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Tue, 25 Oct 2011, 09:54 PM

I’m Going To Enjoy It

By Bob Frey
Photo copyright 2011 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Really it is me!!!
Photo by John Ewald

The California Hot Rod Reunion was everything I expected it to be and more. You can read all of the results on DragRaceCentral.com (in the Drag News section) and I thank David Gerard for doing his usual great job. Dave loves the sport and the action provided by the cars at the CHRR so it’s a choice assignment for him. Did you know that Dave actually owned a car that ran at Bakersfield in the glory days of the March Meet? In fact, he had a car at the 1970 race, a race that featured Harry Hibler and Wayne King, two of the honorees at this year’s event. I’d like to give David a tip of the cap for the great job he did this weekend...I know there are pictures of it somewhere when I actually got to warm up one of the Top Fuel cars. The owners of the “Anaconda,” one of Marvin Schwartz’s cars, gave me the honor of sitting in their car while they warmed it up on Saturday and I want to thank them for the opportunity because it was so cool....The Friday night gathering was one of the many highlights of the weekend and it included a lot of the NHRA Full Throttle drivers including John Force, Robert Hight, Ron Capps, Jack Beckman, Cruz Pedregon and more. There were so many neat things Friday but one of the funniest was Don Long who was seen at the gathering wearing a Kent Fuller t-shirt. Hey, I thought it was funny....Anyway, as I mentioned last week, if you have never been to the Reunion you really do need to put it on your “to do” list.

The Bernsteins

I often mention how much our racers do for charity and nobody has done more in the last few years than Tony Pedregon’s wife, Andrea. Last year she was behind the “Housewives of NHRA” calendar that raised over $40,000 and this year she has another calendar coming out that will raise money for children’s cancer research at the Indiana University Hospital. Called “Real Families of NHRA,” this calendar features group shots of some of the more famous families in our sport including the Bernstein’s, the Dixon’s, the Force’s and more. Last year’s calendar was a sellout so you are encouraged to order yours early by going to www.tonypedregon.com. You will also be able to find more information about the project on the site and if you are interested in buying the calendar just click on the “Store” link at the top of the page. In what has been a tough season for Tony it’s great to see him, his wife and family continue to give back to the community. And thanks, too, to all the families for giving their time to the project.

The Fan Fest at Fremont Street

One of the great gatherings for an NHRA national event will take place this Thursday in Las Vegas. The annual Fan Fest is set for Fremont Street and it promises to be one of the best ever. At last count I was told there are over thirty drivers who are scheduled to attend and they’ll be available for pictures and autographs. The Fan Fest at Fremont Street is so neat if for no other reason than the fact that they always play a big NHRA video on the “Viva Vision” overhead screen and it is really amazing. The Fan Fest goes from 5 to 7 and is a “must” for all fans in the area....Later that night the drivers for Don Schumacher’s teams will be available for autographs at the famous New York, New York Hotel and Casino. All of the drivers will be on hand from 7 to 9 and it’s always a great opportunity for the fans to meet the drivers who are on one of the greatest teams ever assembled. What a weeks it’s going to be as we get set for the 11^th running of the Big O Tires Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brown vs. Schumacher

Since I am, first and foremost, a fan of drag racing, I am going to thoroughly enjoy the next two races. That’s because we have, or at least we should have, a couple of good point’s battles going on in both Las Vegas and Pomona. With five drivers in the hunt for both the Top Fuel and Funny Car titles it’s inconceivable to me that the battle for the championships won’t come down to the last race of the year, and love it or hate it, that’s what the “Countdown” was designed to do. We also have a good battle brewing in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, and while there are two riders with a real shot at it, that class should also be decided in Pomona. As we go into the penultimate race of the year I thought it would be interesting to see how the contenders have done against each other this year, and while that is certainly not an indication of how they’ll do in Vegas or Pomona, it may give you an idea of why the leaders are where they are. Then again, it may not.

