Two-Timers Dominate at Bristol
Story and photos by: Drew Hierwarter
Schumacher used a hole shot .068 reaction time to Doug Kalitta’s .074 in the final round to get the win and regain the Top Fuel point lead from Antron Brown.
“It was just a great run,” Schumacher said of his final round victory, “I cannot stress enough how great it is to race him (Kalitta). We have so much history of battling amongst ourselves. He’s a true champion.”
Del Worsham took the first year Al-Anabi Racing Team to its second straight win in Funny Car by defeating Tony Pedregon, 4.075 to 4.152, turning in the low E.T. of the event in the process. On his way to the final, Worsham bested Jeff Arend, Cruz Pedregon, and Tim Wilkerson.
“Aaron Brooks and Alan Johnson, that was their win,” said Worsham of his crew chief and team owner. “In the semifinals [the engine] blew up on us, it kicked the rods out, and we kind of coasted across with a 4.12. But we went back and put a new engine in it, and when we came to the final Aaron and A.J. told me the run was going to be at least a 4.08. A 4.07 was pretty close.”
Over in Pro Stock, Mike Edwards turned in a dominating performance in his Young Life/Penhall Pontiac GXP. He qualified in the number one spot and then set low E.T. in every round of eliminations.
“I have a wonderful team”, Edwards said, “They work so hard. We have just tested and tested and tested, and it’s paying off for us. My guys just work endless hours. Boy it feels good to do this. I’ve always wanted to win this race. There is a lot of tradition around here with that big old circle track. You get chills just being around here, so this feels good.”
Edwards defeated David Beckley, Kurt Johnson, and Justin Line on his way to meeting Greg Anderson in the final round. To add to his dominating performance, he scored a perfect .000 reaction time against second round opponent, Johnson.
In spite of a dire forecast for the entire weekend, the weather held and unlike last year, rain was not a factor. On Saturday the track was hot and slick, but Sunday dawned cool and cloudy. The different conditions gave the fuel engine tuners some fits but they figured things out quickly and the cool conditions meant some big numbers. In the first round of Top Fuel Antron Brown came within a whisker of breaking the 320 mph barrier when he turned in an impressive 319.75, which remained as the top speed of the event.