A lot of talent left in the sportsman ranks

You know the old saying about how the cream always rises to the top? A quick scan of the players still around for the final day of eliminations for the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals certainly seems to confirm that as the remaining sportsman drivers include at least a dozen drivers who are former national champions or past U.S. Nationals winners.

 In Comp, 2007 Indy winner Jason Coan is still in the hunt as is David Rampy, who is both a national champion and an Indy winner. The rest of the survivors in the round of eight as all heavyweights including Brian Browell, Rick Brown, Al Ackerman, Joey Tanksley, John Frech, and Shane Gray, whose father, Johnny, cemented his spot in the Countdown to One in Pro Stock yesterday when Warren Johnson failed to qualify.

 As a side note, every driver who is left has faced a Competition Index Control adjustment although Brown, Gray and Rampy have barely been nicked while Coan has lost more than a tenth off the G/Econo Altered index and Tanksley and Ackerman are down by five-hundredths going into the quarter finals.

 There are also eight drivers remaining in Super Stock including Jimmy DeFrank, Larry Stewart Jr., and Frank Aragona, who are all former national champions. At least one champion will make it to the semifinals as Stewart is scheduled to face DeFrank later this afternoon when sportsman action resumes after the second round of the pros. Another Super Stock survivor is Jeff Niceswanger, who has appeared in numerous finals, but it still looking for his first NHRA national event victory.

 You want talent? Check out the eight drivers who are left in Stock Eliminator. Included among the Monday survivors are three former national champs, Michael Iacono, Jeff Taylor and Edmond Richardson. Taylor is already a three time Indy winner in Stock, Super Stock and Comp. Taylor’s Stock victory came in 1981, the same year that he and older brother, Charlie won respective championships in Super Stock and Stock.

 Speaking of Edmond Richardson, the sure-fire Hall of Famer has never won Indy and he has often stated that he’s going to return to O’Reilly Raceway Park until he does. Richardson is in an excellent position to achieve his goal as he’s also one of the five remaining drivers left in Super Comp. Richardson will be paired with another former Indy winner, Doug Doll Jr., in the quarterfinals while Division 1 ace Franklin DiBartolomeo will square off against Jim Perry, the Division 2 Jegs Allstars champ and a former E.T. finals winner. Greg Kamplain will receive the bye run into the semi’s.

Sportsman stuff from a wet Sunday at Indy

New generation Stockers: One of the biggest stories emanating from the sportsman pits at this year’s Mac Tools U.S. Nationals has been the heated battle between the Ford Cobra Jet and Dodge Challenger “package cars” in Stock Eliminator. The late model Fords and Dodges performed exceptionally well in qualifying, taking seven of the top 40 spots during qualifying for the 128-car field (although two of the Fords were subsequently disqualified from the event after a technical infraction was found during routine tear-down inspection.) In all, there were five Cobra Jet Mustangs and four Challengers racing in the top Stock classes including the Dodge of “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, who unfortunately did not make the field.
 

Body in white: Fans who cruised through the pit area at O’Reilly Raceway Park also got a chance to catch a glimpse of the Dodge Challenger package car in its raw form as the Teuton Family had their brand new “body in white” Challenger on display in front of their massive 18-wheel tow rig. As delivered, the new Dodge is surprisingly complete with the engine already installed and all non-essential equipment such as the radio, heater, and sound deadener already deleted. The engine choices include the popular 6.1 and 5.7 liter versions of the late model Hemi.  The Teuton’s who own a Dodge dealership in their hometown of Houma, La., already have three Hemi-powered ’68 Barracudas and a ’69 Super Bee Stock eliminator entry in their stable, expect to have their new Challenger, which carries serial No. 16 of an expected 50 units, completed in time for the start of the 2010 season. 
 
Tough day at the office: The first two rounds of eliminations in Stock were not kind to many of drag racing’s biggest sportsman stars as Dan Fletcher, Peter Biondo, Kevin Helms, Adam Davis, Lee Zane Jeff Strickland, Anthony Bertozzi and Jerry and Terry Emmons are all out of competition. With 32 drivers left, there is still plenty of talent left in the field as former national champions Jeff Taylor, David Rampy, Michael Iacono, Edmond Richardson, Jimmy DeFrank, and Jim Waldo are among the survivors.

