2009 NHRA VIRGINIA NATIONALS - SAME DAY COVERAGE
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SUNDAY FINAL - EDWARDS TALLIES MAX 150 POINTS, ALL BUT CLINCHES TITLE
Worsham wins third of 2009 in FC; Bernstein snaps 52-race winless streak in TF
Pro Stock driver Mike Edwards went wire-to-wire at the NHRA Virginia Nationals, earning the maximum 150 points, to all but clinch his first career NHRA Full Throttle Series world championship.
The other winners at the 22nd of 24 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series were Del Worsham (Funny Car) and Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel).
The NHRA Virginia Nationals is the fourth race in NHRA’s six-race playoff, the Countdown to 1. The playoff concludes with races in Las Vegas (Oct. 29-Nov. 1) and Pomona, Calif. (Nov. 12-15).
Edwards qualified No. 1, earned the maximum 12 per-session qualifying bonus points, and the 20-point bonus for setting the national record (6.509 seconds) to become the first driver to record the maximum 150 points at a single race.
“This day was near-perfect,” said Edwards, who defeated Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing Pontiac team in the final on a slight holeshot, 6.526/211.43 (with a 0.019 reaction time) to 6.522/212.03 (0.027). “It’s unbelievable what I did here today, what my team did here today. My team was phenomenal. I’m going to enjoy it while I can because my daddy always told me, ‘One day it will start raining, so get ’em while you can.’”
Edwards, who drives the A.R.T./Young Life Pontiac, extended his lead from 78 points (over Jason Line to start the day) to 128 (over Anderson), meaning he has more than a six-round cushion (a round win is worth 20 points) with only eight rounds left.
“I’m thinking (championship), but I don’t have it yet,” said Edwards, who beat Line in the semifinals. “It’s close, but you’ve still got to stay focused. You’ve still got to keep your goals ahead. Those two Summit cars are going to be burning the midnight oil to try and get back up there with me. I’m not going to count my chickens yet before they hatch. But I’m living my dream right now, and I’m real close to it right now.”
In Top Fuel, Brandon Bernstein ended a more than two-year winless streak that spanned 52 races when he blew away Antron Brown, 3.844/307.09 to 9.099/75.99.
“We needed a win for our team and for our confidence,” said Bernstein, who pilots the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster and last won at Brainerd, 2007. “I can’t say enough about our team because with that long of a drought, it could get easy to get really down on themselves and not get out of that funk, but they just stayed positive. Our whole team, my dad (six-time NHRA Full Throttle Series champ Kenny Bernstein), everybody was just so positive, and we just kept at the grind. We knew that eventually we were going to knock down that door and get that win again.”
Brown, the regular season champion who is now in fourth place, did trim his deficit behind points leader Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team from 120 to 81. Dixon and the Al-Anabi team trail Schumacher by 47 points; McClenathan and the FRAM Tough Guard team are 68 points behind in third place.
In Funny Car, Del Worsham played spoiler with his milestone 25th career win over still-in-contention Tim Wilkerson, 4.091/305.98 to 4.179/81.13.
“I had a good feeling this morning,” said Worsham, who drives the Al-Anabi Toyota Solara. “You know, things were just kind of going my way. I was in the car right before first round, and I was just running through everything and I felt the reverser. It felt OK and then all of a sudden, it just felt too loose, and the reverser cable wasn’t hooked up. Right before they started the car, I’m screaming for the clutch guy, ‘Hook up the reverser cable.’ When you find things like that, it’s just kind of your day and you can’t make a mistake.”
Wilkerson moved up from eighth to fifth place on the day, but he's still 82 points behind new points leader Robert Hight, who moved back around teammate Ashley Force Hood (first-round loss to Jeff Arend). He leads Force Hood by 13, Tony Pedregon by 48 and Ron Capps by 63.
“We took advantage of the situation where we made positive ground on the leaders,” said Capps, who trimmed 25 points from his 88-point deficit to start the day with his run to the semis. “But we are still very disappointed because we felt like there were 40 more points that we could have cleaned up with today.”
