Thu, 6 Nov 2008, 04:54 PM Jim Luikens' Reporter's Notebook from ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals

By Jim Luikens Photo copyright 2008 Auto Imagery, Inc. & David Allio, LVMS

LAS VEGAS -- The first day of Professional qualifying was dominated by a number of interesting halloween-related costumes since Friday was Halloween. Jack Beckman was spotted wearing a Wonder Bread driving uniform with Jacky Bobby lettered on his back. The outfit was a takeoff of the Wonder Bread-sponsored Ricky Bobby in the movie, Talladega Nights. Meanwhile, Brandon Beaver, from the Justin Humphreys' Pro Stock (car) team, donned a matador's outfit and Humphreys' GXP sported a set of roof-mounted horns when the team came up for the second qualifying session on Friday.

However, it was the Pro Stock Bike contingent that really stole the show when nearly every team sent a team member up to the starting line in costume for the second qualifying session. At one time we had Sarah Palin, the Geico Caveman and Geico Gecko, a bride and groom, and many more all on the starting line at the same time. Angelle Sampey was quite a hit in her internet-purchased cheerleader outfit but the "star" of the show was Ken Johnson, the head mechanic on the Drag Specialties Buell of Chris Rivas. Ken lost a leg a few years ago in a four-wheeler accident and he normally wears a metal artificial leg complete with a full-size shoe. For this round he replaced his metal leg with a wooden leg and dressed as, what else, a peg-leg pirate. Kudos to Ken for being such a good sport. He certainly was hit with the fans.

Tony Pontieri

Two weeks ago Kenny Lang became the first Canadian to win an IHRA Pro Modified World Championship after several had come close in years gone bye. Entering this race, the final round of Pro Mod Challenge on the NHRA side, Ontario's Tony Pontieri was roughly one round out of first place and he was hoping to make it two for two for Canada this year in Pro Modified eliminator. Unfortunately, Tony had an entirely forgettable weekend with only three broken runs to show for his three qualifying attempts. During his first run a fuel line came off and leaned out the engine enough to pop the supercharger's burst panel. This was followed by tire shake in the second and third sessions, which left Tony unqualified and gave the 2008 Pro Modified Challenge title to Josh Hernandez.

Speaking of Pro Modified, Michigan's Mike Moran realized a five-year dream when he qualified his turbocharged Monte Carlo strongly in the Pro Modified field here. Mike has qualified for a couple of events in the past but those were short fields and, by his own admission, his qualifying number was admittedly "soft." Racing against a quick 6.163-second bump here, Mike recorded a 6.117-second elapsed time in the final session to qualify 10th. On race day he was the beneficiary of a red light by the returning Rick DiStefano in the first round before falling to new champ Joshua Hernandez in the next round. According to crew chief, Larry Larsen, one component of their success is the 36"-tall Hoosier Top Fuel tire that they run. Most of the other P/M runners use the 34"-tall Hoosier Funny Car tire.

Wilkerson and Tasca

It was announced on Saturday that Tim Wilkerson, and Rookie-of-the-Year nominee Bob Tasca III, will bring their two respective race teams together to form a two-car alliance for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season. Teammates in every sense of the word, the two will pit together, share information and resources, and utilize all-new equipment, including clutch and blower dynamometers that will be housed in the new Tasca Racing shop in Concord, N.C. The only differentiating factor between the operations will be that each team owner will continue to manage their own team individually and Wilkerson will continue to maintain his race shop in Springfield, Ill.

"First I just want to say that I'm really excited about bringing Bob's and my team together next season," said Wilkerson. "Getting at-track information really seems to be the problem for single-car teams, which really is based on the limited time frame that you have to run your car at the track and the amount of people you have to compare data with. It just seems like you can't get enough data out here. We know that the multi-car teams really have us with our backs against the wall in that aspect, so the discussions we've had through the year with Bob had us thinking it might be a possibility that we could get together for next season." The alliance between the two teams will also include Wilkerson running a Ford Mustang F/C body next season, as well as using a Ford Flex as his team's tow vehicle.

Schumacher and crew celebrate Championship

Also on Saturday, Tony Schumacher clinched his fifth straight, and sixth overall, NHRA Top Fuel title. Despite having only to qualify for this event to make it official, Tony qualified on the pole and recorded the fastest 1,000 foot T/F run ever at 318.92 miles per hour to knock down the title impressively. Despite having what is generally regarded as the finest season in Top Fuel history, Tony says this isn't his favorite title. According to him that honor would have to go to the one that he earned two years ago with "The Run." Badly behind at mid-season in 2006, Tony methodically made up points as the season progressed. Going into the final day of the season he had to win the event and set a new national record in order to pass Doug Kalitta for the title. Amazingly, that is exactly what he did in a points chase for the ages.

One year ago John Force was barely mobile at this event after his devastating crash a month earlier in Dallas. This year John capped 12 months of serious rehab by qualifying on the F/C provisional pole on Friday with a great 4.062-second run. A day later, Team Force driver Robert Hight marginally bumped John to the number two spot in the final F/C qualifying order with a 4.043-second elapsed time. On race day Robert parlayed his pole position into a final round appearance.