Nitro Dogs Racing

Baytown Fields set for Sunday, Antron Brown Leading the Top Fuel Class with a 3.819 ET, Cruz Pedregon in Funny car with a 4.07ET, Jason Line in Pro/Stock with a 6.544 ET and Andrew Hines in Pro/Stock Bike with a 6.889 ET.

Other Mentionable, in Funny car Ashley Force Hood #3, Tim Wilkerson #4 and John Force #6

In Pro/Stock the Favorite Dave Connolly driving the Nitro Fish car of Kenny Koresky could only run a # 20 position and Hometown Girl Erica Enders didn’t make the Houston Spring Nationals Field.

Tomorrow Weather should be Cool But clear for a Great day at the Hometown Race for Many of Us, See You Out There

Houston ,Texas Baytown,  The rain came in and squashed the second session so all the Pros had to settle for One Hit today, The Al-Anabi Boys Lead by Alan Johnson Could only muster up a # 14 in Top Fuel and #9 in Nitro Funny car, with Ashley Force Hood held on to #1 and Tim Wilkerson # 6, other Mentionables were Antron Brown with a # 2 Spot, going into Saturday’s qualifying, Let see what the Weather brings and if the ladders Change ,Stay Tuned……………..

After a slow start to the first 3 races Tim Wilkerson feels confident that he’s headed on the right track to getting back to his Championship form, he  told associate and Last years Sponsor Sal Ramos yesterday while Boarding his flight to Houston, Wilkerson also stated that his alliance with Bob Tasca III has helped him information wise with setting up his Levi,Ray,and Shoupe Shelby Gt Mustang and applauds Bob Tasca III on his First win in Nitro Funnycar in the recent Gainesville Race, Tim always enjoys the Houston Race as he is a favorite among the Texans, Going into qualifiying he looks for a Good Position with the predicted lower temperatures on Friday and Saturday.

Kenny Bernstein, right, and son Brandon enjoyed much success during their long run with Budweiser sponsorship and now will focus on findng a new partner.

The recent announcement of Anheuser-Busch’s decision to end its relationships with Kenny Bernstein Racing and NHRA after a 30-year partnership was met with mixed emotions from the team and NHRA.

The decision was not unexpected, given the recent acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by InBev, a Belgian beer company, which brought speculation about how the sale would affect Budweiser’s sponsorship programs in all of sports. The team is now able to move full speed ahead on procuring sponsorship for the 2010 season.

“We are proud of our long-term sponsorships, not only with Budweiser, but we’re also celebrating our 31st season with LaPaz party mixes, 22nd anniversary with Mac Tools, and our seventh season with Lucas Oil,” said Kenny Bernstein. “We believe that taking a proactive role in initiating programs and promotions that help sell product and build brand awareness has been an integral part of retaining our sponsorship associations through the years.

“Coupled with the success we’ve had on the racetrack while flying the Budweiser colors, including six NHRA championships and 85 national event victories between Brandon and me, it’s a very attractive opportunity for another sponsor,” Bernstein said.

NHRA was not surprised by the decision. NHRA had been tracking the progress of A-B’s recent acquisition by InBev and the formation of Anheuser-Busch InBev and anticipated potential changes that might come under new ownership. NHRA was informed that Budweiser’s decision was made to redirect dollars to a non-sports-enthusiast audience.

“The beer category is one of the most coveted at NHRA and we believe provides an incredible opportunity for a brand to take advantage of the unique attributes available through association with NHRA,” said Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president-sales & marketing. “With a highly loyal fan base, NHRA delivers a younger, more diverse fan base than other motorsports.” A Scarborough Research poll released in 2008 positions NHRA as having one of the youngest average fan bases of all major sports, three years younger than NFL and stock-car racing, five years younger than open-wheel racing, and three and a half years younger than the U.S. population.

Kenny Bernstein Racing plans an aggressive full-court press to secure a sponsorship for Brandon, who has 17 victories and holds the distinguished record of having the most successful career launch of any Funny Car or Top Fuel driver in NHRA history. “We’re passionate about the sport of NHRA Drag Racing and plan to continue if we can secure sponsorship. We are moving forward with the search for a replacement so that we can field an NHRA team in 2010 with Brandon as the driver. Having owned teams in NASCAR and CART, we have always felt that NHRA Drag Racing affords the best value for the sponsorship dollar,” said Bernstein.

It goes without saying that NHRA works extremely hard to ensure that every sponsor sees a strong return on investment in its association with the sport. “NHRA worked with everyone at Budweiser throughout our relationship to develop and execute programs that would increase the value of association and return on investment,” said Darcy. “We are aggressively pursuing opportunities within the category in hopes to make an announcement for the 2010 season.”

Bernstein echoed his desire to move forward in 2010, pointing out his formula for success that spans the better part of three decades. “We pride ourselves on ethics and integrity. We recognize you can’t have success without good people, and we have a skilled staff that offers the opportunity for a turnkey program that is inclusive from marketing and sales to public relations, highlighted by a race team that is professional and capable of winning on Sunday,” said Bernstein. “We are dedicated, committed, and willing to go the extra mile. We have been one of the marquee teams in this sport, and we bring with us 30 years of fan base. NHRA Drag Racing is our home, and we’re going to put forth every effort to find sponsorship and continue to field a competitive team here.”

Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III followed his first Professional pole position Saturday with his first Pro final and his first Pro win before a packed house at Gainesville Raceway during the 40th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals. The race is the third of 24 in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.There were more firsts of a different nature as 44-time series winner Larry Dixon won his first title as a driver for Alan Johnson in Top Fuel, and, with his Pro Stock Motorcycle win, Hector Arana earned the first points lead of his career. In Pro Stock, Jason Line backed up his Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals triumph to extend his points lead.

Larry Dixon

There was little doubt that the potent combination of two past world champs, Dixon and Johnson, would yield race wins, and the two wasted little time. After a disappointing DNQ at the rain-shortened season opener, the two sealed the deal at the year’s third race by defeating Cory McClenathan in the final round, 3.89, 311.05 to McClenathan’s traction-plagued 4.57 pass.

“It’s hard to win these races, especially with a brand-new team,” said Dixon, who has now won the Gatornationals four times, though not since 2002 despite twice reaching the final since then, in 2005 and 2007. “They can have all the notes they want from last season, but you don’t have the same parts they had last season. They don’t have the same blowers or the same clutch discs, and anyone who runs a fuel car will tell you that each of those parts has its own personality and you have to learn that personality and understand it, and they’ve been able to do that.

“I know how hard it is to make these cars go down the track, but they make it look easy. It’s an amazing group. Alan Johnson is a genius, and Jason McCulloch is working right underneath him, and I’m happy for him to get his first win. I’m also happy for sheik [team co-owner His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani] and to be able to get his first win the third race out. I’m honored to be driving the car.”

Dixon, in his first season driving for Johnson and the new Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi team, qualified No. 1 with a 3.886, then bettered that number in round one with a sizzling 3.882 to beat fellow former Gatornationals champ Doug Kalitta. Dixon followed with a 3.86 to trailer Morgan Lucas and a 4.09 to beat last year’s runner-up, Brandon Bernstein. Dixon’s run would have been much quicker had not the blower belt broken; fortunately for Dixon, Bernstein had already smoked the tires. Dixon’s final-round appearance was his seventh at Gainesville Raceway and the 84th of his career.

McClenathan opened his Sunday with a 3.92 to beat local favorite Michael Gunderson, then defeated Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher, who had won the last two Gatornationals with Johnson tuning. Both drivers had to pedal their throttles after losing traction, but McClenathan’s Todd Okuhara- and Phil Shuler-tuned Fram dragster chased down Schumacher for the win. In the semifinals, Cory Mac ended the Cinderella bid of second-generation racer Bobby Lagana Jr., whose Tire Kingdom dragster had upset No. 2 qualifier Spencer Massey and Phoenix winner Antron Brown. Not only has McClenathan never won the Gatornationals in his prolific career, but until this year, the 34-time national event winner had never even reached the final round here.

Bob Tasca III

Tasca defeated good friend Tony Pedregon to claim his first Funny Car Wally, driving around Pedregon’s better leave to take the win with his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang, 4.20, 280.72 to 4.53, 210.90.

