Yahoo Autos What We Learned about the NHRA from Its Indianapolis Return from Pandemic Pause
Without some of its headliners, including the suddenly elusive 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series has faced questions whether it—whether drag racing, for that matter—can survive the side effects of the coronavirus calamity.
Judging by the impromptu doubleheader this month at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, the answer is a resounding yes. The sport isn’t perfect, but it shows encouraging signs of not only life, but in some ways, growth.
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The July 11-12 E3 Spark Plugs Nationals that revived the 2020 schedule after a four-month layoff and this past weekend’s Lucas Oil Summernationals proved three points:
The NHRA has barged ahead and accomplished more than many thought it could, despite mounting schedule changes and strict public-health policies.
Fresh faces are at the forefront of competition.
The passion for the sport remains strong.
From the beginning of the shutdown, NHRA president Glen Cromwell insisted the sport must race in front of spectators. While most thought that was unrealistic, given the broad spectrum of state public-health restrictions, then a trend of states reversing their decisions to open businesses, it looked like the Cromwell’s plan was doomed.
Cromwell stuck to the company line, partly because the NHRA wants to be relevant like other motorsports series but doesn’t have a beneficial TV agreement that gives the luxury of fan-less events (like NASCAR does). That’s a fact, but Cromwell spoke mainly about the “fan experience,” which undeniably distinguishes drag racing from NASCAR, especially.
And the NHRA found a way to have what it wants. The state of Indiana, famous for its red-carpet treatment of auto-racing operations, approved racetracks to admit spectators at 50% capacity. The NHRA offered tickets as reasonably priced as $20 and $35. And according to Cromwell, the target audience was 3,000. But estimates of 2,500 seemed generous.
Three-time Top Fuel champion Antron Brown, said, “Indianapolis is the mecca of racing. To be here and see all the interest from the fans has been great. We’ve had fans come in here from the East Coast, telling us they’re here for us and showing some amazing support. That’s a great feeling just to know that they made the trip to see us. That’s pretty awesome.
“It’s been great having the races in Indianapolis. Just to come back and get a chance to do what we do has been awesome,” he said. “That’s all we can ask for right now. We’re grateful to be able to come back to racing. After everything that’s happened, it’s been easier on most of the teams being based here.”
The NHRA has had to abandon (at least temporarily) races at Denver and Brainerd, Minnesota. That means that it has had to jettison nearly half of its 24 originally scheduled Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events—with the remainder uncertain, except for Indianapolis and probably Bristol, Tennessee. Last week, the NHRA added a third race, again at Indianapolis. Many teams are based in nearby Brownsburg, Indiana, about 1 to 2 miles from the site of the annual U.S. Nationals.
Shawn Langdon, Brown’s Toyota colleague and Top Fuel rival, said, “It’s like racing for the Indy track championship. I don’t mind it. It’s just different. Truthfully, it’s nice to be at home every night and sleeping in my own bed. My condo is just 10 minutes from the track. I couldn’t tell you the last time I’ve been at home for a month straight—it's probably been 10, 15 or even 20 years. Of course, we want to go out and race. It’s nice being out here and racing.”
Brown said, “Everybody has to understand it’s a slow process in getting everything back up and running. We want to be there (at Denver and Brainerd) so bad and the fans are screaming. They want us there, and we want to be there. Those two races are huge.”
Langdon’s Toyota teammate at Kalitta Motorsports, JR Todd, said, “I’m glad to be back out here with these guys and, hopefully, we can keep that going for weeks and months to come. East Coast, West Coast, I just want to race. But I do miss going to those other tracks and connecting with all the fans that support us across the country.”
Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta, who’s chasing his first championship, is adapting to the new two-day format that erases two qualifying sessions. He said, “It feels a little old school with no Countdown. Everything that we do, every round, every race is going to be extra important this year.”
And crew chiefs have been more conservative, not aiming for gaudy elapsed times or speeds. They have only two chances to qualify and do it advantageously.
Lower-than-hoped-for turnouts, drastically reduced purses and sharply rising nitromethane costs keep the story from having a completely fairy-tale resolution. But one thing is for sure, Kalitta said: “With cities adapting their protocols on reopening, there’s a chance we could see our schedule continue to change.”
He meant that for the better. And if Top Fuel racer T.J. Zizzo’s assessment is any indication, the health/sanitation protocol at Lucas Oil Raceway seems to be a point in the NHRA’s favor.
“I'm really happy with what NHRA did (at the first Indianapolis race). They did great. They contained everything, I felt safe. I felt safer at the racetrack than I feel at our body shop, our 13,000-square-foot body shop, where we have plenty of room to roam around and not have to intermingle with a lot of people. The fans have been very, very good. We’ve all kept our distance. Masks have been worn. People are washing their hands more than ever,” Zizzo said. "I think NHRA has done a good job. There were just enough fans to make this fun and enough fans here to make it work. It seems like all the guidelines have been met, which is really fantastic."
