Wed, 8 Jun 2011, 11:56 AM Now That was Impressive

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2011 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Brandon Greco

There was so much going on this weekend at the 42^nd annual NHRA Super Nationals and I hope the fans fully enjoyed what they saw. There were great runs, classic matchups, stunning upsets and some spectacular racing. Of all the classes, the Get Screened America Pro Mod cars turned in some of the most fantastic runs in the history of that class and that just added to the excitement of the race. Of course the final rounds were kind of wacky with a several fouls and a pair of holeshots, but in the end there were very deserving winners and a lot of great action....One thing that was spectacular and that we

Monroe Guest

could have done without was the crash between Monroe Guest and Brandon Greco. Monroe had both of his back tires blow out and come off the car and that caused him to spin into the other lane right in front of Brandon who had nowhere to go except to run into Monroe. I'm sure you have seen the incident on television (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpqRtpfV3qg) and I'm happy to say that both drivers were unhurt. As severe as the impact was, for two drivers to get out of that unhurt is a real credit to the cars and the people who build them. Brandon told me on Sunday evening that he was "a little sore," but other than that, unhurt. I hope both teams can rebound from this and I look forward to seeing them in action again as soon as possible....Another event that didn't get nearly as much attention was the annual DRAW auction. Held on Saturday night, ironically while Monroe and Brandon were racing, the auction raised about $25,000 and I wanted to thank all of the volunteers who helped out, Castrol who provided the tent and everyone who attended and helped make it a success. There have been a couple of accidents in the past few weeks and DRAW is working to get those racers some financial assistance, after all, that's what they do and I hope everyone appreciates it.

Spencer Massey

Spencer Massey won Top Fuel giving the FRAM team back-to-back wins. While Spencer gets the credit, because that's what drivers do, his team, led by Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, really deserve credit for giving Spencer a car that just seems to get better and better every week. The simple fact that they have now made over twenty consecutive runs without smoking the tires is simply amazing. The orange car seems to go down the track every run, and in the very competitive world of Top Fuel that's a very important thing. Of course Spencer is also driving well and he won the final round on a holeshot over Del Worsham. Del now goes into a very select group, in fact he may be the entire group, of drivers who lost on a holeshot in the final round at the same event in back-to-back years in different classes. Did you know that Del lost last year in the Funny Car final round on a holeshot to Bob Tasca, and now he lost to Spencer

Schumacher vs. Bernstein in '08 final.

the same way? I certainly don't mention that to put Del in a bad light, it's just that it is such a strange occurrence that I had to bring it up. Did you know that of his 43 final rounds Del has now won three on holeshots and lost three on holeshots? One of the other reasons that final round deserves to be mentioned is that fact that holeshots in the final round at E'town are few and far between. Did you know that in the 42-year history of this event this was only the second time the Top Fuel final was decided on a holeshot? And as rare as that is, did you know that it has now happened twice in the last three years? Tony Schumacher beat Brandon Bernstein on a holeshot in the 2008 final and that's the only other time the dragster final was decided that way in New Jersey.... Even with the loss Del held onto the points lead and his 714 points are the most in any of the Full Throttle classes....Spencer qualified second in the field and when he won he became the ninth driver to win the Englishtown race from the number two spot. Did you know that more dragster drivers have won from the number two spot at the Super Nationals than any other spot in the field including number one?

Mike Neff

Things weren't looking too good in the Team Force camp this weekend until Mike Neff came to the rescue. "Yeah, I saw John go out and then I saw Robert go out and I thought, oh man, I've got to do something." That was what Mike said in his post-race news conference, and what he did was go out and win the race. Things were actually looking a little bleak in the last round of qualifying when John wasn't in the field going into that session. But, as he has done so many times before, John made a good run, got in the field and all was right with the world, well, until that first round. John lost a good race to Matt Hagan and Robert dropped a tire-smoking affair to Johnny Gray before Mike began his heroics. Mike's win, his second of the year, comes in his fourth consecutive final round and that's very impressive. Did you know that the last Funny Car driver to go to four straight final rounds was Mike's teammate, Robert Hight, who did it in the middle of the 2010 season? After Mike's win over Cruz Pedregon John Force told everyone that "that's why we have this multi-car team," the reference being to the fact that if one doesn't get you, the other one will, and they usually do.....Cruz Pedregon was the top qualifier with his Snap-On Tools car, and as you know, that isn't a good way to win a Funny Car race. Did you know that Cruz was the last driver to win from the top spot in the Funny Car class and he did that at Charlotte last year? If you read this column regularly you know that Cruz is also the last driver to win from the number one spot in the last 22 races. Amazing....What's also

Cruz Pedregon

amazing is the fact the Cruz fouled out in the final round. Did you know that the last time he did that was in Columbus in 1992? This was only Cruz's third foul since 2008 and only the 15^th of his career which includes 750 rounds....There is no doubt about the fact that Cruz has had a very good career, and his record really does speak for itself. But I thought I would point out the fact that he set low elapsed time in Englishtown with his 4.048 in qualifying. Did you know that was the 42^nd time that Cruz has recorded low elapsed time and that moves him into third place on the all-time list? The only two Funny Car drivers who have recorded more low e/t's than Cruz are Don Prudhomme and John Force. Good job, Cruz.... As rare as holeshot wins are in Top Fuel finals, fouls in the Funny Car finals are even rarer, at least at Englishtown. Did you know that this is the first time the Funny Car final has been decided on a red light in the history of this event?....Mike Neff leads the points with his total of 707 and the big battle may not be for the top spot but for the spots at the bottom of the field. Did you know that John Force is in sixth place with 418 points and Bob Tasca is in tenth place with 398 points? That's a one-round swing between fifth and tenth in the standings.

