Tue, 27 Jul 2010, 11:26 PM
Now That's A Good Race
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By Bob Frey
Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.
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The 31
st running of the
Mopar Mile-High Nationals was, by all measures, a success. First of
all, according to the Bob Frey standards, it ended on the day it was supposed
to end so that makes it a good race. Plus, it ended about as early as any race
that we've had this year, mainly because we had very few oil-downs or other
delays, and that was a real plus. The fact that the racing was really good all
day long and the finals very exciting simply added to the fun at
Bandimere Speedway. Oh yeah, they were
also up in attendance every day of the event and that's a very good sign for
everyone and a tribute to the Bandimere family and staff....Before the race
even started they honored some very good racers when they inducted
Richard Charbonneau and
John Hagen into the
Division 5 Hall of Fame. Richard, one
of the top sportsman racers in the late 1960's and early 1970's, was a Division
5 champion several times and was also named to the
Car Craft Magazine All Star team in 1970. His string of Ford cars
were almost unbeatable and he won a lot of division races beginning in 1964
through 1972 and he also won the 1970 Winternationals in Stock Eliminator.
Richard's first win was at Minnesota Dragway in 1964 when he won Top Stock.
There was also some young kid who went to the finals at that race in the Street
Eliminator class, a young man by the name of
Warren Johnson.... John Hagen, who was killed in an accident in
1983, was one of the dominant Super Stock drivers in the division from the mid
1960's through the early '70's. He later switched to Pro Stock, and despite a
relatively small budget, he was able to run with the top drivers at the time.
Greg Anderson, who credits John with
helping him get involved in the sport, was on stage with John's wife to accept
the honor.....
Vern and
Brian Raymer, a.k.a. Raymer and
Company, were inducted into the
Colorado
Motorsports Hall of Fame on Sunday. One of the best alcohol dragsters in
the country, this father and son team won national and divisional races at both
NHRA and AHRA events. It's always nice to see some of the early veterans in the
sport get honored for all that they have done and Richard, John and the Raymers
certainly deserved the accolades they received at Bandimere.
Johnson celebrates win.
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It's official,
Allen
Johnson would like to run all twenty-three national events at Bandimere
Speedway.
Did you know that
Allen's win on Sunday was the eighth of his career and three of them have come
in
Denver?
Allen had the best car at the event, and the fact that he qualified number one
was only one indication of that.
Did
you know that Allen has been the top qualifier eleven times in his
career? Of those eleven times he has won the race on two occasions and they
both came at the Mile-High Nationals when he did it in 2007 and again this
weekend. While qualifying at the top of the pack is certainly no guarantee that
you'll win a race, being number one in
Denver
is a good start.
Did you know
that in the thirty-one years of this event the number one qualifier in Pro
Stock has won seventeen times? That's a bunch, and when you include the fact
that the number two qualifier has won five times, it's no surprise that the top
two guys met in the final round on Sunday.
Did
you know that this was the tenth time in the history of the event when
the two top qualifiers meet in the Pro Stock final? And if you're keeping
score, the number one qualifier won eight of those meetings... Allen told me a
few weeks ago, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one he told this to, that he
Johnson vs. Coughlin
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honestly felt that his father,
Roy,
crew chief
Mark Ingersoll, and the
rest of the team have found the combination that would make them competitive
with all the cars in the class. From what they've shown over the past few
races, and especially in
Denver,
I have to believe them. Not only did he win the race, but Allen set low elapsed
time and top speed, in other words, he swept the event.
Did you know that the last person, other than Mike, to sweep
a Pro Stock event was
Greg Anderson
at
Pomona in
2008?
His sweep also makes Allen just
the fifth different driver in the last 121 races to run the table in Pro Stock.
The win solidifies Allen's hold on second place in the points and I have to
think that he'll be a real factor once the "Countdown" begins. All in all it
was a good weekend for Allen and the
Mopar
fans, especially since the president of the company was there on Friday and he
got to see AJ grab that number one spot.
Bernstein vs. Dixon
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Once
Larry Dixon
was eliminated in the semi-finals we knew that we would have a first-time
winner in Top Fuel this year. Larry was the last of the "big three" this year,
along with
Tony Schumacher and
Cory McClenathan, and they were the
only drivers who had won a Top Fuel race coming into
Denver. Cory went out in round one and Larry
beat Tony in the second round in another one of their many meetings this year.
