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A final round time of 5.070 seconds, his slowest of the day, was good
enough to beat John Force's 5.111, the result of a broken rear end which
caused the only significant delay in a race day program accelerated
by the NHRA to beat a fast-moving weather system.
It was only the second time in 24 career meetings that Densham had beaten Force, the 10-time reigning Winston Champion who came to his aid last March when a sponsorship shortfall clouded his future on the NHRA circuit. Force paired the former auto shop teacher and Funny Car independent with Jimmy Prock, the former Crew Chief to Top Fuel drivers Cory McClenathan and Joe Amato, in a third Ford Mustang. However, until Memphis, Densham had not advanced beyond the semifinals. Not that he and Prock hadn't raised some eyebrows. At Bristol, Tenn., Densham qualified No. 1 with a track record 4.870 second time but lost in the first round. At Pomona, in qualifying for the NHRA's 50th Anniversary Nationals, he set a track speed record of 319.07 mph. At Bandimere Speedway in Denver, he did the same. Nevertheless, the best indication of what was to come at Memphis may have been provided by the team's performance at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Ind., where Densham qualified No. 2 at 4.797 seconds, 322.98 miles per hour with a car that was fully 30 pounds over the 2,375-pound Funny Car minimum. That's the same car the journeyman driver put in the winners' circle at Memphis, to the utter amazement of Force who was skeptical when Prock and Densham opted to used the heavier Mac Tools/Auto Club of Southern California body during eliminations instead of the lighter Castrol GTX body (one of his own backups) with which they had qualified sixth. "We were real comfortable with the heavier body," Densham said. "We knew from Indy that, heavy or not, it worked with Jimmy's combination. So we had no reservations about putting it on the car." Driving what may be the heaviest car in the category, Densham cut down Chuck Etchells in round one, Whit Bazemore in round two and Ron Capps in the semifinals before facing Force in a final round for the fourth time. Because Densham ousted the two drivers closest to him in the 2001 Winston
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For
Gary Densham, the 244th time was the charm. Densham, 54, who at the
outset of the current campaign appeared destined to end his career without
reaching the winners' circle, ended a 30-year NHRA victory drought by
beating his boss and benefactor in the final round of the 14th annual
AutoZone Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, his 244th Winston Series
event. 
