Wed, 11 Jun 2003, 07:47 AM A New Pro Stock & A New Top Fuel Car Are Coming Out

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2003

Greg Anderson

OK, so it’s not exactly a surprise, but the new Pro Stock car from Ken Black will make its debut in Columbus this weekend. Former NHRA Stock Eliminator World Champion Jason Line, a.k.a. “Big Jake,” will get the nod to race the car this weekend. If Jason is half as successful as David Connolly was in his PS debut in Chicago, the team will be plenty happy. As part of the team that includes Greg Anderson, it will be interesting to watch the development of Jason as a driver and, possibly, a blocker for Greg in his championship bid. Greg, of course, is coming off that tough loss in Chicago when his car wouldn’t start for the semi-final match with Jeg Coughlin. It will also be interesting to see if Jason or any of the Pro Stock teams can mount a charge in an effort to slow Greg and Kurt Johnson down. As close as the class is in qualifying, isn’t it amazing at how much better Greg & KJ have done on race day than any of the other teams this year? Maybe parity only exists on Friday and Saturday in the class, because it sure has been one sided, or two-sided on Sunday, hasn’t it?...Since I mentioned David Connolly, you’ve got to like what Bill Jenkins has done with that team. Dave Northrop drove the car at Englishtown and he qualified with it and then young Mr. Connolly made the show in Chicago. Keep your eyes on that team this weekend, they could be the sleeper in the field. And good luck to Jason, too….Did you know that, in the 38 years of this race only five drivers have won it more than once in Pro Stock? Bob Glidden won it an incredible nine times, Warren Johnson won it four times, while Bill Jenkins and Ronnie Sox both won it twice. Now let’s see, that’s four, so who is the fifth guy to win it more than once? I’ll tell you at the end of the column, but I don’t think you’ll guess it.

“Big Daddy” Don Garlits

In addition to the debut of Jason Line this week, the folks at MAC Tools will have a press conference on Friday to announce that Scott Kalitta will return to action this year. As far as I know, Scott’s first appearance will still be at Indy, but don’t be surprised if he hits the track before that. Doug Kalitta could use the help in his bid to catch Larry Dixon in the TF class, and Scott could certainly do that. Did you know that Scott is one of only four drivers in the 38 year history of this Columbus race to win it in back-to-back years? Scott put wins on the board in 1994 & ’95, while Don Prudhomme, Shirley Muldowney and Larry Dixon also won it in consecutive seasons. Larry’s two wins came in the past two seasons so he will get a chance to be the first and only driver to win it three years in a row and the way that he is running right now, don’t bet against the “Miller Lite” team…. “Big Daddy” Don Garlits will also compete at Columbus and “Big” has won the Springnationals three times, 1968, ’71 & ’79. By the way, from some of the rumors I hear, there is a chance that Don will campaign a car for the entire year next year, maybe not as a driver, but as an owner and / or tuner. I’m not saying it’s a fact, it’s just a little buzz that’s going around….Doug Herbert is looking to rebound from his DNQ in Chicago and Columbus is as good a place as any for the “Snap-On Tools” team driver. Did you know that, off his seven wins, two have come at Columbus? Doug beat Kenny Bernstein in 1993 to pick up his first win and then he stopped Bob Vandergriff in 1999 for his third win overall and his second at Columbus. Kenny, in case you didn’t know, is one of three drivers who have won the event in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. The others are Don Prudhomme and Frank Hawley. …Now here’s an interesting little tidbit. Did you know that the track record for TF at Columbus is the oldest standing track record in the books for the NHRA national events? As hard as it is to believe, Joe Amato still holds the track elapsed time mark at a 4.572, a record that he set in 1998. Mike Dunn ran 4.574 the next year but that’s about as close as anyone’s come to lowering the mark. Any chance that that will still be the record after this weekend? There’s another record that is still on the Columbus books from 1998 and that’s the E/T record in Top

