68th U.S. Nationals In The Books

By Scott Voliva

For The Paper

The NHRA could not have ordered any better weather for the 68th U.S. Nationals than they got all week in at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The cars were fast and quick and there were a lot of them, 947 in fact.

Saturday’s racing finished with Steve Torrence winning the first-ever Pep Boys All Star Call Out. This is a special race for $80,000. Torrence defeated Brittany Force for the title.

Sunday’s  racing started with the Pep Boys Call Out for the funny cars. Ron Capps took home the cash over former teammate Matt Hagen. Capps also earned the number one qualifying position on the final run of that race.

Monday’s finals were fast and the weather held out. Overcast skies help the quick times. Matt Smith was the Pro Stock Bike Champ over a very tough Karen Stoffer. Greg Anderson won his 100th Wally with his victory over teammate Dallas Glenn in the Pro Stock Car Final.

Ron Capps pulled the triple with the Funny Car title, low qualifier, and U.S. Nationals title all in two days. Capps defeated Robert Hight for the title. It was Capp’s first win in 26 tries at Indy. Antron Brown won his fourth Indy Wally over a very fast Brittany Force. Brown was just a little quicker than the current track record holder for the win.

It was another awesome Nationals and I just can’t wait for it to happen again next year.