A dragging misconception

As a local drag racer trying to elevate the sport on home ground it pains me to say that we are often not even recognized as sport by the public in general. Of course, this is a misconception that can easily be remedied with the proper information.

As with any type of sport, within drag racing there are different levels. The pro level requires more (increased) of just about everything. And though we have but a few locals competing at the pro level, the video below illustrates the intensity of the sport at this level, especially when something goes wrong.



This 27 second video is of NHRA Funny car driver Ron Capps at this year's Winternationals in California. Upon nearing the finish at the 1,000 foot mark, his NAPA sponsored funny car experienced a severe engine explosion, that as can be seen in the video, blew the body completely off the chassis.

Believe me that the explosion's intensity may be compared to a blow by a professional boxer. After all, we are talking about more than 8,000 horse power!

Please check back because I will be elaborating about the sport of drag racing in the near future. For more FulTrot stories on funny car driver Ron Capps, click here.

Thanks for reading.

Video credit: Courtesy of N.H.R.A.

John Force hooks Capps by accident

Generally, the sport of drag racing is known to be full of heart throbbing action and an occasional high speed crash. But very seldom does something funny happen!

I guess they forgot to mention this to 15-time NHRA Champion John Force. During the eliminations round at the O'Reilly Auto parts Route 66 NHRA nationals, after defeating his nemesis Ron Capps, John Force turns early onto the return road right into the path of the still fuming Capps. The latter tried to evade Force's chutes but it was too late.

Below you can watch a short video put out by NHRA. Too bad it ends before Capps get's to talking to the old man Force!



Thanks for reading.

Video: Courtesy of NHRA.

The racing weekend that was

In NHRA, at Phoenix:
The Top Fuel's "Wally" went to Tony Schumacher, with his fourth consecutive final round appearance dating back to last season. Along the way, Tony he beat Sidnei Frigo, Khalid alBalooshi, and Antron Brown.

The final became a pedal fest when both 8,000-horsepower dragsters lost traction early in the race. Both he and Morgan Lucas were on and off the throttle as they navigated the dragstrip.

"When you can win ugly like that it is so much fun,"said Schumacher. "Both cars were set up to run reaaly fast, and we both lost i and smoked the tires. It was lift, pedal, lift, pedal all the way down. I could hear Morgan beside me the whole time. As a driver, that kind of race is so much fun, and I enjoy winning like that more than a record run."

In Funny Car, Ron Capps' NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger outran Tony Pedregon, Cruz Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson and in the final round Matt Hagan, with a 4.064 at 314.90 mph.

"This new car really likes to be planted early, and so Rahn Tobler has been working on a new clutch package," Capps said. "In [the final qualifying session] yesterday, we finally found out what it really liked . And when you give Tobler a new combination, he is going to bracket-car it to death."

Enders-Stevens vs Edwards

In Pro Stock, Erica Enders-Stevens outran top qualifier Mike Edwards to earn her fifth victory. Even though Edward's Interstate Batteries/I am Second Chevy Camaro ran a quicker 6.52, Erica took the win on a whole-shot. To get to the finals, Erica beat Shane Gray, V. Gaines and Jason Line.

"Coming off the season we had last year and starting the way that we did this year, it was kind of a gut check in that we wonder if we can ever get it done again," Enders-Stevens said. "Our guys really worked their butts off during the winter, but we didn't get a chance to test a lot...but our guys proved that they can pick up where they left off, and I'm excited."

For the first time in history, a female driver won in the pro categories back-to-back.

The next race, is scheduled for March 14-17 with the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville.


In NASCAR, at the big American race:
In my view, even though Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500 yesterday, Danica Patrick stole the show by running a very strong race, which included qualifying on pole, leading a lap, and remain in contention by running in third place on the penultimate lap.














More to come soon.

Thanks for reading.

Source: NHRA, NASCAR.

The racing weekend (#18) that was

MotoGP at Estoril:

Both Honda's went hard into the first turn of the race, but the reigning world champion Casey Stoner came out ahead partly because he forced Dani Pedrosa's bike to the limit, and it said "no-no-no, I don't like this very much!" This little kick by the RCV allowed both Stoner and Lorenzo to blast past.

After gaining a lead in the opening stages of the Portuguese GP, both Jorge Lorenzo and Pedrosa caught up to Stoner and the fans looked forward to a three-way thriller. Each rider held his ground through the middle of the race, with Lorenzo almost close enough to strike and Pedrosa ready to capitalize on any mistake.

