<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/p_burkart06.jpg" alt="p_burkart06" align="right"borders="0"/>
BRAINERD, Minn. (8/13/06) -- There is no shame in beating John Force off the starting line and leading him well down the track. There is real pride in running your best lap of the weekend in round one, especially when you pick up a full tenth of a second over your qualifying effort when doing so. There are reasons for future confidence when your car runs over 325 mph while Force clocks in at 320. All of that was good, but for Phil Burkart, in his blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Monte Carlo, there was also another heartbreaking, gut-wrenching loss. As shown in "stop action" on the big screen, Force's margin of victory looked to be about two feet. The official tally worked out to .019, otherwise known as 19-thousandths of a second.
Of course, the first round match with the No. 1 qualifier was created over the course of two interesting days of qualifying. On Friday, Team CSK put some new parts in the twin Monte Carlos and, in effect, tested their cars in the heat of battle. Between Burkart and his teammate, Del Worsham, there was much to be learned and a great deal of data gathered, but there were no full laps on Friday and the two CSK drivers ended the first day holding up the entire field, in the 18th and 19th positions.
On Saturday, taking the data they had compiled on the first day and adjusting their cars accordingly, both Burkart and Worsham forced their way into the 16-car field, posting four solid laps between them. Burkart's No. 16 spot didn't come without a great bit of drama, however, as well as a little bit of luck. Running Whit Bazemore in the final session, Burkart was clinging to the bump spot while Bazemore was on the outside trying to bust his way in. Burkart posted a solid 4.926, but may have only kept his spot by the virtue of Bazemore's oil leak, which prevented him from even running.
"Those guys were on a monster lap, maybe low ET for the whole weekend, on the first Saturday pass, but they broke something and didn't get down there," Burkart said. "Had they not had the oil leak, would they have run quicker than 4.92? We'll never know, but the odds are pretty good they could have knocked us right out. We were concentrating on fine-tuning this new tune-up, and getting down the track. We were trying to run 4.89 or something like that, but another 4.92 popped up on the board and Whit had his problems. We got in 16th, and I won't try to kid you by saying we weren't happy. We were happy to be in the show here, where three good cars (driven by Bazemore, Scott Kalitta, and Tony Bartone) didn't make the cut."
On Sunday, the expected rain came in the form of a frustrating drizzle, which wasn't heavy enough to keep anyone from venturing out in the open but kept the track closed just as well as a downpour. Finally, about two hours late, the cars were called to the line and the Brainerd fans made a mad dash for their grandstand seats.
Burkart and Force lined up as the third pair, and Force clearly had to think this match-up was no fit present for qualifying No. 1. Burkart has taken Force out on a number of recent occasions, and was clearly finding a faster race car as the weekend went on.
At the flash of amber, Burkart was his typical clairvoyant self, jumping off the starting line with a stellar .025 reaction time, well better than Force's more average .077 clocking. The two cars were in lockstep off the starting line, with Burkart enjoying the early lead thanks to his cat-like reflexes at the tree. Even they stayed, past 330 and past half-track. Force closed the gap and edged ahead as they approached the finish line, and as the nose of his Mustang crossed the beams, the leading edge of Burkart's car appeared to be right in the area of Force's front wheel well.
Force's dominant 4.754 (low ET of the round and of the race to that point) would have left any other first-round competitor well back in the dust, but Burkart's terrific reaction time effort kept him in the fight to the very end. His 4.825 was vastly better than his 4.924 qualifying effort, but it was just this short of taking out Force.
"Once again, I never saw him at all, and I thought we won," Burkart said. "I got a good jump on the tree, and my Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Chevy just tore down there. I hate losing, but especially hate losing when I've had a few seconds to think I actually won. Once I figured it all out, and had a chance to think about it, though, I felt pretty good. We gave him a great fight, and our car is getting better and better. Things are coming around, and we're going to be on the good side of these thousandths very soon."
Nothing to ashamed of. Much to be proud of. And when teammate Worsham took Force out in round two, there was a justifiable smidgen of revenge to be felt. But for Phil Burkart, there was no win to be had.
