an NHRA racer will make the television highlights even though the car didn't blow up or hit anything. Cory McClenathan's accident in Bristol, Kenny Koretsky and Bruce Allen in Dallas two years ago, Kenny Bernstein and John Force in Dallas last year and Tony Pedregon and John Force in Pomona this year were all spectacular incidents that were played and replayed over and over again on almost all major networks in the country. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get that kind of coverage because the race was just really exciting? Having said that, it was nice to see Tony on the "Today" show (I didn't see his appearance on any other shows) because he is a very good spokesman for our sport. He is bright, articulate, well spoken and explains things to the uninitiated very well. When asked why he would get back in the car after an incident like he went through Tony basically said, "Because it's what I do." And his wife agreed with him. I know that I have had discussions with several drivers' wives after incidents like the one in Pomona and it's always interesting to hear their side of the story. They almost always support their husbands and Andrea was no exception. Of course she comes from a drag racing family so that may give her a little different insight into the situation. If more people realized that the top drag racers in the sport are people like Tony Pedregon who represent themselves, their sponsors and our sport in a very positive way and that the sport produces a lot of exciting moments that don't end in crashes, then maybe we'd get more coverage just because our sport is so exhilarating and a lot of fun to watch. Sorry for the rant, but I've been on this case for as long as I can remember and it just always bothers me when the networks cover us because of a spectacular incident. Moving on....

Antron Brown

For a while in Pomona it looked like we were going to have first time number one qualifiers in both of the fuel classes. Antron Brown, driving the Matco Tools car for owner David Powers, did get the top spot in his first start in a fuel dragster while Melanie Troxel almost held on to the number one spot in the Funny Car class before being edged out by Jerry Toliver and Tim Wilkerson. By the way, here's a note to the media. If you ever want to talk to a drag racer who really exemplifies what our sport is all about, spend some time with Melanie. She's been around the sport since she was just a kid and now she is one of the most accomplished racers in drag racing. She speaks well, represents her sponsors as well as anyone and can talk about any aspect of the sport. The folks at ProCare RX should be very happy to have her on their team (and I'm sure Melanie is glad, too). By the way, Melanie and Frank Hawley are in Las Vegas today (and presumably tomorrow) doing some testing before the tour heads to Phoenix next week....Antron got the top spot and, in the process, became the 100^th driver in NHRA history to qualify number one in a Top Fuel dragster. Did you know that of that number forty-four of those drivers only qualified at the top of the pack one time in their career? Based on what I saw from Antron, Lee Beard and the rest of the team this week I can almost guarantee you that Antron will record another number one spot before too long. Antron joins Gary Scelzi as drivers who came over to Top Fuel from another class and then qualified number one at their first race in the dragster class. Gary did that in 1997 and did you know that that was the

Schumacher vs. McClenathan

last time that the top qualifier won in Top Fuel at the Winternationals? In fact, qualifying number one is not a good thing at the Winternationals. Did you know that in the forty-eight year history of the race the top qualifier has only won six times in Top Fuel? And since 1967 only three number one qualifiers have won in TF and that's a long time between wins for the quickest car on the property....Tony Schumacher picked up right where he left off last year and that is with a win at Pomona. Did you know that this is only the third time in history that the driver who won the last race of one season then won the first race of the next season in Top Fuel? "Big Daddy" Don Garlits did it in 1974 & '75 and Blaine Johnson did it in 1995 and 1996. Of course Alan Johnson was involved with his brother Blaine and he is also the crew chief for the "Sarge" and the Army team. If there is ever a top ten list for tuners, like there is for drivers, where do you think Alan will end up on that list? When the history of the sport is written this Army team will have to be way up there with the best teams and cars ever and a lot of the credit has to go to Don Schumacher for assembling a team that has, basically, stayed intact for years....Cory McClenathan looked good this week and the Fram team could turn out to be one of the real surprises of the year if they maintain that level of performance. Cory lost a close final round to Tony, 4.499 to a 4.536, but all in all Cory has to be enthused about the way he started the season. Mike Green has always done a nice job as a crew chief and he could prove to be one of the best pick-ups of the off-season. Beating Tony anytime isn't easy and beating him in a final round is proving to be almost impossible. Did you know that Tony has now won ten straight final round appearances? The last time he lost in the money round was back at Brainerd in 2006. Since then he has reeled off ten consecutive wins, so it looks like if you want to beat the Army team you better do it early because Alan and his team sure give Tony a pretty good car in round four.

John Force

I spoke with John Force after the race and told him what an inspiration he was to all of us. I told him that I didn't think there was a chance that he would be back racing at the Winternationals and the fact that he was just showed how determined he was to return to action and how much he really loves this sport. And then he not only returned but he almost made it to the final round and that really would have set the place buzzing. Was I the only one who found a little irony in the fact that the first race that John was involved in on Sunday was the one that featured Tony Pedregon's spectacular explosion? On that run John did end up in the sand at the end of the track and he joined Scott Kalitta, Doug Herbert, Gary Densham and Bob Tasca as pros who went into the sand trap at Pomona. John's team has added Old Spice to their sponsor lineup and nobody works their sponsor plugs in better than the Team Force guys (and gals). Don't believe me, just see how those Old Spice towels are positioned for every interview at the end of the track..I mentioned that

Melanie Troxel

Melanie Troxel almost qualified number one and, while she didn't make history in the category, she did make history of another sort. Did you know that when Melanie and Ashley Force qualified for the show they became the first two women to qualify for the same Funny Car field? And a quick look at the ladder finds that they were one run away from meeting each other on race day. Melanie did set top speed and she becomes the first woman ever to accomplish that in a Funny Car. You know, the women who race on the NHRA POWERade tour are so good I may have to stop mentioning all the things they do. Well at least until one of them wins a Funny Car race...Del Worsham, who is also testing in Las Vegas, failed to qualify for the show and that ends his streak at a modest twenty-one races in a row. That means that, by my calculations, the longest consecutive qualifying streak in the Funny Car class belongs to Jack Beckman at seventeen while Ron Capps and Tony Pedregon are both next at sixteen in a row..

