Reporter's Notes from Chicago
By Susan Wade
5/25/04
SCELZI'S KEEPING COUNT
Maybe nobody else would admit to it, but Funny Car driver Gary Scelzi said he's counting points.
"As tight as Funny Car is right now in points," he said before the Route 66 Raceway action began, "one hiccup and you can go from fourth to eighth or ninth. And vice versa. We've made a little bit of a climb in the ladder after Atlanta (from eighth to fifth). We're only 11
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Despite raising his own national speed record to 330.55 mph at Joliet, Scelzi dropped two places in the standings. He's only nine points behind sixth-place Gary Densham and 127 off leader and teammate Whit Bazemore's pace.
"Yes, we are counting. Everybody says they're not counting. I'm telling you, we're looking at every aspect there is. That's why I'm talking about the 20 bonus points for the e.t. record. There's probably three or four teams that can set the e.t. record and I feel that we're one of them."
Bazemore left the Route 66 Nationals with the honor -- and the points to knock off six-race leader Del Worsham -- with his semifinal dash of 4.713 seconds at 333.25, the quickest and fastest in Funny Car history.
Scelzi said he was convinced that his Hemi-powered Oakley Dodge Stratus had more in it than 330.55. "There was more left. It could have run 333 tonight, no exaggeration, 332 or 333. Tomorrow, who knows what the conditions are going to be like," he said after his Friday night run that came after storms chased away most of the fans. "If it's cool then we can run faster than 330. It's possible."
He didn't get much of chance to find out. He said he didn't know right away why he struck the tires in his opening-round upset loss to Tony Bartone. "The motor rpm dropped off, and the fuel pressure dropped off drastically. When it did, it shook the tire. . . . I know it wasn't the clutch, so that's a plus. . . . We'll go to Topeka and we'll be quick and fast again."
Reflecting on his ultra-fast run Friday night, he credited co-crew chief Dan Olson, who tuned Tony Schumacher's dragster when he posted his first 330-mph run, and is co-crew chief on Scelzi's Dodge for his first 330- mph pass.
"Mike Neff and Dan Olson have worked really hard to make this car really consistent," Scelzi said. "We've changed our fuel system, we've changed our engine combination completely from what it was last year when we ran 329 mph - from bigger fuel pumps to different slide valves, to this hootenanny to that thingamajigger to a completely different clutch. We made major changes this year, and to run as well as we're running, I'm really amazed and I'm very happy."
TONY P AIMED AT WINNERS CIRCLE
ìWe feel like we let one slip away,î Tony Pedregon said of his semifinal mistake against Force. ìWeíve got one of the best performing cars out here. We just need to be able to put a string of runs together on race day. Weíre going to keep pressing."
He said the car's lurch toward the right against Force was a new sensation for him. ìWe made some adjustments to the wing, and we think it might have made the front end a little too light. It was on a 4.71 run. The car just wasnít responding to what I was doing."
He said he's still pleased with his car's performance. "This new Monte Carlo body is great and has brought us up to the same level with the other competitors. Sure we wouldíve liked to have held on to the ëfastest and quickestí title, but Iím just as happy that we were able to accomplish what we did this weekend. Iíve got a great team and with Dickie (Venables) and Kurt (Elliott) making the calls, it's just a matter of time before we can put a whole weekend together and get in the winners circle.î
WILD RIDES
Brandon Bernstein wasn't the only one who had a near-catastrophe on the track. No. 2 qualifier Scott Kalitta beat Brady Kalivoda in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations, but in the next round against Tony Schumacher, his Mac Tools/Jesse James Dragster almost flipped in a near blowover. Kalitta got off the throttle and managed to set the car back down. Despite losing to points leader Schumacher, he improved one place in the standings.
ALMOST 100 FOR KALITTA
Top Fuel winner Doug Kalitta qualified for his 99th consecutive race.
GRUBNIC MOVING UP IN POINTS
David Grubnic put the Kalitta Air Dragster at the head of the Top Fuel lineup for the fourth time this season with a 4.471-second pass at 331.77 mph. He was No. 1 also at Phoenix, Gainesville and Atlanta. He beat Mike Strasburg in the first round but lost on a holeshot to Scott Weis, an aspiring driver whom Grubnic's boss, Connie Kalitta, has been advising from time to time. Grubnic moved from fifth to fourth in the points.
SNAKE RACING STRUGGLES
The Don Prudhomme-owned Snake Racing camp struggled again at Chicago. Larry Dixon registered his quickest e.t. of the weekend (4.563 seconds at 325.85 mph) in the first round. However, because he qualified 13th, a position the two-time defending NHRA Top Fuel champion is not accustomed to accepting, he drew hard-to-beat Doug Kalitta for starters. Kalitta, the eventual winner, left him behind with a 4.487/331.28.
"Every week we work on our car and try to make it one of the top cars out here and we still obviously have some work to do,î Dixon said. ìThe two qualifying runs that got rained out
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Tommy Johnson Jr., in the blue Skoal-sponsored Chevy Monte Carlo, missed Funny Car's 4.909-second bump mark. He was 19th among 23 competitors.
And hard-luck Ron Capps looked like he was going to get at least his second Funny Car round-win of the season in the green Skoal Monte Carlo, and it would have been an upset at that, against Whit Bazemore. He led at half-track but lost traction and the match-up. The 14-time winner, who has triumphed just once since June 2002 (at Phoenix last year), said, "Itís tough to swallow. Weíre trying harder than any other crew out there and we donít have the results to show. Itís really frustrating."
ìThe car left great,î Capps said. ìI was really surprised that the car pulled
the tires lose. It was almost an eternity before Bazemore went around me. Itís
just a helpless feeling to be out there smoking the tires at 800 feet and not
see a guy like Bazemore next to you. Theyíre a top-notch crew. I thought maybe
he had problems, and as our luck would have it lately, he came around me at
the end.î 
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