Wed, 1 Sep 2010, 12:34 AM Let's Go....For The 56th Time

By Bob Frey

With the 56^th running of the MAC Tools U.S. Nationals upon us and the "Countdown" beginning, each race will take on a little more meaning, especially for those drivers and teams that made the top ten. Of course the race itself is very special, and you don't have to take my word for it. If you read the "Reader's Choice" issue of National DRAGSTER you saw what Ed "The Ace" McCulloch said about the race. "I never won an NHRA championship and to this day that bothers me. But I've got six Indy wins and I'll always be proud of that, and I think it would bother me a lot more if I had won six championships but never won Indy." If you want to argue with "The Ace" go ahead and let me know how that works out for

Calvin Rice in 1955. Photo by NHRA.com

you!! And Larry Dixon, when asked about being the top seed in the playoffs responded, "I'm not thinking about the 'Countdown' right now, I'm thinking about Indy." It was also Larry who said that "losing Indy feels like someone ran over your dog." You get the idea, Indy is special and it has been since 1961. From Great Bend, Kansas (1955) to Kansas City (1956) to Oklahoma City (1957 - 1958) to Detroit (1959 - 1960) and finally to Indy, this is the race everyone wants to win. From Calvin Rice in 1955 to Tony Schumacher last year, winning Indy makes your year a success. Of course when Calvin won it was the only race of the year, or at least the only NHRA national event. Did you know the initial "Nationals" was rained out and was actually completed in Arizona two months later? I digress a bit here, but if you're ever lucky enough to get to spend some time with Fritz Voight, the runner-up at that 1955 Nationals, ask him about it, believe me, it's something you'll remember forever. He does.

Schumacher vs. Dixon in '09 Indy final. Photo by Auto Imagery, Inc.

I imagine that if anyone other than Tony Schumacher or Larry Dixon wins the race this week it will be a surprise, that's because the two of them have monopolized the TF winner's circle for the past ten years. During that time Tony has run off a staggering eight wins and one runner-up while Larry has been to five finals and won twice. Throw in the win in his rookie season of 1995 and Larry has a trio of Indy trophies on his mantle. Tony, who tied "Big Daddy" Don Garlits with his eighth win last year, has put together some unbelievable numbers at Indy, numbers that put him in a class of his own. Did you know that the "Sarge" is 41-5 in his Top Fuel career at Indy? For those who took French instead of math in school let me figure it out for you. That computes to a dizzy 89% winning total. Unbelievable....In addition to his great winning record and all the victories he has at Indy, Tony also has another little bit of drag racing history to his credit at the "Big Go." Did you know that in the entire history of Top Fuel at Indy Tony is the only driver to have ever swept the race? In 2007 he qualified number one, set low elapsed time and top speed while winning the race and he's the only fuel dragster driver to ever do that? Garlits didn't do it, Joe Amato didn't, and neither did Gary Beck, Don Prudhomme or anyone else. When you think of all the great Top Fuel champs at Indy it's amazing that none of them, other than Tony, ever won the race and dominated all of the statistical categories, too....After looking at Tony's remarkable won - loss record at the "Nationals," I thought I needed to see what "Big Daddy" did over the course of his Indy career. Now remember, there were years when Don had to run in class eliminations in order to get a shot at the championship. Taking that into

Austin vs. Manzo at '86 Indy. Photo by Auto Imagery, Inc.

consideration, and giving him a round win for class just like a round win in the eliminator bracket, Don put up a total of 60 - 12 at the "Nationals," and that computes to a very impressive winning total of 83%. And what about the "King of Pro Stock" at Indy, Bob Glidden? Well, the "Great One" won Indy nine times and was runner-up another six times, and of course his record of thirteen consecutive finals is a record that will never be broken, believe me. So for his time at Indy Bob went 61 -14 for an 81% winning number. And let's not forget Frank Manzo who will be going for his record-setting tenth Indy title. "Uncle" Frank, who has been to eleven finals at the "Big Go," is 61-19 for his efforts in Indiana and that computes to a lofty 76%. Let me tell you, when you've run as many races as Tony, Don, Bob and Frank have and you've won the amount of rounds and races that they have, you've had a very successful career, and you have given the fans a lot of great moments to remember....There are some others who have won more than 70% of their races at Indy and the list won't have any surprises. Ed McCulloch (76%), Pat Austin, 74%, including TAFC and TF, Jeg Coughlin (74%) and Don Prudhomme (70%). I'm sure there are more, but these are drivers who have all competed in at least twenty-five rounds and who have won a lot of races on the sport's biggest stage....Some of the great Pro Stock Motorcycle riders did very well at Indy, too. Did you know that Dave Schultz was 37 - 9 at Indy for an 80% winning average? John Myers wasn't far behind with his record of 22 - 6 which computes to 79%, and Angelle Sampey, who will officially retire at Indy this year, went 27 -11 for a 71% winning total. Not bad, huh?