The NHRA Full Throttle Series resumes in two weeks with the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals Oct. 29-Nov. 1.
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SATURDAY QUALIFYING - DIXON PUTS THE HEAT ON SCHUMACHER WITH FOURTH STRAIGHT NO. 1
Beckman, Edwards round out No. 1s at NHRA Virginia Nationals
Second-place Larry Dixon closed the gap between himself and Top Fuel points leader Tony Schumacher with his fourth straight No. 1 qualifier on Saturday at the NHRA Virginia Nationals.
The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 22nd of 24 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series were Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).
The NHRA Virginia Nationals is the fourth race in NHRA’s six-race playoff, the Countdown to 1. The playoff concludes with races in Las Vegas (Oct. 29-Nov. 1) and Pomona, Calif. (Nov. 12-15).
Dixon, who notched his eighth No. 1 qualifier of 2009 and 39th of his career in the Al-Anabi dragster, sliced his deficit behind Schumacher from 54 to 47 points with a 3.783-second pass at 311.27 mph.
“I’m obviously happy to be on the pole here,” said Dixon, who earned seven qualifying bonus points to just three for Schumacher. “You need to be low of those sessions to get those extra bonus points because that adds up. We made up almost a round last week (in Memphis). We didn’t do it this week, but we still gained ground on Tony (Schumacher). If you can do that at the next couple of races, including this one, you could make up a round of racing. From where I’m at, a round of racing would be real nice right now.”
Dixon will get a bye and Schumacher, who qualified fourth in his U.S. Army dragster, will be paired with Terry Haddock in R1 of Sunday’s eliminations.
Beckman, 73 points behind Ashley Force Hood in fourth place, earned the pole with a 4.044 at 305.22 on his fourth and final qualifying attempt in the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T.
“Am I surprised it held up? That’s a tough question because there were some quality cars behind us, but that was a stout number,” Beckman said. “I knew we didn’t leave a whole lot on the table that run, so they were going to have to be darn-near perfect for them to get around us.”
Beckman will meet John Smith in R1 Sunday and Force Hood, who set the track record for speed in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang when she clicked the radar at 311.27 mph, will be matched up against Memphis winner Jeff Arend and the DHL team. Hight (-7) has teammate and team owner John Force in R1 and Tony Pedregon (-35) meets Mike Neff.
Edwards, the Pro Stock points leader, improved on his 6.606 from Friday with a 6.531 (at 211.26) on Saturday that was the second quickest pass in NHRA Pro Stock history. He also set the track records for speed and e.t. in his A.R.T./Young Life Pontiac en route to his NHRA-best 14th No. 1 qualifier of the season.
“What a scary qualifying session for Pro Stock,” said Edwards, who will be paired with V Gaines in R1. “When you pull up there and guys are making their career best runs and it’s the last session, it gets a little nerve-wracking. We were low with a .58 last session and I bet that’s not even in the top half now. Hats off to my guys. We made another really fantastic run and I’m just so proud of them and everything that they’ve done.”
Greg Anderson (-88) will meet Dave Northrop, Jason Line (-91) has Ryan Ondrejko, and defending NHRA Full Throttle Series champion Jeg Coughlin (-132) faces Greg Stanfield.
Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. ET today and be shown on ESPN2HD beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
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First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the Fourth annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, the 22nd of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.
Top Fuel -- 1. Larry Dixon, 3.783 seconds, 317.49 mph vs. Bye; 2. Cory McClenathan, 3.784, 319.37 vs. 15. Todd Simpson, broke; 3. Spencer Massey, 3.789, 318.54 vs. 14. Scott Palmer, 12.059, 113.58; 4. Tony Schumacher, 3.796, 314.75 vs. 13. Terry Haddock, 7.173, 94.33; 5. Antron Brown, 3.797, 319.60 vs. 12. Chris Karamesines, 4.054, 301.20; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 3.832, 313.15 vs. 11. Scott Weis, 3.974, 305.42; 7. Morgan Lucas, 3.838, 312.06 vs. 10. Bobby Lagana Jr., 3.884, 309.42; 8. Shawn Langdon, 3.855, 311.85 vs. 9. Doug Kalitta, 3.865, 314.75.
