Tue, 6 Apr 2010, 10:06 PM Everyone Has An Opinion

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Funny Car final.

I can't remember anything that has generated as much talk, pro and con, as the recent 4-Wide Nationals in Concord, North Carolina. I base that solely on the responses that I have received over the past week, and believe me, they have been many, vocal and very one-sided. Almost to the man (or woman) the folks who have checked in with me did not like the format, which apparently makes me one of the very few who did. Those who responded to me basically said that it was too hard to follow, and that on the ESPN shows it was difficult to distinguish one car from another, especially when they went to the aerial shots. Since I didn't watch the TV show I can't comment on that, but I can tell you that, in person, I thought it was a lot of fun. One racer, who will remain anonymous, told me that the racers didn't like it, "but then, racers don't like any kind of change." That's what he said and you know what, he's right. I could go back and show you comments by the racers (and non-racers who had nothing to do with it) about how they hated the switch to the LED bulbs on the Christmas tree a few years ago. And the change to the Christmas tree itself, from the old flag starter, raised a bunch of commotion, too. Now, having said all of that, I don't have to race or drive a car on the 4-wide format so maybe my vote really doesn't or shouldn't count. All I know is that if you don't try some new things in your business you'll never grow or get better. What's that old expression, "If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got." I give everyone credit for trying the 4-wide format and I hope we do it again, but from what I can tell, mine seems to be a minority opinion.

McClenathan and crew celebrate win.

With all of the excitement, pro or con, about the 4-wide race, there were a few things that got lost in the shuffle, or at least I lost them (or missed them). Cory McClenathan's win was huge for him and his FRAM team and it gave Cory a total of thirty-three national event wins in Top Fuel and that moves him to within two of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits on the Top Fuel win list. The way he's running right now it seems like a lock that Cory will pass "Big" on that list, and he may pass him very soon..Another thing that I missed was how close the Top Fuel final was. Did you know that, when you add the reaction times and the on-track times, the margin of victory for Cory over Doug Kalitta was just .001, or .0015 according to the DragRaceCentral.com reporting of the race, and that equates to about eight inches. Did you know that would make it the closest Top Fuel final round in over a decade, and it's one of the closest

Jim Head vs. Larry Dixon

ever? In 1998, at the Winternationals, Larry Dixon beat Jim Head by a margin of .001, or about five inches, in the closet Top Fuel final round ever, but this one was a very close second. Not bad for a couple of drivers who were running in their first 4-wide final round, is it? Another interesting tidbit is the number of times that Cory McClenathan has won races that were postponed and run on a Monday or later. Now as much as I would like to give you those stats, you're going to have to read National DRAGSTER for them. That's because Brad Littlefield did the research on it and I promised him I wouldn't give out the numbers until his story came out in DRAGSTER. I have to say, though, I wish I had thought of it because it is very cool and it is an amazing number, and it doesn't even count his four finals at Indy which all took place on Monday. I will say this, to the best of my recollection his first win, in Memphis of 1992, came on a

McClenathan vs. Michael Brotherton

Sunday. I was there doing some pit reporting for the TNN network and I got to speak to Jimmy Prock, Cory's crew chief, a couple of times that day as they beat Connie Kalitta, Joe Amato, Don Prudhomme and Michael Brotherton to get the win. With his history of winning on Monday, Cory may be the only guy going into Houston who is praying for rain.With Cory having those thirty-three wins it was interesting to note that North Carolina marked the tenth time that Cory and John Force have won at the same event. That's a bunch, isn't it? I should also mention that Cory qualified number one for the 35^th time in his career. Did you know that he is now tied with Gary Beck for fourth place on the all-time TF list for number one qualifiers? Like I said before, Cory is off to a very good start in 2010. Oh yeah, there is one more Cory thing. Did you know that his three rounds in North Carolina gave him a total of 820 rounds for his career? That moved him past Bob Glidden and into sixth place overall among professional drivers. He is also second on the all-time Top Fuel list for the most rounds behind only Larry Dixon who has 829 rounds of racing to his credit.

