Wed, 22 Apr 2009, 09:18 AM Rain, Rain Go Away. Please!!

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2009 Auto Imagery, Inc. & Bob Johnson Photography

Morgan Lucas

The 29^th running of the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals had so much potential, but the rain that finally hit the area on Sunday afternoon eliminated any possibility of having a really great race. As you know, if you read this column with any regularity, my definition of a good race is one that ends on the day that it is supposed to end. Since the Atlanta race didn't end until Monday it doesn't fall into the "good race" category. Don't get me wrong, it had its moments and it could have been a great race, but not when it ends on Monday. If you're counting, that's four of the six races to start the season that have lost at least a round or more of racing because of rain and that hurts everyone involved with the event. I have to say that the fans at the race, and there were a bunch of them, couldn't have been better or more patient waiting for the race to resume after the numerous delays. And the finals that they did see on Sunday, including three of the four pro classes, were thrilling. Consider this; you had two first-time winners in Morgan Lucas and Eddie Krawiec, a spectacular Top Fuel final and a Funny Car final that had everyone on the edge of their seats. Now if only we could have finished everything on Sunday. Oh well, a guy can dream, can't he?

Lucas vs. Massey

It's no secret that the fields in the Top Fuel class have been a little short in the quantity department this year, but what they lack in numbers they more than make up for in the quality of the racing. All you have to do is look at the first round match between Cory McClenathan and Larry Dixon or Antron Brown and Clay Millican to know that the field had really good competitors in it. A quick look at the lane choices that the higher qualified cars took also shows you that the track was very even on both sides of the tree. I can't remember a race where there was about an even split between the lanes among the drivers who had lane choice and that made for a very good, competitive and evenly matched race. Morgan Lucas, in his 107^th race, finally closed the deal and he said that it was "the happiest day of my life." Going into the final round we knew one thing for sure and that was that we were going to have a first-time winner in the dragster class. Spencer Massey, driving for Don Prudhomme, was in the other lane and he and Morgan treated the fans to a wild, tire-smoking affair that will be shown over and over on the ESPN telecasts for

Troxel vs. Baca

the rest of the year. At least I assume it will, and the fact that the race came at night when the headers flames were clearly visible made it that much more exciting. Did you know that this was the first time since 2006 and only the second time in the last dozen years that we had two non-winners in a TF final round? It happened when Melanie Troxel beat David Baca at the Winternationals in 2006 and before that it was Cristen Powell beating Bruce Sarver at Englishtown in 1997. Spencer qualified in the number one spot for the first time in his six-race career and that almost made it impossible for him to win. As I mentioned last week the last Top Fuel driver to win in Atlanta from the top spot was Cory McClenathan back in 1995. Conversely, when Cory met Morgan in the semi-finals I knew that his chances were slim because he was running out of the bottom half of the field, in fact, the number ten spot. Did you know that in the previous twenty-eight years of this event the

Spencer Massey

winner in Top Fuel came from the bottom half of the field exactly once? And, believe it or not, it happened last year when Antron Brown won from the number nine starting position....With Spencer following Shawn Langdon's number one spot in Las Vegas it marked the first time in NHRA history that two Top Fuel rookies qualified number one in the same year. Hard to believe, but true. Remember that when someone asks you where are all the next great drivers in the sport? They're here!!...I also had a sneaky feeling that Tony Schumacher wouldn't win since he never has at the Atlanta track. Try as I might I can never figure out why some drivers do or do not do well at certain tracks but it sure seems to happen and every driver has tracks they like or don't like for some wacky reason. Tony, who has been the talk of the town this year, lost on a holeshot to Spencer in the semi-finals, and believe it or not, that's how he lost at the Southern Nationals last year, on a holeshot, only that time it was in the final round. Tony did leave Georgia with the point's lead while Morgan's win moved him up to fifth in the standings.

Beckman vs. Force Hood

While it may not have been as dramatic as the Top Fuel final the Funny Car championship round was a thing of beauty, especially for Jack Beckman. Jack picked up his seventh win when he beat Ashley Force Hood in the final round. The two treated the fans to a wonderful race and Jack didn't have this one locked up until Ashley's car slowed at the finish line. As I mentioned, the win was the seventh in the Funny Car class for Jack and that ties him with his close personal friend, Frank Hawley on the all-time list..The final round was about the only time that Ashley slowed all weekend and she swept all of the statistical categories at the race. She was number one, set low elapsed time and top speed before going to the final round. And speaking of speed, did you notice her mile-per-hour in round two? When she beat her teammate, Mike Neff, Ashley ran 312.13 mph and that's the fastest run by a Funny Car at the 1,000 foot track length. It beat the old mark by almost two miles per hour, the mark that she already held. She also ran 310.05 in qualifying and 311.41 in round one and 310.48 in the semi-finals. All of that means that she made the three fastest runs in the history of the class and she did it all in one weekend. No wonder everyone was saying that she was the favorite going into the final round. But, as I often say, that's why we make them run the race, isn't

