2011 NHRA WINTERNATIONALS - EVENT RESULTS
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SUNDAY FINAL - LUCAS, HIGHT AND LINE WIN KRAGEN O'REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA WINTERNATIONALS
Morgan Lucas defeated Shawn Langdon in a matchup of former high school classmates in the Top Fuel final Sunday at the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
The other winners of the first of 22 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series were Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock).
Lucas powered to a performance of 3.835 seconds at 316.38 mph in his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster and was too much for Langdon, whose Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster lost traction for a moment and slowed to a 4.047 at 313.73. The two Lucas Oil Racing teammates graduated in 2001 from Jurupa Valley High School in nearby Mira Loma, Calif.
“I’ve never been in the points lead in Top Fuel before, and I don’t really even know how to feel right now," said Lucas of his fourth career win and first since Oct. 2009. "Getting to race my teammate Shawn, who I went to high school with, this is just a dream come true, it really is. We were really fortunate in 2009 to get three wins, then we went on a big drought last year in 2010. I think that is one of those things that makes you appreciate success. I think as a team we’re really going to appreciate this day and just enjoy it because, you know what, who knows when the next one is going to happen."
Lucas qualified ninth and defeated Brandon Bernstein, Terry McMillen and Del Worsham to advance to the final. Lucas said winning one of NHRA's "majors" is a big deal for him.
“The thing about it is this is probably one of the most special races there is," Lucas said. "In my eyes, it’s here, Gainesville, Indy, and the Finals. Those are the races that if you’re going to win one, those are the ones you want to win, and maybe a little, in a selfish way, the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd just because of family.”
In Funny Car, Hight used a quicker reaction time to defeat 2010 Full Throttle Series runner-up Matt Hagan in a close final round. Hight powered his Auto Club Ford Mustang to a 4.056 at 312.71 to edge Hagan's DieHard Dodge Charger at the finish line, which posted a quicker, but losing performance of 4.023 at 310.20. It is Hight's 19th career win and his third Winternationals victory.
“To win the Winternationals, the first race of the year, at Auto Club Raceway is just awesome,” Hight said. “The biggest deal for me is how long it’s been since we won, even a round. It goes clear back to Brainerd last year. What’s really important to me is this is the fourth year in a row that my guys have stayed together, the complete team 100 percent of them, and that makes it so easy to get out here and do what you know how to do. And it makes it that much more special when you win because you pull together, you stay together. You become a family, and that’s what makes these times so special."
To get the victory, Hight's Auto Club Mustang got progressively quicker in each round, starting with a 4.121 to outrun Bob Tasca in the first round and then finishing with the 4.056 to hold off Hagan in the final.
“You look at the class, it ain’t that easy to get wins," Hight said. "Look at the guys I had to beat today: Bob Tasca; John Force, the 15-time champ; [Ron] Capps; Hagan. It’s not that easy. If we would have slipped up just a little in the final, we would have been dust.”
In Pro Stock, Line defeated Greg Stanfield to win for the 22nd time in his career and second time at this race. Line claimed his second win at this event with a run of 6.529 at 211.89 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP, while Stanfield trailed with a 6.595 at 210.70 in his Safety Sentry GXP.
“You can’t start any better, I guess," Line said. "I’ve said before the year started that I wanted to win all the races, and if you want to win them all, you have to win the first one. It was kind of a strange weekend with the weather and everything else, but it was a great weekend, a great way to finish it. It feels awful good to win here, that’s for sure. It’s been kind of another strange offseason for us, so to start this way feels good.”
Line, who qualified 11th, advanced to the final by beating V. Gaines, Vincent Nobile and teammate Greg Anderson in the first three rounds.
“My confidence wasn’t that high [entering eliminations], but I kept thinking about Greg last year at Vegas and Dallas, where he qualified in the bottom half,” Line said. “I thought, ‘You know, if we can get down the right lane decent enough to win first round then we have a shot at it.’ We actually went .53 and .53 in the right lane. The car, I would say, it was phenomenal. It drove like a Cadillac today and not a Pontiac. It was pretty good."
The NHRA Full Throttle Series continues March 10-13, in Gainesville, Fla. with the 42nd running of the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
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SATURDAY FINAL QUALIFYING - DIXON BREAKS SCHUMACHER’S NATOINAL RECORD THAT HAD STOOD SINCE OCT. 2008
Cruz Pedregon, Erica Enders also collect No. 1 qualifiers at the first race of NHRA’s 60th anniversary season
Southern California native Larry Dixon closed out a blistering day of qualifying with a national-record pass of 3.770 at 324.98 to claim the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel on Saturday at the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals.
The other No. 1 qualifiers at the first of 22 races in NHRA’s 60th anniversary season were Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock).
Dixon, the defending champion from nearby Van Nuys, had run a 3.778 in his first pass of the day Saturday so he has the required back-up to validate the record previously set by Tony Schumacher (3.771 at Richmond in Oct. 2008).
