7/30/07

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

How does that man do it? Can someone possibly explain to me how John defies every ounce of logic we can muster and make believers of us time and time again?  Do you remember how doubtful we felt a month ago when it looked as if John was going to miss the next step of the Countdown? (Read my “In the Groove” following the race in Norwalk.)

Now, he’s 7th in the points and has won twice in the last four races. Remarkable!

And the fact that he and the team were prepared to dedicate the race to Eric adds an even greater dimension of significance to 124th career win. Here are some of John’s comments from the press conference at Infineon Raceway after the victory.

"We had a team meeting this morning and I said that between me, Ashley, and Robert, one of us had to win this race for Eric. I remember how happy he was when he won here last year because he's from this area. He had that goofy smile and was eating ice cream and just having a blast. We wanted to win and dedicate it to Eric."

That just about says it all.

Ashley is some real jeopardy of missing the Countdown. Now that John has moved into the No. 7 spot, Ashley now has two races to climb up into the Elite Eight from No. 12—and that’s going to take some doing. In only her second race against Dear Old Dad since debuting in Funny Car this year, Ashley lost their race in Round 1.  It’s still mathematically possible for her to push back into the top eight but she’ll have to avoid another first-round loss in Reading in two weeks.

Meanwhile, Robert clinched a Countdown spot by advancing to the semi-finals on Sunday. A broken throttle cable—not a common malfunction—cost him his semi-final race against Del Worsham and after the loss Robert said:

“It left good and then it just quit. When it first happened I thought it was the ignition. Well, if it would have been the ignition it wouldn’t have still been running. Then I thought I might have lifted. I knew I hadn’t lifted but you start second guessing yourself. I just tapped the throttle pedal because the thing was still running and I didn’t want to do anything crazy. I could see the cable just swinging free and just flopping around.”

And thus, rather than an all-JFR final, it was up to John to get around Del Worsham in the final—and he did.

I wasn’t in Sonoma to see the race in person, but I was about an hour’s drive away with the Champ Car World Series working the pits at the San Jose Grand Prix for ESPN2. I was toying with the idea of driving up to Sonoma on Friday evening to see night qualifying and say “Hi” to everyone but my plan just didn’t work out. So, I—like many other NHRA fans—watched final eliminations Sunday evening on the tube. It was great to see John go all the way, while the other pro final rounds offered plenty of drama as well.

Finally, everyone gets some time off after a punishing month-and-a-half. In two weeks, things get back on the power in Brainerd, MN for the Lucas Oil Nationals. I’ll have more from “In the Groove” then so work your way back here right after the race.

And don’t forget to buckle up and drive safely!