NHRA Newsmakers: Jan. 31, 2006
NHRA Newsmakers Your inside glimpse at the world's fastest motorsport NEWS NUGGETS * SCHUMACHER AND ANDERSON FINALISTS FOR PEE DRIVER OF THE YEAR: Tony Schumacher and Greg Anderson have been named finalists for the pee Channel Driver of the Year award. The two NHRA POWERade Series drivers are among six finalists for the prestigious award, won by Anderson last season. Pro Stock phenom Anderson, who claimed eight victories in 11 final rounds and set national performance records in '05 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO, became only the second drag racer to win the award (also John Force, 1996) in its 38-year history. Others on the 2006 ballot include Tony Stewart (NASCAR); Dan Wheldon (IRL); Sebastian Bourdais (Champ Car); and Steve Kinser (World of Outlaws). "I hope either Greg or I can keep this award in the NHRA family," said Schumacher, who won nine times and set many records in '05 en route to his third Top Fuel world championship title. "I'm honored to once again be included in such an elite mix of drivers. I wouldn't be in this position if it was not for my U.S. Army team. I wish there was a Team of the Year award. They would win it, hands down." The Speed Driver of the Year award will be determined by an independent vote of an 18-member panel of blue ribbon auto racing journalists and broadcasters, as well as one vote based on a cumulative tally by fans voting on www.speedtv.com <http://www.speedtv.com/> . The winner will be announced exclusively on Speed Channel, Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. (ET). * FULL THROTTLE PROMOTION SAYS PITTSBURGH OVER SEATTLE IN BIG GAME: Thanks to reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi, the team from Pittsburgh may well have gained the first psychological advantage against Seattle for this weekend's upcoming Big Game in Detroit. In a special best-of-three match race fueled by Full Throttle Energy Drink, the sport's top two Funny Car drivers - Scelzi and 2005 POWERade Series championship runner-up Ron Capps - squared off Jan. 23 at The Strip At Las Vegas Motor Speedway following the track's Nitro Blast-off event and took the debate about the Big Game's outcome to the quarter-mile. The Dodge Stratus machines of the Don Schumacher Racing teammates were wrapped in vinyl paint schemes for each of the teams, with Scelzi in Pittsburgh gold and Capps in Seattle blue. Capps drew first blood with a solid 4.80 pass in the left lane after Scelzi's car smoked the tires. The two switched lanes, and Scelzi responded with a solid 4.76 to 4.81 victory. Prior to the match, the two had decided that low e.t. of the first two rounds would earn lane choice for the tie-breaker, which went to Scelzi. Capps again was able to negotiate the less favorable right lane and posted a consistent 4.80 time, but Scelzi, showcasing his championship form, rode crew chief Mike Neff's tune-up to a stunning 4.71 victory. "The hype surrounding the game is always incredible and I know Ron and I were stoked about being a part of it," Scelzi said. "It's awesome to put drag racing right in front of a national and worldwide audience like this. It can only help us." * CHAIR POSITION NAMED IN HONOR OF COUGHLIN SR.: The board of directors at Ohio State University's Medical Center, as well as The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, has established the "Jeg Coughlin Chair in Childhood Cancer Developmental Therapeutics" after receiving a gift in perpetuity from the Jeg's Foundation. The fund will provide a chair position to be filled by a nationally eminent scholar whose research has been applied to new medical therapies and treatments for childhood cancer. The chairholder will distribute annual progress reports that will highlight new developments in research and patient care. This will help continue the strong relationship between physicians and researchers at The James Cancer Hospital and Children's Hospital. "This is a very exciting announcement and one that we as a family and a company are extremely proud of," Coughlin said. Coughlin received a framed research lab coat with an official letter from the board of directors acknowledging the gift from The Jeg's Foundation. The entire Coughlin family is pleased and honored to support these world-class institutions that have saved the lives of so many people over the years. * FINAL WEEKEND OF PRE-SEASON TESTING: Only one weekend of pre-season testing remains for NHRA POWERade Series teams who are preparing for the 46th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Feb. 9-12. The following testing opportunities are available prior to the NHRA POWERade Series season-opener: * Last Chance Test Session, The Strip at LVMS, Feb. 3-5 * Inaugural Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown, The Strip at LVMS, Feb. 4 * 14th annual Pro Stock SuperBowl, Houston Raceway Park, Feb. 4 * GOLD