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NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals, Sonoma,CA.
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The
latest results from the the FRAM Autolite Nationals, Sonoma,CA.
fifteenth stop on the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
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By Bobby Bennett Photos by James Drew, Mark Westfall, Frank Smith |
SUNDAY - ANDERSON BECOMES FIFTH NHRA DRIVER TO SWEEP WESTERN SWING; Kalitta, Wilkerson and Savoie also claim victories at FRAM Autolite Nationals
(8-1-2004) – Greg Anderson became the fifth driver to sweep the NHRA Western Swing Sunday at the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway. In the process he tied the Pro Stock single season win record with his 12th victory of the year. Doug Kalitta, Tim Wilkerson and Angelle Savoie also were winners at the $1.5 million race, the 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Anderson raced to his 28th career victory and first at the Northern California drag strip by clocking a 6.728 second run at 205.51 mph in his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac Grand Am to defeat David Connolly, who posted a 6.758 at 204.98 in his Bullet Motorsports Chevy Cavalier. With the victory, Anderson increased his series lead 568 points. “I had no idea I was the first Pro Stock guy to sweep the Western Swing,” said Anderson of the grueling trio of races in consecutive weeks where teams face unique challenges at tracks in Denver, Seattle and Sonoma. Past winners include Joe Amato (Top Fuel 1991); John Force (Funny Car 1994); Cory McClenathan (Top Fuel 1997); and Larry Dixon (Top Fuel 2003).
“To put your name next to Joe Amato and John Force and those other guys that have done it is something special,” Anderson continued. “It’s another feather in this team’s cap. I guess the fact these three races are so different is the reason we haven’t seen it happen before in Pro Stock.” With eight races to go this season, Anderson now has his sights set on Force’s overall single-season record of 13 victories, set in 1996. “Thirteen wins is the next big hurdle to clear,” Anderson said. “We want that record because it’s the next thing to do. The other big records are years away. Warren (Johnson) has six championships and 90-something wins. Force has 12 championships and a hundred-plus wins. Bob Glidden has 10 championships. Even if I race like I have been we’re a long way off from all of that. We’re aiming to win half of the remaining races. That’s probably a good number to shoot for and it should be attainable. Of course, we could get totally lost tomorrow and I could fall off this big wave we’ve been riding, but for now I’m enjoying the ride.” Kalitta drove to his 18th career Top Fuel victory and fourth at Infineon by posting a 4.678 at 315.05 in his Mac Tools dragster to defeat teammate David Grubnic, whose Red Line Oil dragster lost traction at the start and recorded a 9.752 at 86.37.
“I love this place,” said Kalitta, who defeated Steve Chrisman, Doug Herbert and points leader Tony Schumacher to advance to the final. “It’s definitely one of my favorite stops on the tour and that hasn’t changed this year. I got my first win here in 1998 and then we won it three times in a row. I wouldn’t mind if we ran all the races here. Really, any of these good tracks are good for this team. I guess our tune-up just wants a place where we can pound on the track.” With the win, Kalitta cut Schumacher’s series points lead to 66. Wilkerson earned his second victory of the season when Force fouled at the start in his Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang. With the 12-time champ out on a false start, Wilkerson cruised to his fifth career victory with a 5.088 at 282.72 in his Levi, Ray and Shoup Chevy Monte Carlo. It was a rare miscue on the weekend for Force, the event’s No. 1 qualifier. It was only the second time in Force’s 175 career final rounds that he turned on the red light in the money round. “Force definitely had the car to beat this weekend,” said Wilkerson, who outran Jerry Toliver, Whit Bazemore and Tony Pedregon to advance to the final round. “We’re thankful he had a hiccup in the final. We had run right beside him all weekend so we knew how fast he was, but we were always right there behind him so maybe he was thinking about us a little bit.”