CIC concerns: Shortly before the rain interrupted the day’s activities, weather conditions at O’Reilly Raceway Park were cool and overcast which wasn’t good news for the 64 Comp Eliminator qualifiers who were hoping to preserve their respective indexes as eliminations began. Just seven pairs of Comp cars ran before the wet stuff began falling and three drivers took CIC hits, although none of them were quick enough to be permanent. Jerry Arnold was the quickest with a (-.602) 7.958 run in his G/Econo Dragster while Shawn Vincent (-.584) 8.546 in C/Truck Automatic and Joey Tanksley (-.519) 6.931 will also have their indexes adjusted downward for the next round. With cool weather forecast for the rest of the day, it’s probably safe to assume that more CIC hits are going to take place whenever the round resumes.

Two wheel tales

Proud papa: In addition to his regular duties as a crewman and clutch tuner for rookie of the year contender Douglas Horne, Gary Tonglet Sr. is also watching carefully as both of his sons, Gary Jr. (GT) and Lewis (LE), compete in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. GT, who is a former NHRA rookie of the year award winner, is riding the family’s Suzuki, which is the same bike that LE rode earlier this year in Houston and Atlanta. Meanwhile, LE is riding for Matt Smith this weekend aboard one of his Buell V-twins. “We were going to put LE on this [Suzuki] this weekend but at the last minute he got a call from Matt, who asked him to ride his Buell,” said Tonglet Sr., “That was too good an opportunity to pass up so we just decided to put GT on our Suzuki. We had some problems last night but we should run at lot better today. I’d be tickled if they both qualified.”

Ellis returns: Chip Ellis is making his first start of the season aboard a Vance & Hines-powered Suzuki and despite being out of the seat for the better part of a year, he showed that he’s still one of the class elite riders with a 7.056 in Friday night’s opening session that is currently good for the sixth spot. Regardless of where he qualifies, Ellis, who works full-time at Vance & Hines Motorsports in nearby Brownsburg, is happy to be back on a bike. “I really enjoy the work I’m doing but I miss being out here,” said Ellis. “We put this deal together because we wanted to test some Suzuki engines we’ve been working on. Right now, this is just a one-race deal so I’m determined to make the most of it.”

Angelle sighting: One interested spectator seen roaming the Pro Stock Motorcycle pits yesterday was two-time U.S. Nationals winner Angelle Sampey. Without a ride this season, Sampey has intentionally avoided the race track attending only the traditional Pro Stock Motorcycle season opener in Gainesville while she concentrates on her home life, which includes renewing her nursing license and helping her boyfriend, Seth, operate their budding coral and aquarium business. In the span of about 10 minutes, Sampey signed numerous autographs and on more than one occasion had to answer the obvious question, “When will you be racing again?” 

The next generation: During her travels, Sampey got the opportunity to meet 18-year-old Pro Stock Motorcycle rookie, Katie Sullivan, who was just 5 years old when Sampey made her debut at the 1996 Denver event, told Sampey that she and fellow rider Karen Stoffer were her idols growing up and that they were a major influence on her decision to race a motorcycle. In return, Sampey also gave Sullivan some good advice and also relayed some stories of about the struggles she faced on the road to becoming a three-time world champion.

“I just told Katie not to worry about what anyone says to you or about you,” said Sampey. “I told her to just do your own thing and you’ll be fine. This class has changed a lot so hopefully she won’t have to go through some of the things I had to.”

In a class all his own

Over the years, the countless Super Stock and Stock drivers who have earned class eliminator wins at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals could count on receiving two things for their efforts; an NHRA Wally trophy and a friendly smile when greeted by photographer Eric Brooks in the top-end winner’s circle at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Each class winner at the 2009 U.S. Nationals will still receive a Wally, but sadly, Brooks isn’t there to greet them as he passed away on June 18 at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer.

Brooks, who began his career at Suffolk Raceway in Virginia in the early 1960s, assumed his familiar top-end post in 1969 at the urging of late National DRAGSTER photo editor Leslie Lovett.  From 1969 through 2008, he never missed a race.

Each year at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, there are more than 100 class winners crowned in Super Stock and Stock (as well as Comp and Modified throughout the 1960s and 1970s). Throughout the weekend Class champions often filter into the winner’s circle at their leisure making for some long days yet Brooks rarely missed a photo. Two weeks after the event, Brooks’ photos were featured prominently in the National DRAGSTER sportsman results, which feature each class champion proudly posed next to his or her race car.

This year, longtime National DRAGSTER photographer and longtime Division 3 lens man Richard Brady stepped in as the official top end cameraman and like Brooks before him, Brady has spent the better part of two days snapping photos of each happy class winner.

While Brooks may be gone, he has not been forgotten as his familiar spot at the top end has been marked by a plaque t that pays tribute to his many years of service to NHRA, O’Reilly Raceway Park, and the many U.S. Nationals class champions who annually looked forward to spending time with him in the winner’s circle.

