(Todd Dziadosz photo)

Words compiled by Kay Burk
Photos by Todd Dziadosz and Debbie Gastelu

Water played a major role in the 27th annual Auto-Plus® NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pa. The Sunday final eliminations were suspended and the race finished on Monday, Oct. 3, still dodging raindrops. Despite the challenging weather and track conditions, several records were set.

Rain had threatened the event all weekend, but managed to stay away until the middle of the second round of eliminations on Sunday. Top Fuel and Funny Car both completed two rounds of racing, while Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle were only able to complete round one.

TOP FUEL

Spencer Massey (far lane) got off the line first and took the win over Del Worsham. (Todd Dziadosz photo)

Aboard his FRAM/Prestone Top Fuel dragster, Spencer Massey, who prides himself on his reaction times, pulled off a remarkable holeshot  victory. The 29-year-old Don Schumacher Racing driver, leading in the Countdown to the Championship, used a .056 light on his 3.770-second pass (at 323.12 miles per hour) to defeat Del Worsham, despite his rival’s establishing an elapsed-time record of 3.735 seconds.

“It was pretty amazing to beat a guy who was on a record run,” said an excited Massey, after his fourth 2011 win in seven final rounds. “This makes the win that much sweeter. Del is usually a good ‘leaver,’ but I don’t know what happened there (Worsham recorded a .101 reaction time). I did my usual routine at the tree. I try to be consistent; to do the same thing every time I go to the line. I’ve always prided myself on my reaction times. But the key to our success is the great job Phil and Todd (Shuler and Okuhara, co-crew chiefs) do in setting up the FRAM/Prestone dragster, regardless of the conditions, which were really tricky this weekend.”