Thu, 18 Oct 2007, 08:56 PM Countdown to 1 Top Fuel Teleconference

Courtesy of NHRA Communications Photo copyright 2007 NHRA and Auto Imagery, Inc.

LARRY DIXON        3,030 points
ROD FULLER         3,020
TONY SCHUMACHER    3,010
BRANDON BERNSTEIN  3,000

Today's teleconference which will include the finalists who have advanced to the Countdown to 1, the two-race championship that will determine the 2007 POWERade Series World Championships.

The championship races will be held on back-to-back weekends beginning with the AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals October 26th through the 28th at the strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The teams will then make the short trip to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona where the championship will be decided November 1st through the 4th at the 43rd annual Auto Club Finals.

I'll begin by asking each of the drivers to make a brief statement about racing for the championship then open it up to the questions.

As you know, the points have been reset for the final four in 10-point increments, from 3,030 for first to 3,000 for fourth. I'll begin with Larry Dixon, the first place driver entering the Countdown to 1 in Top Fuel. He has three wins, three runner-ups and starts with 3,030 points. Larry, a quick comment on these last two races for the championship.

Larry Dixon

LARRY DIXON: Well, obviously I'm excited about being a part of it. You know all four of us have a shot at winning a championship. I think that's what everybody set out for at the beginning of the season, so with two to go we've got a shot. I think you'll see our team no different than everybody else's team to throw everything on the table and see how it all plays out.

THE MODERATOR: Larry is a two-time POWERade Series champion.

Next in second place is Rod Fuller from Las Vegas. Rod will enter the Countdown to 1 with 3,020 points. He has two wins and three runner-ups. Rod, a quick comment on these last two races.

Rod Fuller

ROD FULLER: Like Larry said, if you can't get excited for something like this, this is what it's all about. For our sport, to have a shot at this thing, the excitement it's generating for our fans, coming to Vegas, the whole town to be able to do this, I consider myself the new kid on the block.

Larry has won championships. Tony has won championships. Brandon is soon to win many championships. It's an honor just to be a part of this thing. It's going to be fun.

THE MODERATOR: Rod leads the category in round wins with 36 wins this year and he drives the Caterpillar dragster.

Tony Schumacher is in third place with 3,010 points. He has five wins this year, which is leading the category, along with Brandon Bernstein. Tony, a brief statement on the final two races.

Tony Schumacher

TONY SCHUMACHER: I think it's going to be outstanding for the fans. I think they're going to enjoy it. The four cars that are in the Countdown right now are fantastic cars. If you look at the numbers, we've won well over half the races amongst these four cars in the field. That's exactly why we're going to battle it out for the POWERade Championship.

There are four really good drivers, four really good crew chiefs, and four really good cars. Some of us have had problems early in the rounds, like myself, but we also won races. Each one of these guys have gone out and done a good job. Privileged to be in the group. Great teams.

When you get that trophy at the end, no matter which one of the four drivers stands up there and represents their team, I think they're going to be well worthy of it. It's been a battle all year long and it's going to come down to crunch time right now, two races.

THE MODERATOR: These four drivers that are in the Countdown to 1 in Top Fuel have combined to win 15 races this year out of 21 races we've completed.

Brandon is in fourth place entering the Countdown to 1. He has 3,000 points. Brandon, it's been a big year for you with a career-high five wins. What are your thoughts on these last two races?

Brandon Bernstein

BRANDON BERNSTEIN: Well, it's definitely going to be very suspenseful. Obviously we have to have our game face on and be able to perform like we have performed this year. With the five wins, it's great to have a career high like that.

It all comes down to these two races. We have to be focused. Just like all those other guys say, they're top guys out there, Dixon, Schumacher and Fuller. It's going to be tough.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. We'll open it up to questions from the media. Please direct your question to one of the four drivers.

Q. Larry and Tony, has the Countdown at all changed the feeling you have coming down to the championship race now, like under the old circumstances where you would be fighting for the championship? Under the old points to the new ones, has it changed it at all or make it more exciting? Has it not changed a thing?

Tony Schumacher

TONY SCHUMACHER: I think last year at Indy when they announced it, I think a lot of us, we weren't really sure how it was going to play out. Some of us, like Hot Rod, leading the points, they're not going to benefit from it. Myself, I don't know how many times we went out first round, but it's way too many. It has benefited us. It looks like a great deal.

All I can ask for, all I can hope for, is at the end of the year is that it's fulfilling for whoever wins it. We're going to get a bunch of money, whichever guy wins it. We're going to get a trophy. But you've got to feel -- it's not about the money and it's not about the trophy. It's about feeling like you earned something.

At the end of the day, if we can go out there, it really is crunch time. If we can pull this off, it will be a little more fulfilling. I personally don't feel like we've had the most stellar year. We've gone the last couple years and really run so well that I don't want it to be anti-climactic.

I hope if we can win this POWERade championship again, it's because we go out and win the last two races, not that somebody goes out -- three cars go out first run and one guy skates by.

But with the statistics we had, for example, 15 races we've won amongst the four cars, I don't think it's going to be that way. I think the fans are going to get what they paid for. I think we're going to get what we asked for because we've won a lot of races.

We've won most of the races amongst the whole Top Fuel field. If we do win this Countdown, I think it's going to be because we earned it during crunch time. No matter which one of these four guys wins it, it's going to be because they earn it. This is not going to be a gimme. These are great drivers. I'm glad to have my name thrown in that pot.

I think it has become more fulfilling than I thought it would be. No matter which driver wins it, I'll be proud to walk over and say, Congratulations. You're the champ. You deserve it. That's cool.

Larry Dixon

LARRY DIXON: From my standpoint, it's different just in the past points races that we've been heavily involved in, I mean, you're always looking to the No. 1 spot. That starts out at the Winternationals (the first race of the season in February). You're counting qualifying points from that point on. With this new format, it's kind of changed the pressure a little bit.