Quick hits from a fun Thursday

Answering the Bell
Whoever said getting there is half the fun probably never traveled to a race with Super Stock drivers Eric Bell and Dave Mann. Bell, a former major league baseball player who currently campaigns a very clean and competitive SS/EA Dodge Challenger, and Mann, who campaigns an original four-speed Hemi-powered ’67 Coronet in SS/E, left their home in Phoenix, Ariz., on Friday and expected to arrive in Indy by late Saturday night. However, less than a half-hour from home, things went terribly wrong as their diesel toter-home suffered a massive engine failure.
 
“We knew something was really wrong when smoke started rolling through the vents,” said Bell. “We finally called a big two truck and they dragged the whole rig back to Phoenix.”

Over the weekend, Bell and Mann waited while the engine was completely rebuilt. After paying a hefty repair bill, they finally got on the road early Wednesday and arrived at Indy, 2,100 miles later at 4 a.m. on Thursday. With just one qualifying run remaining before the start of Friday’s class eliminations, Bell drove to a 9.40 for the No. 6 spot while Mann got on the qualifying sheet with a (-.465) 10.085 and will have to improve to make the field.

“The thought of not getting our truck fixed never crossed my mind,” said Bell. “This is Indy and I want to be here and I figured that as long as I had a chance to make one qualifying run, I was going to go for it. It wasn’t fun but the cool thing about it is that 20 years from now we’ll still be talking about our road trip to the 2009 U.S. Nationals.”

Filling up
With the exception of a few Pro Stock teams, who continue to test at Gateway Int’l Raceway in Madison, the pits at O’Reilly Raceway Park are almost completely full. By late Thursday afternoon, most of the nitro and alcohol teams had set up shop in the East side pit are while on the west side, the Pro Stock Bike rigs have filled the last empty spaces behind the main grandstand. Further to the West, the teams participating in the Get Screened America Pro Mod exhibition are lined up along the fence, next to the area that housed most of the Super Stock competitors in Friday’s Mopar Hemi Challenge. By a conservative estimate, there are well over 1,200 race and support rigs crammed into the vast expanse of O’Reilly Raceway Park. As late Charlotte Observer motorsports reporter David Poole once noted, “An NHRA event is like a State Fair for gear heads.” That about sums it up.

Big Daddy misses the cut
Sadly, Top Fuel legend “Big Daddy” Don Garlits will not be among the 128 Stock Eliminator drivers that take part in Saturday’s opening round of eliminations. Garlits had two shots to qualify his 2009 Dodge Challenger on Thursday, but his 10.432 best was just .868-under the index, well short of the -1.016 that is took to make the field.

Despite the setback, Garlits’ Stock Eliminator debut was not without its highlights. In Thursday’s opening round of A/SA class eliminations, Garlits was paired with sportsman star Dan Fletcher and gave the 63-time national event winner a taste of his own medicine with a .007 reaction time although Fletcher quickly made up the difference and claimed a 10.33 to 10.48 win over Garlits.

“I didn’t really get a chance to say much to him and I’m sure he wasn’t happy with the way his car was running, but it’s pretty cool to say that I got to race against Don Garlits,” said Fletcher. “That’s not something that I ever though would happen to me.”
 

Comp gets started
Comp Eliminator racers hit the track at Indy on Thursday for their first two qualifying passes. After one run, Dave Yedney was the provisional top qualifier with an (-618) 8.872 in his L/Altered Opel, which was previously campaigned by Canadian racer Allyn Armstrong. The only other drivers more than six-tenths under their respective indexes are Pat Nahan who posted a (-.607) 7.513 in his front engine E/Dragster and Charlie Greco, who wheeled his D/AA GTO to a (-.604) 7.646.

Disabled list
West coast racer Steve Wann, the winner of last weekend’s Lucas Oil Series race in Topeka, and Division 1 Stock driver Bill Hawk are both reportedly done for the weekend after damaging their race cars during early qualifying. Wann broke the engine in his SS/HA ’69 Barracuda and has parked that car although he is still in competition with his F/SA Dodge Dart. Hawk, who was considered a leading contender for the class title in B/SA with his ’67 Shelby, is also parked after a big wheelstand and subsequent hard landing damaged the front end of the car.

Stockers are way cool

Chad Holzman is the provisional low qualifier after the first day of Stock qualifying with a (-1.332) 9.968 in Brent Hajek's A/SA Cobra Jet.

After missing the first run, eight-time U.S. Nationals Top Fuel champ "Big Daddy" Don Garlits posted a 10.45 in his A/SA Dodge Challenger.