Tim Wilkerson

When Tim Wilkerson took the number one spot away from Jerry Toliver based on speed it put their names in the record book with two other pretty good drag racers. Did you know that the only other time the top spot in FC was awarded on speed at the Winternationals was in 1984 when Kenny Bernstein and Raymond Beadle both ran 5.830? Kenny got the top spot because he ran 252.80 miles per hour while Raymond went 252.52. One other thing that Kenny and Raymond have in common with Tim and Jerry, unfortunately they all lost in the first round. Regardless of that little tidbit, Tim and Jerry both have to be pleased with the way their cars and teams performed this weekend....Cruz Pedregon had a very good opening weekend and he was quick to credit Rahn Tobler for it. Cruz qualified seventh in the field but he was

Hight vs. Pedregon

only four hundredths behind the leaders and then he ran the second best elapsed time in the class on Sunday and that had to make everyone on the Advance Auto Parts team feel good. Cruz also added some new sponsors to his roster and that should give him some extra resources to work with during the year. Cruz took out two of the Team Force cars, Mike Neff and Ashley Force before losing to Robert Hight in the final round..Bob Bode gets some credit here, too, for his fine efforts over the weekend. Even though he didn't win his first round match with Ms. Force he did run well in qualifying and I hope he stays on tour for a while. Plus, he got some good advice from his son who told him, "Dad, why don't you just stand on the gas a little harder?" That may not be the exact quote, but you get the idea. Out of the mouth of babes...

Anderson vs. Coughlin

Greg Anderson opened the season like the Greg Anderson of old. Driving his new Pontiac GXP, Greg swept the field (#1, low E/T, top speed and win the race) for the twentieth time en route to the win. He qualified number one with a stunning pass on Saturday and then recorded low elapsed time of every round on Sunday. And then, just for good measure, he ran low elapsed time of the meet in the final round against Jeg Coughlin. And he needed it, too, because Jeg ran 6.638, a time that would have beaten every other Pro Stock car in the field on Sunday.but not Greg. As it turned out Greg was the only number one qualifier in the pro classes to win the event. Did you know that in the entire history of the Winternationals the top three qualifiers have never all won the race? Amazing, isn't it?....Johnny Gray returned to Pro Stock action and he joined a very select group of racers who have qualified

Johnny Gray

for NHRA national events in both Pro Stock and Funny Car. John Jodauga, the National Dragster associate editor and long time drag racing fan and Pro Stock historian, reminded me of a few that I totally forgot about including Don Nicholson, Eddie Schartman and Dick Loehr. All of them ran Funny Cars before switching to Pro Stock when the class was formed in 1970. Dick Loehr actually qualified at the first race where Pro Stock was contested, the 1970 Winternationals and he had earlier made the field at the 1967 Nationals in a Funny Car while "Dyno" Don and "Fast" Eddie made the Pro Stock shows later in 1970. Johnny Gray's team also won best appearing crew this week before he was warmly welcomed to the Pro Stock class by having to race Greg Anderson..Greg's win in a GXP made it five different models of Pontiacs that have visited the winner's circle including Firebird, Grand Am, GTO and the ever popular Grand Prix. Greg's win was also the third consecutive year that he swept the event and, in the process, he becomes the first Pro Stock driver to win the Winternationals in three consecutive years. Not a bad way to start the season, is it? Oh yeah, he also swept the race in 2004. Did you know that in the last twenty-five years only two other drivers swept to victory in Pro Stock at the Winternationals? And it should come as no surprise that they were Warren Johnson (1993) and Bob Glidden (1985).

Standing: NHRA's Mike Rice, Jim Cowan, Toby Lang and Forrest Lucas Kneeling: Duane Shields, Dan Fletcher, Kyle Seipel and Frank Manzo

The sportsman winner's circle looked like an all star show, with Duane Shields, Frank Manzo, Jim Cowan, Dan Fletcher, Toby Lang and Kyle Seipel. Duane outlasted a very good field of Top Alcohol Dragsters to win his tenth race in nineteen final rounds. Did you know that total moves Duane into eighth place on the all time list of final round appearances in the class? Morgan Lucas qualified number one in the field and, like most of the other classes, being number one didn't work out to well for him. Did you know that since 1981,when the alky cars started running in two separate classes, the number one qualifier has only won four times in the alky dragster class? Morgan couldn't be too disappointed, however, since he had a pretty good weekend in both the alky car and his Top Fuel car.Frank Manzo came, he saw and he conquered. The eleven-time Lucas Oil world Champion dominated the field while winning his record-setting seventy-first race in Top Alcohol Funny Car. He truly is "the man." If Tony Schumacher is tough to beat in the finals I wonder what that makes Frank? Did you know that Frank has now won his last eleven national event final rounds and twenty-one of his last twenty-two? He has also won twenty-five consecutive rounds dating back to his loss in Norwalk last July.Jim Cowan won the Best Engineered Car award and then won the race. His brand new Chevy Cobalt beat Dan Fletcher in the final round and, in the process, made his first trip to the winner's circle and kept Dan from doubling-up. Dan had previously won Super Stock to make it fifty-one wins for him. Toby Lang stopped Jimmy DeFrank in a battle of great drivers while Kyle Seipel broke a long dry spell when he beat Rick Beckstrom in Super Comp.

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