NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The historic Circle K NHRA Winternationals kicked off the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and ushered the sport into a new era with the FOX Sports television package and the Pro Stock category now required to run fuel injection. Focus was on the factory hot rods, though exciting racing in the nitro and Sportsman ranks combined to make it a memorable event.

The KB Racing trio of Greg Anderson, Jason Line, and Bo Butner dominated the first race with the new rules package that features electronic fuel injection, no hood scoops, and shorter wheelie bars. Though Anderson joked in November that he didn’t even own a laptop, which is now necessary to tune the fuel system, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that this group jumped to an early lead in the category that is now Dr. Atkins-approved.

Though Anderson and Line took some time off this winter to visit troops overseas as part of Summit’s Operation Appreciation, they stayed on task and burned the midnight oil in the initial development of their fuel-injected combination. Every team showed signs that they were early in the learning process, but the KB Racing group seemed to have more of the kinks worked out in the early going.

It worked out just as they would have drawn it up with Anderson, Line, and Butner qualifying Nos. 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and each reaching the semifinals, where Line used a holeshot to move past Butner and meet Anderson in the final. Turnabout was fair play for Anderson, who got the starting-line advantage and a 6.617 to 6.609 win over Line for his sixth Winternationals win in the first all-KB Racing final at the season opener.

“I feel honored to be the first winner of the fuel-injection era and get the first trophy,” said Anderson. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of this Summit Racing team. It is getting better every run. That’s going to pay off down the road. Everybody out there is in a steep learning curve right now. The other competitors in our class are going home and working hard, and they will do better at Phoenix. We are going to have to buckle down and find something better again. Hopefully we will be better again come Phoenix.”

The biggest opposition to the KB Racing organization over the past two years has been Richard Freeman’s Elite Motorsports outfit with multitime champions Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin Jr. driving new Dodge Darts for them this season. That dynamic duo’s learning curve to the new rules is compounded by the switch to Mopar power, so they are expected to get stronger down the line as Nick Ferri and Jake Hairston get more time to R&D the powerplants.

More insight into how teams adjusted to the new rules package can be found here.

Guns blazing: The start of a new season gave Steve Torrence the demeanor of a kid on Christmas morning. The Texas native had plenty to be excited about with tuning guru Alan Johnson consulting his already-solid team that is led by crew chief Richard Hogan and features three crewmembers who have also called tuning shots on a Top Fuel dragster (assistant crew chief Bobby Lagana Jr., Dom Lagana, and Justin Crosslin).

A great test session in Phoenix with a new chassis from Morgan Lucas Racing paved the way for a fast start in 2016. Torrence had one of the four quickest runs in each qualifying session and led both sessions on Saturday while earning the No. 1 spot with a 3.703. On a warmer track on Sunday, he ran all 3.7s to beat Steve Faria and teammates Morgan Lucas and Richie Crampton to meet Doug Kalitta in a thrilling final.

Moments after a Funny Car final that was a pick ’em, Torrence drove around Kalitta between the eighth-mile mark and the finish line to win the event by a .0044-second margin. The win gives the 2005 Top Alcohol Dragster champion his first-ever Top Fuel points lead.

“Alan and Richard have worked really well together,” said Torrence. “Alan is that thorn in Richard’s side who keeps poking him to tune it just a little bit farther. My crew guys have done a great job. I am just the guy that sits in there and gets to drive it. It feels good. I wish the season was over already. We are going to do what we can to keep the momentum going and go on to Phoenix and try to write a story just like this one.”

The closest of margins: Ron Capps knows a thing or two about close races. En route to his victory in Gainesville last season, he defeated Tim Wilkerson by .0001-second in the semifinal round. This time, in order to capture his third win at the season opener, he needed a holeshot to edge friend and fellow Southern California native Del Worsham by .0004-second in the final round.

“This is the most fabled track we go to, and it’s the birthplace of drag racing; it is unbelievable to win here,” said Capps. “I can’t wait to get this season going. You wonder if you are ever going to see one of these [trophies] again. I am racing Del Worsham in the final, who is one of the best. We threw down. What a race. Just to know we can get in the circle and get another Wally feels good.”

Capps felt the pressure of carrying the entire Don Schumacher Racing organization with four of his Top Fuel and Funny Car teammates bowing out in the first round and the hopes of the other two fizzling in the second round. He surrendered lane choice to a red-hot Robert Hight in the semifinals but managed to make his best run of eliminations to get the nod and take on the 2015 world champ in the money round.

Capps has now won the season opener in three different decades with wins in 1998, 2009, and 2016. Crew chief Rahn Tobler scored his 50th win as a tuner. The number 50 was prevalent in the NAPA Auto Parts camp as they won in the first race of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Funny Car class and on the 50th birthday of Infinite Hero Dodge Charger crew chief Jimmy Prock, a friend and colleague of Tobler’s.

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Special Awards

Driver of the race: Ron Capps
His performance on the starting line could have made or broken him, and he rose to the challenge for his 46th career win.

Crew chief of the race: Richard Hogan
Hogan has now won the season opener in both of the nitro categories after tuning the late Bruce Sarver to a Funny Car win in 2001 and Steve Torrence to the Top Fuel victory this season. The Capco Contractors dragster never stumbled on its way to victory.

Best run: Jack Beckman’s 3.888, Funny Car Q4
As the sun was descending upon the San Gabriel mountains on Saturday, you just knew that someone would light the scoreboard up with a 3.8-second time. Most impressive was the fact that this was only the seventh run on a new car that the Infinite Hero team had to switch to following a wheelstand during testing in Phoenix. The balance of the cars is so critical now with the laid-back headers taking away downforce, and the transfer of power and clutch application to the rear tires was a thing of beauty on this pass.

A special mention must be given to Top Alcohol Dragster driver Don St. Arnaud, who opened the season on Thursday by running 5.181 at 285.05 mph on a warm racetrack on Thursday in his A/Fueler. It was the second-fastest speed in class history. By the end of the weekend, St. Arnaud had eight of the 10 fastest speeds of all time, and the other two by Bill Reichert were recorded with more than the current maximum of 95-percent nitromethane.

Best race: Ron Capps vs. Del Worsham, Funny Car final
A finish-line margin of less than .001-second in the Funny Car class is unreal. This was an important race to both drivers, and it showed in their down-to-the-wire battle.

Stat of the race: 6.585
That is the low elapsed time in Pro Stock in the first event with electronic fuel injection. The bump spot in the last carbureted event at the 2015 Auto Club NHRA Finals was 6.581.