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2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge Overview
Eight NHRA Pro Stock Drivers prepare to battle it out at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, for the 2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes. A new Harley Davidson® Street Bob®, courtesy of K&N, was waiting for one of the eight lucky contestants. Watch as things heat up between racers as they compete for the K&N Horsepower Challenge Championship.
Being good is one thing, being lucky and good is an unstoppable combination for Forsberg.
Some nights it hardly matters how much garage time you invested into a race, or how focused and perfectly psyched-up you are, could be tonight a cracked muffler bearing takes you out of the running and those precious points go to someone else. You just never know. Ultimately in the final minutes racing often becomes an educated game of chance, a spin of the wheel by the hands of fate. It is precisely that aspect, where sometimes you're the bug and other times you're the windshield, the sheer unpredictability of it, that makes it so gosh dang addictive.
That's right, count'em, K&N sponsored Andy Forsberg now has five Civil War Championships.
Take what transpired during Andy Forsberg's last two Civil War races for championship points, were it a movie script it would certainly have been dismissed as too hokey an ending, in racing terms though it's just pure pharmaceutical grade drama.
Last weekend the K&N sponsored Forsberg and his Autism Awareness, Coors Light number 47 car headed to Watsonville and Placerville, California, for of the most anticipated Civil War finales in recent history.
Friday night in the first of two 360 Civil War contests, at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Forsberg was 12th quick out of 37 cars, and finished third in his heat , leaving him to start 11th in the A main event. He got up as high as sixth at one point, but eventually finished a disappointing 12th place. Forsberg would now go into the final night of Civil War racing ten points behind leader Sean Becker. Becker and Forsberg are longtime race friends with a great deal of mutual respect, but on the track they're arch rivals, and friendship takes a backseat until the final round and a victor has been declared.
In the past, Becker and Forsberg rarely finished a race far apart, which didn't bode well for Forsberg's chances of winning his Fifth career Civil War Championship – enter the fickle finger of fate. When the 22-car field lined up on the track, Becker's familiar red number 2 sprint car was absent from the field. It was later discovered that a sheared magneto pin was the culprit that ended Becker's championship run. Up until that point, he all but had the championship sewn up, leading in points all year until this final contest.
Forsberg now would only have to finish six spots in front of third place Herman Klein, to steal the championship. At the green flag Forsberg immediately jumped into the second place spot behind the leader, with every intention of maintaining his position until the finish. By lap 20 though his car was starting to get loose, and he lost just enough speed to allow the third place car to move in on him. Then down the backstretch they made contact and Forsberg went spinning.
And providence intervened yet again, for the incident occurred just prior to officials determining that more than 75 laps had been run, and a red flag fuel stop would be required if an additional caution flag flew, which gave Forsberg's crew ample time to make needed repairs to the bent fender in the pit area.
When the race restarted Klein was now one lap down and Forsberg would only need to finish to be crowned the 2010 Civil War Champion for the fifth time in his career. Taking no more chances, Forsberg went back on the track and cruised to a comfortable 13th place finish.
Next week October 1st and 2nd Forsberg will be driving the number 47 Autism Awareness Car at the Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California.
This is Hull's second full year with K&N Engineering, and he commented that he's particularly thankful for their continuing support. Photos by Mermaid Photos.
On July 4, 1996, Jerrod Hull of Sikeston, Missouri piloted his number 11 sprinter to victory at Auto Value Parts Raceway in Benton, Missouri; it was his first ASCS National sprint car win ever.
The ASCS Win at Granite City, 14 years after Hull's first ASCS win, is above all satisfying, because it comes after a low period in his career that had him thinking about throwing in the towel. Photos by Mermaid Photos.
More than 14 years later Hull once again stands atop the podium at an ASCS National event, this time at Tri-City Speedway, in Granite City, Illinois. The win comes off of a couple of the most devastating months of his career, as Hull had been sidelined many weeks to recuperate from injuries suffered in two racing incidents. During that low period the veteran driver even briefly contemplated hanging it up. Given the circumstances, which of these two wins subsequently delivered the K&N sponsored driver with the most fulfillment?
