Wed, 4 Nov 2009, 03:06 AM I Love Las Vegas

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

Las Vegas fan fest.

I mentioned last week that I would be hosting the NHRA SEMA breakfast this week and that I was really looking forward to it, and after talking with some of the fans at the Las Vegas Nationals this past week I'm even more excited about it. With the top five drivers, and six of the top eight on NHRA's Top 50 list in attendance, the gathering has the potential to be one of the best in the long history of this event. And fans in Vegas, including those who will be at the SEMA show and those who wish they could be, were all talking about the opportunity to see these great drivers in one place. The fact that some of those fans will get to ask questions, take pictures and get autographs with these legends is a real plus. Imagine that, as a drag racing fan, I told you that you could meet Don Garlits, John Force, Don Prudhomme, Bob Glidden, Shirley Muldowney and Bill Jenkins all in one place and you can understand why I am excited about the show. If you are in Las Vegas for the SEMA show stop by on Wednesday morning, if you're not, eat your heart out....The NHRA Fan Fest that was held before the race this past weekend was a huge hit and it's just one of the many reasons why the Las Vegas race is one of the best on the tour. There were about two dozen drivers there and almost a thousand fans stopped by for autographs and pictures. Now I ask you, where else can you have that kind of experience, not only in drag racing but in any sport? The folks at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway work hard all year long in order to be able to make the experience of coming to their track the best one available and they never fail to deliver. People always ask me what my favorite track or event is and I have to say that the two races in Las Vegas are always very high on my list for a lot of reasons. Of course, the racing isn't bad, either.

Larry Dixon

I can't be the only one who is surprised by the fact that the most hotly contested battle this year is in the Top Fuel class. With his final round appearance in Vegas, coupled with Tony Schumacher's second round exit, Larry Dixon has moved to within one point of the lead. Did you know that this is as close to the top of the standings that Larry has been since the end of the 2007 season? Led by Alan Johnson, Jason McCulloch and the rest of the Al-Anabi team, Larry has put himself into position to challenge for a third Top Fuel championship. Of course Tony and his Army team may have something to say about that, after all, he is still the point's leader. With all of the talk about "team orders" this year, let's give some credit to the Team Schumacher teammates, Tony and Cory McClenathan, for the great show they put on in the second round. With a lot at stake for both of them, Cory and the Fram Tough Guard car edged Tony

McClenathan vs. Schumacher

in a great race, 3.860 to a losing 3.868. What a job by two of the top teams in the sport and what a great display of what this sport is all about by the Team Schumacher cars. Cory then went on to lose in the semi-finals but not before he picked up enough points to move within forty-eight points of the lead. Granted, that is more than two rounds but it's still within striking distance, and that means that we will have a three-way shootout for the championship next week.....Larry was the top qualifier in the dragster class and, as happens more often than not, he didn't win the race. In fact, none of the top qualifiers won in any of the pro classes, or any class for that matter, in Las Vegas. Did you know that there have been thirteen races this year where none of the number one qualifiers won in any pro class? I guess that's why we make them go out and run the race on Sunday, isn't it?....Even though he didn't win the race Tony Schumacher did hit a landmark in his TF career. His

Erbacher vs. Schumacher

opening round win over Urs Erbacher was the 500^th round win of his career and that puts him in some very select company. Did you know that only two other drivers have ever won 500 rounds in Top Fuel competition? Larry Dixon has the most round wins with 535 while Joe Amato, who was at the race this weekend, is next with 527, and now Tony joins that very exclusive club. Congratulations, "Sarge."...Even though he didn't win Larry did set low elapsed time with his 3.805 in qualifying and that's the 35^th time that Larry has had the quickest car on the grounds. Did you know that Larry is tied for fourth place on the all-time list for low elapsed time in the Top Fuel class? Gary Beck also set low e/t thirty-five times and, right ahead of them is Kenny Bernstein with thirty-six.....Spencer Massey may have wrapped up the

