Tue, 28 Apr 2009, 10:54 PM Whatever It Takes

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2009 Auto Imagery, Inc. & Chris Simmons Photo

As we head to St. Louis and the annual running of the O'Reilly Midwest Nationals, I can't help but think about baseball. That's because, for years, when we went to St. Louis we stayed in a hotel that was right next to the old St. Louis Cardinals' ballpark. Then, when they built the new stadium, we could actually sit in our hotel room and look into the stadium and watch the game. OK, so you could only see part of the field, but it was still pretty cool. Anyway, the reason that I bring this up is because of all the talk about the new ballparks in major league baseball this year, mainly Yankee Stadium and the new home of the New York Mets. They are both spectacular, both very expensive and both very empty for a lot of the games so far this year. I've even heard various sportscasters talk about what the teams should do to attract more fans. Lowering the ticket prices is the main thing that I hear but I haven't seen any response from the two teams yet that would indicate they are headed in that direction. With the economy the way it is, even the teams in the "Big Apple" are having trouble attracting fans and even the Yankees and the Mets will have to do something about it. That's why I applaud the moves by a lot of the NHRA national event tracks to make the races more affordable for their customers. Let's face it, you can keep ticket prices high, but if nobody comes to the races, what have you accomplished? A lot of the facilities that host the Full Throttle Drag Racing series events have made some bold moves in an attempt to attract more fans and that's a good thing. At Gateway International Raceway, for example, they have set up a program that will distribute free tickets to the USO in the area. That means that as many as 1,000 service members could come to the races for free this weekend. Other tracks, like Bristol, site of the next stop on the tour, have set up a variety of ticket programs that make it easier and more affordable for the fans to buy tickets. Let's face it, a seat that is sold for eighty percent of the original value is a lot more productive than a seat that is not sold. More tracks, and more sports for that matter, have to face the fact that it's still a tough economy out there and they need to do whatever it takes to put fans in the seats..One of the very interesting promotions is one that was just announced by Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio and Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The two tracks, one NHRA and one NASCAR, have created a combined ticket offer that will save fans about 50% on tickets for the two major events at the tracks. You can read all about that and get all the details elsewhere on DragRaceCentral.com. It will be interesting to watch and see how that works for both facilities but I give them both a lot of credit for thinking of and working together on the program.

By now you have probably read about or seen pictures of the changes that they have made at the end of the track at Gateway International Raceway. As a lot of tracks have done, the folks at GIR have spent a lot of money and put a great deal of effort into making the track safer for every driver. In addition, following a big lightning storm there last year, they have put in a complete fiber optic timing system at the track. These two improvements, things that most fans won't even see or notice, will make the race better, safer and more efficient and that's a good thing. Nice job..Before I talk about Top Fuel at Gateway this weekend, I wanted to mention an interesting pair of drivers who lined up against each other at the IHRA race at Rockingham this past weekend. The first two cars to go down the track in qualifying were driven by Chris Karamesines and Fred Farndon. And just what makes them unique? Well, did you know that, as the notes on DragRaceCentral.com

Chris Karamesines

said last week, "Between the two drivers we have 147 years of life on this earth. The "Greek" admits to being 77 and Farndon claims 70. Amazing." Yes it is, especially when you consider that the "Greek" is actually 79. Hey, call it a little inside information that I have. Still, to have a sport where a pair of 70-somethings can compete is really cool, isn't it? Did you know that Fred Farndon raced at the 1963 U.S. Nationals? That was a gas-class race that was eventually won by Don Garlits who, believe it or not, beat Fred in round two. Fred, who originally drove the Farndon, Arnold, Oska and Foote car, a car that was called the "Canadian Frantic Four" and was sponsored by Karbelt Speed and Custom, has only competed at a couple of NHRA races since that '63 Indy race, with the most recent being the 2002 race in Atlanta. By the way, the "Greek" is on the entry list for the race this weekend..And, in the interest of fair reporting, I should point out that, Del Cox, who is in his twenties, won

