National Time Trials

By Phil R. Elliott

For week two of pre-season testing, the Pros headed for Phoenix, Arizona, and Firebird Lake. And though the pits are filled to overflowing with the cream of the POWERade crop, numbers are not what teams are looking for.

As you know, there is another test weekend near Houston at the great facility in Baytown. Billed as the 12th annual Pontiac Pro Stock Super Bowl, the event allows Pro Stocks, Pro Mods and similar vehicles to test freely, and get a bit of round money as well. This style event was begun years ago at Woodburn Dragway in Oregon, a fine venue a stone’s throw off I-5 midway between Sears Point and Seattle. Several PS drivers, including Bob Glidden, wished to test between the two events on the schedule, a few interested spectators happened by. Woodburn is extremely quick/fast, conducive to great performances, plus the visitors were treated like the kings they are. By the third year the event was a huge Chicago-style event with most of the touring Pros involved, and large spectator turnouts. It was perfect for a mid-summer Wednesday night. Houston has followed suit.  

This year, the car turnout was not as strong as in years past, still five PS drivers recorded 6.7s during the two qualifying sessions. Warren Johnson was on the grounds for the first Q-session but his brand new transporter was mired axle deep in the Texas terrain. When all was towed out and on terra firma, his new generator/compressor failed to start. WJ took it all in stride and simply blasted both track records with his new Pontiac with jaw-dropping 6.681 and 205.76 numbers.  

You can read about this event elsewhere on DragList, but I want to congratulate WJ on the first win of 2004 as he put together an enviable string of bottom 6.7 runs. His final victory of the day came over a resurgent Mark Pawuk who qualified 2nd (6.734/204.45) and did well in spite of some untimely shake.  

The tough Texans showed up for to defend their honor in Pro Mod. There is a circuit of these cars that basically stays in Texas and Oklahoma that have some very stout machinery. Two of their best, Frankie Taylor  (6.116/229) and Thomas Patterson (6.154/ 225) sandwiched Von Smith (6.151/233) following qualifying. Taylor was really late in his semi-final race after a brilliant (6.131/228) round one winner from his 63 Corvette. Smith had a good news bad news in round one. His opponent fouled but he shook so hard it tore up pieces in the Mustang’s rear suspension. So it was Patterson’s 41 Willys that took the victory with another strong performance to defeat Ohio’s Brian Daniels in a late-model Camaro, 6.155/226 to 6.242/222.  

Meanwhile, 1,200 miles to the west, the Pros were having fits.  

After dozens of totally unsatisfactory launches and up-in-smoke attempts, the Pros demanded track management scrape and reapply traction compound. That was done but it took all morning to accomplish the task. The first runs on Saturday didn’t come until just after noon, and were sort of more of the same. Oh, there were some respectable early numbers, like an .831-sixty for Doug Herbert and a little later an .826-sixty from Brandon Bernstein. But once the timers started slamming more “hold” into clutch cans, the monstrous Goodyears spun.  

If you read my reports from last week, you know that many teams plan short squirts during testing and rely on computer data to gain knowledge. But little is gleaned when a track cannot hold even 330-footers.  

It is different in a race situation where qualifying and winning are the desires. There, combinations must be adjusted for whatever conditions are at hand. But nobody in pre-season tests wants to back anything down – they try new, more aggressive tricks to improve elapsed times and speed. Hence the term “testing.”  

Tony Schumacher’s engine-eating 4.893 at a mere 224mph was the absolute best out of an even twenty attempts in the first session.  

Right on the tail of the first came the session two, leaving zero time for quite an assemblage of Sportsman. More on that later.   

Eric Medlen (5.17/226) and Gary Scelzi (4.938/290) started things with passes that gave the illusion of good things to come. But, it was right back to tire smoke for most of the rest.  

And what was quite evident was that those drivers that chose to stay with their runs sashayed, black-tracked and caused severe engine damage. And, the only cars that went beyond 100 feet had slow sixty-foot times showing very soft combos.  

There was a fun side-by-side between John Force and Whit Bazemore, but other than bragging rights and piston damage, Whit’s 5.06/260 to 5.131/271 victory proved nothing.  

Larry Dixon pitched the laundry at 900 feet and recorded a coasting 4.616/287. His sixty was an OK .848. Compare that to Doug Kalitta’s .833-sixty, and Tony Shoe’s .830-sixty ten minutes later on his way to a piston-smoking 4.610/293.  

