Gosh and golly, Gainesville was great. You’re welcome for that alliterative start to this blog installment, and all the words in that opening sentence were true, for the fans, for NHRA, for the racers themselves, and for Del Worsham. Kudos are handed out to everyone!
Let’s break it up into segments, shall we? We shall start with…
The weather. You really couldn’t ask for anything better, and that goes for everyone. It was cool in the mornings and late in the afternoons. It was mostly sunny, but Sunday challenged everyone with some persistent fog and some low clouds that took their time burning off. When the sun finally did come shining through, crew chiefs were twirling dials to try to adapt. In all, it was a brilliant race in terms of what Mother Nature gave us. Comfortable, fast, and dry. I give the weather 5 Stars.
The crowd. Friday was my first day at the track and I remember thinking this: “This is a pretty good Friday crowd, but I have to keep in mind that the capacity at Gainesville Raceway is pretty huge.” Basically, the Friday crowd was outstanding and would’ve filled some of the other tracks on the tour. That’s why it’s sometimes hard to evaluate what “pretty good” is versus “huge.” Saturday and Sunday? Well, “packed” is a good word, and that goes for the seats, the standing-room areas in front of the grandstands, and the pits. Saturday: SOLD OUT. Sunday: SOLD OUT. I don’t recall ever experiencing that before, at such a huge venue. Well done Gainesville Raceway. Great work NHRA. Thanks a million FANS!
The racing. It was all of the following: Thrilling, record breaking, competitive, and explosive. And one long smoky burnout by that Cory Lee cat, but more on that later.
Hector Arana Jr. became the first Pro Stock Motorcycle competitor to top the 200 mph mark, putting a 200.23 mph speed on the board Friday evening, during Q2. That was roundly considered the last big landmark accomplishment in the pro classes. I turned to Courtney Enders, who was again sitting next to me in the Media Center, and said, “Now watch. This has taken the entire history of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle to happen, and now five more riders will do this in the next 10 races, if the weather cooperates.” There was indeed one more 200+ run in Gainesville, and it was “Little Hector” again, putting a 201.01 on the clocks in Q4.
In the nitro classes, the track was there, but it was tricky. It was as if the window for a good run was so narrow it was like threading a needle with your arms out the window of a car doing 75 mph. If you got it, you nailed it. If not, we did indeed see some tire smoke. It made for both frustration and for some great racing. It also led to some more big boomers. For the third time in three races, John Force detonated a motor big-time, and shredded another body off his car. His first three events add up to the kind of cost that would put some teams right out of business. They know they have to figure it out, and Force actually shut off in round one against Courtney because it was planned. After the big explosion, they started over with his car and all his runs were planned early shut-offs, as they tried to get to the bottom of it.
Force’s was big, but the huge one was a doubleheader. Robert Hight was racing against Matt Hagan in the second round on Sunday, and you’ve all probably seen what happened on TV. Both cars exploded near the finish line. Both engines were a mass of flames. Both Funny Car bodies were shredded and launched into the air. High into the air, at that. And then there was the great TV moment when Hagan climbed from his destroyed race car and walked to the wall, where he asked an official “Did we win?” and then pumped his first when the answer was yes.
If any or all of this sounds interesting, but you haven’t seen any of it yet (especially is you’ve never really followed NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing) here’s a great video recap from NHRA and Fox. Take a look!
https://www.nhra.com/videos/2018/fast-five-2018-amalie-motor-oil-nhra-gatornationals
Del Worsham. After really battling his Funny Car at Pomona and Phoenix, Del spent the time and money to stick around after the Phoenix race and do some serious testing on Monday. That can be a valuable thing, but it’s also just Monday. The Monday Nationals, we call it. Those testing days can be rewarding, or frustrating, or deceiving. Del felt it was very rewarding. He was right. Throughout the Gatornationals, he was the absolute picture of consistency, and he was consistently very good. I don’t want to get too number-centric here, but it bears noting that he ran 4.056 right out of the box in Q1. Then a stronger 3.979 in Q2. On Saturday, in the heat with the sun shining bright, a 4.001 in Q3. Knowing he was safely in the show, he parked his car and the team concentrated on getting Cory Lee to the line for one shot at glory, in the Worsham & Fink backup car. Cory went up there with a plan he’d only shared with a few. If the car qualified, great. If it didn’t, that would be okay too because his goal was to “bring the house down” with a burnout unlike anything we’ve seen for many – MANY – years.
I was not aware of the plan. I knew he was going to lift early, because Del and Chuck were not interested in blowing anything up just to get in 16th. When Cory started his burnout, the white smoke billowed and I lost sight of him. I did not, however, lose audio contact with the noise his Lucas Oil Funny Car was making. The burnout seemed to go on forever, and before he lifted we were already looking at each other with smiles and laughs, back at the starting line. When the smoke cleared, he had come to a stop near the finish line, after carrying the burnout all the way to the 660-foot timer.
The crowd, as they say, went crazy. We don’t hear the crowd very much, so it’s startling when they go that nuts. Del was down there near the 660 mark, and when he jumped the wall and pumped both arms in the air, the crowd cranked it up another notch. Cory Lee is a showman. He’s a racer. He’ll drive anything and dominate it. And he is a certified crowd pleaser, as well. He’s also a cool dude.
