BILL STEPHENS “IN THE GROOVE” 9/21/09

It was perhaps the best race of the year for JFR.

Robert’s win was a much needed breakthrough for the AAA team. After the controversy and confrontations two weeks ago in Indy, Robert needed to make a statement and he made a thunderous one. And it was the first time JFR has scored back-to-back national event wins since Sonoma and Brainerd in 2007 when John doubled-up. Robert’s win (along with Ashley’s runner-up finish following her U.S. Nationals victory) has also put an entire new face on the Countdown to 1 points, with Ashley now only 1 point behind Tony Pedregon for the lead while Robert has moved from 10th to 3rd.

Nice.

The last race Robert won was a little less than a year ago: The 2008 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Go figure….

John was a first-round loser but that gave him the opportunity to race in the spectacular 4-wide exhibition race held on Sunday before the final round of eliminations. Mike, who also fell in Round 1, won the ear-shattering 4-some with John coming in second and Del Worsham and Tim Wilkerson following behind.

I got to catch up with everyone this weekend in Charlotte since I haven’t been able to make many national events this year due to my TV commitments covering the Mecum Muscle Car Auctions on Discovery HD Theater. I’ve recently been asked to help out on several projects the NHRA is working on, including a “50th Anniversary of the Winternationals” DVD, a new “Wild Rides II” DVD, a tribute to National Dragster which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2010, and another project I can’t quite tell you about yet which will be hitting your TV’s at home in 2010. More on that soon.

I had to interview a whole busload of people in Charlotte on Thursday and Friday including John, Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Austin Coil, Larry Dixon, Jack Beckman, and Don Schumacher. Who says I don’t have the best job in the world?! From offering comments and commentary on some of the most desirable and valuable Muscle Cars ever to cross the auction block to sitting and interviewing the very biggest names in drag racing, I’m living large! (Oh, and did I mention I interviewed my ol’ friend Shirley Muldowney, too?)

John was his usual talkative self and watching him do his thing when sitting down in an informal interview situation is an experience you would never forget. John has only one speed and several levels of intensity. When he’s on full tilt and really getting after a subject he’s all charged up about—well, it’s too bad that a lot of it never makes TV since we’d need a two-hour block to include it all. He is such a trip and where he finds the inexhaustible reserve of energy he draws from is one of life’s great mysteries.

I also got a chance to spend some time with another great friend, Bob Frey, who is without question the “Voice of the NHRA” and one of the sport’s truly great drag racing historians. Bob helped me out on the new project I’ll be telling you about soon and I am constantly impressed with not only his top of mind knowledge of the sport, but his remarkable statistical archive which he carries with him on his laptop computer. Stats which date back to the 1960’s including every professional class plus an equally unlimited archive of sportsman facts and figures, all classified and categorized in chronological order.

If you wanted to know won the Pro Stock semi-finals at the 1972 Springnationals in Columbus, Ohio, what the four drivers’ reaction times were, the winner’s and loser’s elapsed times and top speeds, and where they all qualified, in about 30-seconds, he’d have all those numbers for you. Nothing short of amazing.

Don’t anybody sit down. We’re at the Motorplex in Dallas this weekend for Race No. 2 of the 2009 Countdown to 1 and with five events remaining; Robert may be peaking at the right time. Regardless, I’ll have more from “In the Groove” after the race, so as always, everyone at JFR invites you to slide back this way after all the excitement in Texas and see what’s new on the site!