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LVMS test entries TOP FUEL FUNNY CAR PRO STOCK TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER Plus: More than 100 racers in Pro Mod, Pro Stock Bike, Sport Compact Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Series Sportsman Classes. Tuscon testing final report
Beautiful weather and a great track makes for another outstanding weekend of testing at Tucson’s Southwestern International Raceway. I always enjoy my time down at SIR. They treat the racers and the fans (the stands were packed btw) with respect and always put on a good show. Track prep is another plus here at SIR. NHRA Electronics Guru Jeff Foster was on hand to calibrate the timing system and ensure that the test sessions went off without a hitch. The crew at SIR is as professional as they come and know their business, from the starter to the rescue workers and everybody in between. Since testing in Las Vegas began last year, there has been a slight drop in car counts from the professional categories, but despite that, it is still a show well worth attgending. Thank you to the owners and crew of Southwestern International Raceway for providing this great facility for the racers and the fans. If you ever get the chance, make sure you check out this gem in Division Seven. Notable: Cruz and team were under alot of stress according to a few different observers at Tucson. The team under new crew chief Rob Flynn seem to struggle and did not get into the fours. It will be interesting to see how they fair at Vegas if they test more. A number of teams left early Sunday to partake in Super
Bowl festivities, most notable the Bud camp after a huge grenade in
Sunday's first test run.
Don Schumacher's team had only Tony and the Army of One
at Tucson. They were testing the new PSI roots blower and were very
happy with the results. TOP FUEL
FUNNY CAR
PRO STOCK
January 27, 2003
Tuscon Testing Photos © speedzone magazine and Mark King
Only alcohol car testing was Cy Chesterman. No Pro Mods on site on Saturday.
Pro Stock
Funny Car
Tony Pedregon 5.071 231.20
Top Fuel
January 23, 2003
Bailey to debut new dragster for 2003 season Bailey has re-signed Capitol Auto Group, one of Oregon's
largest new car dealerships, as the car's title sponsor and will continue
to receive product January 20, 2003
Phoenix testing wraps up story courtesy nhra.com & Mark King of DeepStage.net Top Fuel rookie Brandon Bernstein recorded the quickest and fastest pass Sunday at the 2003 NHRA National Time Trials at Firebird International Raceway.
Bernstein blasted the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster down the track in 4.581 seconds at 323.12 mph on his third and final pass of the day to set the standard in the category. "That run was just awesome," said the 30-year-old Bernstein. "(Crew chief) Tim Richards and the guys had the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster smoking down the track. I didn't want to lift (off the throttle). That is the quickest and fastest I've ever gone. It was amazing. "Our goal coming to this test session was to get the car race-ready and to get me comfortable inside the car. After three days I'm getting that comfort feeling. I'll just keep getting more comfortable after the test session in Tucson (Ariz.) next weekend."
"We're pretty happy so far because we have been competitive
and consistent," said Bazemore. "During the off season we
tried to address some of the problems we had and we have made progress.
We made a good start this weekend. "We are staying here to test for the next five days and we are going to try some new technology on the new Dodge Stratus. We feel pretty good heading to Pomona (Calif.) for the season-opener. It's a long year and we still have a lot of work to do."
Friday: Larry Dixon 4.55 @ 322 Saturday: Tony Schumacher 4.56 @ 316 Sunday: Brandon Bernstein: 4.58 @ 323, Tony Schumacher
4.58 @ 304, Doug Herbert 4.62 @ 300 & 4.64 @ 292
Gene Davis is the only new pilot out there. One licensing attempt, 5.24 @ 256... Dixon smokes the tire every run Sunday.
Best and notables for Funny Car: Friday: Gary Scelzi 4.91 @ 292 Saturday:
Sunday: Gary Densham and Tony Pedregon 4.83’s, Force 4.83 Johnnie Gray 4.84, Ron Capps 4.85, Gary Scelzi 4.85 Tommy Johnson 4.85 and Whit Bazemore 4.85. Team Force made seven strong runs out of nine attempts. Whit Bazemore made four strong runs out of four attempts. Del Worsham struggled all weekend, no four second passes. Johnny Gray had only one good run. Dean Skuza did not run in the fours all weekend but did run 310mph. Frank Pedregon made one good run out of three attempts. Scotty Cannon smoked the tires every attempt. Gary Scelzi made two good runs out of six attempts. Ron Capps made only one good run all weekend, same for Tommy Johnson Jr.