Dixon vs. Brown

I know I have said this before, but my father always told me that the key to success in sports is to beat the teams you are supposed to beat and then “play .500 ball” against all the other teams. In drag racing that would mean hanging in there with the top ten teams, or even the top five, and clobber those outside the top ten. So let’s see how the contenders have done in 2011. Beginning with the Top Fuel point’s leader, Antron Brown, we see an interesting pattern. Did you know that Antron has the best record against the other four contenders in 2011? Including a gaudy 7-2 record against his teammate, Tony Schumacher, Antron is 14-11 against the top four drivers in the points. His next best record is against Del Worsham, where he is 5-3, but he is below .500 against both Larry Dixon (1-4) and Spencer Massey (1-2). Did you know that coming into the 2011 season Antron had lost nine consecutive matches against Larry? In fact, he hadn’t beaten Larry since he went 3-3 against him in his rookie season of 2008. Against the other top ten drivers this year Antron is having a field day and he has amassed a very impressive 17-2 mark against them and that includes a 7-0 record against Doug Kalitta. That all adds up to a 31-13 record against the top tens teams and that’s very impressive. When you add in the points he gets for winning six races it’s easy to see why he leads the points. Oh yeah, he’s also the only one of the top ten drivers who hasn’t lost a first round race this year and that’s huge.....With his win in Phoenix Larry Dixon became the highest rated Al-Anabi driver in the standings. Larry amassed his points despite having a losing record against the other top four contenders. In fact, did you know that the 4-1 record against Antron is the only winning record he has against the other contenders? He is 2-4 versus Spencer, 1-5 against Tony and he has yet to beat Del (0-2) this year. And while he is 9-4 against the other drivers in the top ten, where Larry really shines is against the “teams he’s supposed to beat,” and by that I mean those outside of the top ten. Did you know that after a round one loss at the Winternationals to Terry McMillen Larry has won seventeen straight races against drivers who aren’t in the “Countdown?” Take nothing away from those drivers but when you’re running for the championship you have to win those rounds and Larry does....Spencer Massey, who had the most consistent, if not the quickest car, for most of the season suffered that devastating DNQ in Arizona and he’ll try to rebound form that this week. Normally that would appear to be a simple task, but in the pressure of a title run and with 27 cars in Las Vegas nothing will be easy for Spencer or any of the contenders. For his part Spencer has a 14-10 mark against his chief rivals and that includes a 4-1 record against the Army car. As for his record against the other top ten cars Spencer

Massey vs. Schumacher
is 9-2 and that includes a 4-0 record against Shawn Langdon....Del Worsham, in his first full year in Top Fuel, has done remarkably well. Del is 13-9 against the other contenders and that makes him the second driver with a winning record against the other members of the top five. Against the drivers in the sixth through tenth spots he is 13-3 and that’s very good. With six wins and only a pair of first round losses Del has been in the title chase all year, but he has only won five rounds in the first four races of the “Countdown” and he hasn’t beaten a top five car in those races...The final driver in the title run is Tony Schumacher who comes into Las Vegas 91 points out of first place and he is the only one of the five who has not won a race this year, and that in itself, is stunning. Did you know that Tony is winless in six trips to the final round this year and that all of those losses have come against drivers who are ahead of him in the points? It’s also the first time since 2001 that he hasn’t won a race and if he wants to win the championship he’ll have to win at least one of the last two races. He’ll also have to do better against the top four drivers against whom he is just 8-14 so far this year.....I know that’s a lot of numbers (and I hope I have them all correct) and none of those may mean a thing at the last two races, although I will say this. If you want to be in the title hunt going into Pomona you can’t afford to lose in round one this week and you certainly can’t afford to miss the cut....When you look at the top five drivers you see guys who are driving for very good teams, have great crews and crew chiefs and who all could win the championship, and whoever does win the title will be a great representative for our sport. Good luck to all of them.