Szafranski, Yours Truly and O'Donnell at '67 Indy.

When I come to Indy each year invariably I get asked about the first time I came to the "Nationals" and I always say the same thing, it was 1967 and I remember it like it was yesterday. Along with two of my best friends, Ray Szafranski and Mike O'Donnell, we decided on Friday afternoon that we wanted to go to Indy. Ray and I were in the Air Force at the time and we had some time off so we took advantage of that, and along with Mike we set out on our long weekend. Twelve hours later we were in Indiana, and as we got closer to the track we saw more and more rigs parked at the motels heading into town. Remember, back then nobody stayed at the track and all the teams used the hotel parking lots, and sometimes the hotel rooms, to work on their cars. I don't know if this part is true or not, but it's the way I remember it. The more money a team had the closer to the track they were, so after seeing a bunch of stockers parked miles away from the actual race track, as we got closer we saw all the "bigs," like Don Nicholson, Tommy Ivo, Garlits and the other superstars of the day. It was so cool and unlike anything you experience today, and for me it was one of the best parts of the trip. Once we got to the track we grabbed a spot in the stands (there were no reserved seats back then) and we stayed there for most of the day, through the pros and the sportsman racers and we loved every minute of it. By the time the weekend was over we had seen Ben Wenzel win in Stock Eliminator (yes, that Ben Wenzel), Doug Thorley stun the Funny Cars and Don Cain pull off one of the biggest upsets in history when his single-engine Top Gas car beat the feared "Freight Train" in the semi-finals and then finished off the weekend with a win over Bob Pacitto. And,

Garlits after winning in '67. Photo by NHRA.com

yes, the three of us did rush the starting line to watch "Big Daddy" shave his beard after making that historic 6.77 run in the finals against James Warren. It was all spectacular and we never stopped talking about it for the entire twelve hour ride home.....Did you know that Don won that race after qualifying 23^rd in the field, just ahead of Fred Welchman and some guy by the name of Jim Dunn? Speaking of Don's big win I have to mention this. I was at the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing earlier this year and I was treated to a tour of the "inner sanctum." And when we went upstairs to where Don has hundreds, literally, of classic jackets stored away I saw it, the most beautiful jacket I had ever seen. Believe it or not Don still has the jacket that he was awarded for winning Indy in 1967. It has his name on it and the winning time (they were big on putting times or speeds on jackets back then) and it was perfectly preserved, as most of his jackets are. As we took it off the rack and I held it up, for one, brief, fleeting moment I was back on the starting line with Don and thousands of fans as they celebrated what is still regarded as one of the great moments in Indy history. And I was there. So now you know about my first Indy experience, and at the risk of getting abused, I've attached a photo of me with Ray and Mike at that '67 Indy race. Thanks to Father Ed Aigner for that little bit of photographic history. I think!!!

Glidden and Cunningham testing.

The rumor that I'm hearing is that Bob Glidden may be driving this week at Indy. Word has it that he was testing today and that he may be behind the wheel of Jim Cunningham's Ford, which would make it Bob's first appearance at Indy since 1998 and his first stint behind the wheel of any Pro Stock car since the 2003 season. Did you know that Bob competed at Indy twenty-six times and that included every year from 1973 through 1996? He was, for the better part of a quarter of a century, one of the real fixtures at Indy, and as I mentioned, his record of thirteen consecutive final rounds is the stuff that legends are made of. I would love to see him race and I'd really like to see him qualify for the race. Did you know that Bob has 597 round wins to his credit? And did you know that there are only

Glidden vs. Johnson in '88.