Massey vs. Dixon

Rookie of the Year balloting with his win in Vegas. While Shawn Langdon, Matt Hagan and Douglas Horne have all had good years, Spencer is the only one who has won this year and now he has done it twice. In the press room, after the race, Spencer's car owner Don Prudhomme had nothing but great things to say about his young driver. "This kid's the real deal, let me tell you," he said. "I've seen a lot of drivers come and go but he has it all." High praise from one of the best to ever drive a car down the drag strip, don't you think? And as excited as he was to win, hours after the race I saw Spencer walking through the lobby of the Cannery Hotel and Casino all alone. Well, all alone except for the big "Wally" trophy that he had in his hands. It was, even for Las Vegas, an interesting sight.....Speaking of which, or witch, there were some interesting sights at the track on Saturday, which just happened to be Halloween. One of Terry McMillen's crew members dressed up as an officer from the TV show Reno 911, and it was, well, unbelievable. A lot of the Pro Stock Motorcycle teams dressed up, too, but I have to say the most imaginative costume of the week, besides those I saw at the Palms on Saturday night, was the gentleman who dressed up like a "Wally." Really, it was so neat and, if I had my choice, he would be the costume winner for 2009....Next week I'll talk a little more about the final race of the year and the battle for the championship, but for now I just want to congratulate Spencer, Donnie Bender, Todd Smith and the rest of the U.S. Smokeless team for a job well done. I know he has a lot more wins in his future, at least I hope he does and I hope "Snake" can announce something soon about the 2010 year, but for now Spencer's two wins have him in a group of drivers that includes Bennie Osborne, Mike Snively and Dennis Baca among others, as drivers who have won two TF races.

Hight vs. Beckman

The Funny Car class, so loaded with potential for some season-ending drama, is basically over. With his win this week Robert Hight has virtually assured himself and his team of the 2009 championship. His final round win over Jack Beckman gave him a 105 point lead, or more than five rounds, with only four rounds of racing still to go. So, even though it is mathematically possible for someone to catch him, realistically it's not, and for a team that almost didn't even make the "Countdown," that's a pretty impressive turn around. Robert beat Ashley Force in round one and John Force in round two before stopping Tim Wilkerson and Jack to get the win. There was no talk about "team orders" in his wins over Ashley and John and that's because Robert had the best car on the grounds on Sunday and there wasn't much anyone could do to stop him. In fact, as impressive as Matt Hagan (4.030) and Ron Capps (4.041) were in qualifying,

Hight vs. Force Hood

Robert's 4.080 in the semi-finals over Tim may have been the most impressive run of the weekend in the Funny Car class. And if there is any doubt about the fact that he had the best car, just look at the numbers from each round and you'll see that he had the low elapsed time in every round on Sunday and that's the stuff that championships are made of... Tim, who won his first two rounds on holeshots, slowed to a 4.23 in the semis against Robert and that, in essence, ended his run for the championship....Tony Pedregon had a good shot at staying in contention when he faced Del Worsham in the second round, but he lost on a holeshot and that, in essence, ended his run at the championship. Did you know

Worsham vs. Pedregon

that it had been three years since Tony last lost a race on a holeshot? Three years!! In his 767 rounds of racing Tony has only lost twelve times on holeshots, and that's simply amazing. Did you know that there are only two drivers who have beaten Tony on a holeshot more than once in his entire career? One of them is Del Worsham and the other one is Ron Capps. Tony had a lot of guests on hand with him this week from Quaker State in Mexico along with the Herzog folks, Jim Baker from the Palms and, of course, Kenny Koretsky. Ken and Tony have fashioned a pretty good friendship over the years and I wouldn't be surprised if they do some more business / racing together in the future....The Cruz Pedregon - John Force match in round one was exciting for a couple of reasons. First, it was Cruz vs. John and that's always fun. Did you know that was the 79^th time that the two of them have met in their careers and it was the 17^th time they have met in round one? It was also interesting because, as far as I can remember, Cruz was the only one of the Funny Car drivers with lane choice who took the left lane in round one. Whatever, it was a fun pair to watch, as it always is. Like Spencer Massey, I hope we get news soon on what, if anything, Cruz will be doing next year. He has been such a great part of the drag racing scene for so many years and I hope he gets some funding and returns in 2010.

