TMCnet News
Hot Times in the Ol' E-town [National Dragster](National Dragster Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Massey, Neff collect second season wins; A. Johnson, Smith beat back record fields ENGLISHTOWN - When it was known as the Summernationals, this race was remembered primarily for the heat that sweltering July days used to bake into the hallowed Old Bridge Township Raceway Park grounds, but as it moved into the cooler climes of May and now June, the event, rechristened the SuperNationals, is now known for scorching on-track performances, and the 2011 edition certainly lived up to that reputation. Thanks to cool temperatures and an immaculately prepared racing surface, recordquick fields were established in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, in which Allen Johnson and Matt Smith scored their first wins of the year, and two of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series tour's hottest nitro drivers - Spencer Massey and Mike Neff - continued to sear the competition with their second wins of the season. Massey's Top Fuel win followed by two weeks his first victory of the season in Topeka, his first for new team owner Don Schumacher, and his first since the fall Las Vegas event in his 2009 rookie of the year campaign and let everyone know that his Todd Okuhara- and Phil Shuler-tuned Fram/Autolite dragster will be a handful this season. The fact that Massey had to get past points leader and low qualifier (3.785) Del Worsham - unbeaten in three finals this year and driving the Al-Anabi dragster that hadn't lost in its last 15 title-round appearances - in the final and did so on a holeshot only adds to the superlative account that the Texas terror gave of himself. "It's awesome to beat the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi/Del Worsham car in the final," he acknowledged. "The Al-Anabi car's been on a roll and running killer numbers, so we knew we had to be on our A game, that the car had to be run well, and I had to be on my game. I even had a Full Throttle to amp myself up before I got in there. "Coming into this season, we wanted to win in Pomona, but we struggled a little bit with some clutch issues, and we've finally got our mojo back that we had in preseason testing when the car was on a string. It's hard to believe that we've won two in a row, and especially to win here in Englishtown." Worsham, a two-time Englishtown Funny Car champ and the Top Fuel winner this season in Gainesville, Charlotte, and Houston, beat his teammate, Larry Dixon, by .001-second on a holeshot in the semifinals and died by the same sword in the final, where Massey's quicker-leaving 3.821 beat his 3.815 to the stripe. En route to win No. 4 in Top Fuel (and seventh overall) and second place in points - 64 behind Worsham - Massey beat Bob Vandergriff Jr. (in a rematch of their Topeka final), Morgan Lucas, and Brandon Bernstein. Neff, who shared the Gainesville winner's circle with Worsham but had been denied in the last three finals, got it done in Englishtown, and, like Worsham, the Castrol Ford driver had to get past the low qualifier in the final to do it. Cruz Pedregon, who ran his amazing streak of top-six qualifying .001-second on a holeshot in the semifinals and died by the same sword in the final, where Massey's quicker-leaving 3.821 beat his 3.815 to the stripe. En route to win No. 4 in Top Fuel (and seventh overall) and second place in points - 64 behind Worsham - Massey beat Bob Vandergriff Jr. (in a rematch of their Topeka final), Morgan Lucas, and Brandon Bernstein. Neff, who shared the Gainesville winner's circle with Worsham but had been denied in the last three finals, got it done in Englishtown, and, like Worsham, the Castrol Ford driver had to get past the low qualifier in the final to do it. Cruz Pedregon, who ran his amazing streak of top-six qualifying efforts to 18 by placing the Snap-on Toyota at the head of the field with a 4.048, threw away his chances at a third E-town win with a red-light. Neff's win not only extended his points lead to 98 over Jack Beckman, but also salvaged a dismal day for Team Force that began with John Force and Robert Hight on the trailer after round one. The Force team hadn't won in Englishtown since 2004 (with Gary Densham), and Force has not scored there since 1999. The win was clutch for the team, which just prior to the event had announced a contract extension with New Jersey-based Castrol. "There's probably 500 people from Castrol here," said Neff, who powered to a wonder-what-itwill- run 4.07 after the foul. "This is their home territory, and you always want to do good at your hometown race for your sponsors. John was in front of me, and I saw him go out, and I thought, 'Oh no.' Then Robert went out, and I was like, 'Ah, man.' The pressure was on. Fortunately, we were able to bring it home for all of them, and I know it was exciting for all of them. "I knew [Pedregon] redlighted. I looked over and saw that his bulb was red, then I looked up, and I saw our win light on. By that time, I had already hit the gas and was taking off and saw our win light on. I wanted to see what it would run, then I was saying, 'Don't drive over the centerline or something.' Yeah, maybe I should have lifted." Something was a little out of place watching Johnson win Pro Stock other than in Denver, where he has won three of his last four events, and after dominating sponsor Mopar's race in that span, he had to know the significance of facing his Dodge protégé, rookie of the year contender Vincent Nobile, in the final. Nobile, from New York, was being cheered on by dozens of family members and was the sentimental and perhaps logical pick to defeat his engine builder for the third straight time this season. Running in front of a partisan crowd in the first all-Dodge final since the 2009 fall Las Vegas event, the youngster, already a winner this year in Houston, red-lighted to the veteran in the money round, leaving .006-second too quick in the Mountain View Tire Dodge and throwing away a 6.61 that was far superior to the 6.68 of Johnson's Mopar Avenger, which had dominated