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BAYTOWN, Texas -- Bob Gilbertson raced to his first NHRA Funny Car victory Sunday, winning the O'Reilly Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.
Gilbertson, of Gastonia, N.C., beat Jerry Toliver in the final with a quarter-mile run of 5.067 seconds with a top speed of 304.25 mph. Toliver was disqualified for jumping the start.
Gilbertson had a bit of luck working for him on his way to his first win in his first final round appearance. The No. 16 qualifier Gilbertson drove past John Force; Jim Epler had a red light in the second round, and Ron
Capps hit the center line and was disqualified in the semifinals prior to
Toliver's foul at the line in the final.
"Unbelievable, that's the only word I got," said Gilbertson. "Everybody did a good job and the crew worked hard all day. We just had some Lady Luck going for us as John Force would say, and we were glad to be there
to beat him.
"When you got it going it doesn't matter who is over (in the other lane). I did see Capps come over in to my lane but I didn't want to
rear end him. I thought I saw him touch the center but I just took my chances and kept driving. If we can take a win this way we will do it every race if we have to."
Toliver's runner-up finish did increased his points lead to 56 over Tony Pedregon.
Larry Dixon, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Randy Daniels also won their divisions in the $1.8 million competition, the fifth of 23 events in the $45 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.
Dixon raced to his first Top Fuel victory of the year, powering his Don Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite dragster to a pass of 4.665 seconds at 316.90 mph to hold off Tony Schumacher.
It was the fifth different Top Fuel winner in as many races this season and the second straight victory for Dixon at Houston Raceway Park -- the same track where he ran the first sub 4.5 second pass in NHRA history when he recorded
a 4.486 pass.
It was also quite a reward for the legendary Prudhomme, who earlier in the week was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
"It's anybody's ballgame," said Prudhomme. "The trick is to have a tune up that lets you get up and down the track and put some good numbers on the board. Just keep running consistent. The name of the game is
consistency. This will be a battle right to the end. Everybody has pretty
much the same stuff now. It's just he who has the right setup at the right
given time. Being consistent."
Dixon defeated Bruce Litton, Don Lampus, and Doug Herbert on his way
to his final round showdown with Schumacher. The victory moved Dixon into third place in the Top Fuel
points standings -- 86 behind Schumacher. Schumacher increased his points lead
over Gary Scelzi to 66.
"This (trophy) is going to Snake," said Dixon. "It has been a great week all the way around for our racing team. With Snake going to the Hall of Fame and I got to go to it. That was a real special deal."
Coughlin won his fourth Pro Stock title of the year, beating Jim Yates with a run of 6.905 seconds at 199.29 mph. Coughlin has been
nothing but impressive in his early-season performance.
"This is all certainly flattering," said Coughlin. "Our group has been working real hard. We just have great harmony right now and we are reading the track and air really well. We are extremely optimistic and we are obviously realistic too.
"We will take everything home and prepare everything as best as we can again and go to Richmond for the next race and
hopefully we will be prepared. Our goal is turn the win light on and that is my rush."
Daniels raced to his second Pro Stock Truck victory of the year, beating Bob Panella with a run of 7.538 seconds at 179.59 mph. Panella fouled at the line. Daniels drove past Larry Seay, Rick Jones, Tim Freeman
and Panella on his way to the win.
Daniels also set a national record for speed at 180.02. He is the first Pro
Stock Truck driver to eclipse the 180 mph barrier.
"This was quite a surprise," said Daniels. "We didn't think we had the truck to win. We were fast but not quite fast enough to win the race. I saw my win light as soon as we left the line. Man, I couldn't believe he really did it,
but we'll take it. That little Chevy S-10 was really dynamite."
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