Tue, 19 Oct 2010, 11:48 PM Too Much Time Off

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Luke Bogacki

I don't know about you but the two weeks between the Maple Grove race and the Las Vegas race is too much time off for me. We get into a fever pitch for the "Countdown," we have a great race in Pennsylvania, we narrow the fields down to a couple of drivers and then we have to wait. I know there are reasons for the time off but it's killing me. I did get to spend some time at the races this past weekend when I went to Silver Dollar Raceway in Georgia for the Lucas Oil race, and while I enjoyed that a lot, I was still thinking about the Full Throttle championship battle. As I was doing that a couple of things started to come into focus on the Lucas Oil series, like Luke Bogacki winning in Georgia to move into a first place tie with Ray Miller in the Super Comp points. Or Mickey Ferro beating Jay Payne in the finals of the Top Alcohol Funny Car class to virtually lock up the Division 2 title. But as exciting as that was, and as much fun as I had in Georgia, I was still thinking about the next two races of the Full Throttle series, two races that can't come soon enough for me.

Jeff Byrd

Before I continue I have to send condolences to the family of Jeff Byrd. As you all know by now Jeff lost his battle with cancer earlier this week, and when he did, drag racing lost one of its best friends, most loyal supporters and biggest cheerleaders. I was fortunate to know Jeff since his early days with R.J. Reynolds and we shared some great moments together. I once wore a three-foot tall cowboy hat at a banquet for Jeff and even performed as "Funny Car-nac the Magnificent," a take off on the Johnny Carson character "Carnac the Magnificent." It may not have been as good as Johnny but we loved it. To protect Jeff's memory I won't show any pictures of those two events. Ok, so it's to protect me but I know that Jeff would understand. I attended dinners with him and the President, or Presidents, of R. J. Reynolds and we talked about everything from the state of the economy to the future of drag racing. And every time, every moment, every event that Jeff was a part of was very special. You couldn't be around Jeff and not have a good time. His sense of humor and enthusiasm were unmatched as was his love for the sport and his devotion to his family. I remember when Jeff told me that he was leaving Winston to go to work for Bruton Smith and I wondered, "What is he thinking?" But like everything else he did, Jeff gave it a lot of thought and made the right decision. Since his time with Bruton he became a vital part of that organization and that was a good thing for drag racing. He revitalized Bristol Dragway and it has become one of the crown jewels on the Full Throttle schedule. When we learned earlier this year that he was sick we all felt for him and his family, and when we learned that he passed away on Sunday we all felt a profound loss. There won't be anyone who can replace Jeff because he was, truly, a one of a kind person. To say that he will be missed by all of us is a huge understatement. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family. I know that my next trip to Thunder Valley will not be the same, but I also know that Jeff's spirit will live on forever, and it will give us all the strength we need to carry on.

Dixon vs. McClenathan

I receive and read a lot of press releases before, during and after the races and one recently caught my attention. It was about the two contenders for the Top Fuel championship, Larry Dixon and Cory McClenathan, having lunch together in Indianapolis. "We've been good friends for a long time," Cory said. "Larry has some buildings in Brownsburg and I rent some space in one of them to store my 1966 Nova. Still, I was surprised to see that we got some funny looks from people who recognized us." I don't know why, after all, drag racers are allowed to be friends off the track and bitter rivals on the track, aren't they? What I want to know is who picked up the check?....Larry and Cory will renew their rivalry when we return to action in Las Vegas and Cory said that, "Larry knows this isn't over yet and he knows that I'm not going to give up." It's that kind of attitude that should make the last two races of the season a lot of fun for everyone. Well, almost everyone, I'm not sure how much fun it will be for those two....Going into Las Vegas Larry has an eighty-nine point lead and that's more than four rounds so Cory certainly has his work cut out for him. Larry is coming off his twelfth win of the year in twelve final round appearances and he's coming off a sweep of the Maple Grove event. Did you know that Larry has now swept ten events in his career? And did you know that four of those ten have happened this year? He is certainly, if you'll pardon the expression, in the driver's seat, but as Cory said, he's not going away....So far this year, in addition to his dozen wins, Larry has won a total of 59 rounds. Did you know that ties his personal record for the most round wins in a single season? In 2003, one of his championship years, Larry won 59 rounds and he looks like he's ready to eclipse that this year. The most round wins in a season in Top Fuel happened during Tony Schumacher's spectacular 2008 season when he won an amazing seventy-six rounds. Kenny Bernstein won sixty-one rounds in 2001 and Tony won sixty in 2004 and they are the only drivers with more round wins in a single season than Larry has right now. Of course if Larry has anything to say about that he'll add to his total, and if Cory has anything to say about it, well, you know!....There are a bunch of Top Fuel cars entered for the Las Vegas and Pomona events and that includes several cars from overseas and it includes some that have never raced before in the states. We'll have more on them next week.

Dale Emory at '74 Winternationals.