“Tony is my best friend – I was the best man at his wedding – and I can’t tell you what he means to me, ” said Tasca. “Our families are going to Disney World tomorrow – my wife is his wife’s best friend, too – and he hugged me before the final and said, ‘B, either way, we’re going to Disney tomorrow, but if you win, you’re buying dinner.’ [After the final], he gave me a big hug. I know he was so proud to see me achieve this win, and I know he wanted to win as bad as I did, but I know he was real happy for me.

“To qualify No. 1 and beat Tim Wilkerson, John Force, and Tony Pedregon to win your first race, it’s just awesome. It’s a tribute to the whole program. Today is a culmination of 27 races, and we’ve had our struggles as a team, including me as a driver. We’re just determined to do well, and I can assure you that this won’t be our last trophy. We have a championship-caliber program.”

Tasca guided his Chris Cunningham-wrenched Ford to a series of steady if unspectacular passes to the final. He rode a pair of 4.19s to beat Jim Head and teammate Wilkerson; the win against Head in round one was by a whisker-thin .004-second. He then used a semifinal 4.17 to best 14-time world champ Force to reach the final. Tasca had appeared in four finals in Top Alcohol Funny Car and won two.

Defending event champ Pedregon, who had not won a round in the season’s first two races, reached the Gatornationals final for the second straight season with his Dickie Venables-tuned Quaker State entry. Pedregon beat two-time Gatornationals champ Ron Capps on a first-round holeshot, 4.19 to 4.16, then slid to a 4.23 win against Del Worsham. In the semi’s, the 67-time finalist ended Matt Hagan’s bid for his first final-round appearance on a tight 4.160 to 4.161 count that was only close on the scoreboard after Pedregon’s four-hundredths-quicker launch.

Jason Line

Line, last year’s Pro Stock runner-up here to Jeg Coughlin, went that finish one better and did it on a holeshot against Allen Johnson, 6.614, 209.20 to 6.607, 209.01, to win by a fender. The title is the 17th of his Pro career.

“The engine-guy side of me is really upset that I had to win on a holeshot,” said Line, who also won the Gatornationals in 2005. “We’ve really struggled all weekend. We did not run good. [Mike] Edwards made us look bad. Hats off to him, he’s driving really good. But it was a great win, and I’m very excited. For me to do this good this early in the year, it hasn’t happened before, so I’m excited. I’ve been driving pretty good, and knock on wood it stays that way.

“The guys did a good job because we did not have the best car this weekend. I was thinking to myself before the weekend started, the guy who drives the yellow car, Mr. Coughlin, very seldom does he win having the best car, and we need to do the same thing because you’re not going to have the best car every weekend, and you’ll have to step up some other part of it, and for me, it’s the driving part. I’m doing the best I can, and I thank the guys for working with me at the shop because they really do try to help me.”

Points leader Line, who also won this year at the season-opening Winternationals, reached his 36th Pro Stock final with the Summit Racing GXP with a string of low-6.6-second passes. After beating former world champ Jim Yates in round one with a 6.605, Line zipped past Kurt Johnson with a 6.612 and upset-minded Rickie Jones with a 6.617. Earlier in the day, Jones had defeated low qualifier Edwards on a holeshot.

Allen Johnson, racing on mother Revonda’s birthday, looked strong in reaching his 15th final in the Mopar-sponsored Dodge with a pair of 6.61 passes but dodged a bullet in the semifinals when his car got loose on the launch. He fought for control then chased down Greg Stanfield, who had the misfortune to lose the engine – and his significant lead – at the top end.

Hector Arana

Arana, a 19-year veteran of the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, scored his second NHRA national event win by defeating the low qualifier, Matt Smith, in the final round, 6.97, 191.40 to 7.13, 185.51, after Smith’s bike faltered on the top end.

“Last year, the bike was just as good as it is now, but I wanted to win so bad after winning the first one, and I was trying too hard and made some mistakes,” admitted Arana, who is the points leader for the first time in his long career. “I looked back and decided I just needed to relax.”

Arana’s Lucas Oil Buell, which carried him to his first win just last season in Norwalk, was the bike to beat all day. After qualifying No. 2, Arana sped to a 6.935 in round one, which was low e.t. of the meet, to defeat Junior Pippin, but he needed a break to light the win lamp after a tardy .186 light. Fortunately for him, Pippin’s bike bogged just after his holeshot launch. With new life, Arana steamrolled to passes of 6.942 and 6.981, both the quickest of the round, to beat reigning season champ Eddie Krawiec’s Harley and Shawn Gann. Arana also gave up a big lead to Gann after a .120 light but ran him down to win by .0016-second.

“I knew I had the fastest bike and didn’t want to push the Tree,” he explained. “I wanted to win this race. I red-lighted on my last qualifying run Saturday and couldn’t sleep last night thinking about that. It feels awesome to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke, and I want to win some more.”

Smith, in his first race aboard the Nitro Fish Suzuki for Don Schumacher Racing after campaigning his own Buell the last two and a half seasons, raced to his second Gatornationals final and the 21st of his career from the No. 1 spot he captured Friday. Smith, the 2007 event runner-up, defeated red-lighting Ryan Schnitz in round one, then ran 7.02 and 7.03 in the middle rounds to best 2005 Gatornationals champ Steve Johnson and former three-time world champ Andrew Hines, the 2004 event winner.

Larry Dixon and Mike Edwards, low qualifiers three weeks ago in Phoenix, lead the Top Fuel and Pro Stock fields, respectively, halfway through qualifying at 40th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.Bob Tasca III has the fastest Funny Car so far while  Matt Smith is atop the Pro Stock Motorcycle field.

A very full Friday crowd packed the venerable facility for the event, the third of 24 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series  schedule, basking under most sunny skies.

Larry Dixon

Dixon is halfway to his second straight No. 1 qualifying position after wheeling the Alan Johnson racing-Al-Anabi dragster to the top spot with his first-session 3.902 pass. Crew chief Johnson won the race last season while tuning for Tony Schumacher and beat Dixon in the semifinals of that race.
“I think from the first two events we went to, the air is quite a bit better here, but because of the track temperature, you have a lot less grip,” said Dixon. “I would assume that most of the teams that got down the track had to calm the car down to let it get down the track. It was real close to get that .90 on the board and at least get us qualified in the top 12. That’s always important. The next run we went up there and slowed down a little bit. I didn’t get a chance to talk to the guys to see why or what they were trying, but two runs down the track, that’s real good for us.”

“I wouldn’t think [the number will hold], I think cars should run better the more they get adapted. It seems like in years past here at Gainesville the first day is a little bit slower than the second day. I don’t know why, obviously the heat and we haven’t run here in a year, but the second day everything normally picks up and the team seems to adapt better to it and you have more shots to fire at it. I think you’ll see 80s tomorrow. I wouldn’t expect a .90 flat to hold up.”

Brandon Bernstein, who won this event in his rookie season in 2003 and was runner-up last year to Schumacher, jumped his Rob Flynn-tuned Budweiser dragster from the fourth spot to the No. 2 slot behind Schumacher. Veteran Cory McClenathan, who has never won the Gatornationals in his successful career, is third with the Fram dragster at 3.93.Class rookie Shawn Langdon sits fourth with the Lucas oil Slick Mist entry at 3.94, just ahead of Schumacher, who smoked the tires on his morning pass but improved to a .944 in the afternoon.

Points leader Antron Brown, winner of the Phoenix event, is the No. 6 qualifier, just ahead of rookie Spencer Massey and Joe Hartley. Urs Erbacher of Switzerland holds down the 12th spot with a 4,043 pass.

Among those drivers not in the field heading into Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions are former event winner Doug Kalitta and legendary Top Fuel racer Chris Karamesines, who is making his first NHRA start in two years.

Bob Tasca III

Tasca leads a trio of Mustangs corralled atop the Funny Car chart with an opening salvo of 4.124 from his Chris Cunningham-tuned Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford. If he holds on to the top spot, it will be the third-generation racer’s first professional No. 1 qualifying berth.

“The weather is going to be great all weekend,” said Tasca. “It really comes around with the cloud cover. It really doesn’t matter what the temperature is, track temperature is what’s critical. We’re hoping it’ll hold up but hey, we could improve. The good thing about running a 4.12 is you have the data and you can look at it. There were a lot of things in that run that we could have improved upon. It was a real safe 4.12. If the conditions come our way tomorrow, we’ll try to improve it.

