GeorgiaDragRacing.com - Information about Georgia drag racing history, personalities, activities and events.
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NHRA Southern Nationals 2004NHRA Southern Nationals 2004 The 24rd annual NHRA POWERade Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals presented by Pontiac was contested at Atlanta Dragway on May 13-16, 2004. I arrived at Atlanta Dragway Thursday morning to catch the action of the Super Stock cars. As it seems to be every NHRA race weekend, rain was threatening to fall and scattered thunder storms were forecast for the whole weekend. The rain held off for most of the day and I got to see a large field of Super Stocks in action. From the mighty Hemi SS/AA cars to the high winding Chevy small blocks, a nice variety of cars were on hand. After securing my media credentials, I made a sweep through the pits and headed for the starting line to take photos. (Thanks to the NHRA and April Potter. I would also like to thank Atlanta Dragway General Manager Craig Armstrong and the NHRA for granting an event pass to Fred Simmons so that he could help cover the Southern Nationals for GeorgiaDragRacing.com.) It's hard to beat the wheels-up action of the Super Stocks and I had a great time taking photos and watching the action. The other Sportsman classes were also making time trial passes and it's a pleasure to see all of the different cars and combinations. Recently, I've come to look forward to the Southern Nationals as somewhat of a reunion of friends that I only see a few times a year. I ran into Ed Swearingen in the staging lanes and had a chance to chat a few minutes. Ed owns Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA and was at Commerce racing his S/ST Camaro. Ed is one of the good guys - be sure to visit his drag strip when you get a chance and tell him that I said hello. After the rain started falling, I made my exit from the track in order to have time to attend the Open House of the Atlanta Speed Shop. Julius Hughes (and the Hughes family) has constructed a new building in Gainesville, GA and will soon be open and fully operational for your high performance automotive and marine needs. Fred Simmons and I met and attended the first night of the Open House. We were greeted by the Hughes family with refreshments and a tour of the not-quite-completed facility. I guess we arrived too early, because they put Fred and me to work hanging a banner! After a short visit, it was time to return home and prepare for the longest day on the Southern Nationals schedule. Sportsman cars start running early and the second Pro qualifying session is scheduled for the evening. Gotta have my nitro fix! Friday morning again brought threats of rain, but Mother Nature spared us and the racing was completed as scheduled. I met with friends (and GDR contributors) Fred Simmons, David Burlington, Ed Miles and Bob Beasley Friday morning and strolled through the already crowded pits. I was amazed at the number of people who attended the event on Friday - especially with the weather forecasts what they were. Even though I spent most of the time on the starting line shooting photos, I was able to go by and talk to Bob Gibson (American Racing Equipment rep and nostalgia funny car driver), Eric Shelton (Eric has a new Dodge Stratus Pro Stock and transporter) and the father/son team of Reid Whisnant and Mark Whisnant (PiranaZ Pro Stock Cavalier). It's always good to talk to these guys, again. Great action took place on the track all day, but the flame filled (header flames, that is) evening nitro qualifying session is probably my favorite. Since I saw my first fuel cars race at night (Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen's Hot Wheels funny cars at Dallas, Georgia) over thirty years ago, I've always loved to watch the spectacle of night time fuel drag racing! If you have seen the fuel cars race at night you understand, if you haven't, you need to experience the sounds and sights firsthand! Tony Pedregon's fastest ever Funny Car run of 329.83 was probably the biggest highlight of the evening qualifying session. Also, on Friday, Bob Vandergriff was able to update his Top Fuel license and qualify his dragster just like he had never taken time away from drag racing. One of the biggest surprises was that Greg Anderson was not on top of the Pro Stock qualifying sheet - Larry Morgan was #1in his Dodge Stratus. Bob Glidden continues to prove that he is one of the best ever at setting up Pro Stock cars. Saturday brought more great action with David Grubnic, Tony Pedregon, Larry Morgan and Angelle Savoie the top Pro qualifiers. Mark Whisnant was qualified in Pro Stock, but was bumped out. Mark missed the field by 3 ten thousandths of a second and ended up 17th. Barry Grant and Eric Shelton also missed the Pro Stock cut. Sunday's eliminations brought many surprise winners with Cory Mac winning Top Fuel over IHRA king Clay Millican, former Atlanta resident Whit Bazemore winning the Team Schumacher Funny Car finale over Gary Scelzi, Greg Anderson beating Larry Morgan to finally win Pro Stock at Commerce after several runner-ups, and fan favorite Angelle Savoie winning Pro Stock Bike over Shawn Gann. Angelle usually seems to shine at Commerce, as once again, she won, set Low ET, and was the #1 qualifier. Lots of happy team members in the winners circle! Don Schumacher was living large with two wins (Bazemore and Savoie) and a runner up (Scelzi). The Sportsman winners were David Wells (TAD), Paul Lee (TAFC), Raymond Martin (Comp), Tim Cole (S/S), Steve Cohen (S/C), Sherman Adcock, Jr. (S/G) and David Anspach (S/ST). A special attaboy to Georgia residents Sherman Adcock, Jr. (Columbus) and S/ST RU Lamar Majors (Hoschton) for their fine efforts! Super Street winner David Anspach's wife is originally from Georgia, too. Once again, the NHRA put on a great event at Atlanta Dragway! Great racing, great crowds and the weather even turned out to be OK. I'm already counting the days for next years Southern Nationals. Notes - the Jungle Jim (Jim Liberman) karma was working overtime at Commerce this year. Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Paul Lee wears a JJ tee shirt under his firesuit and he was able to holeshot his way to his first national event victory. Bob Gilbertson was using his JJ tribute body on his nitro funny car. Bob went to the semi-finals in Funny Car and I was beginning to think it might be Bob's day, but he smoked the tires against Gary Scelzi. Bob might want to keep nitro intern Bruce Braxton (College Park, GA) in his pit full time! Tony Pedregon's 329.83 mph run in Funny Car qualifying held up as Top Speed of the Meet. Tony Schumacher's 329.02 was Top Speed in Top Fuel. Greg Anderson showed everyone that he doesn't quit under adverse conditions. His team pulled together and put Greg in the Pro Stock winners circle - AGAIN. The Larry Morgan/Bob Glidden duo recorded the first #1 Pro Stock qualifying position and the first final round for the Dodge Stratus. Larry should also be commended for his sportsmanship in the semi-final against Kurt Johnson. Kurt had starter problems and Larry waited until Rick Stewart almost disqualified him before staging and making a single. Fred Collis returned to ride for Star Racing/G Squared Motorsports and posted a semi-final finish in Pro Stock Bike. VP Racing Fuels rep Tommy Chapman held a reunion of local drag racers Saturday evening with Jimmy Mostellar, Dick Brannan, Bogan Renfroe, Ed Swearingen, Charles Wilkins, Bill Gamble and several others in attendance. Tommy is going to make this an annual event during the Southern Nationals. Additional CoverageFor photos, go to Southern Nationals 2004 Photos. For Southern Nationals details, go to the Georgia Drag Racing News Weblog. For last year's coverage, see NHRA Southern Nationals 2003.
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