Tue, 15 Mar 2005, 10:27 PM It's The "Big Go East"

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2005 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Back as far as I can remember the term "Big Go" was used to refer to the NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis. A year or two later, the first race of the season, the Winternationals, was dubbed the "Big Go West." Well, as far as I'm concerned the races don't get any bigger than the Gatornationals and so I'm going to call it the "Big Go East." It is, after all, the first east coast race of the season and when you talk about big, well, they don't get much bigger than the Gatornationals and this year's 36^th running of the MAC Tools Gatornationals promises to be as big or bigger than anything we've seen in the previous history of this race. I hope you have your tickets already because this baby could be a sell out.

Warren Johnson

The fact that this race was a hit from the very beginning shouldn't surprise anyone and the fact that the winners of this race read like a "Who's Who" of drag racing shouldn't surprise you, either. Let me tell you a few things about this four day excursion into drag racing nirvana. First run in 1970, the Pro Stocks were one of the real hits of the show. Sure, the fuel cars were there but this was the first time that east coast fans got a glimpse of the newest class on the NHRA circuit.Pro Stock. The initial field consisted of some of the best names in the history of the class, including Bill Jenkins and Ronnie Sox, the two legends who would later slug it out for the championship. Also in the sixteen car field were Don Carlton, Dick Landy, Don Grotheer and Wally Booth just to name a few, and if they were the only guys in the field it would have been a smash. OK, want me to name a few more? How about Dick Loehr, Herb McCandless and the pride of the New Jersey Pro Stock fans everywhere, Al Joniec. While "Grumpy" won the race it was Ronnie Sox who ran the table from a sheer performance point of view. The pride of Mopar fans all over the country, Ronnie led the qualifying with a 9.79, a time that was also good for low elapsed time of the meet. He also took the famous red, white and blue Plymouth to top speed honors at 144.48 miles per hour. In the final round, though, it would be the Chevrolet of Bill Jenkins that would take the win and he did it on a holeshot much to the delight of the highly partisan bowtie fans. Before disposing of the best Mopar had to offer Bill stopped Hubert Platt, Dick Humbert and "Dandy" Dick Landy. In a few short days the east coast drag racing fans had seen some of the absolutely best racing that this new class could offer and they loved every nine-second run of it..For the record, that would be the only Gatornationals' win for the "Grump," while Ronnie would get his first and only Florida title at the next race in 1971..Did you know that Warren Johnson has more wins at Florida than any other professional driver? "WJ" has been the last man standing an amazing nine times while the next best on the PS list are Darrell Alderman and Lee Shepherd with three each.

Kalitta vs. Kalitta in '94

If Pro Stock was a big hit at the initial Gatornationals you can image what having Florida native, Don Garlits in the field must have done for the standing room only crowd. "Big" appeared to be the odds-on favorite going into race day especially after his very strong 6.55 in qualifying. As he normally did back then, Don was the top qualifier and his closest challenger was Preston Davis in Raymond Godman's machine that checked in with a 6.61. The number sixteen spot was held down by Mike Martini at a 7.09. You read it right, 7.09, but you have to remember this was thirty-five years ago. "Big" went out in the opening round and took care of Cliff Smith before stopping Tom Chastang in the second stanza. But a funny thing happened on the way to the finals, Garlits, who looked like the prohibitive favorite, smoked the tires and lost to Jim Paoli at the wheel of the "Yankee Pack Rat" car. Paoli, in turn, would lose to Dave Chenevert in the TF finals. And while he didn't win it in the first year, Don would win three Gatornationals titles and add his name a rather impressive list of dragster winners at the "Big Go East," a list that includes the other multiple-time winners like Joe Amato, Larry Dixon, Eddie Hill, Shirley Muldowney and Darrell Gwynn. Impressive, huh?...Two members of the Kalitta family have won here, but not Scott. Did you know that Scott lost the only TF final round battle between a father and a son when Connie beat him in 1994? Of course you did because you read a lot of stories about drag racing, but did you know that Connie had set low elapsed time at that race while Scott recorded top speed? And, as amazing as it may seem, did you know that that was one of only four low E/T's that Connie recorded over his great career. Amazing, huh?...It will be interesting to see if Tony Schumacher can repeat his 2004 win this weekend and if he did he would join a very select group of dragster drivers who have gone back-to-back in Florida. Did you know that in thirty-five years only three drivers have won the TF title in Gainesville in consecutive years? Larry Dixon, Eddie Hill and Shirley all did it but nobody else and for a race with a thirty-five year legacy that's amazing?