At the end of the day, Chris and the guys give me a great hot rod and the driver is here to do his job. [We ran] 4.12 in that first session right out of the box and then we came back with a 4.18. We were trying something, and that’s a luxury you have when you’re at the top of the pack and you’re the No. 1 qualifier. It showed us some promising stuff, it didn’t improve the performance of the car but the track wasn’t as good as it was the morning session. If we have a chance to approve, it’ll probably be the earlier session tomorrow. I think that afternoon session will be too hot.”

Behind Tasca on the sheets are seven-time Gatornationals winner John Force and his Castrol Edge Mustang at 4.153 and Force’s teammate, Mike Neff , who continues to run strong even in the absence of sidelined crew chief John Medlen. Neff’s Drive One Mustang ran 4.154.

Points leader Ron Capps, undefeated through the first two events of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, jumped from the 15th spot to fourth with a strong 4.156 despite having his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge dart for the guardwall near the finish line. One of Capps’ Don Schumacher Racing teammates, Matt Hagan in the Shelor.com Dodge, is right behind him at 4.157 for the fifth spot. Behind them is yet another Mustang, the Castrol GTX machine of Ashley Force Hood sat 54.179. Del Worsham and Jeff Arend round out the top eight.

Mike Smith, in the Tire Kingdom Monte Carlo, holds down the final transfer spot to Saturday’s qualifying with a 12th-best 4.247. Among those who will need to battle their way into the field Saturday are former national event winners Robert Hight, Jack Beckman, Jerry Toliver, and Jim Head. Hight, second in points entering the event, has had a rough outing so far in the Automobile Club of Southern California Ford. He banged the blower on the launch of his first run and came to a halt 100 feet downtrack, then smoked the tires on his second pass. His 5.57 is just the 16th quickest of the 17 entries to make runs Friday.

Mike Edwards

Edwards, like Dixon the low qualifier at the schedule’s most recent event, the Lucas Oil Slick Most NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, continued his hot streak as he screamed to the top of the Pro Stock pack in the second qualifying session with a 6.585. He was joined in the 6.50s by Greg Anderson’s 6.595 as both blew past first-session leader Allen Johnson’s 6.600. Edwards, flying the colors of Applied Racing Technology at this event, had been the No. 2 qualifier after the day’s first session behind Johnson with a 6.622.

“I’m not really used to this to be honest with you,” said Edwards. “It’s very rewarding to have these kind of results after the effort our team put in last season and over the winter. I’m just really appreciative of everything. Kathy and Derek Steinbach from A.R.T. are here today and what a great way to show them off here in their homestate [of] Florida. They’ve been on our car for eight years, and I’m real tickled for them and to have them on board. We made up the whole car for them this weekend because we wanted to do something real special for all the dedication they’ve given us, and it turned out real nice for them.

“There will be some faster times tomorrow,” he added. “I don’t know if we can get any better than that tomorrow but we’re going to try. It depends on the weather but I think the first session tomorrow is going to be real good.”

Behind the two Pontiacs and Johnson’s Dodge are Anderson’s Summit Racing Pontiac teammate, Jason Line, at 6.620 and reigning series champ Jeg Coughlin’s Chevrolet at 6.623. Larry Morgan has the next fastest Dodge with a sixth-ranked 6,627 while the event sponsor’s flagship, Kurt Johnson’s Cobalt, and Greg Stanfield’s Attitude Apparel Pontiac round out the top half of the field. Steve Spiess holds the final provisional spot with a 12th quickest 6.659.

Improvements generally were slight if at all for the factory hot rods in the warmer afternoon session, with Justin Humphreys’ four-hundredths leap, from 6.70 to 6.64, being tops, though it wasn’t good enough to put him in the quick 12. He, along with nine-time Gatornationals winner Warren Johnson, V. Gaines, and Rickie Jones, will need to run quick Saturday to make the show. Twenty four Pro Stocker made qualifying attempts.

Matt Smith

Smith, in his debut with the Don Schumacher Racing stable, ran 6.945 in Friday’s first session aboard the NitroFish Suzuki after more than two years astride his own Buell entry and held on through the afternoon’s slower session for the provisional pole position with two sessions still to go.

“That’s a good start to the season and if we can continue like that tomorrow we’ll be good,” said Smith, who made just seven runs on the bike before the race during testing. “We left three- or four-hundredths on the table on that first run, so if the conditions are similar tomorrow morning, we could run a 6.90 or .91. This Nitro Fish Suzuki that Don Schumacher has put together is pretty awesome, so I have to thank everyone on the team for giving me a chance to do this.

“The Buell is like a tractor in that it vibrates and makes no rpm – we run like 9,000 rpm – while the Suzuki will turn 13,500 nice and smooth, so it’s totally different. The clutch is different, the throttle is different, so it’s a big adjustment.”

Smith was joined in the six-second zone four other riders, led by 2008 Norwalk winner Hector Arana, who clocked a 6.957 aboard the Lucas Oil Buell. 2007 event winner Karen Stoffer, sporting new yellow paint on her GEICO Suzuki, is third with a 6.963 and is followed on the sheets by Angie McBride, Smith’s fiancée, who rode his 2008 machine to a 6.963, and former Gatornationals champ Andrew Hines, who ran 6.991 on his Vance & Hines/Screamin’ Eagle Harley. All of the six-second passes were recorded in the first session.

As it was in Pro Stock, not many riders improved in the afternoon session, though Wesley Wells did open a few eyes by improving by nearly five-hundredths, from 7.082 to 7.034, which ranks his Suzuki ninth. Ahead of him and behind the six-second runners are Craig Treble’s Suzuki (7.007), defending series champ Eddie Krawiec’s Harley (7.007), and two-time Indy champ Steve Johnson’s WyoTech Suzuki (7.024). Although he’s not currently in the field, Ryan Schnitz also impressed with a 7.17 aboard the Team Muzzy Kawasaki ZX-14, a career-best time for the rare machine.

Among those not in the field heading into Sunday are defending event champ Matt Guidera and 2008 rookie of the year candidate Junior Pippin.

The 2009 ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals will mark the 40th anniversary of NHRA’s annual March classic, and looking back over its long and illustrious history, it’s safe to say that it’s been crammed with well more than 40 years of memories and history.

You might remember that at last year’s event, banners were hung on the main grandstand at Gainesville Raceway to salute five of the event’s more memorable moments: the first all-team Funny Car final (Leonard Hughes versus Larry Reyes, 1970); Don Garlits’ debut of the Swamp Rat XXX Top Fueler and subsequent breaking of the 270-mph barrier (1986); Darrell Gwynn’s final Top Fuel win (1990); Kenny Bernstein’s shattering of the 300-mph barrier (1992); and Andrew Hines’ toppling of the six-second barrier in Pro Stock Motorcycle (2005).

That hanging handful of history only scrapes the surface of what remains one of the most storied events on the calendar. In fact, it would be easy for me to compile a top 25 list of memorable moments, heck, maybe even a top 50.

What? Was that a dare you uttered? A challenge? Ha! How about 40? Twenty today, and 20 Friday. Such a deal.

For the record, Gainesville Dragway – as it was known then and for several years afterward – officially opened for business Dec. 7, 1968, for a two-day event patterned after a points meet, and it didn’t take long for the track to get into the record-breaking business. Southeast legend Bo Laws set four records with his Corvette to lead the way. The iconic three-story tower was part of the opening-day landscape, as were a short-lived 80-foot crossover bridge that spanned the staging lanes and sponsored finish-line scoreboards similar to those at Indy. It didn’t take long for NHRA to award the new jewel of the Southeast with a national event, which it did the following June in anticipation of 1970’s much-heralded Super Season. It became the season’s second event on the calendar – a de facto East Coast season opener – and remained that way on the schedule until 1989, when the new Houston event was moved between it and the Winternationals. A year later, when the Phoenix event was moved from the fall to February, the Gainesville event became the fourth race on the schedule and stayed there until 1999, when the spring Houston race was moved behind it due to weather concerns.

Okay, but on to the rich and wondrous history of the event itself. Some of these I read about in magazines in my youth, some I saw on television, and others I have witnessed personally during my Gators-going tenure here. It seems fair and reasonable to do this chronologically rather than to try to rewrite a list that’s already begun.

