�鶹��ѡ

Many lessons were learned as the Toyota �鶹��ѡ U.S. Nationals, the sport’s biggest and most historic drag race, came to a rousing conclusion on Monday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Here are five things we learned from a truly memorable 70th annual edition of the Big Go.

ONE IS GREAT BUT THREE IS BETTER

Winning one Indy title is life-changing, but winning three in a row is an instant ticket to drag racing immortality. No one knows this better than Bo Butner and Sean Bellemeur, who pulled off the exceedingly rare feat this season. Butner’s third straight Super Gas win almost defies description. For each of the last three seasons, the former Pro Stock champ has faced a field of more than 120 entries, and each time, he’s been the last man standing. Driving his Corvette roadster, Butner has won 22 straight rounds in Indy. In a class where winning margins are usually measured in thousandths of a second, that would appear to be a nearly impossible feat, but somehow Butner has been able to pull it off.

As for Bellemeur, the secret to his success is arguably the world’s best Top Alcohol Funny Car and the ability to consistently get off the starting line ahead of his opponents. Bellemeur and his Bartone Bros. team have now combined for 40 wins, and they are on track to win a fourth world title this season.

Ironically, for all the success of Butner and Bellemeur, there is also Indy heartbreak as Funny Car’s Ron Capps also had a chance to bag his third U.S. Nationals title but came up just short with a runner-up finish.

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS, PAUL LEE ANSWERS

Paul Lee wasn’t originally qualified for Sunday’s Pep Boys �鶹��ѡ Funny Car All-Star Callout event in Indy, but he got into the field as an alternate following John Force’s accident in Richmond. Lee, whose career has been on the upswing this year after hiring crew chief Jonnie Lindberg and consultant Jon Medlen, made the most of the opportunity. Lee defeated Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, and Bob Tasca III, arguably three of the four best cars in the country, on the way to the $80,000 top prize.

Anyone who thinks that Lee’s win was a surprise hasn’t been paying attention. Since hiring Lindberg and Medlen, Lee’s FTI/McLeod Dodge Charger has become a consistent top-half qualifier and a threat to win rounds on race day. Lee went to his first Professional final round last month in Seattle, and he’s going to make life miserable for championship contenders down the stretch.

AARON STANFIELD IS THE HEIR APPARENT

For most of his career, Jeg Coughlin Jr. was dubbed “the natural” for being able to win in any car at any time and also his ability to make each victory seem effortless. Coughlin’s return to Pro Stock this season has been everything he could have asked for with three victories, but in Indy, he met his match in the final round when he was paired with Aaron Stanfield.

In many ways, Stanfield’s rise to stardom mirrors Coughlin’s as he emerged from one of the sport’s most successful families and has been a consistent winner every step of the way. Stanfield has three championships in the Flexjet �鶹��ѡ Factory Stock Showdown and national event wins in Super Stock, Top Dragster, Factory Stock, Factory X, and Pro Stock, and in Indy, he became the first driver to double up. After winning the Factory X title over Leonard Lottig, Stanfield gave Coughlin a dose of his own medicine with a solid .017 light and a 6.561 to win his fourth Pro Stock event in the last six races. Stanfield is also very much alive to win championships in both categories this season.

YOU DON’T CHOOSE INDY, INDY CHOOSES YOU

For all the amazing triumphs that have taken place at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park over the last six decades, there are also tales of heartbreak, disappointment, and shattered dreams. This year, it was hard not to feel genuine sorrow for reigning world champ Doug Kalitta and up-and-coming young star Jasmine Salinas, who both failed to qualify for Monday’s final eliminations in Top Fuel. With 20 cars on the entry list, it was a given that a couple of good teams would be sidelined on Monday, but few would have predicted that sort of fate for Kalitta and Salinas.

Kalitta’s streak of consecutive races ended at 302 when he was bumped from the field at the last minute by teammate Shawn Langdon in spite of a competitive 3.79-second best. Salinas also found that her 3.814 wasn’t good enough to make a cut, a major disappointment for a rookie season that has shown much progress.

There will certainly be brighter days ahead for both drivers. Kalitta remains the No. 1 seed in the Countdown to the Championship, while Salinas is easily one of the leading contenders for the �鶹��ѡ Rookie of the Year award.

DON’T ANTAGONIZE GAIGE HERRERA

The Pro Stock Motorcycle class has been a cauldron of emotions this season as the longtime rivalry between the Matt Smtih Racing (MSR) and Vance & Hines teams has reached the boiling point. While both teams kept it civil in Indy, there was clearly an “us and them” vibe when Vance & Hines’ Gaige Herrera faced off against MSR’s Angie Smith in the final round of the biggest race of the year.

Herrera, winless in his last two starts following an epic winning streak, took matters into his own hands with a perfect .000 reaction time and a 6.763 that easily outdistanced Smith’s 6.829. For Herrera, the win was not only the perfect way to start the Countdown but also a quick redemption for missing out on a loss at last year’s U.S. Nationals.��