32nd Mac Tools Gatornationals
(Mar. 15-17 & Apr. 21, 2001) Gainesville, FL
Notes
| Results
| Photos
NATIONALS NOTEBOOK:
NHRA Mac Tools Gatornationals -- which were originally scheduled
for conclusion on Mar. 18th, but were rained out, are completed April
21st. Larry Dixon, driver of Don Prudhomme's Miller Lite dragster prevails
in Top Fuel for his first win of the 2001 season. Dixon and crew chief
Dick LaHaie take the measure of defending NHRA Winston Champion Gary
Scelzi in the final round. Dixon's wins close 4.661 sec to 4.727 secs
match -- both finalists record identical 313.95 mph top end speeds.
Funny Car racing sees John Force earn his second win of the 2001 season
and move back on top of the overall Winston points standings. Force,
driving his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, beats the Mopar-sponsored Dodge
R/T driven by Dean Skuza in a final round. Both cars spin their tires
but Force recovers first to earn his 94th career event win. Force's
winning rampage includes the quickest run yet (4.812 secs) by a Funny
Car under NHRA's 90% nitro rules and top speed of the meet at 317.19
mph. Force's pole is his 101st in NHRA Funny Car racing. Bump spot is
a record breaker -- 4.960 secs.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. who won at Las Vegas, steals a second consecutive
Pro Stock final round on a holeshot. Coughlin overcomes both a lane
choice and performance disadvantage when he serves up a .432 reaction
time to beat Mark Osborne. Coughlin wins 6.935 secs to 6.928 secs driving
the Ohio-based Jegs Mail Order Chevy Cavalier. Runner-up is best finish
so far for Osborne who replaced Scott Geoffrion behind the wheel of
David Nickens's Hemi-powered Team Mopar Dodge.
Pro Stock racing at Gainesville is a record-breaker. The Mac Tools
Gatornationals sees for the first time in NHRA history all 16-qualified
cars run over 200 mph. The bump spot was a swift 6.909 secs.
The rain rescheduled event plays havoc with NHRA's planned first ever
attempt at a Pro Mod eliminator. The April 20th date is a direct conflict
with the IHRA national event in Virginia. As a result only two of the
eight qualified cars (Kurt Kuhns and Rickie Smith) return to Gainesville
along with two alternates Todd Tutterow and Wayne Torkelson. Rickie
Smith, driving his nitrous-injected Dodge Viper wins the abbreviated
Pro Mod title. Smith also competes in Pro Stock driving a Dodge but
falls in round one.
Pro Stock Bike and Pro Stock Truck racing were record-setting fields
featuring bump spots of 7.398 secs and 7.504 secs respectively. Matt
Hines won in PSB over Craig Treble. Hines had both low ET (7.201 secs)
and top speed (191.81 mph). Greg Stanfield moves into second place in
Winston PST points when he defeats Randy Daniels in the final round.
Stanfield had top speed at 182.08 mph driving his Chevy S-10.
Jay Payne who collected numerous titles while racing in the Federal
Mogul Dragster class earn his first career win in the FMFC class. Payne's
Valvoline-sponsored Camaro upsets World Champion Frank Manzo in the
final round. Mark Hentges who was 0-3 in FMD national event final rounds
this season finally broke through to win his first career NHRA title.
Hentges from Washington, was the low qualifier (5.388 secs) and beats
the injected nitro car of Indiana's David Hirata in the final. Hirata
has top speed at 270 mph flat.
Sportsman racing highlights include 2nd straight Competition eliminator
event title for Jeff Taylor behind the wheel of the techno marvel '01
Pontiac C/AA of Arnie Martel. Malinda Bertozzi, who along with her husband
Anthony Bertozzi are Sportsman "hitters" on the IHRA tour
-- make good on a rare NHRA national event appearance. Malinda prevails
in Super Comp (8.90) for her first career NHRA win.
