After Bob Vandergriff avenged his May 22 Topeka final-round loss to Spencer Massey, the longsuffering Top Fuel driver left his C & J Energy Services Dragster on the track Sunday and started the nearly half-mile jog back toward the starting line.

 

He wanted to hug crew chief Rob Flynn and all of his team members after winning the AAA Texas Fall Nationals and earning first victory in his 14th final round of his 14-year career. It had been a long time coming, and he wanted to savor every moment at the Texas Motorplex. 

 

Still wearing his oppressively hot firesuit and helmet, Vandergriff -- unquestionably a gifted natural athlete but no Olympic gold-medal sprinter at a sturdy six-foot, 205 pounds -- plodded down the 131-degree concrete racetrack, high-fiving fans who were starting to spill through the fences and flood the track.

 

After Bob Vandergriff avenged his May 22 Topeka final-round loss to Spencer Massey, the longsuffering Top Fuel driver left his C & J Energy Services Dragster on the track Sunday and started the nearly half-mile jog back toward the starting line.

 

He wanted to hug crew chief Rob Flynn and all of his team members after winning the AAA Texas Fall Nationals and earning first victory in his 14th final round of his 14-year career. It had been a long time coming, and he wanted to savor every moment at the Texas Motorplex. 

 

Still wearing his oppressively hot firesuit and helmet, Vandergriff -- unquestionably a gifted natural athlete but no Olympic gold-medal sprinter at a sturdy six-foot, 205 pounds -- plodded down the 131-degree concrete racetrack, high-fiving fans who were starting to spill through the fences and flood the track.

 

"He's going to high-five people he's never even met!" announcer Bob Frey said in amazement at the extraordinarily unusual sight. "If you see a guy in a fire suit and helmet coming at you, get out of the way!"

 

A Safety Safari member spared Vandergriff the rest of a run that could have caused a heat stroke, and his team began running the opposite direction to meet him.

 

Once he caught his breath and grabbed his pewter Wally trophy, Vandergriff said that arrangement "has been in the works for five years and probably 10 final rounds. I always said that if I did win, I didn’t want to be down there by myself and have my guys jumping around all over the starting line and me down there hearing cricket noises all by myself."

 

He has had a buddy -- usually either Brandon Bernstein or J.R. Todd -- on standby with a scooter to give him a lift back to the starting line. But Bernstein had family plans in his hometown and Todd wasn't here this weekend, so Vandergriff was on his own.

 

He said he crossed the finish line and didn't see Massey for a moment. He pulled the brake as hard as he could and threw out the parachutes. When Massey pulled up, he asked, "Did I actually win?!" Assured Massey, "You did, Brother!"

 

Said Vandergriff, "I just needed confirmation. Off I went to the starting line."

 

About halfway back, the thought occurred to him that he needed to get back to his running regimen. "It's a long way back to the starting line!" he said he discovered. "It was worth it. It was something I've been waiting to do for a long time, and it's something I'll never forget."

 

For the record, Vandergriff ran a wining an inglorious 4.243-second elapsed time at 239.44 mph in a tire-smoking pedalfest that for a few seconds prevented the crowd from having any idea who won.

 

Fort Worth native Massey, uncharacteristically posting his third-worst E.T. of the season (5.200 seconds at 145.48 mph), never got his tires hooked up effectively against Vandergriff on the Motorplex surface on which he claimed the 1998 Jr. Drag Racing championship.

 

When Bob Vandergriff learned he would race Massey for the fifth time this year in hopes of beating him once, he joked, "I'm going to punch Spencer in the mouth so he can't come up for the final round."

 

The Alpharetta, Ga., resident was runner-up here at the Texas Motorplex in 2007 and so was hoping this would be his moment.

 

"I knew it was going to happen," he said of that elusive first victory. "I just was hoping it was this time, because I didn't think I could take another speech like, 'Well, it's all right,' because it's not all right."

 

Even after going through the initial winners circle ceremony, he said, "I'm a little overwhelmed right now.
   
"We've lost finals every way: wheel stand . . . Rotors in backward in the blower . . . just any way we could beat ourselves, we've lost. You get to questioning it. But we've got a great bunch of guys with us. I finally got the crew I've been looking for.

 

"We missed the Countdown by one round," he said. "It's tough to swallow, realizing now that instead of just being a spoiler we could've been third or fourth in the points with a bullet. We'll just get 'em next year."

 

Massey, who relies heavily on the expertise of crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, has one big consolation prize: the points lead heading into this weekend's Uni-Sleect Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pa. He has a seven-point edge on Don Schumacher Racing colleague Antron Brown and is 66-points ahead of Del Worsham and 68 in front of Larry Dixon. Tony Schumacher, this race's No. 1 qualifier, is fifth in the standings, 72 points off Massey's pace.  

 

Massey was making his second straight final round and seeking his fourth victory in six final-round appearances this year, his first in the FRAM-Prestone Dragster. He also won this season at Englishtown and Denver and entered the finals 4-0 against Vandergriff this year and 5-1 for his career.

 

Massey's and Funny Car mate Ron Capps' final-round appearances made 326 for Don Schumacher Racing. Of those 326, the organization has 165 victories and 26 "Daily Doubles" (victories in two classes at a single event).