News Article

Fuller Gets First Win; Medlen, Anderson and Hines Join Him in NHRA Winners Circle

August 21, 2005
D. Franklin

MEMPHIS (August 22, 2005 – Rob Geiger, NHRA.com) - In just his 19th race as a professional, Top Fuel sophomore Rod Fuller knocked off reigning series champion Tony Schumacher, who smoked his tires at mid-track.

Fuller denied “The Sarge” the No. 1 ranking when he marched straight down the championship drag strip at Memphis Motorsports Park in 4.61 seconds at 313 mph. The exuberant former Sportsman racer was joined in the winners circle at the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals by Funny Car winner Eric Medlen, Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson, and new POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader Andrew Hines.

Fuller becomes the seventh Top Fuel winner this year and 88th overall in the class. Medlen made it two in a row in Funny Car and has closed to within 71 points of the lead with his win over a tardy Ron Capps. Anderson had the quicker car Sunday and drove around Kurt Johnson to prove his point and pad his points lead, while Hines avenged last weekend's loss to teammate GT Tonglet by beating his good friend this time around with a 7.16.

It appears crew chief Lee Beard does remember how to tune a Top Fuel car as he waited until just his second race to put "Hot Rod" Fuller and team owner David Powers in the winner's circle. Although they entered the final surrendering lane choice to Schumacher's powerful camp by just one-thousandth of a second, they motored straight down the right lane and posted the second quickest elapsed time of the weekend - 4.612 at 313.07 mph - while Schumacher spun and smoked his way to a 5.747.

Fuller now has 14 victories to his credit, 13 from his Sportsman days. Although he's run just 10 of 17 races this year, he now finds himself just 42 markers out of the prestigious POWERade top 10. Schumacher went from 70 points down to within four of leader Doug Kalitta, who lost in the first round to Schumacher Racing driver Melanie Troxel.

"To be the man, you have to beat the man, and today we were able to do that," Fuller said. "I'd been stuck on 13 wins for awhile and I was starting to think it was a jinx, so it was the perfect time to get my first Top Fuel win and push that number to 14. We almost did it earlier this year in Bristol, but I lost on a holeshot. I caught a lot of ribbing for that so I wanted to make sure I wasn't late today.

"I didn't see him or hear him so I knew it was going good. I think that was the first time I ever drove down the track with a smile on my face. I'm not a real excitable person but when the win light came on I started celebrating like crazy. I couldn't get out of the car fast enough, and then I jumped up on the roll cage and did my Power Ranger pose. Lee says I look like a Power Ranger, so I had to give him the pose."

"We had an angel with us today named Darrell Russell," said Powers, whose return to the sport after 30 years was precipitated by Russell's death. "I talk to him every day and I know he's proud of us."

After two runner-up finishes earlier this year, Fuller and the Valvoline/David Powers Homes crew finally hit pay dirt by beating Scott Weis, Dave Grubnic, two-time champ Larry Dixon, and two-time and reigning champion Schumacher.

It wasn't Schumacher's easiest march to the final round but the U.S. Army pro got his 50th chance at a trophy by beating Bobby Lagana Jr., Morgan Lucas and Cory McClenathan. Schumacher and Lucas posted identical 4.806-second elapsed times, with Schumacher winning by .0088 seconds with his slightly better reaction time.

At some point, fans will stop being surprised by Eric Medlen's success as the sophomore racer has now won three of the last four races on tour. He was certainly prepared for the final, leaving with a .053 to Capps' .103-second start. He then drove away at each timer to win with a 4.911 at 300.13 mph to Capps' 4.985 at 302.35 mph.

The victory didn't move Medlen up from his fifth-place ranking, but he's erased a big gap that once existed between him and the top racers. He's now 24 behind John Force, 36 back from Gary Scelzi, 41 off Capps' second-place pace, and trails Hight by just 71. Capps moved from fourth to second and is just 30 points out of first place.

"I don't know if there has ever been a team that has it totally together," Medlen said. "You like to think you do, but there's always something. But I bet these three teams work together as best as three teams can. When John [Force] went out, half of his guys went to help Robert [Hight] and half came to help us. Me and Robert ran each other hard because whoever won needed to have lane choice. We both staged real shallow and didn't worry about our lights. When I won that race, all three crews worked on my car. That's how it goes.

