49th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals

If you want to win the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park, you are going to have to dig a little deeper. OK, a lot deeper. On Labor Day weekend there will be more than 1,000 drivers competing for 11 Wally trophies. That's right, only 11 people will walk away with the hardware after an intensive six-day marathon of racing. The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is special in many ways. When Wally Parks founded the NHRA more than 50 years ago, there wasn't any plan to host national events, nonetheless 23 of them in 20 major U.S. cities. At one time, there was just one race that brought a nation of drag racers together - The Nationals. The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series has expanded in every which way, but one thing remains the same. Labor Day weekend means the best of the best in quarter-mile racing will attempt to tame the biggest race of the year. In this Q&A session, drivers in all four professional categories talk about what it is like to win the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, what it is like if you don't win and why the prestige of Indy will never fade.

Q: What makes the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals so special?

GREG ANDERSON (Driver of the Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am, 2001 Indy winner): It is the mystic of the place. You go there and you get a queasy feeling when you walk on the grounds. I don't know what it is. I think I have done a pretty good job of controlling my emotions everywhere I go but when you walk into that place, you feel like a new kid. You're in awe of the whole place. I think it is the tradition. It is the NHRA version of the Indy 500 or the Daytona 500. It means more. It used to be double points and double money. Now it is just double money and the points are the same and Indy shouldn't mean as much. But it does. It is just so neat to go there and to win that race. That makes your whole season. I've been lucky enough to win it, but until you win it a second time, people can call it a fluke. So you have to go back and do it again and make your career.

WHIT BAZEMORE (Driver of the Matco Tools Dodge Stratus, two-time Indy winner): I think the tradition and the history of the U.S. Nationals is really what makes it special. The fact that it takes such a huge effort to be successful there. For so long in the history of the sport, the U.S. Nationals played such a big role in determining who was the top dog and who wasn't. Some of that has carried over to the modern era of the sport even though the points aren't any different from the other races. We now have 23 races across the nation and it would be easy to say that Indy was just another race but the fact is that it is not. Indy is bigger and better and more important than all of the others put together.

KURT JOHNSON (Driver of the ACDelco Chevy Cavalier, second in Pro Stock points, two-time Indy winner): It's a big race, the biggest we have all year. All of the sponsors are there and we have the best and longest television package of the year. It is really an endurance race because it is the longest event too. We race an extra day and there is a lot of hype surrounding the event. You should take it like every other race on the schedule, but you don't because it is so big. There is not more pressure to win, but there is more pressure if you make a mistake. If for some reason something happens and you don't win, then you really kick yourself.

KENNY BERNSTEIN (Driver of the Budweiser dragster, three-time Indy winner): Indy is the oldest and the original race of NHRA drag racing. It is like the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500. It's our No. 1 race in the country during the year. It has the most prestige and tradition because it is the start of the whole NHRA-Wally Parks program. It is really just another race and we are going to race the same car we race all the time. But if you told a racer that they could win one race and one race only, they would say Indy.

DEL WORSHAM (Driver of the red Checker Schuck's Kragen Pontiac Firebird, Indy runner-up in 1992): People who haven't been fans of our sport for all that long ask me why Indy is a so-called bigger race than the others.   I tell them it's tradition, and history and it all adds up to an elevated status that goes beyond any question.    It's Indy, and even though the points are the same as the other 22 races, it's different.    I'm like every other driver, I want to finish my career with at least one Mac Tools U.S. Nationals trophy on my shelf.

JOHNNY GRAY (Driver of the blue Checker Schuck's Kragen Pontiac Firebird, winless in Indy): For a guy like me, who has been racing cars for more than 30 years, when you think of NHRA Drag Racing you associate the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals with it immediately. It's the big dance, the big enchilada, and the most impressive thing you can have on your resume short of a POWERade Championship. To win Indy would be the greatest thing that ever happened to me on a drag strip. And I've been on a lot of drag strips.

Q: Why do you think that so many of the big races in many racing organizations are held in Indianapolis?

