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READING, Penn. (September 11, 2006) -- Johnny Mercer wrote the song, and the incomparable Bing Crosby sang it. It was entitled "Accentuate the Positive," and the lyrics of the 1940s recording include the opening lines "You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative." Though the song has been relegated to the dust bin of ancient popular music history, no other lyrics better fit the attitude Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car driver Phil Burkart will bring with him to Maple Grove Raceway for this weekend's Toyo Tires Nationals.
Burkart has more than a few positives to accentuate, as he readies himself for the annual meeting of men, machinery, and avid fans in the rural Pennsylvania countryside. After a mid-season slump, which saw him exit eliminations in the first round at five consecutive races, Burkart has recently put big round wins on the board at both Memphis and Indianapolis, and by doing so has vaulted himself back into the POWERade top ten for the first time since late May. His opening round win at the most recent race, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indy, was of the spectacular and uplifting sort, as Burkart's huge starting line advantage over Gary Scelzi, the defending POWERade Champion, gave him the head start he needed to pull off a major hole-shot win.
"Things have definitely been better for us over the last two races, and we are all building off that," Burkart said. "Not only that, but our second round losses were both nothing to sneeze at either. We got beat by Eric Medlen and Robert Hight in those two rounds, and we gave them both a battle to the end, so there's nothing to be ashamed of there. We went through a period of not being able to get a win light, no matter what we did, and it feels to good to get off that streak.
"Coming into Maple Grove, we just want to keep qualifying well and keep going. Qualifying as well as possible is always important, even though you wouldn't know it by looking back over our last six races or so. We qualified 6th in Denver, but lost in round one, then we were 5th in Seattle, but lost in round one, and after that we were 8th in Sonoma, but lost in round one. Then we were 10th at both Memphis and Indy, and got round wins at both races, so go figure. The truth is, with so many good cars on tour right now, you're going to get a tough opponent no matter where you start. Just ask all the No. 1 qualifiers."
Burkart was referring to the so-called "No. 1 jinx" that has plagued the Funny Car class all season. So far, through 18 of 23 races, no top qualifier has won a race. The most likely reason for that amazing statistic lies in the overall parity Burkart was also talking about.
"There are 18 very good cars pretty much on the tour full-time," he said. "Add to that the additional teams that only race part of the schedule, and it's not uncommon for us to have more than 20 cars at a race, and have all of them be fully capable of getting in the show and winning rounds. So now, the top dog may be racing No. 16 in round one, but the days of having the 16th guy be a total walk-over are long gone.
"As an example, I was 16th once this year, at Brainerd. We raced John Force in round one, and we stepped up and nearly took him out. He got us by running a perfect lap, and he still only beat us by 19-thousandths of a second. How's that for 1 vs. 16 match-up? They're all tough now, up and down the ladder."
It's been a while since Burkart has heard references to his "Giant Killer" nickname, which suits the upstate New York driver just fine, considering he never really liked the moniker anyway. The recent hole-shot win over Scelzi did get a few reporters scrambling, however, seeking out his lifetime record against the hard-charging defending champ. It is, by the way, 7-3.
"It was just an honor to line up next to Gary and take him out, and every win is that way for us," Burkart said. "I know people liked the 'Giant Killer' thing, and it was fun to get everyone riled up, but it made it sound like we were chopped liver or it was a huge surprise that we could even run with those guys. Even so, I've never been in the points chase heading down to the wire, and we have enjoyed playing the spoiler more than a few times.
"Now, looking ahead to next year and the new points system, we know we'll have to be in the top eight as we get to the end of the 2007 summer in order to get into the playoff system, and our recent performance shows me we have what it takes to do that. Here in 2006, we're in the top ten right now, we plan to stay there, and we plan to win as many rounds as possible. I'm just looking at this thing one race at a time, and one lap at a time. And recently, it's been getting better and better. We aim to keep going."
Accentuate the positive, Mr. Burkart. And don't be afraid to slay a few more giants along the way.