The press release put out by the John Force Racing pr staff told about the trials and tribulations of Team Force as they try to re-group after the Maple Grove race. Like I said last week, if there is one team that wants to forget about that race it's John's team. Three Ford Mustang bodies got busted up, but worse than that, three drivers all lost in the first round. With eight rounds remaining in the year Matt Hagan leads the points and he is sixty-four points ahead of John. That's more than three rounds although some of those points can be made up in qualifying. Of course, since Matt's the record holder, it's not going to be easy to gain ground by qualifying higher than he does. Not impossible, just not easy....Matt's performance moved him to the top of the standings in the Funny Car class and it also marked the first time in more than a year that the points weren't led by someone from Team Force. With 668 Funny Car races in the books it's amazing that only thirty-seven drivers have ever led the points. Several of them get credit for leading the points because they won the Winternationals. Did you know that, of those

Al Segrini vs. Dale Pulde in '85 Winternationals final.

thirty-seven drivers who have been on top of the Funny Car points, three of them did it simply because they won the Winternationals? Dale Emery, Tim Grose and Al Segrini (three times), all had the points lead after winning in Pomona and they never led the points again after that. Still, to be in a group of just thirty-seven drivers is a pretty good honor, don't you think?... There was a nice article on John Force in the New York Times today. If you want to check it out, here's where you can find it http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/sports/autoracing/19force.html?ref=sports. Anytime a publication like the NYT does a story on drag racing it's a good thing, and maybe you could read it and share it with a friend. The writer was at Maple Grove so he got to see John go through one of the toughest weekends of his career, but compared to that Dallas weekend, which he talks about in the story, Maple Grove was a walk in the park, so to speak....Jack Beckman is ninety-three points behind Matt, so if you think that Cory can catch Larry you have to think that Jack can catch Matt. Of course the difference is that Jack would have to pass two drivers, not one, to take the lead. Still, the MTS/Valvoline Dodge

Tim Grose vs. John Force in '86 Winternationals final.

has been running well and anything is possible. A first round exit by the leaders in Las Vegas could change the entire complexion of the championship battle. For the record, Matt hasn't lost in round one since Norwalk and Jack hasn't lost in round one since Topeka....Tim Wilkerson will have a new look next week and we're proud to say that it will be the look of a Summit Racing team. Tim, who has had an association with Summit for several years, will

Wilkerson in Summit colors. Photo by TWR

fly the red, white and blue at Las Vegas as he attempts to win his first race in the "Countdown." Jim Greenleaf, Motorsports and Events Manager for Summit, said that he is pleased that Tim will be flying the team colors in Las Vegas. "We have always had a great relationship with Tim. He's a great ambassador for the sport and our company and we value that partnership." One extra note about the car is the fact that it is actually painted and not wrapped as so many cars are these days. "We really wanted it to stand out," Tim said. "And painting it was the best way to do that. It really looks great."

Greg Anderson's surge over the past few races has not only made him a challenger for the championship it has made him the leader. With three consecutive final rounds Greg and his Summit Racing team are thirty-six points ahead of Mike Edwards and eighty-five up on Greg Stanfield. For Greg, it's the first time that he has been in the lead since Indy in 2008, and for Mike it's the first time he's been out of the lead since

Anderson was test at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway today. Photo by John Bisci, LVMS

Indy last year. Both drivers have everything it takes to win a championship and the team that makes the fewest mistakes over the next two races will win it all. Of course you can't count out Stanfield, although he has the same problem as Jack, and that is he needs to pass two drivers and that won't be easy. In an effort to get a little head start on the race, Greg Anderson was doing some testing at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway today. Whether it helps or not remains to be seen, but Greg, who drives for Las Vegas native, Ken Black, would love to put the title out of reach at Ken's home track.Richard Freeman is entered for the Las Vegas race and it's always interesting to see how a rookie driver does in the class. Of course Richard may be a rookie to NHRA Pro Stock but that's about all since he has driven a lot of very good race cars and his Elite Motorsports team cars have run well over the past two years. He has raced in the IHRA mountain-motor Pro Stock class over the years and has done well there. With good power, a good car and lots of driving experience, Richard could sneak in and grab a spot in the sixteen car field. Stay tuned...

Hines vs. Tonglet

The bike class is a two-rider affair right now with Andrew Hines holding the edge over LE Tonglet. If anyone has an edge at Las Vegas it would have to be Andrew. Did you know that he has three wins at the Vegas race and he is the defending champ? Of course the fact that he is more than three rounds ahead of LE is a big factor, too. LE needs to gain ground in qualifying, get the deficit under three rounds and then hope Andrew goes out early, but that doesn't happen very often. Did you know that Andrew has only lost twice in the first round this year and the last time was in St. Louis? That's a lot of racing without losing early and it's that kind of consistency that wins championships. Did you know that for his career Andrew is an amazing 101 - 30 in opening round matches and that's a 77% winning number? That's impressive. By way of comparison, John Force has won 78% of his round one matches, Bob Glidden has won 76% and Tony Schumacher has won 74%. Like I said, Andrew's numbers are very impressive.

The 2011 Dragpak.

Almost lost in all of the action that has been going on lately was the announcement from Mopar that they will release a 2011 Challenger Drag Pak with a V-10 engine. The car, which will be legal for NHRA Super Stock and Stock classes, will be produced in a very limited, 70-car production run. The car will feature an 8.4 liter, 512 cubic inch engine and will be on display at the upcoming SEMA show..Speaking of the SEMA show, if you're going there make sure you plan to stop by for the NHRA breakfast which will feature some of the greatest tuners / crew chiefs in the history of the sport. Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly will be there as will Dale Armstrong, Bob Glidden, Jim Dunn and Alan Johnson. That's a lot of talent and it should be a fun morning. That's November 3, 7:30 A.M. at the Las Vegas Hilton. It should be a blast and I hope to see you there.