Force Hood vs. Pedregon

it? Did you know that the only two speeds in the top ten that are not owned by a member of Team Force are Del Worsham's 310.41 and Melanie Troxel's 309.98?...It doesn't happen often but all eight of the top qualifiers in the Funny Car class advanced past the first round on Sunday. Did you know that at the Atlanta race the winner in the FC class has come from the top half of the field at twenty-five of the twenty-nine races in the event's history? And did you know that Jack is only the second driver to win after qualifying seventh in the field? The other driver who did it is also a part of the Team Schumacher camp and he won it in 1986. If you guessed Ed McCulloch, you're right...Jack ran his overall record against the

Capps vs. Wilkerson

Force family to 9-5 and he is an even 2-2 against them in the final rounds....Ron Capps didn't win and he didn't lose in the first round either, and that's the first time this year that he didn't do one of those things. Ron beat Mike Smith in round one before losing to Tim Wilkerson in a very good race in round two, but even with the loss Ron and his NAPA team left town in first place in the points while Jack moved up to second (from seventh) and Ashley remained in third..It should be pointed out that in order to get to Ashley and get the win Jack had to stop Robert Hight in round one, John Force in round two and Tim Wilkerson in the semi-finals. That's three members of Team Force and four Ford Mustangs that he beat on Sunday. Not a bad day's work, is it?

Edwards vs. Coughlin

The only pro final that wasn't completed on Sunday was the Pro Stock one and that finished the next day with Mike Edwards beating Jeg Coughlin. Mike, who has had a very good car all year but who has struggled on the line, did just about everything right in his win over Jeggie. He was first off the line and made a good, solid run to pick up his first win of the year and his 16^th overall. Mike was the only defending champion to win and, in the process, became only the third Pro Stock driver ever to win consecutive races at Atlanta. Did you know that Greg Anderson and Lee Shepherd (who won four years in a row) are the only other back-to-back Pro Stock winners in Atlanta?...In an indication of just how close the Pro Stock field was both of the drivers who got lane choice going into the semi-finals did so based on speed. Greg Anderson and Jeg Coughlin both went 6.646 in their second round wins while Jason Line and Mike Edwards both ran 6.628. Weird, huh?....Kurt Johnson couldn't get his car started for his round one encounter with Greg Anderson and he had to watch as Greg took the solo pass for the easy win. As good as Kurt has been in his career that makes the second time

Warren Johnson

in the last twelve races where he couldn't get his car to fire and that's very unusual for Kurt or any Pro Stock team for that matter. Remember he couldn't get it started in the final at Z-Max Dragway last year. Even if he did get it started he would have been hard pressed to get the win since he has never won a round when he qualified 16^th. OK, so it was only the fifth time that he anchored the field, but still....Warren Johnson didn't win the race, in fact he only won one round but he did add another notch to his statistical domination of the class. Did you know that WJ set top speed at 211.26 miles per hour and that's the 221^st time that the "Professor" has had the fastest car on the property in Pro Stock? There have been 624 Pro Stock races and Warren has top speed at 221 and that's over 35% of the race and that's very impressive in my book.

Krawiec vs. Horne

Eddie Krawiec finally did it, he won a race. The 2008 Pro Stock Motorcycle World Champion beat rookie Douglas Horne, 6.902 to a 6.949 in the final round to record his first win as a pro. Since stats are my life, well that and ballroom dancing, I knew that Douglas didn't have a chance going into the final round and that's because he qualified fifth in the field. Did you know that in the history of Atlanta race no motorcycle rider has ever won after qualifying lower than fourth? Actually, the top two bikes had won eighteen of the twenty-one previous Atlanta races, with the number one rider accounting for thirteen of those wins. Amazing... In reality Douglas did have a shot at winning since he was running and riding well all day long. Going into the final round his slowest reaction time was .029 in round one and he recorded one of the best times of eliminations when he went 6.934 in round one. I said it when he made the final round and I'll say it again, all of a sudden the road to the future may not be paved with only drivers in the fuel classes. Douglas looks like he's going to be a factor for the entire year and

Katie Sullivan

that should really shake things up in the bike class...Even though she didn't qualify Katie Sullivan looked like she had a bike that can make the field this year and if she attends more races look for her to qualify before too long. And the same can be said of the self-proclaimed beach bum, Bailey Whitaker who was also making his NHRA debut....The top six bikes after qualifying were two Harley-Davidsons in the first two spots, two Suzuki's in the next two spots and two Buell's in positions five and six. The semi-final consisted of two Harleys, a Buell and a Suzuki so it looks as though the class may be as close to parity as you're going to get. Now before you write to me and say that the Harley's were the best bikes on the property I'm not disputing that, I'm just saying that, even with the different rules for the different bikes it looks pretty close to me right now. Not perfect, but close.

Ed Sigmon vs.Mike DePalma

One of the big stories of the week happened in California where Ed Sigmon won Competition Eliminator at the Sportsnationals. Did you know that this was Ed's first national event win since the Winternationals in 1969? That's forty years and two months between wins and the ends the longest drought in drag racing history. Did you know that Al Vanis had the previous record for the longest time between wins and his was twenty-eight years and eight months? Did you know that there were two other winners at that 1969 Winternationals who were also very involved with the race in Atlanta this past weekend? Don Prudhomme was the runner-up in Top Fuel and Ray Alley was the runner-up in Funny Car. Ray lost to Clare Sanders which makes two consecutive weeks where Clare was mentioned in this column. Like I often say, what are the odds?

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