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 zMAX Dragway

Back on October 17, 2011, I wrote a blog on "TV Tommy" Ivo, who brilliantly thought if two is good, then four must be much better and built himself back in 1961 a four-engined dragster. zMAX Dragway must have been created using the same vision...I think.

The zMAX Dragway is a state-of-the-art quarter mile drag strip, the only one of its kind with four lanes, instead of the customary two, and is the only all-concrete drag strip as well in the U.S.

Tomorrow starts one of the greatest spectacles in drag racing, the so-called Four-Wide Nationals, at the Bellagio of dragstrips. Lucky fans will get to see the fastest accelerating machines on the planet release a 30.000 horsepower assault on zMAX dragway. That's almost more than the entire starting grid of the Daytona 500!

Antron Brown, driver of the Matco Top Fuel dragster explained this event best.

"When you say 'a spectacle,' you're talking about 30.000 horsepower. Raw, ground-pounding, asphalt-ripping horsepower, and we are going to get it done all in one shot. When you hear that thing hit, you're hearing this percussion going, and everybody thinks it's a category 4 earthquake, and it's nothing but our Top Fuel and Funny Cars ripping up that concrete at zMAX Dragway."

Last year's winner, Jack Beckman, explained how he feels to be behind the starting line during the event.

"When we roll up to the starting line, when it's two-wide and the pair in front of us step on the trottle, it's pretty impressive, and I didn't think anything could top that. When you roll up there four-wide and the ones in front of you step on the trottle, our bodies are held up by these big metal poles; I swear it seems like that thing is going to snap in half and the body is going to fall down."

And it is not easy racing here. Tony Schumacher's second-round loss last year stands as a cautionary tale for why Four-Wide isn't so beloved by those in the cockpit.

"I didn't know what the car in the left and right lanes were doing, so I kept pedaling it, blew up, oiled the track down and lost 10 point,"recounted Schumacher. "[The format] forces me to do that. I'm glad it's not in the Countdown, but it's something different. I've got a lot of trophies on the shelf, and I don't have a Four-Wide yet. I want one."

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Thanks for reading.

Source: NHRA, Drag Illustrated