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THEY SAID IT

NHRA quotes from Las Vegas

Compiled by Ian Tocher
4/8/04

The fifth annual SummitRacing.com Nationals were staged Apr. 2-4, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Here, in their own words taken from NHRA and team press releases, are the thoughts of drivers and crew chiefs about the event.

TOP FUEL

"It really puts the crew chiefs and teams with their backs against the wall when you only have two qualifying sessions. So, we were fortunate that we got a good run in on the first hit." -- Larry Dixon on the rain- shortened qualifying sessions and after qualifying sixth

"It's been frustrating doing poorly the first few races this year. We needed this. It's good for team morale." -- Scott Kalitta on earning his first top qualifier honor in more than four years with a 4.472-second pass at 333.74 mph

"That's not where you want to be. You're always the first pair out in the eight-nine match up (at 11 a.m. PDT) and that's sort of uncomfortable." -- Tony Schumacher on qualifying ninth, which put him in the bottom half of the field for the first time since last August in Sonoma, CA

"We aren't changing our setup at all, partially because we can't afford to and partially because consistency should go-rounds this season." -- Howard Weis, crew chief for Scott Weis, on the new blowers, motor positions, clutch setups, and tires most of the big-dollar teams are experimenting with early this season

"In the past, it was all or nothing. We'd run a good number and then make changes for the next round and the car would react negatively, usually smoking the tires. Now we can make changes and the car reacts more positively. We are definitely headed in the right direction." -- Johnny West, crew chief for David Baca, after their first-round loss to Dixon

"It was a simple thing, but even simple things can mess one of these dragsters up." -- Todd West, crew chief for Cory MacClenathan, on the clutch problem that prevented them from lining up in round two against Doug Herbert

"All I can say is that I've been doing this for 14 years in Top Fuel and I just found another way to lose." -- Cory Mac on the frustration of finding mismatched parts at the last moment

"It was like the car just stopped. It just sat there and spun the tires and I saw Dixon recover and drive away. There was nothing I could do but watch." -- Brandon Bernstein on losing to Dixon in the semi-finals

"I think we learned a lot and we're ready to start making some noise." -- Herbert on his best showing of the year so far after a semi-final loss to Schumacher

"Anytime you get to the final round, you never want to come home in second place." -- Dixon on his runner-up finish to Schumacher

"I told Alan before the race I had never won here before and he delivered. Same thing in Gainesville and we won there, too. I better go remind him I haven't won in Houston or Bristol either." -- Schumacher on his crew chief Alan Johnson and the tracks where he has yet to score a Top Fuel title

FUNNY CAR

"Do I think we can win? Yes. Do I think we should be the favorite? No. How can Worsham not be the favorite. He's won two races in a row and is a whole race ahead in the points. Bottom line, who would bet on a drag race anyway?" -- John Force before the race, on learning he was the 3-1 betting favorite according to Las Vegas odds makers, while Del Worsham was second at 7-2

"We have nothing to lose and they have all of it to lose." -- Whit Bazemore after qualifying 10th and having to face points leader Del Worsham in the first round

"Being able to see like you can through the larger windshield makes it a pleasure to drive." -- Ron Capps on his new Monte Carlo-bodied ride

"At this track, if the conditions are like they were tonight, you better bring the big bat with you to the plate. We hit a double, but some other guys were going very deep." -- Phil Burkart Jr. on lining up ninth with a 4.914 pass after the first qualifying session

"It's hard to believe that 10 years ago I was shoveling out horse stalls in Oakdale." -- Eric Medlen on his good fortune to inherit Tony Pedregon's ride for Team Force

"Yeah, there is another race in two weeks, but it can't make up for this one. This is rough. It's not acceptable for us not to qualify." -- Tommy Johnson Jr. on missing the show in Vegas

"She was a real pooch. The blower went away and we lost e.t." -- Terry Haddock on his second qualifying attempt

"I'm getting real bored watching the races on Sunday." -- Jim Head on missing the cut at the season's first three races, and before qualifying 16th at Vegas

"Back when I ran my own car, I never even thought about a championship, but when you've got a car this good, it's hard not to dream." -- Gary Densham, the third leg of Force's driving triumvirate, on his chances to add a championship to his racing resume