MEDAL WINNING OLYMPIC CYCLIST GOES DRAG RACING: Marty Nothstein, one of the best bicycle racers in the world, has partnered with veteran drag racer Bucky Austin to compete in the Top Alcohol Funny Car category in 2006 in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Nothstein, 33, who is close friends with POWERade Series Funny Car driver Whit Bazemore, earned his NHRA TAFC license while attending Frank Hawley's NHRA Drag Racing School last year. The team will be sponsored by AutoTrader.com and Dent Wizard and they are planning to make their debut at the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals. Team owner Austin, who will serve as crew chief, is a 15-time national event winner. In cycling, Nothstein won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics and a silver medal in 1996. He is a three-time cycling world champion, four time gold winner in the Pan American Games, 35-time U.S. Nationals champion and a former Olympic and world record holder. INSIDE THE NUMBERS * CARQUEST WINTERNATIONALS TOP WINNERS: In NHRA professional racing, four legends of the sport are the biggest winners in their respective categories at the traditional season-opener. The driver with the most Winternationals victories is Pro Stock's Bob Glidden, who won the race seven times. Glidden, who earned 85 career victories, won at Pomona a record 12 times including five wins at the NHRA Finals. In Top Fuel, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits powered his dragster to five victories at the Winternationals. John Force has won at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona 11 times, but he shares most Winternationals victories in Funny Car with Don "The Snake" Pruhomme. They each have won the race four times. Prudhomme won it four times in a row from 1975-'78. HE SAID, SHE SAID * I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW, THE FOG IS GONE: Defending CARQUEST Winternationals Funny Car winner Tommy Johnson Jr., pilot of the Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo, is one of the only nitro category drivers to wear prescription glasses during competition. Thanks to an innovative new product, he won't have any fog inside his helmet as he tries to defend his victory at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Feb. 9-12. "Some drivers maybe worry about their shield fogging up, well I'm worried about the shield and the glasses," Johnson said. "I was able to work with Impact Racing and they built a different air system in my helmet. It actually blows air on my glasses and the shield to keep them from fogging up. For me, I have to have them. I've had glasses since I was about six years old, so I feel naked without them." WHO'S HOT! * FORCE LOOKS STRONG IN PRE-SEASON TESTING: Just how bad does 13-time NHRA POWERade Series world champion John Force want to reclaim his position at the top of the Funny Car category? Pretty bad, if his performance numbers in pre-season testing mean anything. Force, who finished third in the NHRA POWERade Funny Car standings behind champion Gary Scelzi and second-place Ron Capps in '05, has driven his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to a string of 4.6-second runs at Las Vegas (4.673, 4.692 and 4.698) and followed that effort by leading his category with the quickest time during testing at Phoenix a week later (4.678). "Running a couple of 4.60s doesn't mean we're going to win the championship back," Force said. "Scelzi didn't get into the '60s, but he came pretty close. The Dodges still are right there, right where we expected them to be. Tommy Johnson Jr. ran 4.75, so it's going to be another fight." DRIVERS TELL ALL * KALITTA TAKES WILD RIDE IN NEW FLOPPER: Two-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Scott Kalitta, who is returning to Funny Car competition in 2006, took a wild ride in his Kalitta Air Chevy Monte Carlo during pre-season testing at Phoenix. Kalitta was not injured in the incident and plans to resume testing this weekend in Las Vegas. "The throttle was stuck wide-open by a piece of the burst panel and I couldn't steer it," Kalitta told NHRA.com reporter Rob Geiger. "There wasn't much I could do. I went straight across and hit the wall pretty hard. The computer said I was going more than 300 mph when I hit the first time. Then it hit again and finally it blew up and I was able to start slowing down. I ended up out there with the snakes in the desert but I was fine. I'm just pissed that we did this. The body is junk and they're going to fix that chassis. I'll be back next week in Vegas and we're going to get this thing figured out. I do need to thank all the Funny Car guys. It looked like a gang of mini Hell's Angels coming down the track after I wrecked. Everyone that saw it happen jumped on their little scooters and were coming down to see if I was alright. I guess it's a good thing I've got a hard head."