9/5/06

A great start for John, a great finish for Robert, and a slew of memories from this year’s Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

Indy hasn’t lost a speck of its magic and aura after 52 years as the NHRA’s gala event. It’s impossible to describe the sense of history, nostalgia, and anticipation which accompanies the Nationals every year and with four points races ridiculously close as we headed to ORP this time around, the excitement level was more elevated than usual.

John was in good spirits as the weekend began. With “Driving Force” a bonafide hit show and with the POWERade points lead in hand, it appeared as if the Labor Day proceedings were going to give him lots to celebrate. And when he won the $100,000 in the Skoal Showdown on Sunday on his way to the No. 1 qualifying spot, things were really beginning to look terrific.

Then, the shocker.

John faced Jim Head in the first round on Monday and as we all know now, he committed a puzzling miscue after he had staged and jumped the green by a mile. The crowd went into shock, the team was flabbergasted, and Head gratefully took the gift. Later, John was extremely agitated at himself and when interviewed after the loss, he took his medicine, stating that he wouldn’t blame his team, the fans, and his sponsors to be mad at him for making the blunder.

Of course, what was most painful for John (and the whole team) was that Ron Capps advanced to the semi-finals and retook the points lead heading for Maple Grove. The battle rages on.

Robert continues to impress as a driver after his first Indy win in only his second start there. Only a handful of racers have won “The Big Go” in only their second trip to ORP and the list of drag racers who have NEVER won the Nationals includes some of the sport’s biggest stars, such as Capps, (although his tuner Ed “The Ace” McCulloch has won Indy six times), Tony Pedregon (but his two brothers Cruz and Frank have each won), Tommy Johnson Jr., Doug Kalitta, and a laundry list of Pro Stock veterans.

And how about Tony Schumacher? Five wins at Indy out of the last seven years. Plus, he’s now 54 points out of first place after looking at a 310-point deficit after Englishtown. A truly remarkable comeback.

The new NHRA points system which will go into effect next year has everyone in the sport chattering. The NASCAR-style playoff format is getting mixed reviews—a lot of it skeptical—and in my opinion; it’s too early to know how it will pan out. I do know that in the past six years, there have been a lot of changes to the way the NHRA races, including the 75-minute rule, the 90% rule, the rev limiter for nitro cars, spec ignition boxes for Pro Stock, one fuel supplier for the nitro cars, and on and on the list goes. When all these changes were introduced, there was a chorus of naysayers loudly predicting that the sport would be “ruined” by the latest change. And yet, in 2006, we race on. Disagree if you like, but I think nobody knows what kind of impact the new points system will have until we’ve tried it.

Five more events remain on the ’06 schedule and all indications are we’re going to have a smokin’ hot battle to the POWERade title. Don’t touch that dial!

Until next time, drive safely!