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BERNSTEIN,
FORCE, COUGHLIN AND SAVOIE EARN WINS AT SEARS
CRAFTSMAN NATIONALS
MADISON, Ill. - Kenny Bernstein made his final
stop in the St. Louis area one to remember. The
defending Top Fuel champion earned his first
ever victory at the home track of his sponsor,
winning the Top Fuel title Sunday at the sixth
annual Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals at Gateway
International Raceway.
Bernstein turned in a 5.056-second pass at
293.22 mph in his Budweiser King Dragster to
beat Andrew Cowin's 5.291 run at 263.87 in the
NY Yankee Dragster.
John Force, Jeg Coughlin and Angelle Savoie won
their respective categories at the $1.8 million
race, the 12th of 23 events in the
$50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Bernstein is retiring at the end of the season
and is currently second in the points to Larry
Dixon. After four qualifying runs Dixon failed
to qualify for the eliminations, allowing
Bernstein to close the gap.
"This is a special one," Bernstein
said. "It means a lot to us. We've always
worked hard here and it is a real important one
to win. I feel for Larry Dixon and that team
because we have all been there. That team has
been dominating and anything short of a win
would have been a bitter loss for us."
Going into the weekend, Dixon's lead over
Bernstein was 259 points. After the weekend,
that lead was cut to 157 points.
"I would rather this happen with us in
first place than last place because we had some
points to give up," Dixon said. "You
can't afford to do this every week, but it's
still okay. At every race I try to qualify and
then I'll try to look for the win. You can learn
real fast not to take qualifying for
granted."
Bernstein said the team was able to conquer the
track that got up to 145 degrees because of the
team.
"The first three runs of the day the car
was smooth as silk," Bernstein said.
"This team is just so good and Tim Richards
is doing a great job (as crew chief). This is
probably the best team I have ever had.
"I am so excited over this win. I have not
been this excited in a long time. Today it
worked out for us."
At
most national events, Bernstein has been
celebrating his final year of racing with
special events. One such event is riding the
Budweiser Clydesdale horses in front of the
fans. Bernstein got a little luck from at least
two of the horses.
"All year long we haven't had much luck
this year and we needed a little,"
Bernstein said. "I told everyone that we
didn't need a horseshoe from a Shetland pony, we
needed a big one from a Clydesdale.
"We had a little luck all weekend long, but
we got two horseshoes so when the luck runs out
from the first one, we'll throw it away and
bring out the second one."
Force earned the 101st victory of his
career as he scored the automatic win off a
Scotty Cannon red light. Force smoked the tires
and went 8.837 at 87.98 in his Castrol GTX Ford
Mustang to beat Cannon's disqualified 5.053 at
295.85 in his Oakley Pontiac Firebird.
"I saw the red light, but it happened so
quick and I wasn't sure if it was me or
him," Force said. "I left and then my
clutch hooked up and we smoked the tires. I was
happy the red light was his."
The last time Force won a race was at the
Houston event on April 14. Force's teammate Gary
Densham has held the points lead over Force and
his other teammate, Tony Pedregon has been in
third place. The three Force Racing drivers are
still in the top three spots, but Force took
over the lead after Densham lost in the
semifinals to Cannon.
"I'm mostly proud of the fact that my
teammates and I are still in the top three
spots," Force said. "(Del) Worsham was
getting pretty close to Pedregon, so it was
important that we took him out (in the second
round). We've learned a lot from each other's
car. When Densham smoked the tires, all of our
guys came running up to my car and made all the
right adjustments."
Force is an 11-time champion - winning nine
consecutive Funny Car titles. Still, he is not
overly excited about being back in the points
lead.
"There is a long way before the end of the
season," Force said. "Look at the Top
Fuel category. I don't start thinking about the
points until after Indy."
Cannon, the 1999 Rookie of the Year, has yet to
win a national event. This is the second
runner-up finish for Cannon this season.
"Scotty had me covered," Force said.
"My heap went up in smoke. He is way
overdue to win, we just got the win today."
Cannon took the blame for the loss.
"No excuses, I messed up," Cannon
said. "I didn't do anything to alter my
starting line routine, but I was obviously more
pumped and that resulted in my timing being off.
I feel bad for (crew chief) Mike Neff and the
Oakley crew. They gave me an excellent hot rod
this weekend.
"The guys were supportive of me afterwards
and I can't tell you how much that meant to me.
That is a team that sticks together through
thick and thin."
Coughlin became the 10th different
winner this season in the Pro Stock category.
Coughlin went 6.928 at 199.52 to beat Greg
Anderson's 6.930 at 199.91 in a battle between
Chevy Cavaliers.
