Krawiec ends with win, but short of title
Kelly Wade, Staff Writer
Sunday, 15 November 2009
The 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing season drew to a close at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona to much fanfare as event winners were crowned in all four Pro classes. During the day, Top Fuel ace Tony Schumacher and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana sealed up their title quests to join Funny Car racer Robert Hight and Pro Stock competitor Mike Edwards as Full Throttle world champions.
Three of the four final rounds were decided at the tree, as Spencer Massey left .008 seconds too soon to hand the Top Fuel win to Matco Tools pilot Antron Brown; Kurt Johnson drove his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt to a minus -.017 start and awarded the Pro Stock victory to Summit Racing's Greg Anderson; and Doug Horne barely missed the tree, leaving just -.001 too quick to set the win light flashing in Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Eddie Krawiec's lane.
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Last season, Krawiec won the championship without winning a single race. This season, the third-year Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider claimed six wins, the most of any rider in the class, but lost the championship by just two points.
Though disappointment was inevitable, Krawiec had plenty to celebrate as he crushed final-round opponent Horne and made Horne's red light all but irrelevant with a low ET and top speed of the meet -- 6.905 seconds at 194.91 mph.
"Last year I was fortunate to come up here and not have the race win but have the championship," Krawiec said. "But this year, I still am a very lucky person in the end, getting the race win and not the championship. It came down to two points, and it shows you how important qualifying is. We bobbled this weekend a little in qualifying and ultimately, that could have cost us.
"Our Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson bike has been running really well and I'm looking forward to next year. We debuted all new stuff this year so next year we're going to blow the dust off our bikes and roll them out. We'll definitely be working on our stuff over the winter. I'm pretty excited for next season."
Arana was defeated by Krawiec's Harley-Davidson teammate in Round 2 and could only sit on the sidelines and hope that Krawiec didn't go on to win the race and set a national record, a lethal combo that would have put a second consecutive title in Krawiec's hands. When Krawiec was unable to put a number on the scoreboard that was quick enough to back up a record in the semis, the championship was sealed.
The battle for the Top Fuel championship increased in intensity as both Schumacher and Dixon won their respective first and second round matches, but in the semi's, Dixon succumbed to tire smoke and fell to Massey, and the championship was all Schumacher's, though the new champ was stopped that very same round by eventual event winner Brown, who notched his 24th career win.
 Antron Brown |
Brown beat traction-troubled Urs Erbacher in the first round and then put away Brandon Bernstein in the quarterfinals, ending Bernstein's hope of driving his Budweiser-backed rail to the winner's circle one final time before his team's 30-year sponsorship with the beer giant came to a close. In the semis, Brown slapped a 3.822 on now seven-time world champ Schumacher, who was 3.830 wasn't quite enough to advance.
"That was a whole new package that we were running this weekend because we ran out of our stuff that we were doing so well with the middle of the season and that kind of bit us in the Countdown," Brown said. "Next year, being with Don Schumacher Racing is going to make a big difference. It's already paying dividends; our crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald, Mike Green and Neil Strousbaugh, and Lee Beard are all communicating.
"We're definitely looking forward to next year, but this year was a career year. We went a lot of rounds, got a lot of points. We're going to work real hard to get our stuff set up for next year, and we're all amped up."
Freshly minted Funny Car champion Robert Hight won his first round match with Jerry Toliver, but in the second round, his 4.368 wasn't enough to beat Tim Wilkerson's low of the round 4.116.
 Mike Neff |
Hight's John Force Racing teammate Ashley Force Hood was plowing through the field, though, and made her way to a final round match, her eighth of the season, with another teammate, Mike Neff.
Neff, the 2008 Rookie of the Year winner, had yet to win an event as a driver, and after a violent final-round pedalfest in which Force Hood tagged the wall with her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, resulted in Neff ending the season with his coveted first win in his sixth final round appearance. Somewhat dampening the victory was the fact that the first-time winner had to beat boss John Force in the quarterfinals, thus ending his streak of 22 seasons with at least one victory.
"Things just fell our way today," Neff said. "I'd rather dominate and be low ET every round, but we'll take it any way we can get it. Now we're looking forward to next year, especially with the way that John's car started running great. Everyone is running so good and we're not struggling in the back like we were earlier this year.
