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| (Ron Lewis photo) |
"That's the first time I've ever had something like that happen," KJ said. "I hit the ignition switch to get the starter spinning, and the engine must have tried to fire right away, because it kicked back and chipped a tooth on the starter drive gear. We took it apart once we got back to the pits and found that a sliver the size of a penny nail had jammed in the armature and cost us a chance at winning the race, 20 championship points, and a little bit of money.
"It's good to have a Johnson motor in the winners circle – I only wish it had been the one in my car. I'm happy for Justin and his crew, and congratulate him on his first win – I just would have liked to give him a run for his money."
Humphreys said he wished Johnson had done that, too.
"That's not the way we wanted to get our first win," Humphreys said. "Kurt's kind of a teammate. I wanted him to be in the other lane. I wanted to race him heads-up. It's definitely not as exciting when you make a solo run, but I was excited to be in the winners circle. A Wally is a Wally, and a win is a win."
Johnson said the close-but-no-cigar experience wouldn't deter him.
"Despite how things ended up, I prefer to look at it on the positive side," he said. "It could have happened earlier in the day, I could have gone red in the second round instead of that .003, or it could have been someone else in the other lane. There are a lot of things that could have gone wrong. But we made to the final, our ACDelco Cobalt ran flawlessly, and we leave here with the points lead.
"Losing a race that way only serves to motivate me even more. I'm as hot as the headers after a run. We'll put [it] behind us and move on, determined to complete the picture … in Dallas."
Countdown drivers John Force in Funny Car and Ron Krisher in Pro Stock each had a missing piece to the puzzle in the playoff opener.
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| Bruton Smith, John Force and Marcus Smith (Ron Lewis photo) |
Force could have had a seat Sunday in the grandstand that SMI Chairman Bruton Smith named in his honor, but he failed to qualify.
The sting of it went well beyond the fact that Force, whose comeback from a devastating crash that fall was spotty but still yielded the No. 8 Countdown berth, DNQd at a second straight event for the first time since 1979. Moreover, it was his fourth DNQ of the season, the worst single-season showing of his career.
"This is hard for me. I didn't qualify at Indy. We have been struggling all year, and we just made it into the Countdown. We had the same opportunities as everybody else. We just didn't get the job done," Force said. "I'd like to say I am sorry and I apologize to Bruton Smith and the NHRA fans, because when they give you an arena like this, which is the greatest facility in the history of our sport, that brings in what I was told over 50,000 fans, and I don't get to be a part of it. I'm embarrassed. … But I don't let nothin' get me down."
Krisher, Pro Stock's No. 9 driver, also missed the cut. He needed to run quicker than a 6.71-second elapsed time, but the best he could coax from his Valvoline Chevy Cobalt was a 6.792, which left him 23rd among the class' 26 entrants. Citing a long list of parts, Krisher, of Warren, Ohio, said he already has changed numerous mechanical variables and added with a wag of his head, "I don't know where to go."
Texas is the correct answer, although one has to wonder if conducting business as usual -- that is, this weekend's O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex at Ennis -- is appropriate in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
Perhaps the process of deciding is a no-win proposition. Would the sanctioning body appear insensitive and further tax the already burdened Metroplex area, which absorbed thousands of storm refugees at hotels and shelters and faced gasoline shortages? Or would it reschedule Race 2 of the Countdown and add a financial hardship to its racers, sponsors, and fans? Officials, after speaking with Motorplex owner Billy Meyer, announced Saturday that the schedule would not be changed.
"Hurricane Ike is going east of Ennis and we're getting as little two inches of precipitation," Meyer told the NHRA, anticipating "the nicest weather we've had all year." He said, "Ike could have been much worse, and we're just happy that it is less forceful than originally forecast. NHRA will be able to put on a great show, and we are thankful Mother Nature isn't forcing us to make a schedule change."
Mother Nature might not have, but should conscience have? It's a moot point now -- come Hell or high water, the NHRA and its Countdown are headed for Texas.