Tue, 10 Aug 2010, 10:04 PM May The Best Man Win, Or At Least Make The Countdown

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Tammy and Jim Oberhofer

A Top Fuel crew chief on "Dancing With the Stars?" I have heard of a lot of strange things in the years that I have covered this sport but that may be the most unusual thing that I have heard. Ok, so maybe it's not the most unusual but it's in the top ten. And yet it seems that Jim Oberhofer, crew chief for Doug Kalitta, may have a date with the popular television show. Admittedly "date" may be getting a little ahead of ourselves, but Jim and his wife, Tammy, are really into this ballroom dancing craze, and from what I hear, they're pretty good at it. I have to admit that, in my family, any show with dancing in it gets prime time viewing. "Dancing with the Stars," "So You Think You can Dance" and others are just some of the reasons why we have more than one television in our house. Everybody in the Frey family loves dancing, it's just that some love it more than others. Anyway, ballroom dancing is a long way from getting roughed up on the starting line after a big win, like the one Doug had in Denver, but it appears that Jim and Tammy are enjoying themselves and that's a good thing, and who knows, maybe they (or one of them) will get invited on the show and then they can make us all proud. Jim and Tammy are both very nice people, although I have to admit, dancing was never one of the things I pictured Jim doing, at least not in public..Did you know that Jim and his brother, Jon, who is the crew chief on Jeff Arend's car, are second-generation racers? Their father, Dave, raced back in the late 1960's and early 1970's and he once campaigned a Jr. Fuel Dragster with the New York Yankees' logo on it. He also ran another car with an unusual name, but I'll let the boys tell you about that (if you dare ask them). Dave won the B/Fuel Dragster class at the AHRA Springnationals by running almost 200 miles per hour with a small-block Chevy on fuel. Yeah, but the big question is, can he dance? By the way, the valve covers on the little Chevy were stamped with the words, "Oberhofer and Sons."

Grubnic vs. McMillen

The Oberhofer's, and the rest of the Team Kalitta camp, have two jobs this weekend and they don't have anything to do with dancing. David Grubnic, who drives one of the two Top Fuel cars for owner and Hall of Fame member, Connie Kalitta, is currently in tenth place in the standings with 609 points. Since you get twenty points for every round you win, that means that he is less than one round ahead of Terry McMillen, whose 590 points have him in eleventh place in the dragster standings. A closer look at the matter would indicate that qualifying could be very important for the two. If David can grab a few extra points in qualifying, either by his final position in the field or by getting some of the "little points,' he could move himself more than a full round ahead of Terry and that would be huge. For his part Terry can't make much of a move before eliminations start but he can do his best to keep the deficit to a minimum, and that means less than one full round. For the record, David's best starting spot this year came at the last race in Denver when he qualified third in the field. Did you know that was his best qualifying position in the last thirty-eight races? On the other hand, Terry's best start for the year came in St. Louis when he qualified seventh in the field. It's important for the Amalie team to try to keep it to just a one-round lead for the "Aussie" as they head into Sunday. David and Terry have only raced once so far this year and that was in Houston, a first-round encounter that David won. Both drivers will probably be nervous, I know I would be, and it would be fitting if they qualified opposite each other and had to face each other in round one. At least I think it would be. Good luck to both of them.Larry Dixon has already locked up the top spot in the "Countdown" for the dragsters and seven other drivers know that they'll be in the playoffs for sure. Steve Torrence is ninth, and even though he hasn't clinched yet, he would almost have to skip the race in order to get knocked out of the top ten. So it will all come down to David and Terry to see which driver has the better weekend in Minnesota and to see which one will be racing with the stars on Labor Day.

Tony Pedregon's new colors.

