EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK GSA PRO MODS POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND  FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

 

AN EMOTIONAL VICTORY - Cruz Pedregon was overcome with emotion. The second-generation driver had won two NHRA Funny Car championships and his victory at the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts and captured 31 national event titles including his days as a Top Alcohol racer.

However, this win was different.

When he realized the magnitude of what he’d accomplished, winning from the No. 1 position, against all odds, he wept openly in the post race press conference.

“I cried because I realized this is probably the biggest win of my career,” admitted Pedregon. “Bigger than my championship!”

Pedregon raced to his first final round in 2010 from the No. 1 qualifying position. En route to his meeting with Beckman, Pedregon topped John Smith, his brother Tony Pedregon and Jeff Arend before getting the best of Jack Beckman in the final round.

On Friday after qualifying No. 1, Pedregon admitted his team was operating on a lesser budget than they’d had in the past but ensured the Snap-on Tools car had the best parts needed to get the job done. One of his sacrifices was in not hiring an upper echelon crew chief and instead handling the tuning decisions along with car chief Danny DeGennaro.

A slow start prevented Pedregon from racing for the 2010 championship but it certainly didn’t hold him back from racing like a champion.

“I’m not really big on spoiling anything for anybody,” Pedregon explained. “I’m a champion and I need to act like a champion. I feel like if you start thinking you’re the underdog and go out there trying to spoil it for someone … I’m not trying to be a spoiler, I’m trying to win the race.

“I told Dave Rieff, we are just going to count our own points. That’s been our attitude. I’ve had a lot of great cars and I can honestly say this car ranked among the best I’ve ever driven. My former crew chief Rahn Tobler came up to me before the final round and told me that win, lose or draw we had a good race car today. I felt the same way.”

The win was a fitting end for Pedregon who began the weekend by exploding two engines during Friday’s qualifying and concluding with a victory on his 47th birthday.

“I had wondered all my life what I won on my birthday,” Pedregon reminisced. “Even back to my little league days, I never had won. I felt like it was time to buckle down. I just believed it would be neat to win on my birthday.”

Pedregon dominated the event scoring nine bonus points in qualifying , scoring the quickest elapsed time in three of Sunday’s four rounds of competition.

And for Pedregon, his greatest birthday present of all was a hard-fought victory against the odds.

TONGLET: ANOTHER WIN BUT WITH NEW COLORS - LE Tonglet is making quite a case for Rookie of the Year. For the second straight event, the young rider has risen above Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors with years more experience, and at the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Charlotte, he definitely had the bike to beat as he earned the first No. 1 qualifying position of his career and rode it to his third victory and fourth final round in the first year of his professional journey.

Tonglet, fresh off of an incredible win at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indy, came to Charlotte with a ton of skill, a remarkable crew, an awesome bike, and the new found aid of Kenny Koretsky's Nitro Fish brand.

“This is unreal,” said Tonglet. “I never thought in a million years that I would be this close to a championship and be this competitive. We started at Gainesville just hoping to be No. 16, and now we came into Charlotte hoping to be No. 1 and we did it. I just can't believe it. We wouldn't be here without Kenny Koretsky and Nitro Fish.

“Going into Indy, my dad was kind of scared to tune on it, but going into here, we ran it all out every pass and he's not afraid to hurt something. On the last qualifying run, I was getting lined up and I started hearing this tick. I said, 'Dad, listen.' He heard it and he said, 'I don't care, run it.' And it was a good thing we ran that last session because we went to the No. 1 spot. If that was at Indy, he would have said, 'Shut it off, we can't afford to hurt anything.' Thankfully, with Kenny Koretsky and Nitro Fish behind us, we were able to run every round.”

With the win, Tonglet moved to within 66 points of points leader Andrew Hines, his final round challenger in both Charlotte and Indy. In the final round, Hines was first off the starting line, .012 to Tonglet's .035, but Tonglet got around him just past the 1,000-foot marker and crossed the finish line first, 6.921 to 9.972.

“We were just happy to be in the final again,” said Tonglet. “We just wanted to get to the semi's. But whatever was after that, was a bonus. Coming back from the return road after the semi's, GT [Tonglet, brother] said we're going to tune it up. This thing just keeps spinning the tire. For the final, my dad tuned it up, we leaned it out a little bit more, and it picked up a lot. Andrew [Hines] said that in the second or third round he thought we were sandbagging. But we were lost, and thank god we got it for the final round.”

In the first round, Tonglet rode the Nitro Fish Suzuki to a decisive 6.879 to 7.287 win over No. 16 qualifier Mike Berry and claimed low e.t. of the meet, and in round two, he survived a close match with former world champion Matt Smith, who wheeled his Al-Anabi Racing Buell to a 6.948, falling by just seven-thousandths to Tonglet's winning 6.944. In the semifinals, Tonglet was first off the starting line and first to the finish to put an end to Michael Phillips quest for a fourth final-round appearance this season.

Hines' road to the final included a first-round defeat of Junior Pippin before he cut a quick .006 and paired it with a low-of-the-round 6.911 to put Craig Treble on the trailer. In the semi's, Hines was again the quickest of the round with a 6.931, even though he didn't need it after opponent Angie Smith fouled by .088.

Tonglet's victory puts him in the perfect position to make a serious charge for the championship title as well as Rookie of the Year honors.

“We're not even thinking about Rookie of the Year anymore, we have a bigger thing on the line with the championship, and with Nitro Fish behind us, I think we have a really good shot at this championship and we're going to keep hopefully going rounds and with Kenny on board, I just can't thank him enough for that. He saw that we were in a bind and he stepped up and really helped us out.”

Nitro Fish owner Koretsky was thrilled to be in the winner's circle for the second race in a row after celebrating with Indy Pro Stock winner Greg Stanfield two weeks ago.

“They just needed a little bit of help, they're real good mechanics and LE is a great rider,” said Koretsky. “I think he's the next superstar in NHRA motorcycle racing.”

ANDERSON MAKES UP GROUND WITH HOMETOWN VICTORY - It was about time.

Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson had not had much success at his home track zMax Dragway in Charlotte before the weekend of the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, and much of the year, Anderson has felt his efforts and his car were subpar. But everything came together in front of a plethora of friends and family as he piloted his Pontiac GXP to a third win of the season in his fourth final round.

“I got lucky today,' said Anderson. “I had the best hot rod of the Summit Racing bunch and probably the best hot rod on the grounds. I'm a lucky man, without a doubt. I've struggled with the Charlotte racetrack in the past, but no more. I now officially love it and want to race here 10 more times a year. Thank you, Bruton Smith and all the great people here; zMax Dragway is now my favorite racetrack.”

Anderson didn't have an easy draw in the final with Indy winner Greg Stanfield in the other lane, but he overcame a .010 starting-line deficiency and recorded low e.t. of eliminations with a quick 6.604 at 209.30 mph to best Stanfield's 6.651, 207.91.

“He's bad to the bone,” said Anderson of his final-round opponent. “He's shown what he can do many times. He won the U.S. Nationals, and that's pretty special. I knew I had a tough challenge, and you always wish that you get a little bit of an easier road, but it shouldn't be like that, it should be tough and you should have to go out and earn every run. When you come down to the final round, it should be the toughest round you've had all day.

“Greg did a good job. He left on me – what a shocker that is – but it wasn't enough. The boys did a fantastic job with our Summit Racing Pontiac, and I think I made the run of my life in that final round. That was the smoothest racecar I've ever felt; it was a dream. Luckily, my light came on at the finish line and we got the trophy, and now we're back in the Countdown. They wanted to throw dirt on us, we were just about buried and done, but we had a big day and got back in it, and now our goal next week is to get Jason back in it, move up some more, and have two chances at winning the championship.”

No. 4 qualifier Anderson, who was the provisional low qualifier on Friday but forfeited the position to teammate Jason Line on Saturday, kicked off eliminations with a first-round victory over red-lighting Larry Morgan. In the second round, Anderson was quicker off the starting line and first to the finish ahead of Rodger Brogdon, and in the semi's, he was low-of-the-round with a 6.638 to beat Kurt Johnson's 6.689.

Stanfield advanced from the opening round easily when Rookie of the Year candidate Shane Gray fouled by .027-second, and in round two, he used his well-known starting-line prowess to beat Jeg Coughlin Jr. to the punch, .019 to .045, and then finish the job at the top end, 6.652 to 6.671. In the semi's, the Louisiana-based driver was .026 on the launch and clocked a 6.659 to beat veteran Pro Stock racer Warren Johnson on a holeshot. WJ recorded a .071 reaction and quicker 6.656 in his defeated effort.