On Sunday, Del faced JR Todd in round one, as the No. 9 qualifier. I had a good feeling about Del’s car making a strong lap, but JR’s Toyota is a good hot rod and I knew we’d have a battle on our hands. When Del did his burnout, I sensed something “not quite right” going on out there in the smoke. When it cleared, I saw JR’s car stopped on the track with the parachutes on the ground. JR then climbed out and jumped over the wall.
At that point, I was really hoping we’d make a good lap so that it didn’t look like a lucky walkover. Del did just that, and his 4.013 was another strong run, right down the middle. We then faced Jack Beckman in round two, and gave him all he could handle. Our 4.032 was good, but Fast Jack’s 3.973 was better. Still, a good race, a great race car, and Del left Gainesville in 10th place.
I’m still not 100% sure of what happened to JR’s car, but with the ‘chutes being out and his car being silent, I’m assuming the safety switch was the culprit. It does happen…
Our backers. Brent LaBrie is a bright young guy from Wisconsin, who has become a very successful businessman in a very short amount of time. He’s heavily involved with a number of companies he owns or runs, and he just happens to be a big drag racing fan. For years, he was also a Del Worsham fan. You know what? I “get that” in both regards. I, too, am a big drag racing fan and I’ve been a Del Worsham fan since I first got into the sport and he was wining races as a 21-year old kid. Brent, though, had the wherewithal and the desire to get involved with the driver and the team he admired so much.
As you can see in the photo up above, on the side of Del’s car in Gainesville was the logo of Kramer Service Group, which is one of Brent’s companies, based out of Weyerhaeuser, Wisconsin. The company is an industry leader in drilling for water and geothermal and it was an honor to have their logo on both sides of the car. Brent was there, with his young son, and he’s a fantastic guy. It’s clear he’s really passionate about this, and we’re fortunate to have the support of both Kramer Service Group and HI-TEC Finishing, another one of Brent’s companies, located in Hudson, Wisconsin. Here’s the “small world” part of that: Hudson is just a few miles from Woodbury, It’s just across the St. Croix river, about five miles away. And Brent and his boy had a great time all weekend, pitching in cleaning the body and helping out any way they could. In the coming weeks, Brent and I are plotting a get-together over lunch when he’s in Hudson. We aim to find ways to get Del Worsham back in the Winner’s Circle. Or possibly dominate the world. The latter option might entail giant laser beams, but those would be really expensive.
And finally, my trip. As I outlined in the previous blog, I was flying in and out of Tampa, and I was staying in Ocala. The trip down was seamless and easy, and I was at the hotel by 8:00 pm. I knew I’d have a lot more driving to do each day, and on Friday I took the shortest route to the track, which entailed about 35 miles of high-speed driving on I-75 before getting off south of Gainesville, to take the direct approach up past the airport and then into the track. The problem with that route is how congested it is, how many stoplights there are, how un-synchronized the lights are, and that most of the race traffic uses that route. It actually took me longer to get from the exit ramp to the track, all within the Gainesville city limits, than it took me to drive the 35 miles or so on the freeway. On Saturday and Sunday, I took the slightly longer but much easier route, staying on 75 for three more exits so that I would approach the track from the west instead of the south. As each day passed, the drive seemed a little easier. It’s a long way, round trip, each day, but it kept the hotel costs in line. I’d do it again.
At the track, it was a gigantic pleasure to share the state-of-the-art Media Center in the Gainesville tower, with my PR and media colleagues. After the trailer with the bars on the windows in Phoenix, it felt like the Major Leagues.
I took this photo, so I’m not in it but that’s my empty chair between Courtney Enders and Scott Sebastian. It’s great to work among so many talented and dedicated people.
When the racing was nearly over on Sunday, I had about a 110-mile trip back down to Tampa, but they’ve just opened a new super-duper centralized rental car facility, connected to the main terminal by a sky-train, and that made everything go so smoothly. I could tell the place was brand new because the concrete floors were still clean. When I asked the National Rental Car rep who checked me out she said, “It’s just been open for about a week.” It still had that “new rental center” smell.
I turned the car in, rode the train, entered the terminal, and checked in at the Marriott that’s right there inside the airport. Monday morning, I walked out of my room and went straight to the gate. Badda boom, badda bing! I’d do that again, too.
So now we have two weekends off before Vegas, and to me that’s okay. I’m just getting back into shape for all the travel, so having some time at home is good, for now. It will get more hectic as we move through the season.
Still working on some extracurricular plans for Vegas, and it will be great to see the new 4-lane layout there. I’ve been following the progress on Facebook and it looks like it’s always been 4-wide at The Strip. I expected no less out of that talented staff, but they really had a time crunch on their hands to be ready for the event. Ready they are, with time to spare. Can’t wait to get there.
Finally, one more mention and the answer to a common question I hear nearly every day. That question is “How’s the book doing?” Well, it’s still “doing” and that’s phenomenal. Not flying out the Amazon door like it did for the first six months, but after 10 full months on the market I find it absolutely remarkable that it does still sell. And now, if you’ve been on the fence, Amazon has it at around $40.50, so that’s a bit more than $10 off its original cover price. There’s no guarantee it will stay at the price if sales pick up rapidly, so now may be the time to order if you haven’t done so. And, the Kindle version is still $9.99, so there’s that option. Just go here:
Have a great week, everyone. I’ll be back with more nonsense next Thursday.
And don’t forget… If you just read this and enjoyed it, please officially “Like” it by clicking on the button at the top. Thank you!
Bob Wilber, at your service and home from a great Gainesville getaway.