Top Fuel Tom Schumacher, Funny Car Del Worsham, and Pro Stock Mike Edwards
Win NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
Tony Schumacher
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In earlier rounds, Schumacher beat Terry Haddock, Morgan Lucas and Brandon Bernstein. With the victory the six-time NHRA Full Throttle Series world champ moved back into the series lead.
"To be back in the points lead is outstanding," said Schumacher, who now leads Antron Brown by 45 points. "We started this year with everyone telling us we'd probably never win another race. To be sitting here now with three wins in the first eight races is very satisfying, I'm not gonna lie. Our team is working so well right now. I don't think there's a guy on this team that would rather be somewhere else. It's a group that wants to get up in the morning and go racing."
In Funny Car, Worsham claimed his second consecutive victory and 24th of his career, powering his Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Solara past Tony Pedregon's special-themed Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevy Impala in the final. Worsham posted the quickest run of the weekend in the category to get the win, a 4.075-second blast at 304.67 mph, while Pedregon finished in 4.152 at 293.22.
Del Worsham
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"Aaron Brooks and Alan Johnson, that was their win," said Worsham of his crew chief and team owner. "In the semifinals [the engine] blew up on us, it kicked the rods out, and we kind of coasted across with a 4.12. But we went back and put a new engine in it, and when we came to the final Aaron and A.J. told me the run was going to be at least a 4.08. A 4.07 was pretty close." Worsham defeated Jeff Arend, Cruz Pedregon and Tim Wilkerson to advance to the final. "I saw both sides of a team come together today, the Top Fuel and the Funny Car guys, to put this car back together and basically change every part on it for the final round," Worsham said. "That shows you what kind of team this is; they all work together. Aaron Brooks leading this team, it's basically his first full season working as a crew chief and he's really stepped it up. This whole team has, and I just can't say enough about all of them."
Worsham closed the gap with series leader Ron Capps, who lost in the second round. He now trails the NAPA Dodge driver by 57 points.
Mike Edwards
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Edwards claimed his second win of the season and 17th of his career in Pro Stock, beating final round opponent Greg Anderson with a track record time of 6.633 at 207.72 in his ART Pontiac GXP. Anderson's Summit Racing GXP trailed Edwards with a performance of 6.658 at 207.94.
"We just ran so good," Edwards said. "Every run it just seemed like we got a little bit better, and I can't believe we ran this good every run. Eight runs, and we were the fastest car every run down the track. I don't know if people really know how hard it is in this class to win one of these races. I respect Greg Anderson and Jason Line, Warren and Kurt Johnson, and everybody. They're the guys you want to try to beat because they've been up there so long. To beat those guys, I just never dreamed I could be this competitive in this class, and to run like this is just an awesome feeling." Edwards, who was the No. 1 qualifier, zoomed past David Beckley in the first round, used a perfect reaction time (.000) to beat Kurt Johnson in the second round and had another stellar reaction of .010 against Jason Line in the semis to move to the final round. "I have a wonderful team," Edwards said. "These guys, they work so hard. We have just tested and tested and tested, and it's paying off for us. My guys just work endless hours. Boy it feels good to do this. I've always wanted to win this race. There is a lot of tradition around here with that big old circle track over there. You get chills just being around here, so this feels good."
Edwards remained in third place in the Pro Stock points order, 102 behind leader Jeg Coughlin and 46 behind second place Line.
Full Throttle Series Final Results: 9th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
Top Fuel: Tony Schumacher, 3.857 seconds @ 310.91 mph defeats Doug Kalitta, 3.879 @ 303.43
Funny Car: Del Worsham, 4.075 @ 304.67 defeats Tony Pedregon, 4.152 @ 293.22
Pro Stock: Mike Edwards, 6.633 @ 207.72 defeats Greg Anderson, 6.658 @ 207.94
-- Credits: DRO, Summit FastNews Network, edits/adds FlA & Co.
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John Force Racing's Robert Hight lights it up at the top-end during the first round of qualifying. He was not injured. In Round 1 of Eliminations, against Jack Beckman, John Force loses control of his funny car, shot into "Fast Jack's" lane, and barely missed crashing into him. John straighten out the car and was able to get back into his lane taking out one of the finish line timer cones in the process - Race Video | Video: John post-incident interview | John and Jack discuss the near crash. Jack tells John that he owes him for a new pair of underwear. It was great that Del Worsham bagged his second Wally of the season. Mike Edwards has been very impressive this season while my main man Greg Anderson keeps coming up short for a Wally.
Race event attendance was very poor due to erratic weather/rain and the race being held one week before Memorial Day weekend. Maybe it would have helped it track owner Bruton Smith, Chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., held another swimsuit contest. Probably didn't help Bristol's attendance that, the same weekend, Bruton held the NASCAR All Star race at his track in Charlotte, which is only 200 miles away.
Many teams stayed over Monday because it was an NHRA approved testing day. Bob Tasca III had a bad in-funny car fire but was injured. There are just two testing days left in the season. The NHRA also tested a re-configured nitro motor in order to develop new specs and requirements for the 2010 season. They plan on performing a number of additional tests this season. This, along with other changes and improvements this season, are being done in order to return to quarter-mile nitro racing next season at most tracks. ~ fla
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