It was about this time that there was a Sportsman drivers’ meeting called to discuss the lack of time. They had already been asked to vacate the staging lanes to give way for the Pros. Many had not even received one run to show for their entry fees. After much loud “discussion,” track management offered vouchers to allow Sportsman free entry for any future Friday night test-n-tune. While this was an OK offer to locals that race at Firebird often, it caused no end of consternation to especially the NHRA Sportsman present, tuning for future LODRS and POWERade events. Finally, it was agreed that time trial availability would remain until midnight and again from 9am until noon the following day with no further entry fee necessary. This didn’t please those who had already paid for Sunday, and there was immediate concern for two things; an even colder track Saturday night after the Pros, and poor Pro-formances would necessitate further track prep during that Sunday morning period.  

Due to the lateness of the start, the third Pro session did not get under way until nearly 6:30pm, and even though it had reached 70 degrees during the day, when the sun went down the temperature quickly followed. And of course, with two attempts under their belts, the racers turned up the wicks. The combination of a decreased thermometer and increased horsepower settings led to even more billowing Goodyears.  

Team Kalitta sent David Grubnic to the line and his .834-sixty and 2.132-330 showed well but he clicked it. A similar .840/2.167 led to an early out by Darrell Russell. Then came far more aggressive sixties for seven FCs in a row: Whit (.884), Scelzi (.896), Phil Burkart (.880), Tony Pedregon (.889), Del Worsham (.889), Jerry Toliver (.893) and Tommy Johnson (.888). As had been the case previously, none were successful with a full pass. Later, several other FCs maintained the short-time pace and made it look as if the quickest sixty-footer of the day was going to earn that team a round of drinks at some local watering hole. These included Medlen (.891), Cruz Pedregon (.889), Tim Wilkerson (.883) and Force (.878). Reports stated that as soon as Cruz hit the pedal, engine internals poured out the pipes, but there was no long clean up.  

Of the dragsters making attempts, Doug Kalitta had the best short time, an .831.  

The Pros ended at 7:45pm, and very few Sportsman chose to try the obviously treacherous course.  

Unbelievably, after two full days, the best runs in TF are the pair of 4.61s by Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon, and a 4.67 by Doug Herbert. Among the FCs, Gary Scelzi has the only sub-five time slips, a 4.99 and a 4.93. There are five Pro Stocks on the grounds, with Mike Edwards’ 7.256 the breed’s best.   

With the temperature steadily rising, Sunday session one began. Those Sportsman that wished were allowed time trials. Then Mike Edwards and Barry Grant started things for the Pros but didn’t get far. Then things came to a screeching halt.  

“Professor” Shep Ginzberg, in only week two of his TF career, needed to finish the requirements for his license upgrade. He figured to run a low five at over 275mph, but first he had to rebuild every piece he had on Saturday. The all-volunteer team thrashed hard and figured they had a good chance at one decent run Sunday, maybe more. The problem of getting a license in a current spec nitro machine is the expense, and the difficulty of finding enough advice and pieces to run a predetermined number. Some teams can upgrade a license in a minimum three runs with no trouble. And Ginz has had plenty of experience in a front engine fueler so handling the ex-Yankee ride hasn’t been the problem.  

He started things for the fuelers and moved pretty well (.872-sixty) before a hole, then two went out. In defense of the TF rookie, even a six-cylinder monster pulls harder than anything else on the planet. So Ginz stayed with it right up until his powerplant began to self-destruct, leaving a very ugly trail of synthetic oil behind him. Both head gaskets were pushed out and it was later discovered that very little internal damage was actually done. Not only was Ginzberg full of remorse for potentially ruining everyone else’s day, but it will be several months until he’ll be able to financially put another effort together to complete licensing. It has not been a friendly indoctrination to nitro for Ginz.  

Two hours and twelve minutes later, the next fueler fired. Less than an hour after that, the last of the 25 fuelers went silent and none, absolutely none, had made a full pass.  

Among the dragsters, Darrell Russell’s .829-sixty and 5.197/184 numbers were best. Joe Amato’s still unlettered, mostly blue and silver machine was smooth and showed potential. Later, Doug Kalitta and Brandon Bernstein recorded .830-sixties, but by far the quickest sixty of the session was David Baca’s amazing .819, which of course immediately proved too much.   

It was early in the second session, which began at 4:15pm, when Doug Herbert grit his teeth, pounded the pedal, and held on to respectable 4.724/261. His .863-sixty showed a very soft attitude. In the other lane, Tony Schumacher’s .831-sixty earned him bupkiss.  

