Class Ceiling
First quarter-season NHRA recap
By Tery Red ( Crew Chief for Mr. Mad /RigTech Motorsports)
May 14, 2018, 6:37 am
Fast Jack Beckman had a strong first quarter. NHRA.com
So what If the NHRA were the NFL? Yike,s that would be crazy. Based on the opening Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, February 8-11,2018, here is how the season recap would go:
So go long! That was the scene at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals /Pamona where Top Fuel Round 1 went more than an hour. Q.B Brittany Force of the Monster Energy JFR team met with unnecessary roughness as she crossed the center line of scrimmage right across the middle and hit the wall on both sides of the track. Safety Safari was all over it, with no Zebras in sight. No worries. Safety valve in place with family on starting line. Whew. Our girl is all right. Her Passer Rating has her returning with a vengeance.
Wide receiver Doug Kalitta blew a supercharger round one but takes the finals against The Sarge and he scores! He goes on to become the Top Fuel winner making this his 44th career win.
And what does Bo know? Defending Champion Bo Butner makes a real football move by winning the season opener making this his sixth win in Pro Stock putting him on an 8 round winning streak.
Touchdown! Matt Hagan lands on "snake eyes" as he brings home his second straight Winternationals Funny car title, against Robert Hight, (matching Don "The Snake" Prudhomme who won the Winternationals back to back 1976-1977)., in what was dubbed the quickest side-by-side Funny Car race in NHRA history.
Perfect segue to the second event of the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, (Feb 23-25, 2018)the 34th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.
This is where Courtney Force, blitzes the Funny Car field as she was the No. 1 qualifier and goes on to keep control of the ball in her Chevy Camaro, with a 3.834, 337.16 def. Tommy Johnson Jr., in his Dodge Charger.
A Hail Mary in Pro Stock as Chris McGaha, in his Chevy Camaro, runs a 6.529, at 211.59 mph def. Jason Line, in his Camaro. McGaha is a one car team, a one man army and had to take down Tanner Gray, Erica Enders and Alex Laughlin for his first win this season.
In Top Fuel: Steve Torrence,takes down the Big Uglies Steve Chrisman, Blake Alexander and his father, Billy Torrence, on his way in to the red zone. In the finals he runs a 3.729 seconds, 330.72 mph , def. Scott Palmer.
Fast Forward to the Amalie NHRA Gatornationals Gridiron at Gainesville Raceway in Florida (March 15-18,2018)...Tailgating is in full effect and yes, there is some fumbling past the rumbling.
Welcome to the Gatornationals 2018 Where Any Given Sunday is March 18, the day of the underdog! It is the day the Play Makers Antron Brown, Leah Pritchett, Steve Torrence, Brittany Force and even Tony Schumacher were benched.
And the Wally goes to: In Top Fuel -- Richie Crampton. This player did not even have a car last year, and what an upset! He runs a 3.854 seconds, 314.90 mph def. Shawn Reed.
In Funny Car... I'd like to refer to fast Jack Beckman, and his teammates as The Option. Fast Jack gets his first Gainesville win in his Dodge Charger, 4.035, 323.58 defeating DSR mate Matt Hagan, in his Charger, Matt took one for the team!
And last but not least is Pro Stock: Young Tanner Gray, in his Chevy Camaro, ran 6.588, 210.18 def. Bo Butner, Camaro, making this Tanners first touchdown since last year in Charlotte.
What an Option: With team DSR, you have Antron Brown, Leah Pritchett, Tony Schumacher, Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, Tommy Johnson Jr, and Fast Jack Beckman.
As quick as the first half went by, that's what I call a no huddle offense!
For more Femmefanaticsports features from the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series - Checkout our other articles on SportsMap.com or reach out on twitter @red_tery.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.