Fred Farndon

that race in Rockingham....Tony Schumacher will come to St. Louis this weekend fresh off receiving his Driver of the Year award. This is the second time in recent years that the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Speed Channel have presented the award to a drag racer, following Greg Anderson who was "the man" in 2004. Of course John Force was named the Driver of the Year in 1996. It's always great to see drag racers get the recognition that they so richly deserve....Tony also comes into the seventh race of the year as the Full Throttle points leader and as a former champ at Gateway

Schumacher "Driver of the Year Award"

International Raceway. He won the race in 2006 and will join Doug Kalitta and Brandon Bernstein as the only former Top Fuel champs at the race this weekend. Tony, who set every TF record in the books last year, made it to the final round in St. Louis before losing to Rod Fuller at last year's event. In 2008, I think everyone will agree, the "Sarge" had the best car in the class from a performance standpoint, and he still won three rounds on holeshots. This year, with a good car, but maybe not the best car in the class (although after six races I don't know who does have the best car in the class), Tony has already won three rounds on holeshots. With a combination of a very good driver and a very good car, could Tony be the guy to beat again in 2009? He may not win the Driver of the Year award again this year but, when we look back on 2009, it may turn out to be Tony's best year as a driver. Could be!!...If all goes according to plan, Kevin Jones will make his NHRA Top Fuel debut this weekend. Welcome to the club, Kevin.

Ron Capps

OK, so who has the best car in the Funny Car class this year? And just what do you use as a barometer to decide the "best car" in the class? Ron Capps can make a case because he is the points leader and has had a great start to the year, posting three wins in the first six races of the season. From a performance standpoint, did you know that we have had six different drivers qualify number one in the Funny Car class to start the year? That means, to me at least, that there isn't a dominant car in the class. Did you know that in the entire history of the Funny Car class this is only the third time that we have begun the season with six different number one drivers at the first six races of the year? It happened in 2001 and way back in 1980, so that shows you just how rare an occurrence it is. In the other performance departments, low elapsed time and top speed, it's not much different. There have been five drivers who have set low elapsed time so far this year, with only Ashley Force doing it more than once. And, in the top speed category, four drivers have had the fastest car on the property with Mike Neff and Ashley doing it twice, while Del Worsham, and John Force have each set top speed once. While certainly not a scientific exercise, this does indicate, at least to me, that there isn't a dominant car in the Funny Car class right now....Ron Capps has one number one spot and one low elapsed time spot to his credit to start the year but no top speeds. What he does have, as I mentioned, are three wins and that's because he has a very consistent car on race day and that may be what it takes to win the championship this year. When he won the title in 1982 Frank Hawley only qualified at the top of the pack twice and, in '83 he only did it one time. So, if that's the case, maybe you don't have to have a dominant car, just a very good car and

Tim Wilkerson

a very good driver who doesn't make mistakes on race day if you want to win the championship, and Ron and his NAPA team have all of the above. Did you know that Ron comes to Gateway looking for his fourth win at the track, the same track where he won for the first time in a Funny Car in 1997?....Tim Wilkerson comes into the race as the defending event champion. If you recall, after he won the race last year he left town and his home track as the points leader, a position he held all the way through Indy. This time around he is looking for a win and enough points to move into the top ten in the standings. Just the fact that Tim isn't in the top ten will show you the caliber of cars in the Funny Car class this year....John Force hasn't won a race yet this year and he is closing in on one year since his last victory. Did you know that it's been twenty-one races since John's last national event win? And did you know that it hasn't diminished his popularity with the fans one bit? John has five final rounds at Gateway and a couple of wins and, if history is any indication, he'll start to put together a win streak very soon.maybe this weekend..Larry Reyes, one of the truly great Funny Car drivers of all time, and one of nearly half a million guys to drive for Roland Leong (I'm rounding off, but you get the idea), will be at Gateway this weekend promoting the upcoming Muscle Car Reunion and Nostalgia Drags. The event will be held at the track on May 31 and June 1 and, if you're in the area, plan to stop by. And if you get a chance, stop by and say hi to Larry this weekend....

