6th annual |
| Sunday 6/1/2003 |
|
K.J., Savoie also gets victories |
Team Schumacher scored its first double victory ever in team
owner and former NHRA racer Don "Shoe" Schumacher's backyard with Don's
son, Tony, capturing Top Fuel glory and hired gun Whit Bazemore sweeping
Funny Car in a crowd-pleasing finale to the sixth annual Lucas Oil NHRA
Route 66 Nationals.
Pro Stock runner Kurt Johnson and Pro Stock Bike ace Angelle
Savoie joined the jubilant Schumacher clan in the winner's circle of Route
66 Raceway, both knowing that their wins had propelled them back into the
POWERade points lead in their respective classes.
The Chicago suburb of Long Grove will provide the setting for a
raucous celebration when its favorite son, Tony Schumacher, brings home
the Top Fuel hardware from the local dragstrip. Riding new crew chief Alan
Johnson's championship-winning tune-up, Schumacher scored for the first
time since last year's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and immediately became a
serious contender in the category.
 Tony
Schumacher |
The fact Schumacher beat runaway points leader Larry Dixon in the
final added to the feeling of unease now creeping through the Top Fuel
pits. Navigating the less-desirable right-hand lane, Schumacher streaked
to a 4.530 at 321.50 mph, well ahead of Dixon's 4.615 at 321.42 mph. This
was Schumacher's eighth win in 26 finals
"That wasn't just a win; that was abuse," Schumacher said. "A.J.
pummeled 'em today. You just don't understand how smart that guy is until
you sit down and talk with him. We hired him just a few days ago and look
what has happened since. A new crew chief with no testing and all-new
stuff on the car, and we turn around and run a 4.60 right off. Then we run
a career-best and end up No. 1 in qualifying. Today we just blow through
the field and get to the finals and beat the most dominant car of the last
year and a half. Things couldn't be better.
"I
guarantee you we will be in the pack [of frontrunners] before you know it.
You'll start hearing a lot of news from this team. We hoped everything
would go like this when we hired Alan but there are always a million
things that could go wrong. A.J. is awesome, but it took 10 guys getting
over a terrible start to the season and putting that behind them and
turning right around to come out here and not make any mistakes all
weekend. I'm extremely impressed with our guys. They are an army of one."
Tony's father agreed. "A.J. is the smartest guy in this sport,"
Don Schumacher said. "The only one close is Lee Beard, and he won with his
Funny Car. We're gonna chase those guys down that are ahead of us, there
is no doubt in my mind. What can you say? All those low 4.50s showed what
Alan is all about."
It
was a stellar weekend all the way around for Schumacher's U.S. Army team.
The group helped Schumacher lower his personal-best elapsed time in
qualifying and again in the quarterfinals, finally settling in at 4.507
seconds. In racing to his first final and first victory of the season,
Schumacher beat Luigi "the Rodfather" Novelli, former Rookie of the Year
Darrell Russell, John Smith, and Dixon.
Team Miller Lite has raced to the final round 21 times in the
last 33 national events, collecting 13 trophies over that span. Overall,
Dixon now has 30 wins in 54 final-round showings. Sunday's victims
included Melanie Troxel, Rhonda Hartman-Smith, and Cory McClenathan,
before he fell to Schumacher.
Dixon's third runner-up finish of the year helped him build a
230-point lead over his nearest rival in the standings, first-round loser
Doug Kalitta. The next active driver behind Kalitta, fourth-place points
earner Russell, is 365 points off Dixon's pace. Top
Fuel results
Because Funny Car runs before Top Fuel, Bazemore beat his
teammate to the winner's circle and started the giddy Schumacher camp
celebration with a huge holeshot win over Tommy Johnson Jr. Bazemore
reacted to the lights in .069-second to Johnson's blundering .152-second
start, which translated to a 4.872-second victory at the top end over
Johnson's much quicker 4.839-second pass.
 Whit
Bazemore |
This was Bazemore's 14th career win and it moved him to within 36
points of class leader Tony Pedregon, who Johnson beat in the
quarterfinals.
