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__________ N_HRA_W_in_st_on_D---!rag Racing Series: Round 4 DRAG RACE e I John Myers (far lane) beat Dave Schultz (near lane) to win the NHRA Mopar Parts Nationals at New Jersey's Raceway Park. It was Myers' first win of the four-race-old series. Myers returns to winning form at Englishtown By Todd Veney ENGUSHTOWN, NJ, MAY 20-23 II someone came up to me in the winner's circle after the race and told me, 1 haven't seen you here in a while,'" John Myers said smugly after a convincing final-round victory over arch rival David Schultz at the NHRA Mopar Parts Nationals. "I said, 'Hey, get used to it.''' People already should be familiar with the two-time NHRA Champion's face, particularly at this event, known from 1970 to 1992 as the Summernationals. The. reigning king of Pro Stock won the Summernational at Englishtown, N.J.'s Raceway Park, just an hour south of Manhattan's spires, in '90, '91, and '92, compiling a lifetime record of U-O. "I guess people haven't noticed us this year because we haven't won yet," said Myers, win-less in seven races 'since August and the fourth winner in as many NHRA tour dates this season. "That's a long time, 1 know, but stupid things have gotten us. It's not like we were slow. "I tried to warn people at Atlanta. This engine was hauling ass there (last month at the Southern Nationals) until a piston came apart, but it's fixed and everything's all ironed out now, obviously. It's a coiled snake in the trailer ready to strike." Myers went for the kill on his first run, a track-record 7.68 that was far from perfect and left plenty of room for improvement. He and crew chief/Star Racing Team owner George Bryce returned to run a 7.624 - quicker than any other racer has ever gone and within one-hundredth of a second of the still-standing all-time mark they established way back in October 1991 at the Texas Motorplex in Dallas. In the heat of Sunday e1iminations, Myers' Suzuki GSXR was nearly as fast and unbelievably consistent. In the first, second, and semifinal rounds, he unleashed a barrage of 7.69s in one of the more dazzling displays of the controlled power ever - especially considering how slow the cars competing at the same event were running. From afar, it looked effortless. Up close, Myers and Bryce encountered one problem, a potentially disastrous stall on Myers' first-round burnout against Nigel Patrick, who had no illusions of grandeur - he was just there running a alongside Myers in case Myers fouled or his Star Racing bike broke, which it nearly did. "Just as 1 was coming out of the water - the tire (a new, heavier model from Mickey Thompson) was really smoking and the engine was screaming - the me just stuck," Myers said. "It really caught me by surprise. "The transmission was stuck and the crew came over to try to fix it. 1 waved them out of the way and looked to George because the same thing happened one other time, and 1 knew he'd know what to do - grab the handlebars and give it one good shove backwards." It worked, and the rout was on. Patrick, the slowest rider in the field, left the line three-tenths of a second behind Myers, which looked like a minute. Already hopelessly out of the race before he left the line, Patrick lost with a 7.99 at 166 mph. "Nigel knew we had him covered, so his plan was to be safe on the lights and hope 1 red-lighted," Myers said. "I guess he figured there was no sense in really going for it and then re-lighting himself." Myers' identical 7.69s in the middle rounds met little resistance from Michael Phillips, who lost with a 7.92/164, and 1988 event champion Russ Nyberg, who went down with a 7.94/167. That created an all-star final-round match-up with Schultz that Myers appeared to have covered from every angle. He had out-qualified Schultz, who was third behind John Smith, and performed better on his worst run (7.699) than Schultz had on his best (7.700.) Throw in Myers' determination to end his interminable-to-him losing streak, and the fact that he's gone one round further at each race this season and was coming off a runner-up, and he was a prohibitive favorite to win. Based on their superior semifinal time, Myers' Star Racing team also had the advantage of lane choice. "We didn't care which lane we had - we'd already run good in both - but 1 knew Dave would. rather be in the left, because we'd both been there all day. So why give him what you know he wants?" Myers asked. With a lopsided 7.66/172 to 7.77/170 win, he didn't let down himself, his crew, or any of his long-suffering fans. "I know 1 shouldn't have wanted to race him, because he was running the next best after us," Myers said of Schultz, who ran steady 7.7s in the preliminaries against Keith Gray, Rickey Gadson, and Kerry Larkin. "Points-wise, it would have been better for us to see him go out early, but l get more personal satisfaction out of beating him in a final than anyone else." . Myers, like every other winner this season except Schultz, propelled himseU into the Winston points lead with his final-round victory. He leads Schultz by 110 and Smith by 392, but Schultz has been particularly impressive since his crash a t the season-opening Slick 50 Nationals. The three-time NHRA Pro Stock Champion has rebounded to reach the final of all three NHRA races, and is never not a factor. CN Results NHRA WINSTON SERIES PRO STOCK POINTS STANDINGS (after" of 11 events): 1. John Myers (3,4l8); 2. David Schultz (3.308); 3. John Sutith (3,lJ26); 4Ron Ayero (2,260); S. Kerry Larkin (2,076); 6. Byron Hines (2.072); 7. Lance Boyer (2.oss); B. Russ Nyberg (1,956); 9. Paul Gasl (1,878); 10. Michael Pbill;ps (1,856). 23