Tue, 18 Mar 2003, 09:07 PM My Dad Can Beat Your Dad

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2003 Auto Imagery, Inc.

The 34^th running of the MAC Tools Gatornationals was about as exciting as a race can get. This event had it all, lots of cars, great runs, stunning upsets, a Cinderella story in Top Fuel and several amazing stories in the Pro Stock Bike class. If you missed it, shame on you.

Bernstein vs. Smith

In the Top fuel class, young Brandon “I’m going to be the Rookie of the Year” Bernstein made it two wins in his first three starts when he beat John Smith in the final round. Brandon is now 8-1 on the season and is serving notice that he intends to make a serious run for the POWERade championship this year. His win over Smith in the final round extended one of the most unbelievable streaks in the sport’s history. Did you know that a “Bernstein” has not lost to a “Smith” since Paul, John’s dad, beat Kenny, Brandon’s dad, in Baton Rouge way back in 1980? Since then, Kenny and Brandon have combined to beat the Smith’s twenty-five consecutive times, including an amazing eleven times last year alone. In addition to Rhonda and John, Craig, Mike, Paul, Ron and Steve Smith have all tried their hand at beating the Bernstein’s and none have been successful. Still, John made a good run of it and he has nothing to be ashamed of, except for the fact that he kept mentioning that he beat his wife early in the day. Easy, big guy!! By the way, John has been on the losing side of twelve of those meetings with the Bernstein’s….Larry Dixon, despite losing to Brandon in the semi-finals, still leads the point’s chase and that extends his streak to an NHRA Top Fuel record of 26 races in a row where he has been at the top of the points….Doug Kalitta has now opened up the season with three consecutive number one qualifying spots and that’s something that not many drivers have ever accomplished. Did you know that Doug is only the fourth driver to do that in the TF class and he’s the first to do it since 1996? Blaine Johnson in ’96, Joe Amato in 1989 and Gary Beck back in 1983 are the only other drivers to be #1 at the first three events of the year. Of that quartet, neither Doug nor Joe Amato were able to turn that qualifying performance into a victory, while Blaine and Gary both won two of the first three events of the season.

Densham vs. Worsham

Gary Densham’s win in Florida gave us the third new point’s leader in as many events in the Funny Car class and that’s the first time that’s happened since 1995. Eight years ago, Cruz Pedregon, John Force and Al Hofmann all lead the points after one of the first three races and it has happened on four other occasions, but it is pretty rare. Gary, Ron Capps and Tony Pedregon are only separated by 14 points at the top of the pack and that’s less than one round of racing, but the really interesting thing in the points is John Force’s 12^th place standing. Following his second opening round loss of the year, John finds himself outside of the top ten for the second time in the young season. The last time John started the season this slowly was back in 1989 when he lost in round one at the first three races of the year and, just for the record, that was the year that he finished sixth in the points. After the race I found out that John still has a sense of humor because he came up to me and said, “Frey, I like you because you always tell it like it is.” John was referring to my comment on the P.A. after Gary’s second round win that Densham had now won “more rounds today than John Force has won all season.” Hey, I don’t write ‘em, I just read ‘em!!…With all of the attention that Brandon had gotten, and with everyone (including me) talking about what a fast car Tony Pedregon has this year, Densham has quietly gone to two final rounds in the first three races and has a record of 7-1 over the past two races….The Dodge folks were getting pretty excited when they had two cars in the Funny Car semi-finals on Sunday. Both Gary Scelzi and Whit Bazemore appeared primed to go to the finals and that would have been a great moment for the Dodge boys, but, alas, neither one of them made it past round three. Densham took care of Scelzi while Del Worsham beat Whit in the other semi-final. Del, who last failed to qualify for a race at Gainesville a year ago, made a good run of it in the finals but just came up a bit short. Still, if you check the records, two of the three finals this year have featured cars from the Checker, Schuck’s and Kragen team, but then all three finals have featured cars from the “Team Force” camp and two of them have won. But not John. Not yet, anyway.

