3/31/08

Where shall I begin?

Robert’s DNQ?

Mike’s swing and a miss at his first career round win?

John’s second round loss to Del Worsham?

Ashley’s 4/100 of a second short hop from making history?

Robert and Jimmy were really befuddled. They had four shots at qualifying this weekend, unlike Phoenix and Gainesville where everyone only had two. Despite that, they missed the field and it cost them the points lead. Points leads don’t mean what they used to before the Countdown format was adopted but any racer will tell you that it’s a definite boost to team morale and self-confidence when you’re riding the top of the points standings.

I was sitting with Mike in the lounge of his transporter having our One-On-One session as part of my Media Workshop Saturday evening after qualifying when Jimmy came in and sat down.

“Not a good day”, I said to him.

“Sh____ happens in drag racing”, he replied with just the slightest hint of a grin on his face.
He and Mike then began talking about clutch setups and it became immediately apparent to me that this was a conversation I had no business taking part in. They talked about components and configurations that only an NHRA nitro crew chief would be able to comprehend and it was a graphic reminder that it takes a remarkable amount of skill, knowledge, and experience to be able to build and race one of those 8000-horsepower animals.

Mike lost to Tony Pedregon in the first round on a (Grrrr….) holeshot. I was at the top end watching on the ESPN flat screen monitor showing the video footage that would eventually be aired later in the day and it looked for an instant—at least to the naked eye, that Mike had won. But he was barely edged by Tony right at the finish line. That first one will come but nobody knows when.

In fact, speaking of that first one, Ashley advanced to her second career F/C final round and missed by less than half-a-second from becoming the first woman in history to win a national event in a fuel coupe. I looked at the qualifying times for both Ashley and Del Worsham after he beat her in the final round and it was amazing how close both drivers were all weekend in performance. Roughly 8/100 of a second separated Ashley and Del when you add up and compare all of their et’s in both qualifying and eliminations. And, losing to Del in the final was just a little added frustration after he had beaten John two rounds earlier.

So, that was the Houston experience. It was the first time the team has been there since 2006 since last year; John and the whole JFR crew missed the race because of Eric’s accident in Gainesville. In two weeks, we meet again in Las Vegas and look for much better results than the ones from Sunday.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll tune into ESPN2, Saturday mornings at 11:30 AM for the Russo and Steele Collector Car Auction series with Keith Martin and me trying to predict what some extremely desirable classic and muscle cars will sell for on the Russo and Steele auction block. We always invite the viewers to guess along with us and see how close they can come. I think you’ll enjoy the show. And I also invite you to keep an eye on ESPN.com for the many features and commentaries I provide on the NHRA page.

The next ITG will arrive here following Vegas so drive safely until then!