Spencer Massey Kicks off the DSR Pre-Race Reports – Thunder Valley
BROWNSBURG, IN – The most wonderful time of the year isn’t in December for Spencer Massey. It’s now, when Spencer spends four consecutive weekends behind the wheel of his Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher Top Fuel dragster.
Even when the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series hasn’t been competing he’s been at a racetrack, usually in his home state of Texas helping friends race in NHRA Sportsman categories.
But helping his friends will be on hold for a while as the series starts a four-week run this weekend at Bristol Dragway that is followed by stops at Epping, N.H., near Chicago and Norwalk, Ohio before taking a weekend off in July.
“This is truly the best time of the year,” Spencer said. “I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a day off and it’s great. I think I’ve been at a racetrack every weekend since our season started in Pomona.”
The weekends he enjoys most are the ones when he gets to mash the throttle on his 10,000-horsepower nitro-fueled machine.
“We’re starting off four in a row this and I don’t think it gets any better than that. First of all I love going to Bristol. It’s such a unique track, the sound is unlike anything you hear anywhere else because it sits in a valley. It’s really cool. On top of that, the fans are always so great there. They’re true race fans and they love it.”
Massey’s history at the track also contributes to his love of the facility. He was the No. 1 qualifier and event runner-up in 2013.
“We did really well there last year and I’m going to just go back and try to turn on one more win light than I did last year. We always seem to go rounds there and that’s what we’re looking to do.
“We need to get our car more consistent and just pick up round wins. It was a great race for us and really kind of helped us pick up that momentum that’s so important.”
Massey and the Battery Extender team have won two of the past three event titles and sit fourth in NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel points through nine races.
“We won back to back races during in Atlanta and Topeka and maybe we could do the same and start off this four-race swing with a win in Bristol.
“If we win, the echo of me cheering at the top end might be as loud as two Top Fuel dragsters there.”
Antron Brown and his Matco Tools team led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald are ready to turn the next four events in their favor starting with this weekend’s NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee.
A year ago during the same stretch that included four events in four weeks, the 2012 Top Fuel champions saw their Sunday’s end after the first round in three of the four races.
When the Thunder Valley Nationals open with qualifying on Friday, the team also will be ready to stop this season’s string of first-round losses at the past two events.
“We’re going to Bristol with some new ‘pipe’ and those streaks will come to an end,” said Antron, who won three of this year’s first six events and ranks second in championship points.
The Matco Tools team plans to have new ‘pipe’ ready for Bristol in the form of a new Don Schumacher Racing dragster after it lost its primary car in a crash in which Antron was not injured on May 16 at Atlanta.
“Our new dragster will be better than the one we started the year with, and that one was pretty fast,” he said.
“We went to the championship round in 2011 at Bristol but haven’t sealed the deal yet, and ‘yet’ is the main word.”
The Mello Yello Series was off last weekend for the first time in a month, and the Matco Tools team needed the break to prepare its new car.
“It wasn’t a weekend off for everybody because we had to get our new car together. That gives us two good cars heading to the meat of the schedule. We needed to get everything back to normal so we can go back to hitting it hard the way we like to.”
Hagan ready to find out if dreams come true at NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals this weekend at Bristol Dragway
Matt Hagan is hoping to find out if dreams really do come true this weekend at the 14th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.
On Sunday night, Matt had a dream that his Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Funny Car team qualified No. 1 and scored its first NHRA event title of the season at Bristol Dragway.
“Honestly, I know dreams don’t mean anything but I dreamed that I was the No. 1 qualifier and we won the race so I would like for that dream to come true,” Matt said. “I sure did wake up happy.”
But a win at Bristol would mean more than just Sunday night’s dream coming true for Matt. It would be a win for the dozens of family and friends who will be attending this weekend to support Matt at his hometown track two hours from his home in Christiansburg, Va.
“It would be awesome, especially with Bristol being my home track,” he said. “Between there and Charlotte we have so many people come to hang out. We have a pile of people coming down this weekend. It has kind of blown me away how many people want to come to this race and support us. I’d love to win this for them.”
But it won’t be an easy task for Matt and the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T team led by Dickie Venables who have struggled through the last eight NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
After Matt reached the championship round in the February season-opener in Pomona, Calif., his team has only advanced past the quarterfinals once (Atlanta in May). He sits 10th in Funny Car points standings with eight events remaining before the Countdown to the Championship kicks off in September near Charlotte.
“It’s just been a rough season for not only us but all of the DSR Funny Cars,” he said of DSR’s Funny Cars that have yet to reach the winner’s circle after winning 12 of 24 event titles in 2013 including five by Matt. “I’d love to be the first one to get that win for our camp and do it right here at home in front of everyone.”
