Wed, 5 Nov 2003, 01:03 AM The Bud Shootout, The Last Race And More!!

By Bob Frey Photo by:Auto Imagery, Inc.

Geno Scali

There are still a few things to be determined this year, like who will win the Budweiser Shootout, the final race of the 2003 season and the Pro Stock Bike championship. What, you thought the bike title was already decided? OK, so Geno Scali really does have a hammer lock on the championship but Angelle Savoie could still catch him. All she has to do is win the race and she can be the four-time champion, that is if Geno doesn’t show up and attempt a qualifying run. Wait a minute, I just came back from the track and Geno’s Trim Tex Suzuki trailer is there so I guess he’s going to show up and run, so I’ll change my opinion, Angelle can’t catch him and Geno will be the 2003 Pro Stock Bike champion. Did you know that there were 54 different drivers who made runs in the Pro Stock Bike class this year? That just goes to show how healthy the class is and Geno will get a real test next year when he opens up defense of his championship. The 54 number is the best in the “modern era” of the Pro Stock Bike class which goes back to 1989. Congrats to Geno and all of the other competitors in the class, one of the most exciting on the NHRA POWERade tour.

John Force

I’m writing this on Tuesday and as far as I know there hasn’t been any actual word from the John Force camp on what he’s going to do but is there anyone out there who thinks that John won’t drive his car this weekend? The last time that John wasn’t around for the driver intros on Sunday was at this race in 1987 when he failed to qualify. Since then he has made 322 consecutive starts and that may be more impressive than his twelve championships. Think about it, for sixteen years John and his team have never failed to qualify for a race, regardless of how many qualifying sessions there were, what the weather was, what lane they had to make their last run in and all of the other little things that seem to bite all of the other teams during the year. To me that’s simply amazing!! Did you know that, in 1987 when John last missed the cut, the bump spot was 5.670 and John ended up 24^th in the field, a field that included Mike Dunn, Jim Dunn, Kenny Bernstein, Don Prudhomme, Tom McEwen, Raymond Beadle and Scott Kalitta? And did you know that the field didn’t include Gary Densham, who also DNQ’d like John at that race? Whatever he does this week, John will still manage to be at the center of the spotlight both on TV and at the track and being the center of attraction he could find himself being interviewed by a new person on the ESPN television crew this week. Remember, you heard it here first. Only John Force could be the lead story even when he’s not racing. Did you know that John is the only FC driver to win this race more than twice in all the previous 39 races? On the other side of the coin, did you know that 17 drivers have won the FC championship at the “Finals” only once? And did you know that only two of those seventeen, Tony Pedregon and Del Worsham will be in action this week?...Speaking of Tony, still no official word on what he’ll do next year although the fact that Cruz Pedregon has cancelled his press conference that was scheduled for Wednesday at the SEMA show leads me to believe that Tony will be the guy but he has to wait until the season (and the award’s ceremony) are officially over before he can make the announcement. At least, that’s the way that I think it will play out….A lot of jockeying for position could take place in the FC class this weekend. While the top three spots are locked up there is a battle for virtually all of the other spots. Gary Densham and Del Worsham will battle it out for the fourth and fifth spots, while Ron Capps and Gary Scelzi come in tied for sixth place, so the driver who has the better weekend will finish higher in the standings. Meanwhile, Tim Wilkerson (1044), Dean Skuza (1029) and Tommy Johnson (1018) will all try to finish anywhere from eight to tenth. A long shot to make the top ten is brother Cruz Pedregon who is 54 points behind Tommy Johnson.

Shirley Muldowney

Shirley Muldowney will make her “Last Pass” this weekend and wouldn’t it be cool if she won the race? Did you know that the final race of the year has always been a good one for Shirley? She won the race in 1976, 1980 and 1983 but did you know that none of those wins came at the Fairplex in Pomona? Shirley won twice at Ontario Motor Speedway and she picked up the third win at Orange County International Raceway. After being named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame this past week, I think it’s only fitting that she conclude her great career with a win in Pomona. Shirley’s three wins ties her for second place on the all-time win list at the NHRA final race of the year. Did you know that Joe Amato, Kenny Bernstein and Darrell Gwynn all won this race three times, and that means that they all trail “Big Daddy” Don Garlits who has four wins at the season ending race. Darrell won the race in three consecutive seasons and he’s the only guy to do that, while Garlits and Bennie Osborn are the only other drivers to put back-to-back wins on the board at this great race…Cory McClenathan is the defending champion and he will look to put Darrell’s car in the winner’s circle again.

When you talk about wins at a single race, did you know that Bob Glidden holds the mark for the most victories at a single event? The “great one” won this race an amazing eleven times between 1974 and 1990 and that truly is amazing. Only Warren Johnson, Kurt Johnson and Darrell Alderman have won the final race of the year more than one time while eleven guys all won it once….So far this year we have seen 69 drivers compete in Pro Stock and while that is a bunch, it pales in comparison to the 84 who raced in 1989. Here’s a quickie for you, how many drivers who raced in 1989 in Pro Stock do you think earned points this year? Would you believe fifteen? And would you believe that among them are Ken Koretsky, Larry Peternel, John Nobile and Bill Shorts?...The 2003 top ten is pretty much locked up with Scott Geoffrion holding down the tenth and final spot in the POWERade points this year, a far cry from the 32nd spot that he occupied in 1989.

Dean Carter

If you do one thing next year plan on attending the Lucas Oil Drag Racing series event in Las Vegas. The event, which takes place between the national event in Vegas and the final race in Pomona, attracts the top sportsman racers from all over the country and several of them usually clinch either divisional or national titles at the race. The suspense was unbelievable this year as Dean Carter and Santo Volpe came into “The Strip” with a shot at the point’s lead in Competition Eliminator, a spot that was occupied by Doug Engels. Santo would win the title if he went to the final round and found anyone but Carter in the other lane, and if Dean were there, the winner would be the champ. Well, that’s exactly what happened and Dean won when Santo’s clutch gave out on the starting line, a weird finish to a great day for both drivers…Kevin Helms locked up his third consecutive title when Jeff Hefler went out early while Jack Beckman moved into Super Comp title contention with his win in the 8.90class. Divisional titles were wrapped up by Dan Fletcher in D-1 (Stock) and Jeff Wilson in D-3 (Top Alcohol Dragster). Jeff wasn’t even there but he won the D-3 crown by three points when Marty Thacker lost in the final round to Duane Shields….David Wilson, the European Champion, just missed qualifying for a very quick TAD field, but then so did Alan Bradshaw who will be the 2003 Lucas Oil World Champion. Mark Niver was in the pits with a car and while he didn’t make a run just having him in the house was great. It was the first time that Mark was back at a race since his crash earlier this year. Maybe Mark could race and win this week, too, and that would be almost as cool as Shirley winning. The real purists out there may remember that Mark and Shirley were on the same track a couple of times in 1982 when Shirley beat Mark in Gainesville and Baton Rouge….By my unofficial count the only Lucas Oil title that hasn’t been decided is the Super Comp one, with Gary Stinnett, Anthony Castillo, Beckman and Steve Williams all having a shot at the big prize. Congrats to all of the sportsman winners and good luck to the guys in the 8.90class this weekend.