Did you know that this was the
tenth time this year that the two have met? That ties them with 2003 for the
most meetings between them in a single year, and we still have a lot of racing
to go in 2010.
Did you know
that Larry is 7-3 against Tony this year and that in 2003 he was also 7-3
?...Once he disposed of Tony Larry had to face another
rival,
Brandon Bernstein, in the
semi-finals. When they were sponsored by
Budweiser
and
Miller beer those two staged
some great races. Now, with
Copart and
Al-Anabi on board they met again, and this
one went to
Brandon
and he advanced to the final round.
Did
you know that going into that run with Larry the two had met
thirty-four times and each had won seventeen times? It doesn't get much more
even than that, and when you check their head-to-head record in the semi-final
round you find out that they were even there, too at 4-4....When Brandon beat
Kalitta and crew celebrate win.
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Larry and advanced to the final round he earned the right to face
Doug Kalitta, and guess what, Brandon
and Doug had met twenty-eight times and each had won fourteen times, and in
their four final rounds they had split them, with each driver winning twice. On
Sunday Doug had the better car and he won for the first time since the
Winternationals in 2009. After the run, the normal Team Kalitta mosh-pit ensued
on the starting line and everyone was smiling, especially
Connie Kalitta. I have to admit that I have seen Connie smile a lot
over the years but I can't remember him looking as happy as he did this week.
Connie had won the
Denver
race a couple of times (1984 & 85) and his son,
Scott, won it three times (1994, '95 & 2004). I have to imagine
that Doug's win brought back some very fond memories for Connie and it was
great to see him enjoying himself. Doug's win was his first at Bandimere
Speedway and that gives him wins at nineteen different events and it leaves him
in fourth place in the standings....The big question now is, who will be the
next Top Fuel driver to break into the win column? Since 1970, four is still
the fewest number of drivers that have won in the dragster class, and that last
happened in 1978 when there were only nine races.
Hight celebrates win.
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Even though he wasn't driving a Mopar
Robert Hight had a very good weekend. Robert's
Auto Club Ford won the race when he beat his boss, teammate and
father-in-law,
John Force, in the
final round.
Did you know that
the final round was the 300
th round of racing for Robert? He ran his
record to 191-109 which translates to a very impressive 64% winning percentage.
The win was the fourth for Robert this year and, believe it or not, that's the
most wins for him in a single season so far. Robert's win over John was his
twelfth in their twenty-two meetings.
Did
you know that of the twenty-two racers whom John has faced twenty or
more times, only three have a winning record against him? Robert is one of them
and the other two were also very prominent in the
Denver race.
Kenny Bernstein had a 13-9 record against John and
Mark Oswald finished his career 26-24
against John. The way I see it that puts Robert in some very exclusive
company...As good as he has been against John this was the first time that he
beat him in a final round and that makes twenty nine drivers who have at least
Hagan vs. Hight
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one win against John in a final round....The win was the eighteenth of his
career for Robert and that moves him into the top twenty on the all-time nitro
win list. Other notable nitro drivers with eighteen wins include
Darrell Gwynn and
Shirley Muldowney. Like I said, nice company for Robert. On the
Funny Car list Robert is tied for ninth place with
Ed McCulloch and Mark Oswald....In order to get to Robert in the
money round John had to beat
Cruz
Pedregon in the semi-finals.
Did
you know this was the eighty-first meeting between the two and John has
won fifty-six of those races? That's a lot of racing between two guys, isn't
it?...
Matt Hagan was looking good,
especially after qualifying number one for the fourth time in his career, but,
for the fourth time he was unable to cash in. Still, flying the Mopar colors,
he generated a lot of excitement for the brand and the sponsors and he
Terry Vance vs George Bryce
at 1987 Gainesville.
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continues to impress me with his driving and the way his entire team is working
together. That car could be a real sleeper in the field once the "Countdown"
begins. It runs well, makes a lot of full passes and makes big power. Matt's
race with Robert was a classic (4.218 - 4.237) and was one of many races that
made this one of the best race days we have had in quite some time.
