Another One For Tim, Will He Stay # 1?
Fans were treated to some of the best side-by-side racing in Bandimere Speedway history during final eliminations at the 29th running of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in
The lack of unwelcome racing surface issues set the stage for a welcome abundance of drama on the racetrack. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car) scored hard-earned wins in the first event in which nitro racing was contested to 1,000 feet. Greg Anderson and Allen Johnson engaged in an exciting Pro Stock final that concluded with
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The rivalry between Don Schumacher Racing and David Powers Motorsports raged on in the Top Fuel final as combatants and former U.S. Army teammates Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown faced off. Brown’s Matco Tools/iLocate dragster wisped the tires, and Schumacher’s Alan Johnson-tuned U.S. Army dragster made his fourth 4.0-second run of eliminations with a 4.007 at 304.05 mph to notch his sixth victory of the season.
“The key to this race was getting the car to leave hard over the water so we had momentum when we got to the hot part of the track,” said Schumacher, whose 47 career wins put him within five of Amato’s class-record 52. “That’s what Alan Johnson said, and what are you going to do, second-guess him? The car was absolutely flawless all day.
“Antron [Brown] is a great dude. Me and him are buddies, and he makes me sit up high in the sit and drive hard. If it’s us battling it out for the championship, I’d be proud to have him as my adversary. Now that’s a rivalry.”
Schumacher had the most consistent machine on the premises heading into the final. He made runs of 4.03, 4.04, and 4.03 in victories against Steve Chrisman, Doug Herbert, and Larry Dixon, respectively. “The Sarge” has made a remarkable eight final-round appearances this season, bringing his career total up to 78 finals.
Brown began eliminations by running an outstanding 3.995 at 298.21 mph beside his teammate Rod Fuller. He had to pedal in his second-round matchup with Bob Vandergriff Jr. and still pulled off a close win, 4.25 to 4.28. In the semifinals, Brown notched his third holeshot win of the season against No. 1 qualifier and Schumacher teammate Cory McClenathan, who was handed his third such loss and second at the hands of Brown. Brown reached his fourth final of the season at a venue in which he reached the final round three times as a Pro Stock Motorcycle rider (no wins).
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A new spec chassis, new Goodyear tires, and a new racing surface did little to deter the outstanding season of Funny Car champ Tim Wilkerson. Wilkerson, who was joined at the races by longtime supporter Dick Levi, spun the tires some in the final round against defending event champion Jack Beckman but still pulled off his fourth win of the season, 4.39 to 4.66.
“We had a good car all weekend and went down the track every run,” said Wilkerson, who won four of the last nine events contested. “I thought, ‘If I could get the thing to have all eight holes, it’ll be fast.’ On the last run, what’s it do? It doesn’t drop a hole so it smokes the tires. I’m pretty proud of my guys, and there is obviously nothing wrong with my brand new Murf McKinney chassis.
“The track guys really did a great job and really need to be commended. [The track] had traction out the wazoo. I don’t know what everybody thinks about the 1,000-foot deal, but it worked out pretty good from where I’m sitting. There was good, tight racing all weekend, and I want to applaud NHRA for that.”
Wilkerson did what he had been doing all season by wearing out his opponents with a fast, consistent race car. This time, the points leader single-handedly took three-fourths of the John Force Racing contingent on his way to the final round. During the course of eliminations, the driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS defeated Ashley Force, Mike Neff, and Robert Hight. John Force was beaten by teammate Neff in the opening stanza.
After a hot start to the 2008 season in which he was second in points after four events, “Fast Jack” had fallen out of the top 10 with only one round-win since his
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Intuitive racing fans could have sensed the development of a Anderson-Johnson Pro Stock final throughout the event. A.J. was the quickest driver on both qualifying runs on Friday, and
“This is the most challenging race of the year for us because it’s so much different from everywhere we go,” said Anderson, who collected his 56th career title and second in
“I can’t possibly say enough about the job the Bandimere family has done to this race track. It’s absolutely the wave of the future with the cooling system on the starting line and the all-concrete surface. It’s absolutely a supertrack. It was a great day for racing, and I had tough opponents all day long.”
After winning the Englishtown and
Johnson has a knack for the high-altitude. His Mark Ingersoll-tuned, Roy Johnson-powered Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T ran well throughout his sponsor’s title event in which he was the defending champion. A.J. plowed through eliminations with wins against Warren Johnson, Larry Morgan, and Ron Krisher.
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2007 Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Smith accomplished something he had yet to do in his young but successful career by winning at the same event twice. The defending event champ rode his NitroFish Wear S&S Buell V-Twin to the winner’s circle for the eighth time in his career by cutting a superb .005 light and halting veteran Steve Johnson in the final, 7.326 at 180.74 mph to 7.340 at 180.81.
“We performed and had a good bike,” said Smith, who also won earlier this season in
“We had the fastest run going in the third qualifying round and the bike wouldn’t go into high gear. We came back in Q4 and were fast, and we were fast all day. We brought the same tune-up we had last year, and it worked - again.”
Smith didn’t make a run that he was satisfied with until the final qualifying session, but once he did he locked in on the 7.3-second zone on his way to victory. Smith was challenged by
Johnson’s overall weekend was a turbulent one, though his Snap-on/WyoTech Suzuki never lacked in performance throughout. His laptop was stolen prior to the start of the event, he took the provisional pole on Friday, he got bumped down the fifth on Saturday, and he advanced to his 12th career final round on Sunday with wins over Junior Pippin and the Vance & Hines/Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidsons ridden by Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec.