Tony Pedregon is going to show up with a purple and yellow car this weekend, and as much as it may look like a Minnesota Vikings car, it isn't. Tony will be flying the colors of Charter Communications this weekend, and since they have a big presence in the Brainerd area, Tony would love to do well this weekend, and he actually will have some Vikings' identification on the car. "Hey, we'll do anything to get more fans on our side," he told me. But Tony's real focus this weekend will be to make the "Countdown." Ironically, the one car that he is trying to hold off is also running out of Team Kalitta, and that's the DHL Toyota of Jeff Arend, and that's the second big goal for that team in Brainerd, to get Jeff in the "Countdown". Nine drivers have already clinched a spot in the "Countdown" in the Funny Car class and that means it's either Tony or Jeff who will get a chance to run for the money this year. Tony's thirty-three point lead has him more than a full round ahead of Jeff so he has a little breathing room. After running at the Norwalk match-race last week, Tony said that the team tried some things that they may utilize in Brainerd. "We're not going to get crazy," he said. "But we do need to stay ahead of Jeff and we have a few things that we may try in order to secure that last spot." Tony and Jeff haven't raced each other this year, but like I said about the dragsters, it would be best if we saw a one-run, winner takes all match this weekend. They did race at the Brainerd event last year, and it did happen in round one and Tony got the

Cruz Pedregon celebrates 1992 win.

win. Overall the two have only raced eleven times and Tony has won seven of those meetings. For Tony this will be his sixteenth appearance at the Brainerd event while Jeff has only raced there three times before this year. I said a few weeks back that I honestly thought that Jeff would make the cut, and I also said at the time that I didn't know who would get knocked out of the top ten. Well, now we know, it will either be Jeff or Tony joining either David or Terry in the "Countdown.".It's not out of the realm of possibility that Cruz Pedregon could catch and pass Jeff, but it would take nothing short of a miracle for that to happen. Jeff is forty-eight points up on the two-time series champ and that means that Cruz would have to go to the final round to have any shot at making the top ten. But, as we have seen in the past, Cruz can put on those bursts and seemingly come from out of nowhere to score a lot of points, make the "Countdown" or win a championship. Having said that, and even with as good as the Snap-On Tools car is running, I don't think there's enough time for Cruz to get it done this year. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Did you know that it was at this race in 1992 where Cruz started his string of five consecutive wins, a streak that took him to the championship that year? Cruz qualified number one at that race and never looked back, beating Norm Wilding, Del Worsham Al Hofmann and Mark Oswald to get the win....Whoever

Jim Head in 1985 at Brainerd.

it is in Funny Car this week, if you want to win, I'll give you a hint.qualify in the top half of the field. Did you know that in the previous twenty-eight races at Brainerd the Funny Car winner has come from the top half of the field twenty-seven times? Only in 1985, when Jim Head won after qualifying twelfth, has the FC winner come from the bottom half of the field in Minnesota..By the way, if past performances are any indication of the future, let's just give the trophy to John Force right now. Did you know that John has won the Brainerd race a staggering eleven times in his career? In addition to that, did you know that John has won more rounds at Brainerd than he has at any other single event on the Full Throttle tour? His sixty-six round wins are better than the sixty-one rounds he has won at Atlanta, his second best stop on the circuit. Sixty-six, that's a lot of rounds to win at one event, isn't it? Did you know that all the other drivers in the top ten in the Funny Car class have won a combined total of eighty-two rounds at Brainerd?

Warren Johnson in 1982 at Brainerd.

There are no Top Fuel or Funny Car drivers who have raced at all of the Brainerd events, but there is one Pro Stock driver who has. It should come as no surprise that the driver is Warren Johnson, and 2010 will be his twenty-ninth appearance at Brainerd. Did you know that in the first year of this race, back in 1982, Warren qualified third in the field behind Bob Glidden and Lee Shepherd. And did you know that the Pro Stock field that year was just an eight-car field? In fact, all three of the pro classes that year were just eight-car fields. Bob Glidden qualified number one that year but he didn't win the race, in fact, the number one qualifier in Pro Stock hasn't had a lot of success at this event. Did you know that the last time the top qualifier won in Pro Stock in Brainerd was in 1986? Amazing, isn't it? Better yet, did you know that since 1990 the number one qualifier has only made it to the final round five times in Minnesota? Because I am here to help I'd like to give the Pro Stock drivers a little bit of inside information about this race. If you want to win this weekend you would be wise to start from the number two spot. Did you know that the number two qualifier has won in Pro

Bruce Allen vs. Bob Glidden in the 1986 Pro Stock final.