The Pro Stock Motorcycles reached a milestone this weekend
when we crowned the 300th winner in the history of the class. Even
though they raced Pro Stock Motorcycles before 1987, that is the year when all
the records in the class actually begin since that was the first year they were
a regular part of the national events. Did
you know that the first Pro Stock Motorcycle race ever held at an NHRA
national event was in 1979 when Wayne
Buckler beat Bob Carpenter at
Gainesville?...When Andrew Hines won
in Denver he continued a long tradition for the Vance & Hines team. Did
you know that
Hector Arana vs. Matt Hines
at Richmond 1997.
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someone from that team won the first, the 100
th,
the 200
th and now the 300
th Pro Stock Motorcycle race?
Terry Vance beat
George Bryce in the first race in 1987, and then
Matt Hines won number 100 when he beat
Hector Arana at
Richmond
in 1997 and Andrew won number 200 when he beat
Steve Johnson at
Columbus
in 2004. Andrew then completed the historic sweep for V & H by winning in
Denver....There were
loads of surprises in the bike class, not the least of which was
Michael Phillips qualifying number one.
Sure he has been running very well this year, especially at the last few races,
but this was only the second time that Michael qualified number one and it was
also the second time this year that he did it. Michael's 7.23 in qualifying was
a Bandimere track record. Almost as surprising was Michael's red light in the
semi-finals against
Andrew Hines.
Michael certainly appeared to have the better bike and it was surprising, at
Andrew Hines vs Steve Johnson
at Columbus 2004.
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least to me, to see him push the tree a little bit. Even with the red-light
Michael finished the weekend in third place in the points and he looks ready to
make a real charge in the "Countdown."....Since I mentioned the Vance &
Hines team,
did you know that
the top six qualifiers in
Denver
all had engines from the V & H shop? I guess it doesn't make any difference
what bike you're riding, if you want it to go fast a call to Vance & Hines
is certainly a step in the right direction....It was nice to see that the
"Pistonator" added
Craig Treble to its stable.
Steve
Kent and
Rodger Brogdon, who are
already helping Michael with his effort, stepped up to help Craig and that
means that he'll have the resources to run the rest of the season.
Steve Gasparrelli
won the delayed Phoenix
Lucas Oil Division 7 race, the one
that was finished at Infineon Raceway
this past weekend. It was nice to see that his dad, Lou, was there with him and
Lou with the trophy.
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got to accept the trophy.
Did you know
that Lou went to his first divisional final round at
Fremont back in 1976? He was the runner-up in
Pro Comp to
Doug Kerhulas at that
race.
Did you know that Lou
would win his first divisional event at Jackson County Raceway in
Oregon in 1987 when he beat the crew chief of one of the
Top Fuel cars that qualified at
Denver
this week. Do you know who it was? How about that
Richard Hartman, crew chief for
Terry McMillen.....And how about
Mark Woznichak? Mark went to two finals this past weekend,
finishing second to Steve at the
Phoenix
event and then beating
John Lombardo
to win the Infineon race.
Did you know
that Mark's last divisional final round was at
Sonoma in 2005? Way to go Woz!!...And no
sooner did I write the story about the top ten divisional winners and
Bill Reichert goes out and wins again.
That moves him into a tie with
Edmond
Richardson for eighth pace on the all-time list. Way to go Bill....
Glen Treadwell, Brad Zaskowski and
Brad Burton all picked up wins at
tracks across the country this past weekend and all increased their leads in
the Lucas Oil standings. Way to go, well, everyone!!
NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]
Sep 8- FEATURE- Did You Know? by Bob Frey
Sep 8- INDY - Special Awards
Sep 7- INDY - Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Wrap Up
Sep 7- INDY - Pit Notes
Sep 6- INDY - Get Screened America Championship Points
Sep 6- INDY - Summary of Eliminations in Funny Car
Sep 6- INDY - Summary of Eliminations in Top Fuel
Sep 6- INDY - Summary of Eliminations in Pro Stock Motorcycle
Sep 6- INDY - Summary of Eliminations in Pro Stock
Sep 6- INDY - Summary of Eliminations in Pro Modified
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