Morgan vs. Jones

Larry Morgan did something this week that he hadn't done in the last 167 races....he won. Since his last win at Sonoma in 2002, Larry had entered 167 races and had failed to win at any of them until he ended the drought in Las Vegas. Still, undaunted, he moved forward, continued to race and build engines for other racers, made nine final rounds and continued to be one of the real characters in the sport. But until this week he hadn't won. Now, when he's on the verge of starting his new Ford program, Larry beat Rickie Jones to win the tenth race of his career. Did you know that Larry becomes only the fifteenth Pro Stock driver in the history of the class with double-digit wins?....There was some controversy after the race when it was announced that Larry had told Rickie that he couldn't run the engine that was in his car for the final round. "I helped them with an engine so they could qualify," Larry said. "We had an understanding that they would have to use their own engine for eliminations, and when they made it to the final round my guys said it didn't make sense for them to use our own engine to beat us." From what he said at the end of the track after the race Rickie and is dad, Rick, seemed perfectly content with the arrangement. "That was what we agreed to," Rickie said. "I love Larry and he has been a big help for us this year." Good, and I hope that ends any of the discussion that took a little away from Larry's celebration. In 2010 Larry will begin running a Ford for the first time in his career and he told me that he is really excited about it, and, ironically, it's Rick Jones who is building the new car. "I'll pick up the car this week and I hope to make some runs before Pomona," Larry said.... With

Coughlin vs. Martino at the finals in Pomona.

a pair of Dodges in the final round this was the first all-Mopar final since the end of the 2005 season when Jeg Coughlin beat Tom Martino in Pomona. While racing with his Dodge Stratus body Larry became just the eleventh driver to win with that particular Dodge body style. Did you know that ties the Stratus with the venerable Chevrolet Vega with eleven wins in NHRA Pro Stock? With all of the success of Bill Jenkins early on I would have thought that the Vega had more wins than that, but I guess not...Mike Edwards didn't win the race or clinch the championship but he still had a good week. Mike, who was the number one qualifier, set low elapsed time and top seed but was upset by Larry in round two, but he still left town with a huge lead, and all he needs is one good qualifying pass in Pomona and Mike will be the champion.....Since I mentioned that none of the number one qualifiers won in Vegas I should point out that Larry won from the number eight spot. Did you know that this was the sixth time this year that the number eight qualifier won (in six final round appearances) in Pro Stock and that's the most wins from any starting spot in Pro Stock this year? I guess being number one might be a little over rated, huh?

Hines vs. Arana

Like Mike, Hector Arana didn't win, but unlike Mike he will have a real battle on his hands in Pomona. With his final round appearance Hector is fifty-four points ahead of Eddie Krawiec with one race to go. With those "little points" available in qualifying next week, Hector could be as much as three rounds ahead by the time eliminations begin. What a story it would be if Hector hangs on to win the championship, but that's a big "if." Hector did qualify number one and that's the eighth time that he has done that in his career and that ties him with Terry Vance on the all-time list. Hey, anytime you can have your name mentioned in the same sentence as Terry Vance (even if it is in my column) that's a good thing. Hector's semi-final win over Eddie, which came on a holeshot, has been named as one of the "Quest For The Full Throttle Moment" nominees in the motorcycle class and you can vote for your favorite moment at NHRA.com. Did you know that this was only the second holeshot win of the year for Hector and that both of them have come against Eddie? The fans should have a great time watching the motorcycles in Pomona and, as the expression goes, may the best man win.

Standing: Dan Fletcher, Jody Lang, Max Tafoya and David Bogner Kneeling: Daniel Oliver, Troy Coughlin Jr. and Shawn Cowie

There were two first-time winners in the alky classes in Las Vegas when Shawn Cowie and Daniel Oliver beat Brandon Johnson and Alexis DeJoria in the Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car classes respectively. This was the 500^th race for the alky cars since they broke up the old Pro Comp class and both of the first winners were on hand. Jerry Darien, who tuned for Brittany and Courtney Force in Vegas won the first TAD title at the 1981 Winternationals while Brad Anderson, who had a lot of his engines in the alky and Pro Mod cars this week, was the first TAFC winner....There were two other first-time winners this week including Troy Coughlin Jr. in Super Comp and Max Tafoya in Super Gas. Troy, by the way, was almost perfect on Sunday, and in his last four rounds his worst reaction time was .009 while he made three runs in the 9.05 range in those four rounds. Pretty good, wouldn't you say?....Jody Lang beat his brother, Toby, in the Stock Eliminator final round while Dan Fletcher and David Bogner were the other sportsman winners.

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