LARRY DIXON (Driver of the Miller Lite Top Fuel dragster, two-time Indy winner, current points leader): I think it was established around the Brickyard facility at the beginning of time of racing. When they started running the Indianapolis 500 that is where the manufacturers went to prove who had the best car. I think the NHRA did the same thing. They moved it around from (the original race in) Great Bend, Kan. but it ended up in Indianapolis back when there were only one or two national events a year. That was The Nationals, the place where everyone went to prove who was the best.

Q: The race is worth the same amount of points as the rest of the 22 races on the schedule, so what makes the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals continue to be so special?

DIXON: It must be special because the purse is double for one. It is the only race where we have five qualifying sessions. I know that when my dad raced it was one of the few events that had a 32-car field because there were so many entries that showed up they couldn't leave it to 16-car field. They had to increase it to 32, so you would race first round on Sunday and come back and race the top 16 on Monday.

BAZEMORE: Guys like myself and Larry Dixon are part of the younger generation and we recognize the importance of Indy. I think the younger guys who haven't won it yet will try to downplay it, but that will change if they do ever win it.

CRAIG TREBLE (Rider of the Matco Tools Suzuki, winless at Indy, defending K&N Filters Klash winner): It is the biggest race we go to. The Pro Stock Bike class has its special event and we are all racing for bonus money too. The ambiance of the whole race is a pretty cool deal. The U.S. Nationals is something everyone wants to win. We won the K&N Filters Pro Stock Bike Klash last year and that was a huge deal for us. If we could double up and win Indy too, that would be incredible. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about the U.S. Nationals.

TIM WILKERSON (Driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Pontiac Firebird, 1997 Indy runner-up): I believe that the U.S. Nationals is special because of the age of the track. To me it is like the Winternationals. As a kid you remember the races. It is a cool deal and it will always have a special place in your heart.

WORSHAM: For us, running the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is big enough, but we also get the privilege of running in the Budweiser Shootout as part of the weekend. That's like having two of the greatest racing
opportunities in front of you in the course of two days. I've never been in the situation where I was really in contention for the POWERade championship in Pomona as the season ended, so I can't relate to how incredible that must feel.   In Indy, though, you come in to qualifying knowing you've got a chance to win the thing, the most prestigious race of the year, and it's a thrill. I think I'd be beside myself if we won Indy.   I know I'll go berserk if we ever do it.

Q: Do you think the next generation of championship drivers, including yourself, understands the importance of the U.S. Nationals?

DIXON: Anyone who tells me that Indy is no big deal because the points are the same, I always ask them one question, 'Have you ever won Indy?' They always say 'No' and I tell them that when you win Indy, it will mean more to you. Even (Miller Lite crew chief) Dick LaHaie was the same way. Until we won it in 2001, he hated Indy. To be able to be right on that exact moment four times, is special. You only have one shot to win Indy each year and back in the day, there was just one race and it was Indy. It's a very big deal. If you don't get it done, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Q: Does winning Indy ever get old?

DIXON: Why don't you ask (team owner Don Prudhomme) Snake or Don Garlits if winning Indy ever gets old. I think as a driver Snake won it seven times and I think Garlits won it eight times. Garlits didn't come back and return to racing to be at Phoenix or any other event on the schedule. He comes back to run Indy because it is Indy.

Q: What would you like to see happen in Indianapolis this year? What is your dream scenario at the U.S. Nationals?

DIXON: I don't dream too much. I just try and work hard for everything we get and not wish anything. Whatever comes to us, comes to us and what doesn't, we have to work harder and smarter for. I don't know. I would like to qualify for Indy. I've DNQ'd before so qualifying is very important. As long as you qualify, you have an opportunity to win the event. That is the only thing I wish for at this point.

Q: How does it feel knowing that you are leading the points chase for the 2003 NHRA POWERade Funny Car championship?

TONY PEDREGON (Driver of the Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang, current points leader, 2001 Indy runner-up): We got close last year and we didn't quite get it and that was one of the goals we set this year was to go one position better than last year. We managed to have an exceptional first half of the season and our goals haven't changed. We lost in the first round three races in a row and we are trying to recover but we are not discouraged because last year we didn't make a serious run until the end of the year. Right now we are between a little transitional period for us. We are running our backup car and I still feel good about our chances. At this stage, as bad as we have performed over the last few races, we're still in the lead, so that means things can just get better.

Q: What do you have to do to be prepared for the U.S. Nationals?

