|
Gary Scelzi was just starting to become more
comfortable in the Funny Car class. Now the
three-time Top Fuel champion has to deal with
Goodyear's latest tire. He and the Don Schumacher
Racing team stayed Monday at Gainesville to
test. After Tony Bartone eliminated him in the
first round, he called the run "very confusing
and very discouraging," because his Hemi-powered
Oakley Dodge behaved as though it had hit some
oil, even though it didn't. His crew had paid
close attention to the track and, Scelzi said,
"We thought that we had all our bases covered."
He added, "The good news is it's early in the
year. We've got a whole new curve ball thrown
at us now with these new Goodyear tires. We've
just been thrown into the fire with these Goodyear
tires. We're not sure what they want or what
they like, but they seem to be more sensitive
than the tires that we're running."
- - -
Canadian Al Billes, driving a supercharged
526-cubic-inch Hemi '53 Corvette, won the season
opener of the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod
Challenge, an NHRA exhibition class. It was
his first in the series. Billes ran quicker
each round as he knocked off three of Pro Mod's
heavyweights: Von Smith in the opening round,
Mike Ashley in the semifinals and Ed Hoover
in the final round.
"Today was our day," Billes said. "We went
from struggling three days ago. We were testing
in Bradenton (Fla.) with this car and couldn't
even get it off the starting line down the racetrack.
To go from not being able to make a full run,
to going consistently quicker each round on
race day, to winning Gainesville. It means the
world right now."
The next Pro Mod appearance will be April 15-18
at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Baytown,
Texas, near Houston.
- - -
International photojournalist Andy Willsheer
was injured Saturday by a weight that flew from
Ashley Force's Jerry Darien-owned A/Fuel Dragster
and struck him. Willsheer underwent surgery
at nearby Shands Hospital in Gainesville and
was scheduled to be released midweek. Darien,
Ashley Force and a John Force Racing contingent
joined a group of photographers in visiting
Willsheer at the hospital following final eliminations.
- - -
ADVERTISEMENT
 |
Brandon Bernstein, defending Top Fuel event
champion, was beating himself up for registering
the first red light of his career in the opening
round against Scott Weis.
"I got in my mind I was a little bit rushed
in the staging process," he said. "I went in
really quick to light the top light (on the
Christmas tree) and I bumped the car in way
too deep on the second light. I rushed myself
getting into the lights. I saw yellow when I
left the starting line, but I was in too deep
and it caught red when we hit the accelerator.
I ran that run all the way through because I
didnıt realize I had triggered the red light
and it was a great run (at 4.614 seconds and
317.12 miles an hour).
"I know Iıll beat myself up over this," Bernstein
said. "I take the burden for the team because
it was my mistake. Itıs a learning experience.
Itıs even more disappointing because we were
confident we had a race car that could compete
with all those guys. As a driver, you just have
to put the mistake away and go on to the next
race."
|