No Pro Stock at Phoenix, but most that were testing in
Florida ran real fast! Craig Treble ran the wheels off his bikes. He had numerous
runs in the 7.teens. A few teams are sticking around to test all week at Phoenix, and then are heading to Tucson where Speedzone Magazine will be, to keep you up to date.
SpeedZone has an in-depth interview with Calgary’s Rick Distefano HERE. He tested extensively at Phoenix as he debuted his gorgeous '53 Corvette Pro Mod. As well, we talk to Don and Dean Skuza about their 2003 season. Check back often! January 19, 2003
More exclusive photos from Phoenix courtesy Mark King of DeepStage.net Pro Mod Top Fuel
Funny Car
Top Alcohol Dragster
Top Alcohol Funny Car For more see nhra.com & dragracecentral.com January 17, 2003
Kurt Johnson testing Lucas oil Sportsman TV package: http://www.nhra.com/2003/sportsman/tvschedule.html
Powerade TV package: http://www.nhra.com/2003/tvschedule.html To go along with Divsion six banquet awards posted in
SpeedZone Magazine (print version), here is a link to Div's. 1 through
4 award banquet winners.
http://www.dragracecentral.com/SeriesIndex.asp?Series=DRAG-SUMMIT Here is Division 6 award banquet winners: New Cory Mac Deal. He is in fact going to Darrell
Gwynn's team for 2003. John Stewart will be the crew chief, and Berryman
Products will be a major sponsor along with the NY Yankees. The rest
of this release on Cory Mac courtesy NHRA.Com
"Entering 2003, McClenathan has 31 career NHRA national event victories, including the 2002 season-ending Auto Club Finals. Before a racing accident cut short his own brilliant Top Fuel driving career, Gwynn amassed 28 career NHRA national event wins including the 1983 Top Alcohol Dragster championship. The popular Cory Mac replaces Australian Andrew Cowin, who finished a career-best eighth in NHRA Top Fuel points last season in Gwynn's dragster. The team produced four No. 1 qualifier awards in 2002, including the sport's quickest run of the year ˆ a 4.490 e.t. logged at the season-opening Winternationals.
"With the start of the new season upon us we found
ourselves with a substantial amount of sponsor funding secured but still
short of the necessary levels to allow us to race," Gwynn said.
"We were resigning ourselves to the possibility of not being able
to run and perhaps even permanently dismantling our racing operations.
As it turned out, Cory was essentially in a similar situation. By combining
forces we were able to solve our respective funding short-falls and
create a very solid program that includes one of Top Fuel's greatest
drivers." January 16, 2003
NEW Team Schumacher Photos! The brand new Matco Tools Dodge Stratus of Whit Bazemore
Here's a first look at the Dodge Stratus, Oakley Time Bomb of Gary Scelzi!
January 15, 2003 Have you heard the one about so and so? Here are some of the best non secrets and secrets confirmed
for 2003 …Gary Scelzi will be with Don Shumacher's mega team
in 2003. He will be team mates with Whit Bazemore and Scotty Cannon.
The sponsorship for Scelzi’s car will come from Oakley Eyewear.
Both he and Cannon will have backing from Oakley while Bazemore will
continue with Matco being his main backer. …Also notable in that camp, is the shuffling of the
Dodge Stratus bodies with Mopar backing out of the Skuza team (shortly
after MOPAR stated they were sticking with the Skuza team) and moving
to the Shumacher camp. That SUCKS for Dean and Don Skuza! …Sticking with the Schumacher/Cannon team, Scotty
Cannon's plan to have a Pro Mod on the NHRA AMS Pro Mod exhibition circuit
is still going to happen providing a sponsor steps up and foots the
bill. Cannon's son Scotty Jr. will be in the seat if backing can be
found. …All three cars will be back in the John Force camp
for 2003. No word yet on a rumoured Top Fuel car or fourth funny car.