eliminations with two 6.53s and a 6.55. "Mark [Ingersoll, crew chief] got on the radio and said the track was as good as it's been all weekend, so we raised the launch rpm a bit, and the car didn't like it at all," Johnson reported. "We were lucky that Vincent red-lighted because we made a bad run. Now that 6.53 we ran was bad to the bone. That was a good run. "It was a dream to have an all-team final round, and to have it happen this early in the season is a dream come true. I'm very proud of our engine guys and who makes the tuning calls. Vincent is a fierce competitor, and I'm sure we're going to tangle a few more times before this is over." The Pro Stock field was the quickest ever assembled; local racer Bob Benza was on the bump at 6.571, bettering the 6.584 from the 2010 Houston event. Smith, who had won just two Pro Stock Motorcycle rounds at the season's first three races, got back into the win column for the first time in nearly a year, since the 2010 event in Norwalk, by riding his Al-Anabi Buell through the sport's first allsix- second field, which Junior Pippin anchored with a 6.987. The previous record field had a bump of 7.014, this year in Gainesville. Smith won from the No. 9 spot after a best of just 6.902, nearly a tenth behind former track manager Eddie Krawiec's 6.819 on the Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley. Smith's first hurdle was a tough one; he had to face his higher-qualified wife, Angie. After getting past her, he defeated Krawiec and Andrew Hines to reach the final, where he took on Karen Stoffer's resurgent GEICO Suzuki, which twice had run in the 6.8s in eliminations, a zone that Smith had been unable to reach. Stoffer was in the 6.8s again in the final with a 6.889, but Smith was quicker on the draw, .023 to .034, and his 6.900 beat her to the win stripe in a near dead heat (.0002-second margin of victory) to give him his 13th win and second in Englishtown. "I've always liked racing at this track. I got my first win here in 2006 after they took one away at Indy [following the disputed final against Steve Johnson]. When I saw these [pewter 60th Anniversary] Wally trophies, I said to myself I wanted to win at least one this year, so I'm glad I did. "We don't have the power that the Harley- Davidson or Suzuki bikes have, so we had to make good runs, which is what we did. I worked late into the night on Saturday to make sure the bike was right, and it paid off for us. In the final round, I looked over at 1,000 feet, and she was right next to me. I just knew she was going to come by me like a freight train, but it never happened." Danny Rowe scored in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, and David Rampy, whose amazing career already included three instances of winning two eliminators at the same event, did it again, winning in Comp and Super Stock to boost his win total to 77. Spencer Massey rejoiced after handing points leader Del Worsham his first loss in four Top Fuel final rounds this season. He won on a holeshot, 3.82 to 3.81, for his second straight victory. After announcing a contract extension with the team's primary sponsor, Castrol, John Force Racing scored in the Funny Car final. Mike Neff, right, with team owner John Force, posted his second win of the season to give JFR its first E-town win since 2004. Allen Johnson got onto the scoreboard in Pro Stock with his first win of the season in the Mopar Dodge Avenger after Vincent Nobile's final-round red-light. EVENT CHAMPIONS Top Fuel Spencer Massey Funny Car Mike Neff Pro Stock Allen Johnson Pro Stock Motorcycle Matt Smith Top Alcohol Dragster Duane Shields Top Alcohol Funny Car Frank Manzo Comp David Rampy Super Stock David Rampy Stock Joe Santangelo Super Comp Dave Heuwetter Super Gas Mike Sawyer Super Street Eric Reiff Pro Mod Danny Rowe Race 8 of the 22 event series Matt Smith earned his first Pro Stock Motorcycle win in nearly a year and his second in Englishtown when he beat Karen Stoffer on a holeshot in the final, 6.90 to 6.88. (Left) Eddie Krawiec, former track manager at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, used his local knowledge to good advantage and rode his Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley to the No. 1 qualifying spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a 6.819, also low e.t. Low qualifier Del Worsham's bid for a fourth Top Fuel win in the season's first eight events fell just short in the final round. A track walk with legendary "Big Daddy" Don Garlits kicked off Sunday when fans got to walk the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park surface with the drag racing hero and listen to tales of his exploits from an amazing career. Vincent Nobile red-lighted away a superior 6.61 to Allen Johnson's 6.68 in the Pro Stock final. It was the fourth final of the year for the frontrunner in the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award rookie race. Cruz Pedregon continued to impress in Funny Car, grabbing the No. 1 spot and powering to the final round, where he fell on a red-light to Mike Neff. Three-time season winner Jason Line qualified his Summit Pontiac No. 1 in Pro Stock for the second time this year, and his 6.508 held for low e.t. With wins in Comp and Super Stock, David Rampy doubled up at a national event for the fourth time. Karen Stoffer reached her third Pro Stock Motorcycle final of the season and her third in Englishtown, but unfortunately for the rider of the GEICO Suzuki, none have turned into a win. BY THE NUMBERS 2final-round appearances for Pro Stock rookie Vincent Nobile in his last four races 3final rounds for Karen Stoffer in four events this year 4doubles for David Rampy 5final-round appearances for Mike Neff in 2011, compared to five in his two previous full seasons of racing 6wins for Morgan Lucas in six races against teammate Shawn Langdon 9-thousandths of a second separating the top seven Pro Stock cars in qualifying 29combined victories for the four Pro champs 62combined victories for the four Pro runner-ups 77wins for David Rampy, breaking a tie with Pat Austin for fifth all-tie (c) 2011 National Hot Rod Association |