Del Worsham scored his first victory for the new Al-Anabi team and was joined in the winner’s circle at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals by Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock), and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle), who all had previously scored victories this season. It only took new team owner Alan Johnson seven events to put both of his fledgling Al-Anabi/Alan Johnson Racing fuel teams into the winner’s circle as Worsham followed Top Fuel teammate Larry Dixon, a winner in Gainesville in March, to the NHRA Full Throttle winner’s circle.
The teams were racing not only to beat one another Sunday afternoon, but also the rain that threatened to cut action at Gateway Int’l Raceway short as it had during Friday qualifying at the event, the seventh of the 24-race 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
The Top Fuel final was a rematch of the season’s second event, in Phoenix, and the result was the same as it was in February with Brown collecting the win, his fourth in the class and 20th overall, in impressive fashion, defeating Brandon Bernstein with a 3.85 at 318.02 mph – the fifth fastest speed ever at 1,000 feet – to Bernstein’s 3.88 at 310 mph. The victory boosted Brown into the points lead ahead of Tony Schumacher.
“This was a phenomenal race,” said Brown. “Any time you line up against [Brandon] Bernstein, you have to be on top of your game and we were. Rob Flynn is the crew chief over there and I know what he’s capable of. He won this race last year with my [former] teammate, Rod Fuller. We figured that they would run a 3.85 or 3.86 and we knew we’d need to match that.
“Our team was getting better one step at a time. We were getting faster and faster. In the final, we decided to give it everything we’ve got. We took the wickerbill off so I knew it would run a big speed if it was stuck. Even so, I was surprised that we ran 318. That was big for us and I owe it to Brian [Corradi] and Mark [Oswald]. They’ve gone from Funny Car to Top Fuel and they haven’t missed a thing.” NHRA
Elsewhere, Pro Stock points leader Jeg Coughlin prevailed in his class and Eddie Krawiec continued his winning ways in Pro Stock Motorcycle by going 189.39 mph in 6.947 seconds and outdoing Craig Treble. Krawiec, the 2008 world champion, also triumphed two weeks ago in Atlanta.
“That first win took a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Krawiec said. “The main thing is focus. You don’t want to hold back.”
Coughlin, checking in at 6.588 seconds at a speed of 208.39, outran Jason Line to earn his second victory here. He also reigned in 2002.
“There’s no question our team has jelled,” Coughlin said. “We have been racing hard and racing smart.”
Upsets spiced the closing day of competition, particularly in Top Fuel and Funny Car action. In addition, Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Matt Smith and 2008 GIR champ Andrew Hines suffered quarterfinal round eliminations.
Morgan Lucas, the leading qualifier in Top Fuel, lost to Bernstein in the quarterfinals. And Schumacher, a six-time world champion, couldn’t get past Shawn Langdon, a 26-year-old rookie.
“It really was an awesome race,” said Schumacher, who competed in his 275th event. “We both left the starting line about the same time and I nudged ahead at half track, but he picked me up and just got by me at the finish line.”
Springfield’s Tim Wilkerson, the defending Funny Car champ, bowed to Worsham in the quarterfinals. Wilkerson, ninth in the points standings, started in the sixth spot for the finals. He understood that his fans were disappointed he couldn’t advance deeper into the field.
“It was a good race, but I was on the wrong end of it,” Wilkerson said. “I thought I was consistent. It just wasn’t good enough.” The Telegraph
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