Force gives Austin Coil the Wally after winning his 100th race at Houston in 2002.

John Force heads to Houston, the site of his 100^th win back in 2002, and he is looking to continue his remarkable run at the start of the season. John's win in Concord, the 128^th of his career, came over his daughter, Ashley Force, and it marked the first time that he beat her in a final round. Ok, so he also beat Matt Hagan and Ron Capps but you get the idea. I'm sure John and Ashley would love to hook up in a traditional final round, and maybe they'll get the opportunity to do it this weekend, and with seven wins between them in Houston that could be a distinct possibility. Did you know that John's win in Houston in 2002 was his last at the Texas track and it was also his last final there? Still, with the way he is running this year all of that could change in a hurry....John's win at the 4-wide race gave him wins at two dozen different tracks and that's very impressive and it equals Warren Johnson's mark for wins at different facilities. Since I mentioned the number of times that Cory and John

Force celebrates 100th win at Houston in 2002.

have won the same race I guess I could add that John and Mike Edwards have won the same race on eight different occasions. But did you know that this was the first time that Cory, John and Mike all won at the same event? One of those wins for John and Mike came back at the 2002 Houston race, the same race where John recorded his 100^th win..The top five cars in the Funny Car points are from Team Force and Team Schumacher. John is first and Ashley Force is fourth, while the Schumacher drivers, Ron Capps, Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan are second, third and fifth respectively. All of those teams are capable of winning the championship but so are the ones who are behind them. Bob Tasca, Tim Wilkerson, Robert Hight, Tony Pedregon and Del Worsham all have the teams, the resources, the crew chiefs and the drivers to go the distance and win the 2010 championship and that's what's going to make the rest of the year so much fun in the Funny Car class. Every

Cruz and crew celebrate his first National event win at Houston in 1992.

race, every run is exciting and that makes for a great day at the races....Did you know that seven of those top ten teams have already won at the Houston race? Only Jack Beckman, Matt Hagan and Bob Tasca have yet to win in Houston and it wouldn't surprise me if any one of them won this weekend. The others in the top ten have combined for an amazing sixteen wins at this event with John leading the way with his six wins while Tony, Ron and Del also have multiple wins at HRP.Among the drivers outside the top ten right now is Cruz Pedregon, the 1992 Funny Car winner in Houston. Did you know that was Cruz's first national event win in the Funny Car class? Cruz picked up one round win at the 4-wide race and that gave him a total of 399 wins in his great career. Did you know that is the third most round wins in the history of the Funny Car class? John leads the way with his staggering total of 1,049 and Tony Pedregon is next with 484 round wins and then Cruz is in third. That's a lot of rounds to win and that's great company to be in, and it's obviously just a matter of time until Cruz goes over the 400 round-win mark. Did you know that in the entire history of the sport there have only been thirteen drivers to win 400 or more rounds in the pro classes?...The Houston track has always been fast and this year should be no exception and there could be a possibility of seeing the first Funny Car run under four seconds at the 1,000 foot distance. Stay tuned..

Frank Sanchez at Houston in 1988.

Mike Edwards certainly looks like the man to beat again this year and going to a fast track like Houston Raceway Park should play right into his hands. There have already been many historic moments in the history of the Pro Stock class recorded at Houston, and if the weather cooperates, we could see more this week. From the Frank Sanchez 7.294 run in 1988 to Mark Pawuk's record-setting 7.220 in 1990, from the 199.15 mile per hour blast that Warren Johnson made in 1995 to Mike's 212.03 record last year, the track that we'll be racing on, 2-wide this week, has always been a favorite of the Pro Stock drivers....More than any other pro class the Pro Stock top ten has a different look this year. With the emergence of Rodger Brogdon, Bob Yonke and Ronnie Humphrey as legitimate contenders, the class really is wide open. Well, wide open after Mike that is. Having

