Wed, 31 Oct 2007, 01:46 PM It Was Some Fun In Las Vegas

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2007 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Hulk and Frey

Besides the celebrities, the return to the track by John Force, the appearance of Hulk Hogan, the sold out crowds and the general excitement of the city, the AC Delco Nationals in Las Vegas was one spectacular event. With all of the hype surrounding the Countdown to the Championship, this race really delivered. There were great runs, stunning upsets, a much talked about disqualification and one class that is all but wrapped up. All in all it's easy to see why this event, the second one of the year at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, is developing into a "must see" event. And, whether it was the Countdown, the city, the venue, John or whatever, this was, by my estimates, the biggest race that they have had at the Strip, and that's saying something. Everyone at the track is to be congratulated on running a great event. It's always a pleasure to go to the "Strip." Always.

Fuller "Double-up"

Rod Fuller had a career weekend, winning the Technicoat Top Fuel Shootout on Saturday and then the race and the $50,000 "Double-up" bonus on Sunday. "This is about as good as it gets," Rod told me after the race. I still think that Rod thinks he has something to prove to people, although I don't know what it could be because he has done everything that has been asked of him. He drives well, he is good on the starting line and he does a great job with the fans, and in Las Vegas, he was a huge hit with the fans. Speaking of the starting line, Rod looked like he was in bracket mode since he was in the .04 range on three of his four runs on Sunday and he averaged a very good .053 in the shootout on Saturday. As good as Rod was, his crew was just as good. I mentioned last week that the drivers get all the credit or the blame, depending on how their weekend goes, but they can't do anything if they don't have a good car, and Rod had a good car. Led by Rob Flynn, the Caterpillar car was running so well and so consistently all weekend that it would have taken a great run to beat them. Did you know that, of the nine runs they made over the weekend, seven of them were in the 4.5 range? One other run was a 4.63 in the semi-finals while the other run was their first qualifying run, a tire-smoking 11.94. But seven runs in the 4.5 range is good, very good. The win puts Rod fifty-two points up on Larry Dixon and that's a pretty good advantage going into the last race of the season. That's more than two rounds (which is 40 points) and that will make it very hard for Larry Dixon, Brandon Bernstein or Tony Schumacher to catch him. Brandon is sixty-one

Fuller vs. Troxel

points back and Tony is sixty-seven behind Rod and they really do have their backs against the wall this weekend. Of course, Tony had his back against the wall last year, didn't he?.....The disqualification of Tony Schumacher after his semi-final win over Melanie Troxel during the Top Fuel Shootout was a topic for a lot of discussion on Saturday. Obviously Tony, Alan Johnson and the Army team didn't think they did anything wrong when they passed the scales after their second round win, while the NHRA disagreed. In the end, their win was thrown out and Melanie was re-instated and the arguments began. Tony isn't the first one to be thrown out after passing the scales in Las Vegas. In 2006, Tony Pedregon made a great run, a 4.799 in qualifying before blowing up his car at the finish line. After putting out the fire Tony and his team took the car back to the pits without crossing the scales and his run was disqualified. Tony didn't make a good run the rest of the weekend and he failed to make the show, ending his consecutive qualifying streak at 114 races. Hey, rules are rules. As tough as the decision was for the Army car, and it did cost them a shot at the Shootout title, it didn't have any effect on the race. Tony was already qualified with his 4.482 so he stayed number one. Of course, as we have seen, being number one isn't all it's cracked up to be for Tony this year. Did you know that this was the 11^th time this year that Tony has been the top qualifier and the only time that he has won from that spot was Indy? By the way, if history is any indication, Tony may not want to be number one again this week. Did you know that in the past thirty years only two Top Fuel drivers have won the last race of

Jesse Harris and Johnn West

the year after qualifying at the top of the pack? Two!! And did you know that Tony is one of them. Yep, he won from the top spot in 2005 and Kenny Bernstein won in 2001, but other than that being number one seems to be over rated in Top Fuel, at least at Pomona....Hillary Will missed the cut for the first time in her two year career. So, with nothing else to do on Sunday, the ESPN guys gave her a microphone and got some of her comments about the race. Then on Monday, she made some test runs, a couple of 4.52 passes, runs that would have been good enough to make the show in Vegas. Now let's see if she can maintain that momentum this weekend in Pomona....Jesse Harris made some more runs in Clay Millican's car in an effort to get her Top Fuel license. Jesse has her sights set on racing in the POWERade series in 2008.