"I don't know what our last minute adjustments were, but we went up there with low e.t. in mind. Dickie made the right decision and made a great call." -- Tony Pedregon on his crew chief Dickie Venables and the 4.747-second pass that earned them their first number-one qualifying position as a new team

"There's never an easy round for anyone anymore. I always say what makes this sport so intense and exciting are the match-ups because it could be first round or the final round and that other guy in the other lane is going to be tough." -- Cruz Pedregon before falling in the first round to Force

"When you give a driver like Medlen, even though he is a rookie, enough shots at you, you're going to get beat after a while." -- Jerry Toliver on his opening round loss to Medlen

"I left first, the car was quicker, it was going to win the race, no doubt about it. It just didn't happen." -- Gary Scelzi after mechanical gremlins cost him a second-round win over Burkart Jr.

"We should be producing a lot better results than we have. All of us know that we haven't run to our potential." -- Capps on his disappointing year to date, and after going up in smoke against Medlen in round two

"We made up some on Worsham, but we didn't get it done. We had a chance. The problem is that anybody out there can beat you." -- Force after losing in the semis to Burkart Jr.

"I was bummed a little, but it was a good showing." -- Medlen on his semi-final loss to Bazemore

"Once the disappointment of losing in the final wears off, I think we'll realize that, all in all, we had a good weekend and we made a lot of progress." -- Bazemore on lessons to be learned from his runner-up result against Burkart Jr.

"Any time you get to the final round in one of these races you have to feel good about it." -- Lee Beard, crew chief for Bazemore, on his level of satisfaction despite coming up short in Las Vegas

"It seems that I race better when I am coming from the bottom half of the field. I guess we just dig down a little deeper when we are the underdogs." -- Burkart Jr. on starting from the 12th-place spot on the ladder and going on to win the event

"I wasn't going to let off the throttle and let him come by me, but that's the kind of mindset you have when you're racing to win." -- Burkart Jr. again, on losing a couple of cylinders and spinning the tires down track in the final round against Bazemore

PRO STOCK

"That's the trouble when you only have two tries. It's frustrating ... just real frustrating." -- Jim Yates on missing the field after an exhaust valve broke during his final qualifying attempt

"We were actually surprised at how good the surface was today, because we had rain here a few years ago, and when we finally ran there was no race track to speak of. Obviously, it's been worked on since then." -- Warren Johnson after qualifying fourth for raceday

"It's not very comforting to be in that position because it's a one-shot deal and anything can happen." -- Greg Anderson after his first qualifying attempt was thrown out due to a timing error, leaving him only one chance to make the show since rain washed away Friday's two scheduled qualifying sessions. He qualified number one after setting both ends of the track record with a run of 6.812 seconds at 202.03 mph

"The ACDelco Chevrolet made a real nice run tonight, but it hit that bump down at the end of the track and the car just went crazy. It started spinning, shot to the wall and actually got pretty ugly there for a minute." -- Kurt Johnson on his second qualifying attempt

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"We're qualified seventh and the last time we won here we were qualified seventh. Maybe lightning will strike twice for us on Sunday." -- Mark Pawuk on his chances to win his primary sponsor's title event

"We left a lot on the table in both qualifying sessions." -- Jeg Coughlin Jr. after qualifying 11th

"We did not advance to the next round, but we solved some set up issues we were having. I think we learned something pretty big today and now we will just have to take what we learned and get it done at the next race in Houston." -- Coughlin Jr. on his second-round loss to K. Johnson

"The bottom line is that we need to find more power. In the final, we were right with him in the first 330 feet, but by the top end we were down a few hundredths and one mile per hour in top speed, which is all horsepower. That's all it is, so we'll just keep working at it until we find more." -- KJ on losing to Anderson in the final round

"This is just a great place for us to win here in front of my team owner. It's certainly great for job security." -- Anderson on winning in team owner Ken Black's hometown of Las Vegas

"I think what we're seeing now is that teams are taking chances against us. We've pushed some people outside their comfort zone and they're making mistakes." -- Anderson again, on his recent dominance of the Pro Stock class

"Tomorrow I'm going to lobby the NHRA to run about 10 more races here, that's the way I feel about this place." -- Anderson once more, on his success at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway