In addition to the conventional challenges that the racers face in the 4-wide configuration, there will be the extra excitement added by the fact that there will be several drivers competing there for the first time. In the Top Fuel class there will be four drivers who have at no time lined up against three other drivers in qualifying or eliminations and that will be interesting to watch.
According to the early entry list Funny Car will have five drivers new to the arrangement while Pro Stock will have just two. As demanding as it is to run a professional class car at a regular race, being at your first 4-wide event has to present a completely new set of challenges for the drivers.If my calculations are dead on, Clay Millican, Khalid alBalooshi, Hillary Will and Brady Kalivoda will all be first-timers at this event so we'll keep our eyes on them, especially on Friday and Saturday during qualifying. As inspiring as the race is I find it alluring that no Top Fuel driver has been in the final round in both of the first two years of the event. Del Worsham achieved it last year and he was joined in the final round by Larry Dixon, Spencer Massey and Shawn Langdon.
In 2010, the introductory year of the event, Cory McClenathan achieved it and he beat Doug Kalitta, Antron Brown and Doug Herbert. I don't know if that was a result of good racing, dedicated performances or a little fortune, but it's breathtaking that nobody has been to the finals in both years of the 4-wide event. I brought up last week that there were a whole pile of holeshots at the Las Vegas race and that I would put that into context this week. Did you know that there was a total of twelve holeshot wins (and losses) at the race and that is the most of any national event in NHRA account?
Coming into the Las Vegas race there had been five previous national events that had eleven holeshot wins but no race had ever had a dozen, and that includes races that had the Pro Stock Motorcycles in attendance. When you add in the races that were won on foul starts (three, all in Pro Stock) in Vegas you have a lot of matchups that were certain before the cars even went past the Christmas tree. Of the dozen holeshot wins at the event five of them were in Top Fuel and that's a bunch. Did you know that in the complete account of the class the most holeshots in one race was six and they occurred at a race where there were thirty-two Top Fuel cars? Of all the races where there were sixteen Top Fuel cars, five is the most holeshots at a single race and that covers a lot of events.
Did you know that the previous record for a sixteen car field was four and that was set at the 2008 Atlanta race and the Houston event in 2009? There are a couple of normal threads between the '08 Atlanta race and the Vegas event, other than the fact that both were sponsored by Summit Racing. At the 2008 Atlanta race one driver won a race on a holeshot and then lost the identical way in the next round and that also happened in Vegas. At the Atlanta race J.R. Todd won one round on a holeshot and then had an even more appropriate reaction time but still lost on a holeshot in the next round. In Las Vegas, Steve Torrence won a round by being first off the line and then had a better reaction time in the next round and lost on a holeshot. Also at the Atlanta race Antron Brown won an early round on a holeshot and then made it to the final round and he did the same thing in Las Vegas. Of course he lost the Vegas race, but when he got to the final round in Atlanta he won on a holeshot.
The 2009 Houston race also had four holeshots in the Top Fuel class, of course three of those were by Tony Schumacher. Did you know that's the only time in Top Fuel history that one driver had three holeshot wins at the same race? The race also had a likeness with the Vegas race. In '09 Tony beat Morgan Lucas when both drivers had the identical elapsed time, and when that happens, the driver with the better reaction time gets the win and it is scored as a holeshot. It doesn't happen often but it also happened at the Vegas race when Doug Kalitta beat Brandon Bernstein and both drivers went 3.846. I'm sure that you've heard several drivers say that Top Fuel is so close it's like Pro Stock this year, and maybe that's why we see so many drivers stepping up their game on the starting line. Did you know that we have already had three of the four races this year with at least three holeshots in the dragster class? That's a bunch for a class that often went a year without three holeshots at a single event.
Did you know that five of Steve Torrence's seven rounds this year have been nailed on a holeshot, either in favor of or against the young driver?...Tony Schumacher picked up a round win in Las Vegas and that gave him 597 for his career which ties him with Bob Glidden for fifth place on the all-time NHRA win list and that's absolutely an achievement for the "Sarge.".Holeshots won't be a big factor this week, but beating at least two others guys to the finish line will, at least until the final round when you need to beat three to get in the winner's circle.
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