Funny Car -- 1. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.044, 305.22 vs. 16. John Smith, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.820, 295.53; 2. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.046, 308.71 vs. 15. Jerry Toliver, Monte Carlo, 4.165, 283.79; 3. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.051, 309.49 vs. 14. Del Worsham, Toyota Solara, 4.131, 296.96; 4. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.052, 310.13 vs. 13. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.119, 299.33; 5. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.059, 309.56 vs. 12. John Force, Mustang, 4.112, 304.39; 6. Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.066, 311.27 vs. 11. Jeff Arend, Solara, 4.106, 302.41; 7. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.079, 306.40 vs. 10. Jim Head, Solara, 4.105, 302.62; 8. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.085, 306.46 vs. 9. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.102, 303.84. Did Not Qualify: 17. Dale Creasy Jr., 5.196, 280.89; 18. Justin Schriefer, 7.265, 86.27.
Pro Stock -- 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.531, 211.26 vs. 16. V. Gaines, Dodge Stratus, 6.616, 207.59; 2. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.546, 210.64 vs. 15. John Nobile, Stratus, 6.613, 208.68; 3. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.547, 211.16 vs. 14. Dave Northrop, GXP, 6.609, 206.51; 4. Jason Line, GXP, 6.556, 211.10 vs. 13. Ryan Ondrejko, GXP, 6.605, 208.17; 5. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.559, 209.95 vs. 12. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.601, 210.01; 6. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.566, 210.57 vs. 11. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.585, 210.31; 7. Johnny Gray, Stratus, 6.566, 210.18 vs. 10. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.580, 210.05; 8. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.569, 209.56 vs. 9. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.577, 209.65. Did Not Qualify: 17. Allen Johnson, 6.621, 208.01; 18. Steve Spiess, 6.638, 207.11; 19. Bob Benza, 6.638, 206.73; 20. John Gaydosh Jr, 6.726, 205.51.
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SATURDAY ACTION DELAYED
12:45 - RACING UNDERWAY - The first pair of Pro Stocks fired and rolled into the water box. Today's professional qualifying will be run in almost back-to-back sessions, squeezing in a Pro Mod qualifying session and the first round of Super Comp.
The NHRA will run as much as they can until the forecast rain hits.
11:30
Saturday Sportsman competition at the NHRA Virginia Nationals in Dinwiddie, Va., was delayed when after the call to the lanes, a light misting rain began to fall. Professional teams have been put on alert that the NHRA will try to get a session during the small window available today.
The sportsman competition was scheduled to begin earlier in the morning, but tremendous amounts of rain overnight forced a longer than usual track drying regimen. Once the track was dried, it was then discovered that the rain had lifted much of the rubber, which necessitated a lengthy track prep.
We'll keep you updated on what is going on as news becomes available.
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FRIDAY QUALIFYING - FORCE HOOD LIVES UP TO POINTS LEAD, IN POSITION FOR FC-BEST SIXTH NO. 1 OF 2009
McClenathan, Edwards round out provisional No. 1s at NHRA Virginia Nationals
Ashley Force Hood solidified her status as the Funny Car points leader with a 4.094-second pass at 307.79 mph to secure the provisional pole on the first day of qualifying at the NHRA Virginia Nationals.
The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 22nd of 24 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series were Cory McClenathan (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).
The NHRA Virginia Nationals is the fourth race in NHRA’s six-race playoff, the Countdown to 1. The playoff concludes with races in Las Vegas (Oct. 29-Nov. 1) and Pomona, Calif. (Nov. 12-15).
