Images courtesy: Mike Garland

Cordova Dragway Park played host to one of the most dramatic AA/FC events in recent memory last weekend. The World Series of Drag Racing would determine the world champion in the DRO Funny Car Series, and three teams came into the event with a mathematical shot of taking home the gold. With fifteen cars on the property this wouldn’t be easy for anyone. Points leader Paul Romine and his Man-O- War ’79 Mustang was the odds-on favorite, but had never secured a victory on this track surface with his AA/FC.

Dallas, Texas native John Hale began the weekend 67 points behind Romine, third in the points, while Minnesota-based legend Doc Halladay was in the second spot, just 60 points back. In order for either Halladay or Hale to win the championship, they had to pull off the perfect race. It was going to take a #1 qualifying effort, along with setting both ends of the national record held by Romine and winning the event. Romine, meanwhile, would have to be defeated before the final round, as well.

During the first round of qualifying, Romine laid down what would be the best pass of the day with a very nice 5.84-second lap. Halladay and Hale just couldn’t quite top the Man-O-War in this session, ending up a respectable #2 and #3.

On Saturday, the second and final qualifying session was set to begin and all eyes were on the Mike Burkhart tribute car driven by Hale. Halladay and Romine both elected to sit out this session, content with their qualifying times. The sun was out and the track temperature was a blistering 130 degrees with the corrected altitude around 2,700 feet. Not the best conditions for a nitro Funny Car to run in. Hale brings his car to the line and does very nice, smoky burnout that had the fans on their feet. At the flash of green, the Camaro was off like a rocket, carrying the wheels nearly 100 feet. It was a a nice clean pass, and what came up on the scoreboard stunned everyone in attendance. John Hale had just ripped off an amazing 5.77-second pass. Not one person on the property expected that.

In doing so, he kept his chance at a title alive, becoming the #1 qualifier for the event. That pass was also the quickest and fastest run ever in the DRO Funny Car Series. Hale had accomplished three things on one single pass: he achieved the number one qualifying spot, eclipsed the national speed record with a blast of 249.44 MPH, and also became the quickest Funny Car driver in the series with a 5.777. All he needed to do now was back up both for an official record.

In the first round, Hale barely escaped with a win, taking the victory on a holeshot over Brian Stewart in the Showtime tribute car. He didn’t back up either of his previous marks in doing so, but advanced to the semifinals, where he was pitted up against Romine. This was going to be a epic battle for the title. If Hale did not defeat Romine in this round, his dreams of a championship would be over. All Paul had to do was win the round to claim his third straight title.

The cars were staged and at the flash of green, Romine in his Man-O-War Mustang was out on the Camaro. Paul was .052 on the tree to Hales’ .082. But the scoreboards lit up and Hale had stolen one from Romine. Not only did he advance, but he had run the third quickest time ever recorded by a Nostalgia Funny Car, with a jaw-dropping 5.673, with a MPH of 251.72 that backed up his earlier speed for a new record. Unfortunately, the 5.673 was too quick to back up the 5.777 within 1-percent.

Hale had a competition single in the final round, in which he needed to only make it down the track but also had to establish a new elapsed time record in order to win the championship. The run was anti-climatic, however, as he shook and was forced to lift, effectively costing him the championship.

Now here is where things get tricky. Two astute fans did a little digging in the NHRA rule book and found a little-known rule pertaining to national records. They were convinced that you didn’t need to back up the record within 1-percent if both of your elapsed times eclipsed the national record. What they found confirmed it. In section 2, page 8 of the 2011 NHRA Rule Book, it states:

In a sport where records play such a vital role, every effort is made to maintain their accuracy and validity. In order to ensure the validity of all new records, a backup performance of within 1 percent of the new mark is required at the same event. In the event that two runs exceed the existing record but are not within 1 percent of each other, the quicker time or faster speed will be acceptable as the backup for the slower time, which will stand as the new record.

This information was passed on to the DRO Series Director on Tuesday, who acknowledged that an error had been made per the NHRA guidelines. And so in a major turn events, John Hale has been awarded the championship based on the establishment of a new national elapsed time record and the points that go along with, and the DRO Series should be applauded for making the correction. Hale’s semifinal run against Romine turned out to be the Nostalgia Funny Car version of “The Run.” John did everything right this weekend and pulled off an incredible come-from-behind run to the championship that will long be remembered.