"That team [Pedregon's], even if you go back halfway into last
season, has shown that the only time they get beat is when they beat
themselves," Bazemore said. "They still have a slight performance
advantage over us, quite honestly, but we're gaining on them. We're
whittling away at their lead. This is one of those cases where they
stumbled and we had to take full advantage of that.
"It's a great win for Don. This is his hometown, the team's
hometown. To win here is great. Three finals in a row, two wins, the Dodge
is now the fastest car in the class after my teammate Gary Scelzi went
328; things are looking good for us right now, but we sure won't let up.
We can't."
Don Schumacher was quick to add his thoughts. "Let's give credit
where credit is due," he said. "We didn't have lane choice in either final
and both Whit and Tony rose to the occasion and had great lights. Whit won
his race with his light. For both of them to win is such a great joy for
me, especially here with all of our friends and family and supporters on
hand. I'm thrilled beyond words."
The Matco Tools Dodge Stratus R/T has now carried Bazemore to two
wins in five final rounds this year, including the last three events in a
row. Like Schumacher, Bazemore had to overcome the right lane after
slowing slightly in each round, which caused him to lose lane choice in
the final. After starting with a 4.78 against Bob Gilbertson, he slipped
to a 4.97 versus Del Worsham, and posted a tire-hazing 5.02 opposite
surprise semifinalist John Lawson of Joliet.
Johnson powered Don "the Snake" Prudhomme's blue Skoal Camaro to
its first final round of the season with elimination wins over former
series champ Cruz Pedregon, POWERade points leader Tony Pedregon, and Team
Force stalwart Gary Densham. After a lucky 5.52-second win over Cruz, and
a 5.10 victory over Tony, T.J. finally put up a competitive pass of 4.90
seconds versus Densham, which earned him lane choice.
Another Team Schumacher pro, Gary Scelzi, set the national speed
record for Funny Cars when he blasted to 328.06 mph in his Oakley Dodge in
Round 1. Scelzi had posted a 327.98-mph pass in qualifying, well within
the one-percent necessary to make his 328.06-mph run an official record.
Funny
Car results
Knowing he needed a cosmic light to make up for the performance
difference in their cars, Pro Stock finalist Jeg Coughlin Jr. booked a
.009-second start, but the margin just wasn't enough to hold off K.J., who
caught and passed the reigning champion to win with a 6.791 at 203.40 mph
to Coughlin's 6.833 at 201.91 mph.
 Kurt
Johnson |
Johnson's victory tied him with Greg Anderson at four wins apiece
this season and helped him retake the lead in the POWERade standings by a
mere two points. Overall, this was the 27th time Johnson tasted victory in
45 final-round appearances.
"We had a great day," Johnson said. "To come from barely making
the field to winning is really something. I was using a motor I had never
even used at a national event before. We didn't shine in qualifying and I
felt lucky we didn't get bumped out. Then we get on a roll today. That
6.77 in the semi's, dad [father Warren, who failed to qualify] was saying
we needed to get home because he said so much was screwed up, but when we
ran that 6.77 I was like, 'It ain't that screwed up.'
"Actually we can't think about points. Me and Greg [Anderson] are
buddies. We can't fight him. We're like brothers. I know the competition
never sleeps and we never lift either. We're always doing whatever we can
to stay ahead. There are 24 hours in the day and we try to work 25. Plus,
we have wife and kids and they need our time as well, but this is so much
fun out here."
Johnson's ACDelco Chevrolet Cavalier came back from the dead
Sunday, emerging from a distant 15th on the qualifying grid to power past
Scott Geoffrion, Bruce Allen, Greg Stanfield, and Coughlin. His worst pass
of the day was a 6.83.
Rising to the occasion, Jeg's Mail Order pro Coughlin came from
the No. 12 qualifying position and raced through to his second final of
the year. The reigning series champion beat newcomer Dave Connolly, Ron
Krisher, and powerhouse points leader Greg Anderson on the day.
