Tue, 7 Oct 2003, 10:45 PM Doesn’t Anybody Wanna Be The Funny Car Champion?

By Bob Frey Photo by:Auto Imagery, Inc.

Greg Anderson

With the end of the year rapidly approaching it is apparent that we will have three new POWERade champions in 2003. Larry Dixon is going to repeat in the Top Fuel class while Greg Anderson and Geno Scali will both be first-time champs in the pro stock classes. A quick look at the numbers shows that both Larry and Greg could clinch this weekend in Dallas while Geno could wrap things up at the next bike race in Las Vegas.  In fact, as strange as it may be, it’s Greg Anderson and not Larry who has the largest lead going into this weekend. Larry has a 348 point advantage over Doug Kalitta while Greg is 354 up on Kurt Johnson. Since they will both need to leave the “Big D” with a 277 point lead, well, you do the math. And then there is the Funny Car class where it appears that nobody wants to be the champion. Maybe they all feel that the #1 spot belongs to John Force and, as such, they don’t want to displace the twelve-time champion. Well, guys, I have news for you, somebody has to win this thing and it’s not going to be John, so either Whit Bazemore or Tony Pedregon have to step up in the next few races and prove that they are championship caliber. When Whit failed to qualify in Maple Grove it appeared to be a death knell for the “Matco Tools” team, but then a weird thing happened, Tony lost in the first round and only gained twenty-five points on Whit. So, instead of leaving with a commanding lead, Tony is up by just 94 points, or about five rounds, with twelve rounds to go which makes Dallas extremely important to both drivers… I’ll bet if I asked you to name the FC driver who has won the most rounds over the last three races you’d be hard pressed to get it right. There are three of them and Tony is one of them, while Dean Skuza and Phil Burkart are the others. Yep, all three of those guys have won five rounds over the last three races and, as hard as it is to believe, that’s the best record in the class….Tim Wilkerson has his first multi-win season and the Levi, Ray and Shoup car was awesome this weekend making four passes in the 4.80 range. It seems that it’s either all-or-nothing for Tim lately. Did you know that his last four races have featured two wins and two first round losses and nothing in between?…John Force didn’t help his cause this past weekend when he lost to Terry Haddock in round one. Did you know that this was the sixth opening round loss of the year for John and that’s more than he has had in any year since 1990? It’s also the fourth time in the last five years that he lost in the opening round at Maple Grove. With his win, the first round win of his career, Terry Haddock joins four other racers who have a lofty 1 – 0 record against John Force. Did you know that Chuck Beal, Rob Williams, Steve Hodkinson and Len Imbrogno all won their only race against the champ? Yes that Len Imbrogno….Congrats go to Dale Creasy who won his first round of the year when he stopped Tony P. in round one. Did you know that the last time Dale won a round was in Memphis last year which, ironically, was also the last time that Whit Bazemore failed to qualify for a race? By the way, as the last three races roll around, I want to go on record as saying that in the pre-season poll I picked Whit to win the championship, Tony to finish second and John to come in third. Honest, I did. Just don’t ask who in picked in the other pro classes.

Warren Johnson

Warren Johnson may be having a tough year by his standards, but by most racer’s standards he is having a sensational season. With his win this weekend, the 92^nd of his great career, “WJ” has now won four times this season and that’s something that not many Pro Stock drivers can say that they’ve ever done. Just how good is that, well, did you know that this is the 12^th year in which Warren has won at least four races? To put that in perspective, of the forty-eight drivers who have won in the history of the Pro Stock class, only twenty-three of them have won more than four races in their entire careers while another twenty-three never won more than three. Warren ran his round total to 1,101 with his four passes in Pennsylvania and that’s second only to John Force who has 1,118….Warren won from the #14 qualifying spot and did you know that this was only the third time in his career that Warren started from that position and did you know that the last time he was fourteenth was way back in 1979? At the Springnationals in ’79 WJ was number 14 and then he beat Andy Mannarino before losing to Larry Lombardo. Now there are some names from the past, huh?...By the way, did you know that there were four Pro Stock drivers competing at this year’s race at Maple Grove who also ran at the first national event in Reading in 1985? Three of them should be fairly easy, but the fourth will really surprise you. Ready? Warren, of course, Bruce Allen (who won in 1985), Mark Pawuk and Bill Shorts. That’s right, Bill Shorts. The veteran campaigner from Pennsylvania raced at the “Grove” in 1985 and he came back to make the quickest run of his career this year. And, while Bill wasn’t a threat to win at either race, it’s guys like him and his family who make this such a great sport. They love racing, they give it their best and I applaud them for their efforts and I hope to see you in Reading next year, Bill!