While many of the standing room only fans may have been surprised to see Wilkerson take the win today – his first at Infineon -- his opponents certainly were not. “That’s the underdog effect I guess,” Wilkerson said of the adulation he gets from his peers. “We’re just a single-car team fighting all these big teams and I think everyone out there appreciates that. They look at me and see a guy who works on his own car and I think they think that’s cool. It sure makes it special for me.” Force increased his points lead to 146 over Whit Bazemore as he nears a record 13th Funny Car championship. Savoie raced to her second Pro Stock Bike victory of the season and the 33rd of her career by defeating teammate Antron Brown in the final. In a battle of U.S. Army Suzukis, Savoie took the automatic win when Brown suffered a red-light start. She joined Wilkerson and Anderson as first time Infineon winners. “Now we’ve won at every track except Brainerd and it’s next so maybe we can put that one away in two weeks,” Savoie said. To advance to the final, Savoie used consistently quick 7.0-second runs to beat Connie Cohen, GT Tonglet and Craig Treble. “We had a fabulous weekend here,” she added. “I love it when we’re No. 1 because my record shows that when I’m the No. 1 qualifier I usually go on and win the race. We had our best E.T. ever so we’re running good.” Andrew Hines, who lost in the semifinals on his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson, increased his lead to 169 over second place rider Shawn Gann. The NHRA POWERade Series continues with the 23rd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Aug. 12-15, at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway. Sportsman Finals
TOP FUEL: ROUND ONE -- Doug Herbert, 4.697, 317.19 def. Cory McClenathan, broke; David Baca, 4.613, 314.39 def. Brady Kalivoda, 4.841, 306.95; Larry Dixon, 4.973, 311.56 def. John Smith, 5.996, 237.34; Tony Schumacher, 4.573, 324.59 def. Scott Weis, 4.626, 310.70; Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 4.763, 311.13 def. Scott Kalitta, 7.972, 95.84; Brandon Bernstein, 4.604, 319.75 def. Bob Vandergriff, 6.168, 142.26; David Grubnic, 4.567, 323.81 def. Mitch King, foul; Doug Kalitta, 4.607, 324.59 def. Steven Chrisman, 10.889, 71.05; QUARTERFINALS -- D. Kalitta, 4.631, 321.88 def. Herbert, 4.819, 282.13; Bernstein, 4.619, 318.32 def. Dixon, 4.664, 309.06; Schumacher, 4.576, 325.85 def. Hartman-Smith, 4.739, 307.44; Grubnic, 4.578, 322.81 def. Baca, 6.096, 139.85; SEMIFINALS -- Grubnic, 5.181, 209.85 def. Bernstein, 6.178, 149.86; D. Kalitta, 4.842, 278.81 def. Schumacher, 5.696, 185.46; FINAL -- D. Kalitta, 4.678, 315.05 def. Grubnic, 9.752, 86.37.
FUNNY CAR: ROUND ONE -- Cruz Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.854, 311.63 def. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 7.688, 111.81; Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.867, 319.98 def. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.891, 320.36; John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.947, 300.46 def. Bob Bode, Pontiac Firebird, 4.988, 293.98; Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 5.024, 313.95 def. Jerry Toliver, Toyota Celica, 5.372, 227.77; Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.843, 321.50 def. Tony Bartone, Firebird, 4.869, 313.80; Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.871, 314.17 def. Ron Capps, Monte Carlo, 4.881, 313.37; Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.882, 318.47 def. Jeff Arend, Chevy Corvette, 4.933, 303.43; Gary Densham, Mustang, 4.821, 321.27 def. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.947, 299.46; QUARTERFINALS -- Wilkerson, 4.946, 312.78 def. Bazemore, 7.240, 123.68; T. Pedregon, 5.161, 274.55 def. Medlen, 5.507, 258.12; Force, 4.894, 309.56 def. Densham, 8.911, 98.69; Scelzi, 4.902, 310.13 def. C. Pedregon, 5.226, 230.88; SEMIFINALS -- Wilkerson, 5.104, 286.07 def. T. Pedregon, 5.268, 254.71; Force, 4.857, 322.42 def. Scelzi, 6.767, 133.43; FINAL -- Wilkerson, 5.088, 282.72 def. Force, foul.
