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RICHMOND, Va. (October 4, 2006) -- To say that Phil Burkart was having a "rough go of it" for the last 13 races on the NHRA POWERade tour would be somewhat akin to saying the 1962 New York Mets (with their "amazing" 40-122 record) had a "bit of a hard time" being successful in the National League. Burkart started the season well enough, racking up seven round wins at the first six races, but then the proverbial wheels began to wobble, and they nearly fell off. From Atlanta through Dallas, a span of 13 races and nearly five months, Burkart suffered through a pair of DNQs and added but four additional W's to his won/lost record. And then he showed up in Reading for last weekend's rescheduled Toyo Tires Nationals.
Qualifying well there, with a pair of 4.79s, Burkart looked at the eliminations ladder and saw the cruel joke that was being foisted upon him. To have any success in Reading, he'd have to start by taking out the POWERade points leader, Ron Capps. If he could pull off that miracle, the likely opponents would feature defending POWERade champion Gary Scelzi, defending "Greatest Funny Car Driver In The History Of The Universe" John Force, and the blazingly hot Robert Hight, who seemed to be toying with the competition. In round one, Burkart simply outran Capps, and from that point on he and his team just kept building the confidence, ending the day with a dramatic "pedal-fest" win over Hight.
"Talking about turning your season around, that was it," Burkart said. "Having to face Capps in the first round was a huge challenge, but we all had quite a bit of confidence because we knew our numbers in qualifying were a little deceiving. We ran two 4.79s, but they were very different. The first one was as quick as we could go in that session, but the second one was not really a perfect lap at all. On that one, we knew where we'd left a ton on the table, so we knew we could run better. Sure enough, we ran 4.78 to beat Ron, and I bet some people on his team were a little surprised by what we did.
"Then, we just got on a roll. The final was fun for the fans, but it was about as stressful as it could be for me and the guys. When both cars go up in smoke, it's a madhouse out there. We got there first, and we won the race. Now, we're coming to Richmond with a much better mindset, and instead of seeing the guys moping around feeling demoralized by the way things have gone, everyone is perked back up and ready to rock."
The four round wins in Reading did more than just lift the spirits of Burkart and his squad, who will compete in Richmond with the same "special edition" Havoline Monte Carlo body they took to the Winner's Circle at Maple Grove. The win vaulted Burkart well past Cruz Pedregon on the points sheet, landing him in the No. 9 spot and all but assured him of passing Whit Bazemore, who still sits 8th though he is no longer actively driving this season. Going into Reading, Burkart was two rounds behind Pedregon, and a solid 169 points behind Bazemore. He now sits three rounds ahead of Pedregon, and is only 57 points behind Bazemore. What all that means, is that Burkart will pass Bazemore by simply qualifying at two of the final three races.
"We've spent much of the season in 11th place, so this is all pretty big to us," Burkart said. "We slipped into 11th way back at Topeka, at the end of May, and we finally got ourselves back into 10th place just a couple of races ago. We did the math about trying to catch Whit as soon as we heard the news about him being out of the car after Indy, and we knew we needed to win at least four rounds in the final five races to do it. We won four in one day, so that's pretty huge.
"I've only been to the NHRA POWERade Awards Ceremony once, back in 2004 when we won a pair of races and finished 10th. Right now, I want to stay on this roll, win some more rounds, and get my tuxedo dry-cleaned and ready. I want to be on that stage, and I want my teammate, Del Worsham, to be there with me. Del is in 11th right now, but he's right behind Cruz and I know he can make it. If he wins some rounds here in Richmond, we might both be able to finish ahead of Whit, and considering we were both about 250 points back after Indy, that would be a nice accomplishment."
Those sound like the words of a man on a resurgent mission. A big win, when things are at their toughest, will create that sort of excitement, and additional round wins on the next weekend will only turn the dial up even further. Phil Burkart is ready. Readier than he's been in about five months.