The win was the 63rd of Anderson's career and vaulted him from fifth all the way up to second in the Full Throttle Series standings, just 27 markers behind points leader Mike Edwards who was ousted in the first round by Coughlin on a holeshot.

The win was especially sweet for Anderson as his KB Racing team owner, Ken Black, suffered a stroke at the end of last year and is working hard towards recovery.

“I called Ken right at the finish line, as soon as I got out of the racecar,” said Anderson. “He's very excited, and that's what this is all for. Ken Black started this race team, and he means the world to me and my family and my crew. He's had a tough struggle, but he's fighting hard, and he's going to come back. Every time we can do something like this, it accelerates his recovery. We love the man, and we can't wait to see him when he comes out to the race in Las Vegas.”

DIXON WINS 11th OF SEASON - On the way to his 11th win in as many final round appearances, Larry Dixon dispatched the third, second and fourth place drivers (Schumacher, McClenathan, Kalitta) in the point standings, in that order.

This is the second time this year the Al-Anabi juggernaut has bested Kalitta. The two met earlier this year in Pomona to start the season. Dixon improved his record to 9-4 over Kalitta, with five of those wins coming this season.

Dixon's first victim in the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, David Grubnic, was no slouch either. It's just that right now Dixon is like a train wreck to the rest of the competition. He is 11 for 11 in final round appearances in 2011, with 10 of those wins coming in the last 15 events. That's two-thirds of the races since Dixon left the Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in March sitting fourth in the point standings.

“The amount of wins, and winning the finals you are in, is a credit to the team. They are an amazing bunch,” said Dixon. “We win them every different way.

“I guess I am ignorant to the stats. I know we've won the last three, that's about as far back as I can go. You just go to the next race. What you've done the week before or even the run before doesn't matter anymore. You have to continually match up and hopefully win. Obviously what Alan did with Tony in years previous towards the end of the season, from Indy on, he's had some great runs over the past five or six years. You know the teams capable of doing that. Being such a fan of the sport, and knowing how hard it is to do something like that, I am amazed as I am going only in this little tornado thing we've got going on.”

The “little tornado” thing is moving through the competition like a really big tornado through a Midwestern prairie.

For the 11th time in 11 final round appearances in 2010, Dixon took the win light, and he'll tell you he got there by concentrating on just getting to the next round. A lesson he learned from another great racer.

“Dick LaHaie,” said Dixon after some thought, “I will give him credit for helping me on that side of things. The run in front of you, you try to do that real well and then you get to the next one. If you do enough well runs together, then they add up. Alan and Jason might have a different way of looking at it. He taught me a lot on racing for championships. I will give him all the credit in the world. The guy is like a dad to me.”

As has been the case in past wins this year, Dixon's path to the final round wasn't necessarily a work of horsepower artistry, but it was enough at all the right times.

Getting past McClenathan required some fancy footwork on the throttle as both drivers smoked the tires at some point in the run.

However, in the final against Kalitta, with all the marbles on the line, even though Kalitta was first off at the tree, .061 to Dixon's .078, Dixon had pulled even by the 60-foot mark. From that point on, it was all Dixon to the finish line.

With the win, Dixon extended his lead over second place Cory McClenathan to 85 points, or just over four rounds of competition.

SUNDAY QUICK HITS - RACE REPORTING IN RAPID FASHION

TOP FUEL - FIRST ROUND

NOTHING WRONG WITH LUCKY - Brandon Bernstein took a free pass and almost gave it up, while Hot Rod Fuller and Steve Torrence pulled minor upsets.

Bernstein, in the right lane, smoked the tires to a dissappointing 4.833 after Pat Dakin's team couldn't get the engine to fire in the first round matchup. Admitting he would have preferred to have a competitor in the other lane, Bernstein went on to say, “We got lucky; maybe we can bring it to the second round.”

ON A HOLE SHOT – Steve Torrence and T J Zizzo were about as evenly matched as any two pairs in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations. Torrence rode a five hundredths margin at the starting line to a five hundredths win over T J Zizzo.

“I don't know what the trees were,” said Torrence following the win. “My hats off to those guys.”

LAST HURRAH – Hot Rod Fuller pulled a minor upset over Shawn Langdon even though Langdon was a clear winner at the tree, .025 to .061.

“Yea, this is my last race,” said Fuller from the top end. “This is it. This is our championship run at the Bellagio of dragstrips. We're just having fun before I go back to the U.A.E.”

SWEATING BULLETS? - “We're just real happy to get by that round,” said Doug Kalitta after his easy win over Bob Vandergriff.

THREE WHEELING? - Antron Brown pulled off the track, the front end of his dragster doing a bit of a flop, flop, flop motion because of a front flat tire.

“We think the car ran over something,” Brown said. “The tire was fine before the run and we think it ran over something near the shutdown area, but we're not sure what punctured it. It's all good.”

ONE AT A TIME PLEASE – When Top End announcer Alan Reinhart skipped right past Dixon's win over Dave Grubic and into questions about Tony Schumacher, Dixon reminded him, “If you don't focus on Dave Grubnic, you ain't going to race Tony. One thing at a time.”

Then Dixon talked about his second round matchup.

“It's going to be a big matchup,” admitted Dixon. “I'm glad to see we have lane choice.”

BRING ON THE HEAT – Cory McClenathan is pumped when it comes to the Countdown. Skipping right past his win over Morgan Lucas, McClenathan said of the matchup between Dixon and Schumacher and his second round opponent and partial teammate Hot Rod Fuller, “We will pounce on (Dixon) like a tiger! I'm telling you. We've got Hot Rod next round.”

Asked if he preferred to beat Dixon himself or have Schumacher take him out second round, McClenathan replied, “Obviously I want Tony to win, he's my teammate; but I want to beat them all.”

SECOND ROUND -

IT WASN'T PRETTY - There were parts and pieces everywhere. While Kalitta was spreading his motor out across the top end, Antron Brown was pedaling his way to a loss.

"It wasn't pretty," admitted Kalitta. "But, we're glad to be going on to the next round for Rocky Boots."

THE WAY TO WIN - After a win in the first pass, which was basically a gimmie, Brandon Bernstein laid down a solid second round run to dispatch Steve Torrence.

STEP ASIDE HOT ROD - Cory McClenathan easily dispatched part time teammate Hot Rod Fuller in their second round matchup.

"This is prime time for me baby," said McClenagthan. "We're slugging it out."

SMOKERS? - Larry Dixon and Tony Schumacher looked like two dancers at a Tire Smoker's Ball as both their dragsters lit the tires up right from the start. Dixon recovered first to power his way down the track to the win.

"That doesn't even buy me lane choice!" said a near breathless Dixon.

ROUND THREE -

THE FINALS ARE SET - Doug Kalitta, with an easy win over Brandon Bernstein, will do his best to bring Larry Dixon's final round winning streak to an end. Dixon has not lost a final round match-up this year. Dixon goes into the final following another tough win, this one over Cory McClenathan.

FUNNY CAR - FIRST ROUND

YOU’RE A DRIVER NOT A THINKER – When in Charlotte, it’s always wise to quote Ricky Bobby, the fictional character in the NASCAR-themed movie Talladega Nights.

However, Beckman, who has dressed as Ricky Bobby at Halloween, tried to turn philosophical in his post-run interview after beating teammate Ron Capps.

“As a driver you’re not supposed to have so much mind,” Beckman said. “You are so focused up there. You are in sniper mode. You are just locked in on that beam. When that amber bulb comes on it’s stuck. As my foot started to move, subconsciously you start to register something. Then the front end starts to come up. I thought I was okay but wondered why his front end was out on me. Then he disappeared.”

Unlike Jack Beckman, Ricky Bobby might have noticed his teammate Capps fouled by -.075.

100 SURE WAS UGLY – Ashley Force Hood scored her hundredth win in a race which was admittedly ugly.

“I saw fire at one point,” said the recent Indianapolis champion in her first round win over Del Worsham. “But I would drive this Mustang on fire for my team if that’s what it takes. They’re the best bunch out there. It definitely wasn’t a pretty run.”

Force Hood pulled out to an early lead as Worsham smoked the tires and could never get his Al Anabi Toyota to recover.

“It was one of the ugliest wins but one of my happiest.”

TURNAROUND SINCE BRAINERD – Jeff Arend might be on the right track, at least in the heat of the day. Arend knocked off Jim Head in the first round of eliminations.

