The Sky's The Limit: Clouds Could Result In Sir Speed Records

If the clouds cooperate and hover over the Puget Sound area, Ed "The Ace" McCulloch believes records will be broken at Seattle International Raceway this weekend.

McCulloch, a top contender for the NHRA Northwest Nationals top-fuel championship, said the track's location - near sea level and in the midst of oxygen-generating trees - make it a near perfect locale for top performances by piston-driven automobiles.

"So if we have cool weather, the cars should really respond," said McCulloch, 50, a Hemet, Calif., resident who has been racing at SIR since 1965.

Threatened, said McCulloch, are the NHRA top-fuel records of 4.801 seconds (by Eddie Hill) and 301.70 mph (by Kenny Bernstein). Both marks were set during the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., in March. By comparison, the SIR records of 4.966 seconds (Joe Amato, 1991) and 287.72 mph (Shirley Muldowney, 1989) seem almost archaic.

Historically, SIR has been a fast track. In the NW Nationals last year, seven sub-five-second runs were recorded in the first round of eliminations, which was an NHRA record. But since then, sub-fives have become almost mandatory for competitive survival.

McCulloch, a beneficiary of the McDonald's restaurant chain's first venture into motor-racing sponsorship, is in sixth place in the top-fuel standings after 11 of 18 events. He is still looking for his first victory of the year.

Austin thinking double

-- Although it wouldn't be the first time, winning the top fuel and top alcohol funny-car titles this weekend "would be the mother of all doubles," said Pat Austin.

Locale is what would make the accomplishment so special for Austin, 27, of Tacoma, because he would do it on his home track. He doubled for the first time last fall by winning both titles at Topeka, Kan., and he repeated the accomplishment earlier this season at Phoenix.

Doubling became possible for Austin shortly after the NW Nationals last year, when the family race team added a top-fuel car to its stable. This will be the first time he has raced both cars at SIR.

Austin is leading the point standings in his quest for a fifth alcohol funny-car championship. He is in fourth place in the top-fuel standings after suffering a narrow loss to Don Prudhomme in the finals at Sears Point last Sunday.

At 51, Prudhomme, a drag-racing legend, is 24 years older than Austin.

"Racing Prudhomme is pretty special because he's almost as intense as I am," Austin said. "I look at him and see a lot of myself."

Gender equity?

-- For the first time, three women - Shelly Anderson, Kim LaHaie and Dannielle DePorter - will drive top-fuelers at SIR.

But they will not be the first. Shirley Muldowney, winner of the Fallnationals at SIR in 1980, has that distinction. Lori Johns was the second. Neither is competing on the NHRA circuit this year because both lack adequate sponsorship.

And neither ever went as fast as Anderson did in reaching 297.3 mph at Sears Point last weekend. Kenny Bernstein is the only driver to go faster.

"It was fast. It was nice," said Anderson, 26, a member of a drag-racing family in Covina, Calif., that includes her brother, Randy, who drives a top-alcohol funny car, and her father, Brad, a former NHRA top-alcohol champion who manufactures specialized parts for racing motors.

LaHaie, of Lansing, Mich., also has drag-racing roots. Her father, Dick, won the NHRA top-fuel title in 1988. DePorter, 20, of Phoenix is in her first top-fuel season as the driver of a car owned by Paul Smith of Boynton Beach, Fla. --------------------------------------------------------------- NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS --------------------------------------------------------------- -- WHAT: Event No. 12 on the NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.

-- WHERE: Seattle International Raceway, Kent (take I-5 south to Exit 142-A, go east 10 miles on Highway 18).

-- SCHEDULE Tomorrow - qualifying 9:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (pro class sessions at noon and 4 p.m.). Saturday - qualifying 9:15 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (pro class sessions at noon and 4 p.m. Sunday - Final eliminations at 11 a.m.

-- TICKETS General admission - $13 tomorrow, $24 Saturday, $29 Sunday. Pit pass - $8 tomorrow, $10 Saturday, $10 Sunday. Reserved seats - $40 Saturday, $45 Sunday (includes pit pass). Weekend pass - $90 (three days' admission, pit pass, reserved seat for Saturday and Sunday).

-- POINT STANDINGS (top five) Top fuel - 1. Kenny Bernstein, Dallas, 8,052; 2. Joe Amato, Old Forge, Pa., 7,586; 3. Don Prudhomme, Granada Hills, Calif., 7,150; 4. Pat Austin, Tacoma, 6,988; 5. Cory McClenathan, Anaheim, Calif., 6,746. Wins - Bernstein (3), Amato (2), Prudhomme (2), Austin (1), McClenathan (1), Eddie Hill (1). Funny car - 1. John Force, Yorba Linda, Calif., 8,606; 2. Cruze Pedregon, Moorpark, Calif., 7,990; 3. Al Hofmann, Umatilla, Fla., 7,234; 4. Del Worsham, Orange, Calif., 6,728; 5. Tom Hoover, Maple Grove, Minn., 5,468. Wins - Force (4), Pedregon (1), Hofmann (2), Hoover (1), Chuck Etchells (2). Pro stock - 1. Warren Johnson, Duluth, Ga., 9,208; 2. Jerry Edkman, Newark, Ohio, 8,036; 3. Scott Geoffrion, Huntington Beach, Calif., 6,928; 4. Don Beverley, Chester, Va., 6,354; 5. Larry Morgan, Newark, Ohio, 6,338. Wins - Johnson (4), Eckman (3), Beverley (2), Bruce Allen (1), Mark Pawuk, Medina, Ohio, 5,302.