Leonard Hughes, near lane, beat temporary teammate Larry Reyes on a holeshot in the 1970 Gatornationals Funny Car final.

1. As noted above, it was an all-Candies & Hughes Funny Car final at the debut event in 1970, but what few know is that runner-up Reyes, fresh off his Winternationals win in Roland Leong’s Hawaiian, was still employed by Leong, and they ran the race as C&H’s partners. Hughes was driving the team’s new Barracuda, and Reyes saddled up in the ‘69 car, which actually was the better of the two cars. It was never really discussed historically (until now), but Reyes was “asked” to lose the final round to Hughes as the team was working on a big sponsorship. One only has to look at the e.t.s — Hughes defeated Reyes on a holeshot, 7.29 to a shutoff 7.12 – to get an inkling that something wasn’t kosher (a fact to which all parties now confess), but the real shame is that had Reyes not aborted his final-round pass, he would likely have recorded the class’ first six-second pass.

2. All three Pro finals at that first event were decided by holeshots. In addition to Hughes’ gatejob, Dave Chenevert won Top Fuel – and the only Wally of his career — against Jim Paoli, 6.74 to 6.61, and Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins bagged Pro Stock with his ‘69 Camaro on a 9.90 to 9.86 tally against Ronnie Sox. As appropriate as it would have been to have the state’s finest racer, Garlits, win the debut event, it didn’t happen because despite outclassing the field in every sense – he ran in the 6.50s on four passes when no one else could even run one — he broke the transmission.

3. Jimmy King, of King & Marshall fame, also won the only Top Fuel crown of his career the following year, also on a holeshot, 6.90 to 6.80 against Sarge Arciero. For the second straight year, Garlits qualified low but went home without a trophy.

After dominating the first two Gatornationals but coming away winless, Don Garlits won his first of four Gators titles in 1972.

4. In 1972, Garlits finally scored the first of four Gatornationals Top Fuel titles in typically “Big” fashion: He ran 6.15, the quickest time in class history, earlier in the day, then ran 6.17, 243.90 (the fastest speed ever) in the final to beat the 6.24, 238.09 of national record holder Clayton Harris in what was then the quickest and fastest side-by-side race in history.

5. Chevrolet fans rejoiced at the 1973 event, where the late Jim Bucher earned a piece of history as the first Top Fuel racer to set the NHRA national record with Bowtie power, a sizzling 6.07 in round two against Carl Olson. Unfortunately for Bucher, a cracked cylinder head led to a blower explosion in the final, giving the win to Herm Petersen, whose win was the – stop me if you’ve heard this before – only one of his long career. Both ends of the national record were broken in all three Pro classes, with Pat Foster (Funny Car) and “Dyno Don” Nicholson (Pro Stock) winning the event after setting records.

The Butch Maas-driven Mickey Thompson Grand Am met a fiery end in 1973.

6. Also in 1973, Butch Maas, in Mickey Thompson’s sleek Grand Am, and Jim Nicoll, in his Speed Equipment World Vega, both rode out nasty top-end fires. Maas – whose career will be featured in this column in a few weeks – and the smoldering wreck came to a photographic stop right next to the track’s “The End” sign.

7. More history was in store at the 1974 event, where Wally Booth scored the first Pro Stock victory for car manufacturer AMC after his Hornet stung the field, including final-round opponent Jack Roush (yes, that Jack Roush) and the new Gapp & Roush Mustang. Usual driver Wayne Gapp wheeled their trusty old Pinto to the No. 1 qualifier spot but lost early to Bob Glidden. It was the (say it with me) only final-round appearance of Roush’s driving career.

Don Prudhomme brought back his Indy-winning ‘Cuda in 1974 to win the Gators.

8. The 1974 Funny Car final was notable for the body styles of the two finalists. Prudhomme had debuted an aerodynamically slick and trick Vega at the Winternationals but hated the car and later sold it to Tom Hoover. Prudhomme dragged his trusty ol’ “plain Jane” ‘Cuda out of mothballs, painted in his new Army livery, and whupped the Gators field. In the final, he beat Don Schumacher, who had tossed the body off his own aero-influenced Super Shoe Vega in qualifying but patched it up for eliminations.

9. Prudhomme also won the 1975 Funny Car title in one of the weirder final rounds in class history. “The Snake” was shut off on the line for an oil leak, which appeared to give Tom Prock – father of Robert Hight crew chief Jimmy – a solo to what would have been (all together now!) the only win of his career. Unfortunately for Prock, his final dry hop to the starting line broke the rear end. Officials gave both racers 45 minutes to make repairs, which for “the Snake” meant repairing the oil-pan gasket, and Prock and company couldn’t change out the rear end in time. Prudhomme soloed to what was his second of six wins (in eight events) that season.

10. As tough as it is for us, the Warren & Coburn faithful, to fathom, James Warren only won two national events in his fabled Top Fuel career, the second of which was at the 1976 race. The Ridge Route Terrors, whose only other Wally was earned in a front-engine car at the 1968 Winternationals, were runner-up to Frank Bradley at the 1976 Winters, then beat Chevy stalwart Bucher in the final in Gainesville. Gary Beck recorded the track’s first five-second pass that year with a 5.92. This year, of course, we’ll see its first three-second run, albeit it at 1,000 feet.

“The Snake’s” Army Monza, one of the winningest cars in NHRA history, won the Gatornationals back to back in 1975 and 1976.

11. Also in 1976, Prudhomme won his third straight Gatornationals crown and, in the process, became the winningest driver in the sport’s history with 16 wins, breaking his tie with Garlits. Prudhomme won seven of the eight events that bicentennial year, losing only in the final round in Indy to Gary Burgin.

12. “240 Gordie” Bonin began one of the oddest courtships with Gatornationals glory in 1977, when he won his first title (imagine that!), powering the Bubble Up Trans Am to low e.t. and top speed (6.19, 238.72), then won the race every other year through 1981. Bonin singled for the 1977 title after Roger Lindamood was unable to return after destroying the engine in his Color Me Gone entry in beating red-lighting Prudhomme in the semifinals. The final-four loss for Prudhomme, who battled the flu all weekend, was his first non-final-round appearance in 13 straight national events spanning three seasons.

13. The bridesmaids finally got hitched at the 1978 event as Dale Pulde, a two-time runner-up in Funny Car in a seven-year career, and Frank Iaconio, who had logged four Pro Stock runner-ups, each scored his first national event win. Pulde slid the War Eagle Trans Am past Billy Meyer’s Aqua Slide ‘n’ Dive Arrow to claim his initial Wally, and Iaconio got a gift from low qualifier Glidden, who red-lighted in the final.

14. Garlits won his second straight and third Gatornationals title in 1978 in one of his few cars that was not black. His Donovan-powered digger, painted blue and white, escaped with the victory after low qualifier Kelly Brown – who would win the season championship that year – lost the engine just off the line and Garlits smoked the tires to a 6.55.

15. Brown took it one round further the following year as his star continued to ascend, but few could have predicted the future trajectory of the 1979 Top Alcohol Dragster winner: Joe Amato. The plucky Pennsylvania pilot won his first of 57 titles – 52 of which were in Top Fuel – with his Hurst/Airheart dragster after competing in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Amato also won the Gatornationals in 1981 in TAD and four times in Top Fuel –1984, 1987, 1991, and 1997 – to put him among the event’s winningest drivers. Only Warren Johnson (nine) and John Force (seven) have more Gatornationals wins.

Bob Glidden won 85 national events but only won the Gatornationals twice, the final time in this Plymouth Arrow in 1979.

16. Here’s one that makes you go “Huh?” Glidden won Pro Stock at the 1979 Gatornationals with his Plymouth Arrow, which was newsworthy in and of itself because he beat Ronnie Sox in the first all-Mopar final since the 1973 Springnationals (where Butch Leal beat Don Carlton) and because in 63 more wins before his 1997 retirement, he never won the Gatornationals again.

17. Prudhomme won Funny Car again in 1980, but only after the heroic efforts of NHRA Competition Director Steve Gibbs with the Safety Safari, who concocted a witch’s brew of a traction compound to rescue a very green track and almost blew himself up in the process. For years afterward, a dented saucepan with the words “Desperate men do desperate things” lettered on it hung in Gibbs’ office. Gibbs’ reward? Prudhomme unleashed one of the greatest on-track assaults in history with five five-second runs, including an astounding 5.93.