“The car since Brainerd has really made some good runs and turned around,” Arend said. “A 4.18 in the heat is a good run but at this point, it’s anyone’s day.”

The opening round victory over Head marked his first since Norwalk when he beat Matt Hagan. Ironically the win paired him with Hagan in the second round.

HEY, HEY, IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY – If no one else will give Cruz Pedregon a birthday present, he’ll get his own. In knocking off John Smith in the first round, the No. 1 qualifier ran the low elapsed time of the first round with a 4.161, 298.21.

“This team is for real,” said Pedregon from the top end. “We haven’t done anything yet. Low elapsed time is nice. Consistency is nice. But this Snap-on car has a lot of unfinished business. I have a lot of respect for the racers out here; they have pushed us to really dig down deep. We hope we can keep it going.”

The victory paired him in the second round with brother Tony who promised no presents for the birthday boy.

POINT LEADER, YOU’RE OUTTA HERE – The law of averages suggests the little guy shouldn’t beat a gang of fierce warriors. Someone forgot to tell Paul Lee, driver of Jim Dunn’s Canidae All Natural Pet Foods entry.

Five times this season, Lee has eliminated a John Force Racing team in the opening round. This weekend marked his fourth consecutive time when he beat patriarch John Force.

“We race them just like we do anyone else out there,” Lee admitted. “Big Jim always wants to beat Team Force. We’re just happy to win. We had a lucky win, but we’ll take lucky wins any day.”

CHAMPION, OUTTA HERE TOO – Paul Lee took out the point leader, Matt Hagan did what he had to do to ensure the defending series champion didn’t get his swagger back either. Hagan ran a tire-smoking 4.486 win to fend off Robert Hight, whose car broke a throttle cable.

“That’s a huge win,” Hagan said. “Robert is a great guy and competitor. It’s great to go rounds in the grand scheme of the Countdown. I really didn’t expect it to smoke the tires because [crew chief] Tommy Delago has had a good handle on this. It’s just hot out here on race day. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN - Ron Capps rarely turns on the red light. So rarely in fact, his red light in the first round against Jack Beckman was only the second time in 686 rounds of racing Funny Car and Top Fuel Capps has done such a thing.

SECOND ROUND

INCH BY INCH; FOOT BY FOOT - Paul Lee never rolled over, but at the line Jack Beckman had the lead and the win light in a crucial second round matchup.

"This is a big opportunity for us and we have to take advantage. If I get two more today here at zMax I will be a happy man," said Beckman.

 


SOMEONE HAD TO LOSE - When it comes to the Pedregon's meeting in a round matchup, one wins, one loses; just like in any other matchup. This time Cruz takes the win almost from the firt hit of the throttle.

LAST FORD STANDING - Bob Tasca, in his Quick Lane Ford Mustang, finished off the final Force Racing Ford in the second round as he eliminated Ashely Force Hood in an affair dominated by souring engines. Force Hood slowed first, allowing Tascar to overtake her, burping and sputtering to the victory.

"It was wounded, but it wasn't on fire and I wasn't on fire, so I wasn't lifting," said Tasca. "We need to do well here this weekend and we've got two more rounds to go."

THIRD ROUND

IT’S THE BIRTHDAY BOY AND PAST CHAMPION SHOW – Cruz Pedregon continued his march to birthday utopia and Jack Beckman continued his bid for a second zMax Dragway title.

Pedregon, the No. 1 seed headed into Sunday’s eliminations, drove around an upset minded Jeff Arend with a 4.181 elapsed time in the heat of the day.

On the other side of the ladder, Beckman used a 4.199 to knock off Bob Tasca.

This will be the first time the two have met in competition this season. They last raced at zMax in 2008 with Pedregon winning.

PRO STOCK - FIRST ROUND

TOPPLING FROM THE TOP - Summit Racing driver Jason Line had a significant advantage coming into race day as the No. 1 qualifier, but he got loose early in the preferred lane and all but handed the first-round victory to Kurt Johnson, who clocked a 6.671 and scored his first round-win since the Sonoma event where he lost to Line in the semi's.

UPSETS A PLENTY - Line's forfeiture of the round wasn't the only upset in the opening stanza; four other driver s from the bottom half advanced to the quarterfinals: No. 15 qualifier Jeg Coughlin Jr. beat incoming points leader Mike Edwards – whose losing pass was a low-of-the-round 6.609 – on a holeshot, Indy winner Greg Stanfield qualified in the tenth spot but was a cool .006 at the tree to No. 7 starter Shane Gray's .027 red light, returning Pro Stock ace Dave Connolly earned a start from the No. 3 position but lost traction early and watched V. Gaines sail to victory, and 97-time national event winner Warren Johnson qualified 11th and used a holeshot to defeat Ron Krisher, who was starting from the sixth spot. Neither driver was stellar off the line, but WJ's .118 reaction was good enough to beat Krisher's .192.

LEAVING STRONG - Starting line performance also made the difference for Ronnie Humphrey, who was out of the gate first but clocked a slower e.t. and got the win light over Johnny Gray by .008-second, and Larry Morgan's .010 red light start handed Greg Anderson the win. Anderson would have been tough to beat with his 6.614 blast, the quickest winning e.t. of the round.

SECOND ROUND -

ON A HOLESHOT, AGAIN – Warren Johnson knows how to make horsepower and has often in the recent past proven it with top speed of the meet honors, but here in Charlotte, the Professor of Pro Stock is socking away round wins by pairing HP with beating his opponents off the starting line. Okay, so his lights aren't remarkable, but they're certainly getting the job done. Round one: holeshot win over Ron Krisher. Round two: a .079 to V. Gaines' .103 reaction aided his cause, and WJ logged another holeshot victory, 6.663 to 6.650, to advance to the semi's, where he'll take on Greg Stanfield.

"It's coming around," said a deservedly enthused WJ. "We have a little bit of additional sponsorship starting with this race and a pretty bright future. We're optimistic for next year, too."

COUNTDOWN CONTENDERS CLOCKING OUT EARLY – Heading into the semi's, only two Countdown players remain in the show: Greg Anderson, who entered the event tied with teammate Jason Line for fifth in the Full Throttle Series standings, and Greg Stanfield, third in the standings coming into Charlotte. Stanfield and WJ will line up on one side of the ladder, and Anderson will challenge former teammate Kurt Johnson on the other side.

MOMENTUM – A match between notorious starting-line professionals Greg Stanfield and Jeg Coughlin Jr. is always exciting, and this one was no exception, especially since both are aiming for the championship and Stanfield struggled a bit in qualifying, starting from the bottom half, with Coughlin also off his game as the No. 15 qualifier. In the end, Stanfield cut a .019 light to Coughlin's .045 and sealed it up at the top end, 6.652 to 6.671.

"That was definitely huge," said Stanfield. "Jeggie is a great racer. We've been struggling all weekend but the Fish car is going to the semi's."

THIRD ROUND -

FIGURING IT OUT – In its brief history, Greg Anderson has not really had this track's number, but he and his KB Racing crew have dialed in this weekend, despite soaring temps and a track that has seen the other side of 131F. Kurt Johnson grabs four thousandths off the starting line, but Anderson is first to the finish line and is on his way to his fourth final round of the season.

“It's been a challenge out there, and the track keeps heating up and heating up,” said Anderson, who lives in Concord. “But you know what, the boys came with a fantastic setup for this Summit Pontiac this weekend. It feels great, I have a great horse I can ride to the final and hopefully to a win here in front of all these hometown fans and family.”

FISHING FOR ANOTHER – Greg Stanfield is going to wheel his Nitro Fish Pontiac GXP to the final round for the second race in a row. With his first Indy win still fresh in his memory, Stanfield blocked Warren Johnson on a holeshot to advance. According to NHRA Announcer Bob Frey, Stanfield has been first off the starting line 92% of the time this season. He'll likely need the advantage in the final; Anderson has had the quicker car and enters the final with lane choice.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - FIRST ROUND

KEEP IT ON THE DL – LE Tonglet followed through after scoring the first low qualifier award of his career and clocked low e.t. of the weekend aboard the Nitro Fish Suzuki with a 6.879 to easily put an end to No. 16 qualifier Mike Berry's day. The next-quickest pass belonged to Andrew Hines, his closest challenger as of late, who was 6.946 at the finish line in his defeat of Junior Pippin.

