IHRA at Rockingham Words by Ian Tocher Photos by Ian Tocher and Jeff Burk 4/29/04

ack-to-back wins were the order of the day Apr. 25, at the IHRA's 34th Annual U.S. Sports Scene.com Spring Nationals presented by Advance Auto Parts and Castrol at Rockingham Dragway. Three of the four pro classes featured repeat winners from the season-opening race at San Antonio, TX, with Clay Millican doubling up in Top Fuel, Mark Thomas turning the trick in Funny Car, and John Montecalvo going two for two in Pro Stock. Only Mike Janis broke the pattern with his win in Pro Mod, as San Antonio winner Glen Kerunsky fell to Janis in round two.

TOP FUEL

Millican reset both ends of the track records for e.t. and speed with a 4.550-second blast at 317.42 mph when he earned the number-one spot in the first round of qualifying. Nineteen cars showed up trying to make the eight-car nitro field, with John Sipple taking the bump spot after three rounds with a 4.895-secs pass.

In the final round, number-three qualifier Danny Dunn, who beat Rick Cooper and Bruce Litton to get there, performed his burnout with sparks trailing the back of his car and opted to just idle down the racetrack, handing Millican his second straight unopposed final round. (Litton crashed after winning in the semis in Texas.) Undaunted, Millican made a 4.636-second solo pass to finish out the day.

Chris Karamesines qualified fifth with a 4.773-secs pass. "The Greek" won his opening round against Tim Cullinan, but unfortunately, a reverser malfunction prevented him from answering the call for a semi-final match-up against Millican. (Tracy Waters Photo)

"I was actually really nervous going up to the final," Millican's crew chief Mike Kloeber admitted later. "Dunn has Mike McLaughlin over there tuning him now and I didn't know what to expect. Mike (McLaughlin) has been around a long time and knows how to work on these cars. We're used to racing Bruce (Litton) and his guys, and we know what to expect from them, how they're going to race us, so it was different to have another car in the final."

FUNNY CAR

Perhaps the biggest news in Funny Car eliminations was who wasn't there when the final call came to stage. Defending series champion Rob Atchison came out and qualified on top with a 5.809 on Friday, but then fell ill and didn't even make a lap on Saturday. In fact, he was so sick and dehydrated that the trackside medical staff hooked him up to an IV drip to help him regain strength. Feeling a little better on raceday, Atchison lined up against Chris Sipple in round one, but had to shut off early when his car went into severe tire shake.