"I feel great, no doubt about it,"
Coughlin said. "We're 12 races into the
season and (brother and teammate) Troy
(Coughlin) got a win in Topeka and now we have a
win and it feels great. The Pro Stock category
is unbelievably tough this season."
Coughlin said the victory did not come easily.
"That race was so close that neither one of
us knew who won," Coughlin said. "It
was no walk I the park today. I came here last
week to race my sportsman car and it was over
100 degrees (on the track) every day then too. I
think that really helped us this weekend."
Savoie claimed her third win of the season.
Shawn Gann fouled at the starting line and
Savoie went on to win with a 7.187 at 184.83 on
her CVEC Suzuki while Gann turned in a red-light
run of 7.245 at 188.78 on his Mac Tools/Gann
Speed Suzuki.
"It is so fun racing Shawn in the
finals," Savoie said. "I know that he
is due to win and I was just hoping that it was
not going to come against me. This is great. It
feels just as good as my first win. They never
get old and I will never take a win for
granted."
Savoie said she was surprised just how well the
motorcycle ran in the heat.
"I was very surprised by how much traction
we got," Savoie said. "All of the
credit goes to the motorcycle and (crew chief)
George Bryce. The heat was almost
unbearable."
The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event
is the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals at
Bandimere Speedway, July 18-21.
MADISON, Ill. --
Final finish order (1-16) for professional
categories at the Sixth annual Sears Craftsman
Nationals at Gateway International Raceway.
The $1.9 million race is the 12th of 23 events
in the $50 millionNHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series.
TOP FUEL:
1. Kenny Bernstein; 2. Andrew Cowin;
3. Tony Schumacher; 4. Yuichi Oyama;
5. Darrell Russell; 6. Rhonda
Hartman-Smith; 7. Melanie Troxel; 8.
Doug Herbert; 9. Chris Karamesines; 10.
David Grubnic; 11. Bruce Litton; 12.
Doug Kalitta; 13. Paul Romine; 14.
Cory McClenathan; 15. Clay Millican; 16.
Mitch King.
FUNNY CAR:
1. John Force, Ford Mustang; 2.
Scotty Cannon, Pontiac Firebird; 3. Gary
Densham, Mustang; 4. Ron Capps, Chevy
Camaro; 5. Del Worsham, Firebird; 6.
Johnny Gray, Firebird; 7. Dale Creasy Jr.,
Firebird; 8. John Lawson, Firebird; 9.
Whit Bazemore, Firebird; 10. Bruce Sarver,
Toyota Celica; 11. Bob Gilbertson,
Firebird; 12. Cruz Pedregon, Firebird; 13.
Tim Wilkerson, Firebird; 14. Frank
Pedregon, Firebird; 15. Todd Paton, Camaro;
16. Tony Pedregon, Mustang.
PRO STOCK:
1. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cavalier; 2.
Greg Anderson, Cavalier; 3. Mark Whisnant,
Cavalier; 4. George Marnell, Pontiac Grand
Am; 5. Tom Hammonds, Cavalier; 6.
Jim Yates, Grand Am; 7. Darrell Alderman,
Dodge Neon R/T; 8. Tom Lee, Neon R/T; 9.
Troy Coughlin, Cavalier; 10. Warren
Johnson, Grand Am; 11. Bruce Allen, Grand
Am; 12. Arturo Delgado, Grand Am; 13.
Jamie Yates, Grand Am; 14. Ron Krisher,
Cavalier; 15. Mark Osborne, Grand Am; 16.
Larry Nance, Cavalier.
PRO STOCK
MOTORCYCLE:
1. Angelle Savoie, Suzuki; 2. Shawn
Gann, Suzuki; 3. Matt Hines, Suzuki; 4.
Antron Brown, Suzuki; 5. Craig Treble,
Suzuki; 6. Geno Scali, Kawasaki; 7.
John Smith, Suzuki; 8. Chris Reuter,
Suzuki; 9. Mike Berry, Suzuki; 10.
Steve Johnson, Suzuki; 11. Sam Hurwitz,
Suzuki; 12. Fred Camarena, Suzuki; 13.
Thomas Miceli, Suzuki; 14. Reggie Showers,
Suzuki; 15. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki; 16.
Michael Phillips, Suzuki.
MADISON, Ill. --
Sunday's final results from the Sixth annual
Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway
International Raceway. The $1.9 million
race is the 12th of 23 in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:
Top Fuel -- Kenny
Bernstein, 5.056 seconds, 293.22 mph def.
Andrew Cowin, 5.291 seconds, 263.87 mph.
Funny Car -- John
Force, Ford Mustang, 8.837, 87.98 def.
Scotty Cannon, Pontiac Firebird, foul.
