Wed, 9 Oct 2002, 03:35 PM O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec Notes and Quotes

Courtesy of NHRA Communications

2001 REWIND:
After waiting 30 years for his first win, Gary Densham beat his boss, John Force, in the Funny Car final for the second time in as many races to earn his second career victory last season at the Texas Motorplex. Force, meanwhile, clinched his 11th NHRA championship overall and his ninth in a row. Larry Dixon climbed to within 15 points of Top Fuel leader Kenny Bernstein with his victory over Doug Kalitta. In Pro Stock, V. Gaines earned his second career victory, holding off former NBA player Tom Hammonds, who was making his first career final-round appearance.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
The all-concrete quarter-mile at the Texas Motorplex is one of the fastest tracks on the NHRA circuit, as it provides a consistent racing surface for Top Fuel and Funny Car crew chiefs to showcase their 6,000 horsepower machines for record-setting runs. However, drivers need to be on their game to keep their machines in the groove in order to secure maximum performance. In the past this track has been the host of many series championship celebrations, but not this season. Tight points races are on the edge in the three featured professional categories.

'Big Daddy' Returns -- NHRA Top Fuel legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits is returning to the Texas Motorplex for the first time since he won there en route to his last Top Fuel championship in 1986. The 70-year-old Florida native, who has three NHRA series championships and 35 career victories, was voted the No. 1 driver in the history of NHRA last year during NHRA's 50th Anniversary season.

SEASON UPDATE:
Larry Dixon is in hot pursuit of his first series championship and is having a record-breaking season with eight victories in 13 finals. Defending Top Fuel series champ Kenny Bernstein would like to end his career with another NHRA crown, but currently trails Dixon in the points chase by 127. John Force and Tony Pedregon may be teammates, but they are becoming arch-rivals late in the season as they are separated by less than a round (18 points) in the Funny Car championship chase. A three-way battle is brewing in Pro Stock, as red-hot Jeg Coughlin leads two-time series champ Jim Yates by 65 points. Greg Anderson, who crashed his car during qualifying in Chicago but rebounded to go a round in eliminations, is still within striking distance of his first career title as a driver.

FAST FACTS:
Tony Pedregon, driver of the Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang, is going for his fourth consecutive victory in Funny Car ... Kenny Bernstein, who will be making his final visit to the Texas Motorplex as a racer, has only one career victory at the all-concrete track, in Funny Car (1986) ... John Force has been to the final round at this event eight times in the last 10 years, winning four times ... Defending Pro Stock winner V. Gaines has two career victories, both coming at the Motorplex ... Top Fuel competitor Cory McClenathan clocked the first 320 mph (321.77) speed in NHRA history at the Motorplex in 1997 ... Jeg Coughlin, who is looking for his first Motorplex victory, has won six of the last nine Pro Stock events, including the last two ... Don Prudhomme, Ed McCulloch and Mike Dunn are the only drivers to have won both Top Fuel and Funny Car titles at the Motorplex.

QUOTABLE:
Tony Pedregon, driver of the Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang, on closing in on John Force's Funny Car points lead -- "It's far from over, I understand that. I'm not going to make the same mistake that I've seen a lot of other drivers make when they've had a little success. We're going to go to the next event and try to repeat. It starts in qualifying and then you worry about Sunday."

Larry Dixon, driver of the Miller Lite dragster, thoughts about the Texas Motorplex -- "I really enjoy going to Dallas. We've done well there in the past. Last year we won and were the top qualifier there. I'm excited about going there, especially since it is the only all-concrete track we race on. The track is capable of giving out great performances. That race could make a difference in what happens in the POWERade championship."

Tony Schumacher, driver of the U.S. Army dragster on Top Fuel points chase -- "We have three races left in the season and we need to go out on a high note. We have to identify where we went wrong (at Chicago lost in first round) and find solutions. That's what a good race team does. We would have preferred to keep progressing like we have, but all teams hit bumps in the road. It's how you react to those bumps that defines where you end up in a championship race."

Jim Yates, driver of the Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Grand Am on getting back on track after first round upset in Chicago -- "The problem is we just got beat by a kamikaze reaction time. He (Tom Martino) went a .413 and it's hard to beat that. I thought I did a good job of driving with a .456 light and felt that should have been good enough to win. There's not anything wrong with our program. We just have to come back at the next race and do it again. "

Warren Johnson, driver of the GM Performance Pontiac Grand Am on the Texas Motorplex, where he has six victories in 11 final round appearances since the track opened in '86 -- "We've had some success there. If conditions are good, you can run extremely fast there. It's a track that rewards power, and I think we'll have a few more ponies under the hood when we arrive."

Kenny Bernstein, driver of the Budweiser King dragster, who trails Larry Dixon by 127 points with three races to go -- "We've got a tough road to hoe these last three races. It will be pretty difficult to run Dixon down, but we're not throwing the towel in just yet. We will need to be able to make some big moves in these last few events. We just hope we can make it a race to the finish. Most people don't realize that we've been battling Dixon for a year-and-a-half now. That's an unusually long time for the same two cars to be in contention for a championship."