"I did feel bad breaking John's winning streak. They've been running so good this weekend and we just snuck a lucky shot in there. It's always fun racing John Force, even if he is your boss, that's John Force in the other lane. That's exciting."
 Greg Anderson |
The Pro Stock championship was decided at the conclusion of qualifying, with class-dominator Mike Edwards earning his first title, but the event title was still on the line Sunday, and Anderson and Summit Racing teammate Jason Line seemed primed to finish the season strong. Line and Anderson were the two quickest in the first three rounds, with Line's day ending in the semis with a hole shot loss on a 6.555 run that was low ET of the meet.
In the final round, Johnson was looking to end the season with a victory and continue his 14-year streak of scoring at least one win each season, but his red-light start put an abrupt stop to the dream, and Anderson picked up his 60th career victory. Anderson now holds the longest streak of winning one race per season for the last nine years.
"This was a very interesting year," Anderson said. "It was kind of a trying year for me. I hit a few too many of those valleys and not quite enough of those peaks. We proved what we can do today, but we just didn't do it often enough. Your world champion should be the guy who can conquer all the different race tracks, all the different weather conditions, everywhere, not just be a flash in the pan and run good at certain races and not at others.
"We came into this race with no pressure because we couldn't win the championship, and obviously, that's what my mind needs. I needed a break from the pressure, to get my mind clear, and just go out and have some fun. I was able to do it this weekend because there wasn't a lot of pressure. Maybe we can come back and have a year like Mike Edwards had. Tomorrow night I'll stand proud on that stage and congratulate Mike and tell him to get ready, we're coming back hard next year."
SUNDAY'S RESULTS
TOP FUEL
ROUND ONE -- Morgan Lucas, 3.880, 309.06 def. David Grubnic, 9.163, 79.91; Cory McClenathan, 4.437, 178.00 def. Bob Vandergriff, 9.329, 80.90; Brandon Bernstein, 3.873, 314.61 def. Chris Karamesines, 3.955, 308.28; Antron Brown, 3.824, 317.19 def. Urs Erbacher, 8.865, 84.62; Spencer Massey, 3.870, 312.13 def. Scott Palmer, foul; Tony Schumacher, 3.838, 314.17 def. Mike Strasburg, 5.085, 140.31; Larry Dixon, 3.822, 316.23 def. Del Cox Jr, 5.380, 124.84; Doug Kalitta, 3.846, 316.52 def. Steve Torrence, 4.047, 307.30; QUARTERFINALS -- Massey, 3.841, 316.01 def. Kalitta, 3.896, 311.63; Schumacher, 3.836, 318.54 def. Lucas, 4.312, 257.68; Brown, 3.856, 314.90 def. Bernstein, 3.903, 309.77; Dixon, 3.842, 315.42 def. McClenathan, 3.829, 320.51; SEMIFINALS -- Massey, 3.810, 316.67 def. Dixon, 5.025, 143.38; Brown, 3.822, 316.67 def. Schumacher, 3.830, 315.49; FINAL -- Brown, 3.801, 316.90 def. Massey, foul.
FUNNY CAR
ROUND ONE -- Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.126, 300.86 def. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.145, 306.46; Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.139, 304.05 def. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.478, 208.20; Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.240, 289.94 def. Bob Bode, Chevy Impala SS, 4.468, 219.29; Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.842, 196.64 def. Jerry Toliver, Impala, 5.195, 154.35; John Force, Mustang, 4.149, 307.37 def. Gary Densham, Impala, 4.162, 297.88; Ron Capps, Charger, 4.312, 236.67 def. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.382, 254.90; Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.184, 296.31 def. Jim Head, Toyota Solara, 8.478, 78.55; Del Worsham, Solara, 4.595, 189.90 def. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.774, 269.83; QUARTERFINALS -- Wilkerson, 4.116, 303.71 def. Hight, 4.368, 214.86; Force Hood, 4.146, 306.60 def. Worsham, 4.373, 238.43; Capps, 4.144, 310.48 def. Hagan, 4.126, 305.22; Neff, 4.121, 306.40 def. Force, 4.138, 306.19; SEMIFINALS -- Force Hood, 4.133, 307.09 def. Capps, 4.775, 248.25; Neff, 4.197, 291.32 def. Wilkerson, 5.440, 147.39; FINAL -- Neff, 5.131, 285.05 def. Force Hood, DQ.