The Thunder Valley Nationals is the first of four consecutive NHRA Mello Yello series events and a crucial part of the summer stretch of events.
“They’re all very important,” he said. “We’re sitting No. 10 in the points right now and we need to make something happen here and make sure we get in the Countdown to run for the championship. We’re not just running to win races, we’re running to win championships. We need to make something happen here in this stretch and secure our spot in the Countdown.
“Hopefully I can wake up happy next Monday because my dream really did come true.”
Capps spends off weekend racing to get ready for Bristol
Ron Capps competed in a Nostalgia Funny Car match-race Friday outside of Indianapolis, and while it might seem like an odd way for him to spend one of only two off weekends within a 12-week span in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, it makes perfect sense to him.
“Driving what I get to drive away from the Mello Yello Series always helps me,” said the resident of Carlsbad, Calif. “Luckily I’ve got a great owner like Don Schumacher who always has allowed me to venture out to race other things. He’s aware those experiences can only make you a better driver.
“It definitely helps me because you get a better sense of listening to the engine and what it’s doing. Driving different cars expands your horizons and there’s nothing like seat time and experience regardless of what it’s in.”
Ron defeated fellow Mello Yello Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon on both runs at Lucas Oil Raceway during a Goodguys event. The festive outing also was beneficial to his crew and others at Don Schumacher Racing.
“It was cool at Indy because a lot of the DSR crew guys and my crew chief Rahn Tobler and his wife Ellen came out and were tailgating at the track. They were enjoying themselves and got to see Cruz and me race like it was the 1970s with big, long burnouts. They had a blast.”
This Friday it’s back to the Mello Yello Series to start a four-week run of four races beginning this weekend at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee. Ron ranks fifth with his NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T team heading to the 10th of 24 events this season.
“We’re getting to the time of the season when it starts getting very busy and these next four races can make or break a team.
“We’re going to some tracks coming up where Rahn and I have had some success,” Ron said. That includes Bristol where Ron has won three NHRA Wally trophies (2012, 2006, 2001).
“I’ve had great success at Bristol and love going there. It’s just a great place for me.
“The sole focus for our team now is to keep chugging away and moving up in the points. When you have four in a row like we’re going to have under different conditions it will test every bit of a crew chief’s experience and knowledge, and I have the best in Rahn Tobler.
“We have a good chance to move up in the points and make our run for when the Countdown to the Championship starts (Sept. 12). That’s when we want to hit our stride for those last six races.
“Our goal had been to at least stay in the top-five through this stretch and then start moving up to the top-three before the summer swing.”
Beckman intends for his Valvoline MaxLife Funny Car team to start seizing each opportunity in Bristol’s Thunder Valley
Jack Beckman knows when given an opportunity you must take advantage of it, especially in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
“You have to capitalize on opportunities,” he said. “When you get to a track and immediately strike on a good tune-up, you’re running good and you’re the favorite – you have to win.”
Jack and the Valvoline MaxLife Dodge Charger R/T team led by crew chief Rob Flynn were close to being the quickest two weeks ago at Englishtown, N.J., but certainly had the most consistent Funny Car through four qualifying runs and the first round of championship eliminations. The team produced runs between 4.017 and 4.085 seconds on its first five runs before Jack advanced to the semifinals by winning with a quicker reaction time at the starting line.
But in the semis, Jack’s car almost instantly went up in smoke on a questionable track and lost to a very slow 4.593 seconds produced by eventual event winner Cruz Pedregon.
The week before at Topeka, Kan., Jack’s day was ended when a $4 part broke at the starting line and again he lost to a sub-par 4.5-second time.
“(ESPN2 analyst) Mike Dunn said at Englishtown that we had the best car going into eliminations. We were the car to beat there but the starting line beat us.
“You can’t afford to have a parts failure or a starting line issue cost you. But that’s what keeps nitro racing interesting. At 10,000 horsepower, even if you’re the underdog you go to the line optimistic because stuff happens.”
When racing begins at Bristol, Tenn., on Friday, Jack will be at one of his favorite tracks and one where he will be seeking to earn his first NHRA Wally trophy.
“I love Bristol for two reasons: One, there’s only one Bristol and one Thunder Valley. You have to be there to hear 10,000 horsepower echo off the mountains, and television can’t capture that.
“And I love Bristol because I believe we have some momentum and it starts the first of four races in a row and seven over the next eight weekends.
“By the time we get done with that stretch it is going to separate who is going to be near the top and who is going to be fighting for one of the last 10 spots in the Countdown to the Championship.”
