BAYTOWN, TX (March 25) -- Houston Raceway Park has always been know for producing great stories. The 14th annual O'Reilly Nationals continued the trend as Hoosier Racing Tire grabbed headlines by claiming more sportsman category victories than all other tire companies combined. Hoosier-shod cars raced into six of the eight final rounds on Sunday, and drove away with five O'Reilly Nationals trophies. Four other drivers raced the USA-built products to runner-up finishes on the Houston 1/4 mile. Rick Santos started off the historic day with his third straight Federal-Mogul Dragster win, Todd Simpson topped an all-Hoosier final in Federal-Mogul Funny Car, Rodney Costlow ruled Super Comp, Texas-native Frank Kohutek claimed Super Gas, and Deborah Ridenhour collected the final "Wally" in Super Street.

Federal-Mogul Dragster
As more drivers step up, Rick Santos continues to shoot them down. In Houston, Bruce Bowler and Joe Fuentes tried their best to stop the Oakwood Homes/Hoosier B/AD. Bowler topped Santos in qualifying, but the California driver raced away to his third victory in as many races on Sunday. After a conservative run in round 1, Santos rocketed to a 5.327 elapsed time in round two, then backed up the effort with a stellar 5.385 to advance into the final. On the other side of the ladder, Joe Fuentes was pushing his Hoosier-shod B/AD through the field, disposing first of Bowler's A/FD, then moving past class standout Jay Meyer to meet Santos for the "Wally". In the final, Fuentes gambled on the tree and almost won, but his .397 second reaction time sent the tree red and handed the win to Santos. Santos finished his final run strong with a 5.357 second clocking.

Federal-Mogul Funny Car
With the cool temperatures and cloudy skies, controlling the horsepower became the key to victory in Federal-Mogul Funny Car in Houston. After a bye run first round, fast qualifier Marc White appeared to be on his way to victory in round two, but his Etterman Racing Firebird crossed the center line and moved Kebin Kinsley into round three. Kinsley proceeded to outrun a Jay Payne to square off with the Bright Transport/Hoosier Avenger of Todd Simpson in the final. Simpson, who reached the finale with consistent 5.90's throughout eliminations, reacted first and stretched his advantage at the finish to .148 seconds over Kinsley to claim his fourth career national event title. 11 of the 13 cars raced to the finish line on USA-built Hoosier racing tires, including both competitors in the final round.

Super Comp
Hoosier continues to dominate the Super Comp Category. At the O'Reilly Nationals, Rodney Costlow and Mike Ferderer put on a classic display of bracket racing enroute to an all-Hoosier final round. Costlow, seeking his first national event victory, was deadly on the tree all weekend, using a .434 reaction time in round four to defeat Jimmy Lewis, then testing his skills in a bye-run in the semi's to the tune of .420. Meanwhile, former Super Comp champion Mike Ferderer was burning up his side of the ladder as well. Ferderer used a stellar .014 package in round four to eliminate Donnie Burnside, then topped CSK Nationals Champion Rob Slavinski on his way to the final round. In the final, both drivers blistered the tree, reacting within .002 seconds of each other. On the top end, Costlow took just enough stripe to claim the victory, clocking in at 8.901 seconds to Ferderer's 8.917 second pass.

Super Gas
After two heartbreaking runner-up finishes in the first two events of 2001, Hoosier has returned to the victory podium in the Super Gas category. Texas native Frank Kohutek bested a strong field of 9.90 index cars at the O'Reilly Nationals for his first national event win of the new season. Kohutek's drive to the final began with a hard fought win in round three over David Hensley. Both drivers reacted the same, but Kohutek drew on his experience and let Hensley by on the top end and into a breakout for the victory. After moving past Clark Mundt in the fifth round, Kohutek squared off with Jimmy Lintz in the final. Although slower off the line, Kohutek drove Lintz into a breakout and claimed the win by a slim .003 second margin.

Super Street
Hoosier is now a perfect three-for-three in NHRA Super Street competition. In Houston, Deborah Ridenhour used Hoosier tires to claim the 10.90 index class trophy. Her march to the final was not an easy one though as she earned three round victories on holeshots, including a spectacular .506 reaction time in a fourth round victory over Clyde Griffith, Jr. In the final, the race was over before it started as Ernest Salter did not follow NHRA staging rules and was disqualified by head starter Rick Stewart.