Alan Johnson

Alcohol Funny Car. Bob Newberry went 5.572 in ’98 and no one, not even Frank Manzo has been quicker since then….Tony Schumacher, who is coming off that impressive performance in Chicago will look to make it two straight this weekend. With Alan Johnson tuning, the “Sarge” had one of his best weekends ever at the Rt. 66 track. Interesting that they’re teamed up now, because when Alan was tuning for Gary Scelzi, they basically owned Tony. Did you know that Tony was 0-6 in final rounds against Scelzi, including a loss at Columbus in 1997? Amazing….Before leaving the dragster pits, did you know that there were 26 drivers who won in TF at Columbus, and for six of those drivers it was the only race they ever won in their entire NHRA TF careers? Who were they, you ask? How about Bob Gibson, Bill Mullins, Jimmy Nix, Hank Westmoreland, John Wiebe and Chip Woodall?

John Force will look (again) to get that elusive first win of the year when he brings his entourage into Columbus. John has won the race three times, 1988, ’90 and 2000. Did you know that the only other guy to win three Columbus Funny Car titles was Don Prudhomme? Gee, seems there wasn’t much the “Snake” didn’t do at the Ohio track. Since he’s done so well at the Springnationals, I think I’ll give a free plug for the “Snake’s” new web site. If you visit his new site a www.snakeracing.com, you might just win a chance to bring three of your friends into Don’s

Phil Burkart with his Wally.

hospitality area at an upcoming race. It’s a chance not a lot of folks will get so why not check it out?... There have been 27 Funny Car winners in the 38 years of this race, and of them, four made the visit to victory lane in Columbus their only visit to victory lane. Dave Beebe, Phil Burkart, Craig Epperly and Tommy Grove won the Springnationals and nothing else in their FC careers….This will be a big weekend for the two top contenders for John’s crown, Tony Pedregon and Whit Bazemore. With less than two rounds separating them, a slip by either driver this week could be big. Whit hasn’t had great success here, in fact, of the 13 times that’s he’s raced at National Trail Raceway, he’s only gotten past the second round three times. That’s not good. For his part, Tony has lost three times in the first round at Columbus, including last year, and that’s something he hasn’t done at all since St. Louis of last year when he was beaten by John Force…Arnie Karp returns to action this week and I have to say that the opening weekend for the former “Boston Strangler” was pretty impressive. Sure, he didn’t qualify, but that was a tough field in Chicago and I look for the Artisan Home Entertainment team to make the field this weekend.

Angelle Savoie

One of the gutsiest performances of the weekend was turned in by Angelle Savoie in Chicago. After those two first round losses, she could have folded up at Joliet, but she responded like a true champion. That’s why she’s about to announce a new sponsor, if not this weekend, then by St. Louis for sure. In fact, she could be joining another team. That’s all I can say, but stay tuned. This race has traditionally gone to the top ranked bikes, with Hall of Famers Dave Schultz and John Myers combining for 7 of the 15 wins in the bike class. About the only real upset ever in the PSB category came back in 1990 when Paul “Fast By” Gast beat Jim Bernard, and like a lot of guys that I’ve already mentioned, that was Paul’s first and only trip to the NHRA winner’s circle. You know what, for some strange reason I feel a win by a first timer coming this weekend in the bike class.

It was a big time for a lot of the sportsman stars this past weekend, so let’s congratulate Frank Manzo, Cy Chesterman and Bucky Austin who all won their divisional races in TA/FC, and Bill Reichert, Mitch Myers and Franny Monaghan who won the T/AD crowns on the divisional level. A special tip of the hat goes to Franny who was making his 13^th appearance in a final round and who finally got his first win. There may be no stopping the “Chicken Chokers” now…And a special “get well” to Vern Moats who had a nasty crash and fire at the Brainerd race this past weekend. Now get this…from what I hear, they actually gave Vern an IV bag to help him get better and he took it with him to the garage this week to work on the car. Now that’s a dedicated racer….Good luck to everyone this week as you look to add your name to the record books at one of NHRA’s longest running events. And please, let’s pray for sun!! Please....Oh, by the way,the other guy who won the Columbus race more than once in Pro Stock was Jerry Eckman. But you knew that, didn't you?