6th Amalie Oil North American Nationals
Epping, NH. (Sep. 7-9th, 2001)
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Results | Photos
NATIONALS NOTEBOOK:
Top Fuel driver Clay Millican grabs headlines again after winning his 5th consecutive IHRA national event in 2001. The feat ties Millican with legendary Don Garlits who won 5 straight IHRA events back in 1975. Millican and crew chief Mike Kloeber unload the quickest and fastest runs in IHRA history during qualifying -- 4.614 secs and 323.58 mph -- but cannot back up those marks for official IHRA national records. Millican gets by surprise opponent Louie Allison for the event championship. It is Allison’s first ever Top Fuel final round. Defending IHRA World Champion Paul Romine is upset in round one of racing which all but ends his 2001 Championship title defence hopes. Millican leads Romine by 208 points with only two (Top Fuel) events left.
Gene Wilson dominates again in Pro Stock as he and car owner Charlie Hunt win for the sixth time in eight races so far this season. Wilson, driving his Mercury Cougar, is the class of the field unloading both low ET and top speed during qualifying and recording low ET during each round of eliminations. Chevy pilot John Montecalvo attempts to break Ford’s stranglehold in IHRA Pro Stock racing when he leaves on Wilson in the final (.437 to .467 RT) but his 6.650 secs at 210.05 mph effort in the Citgo Cavalier is ultimately reeled in by Wilson who goes 6.588 secs at 211.79 mph. If Wilson can win each of the remaining three events this season he can surpass Bob Glidden’s eight race wins in a single season record which he set in IHRA back in 1976.
Pro Funny Car features a final round battle between the number one and two cars in IHRA points as Mark Thomas and Jimmy Rector face one another. It is the second race in a row and the third time this season that the two have met in the final round. Rector wins a 5.947 secs to 5.978 secs decision to close Thomas’s overall points lead to 13. Rector’s win, comes from the pole, and is his second event title in five final round appearances so far this season.
Saturday Night’s Quick 8 winners were Ron Iannotti in Lizzard Top Sportsman and Randy Fraker in Lenco TD. Iannotti ran a 6.490 secs at 210.54 mph in his nitrous-injected Corvette to top Pat Doherty. Fraker, who won the TDQ8 at Mid-Michigan (July 28th), took the Hemi-powered dragster owned by Jeff Schefus to a final round 6.130 secs 223.28 mph victory over Canadian Jeff Chatterson.
Mike Janis extends his overall points lead in Pro Modified with yet another impressive performance driving his Buffalo-based Jan-Cen/Weber’s ’63 Corvette. Janis sets both ends of the New England Dragway track record in qualifying (low ET and top speed) and then skips by Harold Martin, Paul Athey and Al Billes before taking on Carl Moyer in the final round. Janis goes 6.318 secs at 226.58 mph to notch his third win of the season. Iowa’s Moyer, who reportedly had been on the verge of retirement a few weeks earlier, runs 6.352 secs at 221.78 mph for the loss. The final round appearance for Moyer was his first on the IHRA Pro Mod trail since 1996.
Anthony Bertozzi’s maintains his unreal presence in Super Stock winning for the fifth time this season at the IHRA national level. In fact Bertozzi, has been in every final round this season (except one @Mid-Michigan). He wheeled his Parts Pro-sponsored Pontiac Grand-Am to a winning 9.429 secs (9.41 dial in) in the final round to turn back Canadian Gianni Cantusci who ran 10.771 secs (10.72 dial in) driving his Pontiac Firebird.
Nitro Harley points leader Doug Vancil won his second race of the season when he held off defending World Champ Jay Turner in the final round. Vancil’s only previous event win this season had come at Grand Bend during June. Nitro Harley had been paced by Steve Stordeur who ran 6.478 secs for low ET of the event but Stordeur brushed the guardrail during a first round loss to Stan Verheijen. Top Speed in the class was set by Tony Mattioli who rode Jim McClure’s machine to a 220.87 mph lap during qualifying.
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