OUCH – Karen Stoffer was in the sixes at the top end, but it mattered not after a stumble on the starting line. It appeared that she sat up on the GEICO Powersports Suzuki right before settling in again as the tree came down, and it was reflected on the launch timer as a hugely tardy .236 reaction to Michael Phillips super-speedy .002 which he parlayed into a 7.090 for a holeshot win.

A LITTLE REST WILL DO YA – Since she was safely in the top half, Angie Smith opted out of the last qualifying session yesterday in favor of saving parts and preparing for eliminations. In the first round, Mrs. Smith was .005 on the wrong side of the tree, but the infraction was nullified by Joe DeSantis' way early -.128. Smith rode to a 7.014 in her already winning pass. 

SECOND ROUND -

GIVING HIM A GOOD RACE – Matt Smith was primed and ready to give LE Tonglet a serious challenge, and he nearly nabbed the win with close to identical reaction times (he was three-thousandths behind Tonglet at the hit) and a 6.948 that was just a tick off Tonglet's 6.944. Tonglet got the win by just seven-thousandths.

INSTANT REPLAY – Michael Phillips got the nod easily on a holeshot when Karen Stoffer was .239 on the launch in the first round, and then Phillips cleared another holeshot win in round two when Steve Johnson was .239 at the starting line but clocked a quicker e.t.

Phillips will take on Tonglet in the semifinals.

WE'RE GOING TO THE SEMIS! – Angie Smith was more than a little excited when she beat Eddie Krawiec on a holeshot to earn a trip to the semifinals for the third time this season, where she will challenge the other Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider, No. 2 qualifier Andrew Hines.

“I am so pumped with this Coffman Tank Trucks Buell,” exclaimed Smith from the top end. “We're going rounds on Sunday, and I am ecstatic. We're going to the semi's. I have a new fuel injection system and we brought Steve Nichols in, and you know what? We're going to the semi's. I can't say thank you enough to all my crew guys and my husband.”

THIRD ROUND -

ONE FISH, TWO FISH - Michael Phillips has had a couple of lucky breaks with back to back holeshot wins over sleepy starts from his opponents, but the luck runs out here against boy wonder. LE Tonglet is quicker off the starting line by .044-second, and he throws a 6.980 on the scoreboard to make his way to a second consecutive final round.
 
"That thing just spun the tire in the first 60 feet really bad," said Tonglet. "We've been fighting that all weekend, but I know my dad is going to get it tuned up for this final round. Hopefully, this Nitro Fish Suzuki will be in the winner's circle along with [Nitro Fish Pontiac GXP Pro Stock driver] Greg
Stanfield. That would be awesome."
 
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT - Angie Smith has been having a dream day and takes a shot at the tree with the hope of extending the glory, but she's red by .088 and Andrew Hines will be going to the final for another shot at stopping the leading Rookie of the Year candidate.

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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - A DAY OF SURPRISES AT THE BELLAGIO

JOHNSON: I HAD DRINKS WITH DINNER LAST NIGHT - Allen Johnson had no excuses.

The Pro Stock driver readily admits he drank alcohol the night before a random drug test administered by a private firm for the NHRA.

Now, because he tested positive for alcohol, a .027 reading according to a statement issued by NHRA, he has been disqualified from any further participation at the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC. Johnson is subject to further disciplinary action as provided for in NHRA's Substance Abuse Policy. (2010 NHRA Rule Book: Section 1.7)

“Who would have ever thought 11 hours after having drinks with dinner there would be a presence of alcohol in your system,” Johnson told Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com moments after the NHRA handed down his disqualification. “It just barely registered and the NHRA has a zero tolerance policy.”

“I understand it and we are supposed to be role models out here. I definitely feel bad about this. I wouldn’t have gone and had the test so early this morning if I would have believed it was detectable. It is what it is.”

Johnson forfeits the seventh spot in the qualified field and loses the two bonus points attained following the first session. NHRA notified Johnson and his team as they towed to the starting line for Saturday’s opening qualifying session.

Johnson confirmed he’s already been in contact with his sponsor, Mopar Performance, who had offered their driver support in the situation.

“Mopar knows we are a great role model for the kids and the other racers in the country,” Johnson said. “I’m sure everyone involved goes out to dinner and has a cocktail or two, it’s unfortunate and Mopar stands behind us. They are our sponsor and something like this is an unfortunate incident.”

Johnson understands the magnitude of the situation and regrets it transpired.

“I would just like to say I’m sorry,” Johnson offered. “Hopefully this won’t blow our championship chances and we will be back in Dallas. I’m human. I had 24 hours to go take the test and I went over there first thing this morning without anything to eat or drink. The remnants of last night came back. It wasn’t like I was drinking and driving.”

SUMMIT STILL ON TOP - Summit Racing campaigner Greg Anderson sat atop the provisional pole at the conclusion of the first day of qualifying and then handed the title over to teammate Jason Line on Saturday, sliding the KB Racing crew into the limelight as serious contenders for the Full Throttle Series championship. Line was quickest in the first session of the day with a 6.604 at 209.56 mph that held through the afternoon and will stand as his first No. 1 of the season and the 17th of his career.

“It feels good to qualify No. 1 anywhere, but it feels a little bit better to do it here, where we have more friends and family,” said Line, who resides in the Charlotte area. “It's been so long since I was No. 1 [Houston 2009] that I can't really remember what it feels like. In all of the sessions, either Greg or myself was low, and Ronnie Humphrey, in our third car, he ran good as well. We're heading in the right direction and it feels great to be back near the top.”

Line picked up nine qualifying bonus points and Anderson scored six for their efforts. Defending series champion Mike Edwards collected seven.

“For me, if you run good, the points take care of themselves,” said Line. “But having the power to run out there and get those points is really what matters. Our crew has done a really good job. It's been a hard season for us, we haven't run like we're accustomed to running, but everybody on the crew has done a great job and stuck with it. To quote Tom Compton, our 'stick-to-itiveness' is starting to pay off.”

The proof of power will allow Line, who leads the team's engine program, to zero in on his driving skills during eliminations, where he will face off with Kurt Johnson first-round, and Anderson – on the same side of the ladder – will take on Larry Morgan.

“Generally speaking, if the car doesn't run well, my thoughts are on that and not focused on driving like they should be,” explained Line. “Tomorrow, I need to focus on driving. There is no reason one of us two can't come out of here with a win. If we want to win the championship, that's what we've got to do. It's do or die, and this could be a defining moment for us.”

TONGLET NABS FIRST NO. 1 - LE Tonglet is taking the Pro Stock Motorcycle class by storm, and flaunting newly acquired Nitro Fish colors for the first time this weekend is only adding to his shine. In the final session of qualifying, Tonglet blasted to a quick 6.910 at 193.29 mph to grab the first low qualifier award of his very young career and definitively increase his shot at winning Rookie of the Year honors, as well as add more points to his column in the championship chase.

“Eight points going into the next race will be huge for us. We're going to need to get as many points as we can and keep going rounds, that's our goal,” said Tonglet. “The bike has been spinning the tire all weekend, but we've been fighting it, and each run it's gotten better and better. My dad has been tuning on it a little bit more each run, he's not being as conservative anymore, and the Nitro Fish Suzuki is making a lot of power. It's flying.”

No one was able to dethrone Friday's provisional No. 1 qualifier, Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider Andrew Hines, during the early session of qualifying on the second day of the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Charlotte, but Tonglet, who beat Hines in the final round of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals barely more than a week ago, got it done in the final pair. Though he didn't oust Hines until the second session of the day, he had the quickest bike in the morning, lighting the scoreboards with a 6.917 at 193.65 mph aboard his Nitro Fish Suzuki.

“[Having Nitro Fish sponsorship] takes a lot of pressure off of our backs because now we know that we're going to be going to the rest of the races this year,” said Tonglet. “It's just great knowing that we'll be at the next race and won't have to worry about that. Now we can just concentrate on riding and hopefully we can bring home the Wally again.

“That No. 1 surprised me. We started off at Gainesville just hoping to be somewhere in the field, and now, coming into Charlotte, each round we're trying to get to No. 1. The year has flipped upside down for us. We're going to try to get the championship now, that's our main goal.”

Tonglet will meet Littleton, Colo., rider Mike Berry in the first round of eliminations tomorrow.

NO SUPERSTITIONS - Good news for the competition, Cory McClenathan won’t be running an orange paint scheme which has resulted in seven final round appearances. The bad news is, on race day they will have to deal with a red, white and blue Valvoline scheme which is starting to develop a strong mojo of its own.