BURKART AIMS TO ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE
READING, Penn. (September 11, 2006) -- Johnny Mercer wrote the song, and the incomparable Bing Crosby sang it. It was entitled "Accentuate the Positive," and the lyrics of the 1940s recording include the opening lines "You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative." Though the song has been relegated to the dust bin of ancient popular music history, no other lyrics better fit the attitude Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car driver Phil Burkart will bring with him to Maple Grove Raceway for this weekend's Toyo Tires Nationals.
Burkart has more than a few positives to accentuate, as he readies himself for the annual meeting of men, machinery, and avid fans in the rural Pennsylvania countryside. After a mid-season slump, which saw him exit eliminations in the first round at five consecutive races, Burkart has recently put big round wins on the board at both Memphis and Indianapolis, and by doing so has vaulted himself back into the POWERade top ten for the first time since late May. His opening round win at the most recent race, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indy, was of the spectacular and uplifting sort, as Burkart's huge starting line advantage over Gary Scelzi, the defending POWERade Champion, gave him the head start he needed to pull off a major hole-shot win.
"Things have definitely been better for us over the last two races, and we are all building off that," Burkart said. "Not only that, but our second round losses were both nothing to sneeze at either. We got beat by Eric Medlen and Robert Hight in those two rounds, and we gave them both a battle to the end, so there's nothing to be ashamed of there. We went through a period of not being able to get a win light, no matter what we did, and it feels to good to get off that streak.
"Coming into Maple Grove, we just want to keep qualifying well and keep going. Qualifying as well as possible is always important, even though you wouldn't know it by looking back over our last six races or so. We qualified 6th in Denver, but lost in round one, then we were 5th in Seattle, but lost in round one, and after that we were 8th in Sonoma, but lost in round one. Then we were 10th at both Memphis and Indy, and got round wins at both races, so go figure. The truth is, with so many good cars on tour right now, you're going to get a tough opponent no matter where you start. Just ask all the No. 1 qualifiers."
Burkart was referring to the so-called "No. 1 jinx" that has plagued the Funny Car class all season. So far, through 18 of 23 races, no top qualifier has won a race. The most likely reason for that amazing statistic lies in the overall parity Burkart was also talking about.
"There are 18 very good cars pretty much on the tour full-time," he said. "Add to that the additional teams that only race part of the schedule, and it's not uncommon for us to have more than 20 cars at a race, and have all of them be fully capable of getting in the show and winning rounds. So now, the top dog may be racing No. 16 in round one, but the days of having the 16th guy be a total walk-over are long gone.
"As an example, I was 16th once this year, at Brainerd. We raced John Force in round one, and we stepped up and nearly took him out. He got us by running a perfect lap, and he still only beat us by 19-thousandths of a second. How's that for 1 vs. 16 match-up? They're all tough now, up and down the ladder."
It's been a while since Burkart has heard references to his "Giant Killer" nickname, which suits the upstate New York driver just fine, considering he never really liked the moniker anyway. The recent hole-shot win over Scelzi did get a few reporters scrambling, however, seeking out his lifetime record against the hard-charging defending champ. It is, by the way, 7-3.
"It was just an honor to line up next to Gary and take him out, and every win is that way for us," Burkart said. "I know people liked the 'Giant Killer' thing, and it was fun to get everyone riled up, but it made it sound like we were chopped liver or it was a huge surprise that we could even run with those guys. Even so, I've never been in the points chase heading down to the wire, and we have enjoyed playing the spoiler more than a few times.
"Now, looking ahead to next year and the new points system, we know we'll have to be in the top eight as we get to the end of the 2007 summer in order to get into the playoff system, and our recent performance shows me we have what it takes to do that. Here in 2006, we're in the top ten right now, we plan to stay there, and we plan to win as many rounds as possible. I'm just looking at this thing one race at a time, and one lap at a time. And recently, it's been getting better and better. We aim to keep going."
Accentuate the positive, Mr. Burkart. And don't be afraid to slay a few more giants along the way.