Stock ten times, including the first year when Lee Shepherd won the race?...Eight drivers have secured spots in the "Countdown" in Pro Stock but the ninth and tenth drivers, Johnny Gray and Rodger Brogdon, are virtual locks for a spot in the top ten. Kurt Johnson, who is in eleventh place, is eighty points behind the "Pistonator" and that's a lot to make up at one race. Basically, Rodger would have to miss the field and Kurt would have to win the race. Now I'm not a betting man, but if I were, I know which side of that proposition I would be on. If Kurt needed to come to a track and do well there would be no better place than Brainerd for him to do it. Did you know that Kurt has won more races at Brainerd than he has at any other track on the tour? And except for Seattle, where he has already been this year, Kurt has won more rounds at Brainerd (32) than he has at any other track. Still, with all of that going for him, he might not have enough time left to make the top ten. Like Cruz Pedregon, KJ has been running well lately but it just may be a case of too little and too late. Bob Yonke is only four points behind Kurt but he would really need all of the planets to align for him to be able to make the cut.

Hector Arana

For the first time in a long while I really think the Pro Stock Motorcycle class is up for grabs this year. Five riders have already locked in spots and the next five are feeling very good about their chances. Only Shawn Gann, who is in eleventh place, has a chance at crashing the party. But like Cruz and KJ, Shawn will need a lot of things to fall in place if he wants to be in the top ten. Currently he is fifty-seven points behind Craig Treble in the battle for tenth place. Can it be done? Sure. Will it? I don't think so. But like I always say, that's why we make them go out and run the race. A little glitch here or there, or a DNQ by someone, and Shawn could sneak in and get a chance to run for the championship....The bike class is the only one where the top driver in the points hasn't won a race yet this year. Hector Arana, the reigning Full Throttle Champion, has been to four final rounds this year but has yet to close the deal. When you throw in the Las Vegas race at the end of 2009 you now have Hector being 0-5 in his last five final round appearances. Even with that he is still the top ranked rider in the standings as we head to Brainerd...1987 was the first year for the motorcycles at Brainerd and Steve Johnson was part of that field, just like he has been for all of the bike races at BIR. The top three qualifiers that year reads like an All Star lineup, with "Pizza" John Mafaro, Terry Vance and Dave Schultz occupying those spots....Did you know that Antron Brown has more wins in the bike class at Brainerd than any other rider? AB, now in the Top Fuel ranks, won it four times while Matt Hines and the late Dave Schultz both won three races in Minnesota.

Bill Reichert

Five of the top ten drivers in the Top Alcohol Dragster class are entered for the Brainerd event, but there are only eleven dragsters on the entry list and that's a shame. A full field, with some of the top drivers in the class, would make for a great weekend. As it is, Bill Reichert, Duane Shields, Shawn Cowie, Chris Demke and Darren Nicholson will be in Minnesota, and even with a short field, that should make for some very good racing. If the other drivers want to have a shot at catching the leader, Bill Reichert, they better try to get him out early this weekend. Oh yeah, good luck with that.....The Top Alcohol Funny Car entry list is even shorter, with only ten drivers entered. Among that group is Frank Manzo who loves running in Minnesota. Actually Frank loves running anywhere but he really does like the Brainerd track. Did you know that Frank has been to the final round six times at Brainerd and he has won it four times? Three of those wins have come in the last four years while the other one came back in 1982. Ironically, that 1982 race also featured a short field and it was only an eight-car field, or should I say a seven car field. One other driver who was in the '82 lineup will also be racing this weekend and that's Vern Moats. Did you know that this will be Vern's 254^th race in TAFC and that's the most in the history of the class. Way to go, Vern.