Make no mistake about it, looks don’t win races but a new look can renew a team’s enthusiasm and this weekend McClenathan’s team is racing invigorated.

“When it runs as well as it did last night, it provides you with a renewed enthusiasm,” agreed McClenathan. “Everybody is a little scared at first [of stepping outside of tradition] and getting away from the orange car.”

In the Valvoline-sponsored team’s case, they are running a different and heavier body on the DSR in-house dragster than they are accustomed to. The body the team is running is an older version employed from last season. Plus there’s the superstitious factor of changing any element of a car which is obviously working.

“We weren’t really sure about it at first,” McClenathan admitted. “You never know until you get out here and qualify. Once qualifying is over, everyone is all smiles.

“It’s about luck and feeling lucky, and you have to have a little bit of that when you are in a Countdown phase and we can switch up like that and turn the whole sponsor around. It definitely makes you think about it. Once we qualified, it was all about working on going A-to-B.”

And for McClenathan that consistency on Saturday is a strength they hope carries over into Sunday’s final eliminations.

“We picked up a race day tune-up today,” said McClenathan. “Looks like it’s going to be a little hotter tomorrow so we need to be careful. You’re not going to see the big et’s and speeds like you did in last night’s perfect conditions.”

The low qualifying effort marked McClenathan’s fifth of the season and the first time with the Valvoline scheme.

In looking over Sunday’s ladder, McClenathan has both point leader Larry Dixon and defending series champion Tony Schumacher on his side.

“It looks awful tough tomorrow,” McClenathan said. “We are going to have to fight for it. We’ve had to depend on people to take out some of the front-runners here and maybe we can take out some on our own.”

CRUZIN TO A WIN? - There has always been hope.

The kind of hope which kept Cruz Pedregon in pursuit of the dream despite not having a crew chief, using guys other teams rejected, parts which some would have classified worn out and a budget nearly two-thirds less than most teams.

At a time when he could have quit, Pedregon soldiered on. At a time when he could have laid down and saved a few dollars, Pedregon rolled to the line and beat the rest of the Funny Car bunch.

Comfortably locked into the number one spot, Pedregon went to the line twice on a warm Saturday at zMax Dragway and posted the quickest passes in both the third and fourth round of qualifying, bringing his bonus point total to 9 out of a possible 12.

“This is a great day,” said Pedregon after running a 4.11 in the final round of qualifying. “Trust me we weren't  trying to run a 4.11. We were trying to run a 4.14 to 4.15. You know, when you have a good car like that it does some great things on it own. It's real exciting to say we have a car that can contend. Obviously the hard part is to go out and do it four times tomorrow. I like our chances now to keep doing what we're doing.”

Pedregon, who acts as his own crew chief, stresses the operation has improved throughout the year and this weekend's results show how far the team has come.

“It's a tale of two years, really,” stressed Pedregon. “The start of the year we were pretty awful. It started to come together in the middle of the year and here we are with five to go and we're right about where we need to be. It's nice for all the sponsors.”

John Force Racing, with three Funny Cars running out of the stable on a budget considerably larger than Pedregon's, claimed the second, ninth and 15th qualifying positions with Force himself leading the charge.

Bob Tasca is third, followed by Jeff Arend and Del Worsham. The Don Schumacher Racing Funny Cars struggled through qualifying with Matt Hagan leading the trio in fifth, Jack Beckman, and Ron Capps in 10th which leads to two “Countdown” important matchups in the first round.

Matt Hagan will line up against Robert Hight while teammates Beckman and Capps go head-to-head.

ILL-TIMED DNQ PLAGUES WILK - There is never a good time for a DNQ, but this one stung Tim Wilkerson and his Levi, Ray & Shoup team a little more than usual.  After having his Friday night run tossed out on a tough technical call, he made two full laps in the heat of the day on Saturday but neither were quick enough to bust into the 16-car field.  Wilk ran 4.243 on his first pass Saturday, then came to the line in the 17th spot for the final run.  On that one, a suddenly impotent blower sapped the car's power and his 4.289 was not enough to get in.  The bump spot here ended up being John Smith's 4.225.

"That blower was just a dog on that run, I guess just to torment me," Wilkerson said.  "That was a 'foot down and on all eight' lap, from A to B, and that's all it had in it.  It didn't have enough boost to go any faster than that.  I'm trying to get over the Friday night thing, but it's still bugging me a little bit because that run would've qualified us just fine. Instead, we come out here today in the heat and couldn't make it go quick enough to do anything, so we didn't deserve to be in the show.

"It's a terrible time to do this, but we have four races left and that means we have four races we could win.  Even if the math says we're done, we're still going to approach every lap and every race with the intention of winning.  At some point, we might start trying some things just to get a leg up on next year, but right now we're still going with the mindset that we can come back and win races.  If we do that, you can't count us out yet.  And it's not just that, either.  Every team out here wants to finish as high as they can in the points, and not just because the Full Throttle bonus check is bigger.  We're no different than anyone else, in that regard.  It's a pride thing, for all of us, so we'd like to finish as strong as we can."

THIEVES STRIKE SPORTSMAN PIT AREA - A handful of NHRA sportsman trailers were broken into on Friday morning during the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC.

Roy Johnson, a Pro Stock crew chief who races in Stock eliminator, was one of those teams impacted by the thefts.

Johnson believes the crime transpired while he was away making a run.

“We closed the trailer but didn’t lock it,” Johnson confirmed.

Johnson didn’t realize he’d been a victim until a random inspection of his trailer after a fellow racer’s informed him of other thefts.

Stolen were his credit cars and approximately $900 in cash. The thieves left behind his wallet and $16 in the front pocket of his pants.

“They took my credit cards and cash, but were kind enough to leave $16,” Johnson said sarcastically. “That won’t even buy enough fuel to get home with.”

Once Johnson realized his credit cards had been stolen, he contacted the credit card issuer to cancel them just as the thieves were making fraudulent charges down the road at Wal-Mart. They also made a stop at McDonalds.

“I’m sure they had somebody watching us,” Johnson suggests. “They probably came up and talked to us and watched us not lock up. They just found an easy target.”

Reportedly another sportsman racer caught one of the suspected thieves in his motor coach upon returning from a qualifying run. Multiple sources have told Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com that the racer detained the suspect until police arrived.

Johnson, after 40 years of theft-free drag racing, believes the punishment he would have doled out would have been severe.

“That racer was a nice guy compared to what I would have done,” Johnson exclaimed.

QUILTS FOR CHARITY - There is just something special about quilts.

The two quilts hanging in the GEICO Powersports pit of Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Karen Stoffer are extra special.

“We have two quilts which we will auction off sometime this year with the proceeds going to D.R.A.W.,” explained Stoffer as her team worked to prepare her Suzuki for first round qualifying for the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway.

“We've taken (t-shirts from) the past champions starting with Dave Schultz, John Meyers, Eddie Krawiec, Andrew Hines, Angele Sampey, Gino Scali,Hector Arana and Matt Smith. We have 20 years of champions on this one quilt. And, on the backside we also have a t-shirt of Elmer Trent. It's the only one that is signed and he actually signed it the day he passed in Indianapolis.

“It gives me the chills just talking about it.”

The second quilt, done in a pattern similar to the first, is made up of t-shirts from all the current top riders on the Pro Stock Motorcycle circuit, with the exception of this year's rookie phenom, LE Tonglet.

The quilts were assembled and sewn by Stoffer's mother, MaryAnn Lindstram.

“About a total of four months,” said Lindstram when asked how long the process took. “We had to gather all the t-shirts and decide what we wanted to do with them once we gathered them. The actual sewing took another three months.”

The quilts were done on a machine, “nothing by hand and rotary cut. That part of it went fast. The piecing and placing is the most time consuming,” explained Lindstram, who took time out from knitting to explain the process which including spending as many as six to seven hours a day of sewing.

Other than the handiwork itself, there is currently no way to identify the work as Lindstram's, who sews as many as seven quilts each year for family and friends. Those closest to her are insisting she apply her name to the quilts before they are auctioned.

“I've been asked to put my name on, but I haven't done it,” Lindstram admitted. “I wanted it to be just for bike people, that is why I didn't put my name on it, but I will.”

Fans can view the quilts in the GEICO Powersports pit area at the racetrack and will soon be able to bid on the quilts, details to be announced in the near future. .

AND – Stoffer is still planning on bringing out a line of seat cushions and other items made from her lifelong collection of jeans and t-shirts.  

“We are going to have a little sew-fest at the house over the winter,” said Stoffer.