Allen Johnson

Allen Johnson finally closed the deal in Pro Stock when he beat Vincent Nobile in the Pro Stock final round. I say "finally" because it had been almost a year since "AJ" won a race, the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver. He also won in Denver in 2009, but did you know that it had been since Topeka in 2009 that Allen had won a race outside of Denver? He won Topeka that year, and until now, that was the last time he won a race other than his sponsor's event in Denver....The red light by Vincent in the final round continued a trend, a mini-trend, for Allen in final rounds. Did you know that six of Allen's last eight final rounds have been decided on the starting line? That includes a couple of holeshot final rounds, both for and against Allen, and the foul by Vincent. But, in the end, it's a win for Allen, his dad, Mark Ingersoll and the rest of the Mopar team, and based on how he has been running lately, it won't be the last. Of course the fact that Allen's team provides the power for Vincent made it a perfect day for the Johnson and Johnson family and team....Allen ran well all day, with a 6.53 in the first two rounds and a solid 6.55 in the semi-finals. That round, which featured a win over Greg Stanfield, was punctuated by a great move on the line by Allen. Let's face

Ronnie Sox

it, getting off the line ahead of Greg is not easy, but Allen did and he made his starting line advantage hold up for the win. The win was Allen's ninth, and did you know there is another famous Mopar driver who had nine wins? That would be Ronnie Sox, and I'm sure that Allen is pleased to be mentioned in the same sentence as that Hall of Fame driver. Speaking of Mopar, did you know that Allen is just the third Mopar driver in the history of the Englishtown race to win in the Pro Stock class? Dick Landy won in 1970 and Darrell Alderman won three times in 1990, 1991 and 1997. That's another nice list for Allen to be on, isn't it?...Jason Line was the top qualifier and that's the 19^th time in his career that the Summit Racing driver has occupied the top spot in the field. Did you know that ties Jason with Scott Geoffrion for ninth place in the all-time Pro Stock list?

Matt Smith

The Pro Stock Motorcycles continue to provide some really exciting racing. Matt Smith won the race when he beat Karen Stoffer on a slight holeshot in the final round, and for Matt that is the 13^th win of his career and the second in Englishtown. Did you know Matt's 13 wins are the second most among active riders in the class, and only Andrew Hines, with 24 wins, has more?...In four bike races this year that was already the third time that Matt and Karen have faced each other and it's the first time that Matt got the win. Even with the loss Karen continues to lead the points and she is having a very good start to the 2011 season. Did you know that this was her third final round in the first four races of the year for the bikes? Those three wins already equal the best season that she had, the 2005 season when she also went to three final rounds. Did you know that Karen is the only Pro Stock Motorcycle rider this year that has been to more than one final round? I said it before and I'll say it again, the Geico Powersports bike can win the championship this year....The bikes set a record and broke a

Karen Stoffer

barrier when all sixteen riders qualified in the six-second zone. Did you know that this made it the quickest field in Pro Stock Motorcycle history?....Let's face it, when every rider can run in the six-second zone there are no easy opponents and anyone who qualifies can win the race. I mention that because Matt qualified ninth in the field, and did you know that when he won the race he became the first motorcycle racer to ever win the Englishtown race from the bottom half of the field? The first!! Not only did he become the first to win after starting from the bottom half of the ladder, he is only the fifth rider to ever get to the final round after starting lower than eighth in the field. Did you know that Karen went to two finals in New Jersey after starting 14^th and 15^th in the field? She did it in 2005 when she qualified 14^th and then lost to Antron Brown and she qualified 15^th in 2006 and then lost in the final round. And do you know who beat her in that 2006 final round? You guessed it, Matt Smith. What are the odds?

Melanie Troxel

I mentioned the Pro Mod cars and they were flying in Jersey. Melanie Troxel paced the field with her stunning 5.772 and that was later matched by Brad Personett who did it in round one. When it was all done eight of the quickest Pro Mod runs and seven of the ten fastest runs were recorded at the event. Of course there were also some wild moments, as we often expect and often get from the Pro Mod cars. That included a run where Dennis Radford hit the wall in round one, and rookie Leah Pruett-LeDuc ran off the end of the track and ended up in the safety net. Both drivers were ok and both returned for round two.....As good as Melanie ran she was an upset victim in the first round when she was a bit tardy off the starting line. Still trying to get used to the new turbo-car, Melanie had a .433 reaction time against Radford, and despite the fact that she ran 5.792, it wasn't good enough to get the win. As big as the holeshot was, did you know it wasn't even the biggest in recent Englishtown history? In 2009 Bailey Whitaker ran 7.157 and beat Hector Arana who ran 6.960. Hey, it happens....Melanie isn't the first and won't be the last number one qualifier who didn't win in the Pro Mod class. Did you know that in the two year history of the class, as an official NHRA national event category, there has only been one driver to win after qualifying number one? Khalid Balooshi, the Gainesville winner, is the one and only driver to start number one and then go on to win the race....Melanie did put her name in the record books when she became the first driver to qualify number one in Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Mod.

Frank Manzo did what Frank Manzo does and David Rampy did what David Rampy does, and that is win. Frank won Englishtown for the 13^th time and David won two classes at the same race for the fourth time. They are amazing...You can read all about the Lucas Oil winners in Kelly Wade's story right here at DragRaceCentral.com.