Tony Schumacher

Tony Schumacher’s run through the field (and into the field twice when his chutes didn’t come out) was nothing short of spectacular. With a four-star U.S. Army general looking on, Tony ran 4.441 and then 4.449 en route to his fourth win of the season. In addition to being the number one qualifier, Tony also set low elapsed time and top speed making this the first time in his career that the “Sarge” has swept an event. Did you know that this was the sixth time that Tony has been the number one qualifier in his career and did you know that three of those top spots have come at Maple Grove?...Larry Dixon continues to struggle at Maple Grove. Did you know that in the last seven years Larry has won a grand total of four rounds in Reading, and in that time he hasn’t gotten past the second round? And if Luigi Novelli hadn’t fouled out in round one Larry may not have even gotten to the second round this year. Still, “Big Blue” is having a sensational year and will be a great repeat champion in the sport’s top class….

Michael Phillips

Michael Phillips’ win the Pro Stock Bike class was one of the more surprising of the weekend if only for the reason that Michael almost didn’t even make it to the race. Michael said that he didn’t have anyone to drive with him to the race until he mentioned that fact to his barber who then went and closed his shop and helped Michael get to Maple Grove. Now that’s a real friend, isn’t it? This was the first win for Michael since his Houston win in 1995 and he becomes the eighth different winner in the bike class this year which is, by far, a single season record. The bike class is so strong that two of the national event winners this year (Michael & Blaine Hale) aren’t even in the top ten. Did you know that of all the racers in the field this weekend only one guy besides Michael raced at the Houston race in ’95? And that one guy would be none other than Steve Johnson, who qualified third, right behind Mike in Houston. Most trackside observers think that Mr. Phillips may be the most naturally talented rider in the class and I was glad to hear that he and Harry Lartigue are still good friends. Mike, who rode for Harry in Houston in 1995, said that he called his former owner between rounds in Maple Grove and got some tuning advice that helped him win the race. Sounds like a free haircut may be in the works for Harry….Geno Scali needs to win a couple of rounds in Las Vegas or risk going into Pomona without having nailed down the title. Shawn Gann is 151 points back and, with her runner-up finish in Reading, Angelle Savoie pulled to within 154 of the leader. Did you know that the loss was the first in a final round in over a year for Angelle? The reigning champ had strung together six consecutive wins going back to Indy of 2002 and is now an amazing 16-4 in her last twenty championship rounds. Not bad, huh?

Frank Manzo

Lots of interesting stuff happened in the sportsman classes at Maple Grove, too. Mike Gunderson won the race and set the speed record at a blazing 280.54 in the Top Alcohol Dragster class while Frank Manzo wrapped up his 7^th consecutive Alcohol Funny Car crown and his 9^th overall. Did you know that Mike, who is the first driver in the alcohol dragster class to go over 280 mph was also the first guy to take a blown dragster over 260 mph?...Speaking of the alky funny car class, I hear that Pat Austin may be returning next year and that he may come back in a Ford Funny Car. Now I’m not  saying that’s a fact, it’s just what I hear (but I sure hope it’s true because Pat is a great competitor)….Across the country David Wells, Shelly Howard and Franny Monaghan all wrapped up divisional championships while Alan Bradshaw also clinched the national championship in the dragster class when his closest rival, Tony Bartone, lost in Darlington….The Competition Eliminator title is still up for grabs with Doug Engels holding a slight lead over David Rampy while Santo Volpe still has an outside shot if he does really well at his next national race and in the divisional race in Las Vegas, if he goes there….And in one of those weird little quirks of fate, did you know that Marion Stephenson became the second man named Marion to win an NHRA national event when he won Stock Eliminator this week? Marion, who ran right on the dial in almost every round at Maple Grove, joins the great Marion Owens who rode a mean motorcycle to several titles including the 1974 World Finals. By the way, did you know that John Wayne’s real first name was Marion?