29th Annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals has Wet and Wild Finish
by Tim Glover
The long anticipated Southern Nationals, stop six on the 2009 National Hot Rod Association’s 24 event (NHRA) national tour, came to Commerce, GA the weekend of April 16-19, 2009, and the sounds of Nitromethane powered Top Fuel dragsters and Funny cars are still reverberating in many race fans’ ears.
The 70 percent chance of rain played a big role in Sunday’s elimination rounds. However, thanks to the dedicated NHRA Safety Safari workers, who spent more than six hours total during the day preparing and then drying the track in between showers, three of the four Professional classes were completed, giving fans their money’s worth. Pro Stock had two remaining cars, piloted by Mike Edwards and Jeg Coughlin, along with finalists in all the Sportsman classes. Eliminations for these racers began 9:00 Monday morning.
When the smoke cleared after a wild “pedalfest” in Top Fuel Dragster, Morgan Lucas emerged as a first time victor. Although both Lucas and his opponent, rookie Spencer Massey, were youngsters (Lucas is 25 years old, Massey 26), Lucas’ wealth of experience played the winning hand after both cars lost traction immediately after launching from the starting line. Lucas was on and off the throttle four times, smoking the tires violently, as the car never really did regain traction. However, even though his 8000 horsepower supercharged engine pitched the supercharger drive belt off about 75 feet before the finish line, his Geico dragster took the win stripe first with a 5.231 second, 162.86mph pass.
“That was the longest 75 feet of my life,” Lucas exclaimed in the winner’s circle. Massey’s machine slewed sideways in one direction and then another before he was able to reel it in, and he crossed the finish line with a slower 5.418 second, 145.25mph effort. Massey was disappointed, but not terribly so, as he had already won the Top Alcohol Dragster class in the 2007 and the 2008 Southern Nationals, making this his third straight Southern Nationals final round. Tony Schumacher and Cory McClenathan were the semi-final finishers.
Morgan Lucas spent five years and 107 races chasing the elusive NHRA winner’s trophy, also known as a “Wally”, so when he received his hard earned trophy, no one could pry it away. His parents, Forrest and Charlotte Lucas of Lucas Oil Company, normally attend all his races, but chose to stay home this weekend. Lucas said, “I just knew I would win on a weekend they didn’t come.” There was talk in the crew about banning his parents from future events, but it was more likely the crew having fun.
Jack Beckman earned his Top Fuel Funny Car win the hard way, taking on three members of the Force Racing team with his ’09 Charger, and defeating four different 45th Anniversary Mustangs en route to his victory. Beckman downplayed the Mustang angle, but added it was good for the sport to have a rivalry going. He then added with a smile, “I’m going to call Dodge and see if they have a double bonus.” Beckman defeated Force racer Robert Hight in round one, John Force himself in round two, Mustang racer Tim Wilkerson in round three, and faced Ashley Force Hood, who has been on a hot streak, winning Funny Car at the previous NHRA event in Las Vegas, and then qualifying number one at Atlanta with a 4.073 second pass. She also had the fastest car, at 312.13mph. However, as announcer Bob Frey said, “There’s this silly little rule about having to actually run the cars against each other.”
Beckman’s machine roared down the track to a 4.12 second pass at 303.43mph for the win and the “Wally” trophy. Force Hood’s Mustang, which had been deadly consistent all day, varying only four thousandths of a second in three passes (from 4.078 seconds to 4.082 seconds), chose the final round to wound its engine, and slowed to a 4.157 second pass at only 248.39mph. Tony Pedregon (’09 Impala) and Tim Wilkerson (’09 Mustang) were the semi-final finishers. The win was Beckman’s first for 2009, and his seventh overall, in 14 final round appearances.
Mike Edwards, who also won the 2008 Southern Nationals in Pro Stock, came to the starting line with his ’09 Pontiac GXP shortly after 10:00am Monday morning “loaded for bear”, and sealed the win against Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s ’09 Cobalt with a stellar .019 reaction time, coupled with a 6.645 second, 208.17mph winning pass. Coughlin had a good .043 react, but was out of the running early, as his car apparently shook the tires, spun and slowed to a 7.190 at 155.11mph. “It wasn’t too good of a run, but it turned on the win light. It doesn’t matter if you win on Sunday or Monday, it still feels good,” added a happy Mike Edwards. The semi-final finishers were Summit Racing Equipment racers Greg Anderson (’09 GXP) and his teammate Jason Line (’09 GXP).
Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Eddie Krawiec earned the dubious distinction of winning an NHRA championship in 2009 without winning a single race. Krawiec earned his first ever Pro Stock Motorcycle win by reacting quicker with his ’09 V-Rod at the starting line and then taking the win stripe first with a 6.902 at 192.91mph against newcomer Douglas Horne. Horne, who qualified fifth, ended the day in second place, courtesy of a 6.949 at 191.13mph. Horne debuted at Atlanta Dragway earlier this season, with the help of local standout Junior Pippin, who qualified eighth in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class this weekend. “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for; to finally get my first “Wally” and put it next to my championship trophy,” said a jubilant Krawiec as he hoisted the trophy high in the air. Andrew Hines (’09 V-Rod) and Matt Smith (’03 Suzuki) finished their day in the semi-final round. “He had the best bike, and now he gets the win,” added announcer Bob Frey.
The local guys also had a good weekend at the Southern Nationals. Bob Vandergriff Jr’s sponsorship with UPS ended in 2008. However, Speedco made a two race deal with him, allowing him to compete in front of his hometown fans. An engine explosion in round two cost him the race. Pro Stock racers Warren and Kurt Johnson from nearby Sugar Hill qualified again for this year’s field. Kurt’s car would not start for round one, and Warren lost a close match against his former crew chief Greg Anderson in round two. Jeremy Hancock, a weekly racer in the local Summit ET Series had a great weekend in Super Comp, running a perfect 8.900 in round two against the ever tough Sherman Adcock, and making it down to nine cars in a 66 car field, falling to eventual runner up Michael Rastall by only three thousandths of a second. David Simmons, another local racer, made it to round three in Super Stock with his ’98 S10 pickup.
Following is the winner and runner up in the Sportsman classes:
Competition Eliminator:
Win: Pat Ross (’05 Grand Am) 8.068, 166.60mph (8.58 index)
R/U: Arnie Martel (’07 GTO) 7.989, 168.56mph (8.48 index)
Super Stock:
Win: Anthony Bertozzi (’98 Grand Am) 9.615, 120.68mph (9.50 dial)
R/U: Bo Butner (’09 Cobalt) (foul) 9.833, 95.64mph (8.86 dial)
Butner won the Perfectly Strange award in the semi-finals with a perfect 8.860 second pass.
Super Comp:
Win: Luke Bogacki (’08 Dragster) 8.927, 170.28mph (8.90 index)
R/U: Michael Rastall (’07 Mullis) 8.937, 169.51mph (8.90 index)
This was Bogacki’s first ever NHRA National event win, although he has won literally hundreds of bracket races all over the southeast United States.
Super Gas:
Win: Steve Cohen (’04 Grand Am) 9.941, 157.12mph (9.90 index)
R/U: Jeremy Jensen (’86 Corvette) 9.949, 147.25mph (9.90 index)
Super Street:
Win: Mike Desio (’67 Chevy II) 10.902, 137.92mph (10.90 index)
R/U: Mike Griggs (’66 Chevy II) 10.896, 132.50mph (10.90 index)
Top Sportsman:
Win: Mark Pickens (’07 GTO) 7.086, 192.82mph (7.07 dial)
R/U: Jeff Brooks (’51 Henry J) 6.929, 196.99mph (6.91 dial)
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