|
Same for Pro Stock's Kurt Johnson and his new
ACDelco Cavalier, 28th among 31 entries Thursday.
"Although we would have preferred to run this
race on schedule, the postponement could be
a blessing in disguise for us," he said. "We
were facing the prospect of having to race on
a cold, green track with this new car for which
we have limited tuning data, so we welcome the
chance to have an extra week to work with it."
Reigning Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon said,
"The rainout doesn't bother me. If you're going
to get upset about the weather, you're going
to be upset a lot. You just wait and race. I
didn't have any plans for next weekend, and
now I do. On Monday, I'm going to decal the
special-edition Miller Lite dragster that we'll
run at Phoenix that ties in the 'Great Moments
In Miller Racing' theme. I'll see some friends,
have dinner with my mom, go up and see my dad,
and then race on Friday."
Six-time Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson,
Kurt's father, agreed: "There's nothing anyone
can do about the weather, so there is no reason
to get upset. Our top priority, as always, is
to put on a good show for the fans, which we
certainly couldn't do under these conditions.
Our focus has shifted to making the most of
the next few days. We'd certainly like to go
somewhere and test, and the weather continues
to be the determining factor. Although this
storm is headed to Phoenix and Las Vegas, we
should be able to get at least one day in somewhere.
Rest assured, the GM Performance Parts team
will spend the time productively."
Kalitta test car
Schumacher shrugged off his early "guy to beat"
label after registering an elapsed time of 4.514
seconds at 326.32 miles an hour. He named Scott
and Doug Kalitta, Brandon Bernstein, Darrell
Russell, Larry Dixon and Clay Millican as some
of the top competition in his class. And, noting
the eye-popping E.T.s and speeds the dragsters
recorded week after week toward the end of last
season, he made a couple of bold predictions:
"Given another year and no real rule changes,
I still think you're going to see 335 [mph].
A few cars may hit a 4.30[-second pass]. That's
like warp speed. It's one of those great years
when you wake up in the morning and you can't
wait to race."
Anderson loves the excitement of Pro Stock's
keen competition and said he felt lucky to be
No. 1 qualifier after the first session (a spot
he earned 14 times last year as he was just
one of two to make all 23 races). "A lot of
heavy hitters didn't give their best," he said.
"I didn't make a real clean run. I'm a happy
man right now."
Prudhomme, Compton
unvail Monte Carlo |
His 6.743-second pass and 205.19 mph, slightly
off the track marks he set last November, led
the field in which the No. 1 and No. 16 qualifiers
are separated by just one-tenth of a second
But Anderson said he wasn't happy about attempts
to slow down the Pro Stock cars. "The safety
part's great, and I'm not ever going to argue
against safety," he said, "but I would like
to see these cars go faster. He said the newly
mandated bead-lock wheel and tire combination
causes "an identity crisis" in the class.
An identity crisis . . . maybe the NHRA schedule-makers
know how he feels.
|