PRO STOCK:
QUARTERFINALS -- Connolly, 6.743, 205.57 def. Morgan, 6.764, 204.23; Johns, 6.720, 206.20 def. Krisher, 6.756, 204.39; Line, 6.706, 206.42 def. Corvo Jr, 6.753, 204.29; Anderson, 6.711, 205.72 def. Koretsky, 6.727, 205.01; SEMIFINALS -- Connolly, 6.736, 205.66 def. Line, 6.712, 206.23; Anderson, 6.728, 205.41 def. Johns, 6.730, 205.82; FINAL -- Anderson, 6.728, 205.51 def. Connolly, 6.758,
204.98. PRO STOCK BIKE:
QUARTERFINALS -- Treble, 7.122, 187.63 def. Phillips, 7.178, 186.10; Hines, 7.097, 187.96 def. Stoffer, 7.121, 188.31; Brown, 7.127, 187.55 def. Gann, 7.125, 184.50; Savoie, 7.085, 188.49 def. Tonglet, 7.137, 183.72; SEMIFINALS -- Brown, broke def. Hines, foul; Savoie, 7.048, 192.55 def. Treble, foul; FINAL -- Savoie, 7.066, 184.57 def. Brown, foul.
Pulde's merry-go-round act(7-31-2004) - Race fans and fellow racers were very much ticked off when NHRA officials bounced Funny Car legend Dale Pulde from the qualified field. The NHRA's reasoning is that Pulde had allowed his license to expire. That was not the case as Pulde's license didn't expire until 12/31/2004. While Pulde concedes that he did fail to fulfill the re-cert requirements, he added that the standards were established under other rules and were not adjusted accordingly. The key fact that has Pulde up in arms is that he was given the blessings of the NHRA officials and then the decision was reversed hours later. Stay tuned, this one should hit the fan soon.
SATURDAY - ANDERSON GOING FOR PRO STOCK WIN RECORD AND WESTERN SWING SWEEP AT FRAM AUTOLITE NHRA NATIONALS; Kalitta, Force and Savoie also claim No. 1 qualifying awards at Infineon Raceway
(7-31-2004) – Greg Anderson moved into position to tie the NHRA Pro Stock single-season record for victories Saturday with a top qualifying performance at the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway. If he’s successful in his quest during Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations, he will become only the fifth driver in NHRA history to sweep the Western Swing. Doug Kalitta, John Force and Angelle Savoie also are the top qualifiers in their categories at the $1.5 million race, the 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Anderson, who has earned 11 victories in 14 events this season, raced to the 12th No. 1 qualifying effort of the year and the 28th of his career, driving his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac Grand Am to a track record performance of 6.693 seconds at 206.01 mph. "This is the fourth track now where we've run a 6.6-second pass and we're still the only team to have done that so we're feeling pretty special at the moment," said Anderson, who with a victory tomorrow could tie the current season win mark of 12 that he set last season and in the process join Joe Amato (1991), John Force (1994), Cory McClenathan (1997) and Larry Dixon (2003) as winners of the circuit’s notoriously grueling three-race stretch (Denver, Seattle and Sonoma, Calif.).
Anderson teammate Jason Line was second with a 6.719 at 205.54 in the KB Framers Grand Am, while Larry Morgan drove his Team Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T to a 6.722 at 205.10 to anchor the third position. Six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson failed to qualify in his GM Performance Parts Grand Am. In Top Fuel, Kalitta scored his second No. 1 position of the season and 17th of his career, taking the top position with a 4.574 at 323.66 in his Mac Tools dragster. "This track has been good to us in the past,” said Kalitta, who earned consecutive victories here from 1998-2000. “We've won here three times, so I hope that luck continues tomorrow. I've been trying not to let myself think about (the POWERade Series points) too much but we are running out of races and we can't let (Tony) Schumacher get out there on us. He ran well today and they'll be strong tomorrow. We'll have to see if we can stay with them." David Grubnic was second in the Kalitta Air dragster with a 4.579 at 311.99, while Brandon Bernstein will start from the third spot with a 4.615 at 317.12 in the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster Force raced to the 120th No. 1 award of his career by recording a performance of 4.823 at 318.84 in his Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang. “We need to be careful in the morning,” Force said. “We saw (Whit) Bazemore lose in the first round three times in a row and we all know that can happen to anyone.”