JOHNSON: You have to make sure you have power under the hood. That is the biggest thing. You take new components, pistons, rods valves and bolt it all together, stick it on the dyno and hope you don't have any problems. We're making good power now. We're going to test before the race to make sure this Cavalier can get down the race track. I know as well as every other Pro Stock driver out here that power makes a big difference and that is what we are aiming for.

Q: What do you have to do to win a big race like the U.S. Nationals considering that it is a day longer and there are more competitors trying to earn one trophy in each category?

BAZEMORE: The thing about Indy is that everyone manages to dig a little deeper. When you think you are racing flat out all the time and you are doing your best all the time, there is something about Indy where you find more. When you don't think you have any more to give, you find more at Indy. Everyone does. It is just more competitive and that is what makes it so tough. Not to mention that for Funny Cars, we have the Budweiser Shootout. The race you want to win is the U.S. Nationals. If there is one race you win in your career, you want Indy to be the one. That's the bottom line. Because of that, everyone tries a little harder.

ANDERSON: It is like a marathon. You are so wiped out by the time you get to Monday that you are just ready to go home. But then you have to find a way to dig down and get enough energy to race. I end up thinking every Monday morning in Indy that I am just shot and that I don't think I will be able to race all day long. Somehow you have to find the energy to make it because Indy can wear you out physically and mentally.

WILKERSON: I think the weather is going to be a factor for our team to win Indy, to be honest. If it is in the mid 60s to 70s and the track is really good, you probably won't see a guy like me win it because everyone will be running in the 4.70s. We can run in the 70s, but doing it four runs in a row may not be something we can get a hold of. I think if the weather is warm, I will have a good chance of taking that race and winning it. The U.S. Nationals is very important because of all of the attention it receives. I went to the finals in my first year of racing a nitro Funny Car and that made me pretty proud to do that. We know how to race there and it's close to home and we know what we are doing so it will be good there for us.

Q: You now live in Indianapolis full time. Does that make you want to win the U.S. Nationals even more because you are part of the community?

BAZEMORE: Not really. I live in Indy out of convenience and if I lived somewhere else, if I lived on the moon, I would still want to come to the U.S. Nationals and win.

Q: How does it feel to know that you have a win at the U.S. Nationals on your resume already?

ANTRON BROWN (Rider of the U.S. Army Suzuki, 2000 Indy winner): That is the biggest race to win. It is like the Super Bowl of racing. We have the bonus race for the Pro Stock Bikes too, the K&N Filters Pro Stock Bike Klash. It is a huge deal and every time we go there everyone is souped up and ready to go for this race. The U.S. Nationals is the race of all races. The thing about it is that I want to win it again. Every time I see Indy coming up on the schedule, I get pumped up and I can't wait to race there, especially since I live in Indy now.

Q: Does the excitement of Indy ever get old?

BROWN: No way. It is the most prestigious race on the schedule and when you think about Indy, you think about the racing capital of the world. I live there now and I feel it, I breathe it and I sleep it. When that race comes up, you have to step up to the plate.

Q: You retired at the end of the 2002 season, but because of your son's injury, you are back racing at Indy one more time. What do you think about having one more chance to win Indy?

BERNSTEIN: It's just another chance to win it again, which is nice. But I would much rather be on the sidelines watching Brandon win his first Indy, believe me, but that is just not the way it is. We're going to look at it from the aspect that it is another chance to win Indy and then we will hang it up again. Winning never gets old, no matter where you are. If you can win Indy, that would be great. I don't put any more emphasis on it because of what it is. I probably did when I was a kid and young and starting out like Brandon would because it is so awesome. Then you realize that all 23 events are important but you still want to win Indy a taste more.

Q: There are seven races left on the 2003 schedule, including the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. How is the season progressing for the Budweiser team?

BERNSTEIN: We're working OK. We're off a little bit, the Miller car is running tremendous and the Kalitta car is there when the conditions are good. We're right in behind them and I think we are getting a little closer. We had a good Western Swing, to be honest and we could have gone to the final round in all three if we could have had a break here or there. I can't say enough about (crew chief) Tim Richards and the entire Bud team and Lucas Oil. They are all working hard trying to make it happen and I am just trying to hang in there and do my job.