Pedregon vs. Force

Tony Pedregon won the race, jumped out to a 91 point lead, almost put the Funny Car title out of reach and he still wasn't the main topic of discussion this week. With John Force returning to the track, a lot of the attention all weekend, both at the track and on ESPN, was focused on the fourteen-time champ. I got to spend some time with John on Saturday night and he is in remarkably good spirits, although I have to think that he has to be a little sore this week after over doing it in Las Vegas. But, like I said last week, you knew that if he was at the track he would be there all weekend and he was and the fans loved it. I should also mention that John is spending a lot of his time in rehab but he is also clearly focused on making his cars and the sport safer for everyone. It's hard to imagine anyone his age and with his recent injuries having so much enthusiasm and energy. I have to admit that I watched part of the Monday Night Football game this week and when I heard all the platitudes that they were heaping on Bret Farve, I wanted to call them and tell them to take a look at John Force. When you think about it, those two have a lot in common, don' they?...The Q Horsepower Chevrolet pretty much has put the FC crown out of reach with its performance in Las Vegas. And even though he certainly didn't have the strongest car of the weekend, he had the best, and now Tony goes into Pomona with a huge lead and his eye squarely on his second national title....Tony's final round win over Ashley Force gave him thirty-six national event wins and that moves him into second place on the all-time Funny Car list ahead of Don Prudhomme and behind John Force. The final round was a classic with Ashley Force running a quicker elapsed time than Tony but Tony got the win since he was first off the line. Did you know that this

Troxel in a Funny Car

was only the second holeshot win in a final round for Tony? Of course it may have been the most important one.....For her part, Ashley carried the Team Force banner into battle and she did well, becoming the first woman to make it to the final round in Funny Car at an NHRA national event. Did you know that she became the 118^th driver to make it to a FC final round? And of those 118, an even two dozen of them ended their careers with an 0-1 mark in final rounds. Something tells me that Ashley will make a few more final rounds....With Melanie Troxel getting her FC license this week during the Monday test session in Las Vegas, the Funny Car class will be even more exciting next year, and, assuming she doesn't win this week, the race will be on to see which lady can win the first FC race in NHRA history....Bob Tasca made his first public runs in a fuel car when he drove Cruz Pedregon's car during the Monday test session. With a full sponsorship program all but finalized, Bob should be one of the top contenders for the Rookie of the Year award next year. As a matter of fact, if all the drivers who are trying to get or upgrade their licenses run next year we could have a real battle for the rookie award.

Anderson vs Coughlin

The Pro Stock class has a new leader and his name is Greg Anderson. Following his win over Jeg Coughlin his week Greg is back on top, exactly where he has been for most of the last five years. His thirty-four point margin will make it very tough for Jeg, Dave Connolly or Allen Johnson to run him down this week in Pomona. Even though Greg got the win Jeg certainly showed why he has won so many races and a couple of championships. Did you know that his worst reaction time of the day was the .019 that he had in round one? That was his worst reaction time! Jeg's win over Dave Connolly in round two came on a holeshot, the fourth time this year he was won that way. And for Dave, even though he had a very good reaction time of his own (.033), this was his fourth holeshot loss of the year....If Greg does hold on and win the championship this year his record against Jeg could be the reason. Did you know that Greg is 8-2 against Jeggie this year and that includes wins in the final round at both Las Vegas events? Overall in their careers Greg leads the head-to-head match up by an amazing margin of 30-17. Those thirty wins are the most by Greg over anyone and those thirty

