We don't remember anyone coming into a racing sanctioning body and dominating like Tony Bischoff has in Pro 5.0. Though he got a late start into the season, he has made up for lost time. The BES Racing chief had a few issues during qualifying, but with eliminations underway, Tony had his Cougar firmly in the 6.60s. If you follow NMRA, you know those numbers are hard to beat. In fact, his 646ci big-block on the spray wouldn't be beat at Columbus, taking out Pete Ricart, Bert Kelkboom, and Michael Hauf in the final to make it four Pro 5.0 wins in a row.
Michael Hauf had his fair share of troubles in 2005, but in 2006 the team has gone rounds. By Columbus, we believed it had wrestled away Donnie Walsh Jr.'s stranglehold on Pro 5.0. You wouldn't be able to tell that by Michael's qualifying effort, since he and Tony had issues getting down the track on Saturday. But also like Tony, the Hauf team got it together for eliminations. The second round match-up between Don and Michael could be the deciding round, and even though Don cemented his Mr. 0.400 reputation with a 0.405 light, Michael was able to slide by for the round win. In the final against Tony, Michael was away first, but he was the one unable to stay out front on that pass, handing Tony the event win.
If you're a fan of the underdog, you'll love the Super Street Outlaw results. AJ Powell, driving the former Jason Smith coupe, proved to be the giant killer in Columbus. Top qualifier Donnie "Burndown" Burton hit the snooze button one too many times, and was really late against AJ in round one. Burndown was unable to make up the gap. In round two, Filthy Phil Hines and the Little Dirties came calling, but AJ whipped out a 7.69 against Hines' slower 7.83. For the final round against John "Fireball" Urist, no one would've given AJ a chance, but it's a good thing they raced anyway. He left first, but by the narrowest of margins. John had bigger problems in the left lane because he lost grip shortly after launch; AJ sped away to his first NMRA victory. Photo by Paul Rosner
John "Fireball" Urist had Super Street Outlaw wrapped by Columbus, but that didn't mean he was racing for fun. His ProCharger-motivated ride came to bless those up close to the action with exhaust heat and more noise than a Judas Priest concert. John might've thought he had the top qualifying spot sewn up with a stellar 7.51, but Donnie "Burndown" Burton stole it with a 7.50. John wouldn't have the last laugh, but he got to laugh all the way to the finals-until his car didn't feel right coming out of the burnout box. The funny feeling was confirmed when John lost grip shortly after launch, preventing him from mounting a challenge to AJ Powell.
National Trail has always been one of those tracks promising fast times, especially in the Drag Radial category. The historically grippy surface allowed Drag Radial racers to turn up the wick and run amazing times, and Chad Doyle continued that trend by laying down an 8.17, followed by Bob Kurgan's 8.30 qualifying effort. Five drag-radial cars qualified in the 8.30s, meaning drivers and tuners alike would really have to be on their game. Chad had a first-round bye, and the equivalent of a bye in round two when Tony Akins redlit. He seemingly ran 8.20s at will, but his final round opponent John Kolivas had issues coming out of the burnout box, and was unable to make a race of it.
Though they lost the battle, John Kolivas won the Drag Radial war with his final-round appearance at Columbus. He garnered enough points to win the '06 Drag Radial championship. But when a fuel-rail bolt loosened coming out of the burnout box, rendering John's car dead as a door nail, it appeared the battle was more important than the war. The team was disappointed at not battling for the victory, but things could've been much worse had the underhood burst of flames gotten out of control. That shows the determination of the team, and the thought they could've won the race because they found the right combination to consistently run 8.20s, which is exactly what Chad had been running in eliminations as well.
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