Perseverance pays off

When the thrill of victory comes your way, several emotions overcome you. Tears of Joy, happiness, and laughter. It happens in so many types of sports from baseball, to football, to hockey, and even drag racing.   The thrill of blasting down 1,000ft, unleashing upwards of 8,000 horsepower at nearly 6 times the force of gravity is an indescribable feeling. But what makes all of the preparation by the team worth while is seeing the win light in your lane come on and as the @NHRA hands you that beautiful "Wally", your left almost speechless.

On May 20, 2012, the @NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series made its annual stop at Heartland Park Topeka and the Dollar General Summernationals. For Austrailian Top Fuel and @TeamKalitta pilot David Grubnic, it had been six long years since he last captured an national event win. But on this weekend, the Candlewood Suites team set to end the drought on what would be a very hot afternoon.

David's first round opponent was the C&J Energy machine of Bob Vandergriff (who just the year prior ended a 14 year drought of his own with a win in texas). Vandergriff left first at the hit but experienced problems as Grubnic raced to the win running a 3.817 at 322.960 moving to the 2nd round.

The conditions however changed dramatically for the next round. The clouds parted, and the sun would beat down upon the race track sending track temps soaring over 130 degrees in a matter of moments forcing crews to make adjustments to their cars.

David's next round opponent was the most recent winner on the NHRA circuit Steve Torrence and his Capco sponsored dragster. Both Grubnic and Torrence experienced traction issues at the hit but Steve in his dragster would slide sideways crossing the centerline thus handing the win to David and his tire smoking 4.634.

The unrelenting heat and humidity continued in the semi finals as one by one cars had difficulty obtaining traction. Grubnic's semi finals opponent was Brandon Bernstein in his MavTV sponsored dragster. As both drivers performed their customary burnouts, Bernstein would suffer heartbreak as a fuel line broke forcing him to shut off handing the win to David who smoked his tires running only a 4.99.

 Luck it seemed was on the side of the Kalitta camp, but their final round opponent would be Spencer Massey and his Fram sponsored dragster. Grubby's team felt confident their cars' set up would give Massey and DSR a run for their money. At the start, Massey left first with a 0.039 reaction time to David's 0.047. At half track they were even, however the top end would tell the tale as Grubnic would power past Spencer's 3.910-309.980 to win with a 3.893-319.070 capturing the "wally"; his first in 6 years.

At the start line, the jubilation over Grubnic's was clearly evident as the "Bounty Hunter" Connie Kalitta and the entire stable let loose a celebration unlike any ever seen before. As the team made their way down the track, the crowd gave them a standing ovation. David, sitting on the front end of his Candlewood Suites dragster happily exhaled and thanked his crew for their hard work and determination in winning at Topeka. The Kalitta family has been a stable in the @NHRAfamily for many years and after what seemed a lifetime, the smiles of everyone on the team in victory circle was a wonderful sight to see.

For the past 2 national events, the NHRA top fuel deck has been shuffled. To see faces both new and old winning has many fans excited for the season to come, and with the victory in Topeka, David Grubnic and @TeamKalitta proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that with a little bit of luck, perseverance does indeed pay off.

When the Little Guys beat the Big Guys

In life, the male is dominant in the house, but in my household my grandmother was always the driving force in our family. She introduced our family to so many sports like baseball, basketball, football , hockey, and yes drag racing. Our Family always enjoyed whenever there was an upset in any sport. It made you realize that how hard a team works to defy their critics and show just what their team is made of. Its a basic tenant of life in whatever you do

2 weeks ago, Steve Torrence and his team came into the Summit Racing Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway event with high hopes as he placed his Richard Hogan tuned Capco Top Fueler in the #2 position behind 7 time champ Tony Schumacher in the qualifying order. Torrence ran brilliantly in the heat as he beat JR Todd 3.84 to a 3.85. Track temperature at the time of the 1st round was over 130 degrees. Torrence would continue his astonishing pace in the heat as he defeated Bob Vandergriff 3.848 to a 3.884 to reach the semi finals.

The performance of the team was surprising to many but not to Steves fans which has been building and building. Chris Hobson (@NitroChrisUK) has been a vocal fan of Torrance's for quite awile, as well as John Amorosono   (@NitroJohn) as well as myself. Most felt from the out set at Pomona during the Winternationals (where Torrence qualified near the top of the top fuel field) his first event wally wasn't too far away from his grasp.

In the semi finals, Steve would face Brandon Bernstein in his MAVTV Top Fuel dragster. Once again with track temps being over 130 degrees, Torrence continued his bracket car like pace as he defeated Bernstein 3.886 t0 a 3.890. As you can tell from his 3.82 in qualifying thru his semi final 3.886, Richard Hogan really had a great set up for the unrelenting heat.

But Steve Torrence's opponenet in the finals was none other than 7 time Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher in the US ARMY Top Fueler who had been mired in a winless drought. Torrence, having lane choice over Schumacher chose the lane nearest to the tv cameras which left Schumacher with the far lane which did not have many good runs in that lane. Although Schumacher left the line first with 0.031 reaction time to Torrence's slightly slower 0.046 rt, Tony smoked the tires near half track which gave the win to Steve Torrence who ran another fantastic 3.893 to win his first national event.

When a small private team can come up and challenge the might of Don Schumacher racing ( a team that I like very much) and win with consistency such as Steve Torrence had in Atlanta, it is amazing and an astonishing joy to watch. Many fans have felt in drag racing, anyone can be beaten on any given sunday during the season. This is something that sport of the @NHRA full throttle drag racing series prides itself on. That one day, just one day the Little Guys can beat The Big Guys.