Justin Humphreys

losses are the most by Jeg against anyone. Go figure!!...Trying to beat Greg in Pomona won't be easy since he always seems to do well at this track and at this event. In his last five starts at this event he has gone to at least the semi-finals four times. If he does that this week it's all over. New points system or not, Greg Anderson is the leader in the clubhouse and the other guys have to come and get him.....Justin Humphreys certainly made a good impression this week and I'm telling you the kid can be a star in this sport. Even though he lost in round two, the run that he made is the kind of thing that will have people taking for a long while. He got way out of the groove right off the starting line and I thought he would lift and coast down the track, but he didn't. He stayed on the gas and gave Greg Stanfield a good run and made a believer out of me. That was one of the best "saves" that I have ever seen. And when I watched him in qualifying and saw both Bob Glidden and Dick Maskin smiling after one of his runs I knew that I was watching something special developing. Don't be surprised if he goes deep into eliminations this weekend. By the way, speaking of Mr. Glidden, did you know that he won the NHRA Finals and amazing eleven times? With that kind of experience at this track it could be a very interesting weekend for young Mr. Humphreys.

Hines vs. Ellis

Andrew Hines is the guy to beat in Pro Stock Motorcycle and it will take a very good team to do that. Andrew has the bike, the team and the experience to go the distance, and, after his win in Las Vegas, you have to like his chances to do just that. Andrew is thirty-nine points ahead of Chip Ellis and that's just about two rounds, so Chip and Matt Smith and Peggy Llewellyn will have their work cut out for them this weekend....If you looked at the history of the two, you knew that something had to give in the final round between Andrew and Chip. Did you know that in their careers Andrew and Chip have met seven times and Andrew has won them all? And did you know that coming into the final round in Vegas, Chip had been to five final rounds and he had won them all? Armed with that information it was obvious that one of those streaks had to come to and end and it was Chip's.....Chip qualified #1 at the race and that's the 12^th time that he has been the top qualifier. It's also the fourth race in a row and the fifth time in the last six races that the Drag Specialties bike has been the top qualifier. But did you know

Chip Ellis

that Chip has never won the race when he was the top qualifier? In fact, did you know that in the history of the sport only one other driver has ever qualified number one ten or more times and didn't win one of those races? And that person would be Tim Wilkerson. Just like Tony in Top Fuel this year, or like any TF driver at the NHRA Finals, being number one may be a bit over rated. Having said that, I'm sure that Tony, Chip, Tim and everyone else will still go out and try to qualify at the top of the pack this weekend. OK, so maybe Tony won't....The Drag Specialties folks were on hand this week at the race and I imagine that they liked what they saw. This is a huge company that is heavily involved in the motorcycle industry and to have them on the side of Chip's bike is good for everyone. Thanks to Ken Johnson and George Bryce, Chip is riding one of the best bikes in the class and he'll give Andrew a run for his money this weekend in an effort to win the title. A good start in that direction would be to qualify #2. Only kidding....Andrew Hines could make a little history if he could win the title this year. With three consecutive championships he is looking to become the first Pro Stock Motorcycle rider to win the title in four consecutive seasons. Did you know that Andrew's brother, Matt, and Angelle Sampey are the only others to win three straight motorcycle championships?

Darren Smith

The sportsman championships, as they always seem to do, will come down to the last race of the season. With the three top classes already decided, that leaves Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp and Super Gas still up for grabs. By my (very) unofficial count, Jimmy DeFrank is the only guy who can catch the leader in Super Stock, Darren Smith. Jimmy has to go to at least the semi-finals, and that's if Darren doesn't add to his total. If he does, Jimmy will have to make it to the final round to win his third title....In Stock, Michael Iacono leads the way and he can't do anything but try to block his challengers, Jerry Emmons and Brad Plourd. Basically, both Jerry and Brad have to make it to the final round if they want to catch and pass Michael. Of course if they both make it to the final round it would then be one run for all the marbles.....Shawn Langdon has led the Super Comp points for a long while and unless Anthony Castillo wins the race this weekend, Shawn will be the champion. Anthony is such a good racer and you can be sure that he'll give it his best shot, and even if he doesn't win it he will still have another top ten finish, his third in the last five years.....The situation is the same in Super Gas where Sherman Adcock Jr. leads the way with only Val Torres having a chance to catch him, but only if he wins the race. It should be some fun this weekend in the battle for the Lucas Oil World Championships.