18. Len Imbrogno, who decades later would work for NHRA, took a wild ride in Funny Car qualifying in Kenny Thornburg’s Centurion Pontiac Trans Am. After a wheelstand on the first attempt, he crossed the centerline on his second pass. Things got decidedly worse Saturday when Imbrogno got out of shape due to excessive tire shake and made a hard right turn into the guardrail, launching the fire bottle like a bottle rocket, before sliding the length of the course along the guardrail.

Jeb Allen finally broke Don Garlits’ six-year-old class mark of 5.63 with a 5.62 at the 1981 Gatornationals.

19. The 1981 Gatornationals was another performance barnburner. Eventual world champ Jeb Allen, who won Top Fuel the year before, ran 5.62 to finally supplant the 5.63 recorded more than five years earlier by Garlits at the 1975 Supernationals as the quickest run in Top Fuel history.

20. Shirley Muldowney won her first of two straight Gatornationals Top Fuel crowns at the 1981 event, where she bested Jody Smart in the final round. The following year, she denied Garlits in a classic final-round showdown.

Okay, there are 20 without even breaking a sweat. And in just the first 11 years of the race! Are you impressed yet? Twenty more coming your way Friday — at this rate, I may need 60! — when I’ll be filing from G-ville, where I travel Thursday.

Victor Cagnazzi Q&A: Covering the competitive spectrum

When it comes to the world of NHRA Pro Stock racing, team owner Victor Cagnazzi is a man of mixed emotions. On one hand, his Jeg’s.com team, driven by Jeg Coughlin, is the two-time defending Pro Stock champion and winner of the most recent race in Phoenix.However, for the second year in a row, his other entry, normally driven by phenom David Connolly, remains parked at the Cagnazzi Racing shop in Mooresville, N.C., while the team searches for sponsorship. As the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series prepares to head to Gainesville, Fla., for next weekend’s ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, the quiet-spoken New York native took time to address his unique situation, and to offer his outlook for the future as well as his thoughts on the upcoming East Coast drag racing season-opener.

Q: Could you give us a brief recap as what has transpired at Cagnazzi Racing over the last few months?
VC: We have been busy since the end of last season working on new partnership programs for Dave Connolly and the Charter Communications team. The good thing is we have quite a few potential sponsors in our pipeline and we are getting good feedback from prospects about our opportunity and about our sport.

Q: How difficult is it to be in the same situation as you were one year ago?
VC: It is actually a bit easier this year. Last year we had absolutely no advance notice when Knoll Gas pulled out, I believe I got the call Jan.10. We were actually in the process of loading up for the Pro Stock Showdown in Vegas when we had to regroup and take a step back. At that point, we had already invested a lot of money and resources to get everything fresh and ready to go so it was extremely difficult financially when it ended.

This year we knew back in late November that we needed to find a partner for Charter to get Dave and the team out in Pomona. We had time to size our operation and budgets to meet our lower revenue so although it has been difficult, it isn’t as devastating as it was last year.

Q: Through it all, you have managed to keep a positive outlook throughout the entire organization. How have you done this?
VC: We know God has a plan for us; we trust in His divine guidance and know better times are just around the corner.

Q: Coming from a business background you are well aware of what a potential sponsor is looking for in today’s competitive marketplace. What about Cagnazzi Racing and the NHRA’s Full Throttle Series offers companies the best opportunity?
VC: Value, Value, Value. Wait, let me say it again: VALUE! In today’s marketplace, I believe the NHRA offers a better opportunity for a sponsor to capitalize on their investment than in other forms of racing. On top of that, racing in the Full Throttle Series is our fulltime business. We do not do this as a hobby. We are as committed to making the sponsors’ investment pay off as we are to winning races and championships.

Our responsibilities to our sponsors extend far beyond the racetrack. Our business model hinges on delivering successful, measurable results over the long term to our sponsor-partners. The team’s commitment to our sponsors is that no other organization in professional motorsports will do more to help its sponsors succeed through their motorsports investment than will Cagnazzi Racing.

Q: Have you kept in close contact with David? What is he up to?
VC: Dave and I speak a few times a week keeping each other updated on the things we are working on. Dave has been keeping busy racing in the Lucas Oil Series but he is very anxious to climb back into his Chevy Cobalt Pro Stock.

Q: Where do things stand in terms of getting the second team back on track?
VC: As of today we are looking at possibly having Dave and the Charter Team back out in Houston slugging it out for race wins. The best way to put it is that right now we are guardedly optimistic.

Q: What has been the response by the racing community and the fans to your situation?
VC: The e-mails to our website have been virtually nonstop, with every one of them offering support and encouragement for Dave and the team. Some even go as far as to suggest potential sponsors!

We have actually saved the e-mails to show any company we talk to, stacks of them we offer as evidence of the fan loyalty we have told them about. Basically, we tell them if you sign on with Dave and our team, these fans will become your customers.

Q: Of course, one of the hardest things to handle in this situation is the many misconceptions and rumors that inevitably crop up. Are there any specific areas where you’d like to set things straight?
VC: We have gotten a lot of calls criticizing us for not running Dave without a sponsor. The fact of the matter is we certainly would do that if we could – after all, we are all racers here. We want Dave to be out there racing. But, the reality is that we just don’t have the financial resources to do it without support.

Q: You have to be encouraged by the strong start by Jeggie and the entire Jeg’s team.
VC: We are really pleased with how the Jegs.com team has been performing; it goes to show the depth we have here at Cagnazzi Racing. Jeggie is an awesome driver, the team has been flawless in execution, and Jeg Sr. and Roy Simmons have been doing a great job on the set-up calls.

For the first two races, Jeg Coughlin Sr. has been in touch with the team over the Internet and via cellphone, but he’ll actually be in Gainesville, which is just up the road from his vacation home. We’re all pretty excited to have him there in person.

Q: How important has the Coughlin family’s involvement been to your team?
VC: The Coughlin family has played a big part in our success, and they all are great to work with. Jeg Jr. is just awesome behind the wheel, while Jeg Sr. brings a wealth of knowledge and has been a guiding force on the Jegs.com team working with Roy these past two seasons. Mike, John and Troy are also very supportive. As a group, they have a positive attitude that is extremely contagious, and like me they are fiercely competitive. It’s all good.

Q: You have quite a diverse stable of three drivers, each with his own personality and level of experience. Talk about them.
VC: What can I say about Jeg Coughlin Jr that hasn’t already been said or written? He’s a five-time NHRA champion, an awesome driver and individual who is calm and collected behind the wheel; nothing rattles him. He’s a fantastic spokesman for the Jegs brand and all of his sponsors and his passion for the sport shows in his interviews; you can see he loves what he does. When he’s not racing Pro Stock you might find him competing at a high-dollar bracket race somewhere; he has won a number of big Sportsman events in the past three years

Dave Connolly is another fantastic driver. He has shown time and again he will get up on the wheel and leave on you. He is confident and compelled and works hard at his craft. He is always on the practice Tree, or out racing something somewhere. You won’t find Dave sitting around often. He has a quiet and determined nature that most people don’t notice. He is there to win and I believe he is a championship waiting to happen.

Shane Tucker is our Australian rookie, and we are really excited about his potential. He was the rookie of the year in Australian Pro Stock and almost won the championship in his first year on the circuit. Shane has movie-star good looks and will bring a young, hip factor to whoever he represents. I honestly believe he will be a good addition to the team and the Pro Stock class and will be a good ambassador for our sport.

Q: The Gatornationals will be the first race you attend this season; how do you feel going in to the event?
VC: I’m excited. This year we arrive at this historic race as the defending event champs, and also come to town fresh off a big victory in Phoenix. I didn’t go to Pomona and Phoenix so we could continue to work on sponsorship solicitations for Dave and Shane, but the Gainesville race is close enough that I will only be out of the office one day. Besides, my Mom and Dad love to come to the Gators — they live in Vero Beach, so it’s a local race for them.

Q: As a drag racer growing up on the East Coast, what do the Gatornationals mean to you?
VC: The Gatornationals have so much history that it is one of my favorite races of the entire year. As a drag racer living in New York, the Gators were our first race of the season, our Spring Break, a chance to get out of the snow and cold and get to the sun and tire smoke. After a long winter, what could be better than that!?

