NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

NHRA Nitro Spring Training at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix (covered on Friday and Saturday) provided teams on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series the chance to shake off the rust and prepare for the 2016 season. The goals of the test session vary between individual teams, so that must be considered when attempting to evaluate performances.

In describing the relevance of a test session, the caveat exists that no trophies are handed out or points are awarded for one’s performance during unofficial circumstances. Teams that perform well when testing on Mondays following events during the season jokingly reference “the Monday nationals.” That being said, there were some positive indicators for several teams heading into the new season.

The cool, dry air and well-prepped racing surface allowed for a barrage of low-3.7-second runs by many in the Top Fuel ranks. Tony Schumacher left Phoenix feeling especially well about his U.S. Army dragster after recording a best of 3.683 at 325.37 mph. He began running on Thursday with new parts, a new race car, and several new crewmembers on a team that doesn’t historically have a lot of crew turnover.

“We have four new crew guys, and two of the three guys we had last year have different jobs,” said crew chief Mike Green. “We’re getting everybody in sync, and it’s a work in progress. Everything is going good this weekend. Sometimes you try new things and end up crossing them off the list when they don’t work. Things are going pretty good this time. Now we’ll see if we can keep it kind of working through October to November.”

Schumacher finished No. 2 last season despite not having a great deal of momentum at the end of the year, but he is looking to start 2016 strong. Watching the team gel together, Schumacher is excited about racing with some crewmembers who used to be lined up in the opposite lane while working for rival organizations.

“It’s pretty cool taking in guys like ‘Shafty’ [David Karcanes] and guys who have been racing against me all these years,” said Schumacher. “We have good people, and a lot of what we’re doing at the test is getting everyone working together.”

Besides Schumacher, Steve Torrence might have had the best test outing among the dragster contingent with his Capco Contractors team running like clockwork. His team is mostly the same as last year, and the results of his new Morgan Lucas Racing chassis were positive.

The on-track results were strong for Brittany Force after making big changes this offseason. Running with Alan Johnson and having Brian Husen serve as crew chief, all involved are enduring an adjustment period. She made the quickest run of Saturday testing before embarking on a new season in which she hopes to notch her first career win in the early going.

Clay Millican did not expect to be among the drivers lighting up the scoreboard during testing if only because crew chief David Grubnic’s game plan was to have him shut off at the eighth-mile on every attempt in order to gather the data they needed without going through an unnecessary amount of parts. The Parts Plus/Great Clips dragster had early numbers that rivaled Schumacher’s, and Millican was finally given the go-ahead to leg it out on his final attempt during which a highly used blower belt snapped on a 3.739 at only 288 mph.

The Funny Car contingent featured a slew of three-second performances. Tommy Johnson Jr. closed testing with the quickest unofficial run in Funny Car history with a 3.874 at 318.47 mph. The Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger had a scorching 3.12-second elapsed time to the eighth-mile and actually had more left in it in the back half.

The continuity on Johnson’s John Collins-led team was apparent with the crew consistently beating others back to the staging lanes and the car making consistent, clean runs before Collins turned the wick up for the final hit. His Don Schumacher Racing teammates all left testing on positive notes despite having different stories. Jack Beckman had outstanding performances throughout the week in the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger but suffered a setback on Friday when his hot rod hiked the front wheels at midtrack and damaged the front of the chassis. They wheeled out a new car that was intended to be their spare on Saturday and lost traction on two attempts before making a representative run at the close of testing.

Ron Capps suffered a setback early when he had an engine explosion in the NAPA Dodge Charger. Crew chief Rahn Tobler lamented that teams spend all winter going through their cars with fine-toothed combs only for them to end up with blown up stuff, though they recovered nicely in the coming days. Matt Hagan had a rough go with tire shake and smoke on nearly every attempt, but he managed to pull through and record a 3.962 on his last run before leaving Phoenix.

The John Force Racing Funny Cars had a slow start getting acclimated to track conditions, but each of them had no trouble getting to the finish line in the high-3.8- to low-3.9-second range on the final day of testing.

Teams like reigning Funny Car champion Del Worsham running mid-to-high-3.90s while some were unloading 3.8-second runs is no sign of concern during testing. When testing new cars and parts, the main goal is to get from Point A to Point B in order to gather data with the new variables.