9/25/06

Robert saved the day.

There’s no two ways about it; Robert put an upbeat finish on a weekend that could have been a total disaster. With John’s potentially title-torpedoing loss to Ron Capps in Round 1, Eric’s Round 1 stumble, Ashley’s early-round defeat in Top Alcohol Dragster, and Brittany and Courtney failing to go deeply into Super Comp eliminations, the stage was set for a Team Force meltdown at the Motorplex.

But Robert rode some brilliant tuning by Jimmy Prock to the Funny Car victory, and suddenly is a player for the championship. Who would have predicted that? I’ve been consistently writing on ESPN.com that John and Ron would be the two combatants for this year’s POWERade championship, and now, there are three. Robert has won the last two races while John has fallen in the first round at both of those races and Ron has advanced to the semi-finals at one of them (Indy). The result? Robert trails Ron by 93 points with four races left.

John got a major break in Round 2 when Ron lost to Schumacher Racing stable mate, Mike Ashley. That ended Ron’s efforts to open up some real distance in the points between John and him but the total damage was only an extra 20.

Now in the strictest terms, Ron and Mike aren’t teammates as we normally construe the definition. Ron drives for his owner Don Schumacher, while Mike’s team is owned by Torco Race Fuels magnate Evan Knoll, who has an arrangement with Schumacher Racing for the transportation and logistical support of Mike’s operation. I respect Mike as a tremendous drag racer and after two straight NHRA AMS Pro Mod championships, he has shown an uncanny talent racing in the nitro F/C class. He has improved with every pass he has made and the proof of that was his first career final round appearance in a fuel coupe in Dallas.

However (and please be advised I’m not going to get into a long dissertation on team orders), it was quite mystifying to me that Mike made much of the fact he would race hard against Ron in the second round, knowing how much was at stake in that race. Say what you might about the whole ethical question of whether team orders are ever justified, but in that case, I feel they were. At season’s end, everyone will remember who won the championship but nobody will be raising their glasses to drivers who finished back in the standings because they felt that “doing the right thing” was unacceptable.

If Ron does indeed lose the championship this year, that second round loss on Sunday will loom extremely large.  That’s just my opinion and you can disagree if you like.

Shortly after John’s loss in the first round, I spent a little time with him back in the Castrol pits. John was speaking just above a whisper and told me that his voice needed a rest. With all of the pep talks and cheerleading he does with his team at every race, plus the demands of recording voice-overs for “Driving Force”, and entertaining the fans who mob his pit area all weekend, John’s voice had really taken a beating. Despite the loss to Capps, John was in good spirits (although he did bring up his shocking first-round foul at Indy three weeks ago) and was very excited about how the ratings for “Driving Force” have exceeded everyone’s expectations. It’s a lock that a second season of the show will be in the works for 2007, but before then, John is determined to regain the points lead from Ron and nail down championship #14.

Its three races in three weeks with the second of those three coming up this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, PA after rain postponed that event last week. The weather in the northeast should be seasonably cool for the race and with sea-level altitude, this year’s event just might be the most record-shattering extravaganza ever held at that picturesque facility. It may also be the last time records take a hit in Reading since the race moves to August next year.

I’ll be in Pennsylvania next week, but not in Reading—in Carlisle--at the enormous Fall Carlisle Auction, shooting a new series for Discovery Channel called “What’s My Car Worth?” which will premier early next year. The concept of the show is very similar to “Antiques Road Show” on PBS, except we’ll be appraising collector and special interest automobiles. I’ll let everyone know when the show debuts and I hope you’ll be able to catch it. In the meantime, watch for me on ESPN2, as usual, hosting “Inside Drag Racing” from a whole array of drag racing events from coast to coast.

More from “In the Groove” after Maple Grove.

Drive safely and buckle up!