Culture|Garage

Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Co.- Tinfoil-hat wearing panicmongers and their followers (this author included) cast a grim eye on the action on Sunday at Bandimere, as the NHRA tested it’s inagural 1,000-foot contest in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Although the four horsemen did not ride out of the clouds this past weekend, several winners emerged once all was said and done. Among them, Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher took top honors, winning with a very brief E.T. of 4.007, at 304.05 MPH. No surprise that cars are reaching their terminal speeds quicker on the shorter tracks- but I digress. Schumacher took out Antron Brown in the final round- truly a surprise driver this season, Brown promises to make future races exciting in Top Fuel. Tim Wilkerson scraped together another victory, taking his privateer car to the winner’s circle despite lighting the tires in the final round against Jack Beckman. Wilkerson took the win with a 4.39 to a 4.66 ET, and praised the NHRA post-race for their decision to shorten the track (Wally in hand, of course), “I don’t know what everybody thinks about the 1,000-foot deal, but it worked out pretty good from where I’m sitting. There was good, tight racing all weekend, and I want to applaud NHRA for that,” said Wilkerson. Greg Anderson declared victory in Pro Stock, a field which runs a full thirteen-twenty in competition. Facing off against wily veteran Warren Johnson in the final round, Anderson committed a full effort towards treeing the old warhorse, and did so, running a 7.02 ET- the same as Johnson’s- but a higher trap speed, 196.39 MPH and the holeshot cemented the win. Matt Smith, in the often overlooked but no less exciting Pro Stock Bike, made his mark by defeating Steve Johnson in the final, with a 7.326 ET to Johnson’s 7.340.

Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Il- Crack open another Busch- the seventh, to be exact- as Kyle Busch popped the M&M’s car into the lead for yet another victory in the Sprint Cup series. Busch, who is quickly gaining a reputation as the guy to beat in both the Sprint and Nationwide series, took the lead late in the race, edging past fellow cup favorite, Jimmie Johnson. Kevin Harvick brought up the #3 spot in his Chevrolet, while Busch’s Toyota headed for the stripe. Post-race, Busch managed to stick his car into the loamy earth in front of the grandstands, putting on a clinic of what NOT to do on racing slicks. In a more interesting aside, J.J. Yeley’s team attempted to pull a fast one by throwing bottles of Gatorade, or rather, lead, into the car prior to the race to make weight, and then removing them afterwords. Yeley was penalized by having to start the race two laps down, and then serve a stop-and-go penalty after his first lap. I guess moonshinin’ heritage doesn’t mean much to NASCAR officials, who meted out the punishment.

via: NHRA, NASCAR, pbase.com, thatsracin.com

ShareThis