Not Your Usual Wally Winners Today
Written by Sheila Scarborough · October 1, 2006
Todd, Burkart, Anderson and Stoffer win at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals.
OK, Greg Anderson in Pro Stock has been in the winner’s circle a few times before, but there were a couple of other faces there today that we don’t see as often.
NHRA.com Sunday recap.
Top Fuel’s JR Todd has had some impressive wins this season but this has to be right up there as he takes out McClenathan,Schumacher on a holeshot, Grubnic and then Skull Shine teammate Troxel in the final with 4.494 ET at 324.12 mph. He would seem to be a lock for Rookie of the Year after this, his third trophy.
“I never thought I’d be standing here with three wins and people talking about Rookie of the Year,” Todd said. “We were only going to run part-time this year but [sponsor] Evan Knoll stepped up his involvement and said straight out he wanted to beat Tony Schumacher. I was like, ‘Well who doesn’t?’ but he’s given us what it takes to do it.
“Jimmy [Walsh, crew chief] has this thing running so strong. I knew all I needed to worry about was doing my job at the starting line and we’d have a chance. He came on a tune-up last week in Dallas when we ran a 4.54 and it showed today. To run a 4.51, 4.50, and a 4.49 in one day is awesome.”
Melanie Troxel has to be pleased that she and her team may be getting their groove back after a spectacular start to the season. Doug Kalitta went one more round than Schumacher at Maple Grove, so he still leads the Top Fuel points race at 52 points over the Sarge.
Funny Car’s Phil Burkart knocked off one superstar after another to win his first Wally since 2004 at the Denver event. The final was a pedalfest against red-hot Robert Hight (never mind the suckish ETs and speeds as they huffed and puffed down the strip.)
“We sure didn’t back into this win,” Burkart said. “It was like being a boxer and having to fight four guys in one day. We start out beating the points leader in Ron Capps, then we get the world champ, then I race the John Force, the best guy ever, and take him out in front of all my friends and family, I just don’t think it gets any better than this.
“The final was nerve-wracking. When you smoke the tires that early in the run it’s just about impossible to get them to hook back up. But I didn’t see Robert so I had the presence of mind to grab the brake handle and calm the tire speed down a bit. I pretty much rode the brake from there on out. It was a long, long trip but we got the win.”
John Force is back with the points lead (by one!) when he went two more rounds than Ron Capps.
Pro Stock was a bunch of “can you top this?” with records made and broken in the great Maple Grove Raceway weather conditions. Greg Anderson took the win with a 6.656 ET at 208.36 mph over a red-lighting Greg Stanfield.
“How tough is Pro Stock?” Anderson asked. “If I didn’t win the race I wouldn’t have gained a nickel on Jason. Both of our cars are so good and it’s just exciting that our biggest competition comes from within our team. I need to be perfect for the rest of the year if I want to win my fourth title. It’s back and forth with me and Jason and I hope we stay friends through this. I think we will but it’s gonna be a fight.
“We were a little depressed last night when Greg [Stanfield] took the record. I didn’t think we’d be able to get close today but then Jason runs a 6.619 in Round 1 and we follow up by running a thou[sandth] quicker. Then he comes back in Round 2 and just puts it out of reach with a 6.609. It’s awesome. You just don’t see conditions like this but maybe once a year. You have to be ready to take advantage of it.”
A woman won the Pro Stock Motorcycle trophy but it was not Angelle Sampey; Karen Stoffer took out a red-lighting Sampey and then beat Geno Scali in the final with a 7.097 ET and 187.94 mph.
“What a great weekend for us. The only thing we didn’t do was set the E.T. record.
“This place must favor girls. Angelle seems to win here just about every year and I rode to my first final here in 2002. Now I get into the 6-Second Club and win in the same weekend. This place and Houston have been very good to me.”
The heat’s on and the season’s coming to a close; see you next weekend in Virginia at the Torco Fuels NHRA Nationals.
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.