April 2009 Archives

Above: Tony Schumacher accepts the glory with Ron Capps and
Jeg Coughlin Jr.. All hit the jackpot in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Who needs Alan Johnson?
Certainly not Tony Schumacher, who is proving his team's success over the last five seasons goes beyond the talents of Top Fuel tuning guru Alan Johnson.
Johnson has left and formed his own team, with two-time champ Larry Dixon has his pilot, and Schumacher's U.S. Army team has hardly missed a beat, winning the past two national events, including the SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Schumacher was in old form, running a series of 3.9 and 3.8 runs to take over the points leading, including a stout 3.87 in a final-round victory over Brandon Bernstein.
"The team won today,"” said Schumacher, who scored his 58th career victory. "“I didn't do it with a great driving job like I did in Houston (last week). What a great tune-up we had. They carried me today. It went right down the track every time. That’'s what a team is all about. It'’s fantastic. That was a big (final) round. (Brandon) is an outstanding driver and they have a great team. You aren't just running an average guy. You've got to go up there and do your job. There are certain rounds that are just huge, and that was one of them.”"
The day was also good for Schumacher's Funny Car teammate Ron Capps, who won his third race of the season by beating another teammate, Matt Hagan, in the nitro coupe final. Jeg Coughlin Jr. was the winner in Pro Stock.
"I was asked several times by the media what was wrong the last two races, and I just never worried,” said Capps, who after scoring wins during the first two races of the season followed with back-to-back first round losses at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. and O'Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston. "“Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) needed to get in his comfort zone. You’ll find a lot of teams seem like they may be struggling here the last couple of races, but with four test days for the whole year, there are a lot of teams, including us, testing stuff that you have to try in qualifying once you get in the show and even race day, believe it or not. So it’s tough to gage how people are really doing. ‘Ace’ was trying things.
"“We have found that just trying to approach the season like a NASCAR team and saying, ‘OK, as long as we’re in the Countdown and in the top 10,’ and try to focus and peak at the right time doesn’'t work. So we stepped it up, and 'Ace' is trying to rip their throats out every single run. You can’'t run these cars anymore and be halfway safe and just look to go down the track. You can’'t do it. You have to step all over these things with the tune-up, and the driver has to be on their game. It is days like this where it’'s fun. It sounds cliché, but we’re just focusing on one round at a time, one race at a time.”"

\
Above: Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson tries his hand at bowling

Robert Hight, driver of the AAA Ford Mustang for John Fore Racing, and Del Worsham, who pilots a first-year entry for Al-Anabi Racing, showed their talents are not limited to the dragstrip.
The two proved they are very solid on a different type of lane, pacing the way for NHRA competitors who took part in the USBC Open Bowling Championships at Cashman Center in Las Vegas on Thursday. The event was part of the advanced promotions for this weekend's Summitracing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The NHRA Floppers, led by Hight and Worsham, outdistanced the NHRA Holeshots, led by Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin Jr., and The NHRA Eliminators, paced by Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon. The Floppers had a team score of 2,180 compared to 2,154 for the Holeshots with the Eliminators third at 1,972. Langdon led all competitors with a three-game total of 528. Hight was next at 525.
""Bowling is a lot like a race car when you consider you have to make a lot of minor adjustments as you go and the lanes change just like a track will change," said Hight, who posted game scores of 165, 178 and 182 to lead his team. "It was a fun experience. The other NHRA teams were really good too. It went right down to the tenth frame of the last game."