Drag Racing Online - Race Results

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After an up-in-smoke qualifying attempt, Schumacher withdrew the car and had it re-entered with Bill Walsh as substitute driver.

"I was excited to get back in the car and hit the throttle," Schumacher said. "I felt great mentally, but just couldn't get the job done physically. I felt weak trying to pull the brake. I just didn't feel like I could to a good job in the car."

Schumacher said he would try again at the Dallas re-run but, if he still can't go, Bill Walsh is an able replacement. Walsh, in fact, has logged more seat time in a Top Fuel dragster than a lot of tour regulars. However, until Houston, it was all in practice. For years, Walsh was the designated test driver for five-time Winston Champ Joe Amato.

Before that, he was the three-time Winston World Champion in Top Alcohol Dragster (1984, 1985 and 1986).

Meanwhile, the Schumacher team reportedly is working to get an operational Top Fuel dragster and makeshift crew up to speed before the annual Army-Navy football game. Rumor is that the car will be started on jack stands on the field at halftime. What a rush for the cadet corps.

CASSEL WRENCHES UP THE PERFORMANCE
Rick Cassel turned up at Houston as head wrench for Johnny Gray and promptly impressed by putting Gray into the quickest field in Funny Car history (5.022 bump) and then tuning him to a career best 4.968 in a first round upset of low qualifier Bruce Sarver.

ADDITIONAL CREW CHIEF FOR HERBERT?
Doug Herbert, who has struggled on the NHRA tour this season after putting his Snap-on Tools entry in the winners' circle four times in 1999, is discussing with current Crew Chief Larry Frazier the possibility of adding veteran Larry Meyer to the operation in 2001. Among other things, Meyer was the Crew Chief for Cruz Pedregon, when he won the 1992 Winston Championship.

AND YOU CAN'T SEE IT IN THE PITS…
The most original tow vehicle award at the Matco Tools SuperNationals went to Bob Gilbertson for a camouflage truck (and matching car) from Stewart and Stevenson and FMTV (Family of Military Tactical Vehicles). S&S builds and sells vehicles to the U.S. Army and apparently figured it was a good tie-in to the U.S. Army dragster sponsorship even though the big truck proved unwieldy as a pit vehicle.

Still, Force must have like the look. After knocking the 10-time Champion out of competition in the first round of the O'Reilly Nationals at HRP last spring, Gilbertson took out Force's principal rivals - Jerry Toliver in round one and Ron Capps in round two - to seal the championship for the sport's most prolific winner.

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