Experience Ruled The Day In Gatornationals Eliminations
Column By: JOHN DOUGLAS / RPW – GAINSVILLE, FL – One of the best dynamics in all of sports is the battle of youth and exuberance versus old age and treatchery. At the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida it was a day for experience to be the winning factor. Tony Schumacher, John Force, Shane Gray and Eddie Krawiec got to lift Wallys in the Sunoco Winner’s Circle and along the way two of them would become the winningest racers in history at the famed Florida event.
Tony Schumacher met Antron Brown in the Top Fuel final, but it wasn’t an easy road for the eight time NHRA Champion, as he had to defeat Clay Millican and Steve Torrance on his road to the final round. On the flip side, Antron Brown’s road to the final was no easier, as he defeated Doug Kalitta with a nearly identical ET as Schumacher ran in his Semifinal match up.
The two were nearly dead even off the line with Brown claiming the reaction time by .003 over Schumacher, but 1/4th of a mile later it was Schumacher lifting the trophy as he ran a full seven miles per hour quicker than brown down the Florida straight line to extend his lead as winningest driver in Top Fuel history at the Gatornationals.
“I just think it’s a team win.” Schumacher said to the ESPN viewers, “I wasn’t leaving as good as I have in the past. These guys made a really great race car go down the race track. Together with driving it well, shutting it off at the right time. That left lane has a little bit of a whoopdy-do down there, and we know that, so figuring it all out and working as a team ya know? Phil’s doing a great job right now. Same thing with Mike and the guys are just working well together.”
John Force’s win in Funny Car action was no small feat, and he let everyone know it in victory lane. Force’s day started off with a meeting between long time rival Del Worsham. Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson Jr. all fell to the master of the short weehlbase Nitro cars.
Johnie Lindberg made his presence known at the Gatornaitonals in a big way on Sunday, as he defeated three very strong Funny Car campaigners. J.R. Todd, Robert Hight, and Mat Hagan all fell to Lindberg’s consistent runs and a comparison of the two finalist’s semifinal stats showed their ET’s only .007 apart at a 3.995 for John Force, and a 3.948 for Lindberg.
In a photo finish, Force picked off Lindberg for the victory in one of NHRA’s crown jewel events for the first time since 2001. This was the longest any driver had gone between wins at the same NHRA national event.
“Robert Hight fixed my old hot rod. He fixed me on the throttle, where old John Force was screwed up and uh I should listen to him. And then on top of it, Mike Neff, Jon Schaefer and these guys, Cunningham with Prock, everybody. Ronnie Thompson with Danny heck the whole team, and all of Brownsburg. God bless you Mac Tools, Freightliner, Peak and on top of it Advanced Auto Parts, Monster the list just goes on and on. But I’m OK and thats’s all that really matters, and we’re gonna do some damage this year whether they take us out or not because we got the heart.” Force then broke into song. “I’m singing in the rain, I’m singing in the rain. I’m singing in the rain got dang it!”
The Pro Stock final was exciting as always as the Chevy Camaros of Shane Gray and Greg Anderson mirrored each other’s reaction times off the line. An .050 to .051 for Gray gave him .001 of a second advantage off the line, and in Pro Stock every hundredth counts. The margin of victory? .0025.
“This isn’t supposed to happen. An almost shocked himself Gray said to ESPN reporter John Kernan. “I was just going to run a few races with my son. We’re having fun. No pressure. We’re kind of using this car for a test car. Racing Greg is always awesome and ,uh. Go on yellow.”
The final in Pro Stock Bike was a record setting run for Andrew Hines as he became the winningest rider in Pro Stock Bike history at the Gatornationals. His victory over Eddie Krawiec came with a .023 hole shot, but the mile per hour numbers had everyone’s attention as Hines ran a 199.76 mile per hour pass as the quest for the 200 mph marker creeps ever closer.
The NHRA competitors converge next on the Strip at Las Vegas, for the Denso Spark Plugs Nationals,from March 31-April 2. Tickets are available online at: www.LVMS.com/tickets