Q: It had to be a tremendous thrill winning the Gators last year; talk about the experience.
VC: Over the past few years our team has been late starters, not really hitting our stride until late spring so to win that early in the season was really fantastic. It was also a special weekend as both Jeg Sr and I were celebrating our birthdays during the race so to end with the win was absolutely the icing on the cake!

Q: In closing, what would like to say to all your fans?
VC: I‘d like to thank them all for the great e-mails and letters. It makes a big difference to all of us knowing how much support we have out there. The encouragement is heartwarming and keeps the whole team pumped up, so please keep them coming! Other than that, we hope to see you at the races!

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series points leaders Antron Brown and Ron Capps took part in a national teleconference hosted by NHRA March 3 and shared their thoughts about their seasons to date.

Brown has three wins in 26 Top Fuel races in the Matco Tools dragster, including one win and a runner-up in the first two races this season. He has a 42-point lead over Brandon Bernstein after the first two races. Capps has won the first two races of the 2009 season to give him 26 Funny Car wins, which ties him for the top five for all time with Cruz Pedregon. He has 27 wins; the other is in Top Fuel.  Capps is the winningest Funny Car driver in NHRA history to have not won a world championship. He has three second-place finishes, in 1998, 2000, and 2005.

Q: Antron, rewind maybe six weeks to the middle of January when there was so much turmoil going on with the change in ownership and crew chiefs; could you have imagined this? Bring us up to speed now, if you thought this was possible.
Brown: Actually, it didn’t take me by surprise. When we go back six weeks ago, it’s just like we were thumbing along, everything was great, like a gravy train over here at the time with 3BRacing. The whole team had the car ready to go. We were getting ready for the upcoming test session at Phoenix. Then we had the bomb dropped on us. We didn’t know if we had a team owner; my team owner [David Powers] basically told us he was getting out of the sport, that he couldn’t do it because of health reasons. We were a little bit in turmoil.

Later that afternoon, actually my team manager now, Tom, walks in the building and tells us that Mike Ashley took over the race team. At the time we found out that Lee Beard wasn’t going to be my crew chief. I was like, “Oh, Lord, what’s happening? Where are we going with all this?” They told us that Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald were going to be our crew chiefs. I knew we had two solid crew chiefs coming in. Made me feel better. But I was worried about my team getting separated.

Our team as a whole came together. They kept the majority of all the guys on our team. A couple of guys didn’t want to stay. They were actually getting out of racing.

We went to Phoenix, and that’s when our whole deal came together. The whole team jelled together well. We went out there and ran the quickest in Top Fuel. Gave me a boost of confidence to know what our team was capable of; all our hard work in the off-season paid off. Went to Pomona, qualified No. 1, went to the final. I was ecstatic, pumped up.

We pulled the win there in Phoenix. Gave me a continuing boost of confidence. We’re a contender in the championship. We didn’t know how our team was going to jell. I’m pretty stoked now because I know we have a strong team, and we’re only going to get stronger as the year goes on.

Q: Ron, I think it’s fair to say you are among the most decorated drivers, if not the most decorated driver, to not win a championship. Crew chief Ed “the Ace” McCulloch is in the same boat. What’s the difference so far this season, the first two races, than last season (when you didn’t win a race)? Where do you think it’s going to take you 22 races from now (end of the season)?
Capps: Well, pretty much just the approach for this season from the get-go. I mean, when we left Pomona last year, we ran the quickest run on Sunday and lost in the final. We ran 4.07 or 4.08, one of our quicker runs for the year. By a lot of team standards, we had a pretty good year. For our standards last year, we were kind of embarrassed with ourselves with how we finished. We finished eighth. We didn’t win a race. We were in final rounds. We didn’t live up to our expectations.

At the end of the day, of course, Don Schumacher, NAPA being our sponsors there, they want us to win. But it’s “Ace” and I and the team that have to wake up in the morning and know we’re not having the kind of year we wanted to have.

When we left Pomona, even though we ran good, he completely redid the tune-up on the car, went back to basics, and started from scratch, redid the whole car. When we showed up in West Palm [Florida] for our first test session, we were the quickest car every session. Then when we went to Phoenix for preseason testing; we wanted to test a lot of things. When we rolled into Pomona, we were a little bit apprehensive but a little bit confident. We weren’t sure how the weekend was going to go. To win there, it just proved that a lot of hard work paid off.

Q: How different is Gainesville going to be compared to where you’ve been? What does it take to win there?
Brown: I think the deal with Gainesville is when you go there, we know you can actually set some fast e.t.s depending on the weather. It should be pretty cool out there. It’s a sea-level track. The traction is always really good there. The fan atmosphere really gets you pumped up. It’s a really good track to go fast at.

It’s going to be a little bit different coming from Phoenix in one aspect because Phoenix was dry; it was fast out in Phoenix. We’re going to have a little bit more humidity. Play mind games on the crew chiefs. Set their tune-ups in a different way. Us as drivers, I mean, we personally — I get pumped up going to Gainesville because it’s where I always started my season off before [when riding Pro Stock Motorcycles], and the weather’s always right. It’s always one of the biggest races we go to.

You have to deal with the crowd. You got to deal with all the other stuff going on around you and get ready for a real fast race.

Capps: Like Antron said, the conditions can be very good. One thing we learned, lucky enough to win it there twice, those years, it’s real easy because of the records set there in the past. Kenny Bernstein being the “King of Speed,” breaking the 300-mph barrier. The track had cool conditions with cloud cover for several years and got a reputation for being very fast. But as of late, with it being in March, the sun can come out. Of course, humidity, a lot of these crew chiefs have in the back of their mind this attitude that this track has had records set there and you need to get after it. But it’s very tricky.

Antron will tell you, when the sun comes out there, you can’t try to run low e.t. The crew chiefs that do it are the ones that may qualify low, but they’re going to go out on race day because conditions change.

It’s a very tricky track, like Antron says, but it’s prestigious. The first year I won, I was blown away because that race, it’s one of the big three races we have. To win it twice was even bigger.

It’s kind of like the Winternationals for the East Coast. A lot of corporate sponsors come out. It’s a big deal for everybody.

Q: How do you rank the Gatornationals? Is it what you would consider one of the most prestigious stops? And how has the economy affected your programs?
Capps: Well, as far as ranking the race, kind of go off of history. I love the sport of drag racing, following the history as a kid. It’s probably the second-biggest race. Of course, Indy has to be our biggest race. For me, Pomona is big because of its history and being the heart of drag racing. Wally Parks got everything started there.

When you look at the corporate level, you look at the fan turnout, the campers when you’re driving up that small highway to the racetrack – there’s just miles of campers lined up with racing banners; it’s amazing.

So I would put it up there right with Pomona, two or three.

The economy, I’ll tell you, I’ve been bragging on our sport because, to be honest with you, the fan turnout has been unbelievable. We have a great package. Our sport is in good hands. The fact that people are going to look in their wallets and say, “Here is what I’m going to spend my money on this whole year for entertainment.” When you look at any motorsport, any stick-and-ball sport, you can’t get any better buy than a drag race. Take the kids, meet the drivers, meet the legends. It’s amazing to see the turnout we had. Even when it was raining in Pomona, I couldn’t believe the fans out there, even without umbrellas.

I expect a huge crowd in Gainesville. My sponsor NAPA is doing just fine. I think people are spending money on things they have at home instead of going out and buying a lot of things. I’m not really that worried about our sport.

Brown: The Gators is, definitely like Ron was talking about, one of the most prestigious races, especially for the bike class, because it’s where the bikes always started at. That’s my start back in ’98. I mean, I love going to the racetrack. I’ll say it – it ranks up there definitely of all the races we go to, definitely in the top five of all the racetracks that we go to, for sure.

When everybody thinks about racing, they think about the Gatornationals and the U.S. Nationals. They go hand in hand with each other.

As far as the economy will go, I think our sport is just like Ron was stating. It’s not just us being biased because we’re drag racers; when you talk to our NASCAR counterparts, they say the same thing about our sport. It’s the best bang for the buck. A few of them even came by thinking about getting drag race teams because they see how our sport is growing, from the Coca-Cola standpoint all the way down to when I look at it through our sponsor with Matco. Their business is growing. You see other people getting out of different motorsports, where they’re taking a leap of faith and more and actually extended our contract through 2009 and 2010.

