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NHRA: Panella hopes to clinch second Winston Crown at Texas Motorplex

18 October 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

ENNIS, Texas - For Bob Panella, it's only a matter of time. For Pro Stock Truck championship challenger Randy Daniels, time is about to run out.

Panella can clinch his second straight NHRA Winston Pro Stock Truck championship at the 15th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec, Oct. 19-22 at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas.

Should Chevy S-10 driver Panella manage to finish the event at the drag racing world's only all-concrete quarter-mile with a 139 point lead, he will have successfully defended his Winston crown. He enters the event with a 230-point advantage over closest challenger Daniels.

With five victories in nine final round appearances and ownership of the NHRA national record for elapsed time (7.428 seconds), which he set recently at Memphis Motorsports Park, Panella has had a very dominant season in his Chevy S-10. Daniels, also a five-time winner, was really the only obstacle standing in the Stockton, Calif. driver's way. Three of Panella's runner-up finishes came courtesy of Daniels' equally powerful S-10.

"I don't want to think about counting championship points or money at this point," Panella said. "We just need to finish the deal. We've had a great year-an awesome year. If Randy wasn't there it would really show what kind of year we had."

JOHNSON PLANNING FOR 2001: Now that Jeg Coughlin has officially clinched the 2000 NHRA Winston Pro Stock crown, all teams can officially begin preparations for the upcoming season.

Unless the team is headed by Warren Johnson. The veteran driver says he has been in research and development mode for much of the year, and feels confident that he can regain his championship form in 2001. Johnson, who has won the O'Reilly Fall Nationals the last two seasons, claimed NHRA Winston Pro Stock championships in 1992, '93, '95, '98 and '99.

And if there's one track that Johnson prefers for his "testing," it's the smooth, all-concrete quarter-mile at the Texas Motorplex. He'll definitely have his GM Goodwrench Pontiac Firebird clicking on all cylinders as he tries to score his 81st career victory.

"We're gathering data for next year," said Johnson, 57, from Buford, Ga. "At the same time we're obviously trying to win races this year. We are using this season to garner as much knowledge as possible because everyone is going to have a steep learning curve when the next generation of Pro Stock cars arrives next year."

GEOFFRION QUICKEST IN HISTORY: One moment Scott Geoffrion is trying to figure out a way to qualify for the 16-car field in NHRA Pro Stock competition, and the next he's celebrating the quickest run in NHRA history, a national record setting 6.809-second blast in his Dodge Avenger.

Go figure. Geoffrion, who used his newfound horsepower to post a runner-up finish recently in Memphis, Tenn., is just happy to be competitive again after several years of working to rebuild a program that once dominated NHRA Pro Stock racing in the early to mid-'90s.

"The new Hemi is one incredible engine," said Geoffrion, who has nine career victories, his last win coming at Heartland Park Topeka in 1997. "I can't believe how far this program has come in such a short period of time. Man, we started with basically a clean sheet of paper at the beginning of the season. Now, we're breaking national records."

Text Provided By Anthony Vestal

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