PRO STOCK
ROUND ONE -- Rodger Brogdon, Pontiac GXP, 6.599, 209.49 def. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 7.715, 132.67; Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.642, 209.49 def. Johnny Gray, Dodge Stratus, 6.912, 206.39; Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.648, 207.18 def. Vinnie Deceglie, Stratus, 7.817, 128.19; Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.616, 209.59 def. Ryan Ondrejko, GXP, 6.627, 208.52; Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.580, 210.73 def. Dave Northrop, GXP, 6.660, 209.20; Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.587, 210.34 def. Larry Morgan, Stratus, foul; Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.600, 210.18 def. Rickie Jones, Stratus, 7.170, 142.34; Jason Line, GXP, 6.562, 210.77 def. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.687, 208.97; QUARTERFINALS -- K. Johnson, 6.617, 209.56 def. Krisher, 6.781, 209.14; Edwards, 6.579, 210.67 def. Brogdon, 6.642, 209.14; Anderson, 6.575, 210.50 def. Stanfield, foul; Line, 6.571, 210.77 def. A. Johnson, 14.950, 57.49; SEMIFINALS -- Anderson, 6.576, 210.70 def. Edwards, 6.669, 196.27; K. Johnson, 6.624, 209.56 def. Line, 6.555, 211.36; FINAL -- Anderson, 6.564, 210.70 def. K. Johnson, foul.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
ROUND ONE -- Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.977, 192.82 def. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 10.043, 82.37; Larry Cook, Buell, 6.962, 188.91 def. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, foul; David Hope, Buell, 6.986, 187.70 def. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.023, 190.78; Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.059, 191.29 def. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.413, 147.29; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.950, 194.91 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.977, 191.19; Douglas Horne, Buell, 6.995, 191.70 def. Freddie Camarena, Suzuki, 7.026, 192.06; Hector Arana, Buell, 6.910, 192.00 def. Bailey Whitaker, Buell, 7.091, 185.59; Junior Pippin, Buell, 7.133, 187.76 def. Shawn Gann, Buell, 7.318, 185.97; QUARTERFINALS -- Horne, 6.993, 191.35 def. Hope, 7.028, 187.70; Pippin, 7.201, 185.69 def. Cook, foul; Krawiec, 6.959, 192.60 def. Underdahl, 7.107, 188.89; Hines, 7.044, 192.69 def. Arana, foul; SEMIFINALS -- Horne, 6.940, 192.55 def. Pippin, 7.045, 187.34; Krawiec, 6.953, 192.80 def. Hines, foul; FINAL -- Krawiec, 6.905, 194.32 def. Horne, foul.
FINAL STANDINGS
Top Fuel
1. Tony Schumacher, 2,571; 2. Larry Dixon, 2,569; 3. Antron Brown, 2,522; 4. Cory McClenathan, 2,490; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 2,438; 6. Spencer Massey, 2,437; 7. Morgan Lucas, 2,353; 8. Doug Kalitta, 2,325; 9. Shawn Langdon, 2,299; 10. Clay Millican, 2,093.
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight, 2,547; 2. Ashley Force Hood, 2,481; 3. Ron Capps, 2,433; 4. Tim Wilkerson, 2,430; 5. Jack Beckman, 2,406; 6. Tony Pedregon, 2,403; 7. Del Worsham, 2,352; 8. Bob Tasca III, 2,326; 9. John Force, 2,268; 10. Mike Neff, 2,235.
Pro Stock
1. Mike Edwards, 2,682; 2. Greg Anderson, 2,572; 3. Jason Line, 2,486; 4. Greg Stanfield, 2,403; 5. Jeg Coughlin, 2,375; 6. Ron Krisher, 2,363; 7. Allen Johnson, 2,334; 8. Kurt Johnson, 2,307; 9. Johnny Gray, 2,300; 10. Rickie Jones, 2,142.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Hector Arana, 2,590; 2. Eddie Krawiec, 2,588; 3. Andrew Hines, 2,446; 4. Matt Smith, 2,369; 5. Douglas Horne, 2,362; 6. Michael Phillips, 2,321; 7. Karen Stoffer, 2,249; 8. Shawn Gann, 2,248; 9. Craig Treble, 2,202; 10. Matt Guidera, 2,020.
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