"The most recent one has got to be more satisfying," remarked Hull. "We kind of started out the night in the hole starting so far back but made some changes. We got a couple of lucky breaks in the race, but we had a solid enough car, I felt like we could have gotten up front the way we were. My team did an excellent job getting prepared for what we had to do."
Hull made it to the feature event the hard way, by luck of the draw, he had a tough heat race that saw him finish fifth. This relegated him to the B-feature of the night where he earned the transfer to the evening's main program.
"This is just a huge win for this team. We started out the season kind of on a streak of wins and top fives, but that came to a bit of a halt. I am just humbled right now and yet excited all at the same time," commented Hull after the race.
Regarding the two mishaps that had him sidelined, Hull said, "About mid-way through the year we had a problem with a component of the car. We destroyed two cars within three races and obviously were not pleased."
"After the first incident I decided to sit out a few weeks to make sure I was healed up well enough to be able to handle the physical toll these cars can put on a person's body. We came back and the same thing happened to the car, so I decided to sit out and recheck every aspect of the car. We think we have found the problem, but don't care to comment at this time until all tests are conclusive with what we believe to be the problem."
Hull bears witness to the truth that we learn our most valuable lessons during the ebbs in our lives, those periods filled with reflection, rather than when things are rosy.
"The time off allowed me to spend some extra time with my very supportive family. It did give me time to think about racing and my career. Many of us in this sport tend to think after things like that, that maybe it is time to hang up the helmet. Honestly, I thought about it," remarked a pensive Hull.
"But, then I realized that there are still a lot of things I would like to do with my career. There are places I would like to race again, event's that I have always had my eye on winning, and places I have yet to race. It would be very hard for me to walk away from it all at this point. The main thing at this point is that I am back with a better formed, and focused team, and with great supporters like K&N Filters on board with us.
This is Jerrod Hull Motorsports and K&N Filters second year together, Hull utilizes the K&N Filter box for both his 360 and 410 power-plants along with K&N Oil Filters.
"We will continue to work forward with our game plan of an "Outlaw Style" schedule. I really enjoy being able to go to whatever race I feel I can win, and not be tied down to one specific schedule," explained Hull.
"This has been the formula for success over the years and I find it the most enjoyable. We have some big races coming up at the end of the year that we have to be prepared for. Probably the biggest event we have circled on the calendar right now is the Short Track Nationals in Little Rock. We have been close a few times over the years, and we think we have figured some things out to make this year as successful as years past."
Allen Johnson is now sitting third in the prestigious 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge standings.
For NHRA Pro Stock teams, each NHRA National event is extremely important in its own way, whether a team in still in the Countdown to One or just in pursuit of the much sought after Wally and event championship.
NHRA Pro Stock Racer Allen Johnson
One thing that sets the NHRA Pro Stock class apart from all other pro classes is the K&N Horsepower Challenge. Drivers and teams put an extra importance on their event qualifying position to gain as many points possible in their quest to be one of the elite eight who will get to compete for the largest payday in all of NHRA Pro Stock and the massive $50,000 check.
In addition to racking up the maximum points per event for the Challenge, K&N also provides a $3,000 bonus to the number one qualified driver at each race and a nice little shot in the arm of team's coffers.
No stranger to the pole position as of late, is Greeneville, Tennessee native, Allen Johnson, and his Team Mopar/J&J Dodge Avenger.
After missing out on gaining any points during the previous race in Concord, North Carolina, Johnson and his team slowly worked their way to the top of the heap during the latest NHRA event in Ennis, Texas and the O'Reilly SuperStart Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals.
Things didn't start off the way Johnson was hoping for during the first session on Friday and was only able to settle into the number four spot to start the weekend.
"Actually, we had a mechanical issue," Johnson explained. "I had something break that caused us not to perform every well."
That breakage was quickly fixed and when Johnson returned for session two, it was a whole new ballgame. Johnson blasted off the line with a very nice .979 sixty foot time and carried that power through the quarter mile to post a 6.632 at 208.04, picking up more than four hundredths over his first attempt and right to the top.
"On Friday, man it was humid," exclaimed Johnson. "We usually perform pretty good under humid circumstances with our car and we were able to capitalize on that. You could cut that air with a fork."
"We have a setup that just seems to work in high altitudes and bad air," he added.
"We were happy with the second session, but it was the third session on Saturday, that we really hit a home run," he said.