Pro Stock -- Jeg
Coughlin, Chevy Cavalier, 6.928, 199.52
def. Greg Anderson, Cavalier, 6.930, 199.91.
Pro Stock
Motorcycle -- Angelle Savoie, Suzuki, 7.187,
184.83 def. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, foul.
Competition
Eliminator -- Doug Engels, Dragster, 7.458,
175.05 def. Mike Farrell, Roadster, 7.521,
176.47.
Super Stock --
Bill Rowe Jr, Chevy Nova, 10.120, 127.78
def. Jeff Dona, Chevy Camaro, 10.443, 125.11.
Stock Eliminator
-- Jimmy Hidalgo, Chevy Camaro, 11.062, 118.82
def. Greg Johnson, buick Grand Sport, 11.797,
110.93.
Super Comp --
Brian Folk, Dragster, 8.931, 160.63 def.
Lynn Ellison, Dragster, 8.924, 162.02.
Super Gas --
Scott Wagner, Chevrolet, 9.963, 141.13
def. Mark Hackett, Pontiac Grand Prix, 9.980,
147.41.
MADISON, Ill. --
Final round-by-round results from the Sixth
annual Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway
International Raceway, the 12th of 23 events in
the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
-
TOP FUEL:
ROUND ONE --
Melanie Troxel, 5.729, 249.72 def. Cory
McClenathan, 5.998, 234.49; Kenny Bernstein,
4.868, 302.48 def. David Grubnic, 5.031, 265.53;
Yuichi Oyama, 4.844, 297.81 def. Paul Romine,
5.347, 234.13; Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 4.930,
274.78 def. Clay Millican, broke; Andrew Cowin,
4.764, 307.93 def. Chris Karamesines, 4.944,
293.73; Doug Herbert, 4.834, 300.60 def. Bruce
Litton, 5.154, 236.92;Tony Schumacher, 4.983,
291.13 def. Mitch King, DQ (Fuel); Darrell
Russell, 4.784, 306.12 def. Doug Kalitta, 5.317,
268.87;
QUARTERFINALS --
Schumacher, 5.020, 293.86 def. Hartman-Smith,
6.973, 122.18; Bernstein, 4.809, 308.07 def.
Herbert, 10.323, 82.61; Cowin, 5.868, 235.15
def. Troxel, 8.952, 103.90; Oyama, 4.840, 299.60
def. Russell, 5.298, 269.56;
SEMIFINALS --
Cowin, 5.078, 251.91 def. Oyama, broke;
Bernstein, 4.826, 308.43 def. Schumacher, 4.913,
305.01;
FINAL -- Bernstein, 5.056, 293.22 def. Cowin,
5.291, 263.87.
FUNNY CAR:
ROUND ONE -- John
Lawson, Pontiac Firebird, 5.045, 294.69 def.
Whit Bazemore, Firebird, 5.153, 301.94; Gary
Densham, Ford Mustang, 5.747, 242.15 def. Tim
Wilkerson, Firebird, 5.974, 224.21; Del Worsham,
Firebird, 5.227, 289.69 def. Bruce Sarver,
Toyota Celica, 5.245, 274.55; Ron Capps, Chevy
Camaro, 5.036, 294.75 def. Todd Paton, Camaro,
7.768, 111.08; Scotty Cannon, Firebird, 5.078,
290.38 def. Bob Gilbertson, Firebird, 5.278,
245.23; John Force, Mustang, 5.070, 278.17 def.
Tony Pedregon, Mustang, 9.806, 89.51; Johnny
Gray, Firebird, 5.089, 308.07 def. Cruz
Pedregon, Firebird, 5.881, 175.39; Dale Creasy
Jr., Firebird, 5.307, 257.14 def. Frank
Pedregon, Firebird, 6.010, 176.05;
QUARTERFINALS --
Cannon, 5.060, 293.60 def. Creasy Jr., 5.220,
282.54; Capps, 5.050, 296.18 def. Gray, 5.132,
293.03; Densham, 5.102, 291.57 def. Lawson,
9.812, 102.42; Force, 5.062, 296.70 def. Worsham,
5.122, 294.24;
SEMIFINALS --
Cannon, 5.062, 296.89 def. Densham, 10.281,
92.29; Force, 5.046, 290.13 def. Capps, 10.595,
76.46;
FINAL -- Force, 8.837, 87.98 def. Cannon, foul.
PRO STOCK:
ROUND ONE -- Jeg
Coughlin, Chevy Cavalier, 6.933, 199.11 def.
Bruce Allen, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.966, 198.79;
Greg Anderson, Cavalier, 6.912, 199.76 def. Troy
Coughlin, Cavalier, 6.921, 199.40; Darrell
Alderman, Dodge Neon R/T, 6.985, 198.70 def.
