Tue, 12 Oct 2010, 08:20 PM That Was Some Fun

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

The 26^th running of the Toyo Tires Nationals had a little bit of something for everyone. There was excitement almost from the very beginning and it lasted all the way until the final cars had gone down the track late on Sunday night. Not as late as some Sunday's at Maple Grove, mind you, but later than originally planned. It all began on Thursday night when a big crowd gathered to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Darrell Gwynn benefit softball game. In addition to the players who were there, there were a surprising number of folks who had been at the game and who all remembered it fondly. They even dug out some old Diamond P video of the game and that brought back a lot of memories. Several thousand dollars were raised for Darrell's foundation that night and more was raised on Sunday when they had the "Track Walk for Those Who Can't." A few hundred people paid twenty dollars apiece for the right to walk down the track on Sunday morning. When it was announced that $5,300 had been raised from the walk, Kenny Koretsky announced that he would match that amount. A few moments later came word that fellow Pro Stock racer, Rodger Brogdon, would also match the $5,300. As you might expect, the fans gave both drivers a great round of applause for their charity..In addition to all that was going on with Darrell, several people were inducted into Maple Grove's Walk of Fame. The class of 2010 included Dave McClelland, Steve Gibbs, Darwin Doll, Dallas Gardner, Jack Redd, the Gwynn family and Kenny Koretsky. Maple Grove then gave "Big Mac" a plaque and they announced that they had named the announcing booth at the track after Dave. That was a nice gesture on the part of the track and I'm sure Dave really appreciated it.

Hagan sets E.T. recod.

The racing got off to a sluggish start because of all the rain they had in the area and Thursday's action was actually cancelled altogether. After a few hours of trying to eliminate what we call "weepers" on the track, spots where water seeps up through the asphalt, the action began on Friday and it was fast and furious for the rest of the weekend. I mentioned last week that all three of the professional class records were set at Maple Grove in 1992, and while we didn't have three new records we did have one. Matt Hagan, driving one of the hottest cars in the class right now, made the second quickest run in Funny Car history when he went 4.011 on Friday. Did you know that the only quicker run in Funny Car is the 4.005 that Robert Hight made in Richmond two years ago? When Matt came back on Saturday and ran 4.046 the record was his, and when nobody ran better than that on Sunday he picked up a very important twenty bonus points and they helped him take over the points lead for

Force Hood blows the body off.

the first time in his career. Did you know that Matt is just the 37^th driver to ever lead the points in the Funny Car class? Matt's record also is note worthy for another reason. Coming into Reading he was already the record holder with the 4.022 that he ran earlier this year in Joliet, so in essence he took the record away from himself. Ok, so that's not exactly the proper way to put it but you know what I mean. Did you know that Matt became the first Funny Car driver since 2001 to set the record twice in the same calendar year? John Force did it in '01 when he set the mark in Joliet and then lowered it in Reading. Matt also set the record this year in Joliet before lowering it in Reading. What are the odds? Matt did everything but win the race, and that happens a lot

Creasy Jr. gets the freebie when Force can't get the car to back up from burnout.

when guys set the national record. Ok, maybe not a lot, but they don't always combine the record with a win. Did you know that of the last eight times that the national record has been set in the Funny Car class the driver who set the record has won just four times? I have to admit that surprised me a little, after all, when you have the best car on the property you are expected to win.Winning at Maple Grove is tough when you qualify number one in Funny Car. Did you know that, in the past twenty years of the event the top qualifier has won just three times in Funny Car? Three!! And in the last nine years there have been nine different drivers in the top spot and none of them could close the deal....A lot of the fans were excited about the change of dates for the race, but I know one team who doesn't like running in Reading in October and that is Team Force. What a tough weekend for them, as Robert had an engine explosion and broke a body on Friday in round one of qualifying and then Ashley did the same in the next round. After they fixed them up all three of the Fords lost in the first round on Sunday and they all did it in their own, unique way. Robert smoked the tires against Tony Pedregon, Ashley had another explosion and broke another Mustang body and John, well, John's loss was just plain weird. After his burnout John couldn't get the car to come back to the line and he had to be waved on down the track and that gave Dale Creasy the win and ended the day for Team Force. As much as the entire team would probably like to skip Maple Grove next year nobody probably wants to do it more than Ashley. Last she had a big engine

Pedregon celebrates win.

explosion during qualifying, put another body on the car, beat Jeff Arend and then was disqualified for being light at the scales. I'm pretty sure the "Grove" isn't one of her favorite places....As for John, did you know that he has now raced at all twenty-six events at Maple Grove and he has either gone to the final round or lost in the first round at twenty of those races? Talk about your "all or nothing" events..Cruz Pedregon continues to be the talk of the pits. After struggling over most of the season Cruz and his team have come to be one of the real surprises in the class. Cruz won his second race since we began the "Countdown" and that's better than anyone else in the class. Of course Cruz isn't in the "Countdown" so it's not really a factor, but winning races is. Did you know that Cruz became the first Funny Car driver in the history of the event to win after qualifying sixth in the field? He also set top speed in the class, and while it's the 32^nd time in his career he has done that, it's been a long while since his last time. Did you know that the last time Cruz set top speed at a race was back in Brainerd in 1998 at a race that he also won? That's a long time, isn't it? Cruz beat his brother, Tony, in round two in what was Tony's 802nd round of racing. Did you know that Tony is only the eighth professional racer in the history to have competed in more than 800 rounds?

Dixon celebrates win.

