2nd AC Delco Nationals
(April 19-20, June 1st, 2002) Richmond, VA
Notes|
Results | Photos
NATIONALS NOTEBOOK:
IHRA’s 2nd Annual AC Delco Nationals, originally slated for April 18-21st are not completed to until June 1st after rain defers the event conclusion after all qualifying is done. Racers return some six weeks later to very hot and humid weather and tricky track conditions.
Clay Millican and Jimmy Rector keep their unreal and undefeated 2002 streaks intact each winning for the 5th consecutive time this season. Millican drives Peter Lehman’s Werner Enterprises car to his “lucky #13” career win when he dominates a tire-smoking Bruce Litton in the Top Fuel final round. Millican runs the quickest and fastest time of all eliminations in the final round. Rector, from Georgia, takes the measure of his top class rival Dale Brand in the Alcohol Funny Car category driving his Chevy Camaro. Brand and Rector entered the final round after qualifying first and second of 21 cars entered.
Fred Hahn wins for the first time on the IHRA trail this season in Pro Mod taking out Canada’s Al Billes in the all supercharged final round. Hahn rolls to the quickest run of eliminations in the final round (6.286 secs) driving Jim Oddy’s Summit Racing Corvette. Billes’s runner-up finish extends his overall points lead. Pro Mod racing at VMP draws a far more typical IHRA class car count with 38 machines showing for the original dates. The bump spot is a quick 6.347 secs. For the record ten supercharged cars and six nitrous-injected cars qualify for final eliminations.
Pro Stock racing produces an enormous upset winner with former Top Sportsman class racer Jeff Dobbins prevailing in what was only his fourth race in the class. Dobbins, driving an 815 CID ‘99 Ford Probe is able to take a come from behind win over recent Shreveport K&N Nationals winner Carl Baker. Baker had set both low ET and top speed of the meet at 6.604 secs 210.18 mph during April’s qualifying action driving the Summit Racing Mercury Cougar.
IHRA’s Top Stock category, which is presented by G.M. Performance Parts, featured an all G.M. Performance Parts team final round with Monty Bogan Jr and Mike Adams facing one another. Bogan Jr., driving a Chevy Corvette is able to top Adams’s Chevy Camaro for the title running 10.08 secs at 130.45 mph compared to Adams’s 10.15 secs at 127.59 mph. Bogan and Adams had entered eliminations after qualifying 1-2. 14 Top Stock cars were entered at the event.
Steve Stordeur became the fourth different winner in IHRA Nitro Harley action this season when he powered Johnny Mancuso’s #2 machine to victory lane. Stordeur was able to hold off overall points leader Doug Vancil in the final round after defeating Mark Cox and Mike Romine in earlier competition. Nitro Harley racing had been paced by North Carolina’s Ray Price who ran both low ET (6.374 secs) and top speed (219.04 mph) during qualifying. Price broke however in round one.
Pro Mod racing includes the debut of a number of new machines to the class. Former Top Sportsman Q8 Shootout specialist Canadian Kasey Janzen runs his first IHRA national event in the class driving his Wix-sponsored Chevy Z-34. Janzen looks good but misses the cut with a best of 6.477 secs. Alabama’s Jason Brooks also debuts on the circuit with a slick new supercharged ‘63 Corvette but is also a DNQ with a best of 6.592 secs.
Texan lady Top Fuel racer Vicky Fanning provides arguably what is the events scariest moment. During qualifying she hammers the throttle just a millisecond after her husband Brent Fanning had leaned away from making a last second adjustment to her engine while staging. The rear slick and rear wing configuration come extremely close to clipping Brent without actually touching him. Incident goes largely unnoticed but this Dragracecanada reporter can’t help but wonder what both the IHRA official starter and Brett Fanning were thinking about. Close call should serve to be a wakeup call to all Top Fuel team crewmembers as well as monitoring IHRA starting line officials.
