Second-generation drag racer Dave Richards made his raceday debut at New England Dragway behind the wheel of his family's Paul Richards Racing Funny Car – and in the other lane in the first round was none other than the winningest driver in the history of the Funny Car category, John Force.
For Richards, the thrill far surpassed any underlying nerves as he pulled into the waterbox for the first round at the inaugural event at the historic facility where his father, Gary Richards, was an East Coast match-racing barnstormer a handful of decades ago.
"I could easily have gotten overwhelmed by everything this weekend, but I just wanted to take it all in," said the younger Richards, who earned his nitro Funny Car license in January. "So I kept reminding myself to enjoy this. Every run this weekend, it got a little bit easier. From staging to driving, and even just being in the car. I felt more and more comfortable, and that gave me a little more confidence."
Richards was the first nitro car down the racetrack at the inaugural NHRA national event, and on Friday, he made a single run that marked his first official pass in competition. The shut-off run was followed on Saturday by a 4.455 in the closing qualifying session next to one of the drivers who signed his Funny Car license, Mike Smith. The outcome of the run was complicated – Richards was racing against Smith for the lone remaining spot in the field, and his success was, in a sense, at the expense of his friend.
"That was hard, but I was really glad that it was Mike in the other lane for [both of my runs] on Saturday," Richards continued. "I had never had to make a run with someone else in the other lane, and it was really neat that it was him over there."
Allen Johnson drove the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Avenger to the winner’s circle and a third national title this season after two key holeshot wins in the eliminations rounds, giving him sole possession of second place in the Pro Stock championship points standings.
Johnson defeated points leader Mike Edwards in the semifinals on a holeshot with a 0.0270-second reaction time. The defending Pro Stock World Champion posted another outstanding 0.025-second reaction time against Shane Gray to earn his 19th career Wally with an elapsed time of 6.642 seconds at 205.38 mph to Gray’s 6.633/210.34.
“Both those guys were tough but this Mopar Express Lane Dodge Avenger team is bad to the bone,” Johnson said. “We had a great day and we just kept adapting to the track. Our team really worked hard and that was a fantastic run we put together in the finals. We made a radical change after the semifinals to get ready for the finals, and it really worked. We found something that will help the rest of the year.”
“We’ve done a lot of testing and now the testing is over,” Johnson added. “We’re in race form for the rest of the regular season and heading into the Countdown. Working with Jeggy (Coughlin Jr.) and Vincent (Nobile) has made us all stronger. We’re all clicking and working together and we’re going to start our championship march here.”