Sorry, Dave... but I think you are wrong on some of this and the rest just doesn't make any sense. At all.
Having been a part of DSR for 5 years, I can say that there has never been a time when the Funny cars have run anything but heads up. Ever. This year is the most obvious example of each team running for the Final Four and two making it at the expense of the 3rd. No car was deemed "more important" than any other car.
As for last year when Melanie started off strong and fell off... how many times have you seen that happen in fuel racing? As for Tony starting off slow and coming on strong... do you think they stole the magic dust from Melanie's car? Does it surprise you that Alan got it together at some point in the season... again? And why would you have Melanie's momentum roll off well before there was any hope of Tony showing signs of winning the Championship (which really didn't happen until there was one or two races left in the season? This conspiracy theory just doesn't hold water any way you look at it. The only "team orders" I ever heard was "Melanie, go out and beat Doug in the semi's at Pomona". And she did.
I would be surprised, as we all should, if anyone runs better than Tony, including Cory Mac. But it seems reasonable that CMac will step up and run better next year... probably having a great chance to win races. Who knows, maybe even the Championship. The support at DSR is great... for all teams. The three Funny cars finished 3,4 and 5 this year, 2 with a real chance to win the Championship until the 1st round in Las Vegas.
But if Tony has more points at the end of the year than CMac, it isn't a conspiracy. Alan Johnson tunes Tony's car. And Tony is a great driver. That is a tough combination for anyone to beat over 23 races.
Jim Jannard