Randy Warford put his Pak-Attack Dodge into the No. 4 spot during Wednesday's Stock qualifying with a 10.013 on the 11.30 index. There are currently 15 A/SA entries in Stock eliminator.

For many of my National DRAGSTER co-workers, the annual six-day road trip to Indianapolis qualifies as “just enough” in terms of time away from the home front, but this year, I opted for the extended tour as I willingly and happily signed up for more than 10 adventure-filled days in the great state of Indiana.

My reasons for the extended trip, which began last Saturday, were twofold. Being a fan of all types of racing and motorcycle in particular, I wanted to check out the Indy Mile AMA Flat Track event held Saturday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and then head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Moto GP race. I also wanted to catch Wednesday’s Sportsman action, which includes the first qualifying round of the Mopar Hemi Challenge and the much-anticipated return of “Big Daddy” Don Garlits in his Dodge Challenger Stock eliminator entry.

I’ve yet to find anything in motorsports that I enjoy as much as drag racing, but both of this weekend’s Indy motorcycle events scored high marks. I was joined at the Indy Mile by most of the Screamin’ Eagle Harley team, including riders Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec and crew chief Matt Hines. Apparently, other NHRA folks feel the same way as it didn’t take long before we ran into some familiar faces, including Top Fuel racers Brandon Bernstein and J.R. Todd and fellow Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Craig Treble. Since this is a drag racing blog, I’ll spare the details of each event other than to note that both were extremely entertaining (although I’d like to think that for a reported $35 million a season salary, Moto GP star Valentino Rossi could stay on his bike for more than five laps). After much debate, we’re still trying to decide which style of racing is more intimidating, but even experienced riders like Hines and Krawiec admitted that neither is contemplating a career change. 
 
On Monday, a full 48 hours before the first Stock eliminator cars were scheduled to turn a tire on the O’Reilly Raceway Park quarter-mile, the track was already a beehive of activity. While the NHRA safety crew got to work prepping the track surface for what promises to be several thousand passes over the next seven days, a maintenance crew was hanging banners and putting the finishing touches on the big Mac Tools U.S. Nationals sign that hangs behind the starting line.

The real action, however, is taking place just inside the front gate of O’Reilly Raceway Park, where several hundred Sportsman competitors were stacked and eagerly waiting to be parked. Motorhomes, toter homes, 18-wheelers, crew cabs, and trailers of almost any size and description imaginable are arranged nearly in columns as they waited patiently for NHRA pit-control workers to escort them to the spot that will be home for the next week. The Indy pit area is vast, but for all of the racers, manufacturers, and other support vehicles to fit, the pieces must be arranged carefully, and it’s the responsibility of the pit-control crew to assemble what amounts to a 900-piece jigsaw puzzle.

At an event like Indy, there are so many Sportsman competitors that it will take more than a full day to park them all. On Monday, parking began shortly after noon, and by the time the weary event staff called it a day more than eight hours later, approximately 400 rigs were tucked safely inside the gate with maybe 100 sitting in the staging area. 

For many Sportsman racers, the road to Indy began immediately following the conclusion of last weekend’s Lucas Oil Series races in Bowling Green, Ky., Rising Sun, Md., and Topeka. Knowing that a long line is beginning to form Sunday night, many racers load up and hit the highway as soon as they are eliminated. Once they arrive in the staging area just inside the gates of O’Reilly Raceway Park, each Sportsman competitor is assigned a number, and rigs are parked on a first-come, first-served basis. That usually means that without looking at results, it’s fairly easy to tell that any racer who occupies one of the first 100 or so spots in the staging area probably didn’t win many rounds at the previous day’s Lucas event while those who reached the final rounds are likely to be buried deeper in the long line and probably won’t land a prime parking spot.

By Tuesday, the rest of the Sportsman entries have nearly all been parked, and now the line has formed at the head of the staging lanes as competitors in Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, and Super Gas go through the technical-inspection process. Throughout the pit area, oil changes, tire swaps, valve adjustments, and other routine maintenance issues are being addressed in anticipation of Wednesday’s first qualifying and time-trial runs. Meanwhile, the Pro pits are beginning to take shape as several nitro and Pro Stock rigs are beginning to dot the landscape. Many nitro teams are based in nearby Brownsburg, which means the crews not only have the luxury of sleeping in their own beds, but they can also service their cars and equipment in the comfort of their team headquarters. Regardless, by Thursday afternoon, it is likely that nearly 1,000 race rigs will be neatly arranged within the confines of O’Reilly Raceway Park.