INDIANAPOLIS —
There’s a bit of a different mindset this year for the pro competitors at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals beginning Friday at O’Reilly Raceway Park.
Last year, this race was the final one before the cut was made for the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. This year, the event is the first race of the six-race countdown. It seems to make little difference in terms of the intense desire to win when the titles are decided on Labor Day.
“The U.S. Nationals is like our Super Bowl,” said Mike Edwards at a Wednesday press luncheon. Edwards leads the Pro Stock division. “Anybody in the top 10 can win this. Pro Stock is really, really close. The first race is the most important of the races.”
Doug Kalitta, who is fourth in the Top Fuel standings, has strong feelings about the importance of this race, one he has never won. He has come close, losing in the final twice (2004, 2008) to Tony Schumacher each time.
“My grandmother had a bottle of champagne she was saving to celebrate me winning this race,” Kalitta said. “Finally, she opened it and we drank it. She got tired of waiting.”
Schumacher’s quest this weekend will likely be the big story of the Nationals.
“Sarge” will be looking for his record eighth Top Fuel title at the U.S. Nationals. It would be his ninth overall title, which would tie him with Bob Glidden for most total Nationals victories.
“I can’t ask for a better place (to have that type of record),” said Schumacher, who is third in the Top Fuel standings. “I don’t know why it has happened. I’ve done it with different crew chiefs, different cars and different setups. It’s great. We’re a high pressure team and we’ve been able to perform well in those situations.”
Also performing well in that class this season is Larry Dixon, who lives in Avon but came from Van Nuys, Calif. He is leading the points, mostly because he has made nine finals this season and won every single race.
“I’m just going to go in and fire everything at it and hope it’s enough,” Dixon said. “It’s ingrained in you really early how big a deal this is to win here.”
The defending Nationals champions are Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car); Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
“It’s always nice to return somewhere that your last experience was the winner’s circle,” said Force Hood, daughter of the Top Fuel leader and NHRA icon John Force. “I have great memories here in and out of the car.”
Force Hood is currently eighth in the points, but her teammates, John Force and Robert Hight are one-two in the class.
The first qualifying session is 5:30 p.m. Friday. There are two sessions Saturday and two more on Sunday. Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Monday.
Auto Racing
Related Photos
-
Ashley_Force-Hood_Action.JPG
-
Tony_Schumacher_Action.JPG
Discussion
Drivers fired up for NHRA 'Super Bow'
- Auto Racing
-
-
Indy 500 in the books, but heat isn't a record
Fans sought shade under the grandstands and beneath umbrellas. Misting stations got a healthy workout. But Sunday's Indianapolis 500 won't go down in the record books as the hottest in the 101-year history of the race.
-
Kahne keeps Hendrick success rolling at Charlotte
Kasey Kahne powered to victory in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night, taking NASCAR's longest race for the third time for his first win with Hendrick Motorsports.
-
Quintin Harlan: If you want to honor a fallen driver just keep on racing
There are a myriad of reasons to love the Indianapolis 500. This year’s race was inundated with the emotion from the family, friends and colleagues of two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon.
-
This is Indy
Fans of the Indianapolis 500 took time on race day to remember Dan Wheldon, the popular driver who died in a crash last year at Las Vegas Speedway. Wheldon, the 2011 Indy 500 champion, was honored by the thousands of fans who were asked to wear special sunglasses patterned after the shades that he always wore. Fans wore the sunglasses on the pace lap, Lap 26 and Lap 98, which were Wheldon’s car numbers when he won at Indy.
-
Franchitti wins his third Indianapolis 500
For the second consecutive year the Indianapolis 500 was decided by a last-lap crash Sunday, but this time Takuma Sato crashed while battling for the win and allowing Dario Franchitti to score his third win.
-
Tyler runs away with second Little 500 win
Deuces were wild at the 64th running of the Pay Less Little 500 as Brian Tyler recorded his second win and brought team owner Larry Contos win No. 2 at Anderson Speedway.
-
Rick Teverbaugh: Spectacle lacking on local TV
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, on television, is a myth in its own backyard.
-
96th Indy 500 is wide open
Marco Andretti knows how much heartache his family has suffered at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He needs no reminders that IndyCar could use an American superstar, and with his famous last name, he is quite aware of the hope that maybe he can be the one to elevate this attention-starved series.
None of that matters to Andretti as he heads into the Indianapolis 500. -
Junior hopes to end slump
At first Dale Earnhardt Jr. was relieved he didn’t fall further back than seventh at last year’s Coca-Cola 600. Then he realized what he had lost for just about a gallon of gas.
“After a while, you start thinking about, ‘Oh, yeah, we really came close to winning a race,’” Earnhardt said this week. “It was really unfortunate there wasn’t just a little bit more gas in the car.” -
Litt’s gamble pays off
Ryan Litt gambled that track conditions at Anderson Speedway were better on the second day of qualifying for tonight’s running of the Pay Less Little 500 and it paid off in a big way.
- More Auto Racing Headlines
-
Indy 500 in the books, but heat isn't a record
