Rains Put Shootout on Hold

The Big Bud Shootout, Saturday’s showcase of the National Hot Rod Assn. season’s fastest qualifiers, was postponed after one round by showers until Saturday, Feb. 3, during the season-opening Winternationals.

With $100,000 still up for grabs for the winner, Tony Schumacher was to meet six-time winner Joe Amato and Winston champion Gary Scelzi was scheduled to face Kenny Bernstein.

However, Amato has scheduled a news conference this morning at which time he is expected to announced his retirement. His replacement in the Shootout probably would be the team’s new driver.

Cory McClenathan, who lost his ride for 2001 when team owner Joe Gibbs announced he is dropping out of drag racing, hit another bump Saturday.

For the first time since Labor Day 1991, the Anaheim top fuel driver failed to qualify for eliminations. The streak reached 179 last week and ended when rain washed out the fourth and final qualifying round for today’s eliminations. In the morning, McClenathan was bumped from his No. 15 spot by Mike Smith and Australian Andrew Cowin. When rains forced cancellation of the fourth round, his streak was ended.

McClenathan, who had won the last two NHRA nationals, in Houston and Dallas, also was eliminated from the Big Bud Shootout in a bizarre match with Schumacher.

“We knew it [the streak] would end sometime, but we never expected it to happen at home,” said a dejected McClenathan. “We came here with the same car that won the last two weeks and we couldn’t get it down the track. It makes you feel real silly. This weekend everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.”

In the Shootout, which also counted as a qualifying round, McClenathan and Schumacher smoked their tires on the starting line launch, but Schumacher managed to keep his car moving ahead to win at a snail’s pace 7.148 seconds. McClenathan had a 7.326, making him vulnerable to runs by Smith and Cowin.

When rains dampened the track in midafternoon, NHRA officials announced that qualifying would be declared official after three rounds.

Amato and Schumacher had already made their pre-run burnouts for a Shootout semifinal round when starter Rick Stewart halted proceedings and crews began covering the cars.

“We waited as long as we could, hoping for a break in the showers to get in the final round, but it got so cold that we knew we couldn’t dry the track properly even if it quit raining,” said Graham Light, director of racing operations. “We talked with all four drivers and their owners, and Budweiser, and the best scenario was to finish it off at the Winternationals.”

Three newly crowned Winston champions, John Force in funny car, Jeg Coughlin in pro stock and Angelle Seeling in pro stock bike, all qualified No. 1 in their classes.