Tue, 8 Jun 2010, 09:16 PM Worth the Wait

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Earlier in the year it seemed like almost every national event was getting rained on. Then we had a couple where the weather cooperated and I thought that we might have weathered the storm, so to speak. And then we went to Route 66 Raceway in Joliet and the rain returned, and it returned a couple of times on a couple of days before Sunday's final eliminations and then it rained again. But, after waiting for a few hours and after drying the track a few times, the race was finally completed. The handful of fans that stayed around for the final runs got a real treat by seeing four of the best final rounds in a long while. Larry Dixon edged Tony Schumacher 3.773 to a losing 3.823. Matt Hagan stopped Robert Hight's winning streak at three races (and fifteen rounds) in a great final round, while Mike Edwards won his sixth race of the year by beating Jason Line and LE Tonglet joined the list of motorcycle winners by stopping Steve Johnson. All four finals were exciting, quick and fast and they made it worth the wait....I mentioned last week how busy my weekend in Joliet would be and it all started with the press conference on Wednesday and didn't end until late Sunday night. I mention that now because three of the four drivers who were at the press conference were Larry, Tony and Matt. Only Ashley Force, who was the fourth member of the media luncheon, didn't make it to the final round. Ashley did have a very good weekend even though she didn't win and she began it by presenting a book, Fathers & Daughters & Sports to the media members at the press conference. It's a really neat book that features memories that some daughters have about growing up with their dads. Ashley's section is very nicely done, and if you have a chance, you should get a copy. If you'd like to order one you can get it at, among other places, Amazon.com. I know this won't come as a surprise but Ashley continues to amaze me with the things that she does to help promote the sport (and herself, of course).

Dixon vs. Schumacher

Larry's win over Tony in the final round was just the latest chapter in the book that these two are writing. This was the sixth time already this year that they have raced against each other and each has won three times. Overall they have raced sixty-five times in their careers with Tony holding a 35 - 30 advantage. If we still had match-racing I'd pay to see these two go at it. Larry's win was his fifth of the year in as many final rounds, while Tony lost for the first time in four final round appearances in 2010....Tony began the day by beating Pat Dakin, and I pointed out at the time that when Pat made his Top Fuel debut back in 1971, Tony Schumacher was two years old. Pat's first start was at the Springnationals in '71 and he was part of a thirty-two car Top Fuel field. At that same event, in the Funny Car class, a young man by the name of Don Schumacher was the number one qualifier and he would go on to win the race. I wonder if Tony remembers that race?.Steve Torrence and Dexter Tuttle continue to run well and they moved up a spot in the top ten with their semi-final appearance. They beat Shawn Langdon in round one and Cory McClenathan in round two before losing to Tony in the semi-finals. Still, it was another good showing for the team and they look like they have found whatever it was that was ailing them just a few races ago..Doug Kalitta, still winless on the year, continues to win rounds if not races. Doug made it to the semi-finals before losing to Larry in Joliet. Did you know that Doug has won nineteen rounds already this year and that's more than he won in the entire 2009 season?

Edwards vs. Line

With four races in four weeks I'm sure that by the time most of you read this the Full Throttle teams will already be in Englishtown for stop number two on this month-long marathon. After leaving Illinois Robert Hight was the point's leader in the Funny Car class while Mike Edwards has stretched his lead to an astonishing 337 points over Allen Johnson. One of the real surprises in Joliet may have been the resurgence of Jason Line and his Summit Racing Pontiac. Jason was within one-hundredth of a second of Mike in the first two rounds and then matched him to the thousandth of a second in the semi-finals. Did you know that both Jason and Mike ran 6.601 in their semi-final round wins, but Jason got lane choice going into the final round based on his better speed? Jason ran 208.46 while Mike went 207.94. In the finals, Jason was first off the line (.006 to .007) but Mike was able to run him down. When I asked Mike what Jason said to him after the run, he just smiled and said, "He said 'You were late.'" It was a great final round between two very good teams....Mike's win was the 26^th of his career which ties him with the great Lee Shepherd for seventh on the all-time Pro Stock win list. Mike has won exactly half of his races over the past three seasons while Lee packed his twenty-six wins into a relatively short span of just seventy-four races. That's amazing when you think about it, isn't it? Did you know that Lee was 174 - 47 for his career for a staggering 79% winning percentage? For the record, Mike is now 26 - 20 in his forty-six final round appearances and Lee was also 26 - 20. Did you know that the Joliet final was also the forty-sixth final round for Jason Line? I know, what are the odds?...One of the real fun things at Joliet was the fact that several of the Pro