Mike Edwards

As much as it looks like the Funny Car class is wide open I would have to say that the same applies to Pro Stock, where no single car or driver appears to have a real performance advantage. Jeg Coughlin and Jason Line have both won twice on the young season with Mike Edwards and Ron Krisher also picking up wins. Since Mike has been the top qualifier three times already this year you would have to give him and his in-house engine program a slight nod for maybe, and I said maybe, having the best car. Let's put it this way, if he doesn't have the best he is certainly in the top two. Mike also has recorded low elapsed time three times this year and top speed twice. Did you know that he has already set low E/T more times this year, in just six races, than in any other year in his career?...Warren Johnson recorded top speed at the Atlanta race and that was his first of the year and it follows an amazing fourteen in 2008. With that kind of power it can only be a matter of "when" and not "if" he is going to win another race. Did you know that Warren has won twice in St. Louis and that his

Larry Morgan

son, Kurt has won three times? Other than those two the only other multiple winner at GIR is Ron Krisher who did it in 2000 and 2003..The top ten drivers in the Pro Stock class all look pretty solid and if one or more of them fail to make the "Countdown" at the end of the year it will be surprising. Well, a little bit surprising since there are some pretty good drivers just outside the top ten including Larry Morgan and Johnny Gray who are eleventh and twelfth respectively..As strong as the cars are at the top of the pack I think it's about time we had a real upset in the Pro Stock class. Hey, we had a first-time winner in Top Fuel and Pro Stock Bike at the last race so why not in the Pro Stock car class. My favorites to do it would be Gray, Steve Spiess and Tom Hammonds, although I have to admit that Rodger Brogdon could sneak in and do it, too. It should be an interesting weekend in the PS car class. There really has never been anything that I would call a stunning upset or a real surprise winner in Pro Stock at the St. Louis race so why not this weekend?...Allen Johnson hits a milestone this week when he enters his 300^th NHRA national event in Pro Stock.

Douglas Horne

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one to think that Douglas Horne deserves consideration for the Rookie of the Year award. I may have been the first to jump on the "Doug for Rookie of the Year bandwagon" but now I see that Mike Dunn and the folks at NHRA.com are touting Douglas along with the more conventional candidates, like Shawn Langdon, Matt Hagan and Spencer Massey. Regardless of how this plays out it should be the best and most spirited balloting in a while for this award..Look for David Hope to be flying some special colors this week as he supports the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks. It's always nice to see teams giving something back to the community and David is out to show that "real men can wear pink." Everyone at Vroom Racing, Nevada Auto Mall, David and crew chief John Hammock deserve a lot of credit for their efforts on behalf of the Springfield, Missouri-based organization. Good luck to him at his home track.The battle for bragging rights among the brands will continue this week with the Harley-Davidsons, Buells and Suzukis still trying to prove who does or does not have the advantage with the rules. For the record, each brand has won one race so far this year and each has two riders in the top six in the points. There are a lot of races to go this year and, even when it's all over, we won't get a consensus on which brand is the best, but it sure will make for some good conversation.

Bill Reichert, the three-time Lucas Oil World Champion, finally put one in the win column when he won the Division 3 race in Indianapolis this past weekend. Bill was joined in the winner's circle by the defending D-3 champ, Bobby Martin who took top honors in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class....In addition to the winners at Indy I wanted to congratulate and thank all of the folks who took part in and helped with the fund raiser for the family of Bob Hesser. From what I heard over $10,000 was raised and that’s a true testament to the fact that drag racers really will rally around to help another racer or family in need. Way to go and thanks, on behalf of the family, to everyone who helped in any way.

NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]

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