Larry Dixon continues to have the best year of his career and that's saying a lot when you talk about him. Larry won his twelfth race in as many final rounds this year and, in the process, stretched his lead over Cory McClenathan to eighty-nine points. Since that's more than four rounds it's going to take a real good final two races for Cory to win that elusive championship. Larry and Cory were the top two qualifiers in the field, and when they met in the final it was out of the ordinary for Maple Grove, or any event for that matter. Did you know that this was only the second time that the two top qualifiers have met in a Top Fuel final round in Reading? The other time it happened was in 2005 when the number one guy, Tony Schumacher, beat the number two guy, Larry Dixon..Larry won the race and dominated all of the performance categories, which in my terms is a "Sweep" of the event. Did you know that in twenty-six years Larry is just the third driver to accomplish that at Maple Grove? Actually he's the second, since Tony Schumacher did it twice, but only three times has the Top Fuel low qualifier set low elapsed time and top speed while winning the race....Larry's number one spot was

Brown vs. Schumacher

his first at Maple Grove and it now gives him at least one top spot at twenty-five different venues in the tour. The win was also his 60^th and that makes him one of only four nitro drivers to have that many. John Force, Kenny Bernstein and Tony Schumacher are the other three...Larry and Cruz, who have been racing for a long time now, won the same event for just the fifth time in their careers, but it's the second time that it has happened in the last three races? Go figure.Say what you want about team cars but never say anything except the fact that the Team Schumacher cars run heads-up. After all, if it were my team, I'm sure I would rather have had Tony advance than Antron Brown in round two, and then "AB" almost beat Cory in the next round. The "Don" has put together some great teams with tremendous sponsors and they should all be proud of the way they raced on Sunday. Nice job, great racing, and thanks for giving the fans a great show..Larry's win gave him four more round wins for a total of 596 for his career. Did you know that is the fifth best in the history of the sport and it moves Larry to within one round of Bob Glidden?...The Top Fuel battle now is down to two teams and the Vegas race could determine the champion.

How about that Dave Connolly? After not racing for the better part of the last two years he comes back and wins in just his second start. Dave, who ran twice in 2009 and once this year prior to Maple Grove, beat some very good drivers to win his 22^nd national event in Pro Stock. On a weekend when a lot of attention was paid to the health of one of the great Pro Stock racers of all time, Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, Dave went out and won in a Chevrolet and that has to make Bill happy. Well, maybe it made him smile a little bit. Did you know that Dave has won twenty-two races in a Chevrolet and that's fourth best in the history of the class? Even with his layoff from the pro classes Dave told the media after the race that he still has made hundreds of runs this year and that helped keep him sharp. Apparently it did. Did you know that Dave was first off the line in three of the four rounds on Sunday, including the final round which went in the books as a holeshot win? In those four runs he averaged a .023 on the line and that's really good. Did you know that for his entire career, which is almost three hundred rounds, Dave has averaged a .033 on the starting line? Not bad, is it? After the race Dave said that he is going to Pomona but is not yet sure if he will be in Las Vegas. As a fan I hope he is, as a competitor I'm sure

Connolly celebrates win.

they hope he takes the rest of the year off...Mike Edwards' red light in round one was just one of the many wacky things that took place in Pro Stock. When the round was over only Dave, the number six qualifier, and Jason Line, number four, had advanced from the top half of the field. That means that six drivers who started the day from the bottom half of the field won their opening round matches and that almost never happens. Did you know that in the entire history of Pro Stock, which covers 663 races, this was only the eighth time that six or more drivers from the top half lost in round one? And do you know when the last time was? How about in 2004 at the race in Dallas? At that event, only one driver from the top half, Steve Johns, won in round one. And do you know who the eventual winner of that race was? You guessed it, Dave Connolly..Just like Cruz in the Funny Car class Dave became the first driver to win at Maple Grove after starting sixth in the field....With his runner-up finish Greg Anderson is now the points leader and he is thirty-six points ahead of Mike Edwards. That's a little less than two rounds so the qualifying at Las Vegas will be very important for both of those drivers.

Hines celebrates win.

What are the odds of Andrew Hines and LE Tonglet meeting in another final round? Let's face it, they are the two hottest riders in the class right now and the win in Maple Grove was huge for Andrew. First of all, it came after three consecutive final-round losses to LE. Second, it came in Andrew's seventh consecutive final round. And third, and most important, it put LE seventy-two points down and that's more than three rounds and that's a lot with only eight rounds to go..The win was the first for Andrew at Maple Grove and that gives him national event wins at fourteen different events. Did you know that is the second best record in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class and it ties him with his brother, Matt, for the most wins at different events? The only one who has done better is Angelle Sampey who won at seventeen separate races....Hector Arana showed signs of the old "Hammer" but I'm afraid it's too little and way too late. Still, he did grab the top spot in qualifying for the first time since the Sonoma race..Even though he is still new to the class LE has done a great job riding the Nitro Fish Suzuki. His loss in the final round was only his second holeshot loss of the year even though he had a good .043 reaction time. Did you know that for this, his rookie year, LE has averaged a .045 reaction time? As I always say, in the interest of fair reporting, the .043 was the slowest reaction time for LE in his six final rounds this year. By the way, watch for some new and good things to come from the LE pits in the days ahead. I can say no more....Like Cruz and Dave, Andrew became the first rider to win from his qualifying spot at Maple Grove. Being third best in qualifying isn't bad, but historically at the "Grove" being first or second is the place to be in the bike class. Did you know that in the eighteen years that we have run bikes in Reading the top two qualifiers have won eleven times?

Kelly Wade wrapped up the Lucas Oil racing earlier this week on DragRaceCentral.com, but I wanted to congratulate first-time winners, John Bojec and Mike Austin who won in the alky classes. They were joined by a couple of other first-timers including Steve Szukpa in Comp, Joey Cambria in Super Comp and James Schreiner in Super Street..And for the first time this decade Frank Manzo didn't win the Maple Grove race and that just goes to show you how wacky the weekend was.