Neff vs. C. Pedregon

The Funny Car class is even closer than Top Fuel with the top five only separated by 58 points and that’s less than three rounds. Jack Beckman leads Matt Hagan by five points, Mike Neff by twenty-two, Cruz Pedregon by forty-eight and Robert Hight by fifty-eight. An important thing to watch will be qualifying, where those “little points” could be crucial. If Mike Neff can earn three more points than Jack during qualifying this week he can get the deficit to less than one round and that could be huge, and the way Mike has run on Friday and Saturday so far this year reducing that lead before Sunday could be a real possibility....Did you know that of the five top contenders for the championship only one has a winning record against the other drivers? Mike Neff, with a winning record against three of the other four, has a combined 14-7 mark against the top four drivers and he’s the only one on the plus side of the ledger so far. All of the others are about equal, with Jack and Cruz both sporting 8-9 records, Matt is 8-11 and Robert is 9-11 against the other drivers in the top five in the points....Among Mike’s credits this year is a 4-0 record against Cruz and a 4-1 mark against Jack. And remember, each of those head-to-head races represents a forty point swing, twenty points that you received and twenty your opponent didn’t get, so they are huge races....It’s

Densham qualified 16th and
defeated Wilkerson in round one
at the 2008 WinterNationals.
also important to get out of the first round, and so far this year Matt has been the best at that. Did you know that Matt has lost four times in the first round this year while Jack and Mike have both lost five times, Cruz seven and Robert eight? A couple of Cruz’s losses have come after qualifying number one and that really hurts, and I’m sure Cruz will tell you that you have to win rounds when you have the best car going into Sunday. Both of Cruz’s losses from the top spot came at the hands of Jeff Arend, and as impressive as that is for Jeff it’s not even close to the record. Did you know that in 2008 the number sixteen qualifier beat the top Funny Car driver eight times and that Gary Densham recorded four of those wins?....There certainly doesn’t seem to be any clear cut favorite in the Funny Car class and that’s why Las Vegas will be so important. Qualifying, for the points and the matchups that follow will be fun to watch. Getting out of the first round is mandatory for the contenders this week and if there are any Team Force vs. Team Schumacher matches the advantage would have to go to Don’s teams. Did you know that Don’s drivers are 8-2 against John’s in the first round this year? Like I said before, the numbers don’t mean anything when the racing actually begins but it’s always nice to see if there are any trends in the class. Having said that I couldn’t pick a winner and all I know is that there should be at least three drivers, maybe more, still in legitimate title contention going into Pomona....There was one little tidbit that I forgot to mention about the Arizona race. Did you know that when Jack Beckman and Johnny Gray squared off in the final it was the 30^th time in Funny Car history that two Dodges have met in the final round? When Vincent Nobile and Allen Johnson put their Dodges in the final round it was only the 11^th time that two Dodges have met in the final round in Pro Stock. And did you know that in the entire history of the two classes this was the first time that Dodge had all four cars in the final of Funny Car and Pro Stock? The first time! Amazing, isn’t it?

Line vs. Anderson

The Pro Stock car class could be wrapped up in Las Vegas. Jason Line, who drives for Las Vegas native Ken Black, is 188 points ahead of Greg Anderson and that’s more than nine rounds with just eight rounds to go. And while he may not clinch this week (although I think he will) he will wrap it up sooner or later and that will make him a two-time NHRA World Champion....Now the bike class, that’s a different story altogether. Eddie Krawiec, who has been through the rigors of a championship battle, is ten points up on Hector Arana Jr. who has never felt the pressure of being in a championship chase. Ten points is less than a round and the way he has been running in qualifying lately Hector could erase that deficit before round one on Sunday. With three bonus points available to each low qualifier in each of the four rounds of qualifying it’s possible for Hector to do it, although Eddie isn’t exactly a slouch on Friday

Arana Jr. vs. Krawiec
or Saturday either....I mention the pressure and that could be an advantage for Eddie, after all, with one championship already under his belt he knows what it’s like to be in this situation and he could use that to his advantage, and the way the bikes have been running any edge that you can get is a big plus....Both riders have been good in the “Countdown” with Hector having a slight advantage. Eddie has won nine rounds, been to two finals and won one race in the “Countdown” while Jr. has won twelve rounds, been to three finals and won twice. Eddie has led the points for most of the season and he, like Jason, is gunning for his second series title....Like the Top Fuel class there is a big field entered in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class so you can’t take anything for granted, like qualifying, and all I know is that while it may be a lot of pressure on the competitors I’m sure going to enjoy these next two races.