ON A ROLL, BURKART ANXIOUS TO RUN AT RICHMOND
RICHMOND, Va. (October 4, 2006) -- To say that Phil Burkart was having a "rough go of it" for the last 13 races on the NHRA POWERade tour would be somewhat akin to saying the 1962 New York Mets (with their "amazing" 40-122 record) had a "bit of a hard time" being successful in the National League. Burkart started the season well enough, racking up seven round wins at the first six races, but then the proverbial wheels began to wobble, and they nearly fell off. From Atlanta through Dallas, a span of 13 races and nearly five months, Burkart suffered through a pair of DNQs and added but four additional W's to his won/lost record. And then he showed up in Reading for last weekend's rescheduled Toyo Tires Nationals.
Qualifying well there, with a pair of 4.79s, Burkart looked at the eliminations ladder and saw the cruel joke that was being foisted upon him. To have any success in Reading, he'd have to start by taking out the POWERade points leader, Ron Capps. If he could pull off that miracle, the likely opponents would feature defending POWERade champion Gary Scelzi, defending "Greatest Funny Car Driver In The History Of The Universe" John Force, and the blazingly hot Robert Hight, who seemed to be toying with the competition. In round one, Burkart simply outran Capps, and from that point on he and his team just kept building the confidence, ending the day with a dramatic "pedal-fest" win over Hight.
"Talking about turning your season around, that was it," Burkart said. "Having to face Capps in the first round was a huge challenge, but we all had quite a bit of confidence because we knew our numbers in qualifying were a little deceiving. We ran two 4.79s, but they were very different. The first one was as quick as we could go in that session, but the second one was not really a perfect lap at all. On that one, we knew where we'd left a ton on the table, so we knew we could run better. Sure enough, we ran 4.78 to beat Ron, and I bet some people on his team were a little surprised by what we did.
"Then, we just got on a roll. The final was fun for the fans, but it was about as stressful as it could be for me and the guys. When both cars go up in smoke, it's a madhouse out there. We got there first, and we won the race. Now, we're coming to Richmond with a much better mindset, and instead of seeing the guys moping around feeling demoralized by the way things have gone, everyone is perked back up and ready to rock."
The four round wins in Reading did more than just lift the spirits of Burkart and his squad, who will compete in Richmond with the same "special edition" Havoline Monte Carlo body they took to the Winner's Circle at Maple Grove. The win vaulted Burkart well past Cruz Pedregon on the points sheet, landing him in the No. 9 spot and all but assured him of passing Whit Bazemore, who still sits 8th though he is no longer actively driving this season. Going into Reading, Burkart was two rounds behind Pedregon, and a solid 169 points behind Bazemore. He now sits three rounds ahead of Pedregon, and is only 57 points behind Bazemore. What all that means, is that Burkart will pass Bazemore by simply qualifying at two of the final three races.
"We've spent much of the season in 11th place, so this is all pretty big to us," Burkart said. "We slipped into 11th way back at Topeka, at the end of May, and we finally got ourselves back into 10th place just a couple of races ago. We did the math about trying to catch Whit as soon as we heard the news about him being out of the car after Indy, and we knew we needed to win at least four rounds in the final five races to do it. We won four in one day, so that's pretty huge.
"I've only been to the NHRA POWERade Awards Ceremony once, back in 2004 when we won a pair of races and finished 10th. Right now, I want to stay on this roll, win some more rounds, and get my tuxedo dry-cleaned and ready. I want to be on that stage, and I want my teammate, Del Worsham, to be there with me. Del is in 11th right now, but he's right behind Cruz and I know he can make it. If he wins some rounds here in Richmond, we might both be able to finish ahead of Whit, and considering we were both about 250 points back after Indy, that would be a nice accomplishment."
Those sound like the words of a man on a resurgent mission. A big win, when things are at their toughest, will create that sort of excitement, and additional round wins on the next weekend will only turn the dial up even further. Phil Burkart is ready. Readier than he's been in about five months.