Coughlin showed tremendous sportsmanship against Anderson, who
couldn't get his car started under the timing tower. Coughlin was already
in the water box ready to execute his burnout, but realized Anderson was
struggling and elected to shut his car off and wait. Over a minute passed
and Coughlin patiently stood pat until he was finally ordered to proceed
by chief starter Rick "the Iceman" Stewart. Anderson's crew tried in vain
to get their car to fire but ultimately had to cede the race to Coughlin.
Pro
Stock results
The Pro Stock Bike finale between Savoie and Reggie Showers
started dead even with both riders leaving the line within one-thousandth
of a second of one another, then the lighter Savoie simply rode away for a
fairly easy 7.123-second win at 187.16 mph to Showers' 7.238 at 184.30
mph.
 Angelle
Savoie |
Savoie's impressive 31st career victory moves her into third
place on the all-time Pro Stock Bike wins list behind legends Dave Schultz
(45 wins) and John Myers (33). It also moved the defending three-time
series champion back into the POWERade points lead by a margin of 10
points over Geno Scali.
"That was such an emotional win for me," Savoie said. "We always
say a prayer together before we race and so does Reggie's team and that
time we all joined hands and prayed together. He has my old crew chief and
teacher, George Bryce, over there now and Reggie is the person I look up
to the most out here. I always said I hope it's me in the other lane when
he wins his first race because I want to be there to celebrate. I was
thinking about that and I thought I might get my wish, but it wasn't meant
to be this time. I was so torn at the other end. Maybe next time.
"We've won three of the first five races but we're only up by 10
points. That tells you how hard it's going to be for anybody to win the
championship this year. There were five riders who came here that could've
left with the points lead. I'm just glad it was me, especially after
hitting the wall in qualifying."
Team 23 rider Savoie captured her third win of the year at the
expense of Dave Feazell, Fred Collis, former points leader Scali, and
Showers. She posted the event's quickest pass in the opening round with a
7.118, and the race's fastest lap in the semifinals when she topped out at
190.51 mph.
In
his 59th career event, Showers finally got to put in a full day's work on
race day. The popular Prosthetic Design Inc./Damp Rid-sponsored rider, who
is a double-amputee, dismissed three of the best riders in the class -
Antron Brown, Craig Treble, and GT Tonglet - in racing to his first career
final. Pro
Stock Bike results
Jeff Perrella scored in Comp with his A/EA 32 Bantam, turning
away Jerry Hemmingson and his B/A Cavalier for his first career win. Dan
Fletcher collected his 33rd career win in Super Stock, driving his SS/HA
'69 Camaro to a 10.16 on a 10.16 dial after a .007 light to defeat Jeff
Stealy SS/IA and his '68 Corvette. A pair of former event champs settled
the issue in Stock where Jerry Bennett, who won this race three years ago,
drove his G/SA Aspen to his fourth career win by defeating the A/SA '64
Savoy of defending champ Gene Mosbek.
Gary Stinnett won the Super Comp final almost immediately on Rock
Haas' red-light, then hammered home the point with a near-perfect 8.901.
Jim Hughes bagged the Super Gas title with his Corvette, cutting a .017
light and running a 9.91 to beat Butch Kleewein, whose 9.90 was undone by
a .037 light.
NHRA Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing Series racers Matt Scranton
and Nelson Hoyos scored wins in Pro RWD and Pro FWD, respectively, at the
first Street Glow NHRA Extreme Rush event.. The exhibition event, the
first of two to be contested in front of tens of thousands of fans at NHRA
POWERade national events, features the season's top eight points gathers
in each class.
Scranton drove his Turbonetics Racing '03 Celica to a
wire-to-wire Pro RWD final-round win over late-leaving George Ioannou,
6.858 at 194.86 mph to the Street Glow driver's 6.923 at 207.94 mph. Hoyos
wheeled the Bothwell Motorsports '03 Cavalier to the Pro FWD title with a
final-round 8.348 181.47 to beat upset-minded Jerrold Rhodes '91 CRX,
which slowed to a 18-second pass.