Edwards with his first Wally at Houston in 1996.

said that, Houston Raceway Park isn't known as a place where the underdog gets the win. A look at the history of the track would seem to indicate that the winner will come from one of the top raked teams. In fact, since the first race there in 1988, I don't think there is anything that I could call a major upset in the Pro Stock class. Did you know that Mike Edwards won his first Pro Stock race in Houston in 1996? He qualified sixth in the field and then beat George Marnell, Mark Osborne, Jim Yates and Ray Franks to get the win...When I talk about underdogs winning, or not winning in Houston, I should mention that a real key to winning there comes long before round number one. In fact, you can pretty much narrow the field of potential winners down after qualifying. Did you know that in the twenty-two year history of this event there has never been a single winner in Pro Stock who started from the bottom half of the field? Not one!! And there's more. Exactly half of the winners have qualified in the first two spots. Four times the number one qualifier won and seven times the winner started from the number two spot. That doesn't leave much for the rest of the field, does it?...Warren Johnson has had a great deal of success in Houston where he has qualified number one nine times. Did you know that is, by far, the most of any driver in any pro class at the Texas track? Now if only he could parlay a good qualifying effort into a win this week.

Karen Stoffer

I don't usually pick a winner for an event but I am going to pick Karen Stoffer to win this week. That's because she has a very good bike and the Geico Powersports team is running very well this year. It's also based on the fact that she has won twice at this race and I think that will help her win again. After all, past performances can mean a lot to a driver, from the mental and the mechanical point of view, if you know what I mean..Even though there have only been two bike races this year I don't see any one team that looks dominant, at least not yet. Matt Smith certainly has a good bike and so does the champ, Hector Arana. Along with them I think Karen has a bike that can run with anyone and that's why I like her chances this week..Did you know that Karen is one of only two active drivers who have multiple wins in Houston? Craig Treble is the other and he, too, has to be considered a contender this week..Qualifying well is important in the bike class just like it is in the Pro Stock Car class. Did you know that only twice has the bike winner come from the bottom half of the field in Houston? Ron Ayers did it in 1993 when he won after qualifying twelfth and Karen did it in 2005 when she won from the fifteenth starting position...Like the Funny Car class this year I really think that the bike class has a group of riders who can all qualify well, go rounds and win races and that means that we could have a new champion at the end of the season. We could.

The Pro Mods return to action this week and they have a full compliment of cars already entered for the show. As good as they were in Gainesville I expect more of the same this week from the wild and wacky Pro Mod machines. I don't know what all the Pro Mod drivers did last week but I do know what Troy Coughlin did. Troy, and his brother Jeg and their father, Jeg Coughlin Sr., were all part of the big Darrell Gwynn charity auction in Palm Beach, Florida. Not only were they there but they supported the auction and Darrell's charity by bidding on and winning a variety of items. For years the Coughlin family has been involved in the sport and in the community of drag racing and I wanted to thank them for all they did for Darrell and his charity last week. By the way, if you would like to see where that auction was held, just log on to www.carsofdreams.com. Believe me, it's worth checking out.In addition to the Coughlin family, Roger Comstock was also there and he, too, won a couple of items in the auction. Roger is another one who goes above and beyond in his efforts to support several of the charity organizations that are involved in drag racing, and along with his Mail From Home program that makes him a very special guy. Thanks, Roger.

Reichert vs. Spencer Massey in the '07 Houston final.

The alcohol cars also return to action this week and, among others, Bill Reichert and Duane Shields are entered in the dragster class. Did you know that those two were involved in the quickest side-by-side run in TAD history and it happened in Houston in 2007? That's when Bill made that historic 5.103 run and Duane was in the other lane and he went 5.284. Bill won that round and the race, and that's no surprise since the slowest he went on race day was 5.258 in his round one win over Vitali Kazakevich. Even though it's early in the season this could be a big showdown for two of the drivers who I certainly expect to make a serious run for the championship this year.