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VANCIL CLINCHES TITLE; WINS RACE
After a couple of years of coming close, Albuquerque, NM's Doug
Vancil finally broke through with his first IHRA Top Fuel Harley championship
just by qualifying at Shreveport. To back it up properly, Vancil took
out last year's champion in round one, Tony Mattioli in round two, and
finally, Shootout winner Johnny Mancuso.
The final round was an anticlimactic affair, however, as both bikes
had problems off the launch.
"Johnny (Mancuso) had a .449 light and I had a .450, but I had a better
60-foot time. It looks like he fell off right away, then I went a little
further and spit the chain and it turned into a coasting race. I looked
back to see where he was and all I saw was my chain sliding down the
track behind me," Vancil explained. "I owed him one because at the first
race this year we were both in the final and we both broke there, too,
but that time he won the coasting race. It probably was the slowest
[final round] I've won."
QUICK PASSES
* For the second straight year, the final race of the IHRA national
event season went without television coverage due to a rain delay that
TNN (Top Fuel, T/F Harley, and Pro Mod) and Speedvision (Funny Car and
Pro Stock) apparently couldn't accommodate.
* 2001 Top Fuel Champion Clay Millican debuted a new Brad Hadman-built
chassis at the IHRA World Finals, meeting with mixed results. While
the car was posting stellar 60-foot and half-track times, it was having
a little trouble sticking all the way down the track. Regardless, Millican
called his new ride "phenomenal" and said it fits him "better than any
other car I've ever driven." Leaving Shreveport, Millican and his team
were hightailing it to Las Vegas, where they planned to do battle with
the NHRA's best the next weekend.
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