Straight-line racers head to LV

Friday, Oct. 21, 2005 | 7:20 a.m.

WHERE: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

WHEN: Today through Sunday.

TICKETS: Call 644-4444.

1. ON THE LINE

National Hot-Rod Association Powerade Drag Racing Series season championships in four professional categories -- as well as more than $1.8 million in prize money -- will be up for grabs as the straight-line racers come to Las Vegas for the penultimate race of the season.

In Top Fuel, Tony Schumacher can wrap up his second consecutive world championship merely by making a qualifying attempt today. Greg Anderson, who drives for team owner Ken Black of Las Vegas, can secure his third consecutive Pro Stock championship by qualifying eighth or better.

The battles for the Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle titles are much tighter and likely won't be decided until the season finale in two weeks in Pomona, Calif. Thirteen-time Funny Car champion John Force holds a slim 36-point lead over Gary Scelzi and a 57-point cushion over Ron Capps, while reigning PSM champ Andrew Hines leads GT Tonglet by 42 points.

2. LOCAL FLAVOR

The U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park is considered the crown jewel of drag racing, but Top Fuel driver and Las Vegan Rod Fuller said he would rather win one of the two annual races in his hometown.

"It is my favorite track, my home track, and what a celebration it would be," Fuller said. "How many people ever have an opportunity to race at their home track and then to have a facility like this ... it would be the ultimate."

Fuller, who earned his first career Top Fuel victory earlier this year in Memphis, Tenn., said the two races at The Strip are the most hectic of the season for him because of the demands on his time -- not that that's a bad thing, he said.

"In my case, it probably helps me because I'm such a calm individual -- almost sometimes too calm," Fuller said. "If I get really, really geared up, I do better and I feel I'm going to be really, really geared up this weekend. My philosophy is 'just don't change what you do' and I'm not going to change anything -- other than I might be a little bit more hyped up."

3. VIVA LAS VEGAS

Ask any racer which track is his favorite and the answer usually will be either the one on which they earned their most recent victory or the one where they have the most victories. That is not the case with Gary Scelzi, who said there isn't a drag racer on the circuit who doesn't enjoy racing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"We love coming here -- and we don't just say that for the media," Scelzi said. "The people are really into it here, it gets bigger every year and when you're treated (well) and you're a first-class facility, we like to tell people."

Scelzi singled out speedway general manager Chris Powell and Chris Blair, who runs The Strip, for "taking such good care of the racers."

4. HARDLY A FORCE

He might have an NHRA-record 119 career Funny Car victories, but John Force has only one win in 10 career races at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That record led Force to question why local oddsmakers have installed him as a 3-1 favorite to win this weekend.

"I don't know what they've been watching," Force said, referring to the oddsmakers. "I've never had any luck in Vegas."

Force earned his lone Las Vegas victory in this event in 2002.

5. DID YOU KNOW?

An NHRA Top Fuel dragster leaves the starting line with a force nearly five times that of gravity -- roughly the same force astronauts on the space shuttle experience at liftoff.