RULES RULED; NHRA teams scrambled to cope with changes implemented after the crash that killed Darrell Russell.(News)

Byline: BILL STEPHENS

The 2004 NHRA POWERADE season was one in which rule books and record books kept running into each other. For the first time in memory, midseason changes in the rule books of all four professional categories helped prop up the championship aspirations of some teams and effectively ended the title hopes of others.

In Top Fuel, the death of Darrell Russell at the Sears Craftsman Nationals in St. Louis in June set off a chain reaction of technical mandates that touched off deeply divided debates on the relative safety of Top Fuel cars and whether or not the NHRA had the obligation to slow them down.

Following Russell's fatal accident, cockpit shielding, a new Goodyear slick, an 85 percent maximum nitro rule, and a reduction in allowable rear wing angle gave crew chiefs fits, forcing them to make adjustments to their combinations on the fly.

Tony Schumacher came into 2004 as a strong pick to win his second championship, thanks in large part to the mechanical genius of his crew chief, Alan Johnson. It was Johnson's considerable talent that gave Schumacher undeniable dominance, not only from the get-go, but even after the new rules kicked in as the U.S. Army team racked up a record 10 national-event wins, helped along by a steady torrent of elapsed times in the 4.40- second range. Doug Kalitta, Brandon Bernstein, Scott Kalitta, David Grubnic and Larry Dixon were all good, but the Schumacher-Johnson combination was too quick and too consistent.

Funny Car offered drag racing fans a tantalizing scenario of the unexpected over the schedule's first half with Del Worsham leading the points in the early going. Whit Bazemore took over briefly at ...