NHRA: Amato makes strong comeback, ready for Western swing run
26 July 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
KENT, Wash. - Joe Amato called it the comeback of his career. Just a little more than a week after undergoing corrective laser surgery for his right eye, the crafty veteran Top Fuel driver proved he could still get the job done in the NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.
Amato drove his Dynomax dragster to a string of consistent 4.80-second runs at Denver's Bandimere Speedway to defeat Gary Clapshaw, Bob Vandergriff, red-hot Cory McClenathan and defending series champion Tony Schumacher to record his first victory of the season, and 51st of his career. More importantly, his victory served notice to fellow competitors in the 6,000-horsepower category that Amato is still a force to be reckoned with. "It was one of my biggest wins ever," said Amato, who will lead Top Fuel competitors into action at the 13th annual Prolong Super Lubricants Northwest Nationals presented by NAPA Auto Parts, July 28-30, at Seattle International Raceway. The $1.6 million race is the 14th of 23 events in the $45 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.
"Three weeks ago I was sitting in a doctor's office after laser eye surgery and he was telling me that I might never race again," Amato explained. "Then to come back and win the next race, that's unbelievable. Someday I'll write my memoirs and that will be a special chapter in the book."
Amato encountered a rare problem that can occur when a driver experiences high negative g-forces over an extended period of time following many runs down the quarter-mile at 320-mph speeds.
"It's something that can happen when we pull the chutes," Amato said. "Or if there's a lot of tire shake. Over the years those two things took a toll on my eyes. I'm glad to get the surgery completed and move on."
The victory puts Amato, 56, into position to win the mythical Western Swing, something only he and Cory McClenathan have accomplished in past seasons. Amato turned the hat-trick in 1991, the season he won his fourth Winston championship. McClenathan took the trio of races in 1997.
Regardless, Amato is ready to win more races and improve upon his fourth place position in the Winston point standings. He currently trails leader Gary Scelzi by 223.
"We just want to be steady and get down the track, that's our mission for the rest of the season," Amato said. "We want to make a move in the Winston points chase."
MCCLENATHAN BACK ON TRACK: The last year has been a devilish reminder of just how quick drivers can go from being heavy title favorites to middle-of-the-pack contenders.
MBNA dragster driver Cory McClenathan knows that story all too well. For four seasons in the '90s, McClenathan chased championship dreams into NHRA's season-ending event in Pomona, Calif. In each failed attempt to win a championship, it was a tough lesson learned.
Not nearly as tough, however, as the lesson learned during the last year. McClenathan, from Anaheim, Calif., finished a disappointing ninth in the Top Fuel order in '99. He currently sits sixth overall in the 2000 standings.
"You can go from champ to chump in a weekend," McClenathan said. "The one thing about drag racing is that you don't see a lot of drivers or crew chiefs with big egos because it's an up-and-down situation. This season has been a learning experience, that's for sure."
The driver of former NFL coach Joe Gibbs' dragster claimed an emotional victory - albeit not a Winston points victory - at the Winston Showdown during the first weekend in July. The $200,000 all-star event win was key for turning the momentum of the MBNA dragster team, headed by crew chief Wes Cerny.
While his championship fortunes look bleak for this season, McClenathan isn't giving up. He has a strong record at tracks like Seattle, Sonoma, Calif., Brainerd, Minn. and Indianapolis. If nothing else, he'd like to have a strong finish to get ready for the championship hunt in 2001.
"I'd say we're pretty much out of the championship running," he said. "But if we can get the car running good, I can make it pretty miserable for a lot of guys out there. That's kind of what I intend to do. Anything can happen.
If we get on a roll and the car runs consistently and the driver does his job, we can keep it going. We're going to be trying our hearts out. It's just that sitting back in sixth place and looking at how far everybody is ahead of us, it's going to be tough. But we'll do the best we can and won't give up."
TOLIVER HOLDING HIS OWN: Jerry Toliver continues to prove his critics wrong and give John Force the race of a lifetime.
With half of the NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series events completed, Toliver has a firm grip on the Funny Car points lead. While his 73 point margin over nine-time champion John Force doesn't seem like a lot to the average observer, it's everything to Toliver, a former drag boat racer.
With his flashy WWF Racing attitude, Toliver has said all along that he wants to make sure Force's dominance in the category doesn't extend to two decades. With three victories in six final round appearances, Toliver continues to prove that he has what it takes to get the job done.
"We missed a golden opportunity in Denver," said Toliver, who was eliminated in the second round after Force suffered a rare first round loss. "We had a great chance to pad our points lead by even more. The positive side is that we were able to stretch our lead a little more and that means something. The race for the Winston championship is going to be tougher than ever from here on out. In the blink of an eye your entire year could get turned around."
Text provided by Anthony Vestal
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