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NHRA Goes Down To The Wire
By Anne Proffit
The NHRA put on a great race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway over the past weekend. The event had something for everyone who has even a minor interest in Full Throttle Drag Racing and its four professional series components.
The fights for Top Fuel and Funny Car titles remain as tight as they were before this penultimate contest and will go to the grand finale another week-plus away at the NHRA’s ancestral home, Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
Bidding for his sixth consecutive and seventh overall title, Tony Schumacher holds a razor-thin advantage of a single point over Larry Dixon, the runner-up at Las Vegas to rookie Spencer Massey, who drives for Dixon’s former employer, Don "Snake" Prudhomme. Schumacher’s teammate Cory McClenathan is only 48 points back, while Antron Brown lies 80 in arrears.
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In Funny Car the situation has a bit more clarity. Robert Hight, who needed help to even reach the Countdown to One playoff series that decides championships, has been on a roll since the playoffs began. After winning in Las Vegas, Hight has 105 points on sister-in-law Ashley Force Hood and a 113-point advantage on Tony Pedregon, with Jack Beckman a single point behind T-Ped.
Despite losing to eventual race winner Larry Morgan last weekend, Mike Edwards is steamrolling to his first ever Pro Stock championship – after 20 years of trying. Edwards has a 139-point advantage on Greg Anderson, with the other eight contenders eliminated by mathematical computations.
The same holds true in Pro Stock Motorcycle, which had five, rather than the other classes’ six races in which to crown a new champion. Hector Arana leads 2008 title man Eddie Krawiec by 54 points and even Las Vegas winner Andrew Hines doesn’t have a chance to make up the 153-point deficit he holds.
The racing at the Las Vegas strip that’s within shouting distance of Nellis Air Force Base (great flyovers all weekend) was extremely intense. Probably the most enticing match-up came in the first round of Funny Car late Sunday morning, when Hight came to the line against Force Hood. He won, but she retained second place in the standings, still hoping to become the first of her gender to win a Funny Car title.
After Hight’s abysmal regular season, the perennial contender has come alive during the playoffs and has just about the most consistent car out there (if one doesn’t count his sister-in-law).
It’s a huge turnaround from earlier in the year when neither driver Hight nor tuner Jimmy Prock appeared to have a clue how to get down the 1000-foot strip. Since the playoffs began after the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park, Hight has advanced from 10th to first place, going 14-2 and winning three of the last five races!
Edwards has been making points everywhere – especially in qualifying, where he’s been racking up the bonus points for being first (3 points), second (2) or getting a single point for third in each session. Last weekend was an anomaly for the veteran, who couldn’t get past eventual winner Morgan in the semifinal round.
Morgan, who loaned an engine to final round competitor Rickie Jones, beat him fair and square in an all-Dodge battle. Luck was also on his side as Morgan parlayed a $100 bet to a $1200 win on Friday evening; he knew this weekend would be something special after that achievement!
One of the biggest stories coming out of Vegas and into Pomona is the battle for Top Fuel honors. This time last year Schumacher had it all sewn up but was also faced with the loss of his crew chief/tuner Alan Johnson, who left to start his own team with Larry Dixon as the driver. Now it’s Dixon versus Schumacher for the title, with Cory Mac just waiting in the wings after eliminating Schumacher in the semi-finals last weekend.
After Dixon lost to former team Snake Racing’s rookie Massey, he still had the advantage of points gained over Schumacher to give them a one-point gap for the championship. There’s plenty of intrigue there for anyone who enjoys a conspiracy theory.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, the battle is between the V-Rod of Krawiec and the Buell of Arana. The Harley-Davidson effort is factory backed and Arana has the support of Lucas Oil, which has led to a very interesting scenario, as Larry Morgan (yes, the same guy) is helping Arana with his engines. The turnaround on Arana’s part has been exciting and has made the PSM category even more compelling.
So there is a week for everyone to get their ducks in a row and come out fighting. The Auto Club Finals take place next weekend from Thursday through Sunday and winners will get their trophies a night later in Los Angeles’ Century City. With 20 points/round available, this year’s titles – with the possible exception of Edwards in Pro Stock – could possibly go down to the final round!
© 2009 Anne Proffit
PaddockTalk Perspective
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