On the track, different racers are showing up and different racers are emerging with improved performance.
Providing a shot of excitement was Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Ryan Oehler, a 36-year-old Illinois State University graduate who owned his own company by age 24 and runs the family’s heating and cooling business at Bloomington, Illinois. He earned his first victory in the first Indianapolis event, which was the bike category’s season opener.
Oehler combined with Jianna Salinas (2019 NHRA Finals winner at Pomona, California) to record the class’ first back-to-back triumphs by new winners since 2004. (That’s when Andrew Hines, now a six-time series champion, accomplished the feat with Karen Stoffer at Gainesville, Florida, and Houston.)
He said he and dad Brad, his engine builder, “have been hunting for this for a long time.”
The NHRA has been, too, looking for some newer—and younger—personalities to excel.
Last weekend, rain soaked the racetrack just as the finalists were making their way to the starting line. That has pushed the conclusion of the Lucas Oil Summernationals to the September U.S. Nationals at this same venue. But interest in those final rounds is heightened because in the Top Fuel class, both contenders will be racing in their first final rounds. That hasn’t happened in 23 years, since Cristen Powell defeated Top Fuel opponent Bruce Sarver in May 1997 at Englishtown, New Jersey. The Pro Mod class will crown a new winner.
In Top Fuel, Justin Ashley, 25, and Zizzo, 44, will face off. The Pro Modified finals will match Mississippi cotton and soybean farmer Jason Scruggs and Chad Green, who hadn’t raced since crashing on this same drag strip last September and undergoing back surgery.
The familiar story of Don Schumacher Racing capturing another Funny Car victory would be a bit ho-hum, were it not for the fact the guaranteed triumph puts the Brownsburg-headquartered organization on the brink of 350 race wins. The milestone ranks DSR among the elite teams in motorsports. Jack Beckman or Matt Hagan will become the Funny Car category’s first two-time winner this season and give DSR its seventh consecutive victory, dating back to last October’s race near Dallas.
So without Austin Prock, Brittany Force, Robert Hight and the John Force Racing boss, along with Mike Salinas, Jianna Salinas, Scott Palmer and a handful of faithful part-timers and regulars who haven’t secured adequate funding, others are filling in and filling up the fields.
Take Alex Miladinovich. He debuted in February at Pomona, a few miles from his home in Orange. But he was willing to tow his homemade Funny Car—the one he built in his family’s garage (while his brother built the engine for it in the garage of his own home a few blocks away)—more than 2,000 miles to race at the storied drag strip. “This is sacred ground, and it’s an honor to be here,” he said.
Joe Morrison wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He wanted so much to compete at last weekend’s race that he drove about 10 hours to Indianapolis from Reading, Pennsylvania, so he could turn in his Top Fuel race-entry paperwork in person. (And Reading is about two hours in the opposite direction from his home at Flemington, N.J.) Morrison wryly told that he had earned his first sportsman license Sept. 11, 2001. “So what the heck?” he said. “We might as well have a global pandemic when I’m trying to get my Top Fuel license, right?” He failed to qualify but said he hopes to drive Gary Leverich’s dragster at several more races this year, circumstances permitting.
Passion still shines through a number of racers, including Bob Tasca III. After a nasty bout with coronavirus, the Funny Car ace was cleared to compete. He jumped back in his car that sub Jonnie Lindberg had qualified second the week before—and blasted to the top of the order. Top Fuel points leader Kalitta has been driving while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
A host of sponsors has stayed with clients and the sport, including Auto Shocker, Cattleman’s Cut, Denso, Dodge/Mopar, E3 Spark Plugs, Fifth/Third Bank, Global Electronic Technology, Lucas Oil, Levi-Ray-&-Shoup, Mac Tools, Matco Tools, Melling, Motorcraft/Quick Lane, NAPA, NGK, Revchem, Rust-Oleum, Snap-on Tools, Strutmasters.com, Summit Racing Equipment, Top Coat and Toyota.
Some racers have added sponsors during this time. Ashley brought Menards on board. Kalitta added Osborn. And Cory McClenathan raced with Nordic Boats livery.
Kalitta put it this way: “We’re just like everybody else, trying to get through all of this craziness of COVID-19. NHRA and really all of the teams out here are just trying to do our best to stay out here.”
Zizzo is more animated, and he said, “For many at the track throughout the week and this weekend, there’s been a lightness. Friends and family who have been separated are now reunited at one of the best places on Earth. The thing about a drag strip is that it just takes all your worries away. You take all your worries from home or from work, you come into a drag strip, and fans are smiling, They’re having a good time. They’re enjoying themselves. They’re smelling nitro. And you get to shut out the rest of the world—one awesome reason why drag racing is friggin’ spectacular!"