Force Hood, who leads all Funny Car drivers with five No. 1 qualifiers in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang already this season, is bidding to become the first woman in the history of the ultra-competitive Funny Car class to win and NHRA Full Throttle Series championship.
“We made both runs A-to-B really strong today. We’re really pumped up for this weekend. We started off really strong, but we’ve got to keep going,” Force Hood said.
McClenathan, the driver of the FRAM Tough Guard dragster who began the weekend in third place 93 points behind Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team, claimed the provisional No. 1 with a 3.815 at 318.24.
“We come here and for some reason we just happen to do well and it’s good mojo,” said the winningest Top Fuel driver at Virginia Motorsports Park with four victories. “That’s a good thing.”
If nothing changes in Pro Stock Saturday, Edwards (6.606 at 209.26), who began the race with a 78-point lead in his quest to win his first NHRA Full Throttle Series championship, would collect his NHRA-leading 14th No. 1 qualifier of the season.
“It has been a phenomenal year and a dream season,” said Edwards, driver of the A.R.T./Young Life Pontiac. “I’m literally living my dream with this sport that I’ve enjoyed doing for a long time. We did accomplish our goal of the day and that’s to pick up those valuable six (qualifying bonus) points. We feel good about that. We didn’t make the best run that last run there, but it was good enough.”
Qualifying resumes Saturday with Rounds 3 and 4 before the 16-car fields are set for Sunday’s final eliminations.
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Results Friday after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the Fourth annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, 22nd of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel -- 1. Cory McClenathan, 3.815 seconds, 318.24 mph; 2. Brandon Bernstein, 3.832, 312.42; 3. Tony Schumacher, 3.835, 313.66; 4. Antron Brown, 3.856, 315.49; 5. Larry Dixon, 3.859, 311.27; 6. Spencer Massey, 3.864, 312.28; 7. Shawn Langdon, 3.868, 311.85; 8. Doug Kalitta, 3.891, 312.71; 9. Morgan Lucas, 3.909, 300.33; 10. Bobby Lagana Jr., 3.942, 303.09; 11. Chris Karamesines, 4.054, 301.20; 12. Scott Weis, 4.076, 288.39. Not Qualified: 13. Todd Simpson, 4.448, 237.17; 14. Scott Palmer, 6.776, 113.58.
Funny Car -- 1. Ashley Force Hood, Ford Mustang, 4.094, 307.79; 2. Jeff Arend, Toyota Solara, 4.106, 302.41; 3. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.110, 306.19; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.119, 299.33; 5. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.124, 303.84; 6. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.129, 302.69; 7. Jim Head, Solara, 4.129, 302.62; 8. Del Worsham, Solara, 4.131, 296.96; 9. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.135, 301.54; 10. John Force, Mustang, 4.135, 301.00; 11. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.143, 301.67; 12. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.144, 303.64. Not Qualified: 13. Tim Wilkerson, 4.161, 296.83; 14. Ron Capps, 4.171, 300.93; 15. John Smith, 4.222, 295.53; 16. Dale Creasy Jr., 4.325, 280.89; 17. Jerry Toliver, 4.431, 232.95.
Pro Stock -- 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.606, 209.26; 2. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.627, 208.23; 3. Jason Line, GXP, 6.630, 208.39; 4. Johnny Gray, Dodge Stratus, 6.634, 207.94; 5. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.637, 207.66; 6. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.640, 207.43; 7. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cobalt, 6.642, 207.69; 8. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.642, 207.34; 9. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.648, 208.01; 10. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.653, 207.21; 11. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.657, 207.37; 12. Steve Spiess, Cobalt, 6.657, 206.83. Not Qualified: 13. Dave Northrop, 6.665, 205.41; 14. Ryan Ondrejko, 6.666, 205.82; 15. Ronnie Humphrey, 6.667, 206.70; 16. Greg Stanfield, 6.672, 206.42; 17. Bob Benza, 6.689, 205.01; 18. V. Gaines, 6.696, 205.32; 19. John Nobile, 6.729, 205.82; 20. John Gaydosh Jr, 6.892, 198.32.
