Lightning-fast Route 66 next up for POWERade drivers
All four pro classes will try to tame the lightning-fast Route 66 Raceway outside of Chicago this weekend as the NHRA POWERade series ramps it up a notch, writes Bill Stephens.
Last weekend it was Topeka, Kan. This weekend it's Chicago. Then in two weeks, it's Englishtown, N.J., for the first of six national events in six weeks.
Following a languid May, the NHRA POWERade series now will be high-gearing it until the end of July, during which the punishing Denver-Seattle-Sonoma triple-header, better known as the Western Swing, will eat up a big chunk of this nonstop marathon.
This weekend, the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., will present all four professional classes in the year's ninth national event. Each race represents another of the 17 pegs that will lead to the 2007 Countdown to the Championship while also giving the Top Fuel Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle teams attending a crack at one of the quickest and fastest facilities on the schedule.
This week it will be all about speed, and in the weeks ahead, all about endurance.
Here's a preview:
Top Fuel
Brandon Bernstein's consistent and convincing win in Topeka last week makes him an ironclad front-runner for this year's championship. While many teams stumbled and stammered down a tricky Heartland Park quarter-mile, Bernstein's blue-chip-tuning team of Tim and Kim Richards pitched a perfect game, giving the Budweiser/Lucas Oil outfit the POWERade points lead.
Hot Rod Fuller is anything but out of the picture -- a scant 56 points back while last week's runner-up, J.R. Todd, is hovering only 90 points out. These are your three pacesetters at this juncture, keeping in mind that the big picture is dictated by the Countdown, which will reward the top eight drivers in the points after 17 races with a spot in the title tournament.
Will Tony Schumacher improve on his fourth-place position and begin winning races again? What better place than this venue, which he considers his home track? Will Doug Kalitta -- the 2006 winner -- shake off his agonizing slump and show signs of the driver who came within a hair of winning it all last year? Will Melanie Troxel rebound from a tough outing in Topeka after her impressive win one race earlier in Madison, Ill.?
The top eight is the where this year's title contenders need to be, but making it to the top of that heap would be all the more sweet.
Funny Car
The power brokers of the NHRA's Funny Car class won't recall last week's race in Topeka with much fondness. Points leader Ron Capps failed to qualify, as did No. 3 points holder Tony Pedregon. No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight missed at putting the squeeze on Capps for the points lead after a second-round explosion and wall-banger kept him from racing in the semifinals.
And perennial category alpha male John Force can't buy a break, as he lost in Topeka in the first round for the first time in his incomparable career. If past performance can be a factor, Force comes in as the defending event champion.
Route 66 Raceway should provide a grippy platform for the F/C tuners this weekend. Partly cloudy skies are forecast with temperatures in the 70s, meaning track temperatures should remain in the 90-100 range. Altogether manageable. If that becomes the case, Hight could put on a show with crew chief Jimmy Prock, a known assassin when conditions are favorable.
Mike Ashley's first career Funny Car victory last week only substantiates what has already been apparent: he has the skills to win. He now joins a formidable lineup of potential event winners and it wouldn't be a total shock to see him threaten again in Chicago.
Force will soon have to either get hot and make a run for the top eight, or accept his subordinate role on Team Castrol this year and place his title hopes in the hands of daughter Ashley or teammate Hight.
He is slowly depleting his supply of second chances.
Pro Stock
The $50,000 King Demon Crown for Pro Stock will be staged on Saturday as part of the Pro Stock qualifying procedure with three-time POWERade champion Greg Anderson coming in the top seed and surely brandishing the role of heavy favorite after picking up his fifth victory of the year last weekend in Topeka. Add to that his five No. 1 qualifying slots.
Anderson is as dominant as he's ever been. It has become a familiar mantra that only a flagrant mistake or mechanical malfunction could prevent him and his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO from their next victory. His most legitimate competition comes from the likes of Dave Connolly, Jeg Coughlin, Kurt Johnson (last year's event winner), and his own teammate Jason Line with the remainder of the Pro Stock class throwing everything they have at Team Summit in an effort to close the performance abyss that lies between them.
A very fast car, a veteran driver, a championship-caliber team, a big dose of momentum, and one of the raciest track surfaces on the tour on which to throw it down. Anderson will roll into Chicago with not a whole lot working against him.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
The bikes have been quiet since Madison, when Matt Smith outdueled Angelle Sampey in the final round to earn his first win of '07 after two runner-up finishes to Karen Stoffer in Gainesville, Fla., and Atlanta.
Smith leads the points, while Sampey, Stoffer and a fascinating mix of veterans and dark horses round out the elite eight. Chip Ellis, Craig Treble and Steve Johnson are there while Chris Rivas and Tom Bradford both hold spots among the Countdown-eligible.
Surprisingly, if the Countdown to Four was to begin today, three-time champion Andrew Hines and Antron Brown, one of PSM's most capable racers, would be out of the running. While there are still nine national events remaining for Hines and Brown to climb into contention -- and they each are only a handful of points out of that eighth spot -- the parity in the class clearly indicates that the battle to qualify for the Countdown this year could come down to the slimmest of margins.
You can expect some big-time shuffling in the bike standings when this weekend is over.
Bill Stephens covers NHRA for ESPN.com
