Compiled by Ian Tocher
7/2/04

he June 25-27 NHRA event in St. Louis was tragically marred by the death of Top Fuel star Darrell Russell, but the racers still had their say about the on-track action in NHRA and team press releases. Here, in their own words, are their thoughts on the 8th annual Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway.

TOP FUEL

"We're confident because we have a pretty good hot track setup and a good cool track setup. If you go rounds, you're going to have to have both setups on Sunday. We'll start out with the hot track and then go to the cool track setup. We think we can make the adjustments to make the car run faster as the day goes on." -- Don Bender, assistant crew chief for Larry Dixon, after they qualified 6th, and before making it to the semis where they overpowered the track against David Grubnic

"We swung for the fences in that second session, but didn't make contact." -- Tony Schumacher after going up in smoke in Saturday nights final qualifying round

"We've qualified at every race we've entered, and there are teams with bigger budgets that can't say that." -- Brady Kalivoda before qualifying for raceday

"We knew our last run was either going to make us number one or blow the tires off. Unfortunately for us, it blew the tires off." -- Bob Vandergriff after winding up 7th in qualifying

"I'm really excited we put this hot rod in the show." -- T.J. Zizzo after securing the 16th and final qualifying position

"I like the night racing aspect of racing at St. Louis, too. It's a truly electrifying experience racing nitro cars at night. What racer couldn't enjoy watching eight-foot tall header flames moving at 300-mph plus?" -- Tim Kushi, tuner for Scott Weis, on the unique atmosphere at Gateway

"It was so close." -- Brandon Bernstein on his narrow loss to Dixon in round two

"We did the best to block out everything that happened today, but it was really tough. I am not going to celebrate tonight. I am going to pack my stuff up and move on to the next event." -- Doug Kalitta after beating teammate Grubnic in the final and assuming the points lead for the first time in his career

FUNNY CAR

"I think we need more night races. It's something that drag racing has over other forms of motor sports and I think we should take advantage of it. There's nothing like seeing the header flames shoot over the roof of a 300-mph Funny Car at night." -- Ron Capps before qualifying in the 10th position

"Funny Car racing at night? There's nothing more spectacular. The fans love it, but it's fun in the car, too. Big ol' header flames shootin' up taller than the car. It's a rush. You don't need fireworks. We bring our own." -- John Force obviously agreeing with Capps before qualifying

"The front end was light and it was moving over to the centerline and I was just yanking it left, yanking it left. It really wasn't coming back to where I wanted it to. Then when I got out there past half track it made a big move to the left and I thought, 'Oh no, too much.' It was a handful. I wasn't able to enjoy the run because I was so busy trying not to run into anything." -- Gary Scelzi after qualifying number one with a track record 4.724-second pass at 329.50 mph that also was his personal- best Funny Car elapsed time

"You would think that coming into the last qualifying session qualified second that you'd be relaxed and enjoy yourself, but that was the most intense I've ever been cause I want to continue to do well. I want to run as good as we did on Friday night on every run. It's bad to be that greedy, but that's just the way it is. I want to run well and I know we're capable of it." -- Tommy Johnson Jr. after hanging on to the 2nd- place starting position for raceday

"We're having some issues with this new tire and we're dealing with tire shake early. The sidewalls on the tires are stiffer and we went one way with the set up and feel like we need to go the other way now." -- Dickie Venables, crew chief for Tony Pedregon, after the defending series champion squeaked into the field in 16th place

"It blew the tires off at about 300 feet. I pedaled it once, but then had to give it up." -- Eric Medlen on his first-round exit against Capps

"To tell you the truth, it was so close I thought we won the race." -- Jeff Arend on losing to Tommy Johnson Jr. by just 9-thousandths in the first round

"To win a race you have to have all the cards go your way. They didn't go our way today."
-- Whit Bazemore on his opening-round loss to Del Worsham, due to a broken blower belt while he was leading

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"We just went through all that drama a week ago, having to race Whit in the first round for the points lead, but it's already obvious that the drama isn't as big this week. I'm going to guess that's because we just haven't run that well and maybe everyone expects us to go down easily. I can tell you this, I don't know if we'll win or lose, but we will not go down easily." -- Worsham before taking out Bazemore for the second- straight week in the opening round

"That's not the way we had it scripted." -- Gary Densham on his opening round loss to Bob Gilbertson

"We tried a little too hard racing against Ron (Capps). We changed our routine a little bit and we made a mistake. I double-stepped the throttle is what I did." -- Johnson Jr. on his second-round loss to teammate Capps

"Honestly, the track was a challenge, and we were just lucky some other teams had trouble with it, too." -- Worsham on his points chase after dropping his second round match against Cruz Pedregon

"People think because [crew chief] Roland (Leong) has been sitting at home on the couch that he's fallen out of the loop. I'm here to tell you that he's surprised a lot of people." -- Capps after falling in the semis to Force, on his team's improved performance since Leong returned to the fold

"Getting to the semi-finals is a great way to finish off this three-race swing. We can take this and capitalize on it for the rest of the year." -- Cruz Pedregon after rattling the tires in the semis against eventual race winner Scelzi