Daughter Ashley will still be in the S/C dragster. …Mike Dunn was close to a ride in Top Fuel again,
but that apparently fell through, so he re-signed a multi year deal
with ESPN2 …Alan Johnson and Bruce Sarver will be back as a
team... at press time. The strong rumour here is that Jerry Toliver
would replace Bruce as he has a sponsor deal. But Alan was quoted saying
that was not true and Jerry would possibly part of a two car team. Don’t
know what to believe in this one. Speedzone has heard Alan is having
financial trouble and the season is in jeopardy. …Unless you lived in the Arctic Circle, you know
that Brandon Bernstein will take over for his dad Kenny in the Bud King
dragster. Good Luck Brandon! …Scott Kalitta will be out for early season testing
in a (the) Kalitta Top Fuel Dragster. Whether or not this will be a
two car team is yet to be announced. …Cory Mac will be teamed up with Mike Peek and the
Peek Bros. TF team for the entire 2003 season with sponsor Berryman
stepping up their commitment. This will be the first ever full season
for the Peek dragster. …Doug Herbert re-signed a multi year with Snap-On
Tools. He also let Johnny West go (who then moved to the Henkleman camp)
and promoted one of his crew, Ron Douglas, to crew chief. This along
with assistants Sam Shockley (ex div 6 alcohol crew chief for Gary Turner
& John Hyland) Dougzilla is also giving away a Top Fuel car in a
Snap -On/Herbert Performance Parts Promotion. Cool! …Cruz Pedregon is back with more associate backing
from the Bendix Corporation. He also signed Rob Flynn to crew chief
this year. …The Worshams and the CSK Funny Car team have promoted
two crew members to co-crew chief on their two car team. Chris Cunningham
and Marc Denner are now calling the shots along with Chuck and Del. …Darrell Gwynn’s team is looking for more backing
for their Yankees TF team. …Snake’s team is unchanged for 2003. Why mess
with the championship winner? Then again that FC team is very hot and
cold. …Paul Romine will run the entire Powerade tour in
2003. He has full backing from Carquest and is teamed up with John Mitchell. …Not word yet on Clay Millican and whether he and
the Lehman team will run the whole NHRA tour. …David Baca will run the entire year in Top Fuel,
but they are looking for more sponsorship. It was rumoured that he had
bought Rick Henkleman's share of the team, but that is unconfirmed. …Shirley Cha Cha Muldowney announced her final
season of TF driving. She and husband Rahn Tobler will run at least
eight races with backing from Action Collectibles, GM and Mac Tools. …Big Daddy Don Garlits will be out at least
four times in 2003. Summit Racing and their 35th anniversary will back
Big’s Swamp Rat 34 …Nitro Harleys will be an exhibition class at three
NHRA events in 2003. Screaming Eagle has dropped the IHRA and will solely
back the AHDRA and the NHRA. Where does that leave the IHRA? …It's old news that Mopar dropped the Nickens Pro
Stock team and now backs Allen Johnson's two car team as well as Larry
Morgan dual car effort. The two owner/drivers will work beside Gene
Wilson and Darrell Alderman. …George Marnell has teamed up with legendary engine
builder Buddy Ingersoll for 2003. …Mike Edwards will switch to a Grand-Am for 2003.
He also has a new engine builder in Patterson Racing. …Scott Palmer has announced an expanded schedule for 2003 on the NHRA Powerade tour. With additional funding from his primary sponsor O’Reilly Auto Parts he plans on competing at 10 events. His O’Reilly deal is entirely vendor backed, and as their success goes, so does Scott’s backing. …Angelle Savioe and Star Racing still don't have a firm sponsor deal in place for 2003. Déjà vu all over again. What is it with this team? Are their demands to high? 2003 DIVISION 6 CHASSIS INSPECTION SCHEDULE
UPDATE (in red) Jan. 15/03 Feb. 1 Saturday Wilsonville, Or. Jackson Automotive & Performance Steve/Jeff Jackson 503-682-2165 Feb. 1 Saturday Butte, Mt. Biggers Transport Bill Biggers 406-533-0912 Feb. 16 Sunday Kent, WA
Pacific Raceways Mar. 29 Saturday Spokane, WA
Spokane Community College Apr. 5 Renegade Raceway,
Yakima WA 2- For information on other location dates please contact the Division 6 Tech Office at 306-374-3685. Wednesday January 1, 2003 Another Zone that will be updated as soon as news happens, our NHRA Zone will deal with all Powerade National events as well as the Lucas Oil Divisional series.