Arturo Delgado, Grand Am, 6.979, 198.73; Tom
Lee, Neon R/T, 7.009, 198.55 def. Warren
Johnson, Grand Am, 6.930, 199.58; Mark Whisnant,
Cavalier, 6.925, 199.49 def. Larry Nance,
Cavalier, 13.541, 62.93; George Marnell, Grand
Am, 6.940, 198.76 def. Mark Osborne, Grand Am,
10.140, 90.65; Tom Hammonds, Cavalier, 6.948,
199.58 def. Ron Krisher, Cavalier, 7.085,
198.03; Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.939, 199.20 def.
Jamie Yates, Grand Am, 7.032, 198.09;
QUARTERFINALS --
Marnell, 6.949, 198.96 def. Alderman, 6.975,
198.73; Anderson, 6.931, 200.08 def. Hammonds,
6.952, 199.23; J. Coughlin, 6.932, 199.11 def.
Ji. Yates, 6.959, 199.40; Whisnant, 6.958,
199.20 def. Lee, 12.747, 69.38;
SEMIFINALS -- J.
Coughlin, 6.969, 198.67 def. Whisnant, foul;
Anderson, 6.938, 199.46 def. Marnell, 6.989,
198.47;
FINAL -- J. Coughlin, 6.928, 199.52 def.
Anderson, 6.930, 199.91.
PRO STOCK
MOTORCYCLE:
ROUND ONE -- John
Smith, Suzuki, 7.338, 182.75 def. Joe DeSantis,
Suzuki, broke; Chris Reuter, Suzuki, 7.363,
180.65 def. Reggie Showers, Suzuki, 7.474,
178.26; Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.292, 182.92 def.
Thomas Miceli, Suzuki, 7.455, 182.01; Angelle
Savoie, Suzuki, 7.201, 185.56 def. Sam Hurwitz,
Suzuki, 7.414, 182.53; Matt Hines, Suzuki,
7.236, 185.43 def. Fred Camarena, Suzuki, 7.435,
179.80; Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.277, 182.77 def.
Michael Phillips, Suzuki, broke; Geno Scali,
Kawasaki, 7.374, 180.84 def. Mike Berry, Suzuki,
7.356, 181.79; Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.212, 185.82
def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.405, 181.89;
QUARTERFINALS --
Brown, 7.281, 182.72 def. Treble, 7.285, 183.79;
Hines, 7.211, 186.59 def. Reuter, 7.362, 184.19;
Gann, 7.204, 187.47 def. Scali, 7.314, 185.00;
Savoie, 7.176, 185.92 def. Smith, 7.339, 186.33;
SEMIFINALS --
Gann, 7.275, 184.85 def. Hines, 7.287, 183.94;
Savoie, 7.210, 184.85 def. Brown, foul;
FINAL -- Savoie, 7.187, 184.83 def. Gann, foul.
MADISON, Ill. --
Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional
categories following the Sixth annual Sears
Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International
Raceway, the 12th of 23 events in the $50
million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -
Top Fuel
1. Larry
Dixon, 1,152; 2. Kenny Bernstein, 995; 3.
Tony Schumacher, 777; 4. Cory McClenathan,
739; 5. Darrell Russell, 619; 6.
Doug Kalitta, 615; 7. Doug Herbert, 596;
8. David Grubnic, 533; 9. Rhonda
Hartman-Smith, 511; 10. Andrew Cowin, 469.
Funny Car
1. John
Force, 877; 2. Gary Densham, 839; 3.
Tony Pedregon, 720; 4. Del Worsham, 710;
5. Whit Bazemore, 678; 6. Scotty
Cannon, 650; 7. Ron Capps, 610; 8.
Johnny Gray, 566; 9. Tommy Johnson Jr.,
536; 10. Tim Wilkerson, 513.
Pro Stock
1. Jim
Yates, 822; 2. Greg Anderson, 720; 3.
Warren Johnson, 712; 4. Jeg Coughlin, 651;
5. Darrell Alderman, 619; 6. Ron
Krisher, 602; 7. George Marnell, 593; 8.
Bruce Allen, 545; 9. Mike Edwards, 499;
10. Kurt Johnson, 479.
Pro Stock
Motorcycle
1. Angelle
Savoie, 703; 2. Craig Treble, 604; 3.
Antron Brown, 545; 4. Shawn Gann, 492; 5.
Matt Hines, 476; 6. Geno Scali, 370; 7.
Reggie Showers, 328; 8. Mike Berry, 311;
9. John Smith, 307; 10. Steve
Johnson, 261 |