Tony Pedregon was second in the final Funny Car order, posting a 4.886 at 318.17 in his Quaker State Chevy Monte Carlo, while Tim Wilkerson, in the Levi, Ray and Shoup Monte Carlo, clocked a 4.899 at 313.95 for the third starting spot. Savoie earned her second qualifying award of the season and the 36th of her career by posting a 7.081 at 188.10 on the U.S. Army Suzuki. "There are only two tracks where I haven't won and this is one of them, so I'd like to get a win here and mark it off my list,” Savoie said. “I think we showed we have the bike to get it done. We were able to pick it up today for a couple of reasons. First, I did a lot better job of driving. Plus, we both had new tires yesterday so they needed a few laps on them. And we have a brand new engine that's just now getting broken in. We should be all ready to go now.” Antron Brown was second with a 7.084 at 188.10 on his U.S. Army Suzuki, while Andrew Hines, who failed to back-up his category-best speed of 196.13 mph for a national record, was third on his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson with a time of 7.100. First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 17th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.
Top Fuel -- 1. Doug Kalitta, 4.574 seconds, 323.66 mph vs. 16. Steven Chrisman, 5.042, 277.54; 2. David Grubnic, 4.579, 311.99 vs. 15. Mitch King, 4.786, 302.75; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 4.615, 317.12 vs. 14. Bob Vandergriff, 4.770, 295.59; 4. Scott Kalitta, 4.630, 322.11 vs. 13. Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 4.758, 308.14; 5. Tony Schumacher, 4.630, 321.27 vs. 12. Scott Weis, 4.736, 265.59; 6. Larry Dixon, 4.661, 312.42 vs. 11. John Smith, 4.735, 304.87; 7. David Baca, 4.669, 314.31 vs. 10. Brady Kalivoda, 4.719, 312.13; 8. Cory McClenathan, 4.684, 308.07 vs. 9. Doug Herbert, 4.707, 313.66.
Funny Car -- 1. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.823, 318.84 vs. 16. Bob Bode, Pontiac Firebird, 5.465, 265.95; 2. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.886, 318.17 vs. 15. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 5.109, 289.14; 3. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.899, 313.95 vs. 14. Jerry Toliver, Toyota Celica, 5.040, 302.55; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.903, 311.56 vs. 13. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.990, 304.12; 5. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.904, 308.28 vs. 12. Tony Bartone, Firebird, 4.987, 307.09; 6. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.908, 315.12 vs. 11. Ron Capps, Monte Carlo, 4.972, 306.26; 7. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.914, 310.63 vs. 10. Jeff Arend, Chevy Corvette, 4.960, 308.35; 8. Gary Densham, Mustang, 4.919, 315.05 vs. 9. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.951, 308.14.
Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.693, 206.01 vs. 16. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.758, 203.52; 2. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.719, 205.54 vs. 15. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cavalier, 6.751, 204.39; 3. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.722, 205.10 vs. 14. Bruce Allen, Grand Am, 6.748, 204.48; 4. Steve Johns, Cavalier, 6.725, 205.72 vs. 13. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.747, 205.01; 5. Ron Krisher, Cavalier, 6.729, 205.01 vs. 12. Kurt Johnson, Cavalier, 6.746, 204.42; 6. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.733, 205.85 vs. 11. Dave Connolly, Cavalier, 6.746, 205.60; 7. Mike Edwards, Grand Am, 6.736, 204.63 vs. 10. Mike Corvo Jr, Stratus, 6.745, 204.60; 8. Kenny Koretsky, Stratus, 6.737, 204.32 vs. 9. Rickie Smith, Cavalier, 6.744, 204.11.
Pro Stock Bike -- 1. Angelle Savoie, Suzuki, 7.084, 188.10 vs. 16. Connie Cohen, Suzuki, 7.318, 178.54; 2. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.087, 192.58 vs. 15. Fred Camarena, Suzuki, 7.295, 189.23; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.100, 196.13 vs. 14. Redell Harris, Suzuki, 7.294, 184.95; 4. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.106, 189.02 vs. 13. Ryan Schnitz, Kawasaki, 7.234, 182.38; 5. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.118, 189.36 vs. 12. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.194, 188.67; 6. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.129, 191.62 vs. 11. Blaine Hale, Suzuki, 7.194, 187.76; 7. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.130, 190.32 vs. 10. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.145, 192.08; 8. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.136, 186.90 vs. 9. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.139, 194.86. SATURDAY - Kaboom!