Here are some of the highlights of 2002 from SpeedZone Magazine's Drag Racing Associate Editor Jamie Clerf. He along with a dozen other Drag Racing correspondants
from around North Race of the year (National Event IHRA or NHRA) Side by side race of the year (National) Worst race of the year (National) Did the most with the least (Pro) Crash of the year Upset of the year Disappointment of the year Biggest news of the year This is just a small part of what you'll see in our "The Best of 2002" print issue. To subscribe to SpeedZone Magazine check here.
2003 NHRA Zone Preview The NHRA, unlike other forms of motorsport (i.e. CART),
enters the 2003 The NHRA does face more than a few lingering questions however. What are the short and long term implications if the Pro Stock Truck owners lawsuit goes against them? When (if ever) are they going to make the Pro Modifieds an official class? How are they going to attract a younger demographic of fans to one day replace their graying fan base? Wasn't there supposed to be a rush of new sponsors with Powerade, not big Tobacco, as the title sponsor.But enough of these questions for now.Here's "What to Watch" in the Pro and Sportsman ranks of NHRA in 2003. What to Watch in Pro 2003 Top Fuel Pushing Dixon will be a group of racers (Kalitta, Herbert, Russell) who are capable of winning any race they enter, but who lack the season-long consistency of Dixon and Bernstein. The rest of the Top Fuel class should also be improved this year, if not by quality then quantity. All signs point to more full and competitive fields after a year which saw thin and short fields at too many events. The wildcard in the championship race may be 1999 Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher, who has suffered through two miserable seasons. The addition of noted tuner Wes Cerny to the Schumacher camp may finally get this team turned around. Championship Prediction: Larry Dixon Funny Car Championship Prediction: John Force Pro Stock Championship Prediction: Jeg Coughlin Jr. What to Watch in Pro-Sportsman 2003 Top Alcohol Dragster Championship Prediction: Rick Santos (if they run full-time),
Duane Shields Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship Prediction: Frank Manzo Watch to Watch in Sportsman 2003 Super Stock After a couple of dry (for him) seasons watch out for Jimmy DeFrank, the two-time former champ in 2003. Other Super Stock highlights for the upcoming season, include the Indy SS/AA Shootout, an event that is gaining greater respect and attention from NHRA officials. Not to be forgotten is the Hemi Shootout put on by Speedzone's very own Dean Murdoch. Run in conjunction with the May 2-4 Mission LODRS, the race attracts the best SS/AA cars from around the country (Hess, Barton, Ogburn, etc) who come to Mission in hopes of a personal best ET or national record. Stock NHRA Powerade Schedule Feb. 6-9, 2003 Feb. 20-23, 2003 Mar. 13-16, 2003 Apr. 3-6, 2003 Apr. 10-13, 2003 Apr. 25-27, 2003 May 1-4, 2003 May 15-18, 2003 May 22-25, 2003 May 29-June 1, 2003 June 12-15, 2003 June 26-29, 2003 July 18-20, 2003 July 25-27, 2003 Aug. 1-3, 2003 Aug. 14-17, 2003 Aug. 27-Sept. 1, 2003 Sept. 11-14, 2003 Sept. 18-21, 2003 Sept. 25-28, 2003 Oct. 9-12, 2003 Oct. 23-26, 2003 Nov. 6-9, 2003
Northwest National Open Series Summit Racing Series Finals Jr. Gold Crown Series Finals
|
January
29, 2003
Team
CSK was very happy with Johnny Gray's outing and even Worsham had a
bit of a smile on his face after their final test day. That team is
heading back to their shop to do all required maintenance before the
Winternat's.
Bob
Glidden is crew Chiefing for Mark Pawuk this year. Pawuk is looking
for a big improvement over last year as he did not get past the first
round all season marking the first time since 1987 he failed to get
into the second round of eliminations.
Defending NHRA POWERade Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon had the best pass
of the weekend during the second day of the test session as he prepares
to try and become the first Top Fuel driver to defend his series crown
since Gary Scelzi (1997-'98). Dixon's Miller Lite dragster made it down
the quarter-mile drag strip in 4.558 at 322.73, despite shutting the
engine off well before the finish line.
Whit
Bazemore made the best Funny Car pass of the weekend, notching the low
E.T. and top speed at the Friday test session. Bazemore powered his
Matco Tools Dodge Stratus R/T through the clocks in 4.820 at 320.89.
Bazemore also was impressive in his two runs on Sunday, earning times
of 4.856 and 4.902. 
Other
notable TF happenings: David Baca makes three runs between 4.70 and
4.80 during the weekend... 