"It really felt like we had the right combination all weekend long and we were able to sustain a quality effort each time down the track." -- Scelzi after defeating a tire-smoking Force in the final round

PRO STOCK

"The biggest difference in this being a night race is that we get to sleep in a little." -- Kurt Johnson on the unique schedule at St. Louis

"The last couple of years I wouldn't have been very excited about this time of year because we had a suspect setup. Now I think we're better than that and I'm confident we can win a race or two." -- Bruce Allen on his resurgence as a contender in Pro Stock this season

"Every engine we've got for some reason is running slow on speed. We'll find out what's wrong with it. It's something in the car. We've tried three different motors. They all run decent, they just don't run any speed. Everything we got out here that we rent (to customers) runs a mile an hour more than we do." -- Larry Morgan complaining about his car's performance after qualifying 5th

"We are just making errors. Tomorrow will bring new opportunities and it will be our job as a team to make correct decisions and capitalize on what we can control. We know how to win and we just need to do it." -- Jeg Coughlin Jr. after qualifying 6th in what has been a frustrating year so far

"If I hadn't taken the scenic route, we would have run a 6.73 or 6.74." -- Warren Johnson after drifting out of the groove in his final qualifying attempt, but getting into the show at 8th with a 6.750-secs pass

"There is a thin line everyone walks in Pro Stock between working and not working." -- Troy Coughlin after qualifying 15th on the ladder

"We were happy to be racing on Sunday." -- T. Coughlin after losing to Steve Johns in the first round

"When I let the clutch out, the tires spun through the first three gears. We just had it set up for a more aggressive racetrack." -- Jim Yates after falling to Coughlin Jr. in round one

"That was a close race and the kind of side-by-side race Pro Stock fans expect to see." -- Coughlin Jr. after defeating Jason Line in round two

"This win means very little to me right now after what happened today. I am just ready to get home to my family." -- Greg Anderson on the loss of Russell after defeating Steve Johns for his 9th win after 12 events this year

PRO STOCK BIKE

"This adjustment in minimum weight was based upon actual Pro Stock Bike performance data gathered during the 2004 national events. Considering the variety of engine designs and manufacturers now participating in this category, the change was necessary in order to maintain a competitive balance within Pro Stock Bike." -- Cary Menard, NHRA's vice president of technical administration and legal affairs, on NHRA dictating that the minimum weight requirement for Harley Davidson and NHRA-accepted American push rod V-twins up to 160 cubic inches is increased to 615 pounds from 575 pounds

"Even though we don't necessarily agree with the severity of the rule change and we don't like how quickly it was imposed upon us, Star Racing, G Squared Motorsports, and S&S Cycle always play by the rules." -- George Bryce, co-owner of the G2/S&S/Star Racing Buell ridden by Fred Collis, on the imposition of the weight penalty

"The way I see it, I have as good of a chance to win now as anyone." -- Steve Johnson on how the new rules for the Harleys may help him

"We need to check the health of this engine. Keep in mind that this motor has been running competitively since the Columbus event. One of the reasons we have left it in there is part of our overall learning curve. We want to check the longevity of the parts. Even though the overall operation of the engine appears good, as a result of the testing of parts the engine may not be as healthy today as we would have liked. The additional 40 pounds that NHRA imposed on our bike and the Harley V- Rods has changed the equation. This G2/S&S/Star Racing Buell has good traction and is launching real well, but the additional weight hurts our performance on the top end of the track indicating that we need more horsepower." -- Bryce again, after Collis lost in round one to Geno Scali

"That was unfortunate because the data showed we may have ended up number one. I'll try to make amends tomorrow, that's for sure. I owe it to the team." -- Angelle Savoie on leaving before the tree was activated for her second qualifying attempt

"What a great day!" -- Antron Brown after qualifying number one with a track record 7.086-second pass at 187.58 mph in his final attempt

"The only thing that I was concerned about for the final was how dark it was getting because the LEDs are so easy to see. I had a .010 reaction time in the second round which is great for bracket racing, but too close to a red light foul at a national event Ö I felt that I had to hold on and not react right when I saw the yellow's flash. I am sure if I would have just let the clutch lever fly, I would have been red and I did not want to give it away like that. I think I am going to go back to our '03 set-up for dealing with the starting line and that should eliminate the possibility of us fouling out of a race." -- Craig Treble on his strategy in the final round against Johnson

"Eighteen years of racing. . .winning in Japan. . .winning small races. . .trying to pay bills, we ran good, we ran strong, the driver did his job, Shane (Molney) and I make good calls all day long and when I saw my win light come on in the finals I couldn't be happier. . .eighteen years of dreaming became reality today." -- Johnson after winning with a holeshot over Treble

"I've always preached to never give up and sometimes it was hard to preach that knowing how long I've gone without a win. K&N stepped up big time, and although it took a while, I'm proud to give them their first professional Pro Stock Bike win." -- Johnson again, on finally breaking into the win column after 18 years, 191 starts, and six final rounds of trying

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