(7-31-2004) - Mike Strasburg kaboomed this one during Saturday's opening qualifying session in Sonoma.
FRIDAY - FORCE, KALITTA, ANDERSON, HINES QUALIFYING LEADERS AT FRAM AUTOLITE NATIONALS
(7-30-2004) - John Force raced to the qualifying lead in Funny Car Friday at the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway. Doug Kalitta, Greg Anderson and Andrew Hines also were leaders in their respective categories at the $1.5 million race, the 15th of 23 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Force powered his Castrol GTX Start Up Ford Mustang to a leading run of 4.823 seconds at 318.84 mph to top the 16-car field. If he holds on to the top position through Saturday’s two qualifying sessions (11 a.m. and 3 p.m.) he will earn the 120th No. 1 qualifying position of his career. “The brilliance is with my crew chief, Austin Coil," Force said. "He's the one with 15 championships. I only have 12. Then you add the input from Jimmy Prock and John Medlen and the other guys over there and you see what happens. We need to give a lot of credit to (track owner) Bruton Smith for giving us this awesome racetrack. It wasn't like that here just a few years back. Now we love coming here and racing because the track is perfect and the conditions are usually good."
Kalitta, a three-time winner at Infineon, clocked the quickest run of the evening in Top Fuel, speeding to a 4.574 at 323.66 in his Mac Tools dragster. “The car left good and straight, hit hard, and was nearly flawless,” Kalitta said. “There was one little shudder where I started to think, ‘Oh no, it’s gonna smoke the tires,’ but it drove through it and stayed straight. All three of our cars ran well today so we’re very happy with the early results. This place is just great to race at. It’s such a nice track.” Anderson set both ends of the track record to lead Pro Stock, covering the distance in 6.723 at 205.69 in his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac Grand Am.
"We're certainly happy with the consistency of the car, we just wanted to go faster than we did in round two," Anderson said. "The car got loose and I drove out of the groove for a little bit and that cost us. Still, we're pleased with how the day went. I’m really excited about tomorrow morning's 10 a.m. session. I think we'll see two or three cars in the 6.6s and the national record of 6.67 seconds is definitely within reach, unless something out of the ordinary happens. Pro Stock guys love conditions like this. It's what we dream about all year. We probably won't see it this good again for awhile so we'll definitely be going for it with our two cars. Why not? We've got nothing to lose."
Hines continued to set the pace in Pro Stock Bike, riding his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson to a time of 7.113, with a track record speed of 196.13, the fastest in NHRA history for the category. Hines needs to clock a speed of 194.17 mph or faster during the remainder of the weekend to take the national speed mark away from older brother Matt, a three-time champion in the two-wheel category. Per NHRA rules, in order for Hines to certify the performance as a national record he must clock another speed within one percent of the previous run to make it a national record. "I got back to the trailer and told Matt I was really liking the idea of taking his speed record away," Hines said of his brother, who now serves as his crew chief. "He still has it with a 194.10 (run in Englishtown, 2001) and I guess he wants to hold onto it for a little while longer because when I said that he gave me a look like he was going to de-tune my bike. It will probably be pretty tough to back it up and make it official, unless we get a tailwind. Although we did run pretty good here last year."