Phil Burkart Lost to John Force in Round One
BRAINERD, Minn. (8/13/06) -- There is no shame in beating John Force off the starting line and leading him well down the track. There is real pride in running your best lap of the weekend in round one, especially when you pick up a full tenth of a second over your qualifying effort when doing so. There are reasons for future confidence when your car runs over 325 mph while Force clocks in at 320. All of that was good, but for Phil Burkart, in his blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Monte Carlo, there was also another heartbreaking, gut-wrenching loss. As shown in "stop action" on the big screen, Force's margin of victory looked to be about two feet. The official tally worked out to .019, otherwise known as 19-thousandths of a second.
Of course, the first round match with the No. 1 qualifier was created over the course of two interesting days of qualifying. On Friday, Team CSK put some new parts in the twin Monte Carlos and, in effect, tested their cars in the heat of battle. Between Burkart and his teammate, Del Worsham, there was much to be learned and a great deal of data gathered, but there were no full laps on Friday and the two CSK drivers ended the first day holding up the entire field, in the 18th and 19th positions.
On Saturday, taking the data they had compiled on the first day and adjusting their cars accordingly, both Burkart and Worsham forced their way into the 16-car field, posting four solid laps between them. Burkart's No. 16 spot didn't come without a great bit of drama, however, as well as a little bit of luck. Running Whit Bazemore in the final session, Burkart was clinging to the bump spot while Bazemore was on the outside trying to bust his way in. Burkart posted a solid 4.926, but may have only kept his spot by the virtue of Bazemore's oil leak, which prevented him from even running.
"Those guys were on a monster lap, maybe low ET for the whole weekend, on the first Saturday pass, but they broke something and didn't get down there," Burkart said. "Had they not had the oil leak, would they have run quicker than 4.92? We'll never know, but the odds are pretty good they could have knocked us right out. We were concentrating on fine-tuning this new tune-up, and getting down the track. We were trying to run 4.89 or something like that, but another 4.92 popped up on the board and Whit had his problems. We got in 16th, and I won't try to kid you by saying we weren't happy. We were happy to be in the show here, where three good cars (driven by Bazemore, Scott Kalitta, and Tony Bartone) didn't make the cut."
On Sunday, the expected rain came in the form of a frustrating drizzle, which wasn't heavy enough to keep anyone from venturing out in the open but kept the track closed just as well as a downpour. Finally, about two hours late, the cars were called to the line and the Brainerd fans made a mad dash for their grandstand seats.
Burkart and Force lined up as the third pair, and Force clearly had to think this match-up was no fit present for qualifying No. 1. Burkart has taken Force out on a number of recent occasions, and was clearly finding a faster race car as the weekend went on.
At the flash of amber, Burkart was his typical clairvoyant self, jumping off the starting line with a stellar .025 reaction time, well better than Force's more average .077 clocking. The two cars were in lockstep off the starting line, with Burkart enjoying the early lead thanks to his cat-like reflexes at the tree. Even they stayed, past 330 and past half-track. Force closed the gap and edged ahead as they approached the finish line, and as the nose of his Mustang crossed the beams, the leading edge of Burkart's car appeared to be right in the area of Force's front wheel well.
Force's dominant 4.754 (low ET of the round and of the race to that point) would have left any other first-round competitor well back in the dust, but Burkart's terrific reaction time effort kept him in the fight to the very end. His 4.825 was vastly better than his 4.924 qualifying effort, but it was just this short of taking out Force.
"Once again, I never saw him at all, and I thought we won," Burkart said. "I got a good jump on the tree, and my Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Chevy just tore down there. I hate losing, but especially hate losing when I've had a few seconds to think I actually won. Once I figured it all out, and had a chance to think about it, though, I felt pretty good. We gave him a great fight, and our car is getting better and better. Things are coming around, and we're going to be on the good side of these thousandths very soon."
Nothing to ashamed of. Much to be proud of. And when teammate Worsham took Force out in round two, there was a justifiable smidgen of revenge to be felt. But for Phil Burkart, there was no win to be had.