Bernstein in'81

The Funny Cars also made their debut at the 1970 race and it featured the very first "team final" round in professional drag racing history. And lest you think that things have changed over the years, think about this. Leonard Hughes, the "H" of the famous Candies & Hughes (C & H) team was racing against his team car that was driven by another legend, Larry Reyes. Larry had the best Funny Car on the grounds by a long shot and he had the field and "H" covered by almost two tenths of a second. Before meeting Leonard in the final round Larry had set low elapsed time in both rounds, yes I said both rounds. Did you know that the first FC show in Florida was a modest eight car deal? Anyway, Larry would run low elapsed time in the final round, too, a 7.12 to Leonard's 7.29, but it seems that Larry was a tad tardy on the line against his boss and teammate. Gee, I'm not sure if that has ever happened at any other time in the sport's history. Yeah, right..It should come as no surprise to anyone that John Force just about owns this place. Did you know that John has won the "Gators" seven times and on top of that did you know that he has been to the final round in ten of the last fourteen years? It also seems like it's all or nothing for John in Florida because he has seven wins and he also has lost in the first round seven times.Like the other pro classes, the list of FC winners is like a "Hall of Fame" meeting, with John, Don Prudhomme, Ed McCulloch, Kenny Bernstein, Gordie Bonin and Frank Hawley all with multiple "Wally's" from Florida..Florida has not been good to all of the FC contenders who will be here this weekend. Did you know that Whit Bazemore has never been to a final round at this historic race? But I'll tell you this, Whit is my pick to win it all this weekend. Why? Can't tell you, just take my word for it and be amazed when it happens..Did you know that none of the "Team Schumacher" Funny Car drivers have ever won this race? In addition to Whit, Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps also have been shut out in Florida and that includes in a dragster or a Funny Car. Hey, maybe we'll have a "team final" round in FC just like we did in 1970, and if the favorite car doesn't win just watch those internet sites light up. Guess it's a good thing we didn't have the "net" in 1970, huh?

All Harley final in '04.

One of the classes that will get a lot of attention this weekend is one that wasn't even in existence at the first Gatornationals, Pro Stock Motorcycle. It will be hard to duplicate the excitement of the 2004 race, the one where the two Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidsons went at it in the final round, but the thirty or so riders (or drivers) who show up this weekend will sure give it a try. From Buells, to Harleys, to Suzukis this is already shaping up to be the best year ever for the two-wheelers and we haven't even turned a tire yet in the class in '05. The Pro Stock Motorcycle class may be the one eliminator where you hardly ever see an upset at Gainesville. The list of multiple winners includes the great Dave Schultz, Terry Vance, John Myers, Matt Hines and Angelle Sampey. This year the class will feature several new riders and a whole pile of veterans. A whole pile. And it could be one of the more exciting classes at the "Big Go East."

Of course the sportsman racers will also get to share in glory of the Gatornationals when they hit the track this weekend. Several of them will be coming from one of the two Lucas Oil divisional races that were held this past weekend, the ones in Orlando and Houston. Rodger Brogdon, who won the Phoenix national event a few weeks back, followed that up with a win at the D-4 race and he is the early leader in the battle for the Lucas Oil world championship. Boy, what a win would do for Rodger in Florida, huh?....Tony Stephenson is the defending Competition Eliminator champ in Florida and he'll have his hands full with a huge field as he tries to repeat that '04 performance, but it wont be easy. Did you know that in the history of this race only one driver has ever won the Comp title in consecutive years? And if you've been paying close attention is will come as no surprise when I tell you that the guy who did it is, like a lot of the other Gatornationals' champions, a legitimate Hall of Fame driver. "Ohio" George Montgomery whipped the field in both 1973 & 74 and other than that, nobody has been able to go rounds at back to back Gatornationals..Congratulations go out to Shelly Howard and Tate Branch who won their respective classes, Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car in Houston. The alky dragster class looks like it will be very competitive and it will be interesting to see if Arthur Gallant can match his 5.28 performance from the points race a few weeks ago. Meanwhile the alky funny car list is also loaded with the reigning world champ, Cy Chesterman, Bob Newberry, Frank Manzo and even Tate Branch all heading to gator country along with about a dozen more. Hope you get a chance to join us this weekend because it's going to be a lot of fun.

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