The Leap Day Nationals

by Phil R. Elliott

I must admit that although I had press credentials to attend the 44th annual K&N Filters Winternationals, weather held me away. On weekend one, there was snow here in Carson City and serious rain in SoCal. I gambled by not going, and won. Weekend two, the same scenario was at hand. I checked the long-range weather forecasts a dozen times, and even though things looked reasonable for the Los Angeles area, I gambled yet again. This time, I lost. I missed one of the most incredible, action packed Winternationals in the history of the event.

And, I must tell something else on myself. During Saturday, I predicted that at least some of the Sportsman eliminators would be pushed off onto Monday, making it the first time the race would be run in March. Wrong again, Nostradamus?

You know that with the new television package, ESPN and NHRA worked hard to move Pomona off of other huge sporting phenoms such as the SuperBowl and Daytona 500. I?m not certain that either would have had much affect, but that point is rather mute now for the powers that be managed to win the whole battle and get clear of everything but opening IRL event of 2004, a sanction troubled with lack of TV viewers anyway.

The weather and the extended Winternats were the two major topics inside the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. Another was the major rumor that the pending class action lawsuit between NHRA and the Pro Stock Truck owners was over and in final settlement discussion.

Top Fuel

Statistics are often fun to stare at. To know that a certain batter is over .500 with men in scoring positions is quite advantageous to coaches in dugouts. To show that a two-time and reigning world champion loses more often in round two when he qualifies in 8^th position in a sport as unpredictable as dragracing does no one much good. And certainly, Larry Dixon and Dick LaHaie are rather unfamiliar with being first down an untried track on raceday, a disadvantage of qualifying midpack. But in this world of mechanical mayhem, it may be about time to print a weekly racing form and begin pari-mutuel betting parlors. This time, the stats were right on.

A tire smoking round one win over a totally out-of-shape Doug Herbert did not help the gamblers in the group. In fact, most nodded in unison that the LaHaie/Dixon stranglehold on Pomona was about to come to an end. There was even the contention among railbirds that LaHaie?s bent for absolute consistency was passé ¡nd outright wrong.

Besides Herbert, other first round losses went to Scott Kalitta, Cory Mac, John Smith, Rhonda Hartman-Smith, Brady Kalivoda and Scott Weis. Tire smoke was a factor in a couple of those losses, but at least two losers actually improved on their qualifying times. Scott Palmer, following his tire loss and ensuing frame scraping stop the previous day, was unable to return.

And factoring like Olympic events and throwing out the high and the low score, the round one winners had an average elapsed time of 4.550! Did I mention that Tony Schumacher blitzed the timers with a 4.451 at over 332mph? It was quite a round.

Considering that Mr. Dixon was the slowest R1 winner by more than a full second gave even more credibility to the stat freaks.

With much more equality in round two, most bets were off. Right from the first flash of amber, those same railbirds knew they were in for a treat.

Clay Millican jumped first and Mike Kloeber provided him with a very strong, and consistent, 4.556/308, but it was not nearly enough when Brandon Bernstein recorded a much better 4.487/331.61. It was his first 4.4 and a career best speed.

Next up came Larry Dixon who not only was uncharacteristically late, but the Miller Machine?s once decent 4.598/316 was totally overshadowed by Doug Kalitta?s 4.484/329.99!

Statistics and railbirds aside, I personally believe that we have not heard the last of the Dixon/LaHaie duo. The pre-season testing graphs and all of those from Pomona will be pored over ever waking hour and things will turn around quickly.

Meanwhile, back to round two.

Connie Kalitta turned up the wick on his R&D car, giving David Grubnic a winning 4.492/321 flight over Darrell Russell whose Valvoline mount ?trailed? at 4.522/323. Crewchief Wayne Dupuy stared at the boards in disbelief, shook his head and walked to the transporter. It was Ausie Dave?s first 4.4.

Tony Schumacher was last and he wasted no time in covering the famous 1320 feet in 4.486/331, and an American Racing Wheel-spinning David Baca.

The crowd was literally stunned. Hardly had a past race given up four, 4.4-second runs, let alone a single round. Interestingly, every winner improved except Schumacher, and it seemed that Alan Johnson was the only one in the place that realized it.

The semi-finals featured arguably the four stoutest cars on the planet and it was anybodies race. The close numbers looked more like a Pro Stock race than something performed by nitro-fueled monsters. And, although none of the four had a Winternationals win to his credit, three of the four were second-generation drivers whose predecessors did.

