6/9/08

What bloody happened???

After John’s emotional win in Topeka last week, did we not expect more thrills and excitement in Joliet? You had to figure that he and the rest of the team would be dialed in and good to go at one of the quickest tracks we race on, but what a letdown we were in for.

Tim Wilkerson was totally revenge-minded in the first round since he was runner-up to John last week, but I don’t think too many people predicted John would fall to Tim in Joliet in the opener. Tim and John were within 3/1000 of each other in qualifying, John had lane choice to begin the day and you just couldn’t deny the feeling that another big day was about to unfold.

Instead, it came to an abrupt halt.

On a holeshot.

Ouch.

There wasn’t a lot of cheering going on in the team’s other pit areas on Sunday, although Ashley fought her way to the semi-finals. It was there Tony Pedregon got past her and then went on to win the race. It was quite a story for Tony after riding out another big explosion during qualifying on Saturday, which although wasn’t as nasty as the one he had in Pomona in February, it caused enough damage that his team needed to pull out a new chassis for Sunday. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Robert and Mike were both history in the first round. Ashley knocked out Robert and Mike was finished off by his old teammate, Gary Scelzi. John dropped from third to fourth in the points, Ashley is still second, while Robert is sixth and Mike is ninth. It’s safe to assume that all four JFR drivers are going to make the Countdown to One but you won’t hear any of them guaranteeing anything right now. We still have eight races to go before the top ten is locked in and the Funny Car class is so brutally competitive right now, we might not even recognize the top ten in three months.

And BTW, I felt bummed for Courtney missing the field in Top Alcohol Dragster. If you don’t qualify, you don’t get to race and when you’re in your first year in a new category, you want lots of seat time and as much experience as you can get. She’s sharing the family’s A/FD car with her sister Brittany so missing the cut in Joliet further reduces her on-the-job training opportunities.

I wasn’t able to make the race in Joliet but I’ll be traveling down to Englishtown in a couple of weeks for the Supernationals. If you’ve never been to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, you’re missing one of the real drag racing landmarks which has been operating for the better part of four decades and is one of the best managed facilities in racing.

If you’ve been keeping track of the battle that the track owners have been involved in over the past few years with the town fathers and the neighboring community, you know that Raceway Park is caught in the every-increasing squeeze play which urban racing facilities are confronting with more regularity. Despite the fact that the track has been there for so many years, newly constructed luxury homes in the area are being built and inhabited by families who aren’t comfortable with the noise and vehicular traffic generated by an NHRA national event—and other various shows which have become a long tradition at Raceway Park.

So far, the track has remained open for business and the pressure being applied by those wishing the track to shut down hasn’t succeeded. Let’s all hope that somehow the dispute will be amicably settled and we’ll be racing at E-town for many more years to come.

Following the race in two weeks, I’ll have much more to say “In the Groove”, so you’re invited to swing back this way then. In the meantime, don’t forget to fasten that seatbelt and drive safely.

Thanks!