three drivers in the history of the sport John Force (1068), Warren Johnson (866) and Kenny Bernstein (681) with 600 or more round wins in their careers? Now I know that if you talk to Bob he will say that numbers like that don't mean anything to him, but they do to me. For all he has done in the sport, and for all the great moments he has given us, I would like to see him get those three round wins. I don't know if he will race at Indy and I don't know if he'll qualify if he does show up, but I do know this. If and when Bob Glidden comes to the starting line you'll hear one of the biggest and loudest ovations that we've heard at Indy in a long time. Kind of makes me wish Ray and Mike were coming to Indy this year. Did you know that Ford, which was Bob's car of choice for most of his career, has won Indy ten times and that Bob accounts for eight of those wins? Wayne Gapp in 1975 and Don Nicholson in 1977 won the other two. And did you know that the last time a Ford, any Ford won Indy was when Bob beat Warren Johnson in the final round in 1988? Those ten wins tie Ford with Pontiac for the most wins by a manufacturer at Indy in Pro Stock.

McClenathan at the Indy test last week. Photo by NHRA

In addition to all the excitement that goes with Indy, this year the teams will begin their championship quest at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Larry Dixon, John Force, Mike Edwards and Andrew Hines all come in as the top ranked drivers in their classes and all have a thirty point edge on the field. A little more than half, twenty-one, of the forty drivers who qualified for the "Countdown" have won races so far this year. Larry's nine wins and Mike's eight are the best while John and Andrew each have won four times....A lot of the teams were busy testing in Indy last week and Cory McClenathan (3.790) and Bob Tasca (4.077) paced the fields in Top Fuel and Funny Car respectively. Of course testing is one thing and actually running well this week is another, but it's always nice to get a few good runs under your belt before the marathon that is Indy begins. The fuel teams have to test a lot of things, like the chassis, especially if it's new, the clutch disc, especially if they're new, and much more. It's a long, arduous process but it has to be done, or at least a lot of the teams think it has to be done.Cory, who has a great history at Indy, comes in as the number two guy in the points and he looks like he has a car and a team that can make a serious run for the championship. Did you know that this will be Cory's twenty-first trip to Indy and that includes two in the

John Gaydosh

Top Alcohol Dragster class? Cory ran TAD in 1989 and '90 and he made it to the final round in 1990 only to lose to Bill Barney who had a perfect reaction time in the final round. Cory has also been to the finals at the "Big Go" three times in Top Fuel and he has picked up a couple of wins..For his part, Bob Tasca, who is in only his third year in Funny Car, also has a final round appearance in the Lucas Oil series at Indy. In 2007 Bob had the best seat in the house to watch Frank Manzo win his ninth Indy title. Since both Cory and Bob ran in the sportsman ranks I thought I would point out that twelve of the drivers who have qualified for the "Countdown" in either Top Fuel or Funny Car all raced in the alky ranks at one time or another....One of the special unveiling's that will take place this weekend involves John Gaydosh and his Pro Stock car. John has his car all done up in patriotic colors as he honors the men and women who have served our country in all branches of the armed forces. It's a great looking car and John is involved in a program called Hot Rods for Heroes, a program you'll hear much more about in the coming weeks. Stop by his pit area this weekend especially if you are a current or former veteran of the armed forces.

If you're coming to Indy this week and you have some free time, which means that you're not a worker or racer at the "Nationals' this year, take in some of the activities that will surround the event. Morgan Lucas and his team will be heading up a big golf tournament on Thursday at the Eagle Creek Golf Club. A lot of the NHRA stars will be there, and even if you don't golf, it should be fun to watch them play and you can get some pictures and autographs before you even go to the track. I noticed that one of the features at the event is a "Hole-in-One" package, and I guess the fact that I got that hole-in-one last year is why I didn't get an invitation. Oh well, I'm working Thursday anyway.. The next day, Friday, there is a big open house at Don Schumacher Racing's palatial estate, and it is palatial, believe me. The 100,000 square foot shop will be open to visitors and they are going to have a good, old-fashioned Cacklefest as part of the festivities when five of the vintage Funny Cars will fire up and that sounds like a lot of fun. So see the cars, meet the drivers and bring your cameras because the open house at Don's place is always a treat..And when you're in Indy you should make sure to stop by Bruce Litton's shop. Located right across the street from the main gate, Bruce has a wonderful collection of cars and his shop has actually been made to look just like the main street of his home town and that includes a working soda fountain, movie theater and more. Bruce doesn't know that I'm inviting you, but just mention my name when you get to the doors. Once you've completed all of that, then head to the track for what should be another great running of the "Big Go." See you there!!