Lee Shepherd

Stock drivers were actually stumping for votes for the final spot in the K&N Horsepower Challenge in a few weeks. Rodger Brogdon, who came into the race in eighth place, picked up enough qualifying points to move into a tie for seventh place with Greg Stanfield who failed to qualify for the event. Even so, Rodger and his "Pistonator" team sent out a list of the top ten reasons why fans should vote for them. Among them were, "If we win we'll buy Bob Frey a new Harley." Hey, sounds like a good reason to vote for him if you ask me. Also on the list was, "I won't lift unless I'm on the roof," a veiled reference to his crash a few weeks ago. Rodger, Steve Kent, Bob Unkefer and Foghorn Leghorn all came up with the Top Ten list and it was very funny and well done. Of course if they keep running like they have recently they may not need the votes.Bob Yonke, who had a "Vote for Me" sign on his car all weekend long, also had a great plan on how to win votes, but unfortunately he was going to unveil it during driver introductions on Sunday, but they were cancelled because of the rain. Maybe he can implement it this week in E'town. I applaud the teams for getting behind the program and it will be interesting to see how the fans vote at www.knfilters.com/register. By the way, when I asked Mike who he was going to vote for he said, "Warren Johnson. He needs to be in this thing just one more time."...Englishtown, of course, has a great history for the

Bob Yonke

Pro Stock cars and this week that tradition will continue. Did you know that Bob Glidden, Warren and Greg Anderson have all won this race four times? The list of winners at the New Jersey track looks like a Hall of Fame roster. Bill Jenkins, Dick Landy, Don Nicholson and Frank Iaconio are among the previous winners and I can't wait to see who adds their name to the list this week..Not that I ever put any faith in the weatherman, but right now he (or she) is calling for temperatures in the 90's on Saturday and Sunday in Jersey..Did you know that the Summernationals, as it used to be called, is one of the few NHRA national events that featured a thirty-two car Pro Stock field? In 1971 the huge field was paced by Don Carlton who ran a 9.502 and it was anchored by Larry Payne?...I'm not sure there is anything that I would call a huge upset in the Pro Stock history of the Englishtown race, although Richie Stevens' win in 1999 over Tom Martino may come close. Richie won it again a few years later and I thought he might show up after his efforts in Joliet but I don't see him on the entry list.

Hagan vs. Hight

Matt Hagan not only won the race in Joliet but he set the national record as well. Matt's 4.022 win over Ashley (4.044) was spectacular and it also gave him lane choice going into the final round against Robert. Matt and his Die Hard team then ran 4.035 to beat Robert's 4.069. With Tommy DeLago and John Medlen looking on, that had to be one of the most satisfying wins for any team in a long while. First, they won the race. Second, they set the record. Third, they beat Robert, and fourth, it was Team Schumacher over Team Force. Now I ask you, does it get any better for a Funny Car team?...Even the semi-finals were mega-team against mega-team when Matt beat Ashley and Robert beat Jack Beckman. For the record, the slowest time in that final four was Jack's 4.060, so that will show you how good the track and weather conditions were after the torrential rain that hit earlier in the day..Did you know that Matt's elapsed time record was the sixth time that the record has been set at Route 66 Raceway but the first time since 2004? Matt has now set both the elapsed time and speed records this year and that's the first time a driver has set both ends of the Funny Car record during the same season since Jack Beckman did it back in 2006....Cruz Pedregon made what, at

Cruz Pedregon

the time, seemed like a good run, or at least a run that was good enough to get him in the field. But his 4.149 was tossed out after officials looked at the time, saw that he had an unbelievable sixty-foot time, a time that wasn't possible, and the run was thrown out. It's a shame, too, because even if there was something on the body of his car that caused the faulty time, Cruz and his Snap-On team made a very good pass and it will be interesting to see how he responds and rebounds this week..Paul Lee and Justin Schriefer both fouled out in the first round on Sunday and that's a very rare occurrence. Did you know that, coming into the Joliet race, there hadn't been a single foul in the Funny Car class all year? Not one. And then we have two in the same round....The disqualification of Cruz's run made a big change in the pairings for round one, because John Force was sixteenth, where he would have faced Robert in round one. Instead he was moved to fifteenth where he faced Ashley in round one. Did you know that this was only the seventh time in his career that John qualified fifteenth and he has only made it out of the first