YOUNG GUN - Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Jeremy Teasley made his NHRA debut at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMax Dragway, but looking beyond the fresh-faced newbie exterior, one will find an already well-established cycle rider.

Teasley, just 19 years old, enjoyed success in the AMA Dragbike Championship Series before it recently ceased operation due to financial difficulties. He is the possessor of the 2009 AMA Dragbike BST Real Street championship title claimed aboard the Adams Performance Kawasaki ZX14 and won the AMA Dragbike APE Real Street championship in 2008. Teasley holds the national record in the
series with a 7.934 at 188.33 mph.
 
In the MiRock Superbike Series, the Columbus, Ohio, resident is currently leading the HTP Performance Real Street points, a plentiful 238 markers ahead of the second-place competitor.
 
Making a foray into ultra-competitive NHRA racing was something that had been on Teasley's to-do list for quite some time; he licensed for NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition last December with the aid of George Bryce.
 
"AMA closing down was part of my decision to come to NHRA," said Teasley. "We want to see how this goes and learn everything, see if we like it. I had the license, so we figured we would try it, but I've been thinking about it for a while."
 
Teasley made his first NHRA appearance aboard a Suzuki owned by and rented from the Underdahl family, who were also supporting a Suzuki ridden by Jim Underdahl.
 
"Everybody recommended that we rent the bike from the Underdahls," said Teasley. "We know Eddie Krawiec so we called him, and Michael Phillips, and they both said that the Underdahls would be the best bike to rent. If this goes alright, we'll probably go to Las Vegas, but it's still too early to say what our goals are in Pro Stock Motorcycle racing.
 
"So far, it's been about what I expected. I was a little nervous the first day, but the second day I felt a lot better."
 
Teasley, who had not been on the Underdahl motorcycle before the first qualifying pass on Friday, ended the first day with an 8.038 and improved to a 7.136 at 186.87 mph during the second day of qualifying at the event but just missed making the show.



CURING THE ILLS - It wasn't just one problem. And it's wasn't the rider.

Karen Stoffer and the GEICO Powersports Pro Stock Motorcycle team discovered just recently there were several factors hurting the performance of her motorcycle. The biggest problem revealed itself at the recent U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park outside of Indianapolis.

“We spent a lot of extra time in Indy, because Indy was very, very deflating for us,” explained Stoffer. Actually, what happened in Indy was very positive, even though we didn't do very well. The adjuster block for my axle broke. What the adjuster block does is it moves your axle back and forth. By it breaking it gave us evidence of what has been happening this year. So, it definitely gave us the direction we had to go and understand exactly what was going on with this bike. We fixed it, came out and tested at Indy and we've made seven perfect straight, beautiful, record breaking passes. When I say record breaking basically we compared the numbers and the air and the temperature. So we know what the bike would have run and what it was capable of doing at Indy.”

According to Stoffer, it was improvements in the engine which caused problems with the chassis.

“The big challenge was the motor put so much extra torque on this chassis and we had one of the settings off. What it really did is just tweak a lot of things on the chassis, so what worked for us in the very beginning because of the torque and strain on the chassis didn't work for us.”

Until the days after Indy, Stoffer and the team were growing more and more frustrated. Although Stoffer made the Countdown as one of the top ten riders, her hopes of winning a championship were not very bright. Now, there is more than just a glimmer of hope.

“Everything happens for a reason,” said Stoffer. “I am not sure what the reason is that we've had such a challenging season, but the team is very optimistic now going into the last five races that we can make up a lot of ground. We've lost a lot, but we think we can make up a lot.

“It's not the way we projected this season to go, but we are learning a lot about the motor and a lot about the chassis and applying everything. We know where the weak links are now. We know what to check on a regular basis, which is different from what we've had to do in the past.”

As the team struggled to bring consistency and speed to the bike, Stoffer struggled with her own internal gremlins.

“It's been an emotionally challenging season for me personally. When you are use to going straight down the track and suddenly you're not, it's hard on the emotions,” she admitted. “It was a great relief for me when that happened in Indy. The team is relieved, because I'm relieved, because the bike is fixed. Through the course of this we found different problems in five major areas that we have to check that we didn't have to in the past.”

Throughout the struggles, those at GEICO Powersports remained faithful and supportive.

“I am fortunate, Geico Powersports and the whole family at GEICO are very wonderful and they just kept saying, 'what can we do to help'. I have had so much support, specially after last week at Indy. People can say what they want to say, see what they want to see, but this team is very motivated now. We're excited and we've fixed the problems. We are going to do what we know how to do and that is to go down the track and win races.”

HUMIDITY CAN BE THE DEVIL FOR DRAG RACERS - The only thing more prevalent in the southeast than sweetened ice tea is humidity.

To hear drag racing tuners talk about the water in the air when they visit zMax, Bristol and Atlanta Dragways, you’d think it was a battle with the devil himself.

“It is a tuner’s nightmare,” confirmed Todd Okuhara, a co-crew chief on the FRAM Top Fuel dragster piloted by Cory McClenathan. “It changes the air/fuel ratio in these motors and you have to work hard to overcome it.”

Racers measure how severe the humidity is by the water grains. The level of water grains is calculated from temperature and relative humidity.

“Anytime the humidity gets in the 110 grains, it is hard to overcome,” confirmed Okuhara.

Friday was on the verge of being really bad conditions for the tuners to overcome. The water grains were at 109 with an air temperature of 94 degrees and 40-percent humidity.

“It doesn’t have to be real humid for the water grains to be high,” cautioned Okuhara. “It could be a lower temperature with high humidity that keeps the water grains up.”

When racing in the upper southeast, Okuhara doesn’t fear the humidity but getting a reprieve from Mother Nature can be a blessing.

“There’s always the chance a cold front can come through,” Okuhara said. “You can sometimes get (good) conditions, but you had to be prepared either way.”

Pro Stockers have just as hard of a time dealing with the heavy, water-laden air.

“It’s the devil for us,” admitted Pro Stock engine builder Roy Johnson. “I haven’t figured out how to burn water yet. It just really slows us down. The air is so much heavier and what you do get through the engine, you can’t burn it. It really plays havoc on us.”

The humidity can serve as a blessing for some, John Force, a 14-time Funny Car champion, takes advantage of the natural weather conditions by using his firesuit as a sweat box.

“My race car doesn’t like it but my body does,” admitted Force, who was braving Friday’s high Concord humidity dressed in his seven layer firesuit. “I can drop ten pounds in this kind of weather. I am on a diet and getting my old body in shape. People ask me why I like it and I just tell them I can sweat off those pounds.

“You do have to watch it out there to not get dehydrated and dizzy,” Force cautioned. “I’m already dizzy, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Defending series champion Robert Hight had a run-in with the Carolina humidity on Friday while awaiting his opportunity to make a qualifying pass. He believes the heat, if not adjusted to properly, can put a driver in a dangerous situation.

“The oildown was supposed to be eight minutes (to clean up) but I bet it was more like 20,” Hight recalled. “I was soaking wet. I went back to the pits after the run and hung my firesuit outside with the fan blowing on it.”

A wet fire suit, according to Hight, can be a real safety hazard.

“It can be dangerous,” Hight said. “If you have a fire, you’ll get steam burned. It makes it challenging. Plus there’s lots of tests that will prove the human body doesn’t perform as well when the temperature is that elevated. You have to time when you get in there and not overdo it.”

Though there’s no manual for a driver to deal with the humidity, for a walker, according to Discovery Health’s website, you should drink 2 or 3 cups of cold water about 10 to 20 minutes before you begin walking. During your walk, drink at least a couple more cups of cold water. When you finish walking, drink water again. Don't rely on thirst to tell you when to drink; it's not always an adequate guide to your body's need for fluid.

 

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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - COUNTDOWN ACTION CONTINUES

TUNED TO THE TOP - Cruz Pedregon wants to have a special race some time.

Take the crew chiefs out of the equation, let the drivers do their tuning, he says. That would be his fantasy race.

Pedregon showcased his tuning talents by pushing his Funny Car to the top spot of Funny Car qualifying at the NHRA O’Reilly Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC. Spewing flames as he crossed the finish line, the two-time NHRA champion reeled off a 4.078 elapsed time at 303.57 miles per hour, besting John Force's 4.081 single car pass.

If his run holds, it will be his first top qualifying spot of 2010 and the 39th of his career. Thus far Pedregon has qualified in the top five for seven of the last eight events.