For me personally, I spent two-thirds of the season looking how many points ahead of ninth place I am just so I'm in that first -- the first cutoff period. Then the next part of the countdown you're looking back to fifth place.

I haven't spent any time looking to first place at all. Then all of a sudden now with two weeks to go, only two races to go, now everybody that's left in it, the four of us, it's all about shooting for first place.

So it's been different. I mean, I would agree with Tony from the standpoint the guy -- normally championships have been awarded to guys that have won the most rounds this season. This year so far it's been Fuller. He's had the car week in, week out, most consistent, won rounds in elevation, West Coast, East Coast, all the different swings we've had. That's how we used to gauge our champion.

Now it's different. You race for a while, reset the points, race for a while, reset the points. I'm not going to say it's lottery style, but you have a couple good weeks and you can win this whole thing.

So it's different. I can understand how the fans and the media think it's more exciting, because it's giving more teams opportunities at a championship than they wouldn't have, and I'm one of them. Under the old format I'd be in second place, but I'd be too far out to catch Hot Rod.

So it's given the three of us a shot -- the three others that would be in this deal the chance of winning a championship we wouldn't have had. You're probably going to see a lot of people like it and one team not. I don't make the rules. We just go out there and race under the format that they give us. We'll go out there and hope for the best.

Q. Larry and Rod, with the countdown format, what do you think the long-term effect is going to be in terms of points racing now with this, looking at how much everything has changed during the course of the season?

Rod Fuller

ROD FULLER: For me, I'm kind of new to the series. I had a hard time honestly at the first of the year really understanding what the details were. All I knew is you wanted to be in the top eight the first set, the top four the second set, just to put yourself in that position.

It's kind of been a learning experience for us because we were so solidly in this thing that it kind of threw us off a little bit. Your main goal is to go out there and win races and to do well. But with this Countdown deal, it kind of changes the focus. There were some races there in the middle that we were actually just testing at the races to try to get ourselves right so we know we could make sure we could win this championship.

In years past I don't think you could really do that, because if you had one bad race or a couple bad races that you could lose some footing for the championship. This countdown has given us a chance to do stuff like that. It's kind of a learning curve I think for us and a lot of the other teams. The thing is so new.

Like Larry said, it's basically a lottery deal. Whoever does best in these two races is going to win the championship. This is the way our system is. Like Tony said, whoever wins deserves to win it.

Q. Brandon, even though the countdown format is new, does the fact that Tim Richards and your father have so much experience in championship situations increase your level of confidence, especially since you're the No. 4 seed going into the last two races? What specifically, if any, advice has Kenny given you about your own mental preparation going into these last two races?

BRANDON BERNSTEIN: I think it's definitely a plus to have my dad and obviously Tim Richards be in these championship battles before. Dad basically back at Richmond, we had to perform that first round, and he basically just wanted to remind me it's just another round. Try not to let it get to you. Just race it like it's another round, do the best you can do, that's all that's asked of you.

That experience is great because dad's been in those situations, and Tim Richards has, too. It's definitely a plus. It can't hurt. If I ever have any kind of questions or anything about it, then I always go to them and see what their thoughts are. So it's great.

Q. Your father, has he given you any pointers?

Brandon Bernstein

BRANDON BERNSTEIN: He hasn't given me any specific advice. He's always just told me to do the best you can do up there. Just try to take it round by round, just like it's another round, not put any added pressure on yourself. You got enough pressure as it is. You don't want to keep putting more and more on yourself. So he's always just said do the best you can.

Q. Rod, would a part of you feel like you were robbed with how good of a season you had?

ROD FULLER: That's the hardest question I've been asked. It's what our system is. First of the year I was all for the system because it gave a guy like me a chance that maybe I can't run as well as Larry Dixon or Brandon Bernstein or Schumacher. Maybe I was the fourth or fifth best car.

But they've given me a shot with these two races to win the championship. Now for me to be in the position being No. 1, honestly -- if you would have told me that, I wouldn't have believed it.

If I don't win the championship because of the system, and I would have won it the old way, I'm going to know in my head that, Hey, people always talk about championship-caliber drivers. My team owner always said that. My crew chief, in my mind I know I'm a championship-caliber driver, but I just didn't win a championship this way. My goal is I'm going to be racing for a long time. Hopefully I win some this way, and it all works itself out.

Q. Tony, the way you won the championship last year in such incredible fashion, does the pressure of that experience in any way help you in the countdown format, not only for your own mental preparation but for the pressure your team faces?

TONY SCHUMACHER: Well, I think our team -- you know, our team is extremely good under pressure. But the other three cars are, too. Those guys are not going to be easy to beat. Our car is very good and we've proven it time and time again. When the cars are on the table you don't leave anything there, you just take it.

If we pull this off, I still don't feel like we had the most stellar year. It's very difficult after last year's performance to probably ever in my life feel like you did something like that again.

But, you know, we did read the rule book. We did understand what we had to do. Sure wish we would have won more rounds. I'd feel better about it if we didn't go out 12 times first round. I think the fans do, too.

In the old days you had to show up at Pomona and just win Pomona. That was it. Ed McCullough ran all the races every year, was runner-up I think one year in Pomona and wasn't your world champ. That was a hard thing for him to deal with his whole life, too.

I think most of us are very good at understanding where we fit into this thing. We have a great team. We've won four championships. We're good at what we do. We're good at crunch time. We're very good at Vegas and Pomona. We're struggled more this year than we have. It's been tough.

You know, I'm happy to be involved. I'm happy to be doing what I'm doing. I'm happy to be racing for a championship. That's it. It's pretty simple.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks to the four Top Fuel drivers for joining us on the call.