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LOCKWOOD 2 YEARS TOO LATE
Mike Lockwood of Hadley, PA, missed qualifying his 1966 Chevy Corvette
in the Rockingham Pro Mod field by just five-thousandths of a second.
Two years ago at the same race he would have been the number-one qualifier.
Hadley set the 17th fastest time of 36 Pro Mod entries
this year with a 6.333 at 220.15 mph. In 2000, Al Billes qualified on
top with a 6.346-secs pass at 223.17 mph.
COLLINS RETURNS
Following a rollover crash a week earlier in his new Mustang at the
NMCA event in Atlanta, IHRA regular Jason Collins said he was through
with racing, but he was back in action at Rockingham, squeaking his
1998 Ford Probe into the 16th spot of the Pro Stock qualifying field.
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If not for a slight driving error that got
him out of the groove during qualifying, Jason Collins said he
probably could've been about fifth on the Pro Stock ladder. Still,
the Rainbow City, AL driver was just pleased to be sticking around
for raceday. (Ian Tocher photo)
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Collins said a quick trip to Tommy Mauney's chassis shop
the day after his crash revealed the car was not as badly damaged as
initially feared, requiring only one main bar to be replaced in its
rollcage. He told DRO it was actually his mother who convinced him and
his dad to swap the engine out of the wounded Mustang and transplant
it into his old car so they could race in Rockingham.
A quick sidetrip to Darlington for three test hops helped
Collins regain some lost confidence, he said, then it was on to The
Rock, where he made it all the way to the semis. Collins strapped a
.046 holeshot on Ron Miller, but fell to the eventual event winner when
he drove through the clutch and posted his worst time of the weekend,
a 6.742 to Miller's very vulnerable 6.666-secs pass.
Collins was unsure if the Mustang would be repaired in
time for the next IHRA race, at Virginia Motorsport Park Apr. 18-21,
but said he'll definitely be there.
STORDEUR SETS TRACK RECORD
Goshen, OH's Steve Stordeur set a new track ET record for the Nitro
Harleys at Rockingham when he qualified on top of the eight-bike field
with a 6.355-secs elapsed time at 207.92 mph, but he was unable to back
it up within the required one percent for an official IHRA record.
Regardless, team owner Johnny Mancuso was more impressed
with Stordeur's 1.05-sec 60-foot time and the 4.11 he posted at the
1/8-mile marker. "That's just unheard of," Mancuso said. "Those
are unreal numbers; never done before."
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Steve Stordeur and his team owner, Johnny
Mancuso, were both riding on new Mickey Thompson rear slicks,
which obviously performed well in their competition debut. (Ian
Tocher photo)
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PRO STOCK PECULIARITIES
The first round of Pro Stock eliminations at Rockingham was one of the
more memorable in recent drag racing history for several reasons. First,
the Pro Stock field had a record bump of 6.64. Then number 16 qualifier
Jason Collins, who had just a week before burned his brand new Pro Stock
Ford to the ground, took out number one qualifier Doug Kirk but that
was just the first of many upsets. Number 15 qualifier John Bartunek
ambushed number two qualifier Jerry Yeoman and number 14 qualifier Tim
Nabors trailered number three qualifier Carl Baker. Collins made it
all the way to the semi-finals before losing to class winner Ron Miller's
Chevy Cavalier.
TOP FUEL STINKEROO
Eleven cars attempted to qualify for the eight-car field at Rockingham.
Only two of the 11 cars, Clay Millican and Bruce Litton, were able to
run a four-second pass. Those two cars and drivers met in the finals
and Millican picked up where he left off in 2001 by winning a IHRA National
Event. The final round was certainly representative of Top Fuel racing
IHRA-style with Millican's 4.794/294.63 covering Litton's dead game
4.849/304.19.
The problem wasn't with the stars but with the supporting
cast. The bump was an embarrassing 8.048! The eliminations consisted
of broken cars, disqualifications, slow elapsed times and bye runs.
Bad show.
THE BLOWERS ARE COMIMG. THE BLOWERS
ARE HERE
If there were any doubt that supercharger-equipped cars are going to
dominate in the Pro Modified division that doubt was erased at Rockingham.
Only four nitrous oxide-injected cars made the 16-car field and they
filled the 13-16 spots.
When Tim McAmis equaled the best IHRA legal Pro Mod time
of the year with his Alan Johnson Oldsmobile supercharged wedge with
a 6.114 after recording a series of 'teens you could almost hear the
wind go out of the nitrous contingent's sails. Bob Rieger, Mike Janis,
and eventual winner Al Billes all ran teens with ease and all were nearly
a tenth or better quicker than the fastest nitrous cars. Only superior
driving by Shannon Jenkins and some blower cars trying to run 6.0's
got a nitrous car to the finals. The nitrous Pro Mod racers are in for
a very long season if Rockingham is any indication of the future.
PRICE STARTS BIRTHDAY TOUR
Veteran Nitro Harley rider Ray Price kicked off his 65th Birthday Tour
in style at Rockingham by making it to the final round against Doug
Vancil.
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Just three months shy of his 65th birthday,
Nitro Harley rider went to the final at The Rock, but fell to
defending class champion Doug Vancil. (Ian Tocher photo)
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It didn't come easy, however, as Price blew an engine
on the Wednesday before the race during an exhibition pass for the local
Chamber of Commerce. Still, he called it a "blessing in disguise,"
since the damage was traced to an air leak he thought was already fixed.
With the help of Noel Smith from Reactor Power batteries Price put his
bike back together in time to post the second-quickest qualifying lap
during Saturday's qualifying at 6.455 secs and 2209.10 mph.
Price, who turns 65 on June 25, said the idea for the
birthday tour came late, but he was able to get commemorative stickers
printed just in time to hand out at the Rockingham event.
"I'm not ready to quit, so I don't want to do a farewell
tour," the Raleigh, NC-based Harley dealer said. "So I thought,
let's just make a big celebration of my 65th birthday, since that's
when a lot of people retire, but I still want to race."
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