The first pairing saw the might of the U.S. Army against the thirst quencher of motorsports fans everywhere, Budweiser. And like most beer guzzlers that need a healthy belch once in awhile, ?Big Red? needed to be burped to continue. Just 100 feet into the run, Brandon Bernstein was forced to pedal away a nearly imperceptible shake and slowed his progress to a 4.629/317. In the other lane, Tony Schumacher advanced with a clean-and-dry 4.474/330.

The other pairing, in most eyes was an easy one to call. Afterall, it was teammates, with #2 in the world facing the R&D car ? a no brainer. And an elated David Grubnic, and who wouldn?t be with this ride, was ready to take team orders. But, those will have to come later as, after strong pre-race burnouts, neither car performed to its potential. First, the Kalitta Air machine put out a huge flash at halftrack, then the Mac Tools car slung its blower drive belt at 1100 feet. The engine shutoff at 4.1-seconds into the run, and the winlight glowed in Doug Kalitta?s lane in 4.511/284.

Between the finalists, they seemed to have taken everything in 2003, including ET and speed marks, and race wins, except the championship. And, among the changes to Connie?s charge, the addition of Rahn Tobler was done for one reason, keeping the red-hot entry consistently red hot.

But the face-off will have to wait. After fire-up and burnouts, the Kalitta machine went sour, as if one magneto went completely out of phase. Strange, huge flames belched out of the right bank as both Rahn and Connie inspected what appeared to be a totally unrelated leak under the front of the engine. A reluctant Tobler signaled his driver to shut-off.

The wacky final wasn?t over yet because after the Army machine made its usually strong move to halftrack, a run that the team hoped would earn them another national record, the engine went flat and shut itself off. Tony Schumacher coasted on to a 4.659/243 for the puzzling victory.

Funny Car

In just two words, one can describe the very surprising FC victory ? Jerry Toliver. Here?s a guy that has been off the circuit since he did an unsponsored smack down of the Las Vegas concrete early in 2002. Over the latter part of 2003 he worked at getting a major sponsor and taking over the pair of Toyota funny cars that Alan Johnson fielded in 2002. Then he assembled a team, all the support equipment necessary, tested and rolled into Pomona with the slick Schick Supra.

Actually, testing was less than sterling, then it took Toliver until the final session to reach the status of #15Q, and the unenviable task of taking on the media darling, Eric Medlen, in the first round.

On the other side of the coin, Medlen had stepped from crew person for John Force Racing directly into the Castrol Mustang his father wrenched to the 2003 world championship. Testing had been virtually a breeze, with performances worthy of a wily veteran, and even when fires and other setbacks cropped up, Eric walked right through unscathed.

At Pomona, he was the provisional pole sitter from the first session, until his boss laid down a standard John Force exhibition. Still, #2 seemed pretty decent for a rookie start.

But with the grandstands full, TV cameras whirring and chips down, Eric Medlen?s mount shook him out of the groove, he pedaled twice, then gave up. In the other lane, Jerry Toliver improved to the best run of his rejuvenation tour, a 4.882/319 that stunned everyone.

With weather conditions lowering corrected altitudes with every tic of the clock, the first round for FCs was full of improvements. In the first pairing, close reactions (RTs .079 to .084) started things for the #3 and #14 qualifiers. It was Ron Capps, who had floundered to just a 4.93 in qualifying, leading early, with Tim Wilkerson breathing Skoal fumes all the way. By a chin-spoiler length, Wilkerson edged Capps, 4.789/322 to 4.803/317.

Both Del Worsham and Tommy Johnson Jr. improved as well, with the SoCal-based C-S-K getting the better of the Skoal group. Johnson moved first (RTs .077 to .092) but was forced to pedal his mount, and Worsham moved around to the victory, 4.816/318 to 4.878/308.

It was the Mighty Force vs. The Cruzer next, and the 12-time champ proved why once again. He moved first by a big margin, pumped the throttle and grabbed brake to stop shake, and slammed through the timers in 4.843/325. Cruz Pedregon?s 4.901/308 was nowhere in sight.

Next in order came the previously described Toliver/Medlen duel, with Force watching from the shut-off area.

Both Gary Scelzi and Terry Haddock bettered their qualifiers too, with the Mopar winning, 4.799/324 to a career best 4.873/313.

Whit Bazemore came next with a win over a belt popping Bob Bode. His 4.837/319 was disappointing, because he lost lane choice and bragging rights to teammate Scelzi.

