Media Matters: Atlanta year's first heat race
Phillip Gary Smith, go2geiger Media Columnist
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
The Atlanta race proved that summer definitely has landed in the South, even while some Northern tier states continue to flirt with freezing temperatures.
Mike Dunn, co-host of "ESPN Race Day," obviously still has a warm place in his heart for Atlanta Dragway as he took his last Pro victory at this country track located in the rolling fields of Commerce, Georgia. He noted, "Heat starts here, but this track holds heat well." One of the best descriptions of Atlanta's heavy southern air was made by a fan saying, "It’s a wet heat," meaning plenty of humidity to go along with the thermometer, playing havoc with any bouffant hairdos.
The broadcast kept viewers informed of track temperatures throughout the weekend with numerous shots of the digital gauge on the starting line. This brought to mind the line from a David Lynch movie, Wild at Heart: "It’s hotter than Georgia asphalt."
"Georgia, the Peach State; Here, life is the pits," quipped co-host Dave Reiff, referring to his location on pit row.
No Love for Bob Bode: What advantage did Bob Bode win for his Alard Machine Products team by out-qualifying three Funny Car champions? Dave noted, "He gets to race John Force" in Round 1 and, later, extends John’s 5-0 streak over him to 6-0.
Big Goal: "We want four or five of them this year," said Michael Phillips, referring to his goal for Pro Stock Motorcycle wins after capturing his first Wally in St. Louis. He was filmed during an upbeat visit to Team Tonglet’s trailer where, during banter with LE, tuning tips were laughingly discussed. Meeting in the first round, tuning had little to do with Phillips’ win as LE went big-time red. David Hope dashed Michael’s hope to advance his goal today with a strong second round 6.98.
Special Interview with Jim Oberhofer: Regarding his motivation and devotion to the Kalittas, crew chief Jim said, "We want to do good for Connie; he’s like another dad to me. Doug is like a brother."
'The Professor' Speaks: How did Warren Johnson describe his unique win at St. Louis" "Bizarre. Maybe it all balances out at the end." Kurt, asked if his dad is hard to work for, answered with a politically correct, "No, actually he is pretty easy." Then he added the qualifier, "as long as you do your job." Later, Kurt defined his job with a stellar first-round performance, winning with his Mark Christopher Cobalt by a tiny four-inch margin.
Statman Lewis Bloom praised Warren with this comment: "I love Warren Johnson -- one of my favorite drag racers of all time."
Is Warren really a grumpy man? "I’m one of the nicest sob’s I know," he said. It must be because he has so much free time now as he quipped, "I’ve slowed down to 14 to 18 hours a day." He’s not the first to remark that he works half-days -- 12 hours for the uninitiated -- but one of the few who claims that dedication on Christmas. His continuing drive in racing the K&N Filters GXP is a reminder to all about the effort required to compete at the top level of any sport or business.
Third is Best: Johnny Gray had his best qualifying position yet for the National Tire and Battery GXP team. Gary Gerould asked an intriguing question, "How big of a challenge has this been?" Johnny answered, "Probably more than I should have taken." Later he said, "I think we’ll get in their rear pockets," meaning he'd likely win some victory dollars. He made it to the semifinals, eliciting this bit of info from Rick Green of Summit FastNews, "The team made 25 test passes since St. Louis. It's working."
.001: A couple of these phenomenal reaction times were given special note today. One was by Greg Stanfield’s Nitrofish GXP taking out Jason Line driving his Summit Racing Equipment GXP in Round 1. I wondered what Rick Green would say about that and wasn’t disappointed as he wrote, "I've been talking up Stanfield for a few races, and he does me proud here with a stellar light."
Birthday boy Rickie Jones and his Elite GXP pulled off the biggest .001 of the day, knocking out Pro Stock dominator Mike Edwards and his Penhall GXP in the first round. Asked how he pulled off this feat, Rickie, showing sponsor wisdom beyond his 23 years, answered, "It was my can of Full Throttle (I drank) this morning." Later he took out Johnny Gray in the strangest of holeshots. Mike Dunn was perplexed, "Gray was so late, I thought Rickie had red lighted." Rick Green exhorted, "Did I talk about Hole Shot City?" The broadcast later reported that Johnny‘s foot was sliding off the clutch pedal.
Paul Page reported that Mike Edwards’ first round loss left Allen Johnson as the only Pro Stock driver to win every first round of the season thus far.
All Quiet on the Starting Line: What does a drag racer think about before the launch of their dragsters while waiting for the green light? We still do not know for sure, but the comment made by one driver, "The last minute of quiet is tough," is a very good clue it isn’t all that comfortable.
Upset Alert: Cory McClenathan qualified his Fram Tough Guard dragster higher but faced the "best leaver" in Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon. Shawn’s Lucas Oil/Speedco rail has won the reaction time stat for every round he has raced thus far in 2010. Cory is at the other end of this rainbow, but this time he wins the R/T battle and the lap with a sterling effort. Maybe Mike Dunn calling this race an upset alert inspired Cory to step up the effort; perhaps Cory needed no additional inspiration at all. However, Shawn has now lost his perfect starting line record.
Did you notice the new stat showing up on the screen, reflecting the percentage of time the driver leaves the starting line first? This kind of information displayed on every round makes the entire broadcast even more fun.
A Reverser: "New professor," Mike Dunn, gave an intriguing explanation of the gears required to back up a dragster. Paul Page remarked, "That was like watching Mr. Wizard!"
Now We Know: John Force and Ashley Force Hood line up for their second round race and then tear off on the burnout. "Side-by-side, long, smoky burnouts, that’s what I like!”
Astonishing Photo: A Goodyear wadding up on a wheel after a launch looked like squeezing play dough.
Best Call: Comparing the Dixon/Schumacher rivalry to that of the Yankees and Red Sox might be extreme, but it makes the point. Mike Dunn astutely called the round correctly by giving the edge to Larry Dixon.
Racer’s Prayer: Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s thought as he was backing up from his burnout just before he won his 50th Pro Stock race was, "God, I hope nothing goes wrong!" It was a reference to the previous race, where he broke in the final. This time he had no problems.
Best Winner’s Speech: Robert Hight, winning his final round over Ashley Force Hood in an all Team Force final, exclaimed, "I visited Ford and found President and CEO, Alan Mulally who said he is fixing Ford for the American people!" The team winning today is a part of that fix.
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