“There’s no hero crew chiefs over here, I pretty much make all of the calls on my set up,” Pedregon explained. “I admire Tim Wilkerson more than I ever have in my entire career. What that guy does [in tuning and driving his car] is very difficult.”

Both Pedregon’s tuning and driving instincts led him to believe he was in for a treat before this weekend even began.

“This track is all concrete and coming in, we knew it was going to be a really good track,” said Pedregon. “Obviously we knew the temperature was going to factor into everything. We had an odd scenario coming in, we blew up both times. The difference between the two is that on the evening run, it blew up at the finish line.”

Pedregon said the cause of both engine failures was with something a crew member was doing wrong.

“It was a good run and I hope it sticks, tomorrow is going to be warmer,” said Pedregon. “It’s a real honor to be here. I know we aren’t in the Countdown but I told Dave Reiff of ESPN earlier today that our strategy was to pretend we are in the Countdown. Our car doesn’t know any better.”

The Snap-on Tools Toyota Pedregon is running this weekend is different from the car he ran the last time the NHRA was at zMax Dragway for the 4-Wide Nationals. While the team struggled much of the first quarter of the season, Pedregon believes the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., was the turning point for his program.

“We got our act together. We started the season trying to run our 2008 combination. All winter long I wondered why we were changing the car, we only won the championship with it. Even though my crew chief Rahn Tobler left, we still dedicated ourselves to running the tune-up 100-percent. After four races, we realized so much had changed about these cars we would take a different path.

“We went to what we had developed in 2009, which was a workable combination. Tony (his brother) had run the combination with workable success. We stuck with the combination and said we were going to work it out, and stay with it, sink or swim. I figured we’d blow the body off a time or two, but we’d stick with it.”

And Friday night it paid off. Saturday remains to be seen.    

“I hope it stays hot as blazes tomorrow,” Pedregon admitted.

ANDERSON EARNS TRIP TO PRESS ROOM - The Summit Racing crew is putting together a pleasing performance in front of their hometown crowd, with three-time world champion Greg Anderson leading the show in his KB Racing-backed Pontiac GXP. Anderson recorded a 6.624 at 208.62 mph to dislodge teammate Jason Line, the first session's leader, from the No. 1 position.

At the end of the second round of qualifying, Line held the No. 3 spot, and the third Summit Racing entry -driven by Anderson's brother-in-law Ronnie Humphrey and carrying the Genuine Hot Rod Hardware Inc. colors this weekend – was No. 4. If it stands, Anderson's provisional pole will be his first of the season and the 74th of his career.

“I have never actually been in the press room at Concord's beautiful zMax Dragway,” said the 62-time national event winner who entered the event fifth in the Full Throttle Series standings. “This is a pretty amazing place, and it's good to see the inside of it instead of just the outside. I've struggled a little bit at this racetrack; I just never quite found a handle on it with my racecar. This week, we decided to go back to an old car that we ran last year. We're just trying to shake things up because we've been a little bit off and haven't been able to get it right. This thing is just absolutely working flawlessly.

“We tested out here a couple of days last week, and we really put a lot of emphasis into it. We had a lot of confidence coming in here, and we don't want to be overconfident, but we had a great test. Jason's car has been very happy for the last several races, but we just have been a little bit off with mine, and the decision to go back to the other car was the right move. We set it up exactly like Jason's, and by God, it works exactly like Jason's.

“It feels good to have two cars in the top like that and have our third car with Ronnie Humphrey No. 4. The whole thing is getting better, and it's certainly the right time of year to do so. We really can't waste any more time. It's time to get back in this Countdown or we'll be out of it. We need to make up some ground – we're down 100 points to Mike Edwards – and maybe this will put a little bit of pressure on him to see if he makes a mistake or two. Maybe we can get a few points on him. I really hope to have a great weekend here, and we're off to a great start.”

HAVE I TOLD YOU HOW MUCH I LIKE THIS PLACE – There  is just something about zMax Dragway which fits Cory McClenathan like a well tailored suit.

McClenathan, driver of the Don Schumacher Racing Fram Top Fuel dragster which is dressed out in Valvoline colors this weekend, used the cooler night temperatures to recover from a 14th quickest pass in the first round of qualifying to jump into the top spot in a rather surprising second round of qualifying.

Neither Tony Schumacher, McClenathan's teammate and Larry Dixon, the current Top Fuel point leader, put up much of a challenge for the number one spot. Schumacher's group swung for the fences and missed while Dixon's group went A to B in an effort to improve on their 12th place first round effort.

And, according to McClenathan, who earlier in the day admitted he was recovering from a bout with the flu, there may have been a couple hundredths left on the table. Still he was more than happy with both the time and speed.

“We ran 321, big speed,” McClenathan said, adding, “It was on the rev limiter out there, I could feel it. When it starts putting your head back in the seat, and you can hear the motor singing, you know you are on a good pass.”

Based on the initial data following the run, McClenathan was correct thinking he could have actually run quicker.

“Actually when we got back we were very safe,” revealed McClenathan. “We probably could have run 3.81 or 3.82 at over 323 or 324. I t shows you it's there. It's just a matter of application. Todd said we didn't do everything we wanted to do before the run, because we didn't have a really good run under our belts. He wanted to go A to B. It shows we could have been a little bit quicker.

McClenathan exited the press box saying, “Have I told you how much I love zMax lately?”

If the run holds it will be the fifth number one of the season for the veteran driver and 38th of his career.

FORCE’S DQ – John Force entered the second session of Funny Car qualifying on the bottom of the qualifying list, making him the first car to go down the track. The 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion had an opening round tire-smoker thrown out due to a technical infraction. His Ford Mustang body was too low, a half-inch below the minimum height requirement.

“If you rock the body, you can make up that much,” Force explained.

This has been a tough Countdown for Force. During the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Force was fined $5,000 for improperly firing a car with his daughter Courtney behind the wheel.

“I believe I am going to read the rulebook right after I get through with the Bible,” Force joked. “I’ve been working on it for 61 years. I’m almost there.”

Force redeemed himself after the first session miscue with the second quickest run of both the evening session and the day with a 4.081, at 305.15 mph.

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The Grant Motorsports Logo is clearly visible on the door of Kurt Johnson's Pro Stocker.

NEW COLORS FOR WJ AND KJ - Seeing the letters “GM” associated with Pro Stock's Professor Warren Johnson, a six-time NHRA Full Throttle Series champion, isn't at all unfamiliar, but the GM decal he debuted in Charlotte on the side of his Pontiac GXP wasn't the General Motors emblem that he displayed for so many years; it was the unique dragon-like logo of Grant Motorsports.

Johnson's son, 39-time national event winner Kurt, also debuted the Grant Motorsports colors on his own GXP at zMax Dragway. The accomplished pair has long been a mainstay in the Pro Stock class but have had to tighten their belts considerably, racing on a very limited budget, over the course of the past year. The partnership with Grant Motorsports will enable a return to racing full-steam-ahead.

“Warren and Kurt Johnson's approach to racing makes them the perfect spokespersons for Grant Motorsports,” said Jo Grant. “The combination of their tireless work ethic and unparalleled innovations allows them to speak to our potential customers' needs. From a local hot rodder trying to finish his project car to the professional racer trying to improve their performance, the name Johnson stands for excellence, which is exactly what we are striving for with our motorsports service facilities.”

Grant Motorsports LLC, owned by Utah businessman Jo Grant, announced on the first day of the O'Reilly NHRA Nationals that they had entered into a sponsorship agreement with the father-son duo for the remainder of the 2010 season and beyond. Grant views his involvement in drag racing as a positive way to promote an ultramodern multipurpose motorsports garage in the Tooele (Utah) area that his company is currently developing. The garage, slated to open its doors next June, will offer individual stalls for rent as well as equipment and services for racers of varying levels.

“One thing that we share with Jo Grant is a vision for the future,” said Warren Johnson. “We each know where we want to go and have a blueprint on how to get there. Fortunately, by working together, I believe we can help each other reach our goals. We'll start by doing what we can to finish this season on a strong note, and then focus on doing whatever it takes in the off-season to get Kurt's and my cars back at the top of the page carrying the Grant Motorsports message with us.”

DAY ONE TO HINES - The first day of qualifying concluded on a high note for national record-holder Andrew Hines, who raced to a 6.913 at 192.25 mph in the cooler second session of the day to protect his perch at the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle pack.

