THURSDAY POMONA QUALIFYING
Top Fuel driver Brandon Bernstein opened the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series season Thursday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with a class-leading
4.494-second pass at 331.61 mph in his Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster.
Two other racers with title aspirations -- Funny Car's Robert Hight
and Pro Stock's Greg Anderson -- also took early leads in their
respective categories at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals. The
$2 million race is the first of 23 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series.
Bernstein led a trio of Top Fuel drivers in the
4.4-second range. Aside from his smooth pass, '06 championship runner-up Doug
Kalitta went 4.495 at 323.50 mph in his Mac Tools dragster, while Rod Fuller
drove to a 4.497 at 329.34 mph in his Valvoline dragster. Four-time NHRA
champion Tony Schumacher, the winner of the last three POWERade titles,
just missed the 4.4-second range with a 4.502 at 324.20 mph in his U.S.
Army dragster, placing him fourth.
"It shook a little about 60 feet
out but it cleared up right away and my vision cleared up and then it just
took off," Bernstein said. "We were going 277 mph at half-track so it was
hauling. It's great to be No. 1 but it's obviously very early. We had a lot
of momentum at the end of last year and we're hoping to keep that alive
heading into this season.
"Rookie Funny Car pilot Ashley Force also made
news in her debut, running 4.810 at 281.19 mph in her Castrol/Auto Club Ford
Mustang to qualify sixth overall, well ahead of her 14-time champ father John
Force, whowas 14th. Whit Bazemore, who crossed over from Funny Car to Top
Fuel this year, posted a 4.533 in his Matco Tools dragster to grab
seventh place, while returning legend Kenny Bernstein will have to wait
another day to make the Funny Car field after shutting off early in his
MonsterEnergy/Lucas Oil Dodge Charger.
With all eyes on Funny Car
newcomer Ashley Force, it ended up being her teammate Hight earning the
spotlight in his Auto Club Ford Mustang witha class-leading 4.693 at 326.79
mph.
"It's very exciting to see Ashley out here running with us," Hight
said. "I'm really impressed. There's all this pressure on her coming into
this race and with her dad being a little nuts, yet somehow she's able
to block it all out when she's in that car and she went straight down
the track. John wants us to take over for him and it's cool that
he'swatching us all grow."
Anderson led Pro Stock in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO by clocking a 6.647 at 208.33 mph.
"We look OK,"
Anderson said. "We honestly didn't finish these motors andmake the decision
to run them here until a week ago. I think we have a workable product with
lots of room for improvement, which is good because with the way the points
deal is now you need to peak at the end of the year."
Results Thursday after qualifying for the 47th annualCARQUEST Auto
Parts Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, first of 23
events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Qualifyingwill
continue Friday for Saturday's final eliminations.
Top
Fuel -- 1. Brandon Bernstein, 4.494 seconds, 331.61 mph; 2. Doug
Kalitta,
4.495, 323.50; 3. Rod Fuller, 4.497, 329.34; 4. Tony
Schumacher, 4.502,
324.20; 5. Larry Dixon, 4.504, 327.59; 6. J.R. Todd,
4.515, 320.43; 7. Whit
Bazemore, 4.533, 324.28; 8. Alan Bradshaw, 4.552,
321.04; 9. Melanie Troxel,
4.632, 322.50; 10. Cory McClenathan, 4.674,
317.05; 11. Clay Millican, 4.679,
315.56; 12. Mike Strasburg, 4.709,
291.26; 13. Bob Vandergriff, 4.730,
282.60; 14. Doug Herbert, 4.790,
268.22; 15. Morgan Lucas, 5.084, 198.93; 16.
Steven Chrisman, 5.116,
243.99.
Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford
Mustang, 4.693, 326.79; 2. Gary
Scelzi, Dodge Charger, 4.728, 330.80; 3. Ron
Capps, Charger, 4.741,
327.82; 4. Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Impala, 4.778,
322.34; 5. Jim Head,
Toyota Solara, 4.795, 316.01; 6. Ashley Force, Mustang,
4.810, 281.19;
7. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.819, 288.64; 8. Gary Densham, Chevy
Monte
Carlo, 4.830, 320.74; 9. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.833, 317.19;
10.
Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.883, 284.45; 11. Jeff Arend, Monte
Carlo,
5.018, 265.22; 12. Grant Downing, Pontiac Firebird, 5.026, 298.47;
13.
Bob Bode, Monte Carlo, 5.073, 288.03; 14. John Force, Mustang,
5.085,
122.96; 15. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 6.270, 153.96; 16. Tony
Bartone,
Monte Carlo, 6.412, 139.78.
Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson,
Pontiac GTO, 6.647, 208.33; 2. Dave
Connolly, Chevy Cobalt, 6.656, 207.94; 3.
Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.666,
207.82; 4. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.671, 207.43; 5.
Roger Brogdon, Dodge
Stratus, 6.672, 197.13; 6. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 6.673,
207.30; 7. Warren
Johnson, GTO, 6.676, 207.56; 8. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.676,
207.18; 9. Jeg
Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.677, 207.43; 10. Kenny Koretsky, Cobalt,
6.682,
207.34; 11. Tom Martino, GTO, 6.689, 207.91; 12. Jason Line, GTO,
6.690,
207.37; 13. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.691, 206.64; 14. Justin
Humphreys,
GTO, 6.696, 206.86; 15. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.696, 206.80; 16.
Max
Naylor, Stratus, 6.696, 206.48.