NHRA Drag Racers Embrace Rare Doubleheader at Bristol

• Fans will be the winners at this action-packed Thunder Valley Nationals

• Between washed-out New England Nationals and the regularly scheduled Thunder Valley Nationals, drivers will have many chances to earn valuable points

• Cash- and points-rich #2Fast2Tasty bonus races makes coming out of the blocks strong even more important to the teams.

Despite its potential for miscalculations and mayhem, a rare concurrent NHRA doubleheader—a concurrent doubleheader, at that—this weekend at Tennessee’s Bristol Dragway has the Top Fuel and Funny Car racers’ approval.

Rain washed out eliminations for the Camping World Drag Racing Series’ New England Nationals at Epping, N.H. both Sunday and Monday. So officials and teams huddled to find a palatable solution. What they came up with, The solution, for both financial and customer-experience satisfaction, was an event in which the Epping eliminations will play out during qualifying for Bristol’s Thunder Valley Nationals.

Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett called the creative compromise “one of the most ultimate race events Bristol has ever had, which in turn is going to be thrilling for fans every single day.”

The potential to win two “Wally” trophies at the same event isn’t unprecedented. In October 2012, the rain-interrupted race at Reading, Pa., finished with the Pro Stock Motorcycle final round at Las Vegas. Then in September 2014, the Carolina Nationals at Charlotte shifted to Texas Motorplex, near Dallas. In that instance, four pairs of Pro Stock cars and all of the bike class needed to complete their first-round runs, and three rounds of racing were left for Top Fuel and Funny Cars nitro cars.

This is the first time, at least in modern history, that two events will run from scratch at the same time.

Crew chiefs likely will be the ones most burdened, for strategy usually is different from qualifying to race-day. One tuner, Jim Oberhofer, from Rick Ware Racing’s Clay Millican dragster, said, “There's a couple of ways to look at the scenario we now have at Bristol. I don't think running on Thursday at Bristol to finish the Epping race would have been a good idea, simply because of track prep.

“In a perfect world,” he said, “we really need a full day of cars running on the track along with PJ1 traction compound sprays and tire drags by the NHRA Safety Safari to get the track surface to the level that we need for the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams to perform the way we all want. Ideally, if you wanted to finish the Epping event separate from the Bristol event, running on the Monday after Bristol would have worked best, as far as the track having the best traction available.”

Economics played a definite role in the NHRA’s decision,

Oberhofer said, “The other way to look at this is cost savings. Not having to make an extra one to four runs on Thursday or Monday would save the teams money. The only negative I see about running the Epping race within Bristol qualifying is that normally during qualifying, if you drop a cylinder or smoke or shake the tires, you would abort the run. Now that we are ‘racing’ during qualifying, you will see the drivers do what they need to do to win that round.

“We had a similar situation at Epping on Saturday when Clay raced Brittany (Force) in the Mission Foods (bonus) race. Both drivers tried to get the win, but in the process, Brittany hurt a motor, and Clay went on a wild ride, trying to get the win.”

Funny Car racer J.R. Todd “It makes Q1 super-important to get down the track and get yourself qualified well. Other than that, you have to kind of go into race mode. A lot will depend on whether you’re in or out of the field after that first qualifying attempt, as far as how you approach the second qualifying round that’ll also be the first round of Epping eliminations.

“You have to try to win the (Epping) round, but you also have to make the (Bristol) race. So that first qualifying round will be really important. It’s definitely a bonus for the fans, butt you have to be aware if lane choice matters for the next round, for example. Bristol is one of my favorite tracks, but the surface is one of the hardest tracks we compete on each season. It is definitely tricky, especially when it gets warm there. It’s definitely going to be interesting racing there during qualifying, that’s for sure.”

Fellow Funny Car driver Ron Capps said of Bristol Dragway (where he has won six times), “We're lucky if we get these cars down the track, period, with our eyes open.”

Top Fuel’s Shawn Langdon said, “You’re racing to win the round. The qualifying run will be a residual effect of you trying to win the round. Anytime I sit in a race car, whether its testing, qualifying, eliminations, or racing in the finals for a championship, I have the same mentality. Nothing changes on my end, and I don’t think much changes as far as the tune-up goes.

“I like it,” Langdon said. “It’s going to put a lot more at stake. Every qualifying run will matter, and every eliminations run will matter. How they intertwined the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which will also be intertwined with the Epping race and the Bristol race qualifying.... I think it’s awesome, and I’m excited to be a part of it.

“The situation in Epping was tough. There’s really no right or wrong answer to it, because any way you do it, some people will agree, and some people won’t. In my opinion, they made the best possible decision. Epping has one of the best fan bases on tour, but logistically, it would be very difficult to get back up there to put on a great show for them. There are minimal options moving forward, so when I heard what the plan was, I liked it and knew I could get behind it. It raises the stakes for everything, and I think it was the right decision.”

Justin Ashley “I would've loved to race in Epping. Credit to NHRA. They did everything in their power to get the race off. Think aAll things considered, it's being handled correctly.”

Moreover, Dragster driver Justin Ashley has the chance to win a third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which he said “would give us nine championship points, which equates to almost one whole position in the standings. This weekend could pay huge dividends later in the year.”

Or as Capps said, “It took something (like) a bummer with Mother Nature (to) to turn this into something pretty cool in Bristol, the best we could make of it.”

Top Fuel points leader Steve Torrence simply said, “After this last week, I just want to go racing.”