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LAS VEGAS -- Notes from Jim Luikens' Reporter's notebook at the 4th Annual NHRA AC Delco Nationals.
Funny Car driver Eric Medlen provided the most quotable quips of the weekend. He was the provisional F/C pole winner after he set the low elapsed qualifying time on Friday. He entertained the assembled media after his run by saying that even though he was smoked in from his burnout there was no way he was lifting until he hit something. He then added that he and Morgan Lucas were both wearing special helmets for this weekend that were painted like pumpkins. After the race both helmets will be donated to the upcoming Darrell Russell auction. Eric added that if he wins this race he'll have to consider bidding seriously on his own helmet in an attempt to win it. Finally when asked if he really was dating a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader he softly acknowledged the fact. However, he is concerned about his credibility. It seems that she is unable to attend this week because she has a game and she has another one in two weeks. To make matters worse it is a Monday night game which will conflict with the Powerade Awards Ceremony. On Saturday Del Worsham stole the F/C pole position on the very last professional run of the day with a great 4.751-second pass. While he wasn't quite as humorous as Eric had been the previous day he did share some very interesting information. It seems that Del and his father left the last race on the tour, Reading, unhappy with their performance. Instead of taking a well-deserved break they towed straight to Las Vegas to do some testing. Del drove both his car as well as that of Phil Burkart's and made a total of eight laps in 90 degree heat. Not known as a number one qualifier, he has qualified first only three times in his 14 year career. The "story" of the race has to be Funny Car racer Peter Russo of Lyndhurst, Australia. Peter missed the F/C field, qualifying 23rd best at 5.290 seconds, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Peter, who operates a one-man auto repair shop near Melbourne, was racing the 1999 Dodge Avenger F/C that he bought brand new in 1999. He only races his car every two years because that is how long it takes him to save up the roughly $100,000 he needs every time he races his car. Knowing that this was his "year" he came up to the USA in July to order the parts necessary to update the car for this year's tour. Returning this week to race, he never got on the track until Saturday's final session due to "fire bottle issues". Down to one run, and not having been behind the wheel in two years, he chose to follow Roland Leong's advice. Roland, his advisor this weekend, said not to go crazy, but instead make a safe run that would set the stage for a good showing at Pomona in two weeks. The result, a 5.29 that improved on his previous personal best elapsed time by more than a tenth of a second. Look for Peter at the Auto Club Finals as he wraps up his two-stop 2004 tour. Schumacher Racing's Wonder Wagon Funny Car, a fan favorite, returned to action here. Driven by Johnny Gray, it had been out of action while repairs were being made to the body.
Bob Panella and Scott Geoffrion made their 2004 season debuts here in Ford Escorts. Neither qualified, or really even came close, as they finished 23rd and 25th in the final qualifying ranking. Scott's job was made tougher because he was forced to sit out Friday's two qualifying sessions due to a misunderstanding. He had tested at the Las Vegas track within the seven days prior to the national event and that required him to wait until Saturday to try and make the field. Scott's car carried a huge Bush/Cheney decal that filled the entire space on each door. According to Scott this was a personal statement rather than a paid political advertisement. Fernando Cuadra, who had never made a Pro Stock field in 30 attempts over the past two years, qualified 12th here with engine power by Frank Iaconio. In the first round he earned his first-ever round win when the higher-qualified Mike Edwards went red against him by a mere .004 of a second. Going for a second consecutive round win he got involved in a second round staging duel with Allen Johnson. When the race was finally run after a 72 second delay, Fernando lost despite recording the better elapsed time of the run, 6.848 to 6.865 seconds.
Young Scott Cannon, Jr. made the second Pro Mod start of his career here after taking over the wheel of the family '53 Studebaker at the last event in Dallas. Successive victories over Von Smith, Jay Payne and Zack Barklage propelled him into his first-ever final round where he met Pro Mod veteran Shannon Jenkins. Speaking of Zack Barklage, he picked up a most appropriate one-race sponsorship for this weekend. He was sponsored by Sinister Dreadford's Mansion of Lost Souls, a local haunted house attraction. New York's Jim Oddy was here, closely observing the Pro Mod action despite not being in competition. Having just announced the retirement of Fred Hahn, his driver for the past 15 years, Jim reports that he is astounded by the offers that he has received to drive his car. He admits to not having had to look around up lately for a driver because of the superlative job that Hahn had been doing. He also reports he is almost ready to take delivery of his new race car, a Dodge Stratus built by Jerry Bickel. He changed to the Mopar because of his desire to have his car match the Hemi engine that he now uses for power. Roy Hill celebrated his 59th birthday at the track on Saturday. Among those helping him celebrate were former Funny Car pilot Dave Condit, noted motorsports artist Kenny Youngblood and his wife Terri as well as current Funny Car driver Dale Pulde. Accompanying Dale was his girlfriend Valerie Harrell, daughter of the late Funny Car pioneer Dickie Harrell. In a sport filled with t-shirts a new one by Pro Stock Bike rider Steve Johnson says it all. Paying tribute to his recent first career win, it lists what it took to accomplish the feat. Among the items credited are 6 million dollars, 41 sponsors, 32 destroyed engines, 2 divorces, 1 broken foot and a dead dog.
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