It’s definitely a great buy because you’re seeing more people working on their stuff at home, like Ron says. They’re going to NAPA to buy their stuff, and hopefully they’re using Matco tools to put that on their car. Our sport is really family oriented. The people come into the stands, come to the pit areas, mingle around, seeing the cars warming up, seeing the crew. Every ticket is a pit pass. Our sport is growing in a time of hardship, which is great for our sport. I’m happy to see it because people are having short fields. We’ve been having 22-car fields in Top Fuel. The same thing in Funny Car. That really put a shine on my face when we came out the beginning of this year. People were saying, “Let’s see how the field is going to look.” Our field has actually been booming with the new kids, rookies coming out in our class and making our sport grow. I’m really excited about our sport as a whole, how it’s grown in a time of desperate needs. And I love Gainesville.

Q: What do you think of the new variable timing starting Tree? How is it changing your approach at the start of a run?
Brown: I love it. I never even realized it or even saw it. But I guess you did have some people who’ve been in our sport for a while. Ron can probably talk a lot better than I have because he’s been in the fuel class a lot longer than I have. I didn’t realize there were some people anticipating the Tree, but you’re seeing more of it as the race goes on. It makes it more competitive for our classes. Now you have to be a disciplined driver, which me coming from bikes, we always left when I saw yellow, I was able to red-light. But I leave when I see yellow in fuel; I don’t have to worry about red-lighting. Other people were anticipating a little bit.

It’s made our class a little bit more interesting because now people have to be more prone to be disciplined enough to leave when they see yellow. I think it’s been making a little bit for up-and-down racing and better racing.

What do you think about it, Ron?

Capps: Yeah, I agree. It’s something all of us drivers together last year kind of formed a group, sort of a task force, to look at safety and a lot of issues to deal with PRO [Professional Racers Owners Organizaion], NHRA. One of the deals came up to getting the Christmas Tree back where it was when the late Buster Couch was the starter. It’s so automated now. For people that don’t know much about the Tree, the amount of time when a flash of yellow would come down when both cars were staged, a guy could count one thousand one, one thousand two, almost guess at the light. We wanted to put it back into the driver, make the driver a little more important, I guess.

It caught the drivers by surprise. I almost red-lit. Robert Hight told me the same. Raced the semi’s in Pomona. We were more excited about how the Tree made us wait, we were both in the cars ready to push the gas, than even the fact I won, I was going to the final. So I think it was welcomed.

We had a meeting with all the drivers. It was a unanimous decision at the time. I think you’re going to see one more change to the Tree that NHRA might change, a small amount, nobody is going to notice. Again, it’s going to bring the drivers back into it. It needs to reward guys like Antron, the guys that are really quick, that can wait and anticipate and leave on yellow. That’s what needs to happen. There were too many guys taking shots and guesses. That’s not good when you come home to your kid and you explain a loss because a guy guessed at a Tree. Trying to eliminate that.

Q: There have been more red-lights in the first two races than last year. Do you think we’ll see more reds all year?
Capps: Yeah, you might. You might. But you’ve got to take a step back before you go forward. I think if there are any drivers complaining, then they need to go back and practice some more.

I’m saying that because I could very well red-light the next race. But the fact is we did it as a group because we wanted to bring the driver back into it more. You might see some more red-lights. Antron can talk about the bikes a few years ago. There were a lot of red-lights when they tried to change the Tree or they did change the Tree. We’ve coped with a lot of changes with NHRA. They went to a different bulb type. A lot of things have happened in the past. It went along until all of a sudden the Tree was just more of a robot.

There was a guy named Buster Couch, a starter years ago. It was in his control. You didn’t leave until you saw amber. If he wanted to make you wait, you waited. That’s when you hear Don Prudhomme and Don Schumacher talk about the old days. That needs to be back the way it was.

Q: When you look at how competitive it is out there, how remarkable is it that Tony Schumacher had last year with all those wins? What could you compare it to maybe?
Brown: That was kind of phenomenal. He had an unbelievable team. I had a firsthand watch at it because he was kind of kicking our team’s butt up and down the track each and every time last year. I think we beat him twice maybe. No, once. I was 1-6 against him.

What can you compare that to? One of John Force’s domination years, when he won all those world championships in Funny Car. I think some people say, “Is that good for the sport?” I think it’s great for the sport because what it has done is I think if you see Top Fuel now, it has raised the level of Top Fuel because everybody has to compete with that kind of team. That team is still out there with Larry Dixon, who is a phenomenal driver himself. Us as a whole, we worked in the off-season so we can be that much more competitive. That’s what it does, it drives it.

Force won all those championships. I’ll let Ron speak about that. I think that rose the level of Funny Car to where it’s at, too. All it does, when one person breaks records, it creates a whole ’nother level for the teams to have to step up to to compete on that level to win that championship. What it’s done is you create your own monster with other race teams to step up to that level. That’s what’s happening.

Q: Did John have any seasons that paralleled that at all, Ron?
Capps: Oh, yeah. When I first started, that’s the reason I went to Funny Car. I drove Top Fuel for a year and a half. A lot of teams, that’s the reason you see a lot of Funny Cars where they’re at right now. Everybody wanted to go in and battle John Force. He was the guy you wanted to put yourself against because you knew he was absolutely the best. He was destroying people. He was clinching championships sometimes in September.

Yeah, I’ve seen that before firsthand. Being a teammate of Schumacher, watching what they’ve done the last few years, I’m not sure you’ll see that again in some time. It was an amazing thing to watch. Everything was going right. So we’ll see.

Q: Ron, you referred to last season being embarrassing for your team. Yet in the last race of the season, you made the final. Did that give you a boost of confidence coming into this year?
Capps: Yeah, well, definitely. “Ace” that whole day Sunday in Pomona at the end of the year, I could see it in his eye. He was trying things he wasn’t comfortable trying, but that’s what you’ve got to do a lot as a crew chief. I could tell on the car; the car was getting much more of an animal every run. In the final round, he did some things he would not normally do, and it paid off.

I wanted to go hang myself after running what we did, finally running that good, be in the final round, last race of the year, a chance to give NAPA a win, losing the race. I had the whole off-season to think about it every morning.

It gave us definitely a silver lining to look forward to this year. That’s why we’re so apprehensive. When “Ace” decided to change a lot of things, it was like, “We just finished with a great run.” He also knew that with the other teams out there, [Auto Club Ford Mustang crew chief] Jimmy [Prock]’s team that always seems to be low e.t. at qualifying, we were going to have to step it up. To do that, we were going to have to completely change everything.

As a crew chief, it’s a hard thing to do. But I’m glad he did it.

Q: In Phoenix, you destroyed the field. How did that feel after what you went through last year?
Capps: Looking back, it kind of looked that way. When you’re in the trenches race day, it didn’t feel that way. We barely beat our teammate Matt Hagan the second run. We weren’t quickest the first couple rounds, but “Ace” knew why. The cool thing about racing with “Ace,” you look at years past. There have been great drivers in the past. But if you look at a great racer, there are only a few of those out there. He’s one of those guys that approaches it that way. He only ran what he thought we needed to win those rounds, not get ourselves in trouble.

I didn’t feel like we were dominating. What made me feel like maybe we had a car that did maybe dominate a little bit was the final round when Mike Neff broke his clutch linkage. He idled down the track.

Q: Antron, you’ve had success in both classes. Do you feel now you’re kind of racing what you always wanted to race? Is this kind of a dream being realized?
Brown: Oh, for sure. I mean, I can take you back to 1986. I was 10 years old at the Summernationals at Old Bridge [Township Raceway] Park in Englishtown. I was there when “Big Daddy” Don Garlits flipped his Super Shops car over. I remember as a kid just watching that race. I was a motocross racer back then. My dad was a drag racer. They were Super Comp and Super Gas racers. I remember I said, “I want to drive one of those things one time, either a Top Fuel or Funny Car.” Didn’t make a difference. I was never picky. I was fascinated with the nitro classes, how fast they went.

I got into the motorcycle end of it. I got there, and Capps will remember, when I was over at DSR racing the bikes, I would talk to him every once in a while. “I want to drive one of these. Will you help me out?” Capps was one of my heroes. I thought he was the best in the business that ever drove a Funny Car. He would say, “Whatever you want; if you get in one of those deals, I will help you drive it.” I want to do this deal. I want to do this deal.

