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eDRAG RACE NHRA Wmston Dra ~ John Smith (near lane) defeated David Shultz (far lane) in the Pro Stock class at the NHRA Gatomationals Final in Gainesville. It was Smith's first National win of his career. • • fil scores Irs By Todd Veney GAINFSVlLLE, FL, MAR.19-2l ou don't have to win NHRA Championships like John Myers and John Malaro to see that another John - John Smith - is looking like the biggest thing to hit Pro Stock since Myers took the class by storm in 1989. At the NHRA Motorcraft Gaternationals in Gainesville, Smith, voted 1992 NHRA Rookie of the Year over all the Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock car drivers - a feat unprecedented in the car-crazy sport - sped to the first of what should be many National titles. In the rain-delayed final, for the third consecutive round, Smith broke his own event record, clocking a tremendous 7.68 seconds at 173.74 mph (top speed) to overcome a clutch holeshot headstart by 1991 Gatomationals Champion David Schultz, who lost by just 10 feet with a 7.70 at 171.07. Smith was "late" at the start; Schultz dumped the clutch seven-hundredths of a second quicker. (.431 reaction time to .505) and would have won if he'd run just a 7.76. "I really got tree'd, I know," Smith admitted. "It wasn't because I was that nervous about being in my first final; I wasn't. When I pre-staged, I felt fine, y 28 but then I flipped my shield down and it fogged up before we staged. "I started thinking, 'Dh no! I'm not going to be able to see the lights come on: and it screwed up my concentration. I could see him out ahead of me when we took off, but I caught him in second gear. A lot of times, the lead changes with every shift - whoever hits the button first jumps out ahead - but when I plugged it into fourth, I knew I had him. When we crossed the finish line, the win light in my lane looked as big as the sun." Myers, the 1990 and 1992 NHRA Champion, is keenly aware of the inevitable comparisons between Smith's ascension through the ranks and Myers' own meteoric rise to fame four years ago, when he won the prestigious U.S. Nationals as a rookie and finished second to Mafaro in the points standings. "They say he's just like me when I came up:' Myers said, "and that doesn't bother me at all. I conside~ it a compliment to be compared to him." Smith, honored to be likened to an already legendary rider who still hasn't finished a season ranked lower than second, dominated Gainesville with a Myers-like performance. The Minneapolis-area rider, who didn't attend his first National meet until mid1991, qualified on the pole with a • • alona WIn 7.74/171, just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Myers, and established low e.t of every round except the first Schultz, who was seeded third with a 7.76 second time on his Sunoco Suzuki GSXR, made the quickest ron of round one, a 7.75/172 against Nigel Patrick. Only Smith's 7.80/171 pounding of 19705 Pro Stock hero Bob Carpenter was close. Smith, currently the top-ranked rider on the NHRA Wmston tour with a 330point lead over Slick 50 Nationals winner Ron Ayers, assumed control after that. His '92 Suzuki GSXR, owned and operated by John Noard and backed by his Anoka Ramsey shop, improved dramatically in round two to a 7.72/172 that covered Slick 50 Nationals runner-up Lance Boyer's 7.89/169. In the semifinals, Smith picked up another two-hundredths of a second in a one-sided 7.70/172 defeat of Russ Nyberg's 7.93/167. From the lowly No.13 qualifying berth, Nyberg has advanced to the semifinal race with Smith by defeating two of the most powerful bikes at Gainesville Raceway: the Suzuki GSXRs of Pro Stock power broker George Bryce and Ayers. . Bryce, who stepped off his Star Racing machine in 1989 and made a star of Myers by making him his rider, was late at the start in his first NHRA appearance in years, losing to Nyberg'S slower 7.94/166 with a 7.91/165 to a much quicker 7.86/166. Nyberg finally crashed to earth in the semifinals, when his 7.95 were no match for Smith's 7.7s. Schultz defeated Myers in the other semifinal heat, 7.75/173 to 7.92/171, cappin'g at the season-opening Slick 50 Nationals. "We got the Sunoco deal, got a bike together, and carne to Gainesville, and then the doctors told me they weren't going to let me run because my wrist wasn't healed well enough, n Schultz said, referring to the injury he suffered in his Houston spill. "I went over to this (metal bar) near where we were standing and started doing chntups. I said, 1£ I can do this, I can ride and .race: and they agreed." Schultz already has risen to the fifth spot in the NHRA Winston rankings, just 700 points, or 3 1/2 rounds, behind Smith, who is ranked number one and shows no signs of relinquishing the lead. CN Results NHRA WINSTON PRO STOCK POINT STANDINGS lMt2r2 oill rounds): 1. john Smith (1964); 2. Ron Ayers (1634); 3. Lance Boyer (1432); 4. john Myers (U60); 5. David Schultz (1250); 6. 8yron Hines (1042); 7. MKflael Phillips (1028); 8. Kerry Larkin (842); 9. john Malara (822); 10. Russ Nyberg (708).