Cruz Pedregon’s .880-sixty started him on his way to an early dismissal 5.072/254. Then, Phil Burkart’s similar 4.983/241 rang up, followed by Whit Bazemore’s 4.929/309 and Tommy Johnson’s 5.002/302. A few minutes later, Ron Capps zoomed to a 4.997/301.  

In later statements, the Skoal teammates seemed positive about their testing, especially considering the seemingly mediocre results.  

“Everything is still going as planned,” Capps said. “With all the new stuff and with the track being a little green, we are trying to walk before we run. We’ve had really good numbers to half-track. So far, everything has gone just the way we wanted it to. For me, it’s just good to get back in the car and go down the track.” He seemed extremely happy about his working relationship with John Stewart as a tuner.  

Newly wed Johnson, who begins his fourth season driving for Snake Racing, came up with a remarkable outlook. “I actually went further than I was supposed to on that final pass,” Johnson said. “I took it to 1,200 feet before shutting off. We actually made big progress today. We learned more than I would have expected at a Phoenix test session. We learned stuff that will help us in the middle of the summer to get down hot, sticky tracks like Columbus and St. Louis.” Mike Green remains crewchief.  

With new engine combinations and brand new, more aerodynamic Chevy Monte Carlo bodies, Don Prudhomme’s funny cars may have all the necessary elements needed to put both back in NHRA winners circles.  

Soon after, the Werner/104 Octane car sped downtrack and though Clay Millican pulled the chutes early, he still grabbed a 4.698/254. His .825 was his best sixty-footer of the weekend and crewchief Mike Kloeber certainly smiled.  

Five minutes later, Darrell Russell made Millican’s run look tame. An .820-sixty led to a career best ET 4.525/313 – best of the weekend by far. Russell admitted to the press that, “My crew chief, Wayne Dupuy, told me to click it off at 800 or 900 feet but the car was accelerating so quickly I think I lost track of where I was on the strip. Plus, it was dark so it's harder to judge where you are. Looking at the data, I actually clicked it off at 4.2 seconds, so there's no telling what it would have been if I had run it out the back. It was awesome. Before I knew it I was thinking, 'man, I'm at the finish line.' So I shut her down.”   

Like virtually every other team on the grounds, the Dupuy led group has changed many things in the off-season – cylinder heads, setback supercharger, fuel system. To post a career best on the third pass is certainly a sizable accomplishment.  

So, the second weekend of testing for the 2004 season ended on a high note.  

An addendum about the sub par performances at Firebird: The traction problem is a very vicious circle. To make a perfect run in a current spec nitro car takes a perfect track. And, with so few cars reaching even 1000 feet, there was zero rubber laid down at the top end of the track. No amount of traction compound sprayed down by even the most capable track prep crew will compensate for the lack of cars reaching halftrack and beyond. And it is there, with all the clutch stages locked up, where traction is every bit as necessary as on the starting line. And, though some teams pulled out of Phoenix in frustration and headed south to Tucson, others, including Snake Racing, will remain for a few more days.  

The best results among the fuel cars were:

Top Fuel
Darrell Russell	4.525	313.00
Tony Schumacher	4.610	293.03
Larry Dixon	4.616	287.29
Doug Herbert	4.676	278.17
Brandon Bernstein	4.698	254.86
Clay Millican	4.993	205.38
David Baca	5.196	187.68
Shep Ginzberg	5.449	190.03
David Grubnic	5.517	154.67
Brady Kalivoda	6.933	112.87
Doug Kalitta	7.505	115.42
Scott Kalitta	10.697	81.07
Funny Car
Whit Bazemore	4.929	309.98
Gary Scelzi	4.938	290.38
Phil Burkart Jr.	4.983	291.45
John Force	4.993	296.76
Ron Capps	4.997	301.60
Tommy Johnson Jr.	5.002	302.75
Del Worsham	5.018	288.64
Cruz Pedregon	5.072	254.14
Jerry Toliver	5.164	254.23
Eric Medlen	5.178	226.32
Tony Pedregon	5.556	176.67
Jim Head	5.570	174.90
Tim Wilkerson	6.644	129.32

Phil R. Elliott

Thanks for checking out the PhilZone portion of Draglist.com. If you have accolades, complaints, comments, questions, or if you want to share a story, please feel free to post it on the PhilZone Message Board. Phil