NHRA: Pennzoil Pros Anxious for Record Runs

30 March 1999

HOUSTON - One sure-fire way of impressing your sponsors when you race cars for a living is to get yourself noticed. The easiest way to do that on the National Hot Rod Association's 23-event circuit is to do something that has never been done before. That's the strategy Team Pennzoil plans to employ April 8-11 at the 12th Annual O'Reilly Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.

For the third race in a row, Texas' No. 1 Top Fuel driver Eddie Hill has his sights firmly set on becoming the sport's Four-Four Father. Meanwhile, Hill's Pro Stock teammate Mike Thomas hopes to duplicate a previous Houston run that could make him the all-time best in his class. Another Texan, Pro Stocker Bruce Allen debuts a new ride he hopes to drive into Victory Lane and sportsmen drivers Mike Ferderer and Bill Kent appear to be primed for more wins.

Here's an in-depth look at each Pennzoil driver's gameplan for Houston.

Eddie Hill, the driver of the Pennzoil Top Fuel Dragster, knows how to set big-time records in Houston and plans on adding another huge one to his resume at this race. Hill shocked the drag racing world in 1988 when he blasted down HRP's quarter-mile strip in just 4.936 seconds to win the event's final round. The mark was a full six-hundredths of a second quicker than anyone had ever seen before. This time around, Hill again plans to go where no man has gone before by running the sport's first 4.4-second lap.

"It sure looks possible if we can get everything to go right for one full run," said Hill, who was born in nearby Longview, Texas. "What's extremely interesting to me is that in 1988, we were all battling to become the first driver in the fours (four-second range.) At that time, Darrell Gwynn was the odds on favorite to do it first. But I managed to slip one in before he did and a was immediately dubbed the 'Four Father.'

"Now, here we are 11 years later and the man that looks as though he'll be first in the 4.4-second range is Mike Dunn, who of course drives for Darrell Gwynn. Boy, I'd dearly love to squeak another one in there ahead of Darrell. Then I guess I'd be the Four-Four Father.

"Houston sure is the track to break records. If the weather's right I'll guess that someone will definitely hit that magical number. I sure hope it's our team that does it first."

Mike Thomas, the driver of the Pennzoil Pro Stock Pontiac Firebird, has been eyeing a return to Texas since he ran the best unofficial time ever recorded - 6.845 seconds at 200.17 mph - during January's Pro Stock Superbowl Challenge at HRP. (The mark didn't reach the pages of the NHRA record book because it didn't take place during a national event.)

Since that euphoric day, Thomas, who finished as runner-up to Warren Johnson at last year's O'Reilly Nationals, has been besieged by mechanical problems and has logged just one elimination round appearance in three events. It's a trend he must reverse immediately.

"I can think of three important reasons why I need to win this race," Thomas said. "Pennzoil's headquarters are in Houston. We need a big jump up in the points. And I really want to finally show everyone what these Finish Line engines are capable of doing. If we can duplicate the run we had in January, it would be a fantastic lift for our team. I think we can do it.

"After not qualifying in Gainesville (Florida) we decided to stay a few extra days to figure out what went wrong. It turned out to be the rear end and when we replaced it we immediately improved (our quarter-mile elapsed times) by a tenth of a second. In a class where the No. 1 guy is usually only a few thousandths of a second ahead of the No. 16 guy, that's a lot of ground to make up. We will test some more before Houston and we should be ready to go."

Bruce Allen, the driver of The Outlaw Pro Stock Pontiac Firebird, is a two-time runner-up of this race (1997 and '90) and arrives for this year's event with a brand new car. The Arlington, Texas resident has spent the last several days fine-tuning his 1999 Don Ness-built Pontiac Firebird at the Texas Motorplex and is finally ready to race the car against real competition.

"This car is a real nice piece of machinery," Allen said. "But right now it's like anything else that's new - it shows a lot of potential but it might just be just a pile of tubing and sheet metal. It will be nice to match it up against everyone else to really see how close we are to the best cars in the field. I'm anxious to get down there and race.

"Houston is one of the best places to truly measure a car. The track is so smooth and consistent and it very rarely changes over the course of a race weekend. That means that we can work on adjusting the car and not worry about what needs to be done to stay with the track. That should prove to be a big advantage for us as we dial-in this new car."

Bill Kent, the driver of the Pennzoil Competition Eliminator Dragster, reached the final round of the Division IV race held at Houston Raceway Park in early March before settling for second place. That impressive finish has the Midland, Texas native anxious to return to the site of his best race of the young season.

Mike Ferderer, the driver of both the Pennzoil Super Gas Pontiac and the Gumout Super Comp Dragster, has started 1999 with an incredible mark of three wins in fives events. Ferderer captured the Super Comp crown of February's CSK Nationals in Phoenix as well as two preseason events he entered in late January.

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