BACK TO THE PLEASURE DOME

Words and photos by Jeff Leonard.

When you get right down to it, drag racers do what they do because they love speed. You can talk Winston points, big dollar contracts, nitro groupies, or whatever you want. Bottom line -- speed is pleasure. And ever since the joint was built, Heartland Park Topeka has been the place to seek the pleasure.

Stamped as a speed pleasure dome first by the late Gary Ormsby, this year's event continued the Topeka tradition of stunning performances. Mike Dunn set the tone early, running a 4.49/331.53 on Friday night that held up for the Top Fuel pole. Doug Kalitta's 4.55/324.12 seemed weak by comparison, and led Gary Scelzi, Darrell Russell and Kenny Bernstein, all in the 5.50's at over 322 mph.

In Funny Car qualifying, John Force took early control on Friday night, blasting out a 5.80/316.00 lap for the number one spot. But the crowd awarded its biggest cheer for Tony Pedregon's 324 mph shot, the fastest lap to date for a Funny Car. These two's qualifying runs would serve as a harbinger of things to come.

TOP FUEL
Once eliminations began, it quickly became another King Kenny production. With runs of 4.61, 4.68, 4.68 and 4.62, he swept aside John Smith, Darrell Russell, Mike Dunn and final round foe Larry Dixon Jr. With the win over Dixon, Bernstein took over the Winston points lead. It's still early, but Bernstein is starting to look like the King Kenny of old. The pressure is now on the rest of the Top Fuel contenders to reassert themselves.

TOP FUEL SIDELIGHTS
Tony Schumacher hit a first round bump, losing to Bruce Litton when the Army car smoked the tires. Litton's 4.77 probably wouldn't have been enough on a "normal" day.

Mike Dunn's troubles started early, with a nerve-tweaking smoker win over Don Sosenka in round one. Dunn came very close to not getting it back together in time to win. He recovered to beat Litton in round two, but was dealt out by Bernstein in the semis. The Yankee car is always fast in qualifying, but remains inconsistent on race day.

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