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Friday, March 16
Force seeking seventh title
By Bill Stephens
ESPN.com
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Friday morning was gray, damp and drizzly just hours before qualifying for the Mac Tools Gatornationals. There was already talk circulating among NHRA officials as to when the event may need to be rescheduled if rain were to wash out the race. But by early afternoon, the clouds parted, the humidity decreased and two full sessions went into the books with a few surprises in each of the five categories.
In Top Fuel, after two disheartening weekends in Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix, defending champion Gary Scelzi wheeled his way into the No. 1 spot with two impressive passes. His first, a 4.57/322, gave him the pole and almost a tenth-and-half second bulge over No. 2 qualifier, Kenny Bernstein. Bernstein's 4.70/315 run was his first under the new tuning team of Kim and Tim Richards, who joined previous co-crew chief Johnny West.
In the second session, with conditions measurably better, Scelzi paired off with Larry Dixon in the last qualifying match-up of the day -- and both cars delivered. Scelzi clipped off a 4.59/319, with Dixon rolling a 4.58/316 to place him No. 2. Bernstein's 4.63/316 in the afternoon stanza earned him the No. 3 spot.
Surprisingly, young Andrew Cowin, a 21 year-old Australian driver, holds the No. 4 slot with his 4.65/309, and IHRA regular Clay Millican's consistent performance -- 4.71/306 and 4.68/313 -- has given him the fifth position with two more runs on tap for Saturday.
In Funny Car, John Force saw his controversial third car, driven by Gary Densham, make two sub-par passes Friday, with a best of 5.13/227 landing the veteran school teacher/drag racer in the No. 12 slot. But Force had plenty to celebrate after his second pass shot him to the pole with a resounding 4.81/317 -- both low ET and top speed of the weekend. Force's other team car, driven by Tony Pedregon, sits No. 8 after his 4.94/313 in the morning session remained quick enough to keep him in the top half of the field.
Teammates Del Worsham and Frank Pedregon both had monster runs Friday afternoon which vaulted them into the top five. Pedregon's 4.86/302 moved him into the No. 2 slot and Worsham's slightly slower 4.88/316 handed him the No. 3 position. Don "The Snake" Prudhomme's two-car team fills out the rest of the top-five, as Ron Capps' 4.88/311 from the early session and Tommy Johnson Jr.'s 4.90/309 from the later session gave them the Nos 4 and 5 spots, respectively.
The list of cars not qualified as Friday ended bordered on the shocking as Chuck Etchells, Dean Skuza, John Lawson, Jim Epler and Pomona winner Bruce Sarver had yet to nail the right tune-up.
The Pro Stock cars were hamstrung by high humidity and a dicey racing surface throughout the day. The conditions resulted in a host of half-throttle runs and early shut-offs. But Darrell Alderman had no problems in either session as he locked up the early pole with a 6.89/200 on his first pass and a 6.87/200 on his second.
Meanwhile, the Coughlin Brothers were unable to run representative numbers in the debut of their 2001 Chevy Cavaliers. Jeg, the defending Pro Stock champion, could muster only a 6.94/199 in his afternoon attempt, which left him 12th heading into Saturday. Even more disappointing for Team Jeg's was brother Troy's failure to make the field after his two passes with a best of 7.22/162 leaving him far short of the 6.96 bump.
Kurt Johnson's 6.88/200 was good enough for the No. 2 hole, Mark Pawuk's 6.89/199 puts him No. 3, Warren Johnson, the defending event champion, finished the day fourth with his 6.90/200, and closing out the top-five was Ron Krisher thanks to his 6.91/199.
Adding to the surprises was the 6.99/198 best of Alderman's teammate, Mark Osborne, leaving him out of the field just after his 6.80 test pass in Houston two weeks ago.
The Pro Stock Motorcycles are making their inaugural appearance of 2001 and preseason predictions of parity appear to be right on target. Antron Brown is the No. 1 qualifier after two sessions with his 7.24/187, but there are three other bikes in the 7.20s after Friday's action.
Champion Angelle Savoie trails Brown's 7.24 with her 7.25/187, which places her No. 2. Geno Scali is No. 3 with a solid 7.27/181, and Craig Treble, racking up a 7.28/184 in his morning run, stands fourth. Reggie Showers is fifth by virute of his 7.34/183.
Matt Hines, whose dad, Byron, has sold or leased 19 of his engines to other teams this weekend, has been unable to display the kind of dominance the Vance and Hines operation is famous for. In the first session, Matt's ignition lost fire just off the starting line giving him no elapsed time for that run. In his afternoon shot, Hine's Eagle One Suzuki struggled to a 7.49/183 and the No. 15 qualifying spot.
After taking some time off after the season-opening Autozone Winternationals, the Pro Stock Trucks arrived in Gainesville for their second race of 2001. Pomona winner Randy Daniels sent a message to every competitor in the class that he has what he needs to make their life miserable all year long. His 7.48/179 on Friday afternoon was a new track ET record and gave him the No. 1 qualifying slot.
The only other truck to make a 7.40 pass was Don Smith, the Keller, Texas racer who, in Bradenton testing this past week, served up a string of impressive numbers which were obviously no fluke. Smith's 7.49/178 slid him into the No. 2 spot.
In fact, the top-five is populated by several relatively unfamiliar names who all ran almost identical elapsed times. Jeff Gracia, teammate to two-time champion Bob Panella, owns the third spot with his 7.510/179; Larry Seay is No. 4 with his 7.511/178; and Victor Cagnazzi, the rookie driver from Huntington, N.Y., is fifth with his 7.517/177.
With the chance of showers threatening Saturday's two scheduled qualifying sessions, the NHRA hopes to complete them both, rather than be forced to set the field based on Friday's frames.
With numerous drivers hoping to solve their problems and battle their way into the field, the weather could certainly play a role in deciding who will be part of the starting lineup when eliminations begin Sunday. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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