16th O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals
Sep. 18-22nd, 2003, Memphis TN
Notes |
Results | Photos
NATIONALS NOTEBOOK:
Tony Schumacher produces what is easily the most dramatic event victory of the season so far in Top Fuel. During Friday’s 2nd qualifier, Schumacher goes for a simply spectacular and down right frightening high speed spill when the chassis of his Army-sponsored dragster splits in half a high speed. Schumacher flies high in the air and for a very long distance before landing and sliding to a stop. Miraculously he jumps out of the car with only a bruised knee. The incident was in fact Schumacher’s 2nd major career crash -- his first had come also at Memphis Motorsports Park during 2000, and landed him in hospital with a broken leg. Incredibly Schumacher’s team shows true grit as they work diligently to prepare the backup car and Tony continues on racing the next day. Ultimately Schumacher out guns points leader Larry Dixon in a great final round pairing 4.581 secs 317.79 mph to 4.651 secs 316.52 mph. Drag racing annuls will look back at Memphis ‘03 as truly one of the
greatest comeback moments in sport history.
David Baca duplicates his recent pole qualifying effort from the U.S. Nationals at Memphis by earning his second career #1 qualifier with a 4.533 secs effort. That mark holds up for low ET of the meet however Baca is eliminated in round two by Darrell Russell. Doug Kalitta nails down top speed of the meet at 327.90-mph driving the Mac Tools dragster.
Whit Bazemore assumes the #1 position in POWERade Funny Car points with a timely victory driving the Matco Tools Dodge Stratus. Bazemore out runs a gutsy Dean Skuza in the final round at 4.894 secs 309.42 mph and with that surpasses Tony Pedregon for the lead by 7 points with five events remaining on the 2003 tour. Bazemore wins from the pole after pacing the field with a 4.826 secs qualifier. Gary Scelzi, his Schumacher Racing teammate, sets top speed at 322.42 mph -- also driving a Dodge Stratus.
Tony Pedregon, who not that long ago this summer had enjoyed a significant points lead atop the POWERade standings, runs low ET of the meet in round one at 4.825 secs. But he then loses out on a costly holeshot to Dean Skuza in the second round (4.929 secs to 4.947 secs).
Skuza’s runner-up effort is significant in that he too has to overcome major adversity to make the final round. Skuza has a major league fire which he later describes as the “worst of his career” in the semi final round while upsetting John Force. Skuza gets the car stopped but the car suffers major heat damage. But then many members of rival teams join in to help Skuza rebuild the car. The task is completed within the allotted 75 minutes and with that help and a borrowed Pontiac Firebird body from Richard Hartman, Skuza does makes the call for the final round. Skuza actually jumps out to an early lead over Bazemore but unfortunately for him the car noses over at the 1000-foot mark and Bazemore wins.
Reggie Showers, who found the way to victory lane for the first time in his career at Indy proves that huge weekend was no fluke as he wins again in Pro Stock Bike. Showers wins the final round riding the George Bryce-tuned Prosthetic Design Suzuki when he opponent Fred Collis goes .005 red. Shower's win includes top speed of the meet at 188.46 mph. Angelle Savoie runs a track record 7.096 secs during qualifying which holds up for low ET of the event.
Greg Anderson stretches out his overall points lead in POWERade Pro Stock by winning for the 9th time this season. Anderson drives the Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand-Am past the Jeg’s Mail Order Chevy of Jeg Coughlin Jr in an exciting final round winning razor thin 6.814 secs to 6.825 secs decision. Coughlin Jr had set low ET at 6.748 secs during qualifying while Anderson had top speed of the meet at 204.23 mph. With the win Anderson, who now holds a 240 point margin over Kurt Johnson, is now on the mathematical verge of clinching the ’03 title.
AMS Pro Mod cars stage their 8th of 10 events in NHRA this season. The win goes to Shannon Jenkins who powers his nitrous-injected Chevy Camaro past Von Smith, driver of Roy Hills supercharged Mustang, in the final round. The win is Jenkins’s 7th AMS Pro Mod title. In fact he has never lost a NHRA AMS final. Runner-up Smith sets top speed at 229.86 mph while Corvette driver Tim McAmis nabs low ET in qualifying at 6.192 secs.
The O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals was also plagued by rain -- the third consecutive NHRA event with that problem. Only five pairs of Top Fuel cars get down the track on Sunday before rain pelts the event. NHRA is forced to postpone the conclusion of all action until the following day Monday.
