Fuller Wins First Career POWERade Series Race
Written by Josh Katinger · August 22, 2005
Medlen Wins Second Straight in Funny Car, Anderson Extends Lead in Pro Stock and Hines Regains Lead
MILLINGTON, Tenn. — Tony Schumacher had the POWERade Series points lead within his reach, just needing one more win Sunday against part-time driver “Hot” Rod Fuller in the final round of the 18th annual O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals.
NHRA.com: Sunday Recap
What looked like a mismatch turned instead into an upset as Fuller and his David Powers Motorsports dragster sped past Schumacher’s U.S. Army dragster to earn him his first career POWERade Series win.
“I didn’t see him or hear him so I knew it was going good,” said Fuller, who’s hardly a fluke having advanced now to three final rounds in the 10 events (out of 17) he’s entered. “I think that was the first time I ever drove down the track with a smile on my face. I’m not a real excitable person but when the win light came on I started celebrating like crazy.”
The other winners at the $1.6 million event, the 17th of 23 on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, were Eric Medlen (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
An incredibly wild and competitive season across all four categories in the POWERade Series was center stage again Sunday as illustrated by the fact that there was another lead change, bringing the total for the season now to 24. There have also been a total of 15 different drivers who have at one point this season led their respective category.
And defending POWERade Series Top Fuel champ Schumacher fell four points short of passing Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools dragster and running the total of lead changes to 25.
Hines regained the Pro Stock Motorcycle lead by 15 points over GT Tonglet with his final-round win over his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson teammate; Anderson extended his lead in Pro Stock to 73 points over the man he defeated in the final round, Kurt Johnson; and Robert Hight, who lost to Medlen in the semifinals, maintained a slim 30-point lead in Funny Car over runner-up Ron Capps.
But the night belonged to Fuller, who has consistently had one of the better dragsters when he’s entered races in the first season of competition for David Powers Motorsports. And he soaked in the victory, taking a lonely but meaningful stroll, with his Wally in tow, all the way down the quarter-mile at 10:15 p.m., a full two hours after his first victory was secured.
“To be the man you have to beat the man and today we were able to do that,” said Fuller, who ran a 4.612-second final round against Schumacher’s 5.747. “I’d been stuck on 13 (career) wins for awhile and I was starting to think it was a jinx so it was the perfect time to get my first Top Fuel win and push that number to 14. We almost did it earlier this year in Bristol but I lost on a holeshot. I caught a lot of ribbing for that so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t late today.”
Ladders
Top Fuel
Funny Car
Pro Stock
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Final Finish Order (1-16)
TOP FUEL:
1. Rod Fuller
2. Tony Schumacher
3. Larry Dixon
4. Cory McClenathan
5. David Grubnic
6. Morgan Lucas
7. Melanie Troxel
8. Scott Kalitta
9. Doug Herbert
10. Doug Kalitta
11. John Smith
12. Bobby Lagana Jr.
13. Mitch King
14. Clay Millican
15. Scott Weis
16. Brandon Bernstein
FUNNY CAR:
1. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang
2. Ron Capps, Dodge Stratus
3. Robert Hight, Mustang
4. Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Monte Carlo
5. John Force, Mustang
6. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo
7. Gary Scelzi, Stratus
8. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo
9. Whit Bazemore, Stratus
10. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo
11. Phil Burkart, Toyota Celica
12. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo
13. Jack Wyatt, Pontiac Firebird
14. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo
15. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo
16. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo
PRO STOCK:
1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO
2. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt
3. Rickie Smith, Chevy Cavalier
4. Dave Howard, Cobalt
5. Jason Line, Pontiac Grand Am
6. Ron Krisher, Cobalt
7. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier
8. Jeg Coughlin, Dodge Stratus
9. Warren Johnson, GTO
10. Allen Johnson, Stratus
11. Larry Morgan, Stratus
12. Ronnie Humphrey, Cavalier
13. Kenny Koretsky, Stratus
14. Richie Stevens, Stratus
15. Erica Enders, Cobalt
16. Jim Yates, Grand Am
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson
2. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson
3. Shawn Gann, Suzuki
4. Chris Rivas
5. Ryan Schnitz
6. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki
7. Michael Phillips, Suzuki
8. Matt Guidera
9. Antron Brown, Suzuki
10. Geno Scali, Suzuki
11. Mike Berry, Suzuki
12. Steve Johnson, Suzuki
13. Matt Smith, Suzuki
14. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki
15. Chip Ellis
16. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki
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