"You always want to win a race for yourself, but I really wanted to win this one for the entire team because we all share in the pain and we all share the wins."

Medlen's fourth final of the year came after wins over Tony Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson and teammate and points leader Robert Hight. The Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang has now appeared in three of the last four finals with Medlen claiming 3 of 4 victories.

Capps and his Brut Dodge Stratus R/T team saw some familiar faces on the way to his 35th final, beating current teammates Whit Bazemore and Gary Scelzi, as well as former teammate Tommy Johnson Jr.

The top two cars in Pro Stock raced through to the finals for the fourth time this year with Anderson improving his '05 final-round mark against his former teammate to 3-1. Johnson was ready to go, leaving first by a hundredth of a second. But Anderson soon tracked him down and flew by for a two-hundredths of a second margin of victory. The numbers showed Anderson winning with a 6.801 at 201.49 mph to Johnson's 6.834 at 201.88 mph.

After entering this race 49 points ahead of Warren Johnson and 55 up on Kurt Johnson, Anderson is now 73 ahead of Kurt and 132 up on W.J., who lost on a holeshot to Greg Stanfield in Round 1.

"We somehow seem to rise to the occasion when we need to," Anderson said. "We seem to do it just a little bit more than the others and that's been the difference. All the glory should go to the crew because they're the ones doing the work that makes me look good. The driver gets on TV but the crew should get all the accolades.

"If the fans aren't enjoying this points race this year, they're not paying attention. This is like a toe-to-toe heavyweight fight. Kurt has the best car right now. I can't seem to put any space between us. He's been storming up behind us in the points. I had to win just to hold him off."

As the temperatures cooled each round, Anderson's Summit Racing GTO managed to get quicker. He opened with a 6.82 against his brother-in-law Ronnie Humphrey, improved to a 6.80 versus teammate Jason Line, and dipped to a 6.78 opposite "Tricky Rickie" Smith. This was Anderson's 53rd career final and seventh of the year.

Starting the day as the No. 1 qualifier, Johnson and the ACDelco Chevrolet Cobalt crew beat Ken Koretsky, Greg Stanfield, and first-time semifinalist Dave Howard to reach his sixth final of the year and 60th of his career. K.J. has been to five finals in the last six races including the last four in a row.

In a repeat of last weekend's Brainerd final, Harley-Davidson teammates Andrew Hines and G.T. Tonglet raced for the trophy and the POWERade points lead. This time it was Hines taking the top spot when Tonglet red-lighted by -.028-second. Tonglet knew he needed a good reaction time to have a chance against Hines, who was quicker than him all day, and the final numbers proved he was right as Hines crossed in 7.161 seconds at 180.52 mph to Tonglet's 7.239 at 175.37 mph

This was Hines' second win of the year and his second in the three all-Harley finals that have ever been run. He moved around Tonglet and into the points lead by 15 markers with the victory. This marks the first time this year the defending champion has had the No. 1 by his name.

"We came in on a high note with G winning Brainerd last weekend," Hines said. "They gave the Suzukis a 10-pound weight break and we didn't know how that would change things. Then we start qualifying and I blow up three motors in a row. I was at an all-time low for my career. But dad [Byron Hines] and Scott Sceurman rebuilt our best motor and fixed it and the crew gave me a perfect bike and I was able to go to the No. 1 spot by two-thousandths over GT.

"I just tried to keep my head clear today. It was so hot and I tried to stay cool up in the lounge. I knew I had a great bike and I didn't want to give anything away. The race against Ryan Schnitz in the quarterfinals was the tightest of my career. I was real glad to see the win light and I started thinking I might get the breaks today."

Whatever Tonglet would post on the way to the final round, Hines would better the mark on his identical Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod. Starting on top of the heap, Hines beat Matt Smith, Ryan Schnitz, and Chris Rivas, who broke at the line, to reach his ninth career final. Tonglet made it to his eighth money round with victories over former champ Geno Scali, Michael Phillips, and Shawn Gann.

Tonglet is now 84 points ahead of third-place Antron Brown, who lost in the first round when opponent Matt Guidera had a perfect light en route to a holeshot win.

For complete results, click here: http://www.nhra.com/2005/events/race17/results/.

All the stars of the POWERade series will be back in Memphis next year on the same weekend, Friday-Sunday, Aug. 18-20, 2006.

For 2006 season ticket information, call 1-866-40-SPEED.