However, with some six laps to go, Stoner had enough of the pressure and set out to put some distance between them. At first he put a couple of tenths [seconds] and then, with two laps to go, he dug deep and effectively rode away from them again, and at the beginning of the last lap he had a full second lead. Casey Stoner went on to win by a comfortable 1.421 seconds. Remarkable of this win for Stoner, is that he has now won each of the MotoGP races on the present calendar. 

Race results: 1. Casey Stoner AUS (Repsol Honda), 2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP (Yamaha Factory Racing), 3. Dani Pedrosa ESP (Repsol Honda), 4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA (Monster Yamaha), 5. Cal Crutchlow GBR (Monster Yamaha)... 7. Valentino Rossi ITA (Ducati).

The next race will be the French MotoGP at Le Mans on May 18-20.


NHRA's Southern Nationals:

Steve Torrence

The NHRA boy's and gal's hit the Atlanta Dragway for the Summit Racing Equipment sponsored race.

Seven-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher lost to first time winner Steve Torrence, when he lost traction early on in the race. Torrence ran a 3.893 at 320.66 mph and had qualified in second place.

And after a long streak of wins this year in Funny Car (F/C), John Force Racing (JFR) was send packing by none other than Ron Capps. Capps used a consistent string of 4.16-second runs to take his 34-career victory, along the way winning of Robert Hight (JFR) in the final. So nice to see the NAPA Auto parts Dodge Charger in victory lane.

As with the guys in F/C, the KB boys have been on a roll this season, advancing to five straight Pro Stock finals this year. However, they not only made it to the finals, but they both reached it and had to race each other. Greg Anderson took the win over Jason Line with a 6.649 at 208.26 mph. The win was dedicated to team owner Ken Black.

In Pro Stock motorcycle, defending world champion Eddie Krawiec put his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hinces H-D in the winners' circle by running a 6.905 and defeating Micheal Ray's Buell.

The next NHRA race is scheduled for Topeka (Heartland Park) on May 18-20.



 ADRL (1/8 mile) at Maple Grove:

Mick Snyder drove his '63 Corvette not only to the No. 1 qualifying position, but on Saturday night under the lights, he ran a 3.648 ET at 207,46 mph to beat Tommy D'Aprile. For more info about this memorable Northeast Drags II, please click here.

Other winners were: Robert Patrick Jr (Pro Nitrous), Billy Glidden (Mickey Thompson Extreme 10.5), Eric McKinney (Pro Extreme Motorcycle), Dean Goforth (Extreme Pro Stock), Mike Castellana (Pro Mod), Chip Forman (Top Sportsman), and Chris Holbrook (SuperCar Showdown).

Team Aruba's Trevor Eman (Extreme Pro Stock), though had a better reaction time than his opponent in the first round of elimination, lost to eventual race winner Dean Goforth by a mere 0,0015 seconds. That was a close race, some 5 inches at the finish line!

Trevor's run can be seen at the 3.30 minute mark in the video above.


NASCAR at Talladega Superspeedway:

Its called a super speedway for three reasons: 1. it's the longest Nascar oval with a length of 2.66 miles, 2. speeds average around 200 mph, and 3. a whopping 175.000 seating capacity. For more info, click here.

So, conventional wisdom, especially at these draft heavy tracks, tells you that the one leading the last lap doesn't win the race. I guess nobody told Brad Keselowski this fact,
for he shook of Kyle Busch on the last lap to go on to win the race. Remarkable is that Kyle lost to Joey Logano the previous night the same way he intended to win of Brad, except he couldn't make it happen.



Up to those final laps, it had been a huge test of endurance, patience, mechanical reliability and lots of good luck for only 19 cars out of the 43 were on the lead lap at the end of the race.  As is common in draft racing, most of the wrecks occurred towards he end of he race.

All in all, a great race and if you haven't watched a Nascar race lately, be sure to tune in for the next one. To me the entertainment score the folk at Nascar have achieved is the highest ever in motor racing, even when Rossi rode his Honda in the good-old-days in MotoGP.

For a recap of the races at Talladega, click here for a Nascar video.

The next Nascar race is Darlington, this Saturday at 6.30 pm. Don't miss it.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Crash.net, MotoGP, NHRA, Robzneed4speed Drag Race Videos
Photo credit: MotoGP, ABC.es, Dragzine, CompetitionPlus.