Top Fuel -- 1. Doug Kalitta, 4.574 seconds, 323.66 mph; 2. David Grubnic, 4.579, 311.99; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 4.615, 316.23; 4. Scott Kalitta, 4.639, 318.69; 5. Larry Dixon, 4.661, 312.42; 6. Cory McClenathan, 4.684, 308.07; 7. Doug Herbert, 4.710, 308.28; 8. Brady Kalivoda, 4.719, 312.13; 9. John Smith, 4.735, 304.87; 10. Scott Weis, 4.736, 265.59; 11. David Baca, 4.767, 302.89; 12. Bob Vandergriff, 4.770, 295.59; 13. Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 4.811, 308.14; 14. Mike Strasburg, 5.128, 212.39; 15. Steven Chrisman, 5.133, 269.35; 16. Tony Schumacher, 5.195, 195.68. Funny Car -- 1. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.823, 318.84; 2. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.886, 318.17; 3. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.899, 313.95; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.903, 311.56; 5. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.904, 308.28; 6. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.908, 315.12; 7. Gary Densham, Mustang, 4.919, 315.05; 8. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.953, 302.35; 9. Jeff Arend, Chevy Corvette, 4.960, 308.35; 10. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.969, 310.63; 11. Ron Capps, Monte Carlo, 4.974, 301.87; 12. Tony Bartone, Pontiac Firebird, 4.987, 307.09; 13. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.990, 304.12; 14. Jerry Toliver, Toyota Celica, 5.040, 302.55; 15. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 5.109, 289.14; 16. Bob Bode, Firebird, 5.465, 265.95. Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.723, 205.69; 2. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.751, 204.70; 3. Dave Connolly, Chevy Cavalier, 6.755, 204.85; 4. Ron Krisher, Cavalier, 6.756, 204.17; 5. Steve Johns, Cavalier, 6.765, 205.26; 6. Kenny Koretsky, Dodge Stratus, 6.765, 203.71; 7. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.767, 204.79; 8. Mike Edwards, Grand Am, 6.768, 204.08; 9. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.771, 203.89; 10. Rickie Smith, Cavalier, 6.777, 203.49; 11. Kurt Johnson, Cavalier, 6.787, 203.68; 12. Jeg Coughlin, Cavalier, 6.790, 203.71; 13. Bruce Allen, Grand Am, 6.792, 203.83; 14. Mike Corvo Jr, Stratus, 6.796, 203.06; 15. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.797, 203.74; 16. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.798, 202.48. Pro Stock Bike -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.113, 196.13; 2. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.116, 192.58; 3. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.145, 192.08; 4. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.145, 190.32; 5. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.153, 189.02; 6. Angelle Savoie, Suzuki, 7.160, 187.05; 7. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.166, 189.36; 8. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.178, 194.86; 9. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.206, 188.67; 10. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.212, 185.66; 11. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.214, 186.05; 12. Blaine Hale, Suzuki, 7.234, 187.76; 13. Ryan Schnitz, Kawasaki, 7.294, 179.68; 14. Fred Camarena, Suzuki, 7.317, 189.23; 15. Redell Harris, Suzuki, 7.358, 183.34; 16. Connie Cohen, Suzuki, 7.416, 178.14.
NHRA announces new Top Fuel rule change amidst objections
(7-30-2004) - The NHRA tech department announced a rule change on the same day that this weekend's Fram Autolite Nationals was slated to begin. The decision was made to limit the angle of the wing on the Top Fuel dragsters. The decision to implement the rule drew the ire of many teams inciting at least one well-known team owner to openly suggest that the rule makers have their heads up their rearends. “Not unlike other forms of motorsports, NHRA is making these modifications for Sonoma in an attempt to keep the vehicles within a certain performance range,” said Ray Alley, director of top fuel, funny car and pro stock racing, NHRA. “We saw excellent, side-by-side racing in Denver and Seattle and want to continue to provide this form of exciting racing for our fans.”
The NHRA insists that they have been studying wing angles for quite some time. The NHRA , in an issued press release, pointed out their officials gathered additional data on wing angles, as well as performances, at the last two national events and, after consulting with the manufacturer, decided to implement a maximum wing angle for Sonoma. The NHRA points out this action is part of the ongoing performance parameters being implemented by NHRA, with additional modifications possible in the future. According to the NHRA, the recently announced task force, comprised of professional Top Fuel and Funny Car team owners, crew chiefs and NHRA officials, remains charged with the objective to evaluate and recommend performance parameters for the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories. Several team owners allege this is just another demand being put forth by the tire manufacturer and not so much the sanctioning body.
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