Reining WC Tony Pedregon was rudely dumped by Cory Lee in their match. Pedregon?s new Quaker State monster shook its Goodyears loose and there was no use in attempting to catch the fleeting Pandemonium, which recorded a cylinder-dropping 4.861/297.

Last up, Force 3 took on Worsham 2, with Gary Densham winning on both ends of the track with the round?s best numbers. The victory was 4.763/325 to Phil Burkart?s 4.866/302.

Round two of FC came on the heels of all those TF 4.4s so it was a real letdown when the first pair, Wilkerson and Worsham, spun their tires. Del recovered first for the offpace win. Then, Lee left way early and handed a win to Toliver who took another withdrawal from the luck bank when the engine banged hard before halftrack.

The crowd came right back when Densham staged against Force, knowing that virtually anything might happen. They were correct. After a lackluster start by both drivers, Jimmy Prock horsepower overcame a minor deficit and the ex-schoolteacher drove by the ex-truck driver, 4.757/326 to 4.789/319!

Team Schumacher faced-off next, and it was Scelzi that moved on, 4.801/319 to Bazemore?s 4.883/314.

The semis had worked their way down to one each from Teams Force, Schumacher, Worsham, and one Mr. Toliver. The latter had an ace up his sleeve ? his team advisor is Alan Johnson.

When Jerry Toliver faced Del Worsham, partisan SoCal fans went with the guy from San Dimas, less than ten miles from the track. Neither driver had a respectable run in the previous round and the Schick crew had earned their keep with a double engine swap, all in about 80 minutes. The first replacement would not turn over. With time out, there wasn?t even a moment for the normal test firing.

As fairy tales play out, the outclassed hero somehow manages to takeout his foe, and such was exactly the case here. Del was away first by a slim margin, and led a ways until tire spin forced him to pedal and grab the brake handle. Meanwhile, Jerry was on the ride of his life, one that took him to career best numbers by far, a wild 4.738/328.22! Everyone, including Toliver, was absolutely stunned.

In his tracks came Densham, who matched reactions with Scelzi, then powered to a 4.775/326 to overwhelm a shaking and pedaling 5.003/323 performance.

Considering the 4.76, 4.75, 4.77 string by Gary Densham and the Castrol/Auto Club of SoCal Mustang, and the seemingly hail Mary 4.73 shot by Jerry Toliver, few thought much about the Schick Toyota?s chances.

But, for the first time in eliminations, Densham was in the right lane, the car shook and he was forced to pedal. His valiant effort earned a 4.955/327 timeslip, but Toliver?s 4.821/319 was several lengths ahead.

Two weeks after Toyota had been second in their NASCAR truck debut, TRD had a history-making victory. It was the first time a foreign-bodied FC ever won an NHRA national event.

Pro Stock

Considering qualifying, the pack looked to be racing for the runner-up honors. Only a major slip could possibly keep Greg Anderson out off of the podium.

But it was certainly not for want of trying. The numbers that rang up throughout eliminations were spectacular, with typically close matches. Winners and losers in round one ran 6.77 or 6.78 with abandon, then Warren Johnson nudged things with a 6.76, his son Kurt ran 6.75, Larry Morgan hit 6.76, and then of course the bomb dropped ? Anderson?s 6.706/206 back breaker. It also reset his own 18-hour-old track records.

In round two, Morgan?s 6.77 won easily when Dave Connolly shook, and WJ put an end to Darrell Alderman?s substitute, Shaun Carlson with a 6.75. Defending Winternats champ Jeg Coughlin shook hard and let Kurt Johnson?s 6.76 win easily, and then it was time to see what Anderson could do. A 6.710/205 over Mike Edwards was all.

So the semis worked down to three GMs and a Dodge, with the Johnson family up first. Warren was ?on? for the race (RTs .044 to .073) then eased away from Kurt to win, 6.748/204 to 6.765/205.

Morgan was Mopar?s last hope and he did them proud (RTs .034 to .041) but his 6.792/204 was no match the Anderson?s onslaught, a 6.714/205.

Amazingly, all the performance in the Vegas General Construction machine was coming from not only a new engine combination, better than the 2003 winner, but also in a brand new Jerry Haas racecar!

The predictors gave one chance to Warren Johnson for the final ? a holeshot. If he could keep up his .04RT pace or better, and after all, he had a .018RT in R1, and Greg Anderson was late, there was a mathematical chance.

But, Greg was better than his norm, WJ was dead late (RTs .036 to .100), and the 6.713/205 to 6.761/204 margin was worse than it could have been.