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EVENT PREVIEW - TOP FUEL RACER McCLENATHAN STILL IN COUNTDOWN TITLE HUNT
Now that veteran driver Cory McClenathan is in the hunt for a world championship title, he’s not changing anything about his approach to race weekends.
McClenathan has experience in championship battles. He’s finished second four times during his great career. He’s finished third three other times, including last season.
After winning the first playoff race in Charlotte and finishing in the quarterfinals at both Dallas and Memphis, McClenathan is certainly capable of hoisting the trophy at the NHRA awards ceremony.
He knows from experience that patience and consistency are the two necessary ingredients as NHRA professional category teams make the stretch run to glory in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
McClenathan will continue his quest to win that elusive first world championship crown with a strong showing at the fourth annual NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond, Va. The race is the 22nd of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the fourth of six races in the Countdown to 1, NHRA’s championship playoffs. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car); and Dave Connolly (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of the race, which will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD.
McClenathan, who sits third in the point standings following the recent event in Memphis, has had great success at VMP over the years. He is the winningest Top Fuel driver at the track with four victories, his last coming in 2006. He was runner-up there in 1997.
“As soon as we rolled in there the first year in Richmond, we've done well ever since,” McClenathan said. “I go in there very comfortable. I go in there thinking we're going to go rounds on Sunday. I don't go in there thinking we’re going to win every single race, but obviously I'm very comfortable going in there and I can't wait to get there this time because right now every point matters and we need them.”
He says his FRAM Tough Guard team will head to Virginia with a familiar strategy.
“Our goal is the same as always,” McClenathan explained. “Go in there, get qualified well on Friday afternoon, try to run good Friday night, and pick up some of those extra qualifying points that they're now offering [three, two and one points for the top three qualifiers in each qualifying round] to give us a little cushion points-wise before eliminations on Sunday.”
He says his team, made up entirely of a crew with the majority of their experience tuning Funny Cars, has bonded and done an awesome job this season tuning a Top Fuel dragster. He says the team will be focused on making the dragster as consistent as possible and not worry about counting points.
“[Crew chiefs] Phil [Shuler] and Todd [Okuhara] and the FRAM Tough Guard boys will do exactly what they're supposed to, which is forget about the points deal and go in there and get qualified well and work on it for Sunday,” McClenathan said. “We've attacked every single race that way this year, and I don't want to change things. It's just about going in there and taking one round at a time on Sunday and, if all goes well, we'll go the semis or to the final, keep on earning points, and make the last (few) races of the playoffs very exciting.”
In addition to McClenathan, the other favorites in Top Fuel are six-time and defending world champ Schumacher, who won this race last year as he 
marched to the season title. Schumacher, the current points leader, has won five times this season in his U.S. Army dragster and recently won a playoff race in Dallas and was runner-up at the Memphis playoff stop. Larry Dixon, who is second in the point standings in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster, has also won five times this season and sits poised to make a run for his third championship crown.
Defending race winner and world champ Pedregon didn’t qualify for the Countdown to 1 playoffs this year, but he will be at the event working hard to defend his race win. His brother, Tony Pedregon, has been near the front of the pack all season in his Quaker State Chevy Impala and has won three races and is currently third in the standings. Points leader Ashley Force Hood holds a three-point lead over teammate Robert Hight. Don Schumacher Racing’s Jack Beckman and Ron Capps are also major contenders for the race win and the championship.
In Pro Stock, Mike Edwards has come on strong in the playoffs and took over the points lead with a win at Charlotte and strong showings in Dallas and Memphis. For the moment, he is ahead of three-time world champ Greg Anderson, who recently won at Dallas, and Jason Line, the Memphis winner. Others to watch in the 200-mph category include past VMP winners Jeg Coughlin and Greeneville, Tenn.’s Allen Johnson.
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