2/27/06

That was a close one……………….

It’s not often that a driver can out-pedal John in a smoke-fest like the one we saw in the final round in Phoenix on Sunday, but somehow Tommy Johnson Jr. was able to pull it off. John certainly had the best car on Team Castrol in eliminations as both Eric and Robert were out by the end of the first round, despite Eric qualifying No. 1.

This was a race that had an “underdog” vibe to it from the first moment that qualifying began on Sunday. In Top Fuel, although Tony Schumacher crushed everyone in qualifying, you had to like the chances of Melanie Troxel, fresh off her win in Pomona two weeks ago and ending qualifying in the No. 3 spot. Then, after the first round, the winning drivers included Melanie, Hillary Will, Clay Millican, Morgan Lucas, David Grubnic, and “Hot Rod” Fuller. Of course, Tony Schumacher got through the first round, but was bounced by Fuller in the semi-finals.

“Hot Rod” went on to victory putting a bow on the underdog storyline in Top Fuel.

In Funny Car, how do you explain Gary Scelzi having a grand total of one round win after two events in 2006? In fact, Team Schumacher has been rather quiet, except for Ron Capps advancing to the Pomona final. Obviously, it’s way too early to make any definite conclusions on how the championship compass needle will be pointing after all is said and done, but at this point in the season, Scelzi, Whit Bazemore and Capps haven’t revealed their overall potential.

John came into Phoenix with a remarkable winning percentage at that event: 8 wins out of the last 12 visits. Why he has done so well there is anybody’s guess but he came extremely close to picking up his ninth win there had it not been for his Castrol GTX Start Up Mustang getting totally loose not far off the starting line. Of course, not winning the event is a disappointment but its round wins, not necessarily national event wins that lead to championships so John racked up a good-sized chunk of points with his runner-up finish at Firebird.

Another hopeful sign that John’s season this year will end much better than last is that—based strictly on qualifying—John and the team have the new 2006 Mustang body dialed in. The car is making quick and consistent runs on almost every pass and now, with the schedule heading to Gainesville Raceway where the track is usually able to take plenty of horsepower, the team will surely have a racecar that can run big numbers.

Eric and Robert will have to regroup. To see all but one team car off the playing field after the first round isn’t the way things are supposed to shake out. Besides the strategic disadvantage of not having a teammate or two still winning rounds, the amount of data that Austin and Bernie can use to adjust John’s tune-up is significantly reduced. That may have had something to do with John’s Mustang running strong in the first and second rounds when it was possible to access the data from Eric and Robert’s Racepaks, but having no additional data in the semi’s or final and smoking the tires both times.

But now it’s time to look ahead to Gainesville and the always-exciting AC Delco Gatornationals. Be watching for me on an upcoming episode of “Inside Drag Racing” on ESPN2 and, of course, check back here after the Gators for another edition of “In the Groove”.

Thanks!

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