Hines has been on a tear as of late; he entered the Countdown to 1 in the lead and protected it with a final round showing at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. If it holds, the provisional No. 1 will be the third consecutive low qualifier award for the Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider who also qualified No. 1 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd and the revered event in Indianapolis.

For a brief moment, Indy winner LE Tonglet, a strong candidate for NHRA's Rookie of the Year, stole the spotlight with his 6.917 at 193.16 mph aboard his Nitro Fish Suzuki, bettering Hines' 6.941 of the first session. Though Hines clocked the quicker e.t. in his second pass of the day, Tonglet claimed top speed of the meet.

"This is big," said Hines. "We've never been able to run very well here at zMax. The starting line is a little tricky for our motorcycles, and luckily we got a good 60 foot out of that one. We've got some fast motorcycles out there.

“[Tonglet's 6.917] was obviously in my head, but I knew that my bike was running right there with his in Indy. I saw the .91 come up and I was like, whoa. It was three-hundredths quicker than what I ran first round today, and the air just didn't seem that much quicker. I picked up almost two-hundredths at the 60-foot, and that translated down track.

“I was obviously thinking about it, because normally when I stage, I'll roll it in about a half inch just to make sure I'm in the beam. But as soon as the stage bulb went on, I just stopped. I wanted to get every amount of e.t. I could, and it paid off, getting by him by four-thousandths of a second. I strung out fourth gear, too. I don't normally do that, but it was pulling hard, so I let it rev. I was aware of what was happening and that I needed to do everything I could to get that number on the board.”

Among those on the outside looking to improve on Saturday are defending national champ Hector Arana and former world champion Matt Smith.

RACING WITH INTERSTATE - Top Fuel racer Steve Torrence, a former Top Alcohol Dragster national champion and former rookie of the year nominee, is proudly waving the green and black Interstate Batteries banner this weekend on his Capco Racing/Tuttle Motorsports team rail, thanks to a fateful meeting team owner Dexter Tuttle was a part of on the way home from the spring Charlotte event this season.

“I had a last minute upgrade on the flight home to Texas and sat next to a guy named Jeff Haddock who was a Vice President for Interstate Batteries,” said Tuttle. “He's from Texas, and we started talking. Interstate was involved with Joe Gibbs and the McDonald's car a few years ago, and he loved it.”

The two struck up a friendship and kept in touch, and when Haddock recently retired from his position, moved to the Charlotte area, and purchased an Interstate Batteries franchise, he approached Tuttle about what it would take to run Interstate colors at the fall race.

“He wanted a way to kick-off [his Interstate Batteries franchise],” said Tuttle. “We're having lunch with a few of his employees and customers, and having them here is a way for him to do something for them. He's a real good guy.”

The initial agreement is a single-race deal, but Tuttle doesn't rule out the possibility of another partnership with Haddock and Interstate Batteries in the future.

“If they like what they see, maybe they'll want to do something else. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, but this is a way to help him out and helps us out, too.”

Haddock's enthusiasm for his involvement with the team is evidenced by the scripted word on the front wing of Torrence's dragster: “Paradise.”

“That was his response when he would walk into the office and people would ask how his day was going,” said Tuttle. “He'd just say, 'Paradise.'”

JUST TRYING TO GET OVER THE HUMP – When a majority of the NHRA Pro Stock teams rolled into zMax Dragway in the days after the completion of the U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis they came to tackle a specific issue.

They came to get over the hump – or at the very least Mike Edwards came to get “over the hump.”

Asked if the team was trying to fine tune the setup, Edwards smiled, chuckled under his breath slightly, before saying, “We were just trying to get over the hump.”

Edwards went on to explain there is a hump in the track surface within the first sixty feet which can lift the front wheels off the ground. Given the first sixty feet of the run is critical to winning or losing in a Pro Stocker it made sense for teams to test in an effort to minimize the affects.

GIVE ME A BREAK, PLEASE? - Hector Arana is almost to the point of pulling out his hair.

The defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champion has been scratching his head daily since the NHRA Full Throttle Series arrived in Joliet in June. That is how long his motorcycle has been possessed by an inconsistency which he can't seem to solve.

“I've stripped the bike,” said Arana on Friday morning at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC, a suburb of Charlotte. “I sent the wiring off to be tested. We took the electronics out and had it tested. We've been all over the frame. Nothing. We ran the bike for 30 minutes on a test you normally on run for a minute and still nothing.”

Arana is at his wit's end. The problems convinced him to delay his eldest son's Pro Stock Motorcycle debut, originally scheduled for this weekend at zMax.

“I have even gone into the engine and put in a new crank, new rods, new everything trying to fix what is wrong. It's frustrating and we need to get back on track and in victory lane.”

Despite problems at Route 66 Raceway, Arana exited the event in the top spot with 558 points. His next closest challenger was Andrew Hines with 423. By the time the circuit left Brainerd in late August Hines had caught and passed Arana in the point standings, 903 – 890.

In the first race of the Countdown to 1, in Indianapolis, Arana surrendered his second place spot in the standings to LE Tonglet. Arana, with 2,138 points is 105 points behind Hines and 17 behind Tonglet.

Whatever the issues with the bike, Arana knows he needs to exorcise them and get back on track. He needs to win, something he hasn't done this year, and he needs to win now.

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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK - SHAPING UP FOR THE SECOND COUNTDOWN STOP

 
JUST HELPING OUT - It was an active afternoon for the driver of the MTS Dodge Funny car, Jack Beckman, at zMax Dragway Thursday.

Beckman substituted for MTS owner Rodger Comstock making two passes down the quarter mile to shake the car down. Comstock normally drives the Super Comp dragster and will be back in the driver's seat on Friday.

Although Beckman's two passes were under the index, the second pass only 12 thousands of a second under, neither counts towards the car qualifying. Beckman cut a .002 light on the second pass after being -.008 on the first light.

KING HILL - Roy Hill, on a '10 Ford Mustang, posted both lowest E.T. (8.624) and fastest Top Speed (160.50 mph) during three rounds of time trials. Hill was 1.276 seconds under his 9.90 index. Of the 48 drivers to making qualifying passes only one, Russ Linke of Old Bridge, NJ, made a pass over his 11 second index at 11.348 seconds in his '73 Corvette.

OH YEAH, SHE'S A CONTENDER - Ashley Force Hood will be the first to admit that after landing a lackluster eighth place effort in the regular season, she wasn’t expecting to be suddenly thrust into the playoff spotlight in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship.

But that’s what a stellar performance at the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals can do for a driver in the blink of an eye. One minute you are trying to figure out how to salvage a top 10 points finish. Then, in an instant, you find yourself at the top of the series standings and in need of a home decorator to make room for a special trophy.

Force Hood raced to her first victory of the season at the annual Labor Day classic and in the process moved four positions up the Funny Car championship ladder, within striking distance of her 14-time world champ father, series leader John Force. The victory, along with the generous points reset for the six-race Countdown playoffs, have given new life to the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car team, who was able to post only two runner-up finishes during the 17-race Countdown to 10.

Force Hood will try to continue her march to join Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey as the only female world champions in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series at the third annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, Sept. 16-19 at spectacular zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C.  Cory McClenathan (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are the defending winners of the race, which will be televised on ESPN2 HD and ESPN3.com.

Additionally, Force Hood would become the first female to ever win a title in the 7,000-horsepower Funny Car category. She says despite the early season struggles, which included seven first round losses and six second round exits, her team continued to work hard and focus on the Countdown. Now that they have the momentum early in the playoffs, they want to ride the wave.

“My team has stayed positive,” said Force Hood, who now sits 69 points out of first. “We were hating the points structure last year, but we are loving it this year. You get a second start to your season.”

Her victory at Indy could signal a warning sign for the competition. She qualified sixth and her car was very consistent and adaptable to different conditions throughout eliminations. Before taking out her famous father in the final, she beat playoff contenders Del Worsham and Jack Beckman in head-to-head meetings in earlier rounds.

“At one of the races Guido (crew chief Dean Antonelli) said we are not going to win the championship on luck,” Force Hood said. “We are going to win it on consistency and doing our job from one end of the track to the other.”

She knows winning the title will be a tough chore. She finished second overall last season to teammate Robert Hight. In addition to the elder Force and Hight, there are a host of other drivers who are still in championship contention and hoping to add their names to the NHRA history book, including Beckman, Matt Hagan, Ron Capps, Bob Tasca, Worsham and Tim Wilkerson, among others.

“It is going to be interesting,” Force Hood said. “It is going to be exciting. That is what the fans want to see and that is what we want to be a part of.”

 

 

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