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The same profile existed for me in Funny Car.
It was kinda weird in some ways. Although I
haven't talked with him since he's begun his
driving career, Eric Medlen was one of those
sorta happy-go-lucky cats in Force's camp. A
nice guy in a camp full of nice guys. I'm ashamed
to say I didn't know he was John Medlen's son
... I do know the senior Medlen. He and I are
both diabetics and he never fails to bring the
subject up when I drag my world-weary ass over
to the Force/Castrol Nation. Dumb me ... his
kid's the hottest property in pro drag racing
and I've got a Penthouse in my lap at the Standard
gas station. Go figure ... (again) anyway ...
After about seven lackluster pairs in the final
session of Funny Car on Saturday, nothing was
happening. No big numbers ... until ... (No,
not John Force), TIM WILKERSON clocks a way
early shut off 4.80, 287.96 in the world's greatest
quotable crew chief Fred Mandolini-tuned Levi-Ray-Shoup
Firebird. There were only a few pairs left at
that time, but the way I figured it, Wilkerson
had a probable mid-4.7 in the car on that run.
Then after a pair or two, up comes Medlen's
boss, John Force. I really think my Bell Gardens
pal is real close to tearing heads off. The
winter tests produced low 4.70s at 329 mph,
and as Dale Armstrong said to me 20 years ago
(to paraphrase), That's the problem with Force
crew chief (Austin) Coil. If he gets it (meaning
the combo) he doesn't lose it. He grips it tight.
Evidently, Force's Castrol Ford speeds through
the traps at a 4.74, 324.36 and suddenly all
hopes are entertained. On the heels of that
run, young Medlen comes out of the box and rips
a 4.78, 320.58 to close the session. All in
all, not bad.
But I've got this problem. Generally, in NHRA
drag racing and other "HRAs", qualifying produces
the better numbers and I thought I'd seen the
pros shoot their
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shots
to that point. So ... magnanimous as ever, I
passed on going to the races Saturday and helped
my pal Niles Smith out by giving him a pass
and reporting back to me about the results on
Sunday.
At this point, I'm going to make an assumption
... namely that if you weren't there you saw
the race on TV. You know that, among other things,
eventual Top Fuel winner Schumacher ran as quick
and fast as a 4.45, 332.18. You also know that
the first racer driving a "Japanese" Funny Car
(I know, I know, a drag racing Toyota Celica
body is as much a Toyota as the Pope is a child
molester), Jerry Toliver collected the Funny
Car victory, and Greg Anderson (Did I tell you
that I think this guy is the new Bob Glidden?)
took Pro Stock. And they all ran better in qualifying
... a rare experience for me, to say the least.
I was messed up. I shoulda left Niles at his
crib and scampered off to Pomona myself, but
whatdya gonna do?
The point? If you're a numbers freak, you can't
always go what happened in qualifying. The Winternationals
show actually improved for me with every day
... a not so common experience.
SOME OTHER OBSERVANCES
A.) The NHRA
beats NASCAR in one fairly important area: its
Media Guide is the best in auto racing. True,
it's all NHRA, but what the hell did you expect?
Love 'em, hate 'em, put 'em in jail, NHRA, drag
racing-wise is the only game in town until IHRA
really taps into Clear Channel's money. Anthony
Vestel says the Media Guide is not for sale
this year. Too bad. I guess maybe Bret Kepner
and I are the only guys who would chase this
book down the stairs. Awww... what the hell
B.) The Pomona
Raceway Environs ... "The El Merendero" Mexican
restaurant at Arrow Highway and "E Street" (right
next to the Fairplex facility) is better than
ever. Fellow DRO staffer Darr Hawthorne and
I went there on Saturday and it's the best close-proximity
restaurant on the NHRA trail. Spanish tile table
tops, enlarged asphalt parking, the same great
food, the place is nearly worth the trip to
(Schwarzenegger-ese) "Colly-Fornia" for the
grub, bub.
and ...
C.) NHRA's
new oildown penalty rule sucks. Sorry guys,
but the low-buck unsponsored racers and even
the corporate suitees, never deliberately blow
up equipment with the expressed purpose of holding
up this big money-making jukebox. No one, but
no one, throws 10s of thousands of dollars into
the toilet for the hell of it.
One of the things that NHRA has done in recent
months is bring itself a little closer (or at
least, that's the way it appears to me), but
this ain't one of them. Drag racing needs all
the competitors it can get. This nose-down rule
doesn't build on that. I want that rule tossed
out, or else ...
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The
Martin Chronicles —
2/10/04
"Clue-Less"
In Valley Village; "Deja-Vu-Less"
In Irwindale |
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