Force vs. Force Hood

round once from that starting spot? At the 2007 race at Maple Grove John was fifteenth in qualifying and he made it all the way to the final round where he lost to Tony Pedregon..John should love coming to New Jersey and a track that he really enjoys. Besides all of his match-races at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, John has competed in twenty-eight national events there and won fifty-four rounds. It may not be a "home field advantage" for John, but it's close. John's fifty-four round wins are, by far, the most in the pro classes at Englishtown with Kenny Bernstein and Bob Glidden next at forty-one, while Don Prudhomme, Joe Amato and Larry Dixon have all won forty rounds at the historic track..Oh, by the way, just in case you were wondering who has won the most rounds in Englishtown, that would be one Mr.Frank Manzo. In his previous twenty-eight national events there, the same number of races as John Force, Frank has won a staggering seventy-four rounds. That total also includes an event-best eleven national event wins for Frank. Frank's first win came there back in 1982 when he beat Arnie Karp in the final round and it seems like he's been winning there ever since. And, just in case you were wondering, at that event Frank also qualified number one, set low elapsed time and top speed. Gee, seems like not much has changed for Frank over the years. Anyone want to bet against him making it twelve this weekend?

Tonglet vs. Johnson

I don't know what was more surprising in Joliet, LE Tonglet's win or the overall performance by Steve Johnson? LE is the third member of his family to race in the Full Throttle series and the second to pick up a national event win. In the process he becomes just the 38^th person ever to win a Pro Stock Motorcycle event on the NHRA tour. LE's win was a combination of having a good bike, making no mistakes and riding well. His worst reaction time of the day was a .036 in round one and then he got better in every round. He had a .021 in round two, a .015 in round three and a superb .011 against Steve. I don't know about you but LE would have to get my vote right now if they voted for Rookie of the Year...Steve Johnson, almost forgotten earlier in the year, stepped up big time in Joliet to make the final round, his first in over a year at the traditional two-wide events. Steve, who had won a total of four rounds this year coming into the event, got everyone's attention with his 6.896 pass in round one, a run that would turn out to be the second best in the class on Sunday, with only Hector Arana's 6.894 being better on race day. Steve, who continually "works the room" in an effort to get some sponsorship money, had the folks from Pivot Works on his bike in Joliet and I'd have to say that they got their money's worth. In addition to the little dirt bike riding that he did during the down time over the weekend (and there was lots of that), Steve went rounds and almost won the race. Nice job Steve and great job LE....LE beat all four of his opponents off the line, and while he has only raced for a brief time, that seems to be what he does best. Did you know that LE has been first off the line 80% of the time in his brief career? I know it's a lot like a player's batting average after ten games, but I just thought I would point it out....The only real upset of the day occurred when Redell Harris beat the top qualifier, Craig Treble in round one..Did you know that in the entire history of the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, which now spans 296 races, this was only the twenty-fifth time that the top qualifier has lost in round one?

Manzo doubled-up.

Kelly Wade did a nice job of reporting all the sportsman action right here on DragRaceCentral yesterday but I did want to mention a few things. Of course, Frank Manzo's double-up, winning the All Star race and the national event, is noteworthy, as is most of what Frank does at the track. He simply is the best at what he does, and since I mentioned match-racing, I would love to see Pat Austin come out of retirement to race against Frank. Frank's four round wins give him 505 for his career and that's just one short of the total number of round wins that Pat had in his great Top Alcohol Funny Car career. Oh, and just in case you wanted to know, Frank and Pat raced each other twenty times in their careers and they each won ten times....Jay Payne reached a milestone when he added three more rounds to his total giving him a career record of 449 - 253, or 702 rounds of racing in the alky ranks. Did you know that Jay is the first to go over 700 rounds in the alcohol classes? Congratulations, Jay, Shelly and the rest of the team.