With heavy dark clouds threatening for the third session, Johnson and his team "got out the big bat" and laid down what would end up being the quickest and fastest pass of all four qualifying sessions, just edging out Mike Edwards by .008 for the number one spot.
Johnson wasn't able to repeat during session four, as his car made a hard left shortly after the launch.
"That track has a very narrow groove and that time is just didn't agree with us," noted Johnson. "We were in the left lane for that pass and it slopes to the left just a little. If you don't get it just right on the start line, you are always going to go left and we did and just got out of the groove, then spun and shook the tires a little bit all the way down the track."
Allen Johnson is now sitting third in the prestigious 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge standings after his number one qualifier at Dallas and just 105 points behind the current leader, K&N's Mike Edwards.
"If we don't have another [non-qualifier], I think we can still get back up there in the top two," said Johnson of his chances to move up in the K&N Challenge.
Since signing with K&N back in the beginning of 2009, Fletcher has continued to race up the top-ten list of all-time greats.
About being on the road racing for a large chunk of his life Dan Fletcher once said "If anyone thinks this is easy, let them try." Then he added something about endless miles of concrete and nights that never end, driving from race to race, maintaining two race cars and doing everything at the track by himself. The point is that even though he is in the rarified air of a very select group of sportsman drivers good enough to do it for their day job, racing full-time is at best quasi-glamorous. You gotta love it a lot, and you gotta win a lot.
The win at zMax Speedway was Fletcher's 69th national event title.
Fletcher's resume is way up there on the list of all-time sportsman greats, along with Peter Biondo (who he once was quoted as saying was the greatest racer ever), David Rampy, Scott Richardson and Edmund Richardson - and he's still steadily pulling towards the top. At the third annual O'Reilly NHRA Nationals run at zMax Dragway, Fletcher tallied his 69th event victory. There was little time for celebration however, as he had to once again pack it up and hit the road. Not for a race though - something much more important this time.
Despite all he's accomplished, Fletcher says the highlight of his season is watching his youngest son Timothy get his first NHRA win.
"I loaded up as fast as humanly possible, skipping the winner's circle photos, and hauled ass 750 miles home to make my daughter's 4:30 pm soccer game Monday afternoon. She is a freshman in high school and had just gotten pulled up to Varsity on Friday. It was her first Varsity game and I wasn't going to miss it for the world."
One thing about being on the road so much, it makes family get-togethers that much sweeter.
In round six eliminations in Stock Eliminator at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in Concord, North Carolina, Fletcher dialed an 11.18, and because of his great reaction time, he won with an 11.206 ET at 112.35 mph.
About the win Fletcher remarked "I would have liked to have doubled-up, but I guess I'll have to settle for the semis in SS (Super Stock) and the win in Stock. Still a good day. Pretty cool to tie Kenny B (Bernstein) for seventh on the all time win list as well."
Regarding his legendary, ninja-like reaction times, Fletcher says "I have a practice-tree, as do most racers, we use them to sharpen our skills as required. Honestly, I really only use it when I feel as though I'm struggling. Kind of like a baseball player taking extra batting practice when he's in a slump."
Since signing his primary sponsorship agreement with K&N Engineering in January
2009 there has been virtually no slump in the three-time national champions game. But, when you work 1320 feet and eleven seconds at a time, nothing less than winning is a good day at the office.
"This year is okay, I guess, you'd always like to do better," says Fletcher. "I lost in the semis in Stock at Indy a couple of weeks ago, and now the semis at Charlotte in SS, so that's a crushing financial difference for sure. I'm going to a points meet in Atco, New Jersey this weekend, and then to the Maple Grove national event the week after. Depending on how Atco goes, I might hit a few more points meets, or I may shut it down till Vegas and Pomona at the end of the year."
Apart from whatever the fickle fates of racing hold in store for Fletcher down the road, he's always got his family. No doubt with being gone for over 25 weeks each year that becomes an increasing focus theme. When we asked for a couple of photos to post with his story Fletcher explained that he didn't really keep many of himself, adding, "Here are a couple from the Lebanon Valley D1 points meet winner's circle. I didn't win, but my younger boy Timothy did. It was his very first NHRA race, and indisputably the highlight of my season."