Kurt Johnson

Kurt Johnson’s win in Pro Stock ran his streak to nine consecutive years in which he has won at least one race. Did you know that K.J. has won one race every year of his PS career with the exception of 1994, and even then he grabbed the Pro Stock “King Demon” crown? With three winners in three races this year do you think that the record of 15 different winners in a single year is in danger? I do. Virtually every driver in the top ten can win a race and so can a lot of guys who aren’t in that elite group….Jim Yates kept his title hopes alive when he qualified on his last run of the weekend and that was very big for the former champ. After missing the cut in Pomona a DNQ here would have been lethal for Yates who is one of those drivers that I was referring to who is not in the top but who will win a race….Barry Grant came up to me before the pre-race ceremonies and asked me if I gave Terry Adams an “Oh Baby!” when Terry made his 6.794 qualifying pass on Saturday. “I sure did,” I told him and that seemed to make his day. “That’s all Terry wanted to know after his run,” Barry said and that, in turn, made my day. Barry was the guy who got bumped when Yates made his great Saturday pass and it was very refreshing to hear Barry tell me that it was all his fault that he didn’t get in. “The team gave me a good car and I just made a mistake driving,” he said. Wow, that’s different isn’t it, a driver taking the blame for a missed opportunity?…There were four more red lights in the Pro Stock class and they all came in the first round. Ron Krisher went three-for-three when he got the red light in round one for the third straight event, while Tom Martino, Mike Edwards and Terry Adams also got the big red eye…Greg Anderson continues to lead the PS points after going to the semi-finals for the third race in a row, and when you throw in his win in Phoenix and you have one of the hottest drivers in the class. Going rounds could be the key to winning the championship this year. Did you know that, of all the drivers in the Pro Stock top ten, eight of them have already lost in the first round, and we’re only three races into the season? Only Greg and Kurt have not tasted defeat in round one so far, and if they keep that up, they could be the two guys battling for the championship in November.

Angelle Savoie

The Pro Stock bike class may have been the most entertaining of them all in Florida. To start with, there were thirty-five bikes in action and that’s the biggest field in the history of NHRA’s Pro Stock Bike class. Angelle Savoie won the event and silenced a lot of her critics with her steady and strong performance. And, while I’m at it, I’d like to give huge props to Mark Peiser, her crew chief, who had Angelle and Antron Brown really flying. The “Bonewear” team was at the top of their game all weekend long and it appears that they will be tough to handle all season long, too. Now, while I don’t know the entire financial status of the team, I certainly hope they get all the help they need because both Angelle and Antron are huge assets to the class….Andrew Hines and his V-rod Harley-Davidson were also big assets this weekend and every round that Andrew won brought thunderous applause from the fans. For a while it looked like we might have an Angelle-Andrew match in the finals and that would have been as exciting as any of the great rivalries in the history of the sport. Think about it, the pixie-like young lady with a new team, against the big, bad H-D and all of those fans…it would have been huge!! But fear not, those two will meet in the finals before very long…Mike Berry, the best kept secret in the class, had one of his best weekends when he went to the semi-finals in Florida. A top ten rider for the past two seasons, Mike beat Michael Phillips and Antron before fouling out against Angelle in the semi-finals. To add salt to his red-light wound, Mike ran 7.22 on that pass which was his best run of the day. The bike class should be very exciting this year and if anyone, including Craig Treble whom I picked, wants to dethrone Angelle, they better bring their “A” game to every race because nothing less will get the job done.

Tony Bartone

Tony Bartone has opened the season with eleven round wins in a row and he has his sights set on the Lucas Oil World Championship in the alcohol dragster class. From what I hear, Tony will take his act on the road to the Las Vegas race in a few weeks and, possibly, even to the Division 7 race in Tucson in two weeks. Possibly!!…Bob Newberry won for the first time in quite a while when he stopped Jeff Craig in the TA/FC finals. For Bob it was the 41^st win of his great career while Jeff was looking for his first win. And, even though he didn’t get it, Jeff and his team had a great weekend and they got to dedicate it all to their former team member and friend, Duane Muelling, who passed away last month. Nice going, Jeff and, from all of us to Duane’s family, he will be missed….Frank Manzo was among the missing in Florida because his new car wasn’t quite finished while Jay Payne skipped the race to regroup after a couple of tough outings at the start of the season. They should both be in Houston, along with Bob Newberry and the motorcycles in a few weeks so get your tickets now because that will be a great race.

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