THEY SAID IT

Quotes and photos from Reading

Compiled by Ian Tocher
Photos by Todd Dziadosz

he rain-delayed 19th annual Lucas Oil Nationals were held Oct. 3-5 at Maple Grove Raceway, near Reading, PA. The race was originally scheduled for September 12-14, but was postponed when rain interrupted with only one qualifying session completed. When the action resumed, so did the rain, allowing NHRA's pro teams just one additional shot at qualifying before enjoying a finally dry raceday. When it was all over, this is what the racers had to say.

TOP FUEL

"Come rain, sleet, or snow, let's get this race finished." -- Clay Millican before qualifying began

"It's always a privilege to race with the best." -- Josh Starcher before attempting -- but failing -- to qualify for the 16-car field

"If we can get our top-end numbers on par with the other teams, we'll be a threat come eliminations." -- Paul Romine before qualifying sixth at 4.564 seconds and 310.13 mph; running a career-best 4.524 at 313.66 in beating David Baca in round one; winning a pedaling contest against Larry Dixon in round two; then falling to Jim Head in the semis

"For me this race has been a nightmare." -- Baca after his early exit from eliminations

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"We obviously would have liked to have had a better showing." -- Kenny Bernstein after qualifying second, but losing in a pedal-fest with Scott Weis in the first round

"Apparently, neither one of us had things just right, but we gave the fans an exciting time and a lot of tire smoke." -- Cory McClenathan after coming up short in his own first-round pedaling duel against Clay Millican

"We went into the event knowing what we could and couldn't do. We learned a few things that will help us along the way." -- Bruce Litton after falling to Scott Kalitta in round one

"Our car will run good; it just doesn't show on the scoreboard. We are all judged out here by what's on the scoreboard." -- Doug Herbert before qualifying ninth with a 4.59, then going out in the second round against eventual race winner Tony Schumacher

"It was a full weekend of racing, that's for sure. Not only did we run back-to-back 4.4-second passes and win the race, but I put her in the kitty litter twice." -- Tony Schumacher referring to a partial wing failure in round two and a chute failure in the final that both times sent him off the end of the track. He also officially reset the national E.T. record to 4.441 seconds on his way to beating Jim Head in the final (lead photo)