I just never got the opportunity to make it happen at DSR. When I got this opportunity to come over here with the Matco car, I went full head of steam. Fortunately, it worked out for me. I was putting my head down. Till this day, when I won my first race in Houston, I still look up at the sky every day and say, “Lord, is this really happening?” I think I’m dreaming. It’s like a dream to drive one of those cars. Until you drive one and experience it, it’s like a being kid in a candy store, you want to do it over and over and over again. The ride never changes. That’s why Force is still doing it, and he’s [59 years old]. He loves it. That’s the kind of passion I have for this sport as a whole and driving this race car. I’m very fortunate to get to do what I’m doing for sure.

Q: Ron, when you look at how you finished second in your career, are you at a point where you’re kind of compartmentalizing the season into segments, how you want to start off, things you maybe want to try midseason, trying to save it for the end, or are you pretty much going all out all the way through?
Capps: That’s kind of funny. The way we approach this season I think is kind of how I want to approach the whole thing. In years past, everybody has had this Countdown looming over us. You want to be one of the cars that makes it in there. When you get in there, you want to try to be a car that’s peaking.

The first year of the Countdown [2007], we went in with a points lead, and we lost a huge points lead when it started. We just never saw the points lead again.

The approach that “Ace” and our team have this year is one run at a time. I know it’s cliché. We’re standing on the gas, and we’re going to try to be the quickest car every single run of that round, then do that and win every race, just try to win races. All that will come with it. Instead of laying back and testing, trying things here, you know, sound like a NASCAR guy, “We’re okay with a top-five finish this weekend.” That turned out to not be the right approach. I think a lot of teams are going to see that same thing. You can’t approach it — drag racing is not NASCAR, first of all. But you can’t approach it like that.

So far it’s worked for what we wanted to try this year.

Q: Antron, talk a little bit about the difficulty or the transition between the motorcycles and the Top Fuel car.
Brown: The transition was mind-boggling. A lot of people say it looked easy, but they looked from the outside looking in.

When I first did the transition, I went to Frank Hawley’s NHRA Drag Racing School and got my alcohol license. I got to Gainesville with the Matco team, was able to make four runs there because the weather wasn’t permitting. We went in the wintertime. I got my first shake, tire shake. When the car shakes its tires, it’s like somebody put your head between two two-by-fours and was slapping your head like a paint shaker. It was kind of violent. It got me to all the different types of feelings I’m going to have to get used to in the car. The bike, the movements are real subtle. When I got into the fuel car, everything was like overexaggerated where you know it was happening. So I think the bike really got me primed and ready for how to be one with the vehicle because you’re not strapped in, you’re sitting on top of it, where you have to feel every nook and cranny, be in tune with it to give feedback to help the crew chief make the tune-up calls besides looking at the race computer.

When I got into the fuel car, all those movements were really exaggerated, where it really helped me catch on quick. The thing the bike did not prepare me for was the rate of acceleration. That’s one thing that took me at least a half a year just to get into my system where I can actually say, “Okay, this would happen here. This would happen in the first 60 feet. This would happen at the 100-foot mark. This at the 330.”

The fuel cars, what happens is you feel about 3.8 Gs off the starting line. When you get to hundred foot, it goes to 4.2 Gs. 330, you’re at four and a half Gs. When you’re at half-track, you reach 5 Gs. On my bike, I felt 3.8 Gs off the starting line till about 100 foot out, then it descended where it went down to 1 G by half-track. You’re along for the ride. You got the bike straight; it’s easy. The fuel car is accelerating all the way down the racetrack. The whole racetrack is like my Pro Stock Bike 60 foot. In three seconds, we’re over 300 mph.

That took me some really getting used to, how to feel the car, get it through tire shake, keep the car in the groove. When I first started off, I was looking at it all the way down the racetrack. When I was looking all the way down the racetrack, the car would get out of the groove, and I would spin the tires, where I had to start paying attention to 100 foot or 200 foot in front of the race car. If the car was making a twitch, I had to correct it. It came to just be a reaction. When I was trying to do it, I never could keep up with it. I just had to react to it.

The adjustment took me a while. I’m still learning stuff to this day. I’m way more comfortable than what I used to be. I can maybe win a round or two if I have to pedal it before last year where I had to get through it, and I might lose a round because I didn’t pedal it at the right time. I think now I can maybe sneak a couple rounds out if I have to get into a pedal match with somebody else.

Q: Ron, is this the strongest start you’ve ever had to a season? What’s the highest number of consecutive race wins you’ve been able to string together?
Capps: Definitely the strongest. We had a pretty good start I think it was ’05, but nothing like this. The most consecutive, I’m not sure. I know we’ve won at least two in a row. I thought we won three in a row a couple years ago. Trying to remember.

Yeah, this is definitely our strongest. I think our consecutive might be three.

Q: Antron, in NASCAR, the open-wheel guys that have made the transition, AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Carmichael, those are exceptions. Most of the open-wheel guys did not make it. What do you think you share with those guys that you’re able to adapt and be a points leader?
Brown: I think for one thing I can relate to Ricky Carmichael a lot. I think one thing of it is just having the determination and the willingness to want to win. I think that’s what you see not in just athletes, but into your championship-caliber athletes. You know what I mean? You just go out and beyond the call of duty.

When I took the Top Fuel deal, it didn’t just come to me. It’s that a lot of people say, “You picked a bike guy to drive a Top Fuel car? You did this or that.” For me personally, when I get in there, I kept my head down, worked hard. I’ve been in the shop every day. Scott Speed, Ricky Carmichael, that’s what they shared; they did it in their other previous sports. That’s why they got to get into the NASCAR Truck Series, what they’re doing; they actually do everything it needed to take and more. They went beyond the realm to achieve success. Success doesn’t come easy. You go through bumps and trials. But it’s the people that don’t give up, continue the work ethic to succeed. That’s what makes champions, how you go through adverse times.

I’m one of those types of people. I don’t like losing by any means. I’m confident in myself. But I’m willing to put the work that it takes to be successful in life. That’s the main key, to have determination.

Q: During the off-season, you got the opportunity to race those guys in a go-kart in Orlando. Could you comment on that?
Brown: It didn’t go the way I wanted it to. I went out there, got my tail whipped. That time right there, I’m not giving up, I’m going to go out there with them next year, but be with a little bit different team next year. I had a lot of equipment failure. It didn’t help when I had - what do you call it - a pair of vice grips that were still clamped on my steering column beating me on the leg when I was going around the track either. It was a lot of fun. You could see the raw determination of those guys, how they got out there from their sports. They performed well in the go-karts. I love go-karts to death. Ron was out there with me. It’s a lot of fun, but you’ve got to be on your toes. That’s a lot of endurance. I’m going to be ready for them next year. Want to go out there and try to get definitely a top 10 finish. That will make me feel real good for a drag racer.

Q: How do you think the 1,000- foot length is working? Is there a possibility of going back to a quarter-mile?
Capps: I’m real happy with it right now. Until we get all the shutdown areas at all the tracks like we have at Pomona, Charlotte, and Indy, you know, then I think we’ll be more comfortable going a quarter-mile.

I don’t think we’ve lost any bit of the competition, the racing, for the fans. I think a lot of them had their arms up in the air when it first happened, were wondering if the racing was going to suffer. It’s still strange not to go to a quarter-mile. I think a lot of us have gotten more used to it.

For me personally, I think it’s a good thing right now. I see us going back to quarter-mile sometime down the road.

Brown: I definitely agree with Ron on that. To give you a little history, in previous tracks, some of the tracks haven’t changed since the ’60s and ’70s, some of the early ’80s deals. Our cars do over 330 mph in a quarter-mile. I think it’s all the right moves we did, especially with our sport. The racing actually has gotten tighter at a thousand foot. We all loved 1,320. Don’t get none of us wrong. We want to go back to the full quarter-mile. That’s what our sport was built on. In the fan aspect, you’re seeing a lot of cars and teams where the parts attrition is up when you can see the cars run hard to a thousand foot without hitting the rev limiter. I think you’re going to see 315 mph or 310 mph out of a Funny Car, you’re going to see 320 out of a Top Fuel dragster. I think you’re going to see some good quality racing this year. I’m pretty excited about it actually because now it puts it back into a driver’s hands a little bit more because you’ve got to be more in tune and crisp off the line to get those race wins.