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| Two wheelers made an appearance too.
Chip Ellis took owner Steve Rice's turbo Kawasaki Funny Bike down
the strip. |
BENCH-WARMING WARMING THE WINTER?
As most know, there are a few Top Fuel standouts who for the moment
will not be with us come NHRA Winternationals time. Certainly at the
top of the list are Cory McClenathan, possibly the hottest driver at
the end of 2000, and Bob Vandergriff Jr. They haven't quit racing, but
they are still in negotiations with sponsors. Another big name is going
to join them on the bench for the early part of the season. Don Lampus,
the 1999 IHRA Top Fuel world champ, has for the moment parked his ride
according to sources at Tucson. In addition, a few western racers may
be limiting themselves just to the left coast because of sponsor procurement
difficulties.
TESTERS PLAY IN FRONT OF FULL HOUSE
From this writer's perch, one of the best bargains in all of drag racing
are the pre-Winternationals tests at both Firebird International Raceway
and a week later Southwestern Int'l Raceway. Why? Because you get the
entire Winston nitro top 10 relaxed and running at their leisure in
what are usually decent conditions. Pro Stocks and Bikes? No, usually
they save their best efforts for Houston Int'l Raceway's annual Super
Bowl match-race in late January, one of the best of environments for
this touchy breed of vehicle. According to witnesses at Tucson, there
were a lot of fans that felt the tests beat the hell out of the weekend's
big TV sports presentation, the Waihele Country Club-hosted Sony Open
PGA golf tournament too. The bleachers (admittedly not all that many)
were just about filled, but then again, Brad Faxon vs. John Force, Ernie
Els vs. Gary Scelzi. It is to laugh.
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