“That run today was just spectacular from my standpoint,” said Dixon, who drives the Al-Anabi Racing dragster. “It shook really hard, kind of just like (teammate) Del (Worsham)’s car did, and it was almost to the point where you give up, it’s shaking that bad. It cleaned up, and then went the rest of the way down the track.”
For Dixon, the No. 1 was the 49th No. 1 of his career, three shy of Don “The Snake” Prudhomme for No. 8 on the all-time NHRA No. 1 qualifiers list.
“With us only racing 1,000 feet, you can see the scoreboards now, so you click it off, and you see a .77 come up, and it’s like, ‘Wow, was that right?’” Dixon said.
Cruz Pedregon laid down a blistering 4.015 at 313.22 in his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry that ranked as the third quickest in NHRA Funny Car history. It was the 40th No. 1 qualifier of his career and he will meet his brother Tony in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.
“It felt great, it felt incredible, especially when I took a quick peek at the scoreboard. I saw that 4.01 and I thought there it is, that’s the big payoff,” Pedregon said. “I’ve got to hand it to the (NHRA track) prep team. Crazy that we had sleet earlier in the day (Saturday) … so great credit to the prep team.”
In Pro Stock, Enders cemented the second No. 1 qualifier of her career in her ZaZa Energy Chevy Cobalt when her 6.553-second pass at 211.69 mph from Thursday held up through the final round of qualifying on Saturday.
“After we ran on Thursday and finished the session and stayed No. 1, I did feel confident that it would hold,” said Enders. “I don’t know if I’d say I’m surprised to be No. 1 just based on the championship-caliber team I’m with and the horsepower that we have over there, but I will tell you that it is a surreal feeling. I find myself pinching myself to see if it’s real.”
Enders, who has not run a full season since 2006, earned her only other No. 1 qualifier at the 2006 O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. She’s twice runner-upped, but never won in 89 career races entering Sunday’s final eliminations.
“I’ve had a tough last couple of years,” Enders said. “It’s just awesome to be back with a team like this and to be back on top. I’m very excited.”
Meanwhile, Mike Edwards, who has won 13 races and a championship over the last two seasons, did not qualify.
The 51st annual Winternationals eliminations begin Sunday at 11 a.m. with Top Fuel, followed by Funny Car and Pro Stock and they will be telecast by ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
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FINAL QUALIFYING SESSION
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SATURDAY - SECOND SESSION
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SPORTSMAN TOP ALCOHOL QUALIFYING
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FRIDAY - RAIN CANCELS FRIDAY'S QUALIFYING AT THE KRAGEN O'REILLY NHRA WINTERNATIONALS
Persistent rain showers forced NHRA officials to cancel Friday’s racing at the Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
Qualifying will resume Saturday, weather permitting, for the season-opening NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event with two sessions scheduled. Sunday’s eliminations start at 11 a.m.
The qualifying leaders after Thursday’s first session include Antron Brown in Top Fuel, Johnny Gray in Funny Car and Erica Enders in Pro Stock.
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FRIDAY SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING
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THURSDAY QUALIFYING - BROWN, GRAY AND ENDERS LEAD NHRA FULL THROTTLE SERIES QUALIFYING AT KRAGEN O'REILLY WINTERNATIONALS
Antron Brown raced to the qualifying lead Thursday in Top Fuel at the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Auto Parts Winternationals presented by Valvoline as NHRA opened its 60th anniversary season at the birthplace of hot rodding, historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
Johnny Gray and Erica Enders also were qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the first of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Brown powered his Matco Tools dragster to a leading run of 3.804 at 319.98, just in front of teammates Spencer Massey and Tony Schumacher, who posted identical 3.804 second runs in their Prestone/FRAM and U.S. Army dragsters. Brown claimed the top spot by virtue of his faster speed.
“All of our crew chiefs really work well together, and that’s really showing right now, and that’s what you really need if you want to beat that Al-Anabi team for that championship,” Brown said. “You’ve got so many good teams out here. Look at how many people ran the same E.T. Our field is definitely stacked this year. I mean, you’ve got the Al-Anabi guys and all three of our DSR teams, including Tony [Schumacher], Spencer [Massey], and myself, and the Kalittas, Morgan [Lucas], Shawn [Langdon], Brandon [Bernstein] — there’s just so many cars. It’s going to be a heck of a battle this year. We just want to start the year off right. We struggled a little bit at the beginning of last year, and then we came on strong the last four races of last year. We’re still just riding off what we did at the end of last year, and we’re just coming here and take it one round at a time and race as strong as we can because we want to be there at the end for that championship.”Gray moved to the top of the Funny Car order with a 4.079 at 306.33 in his Service Central Dodge Charger. If the run stands through Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions, it will be Gray’s first No. 1 qualifying position in his 14 year career.
“There was nothing wrong with that deal,” Gray said. “You know, Don [Schumacher] put together a great team over there. I’ve got some great guys. [Crew chief] Lee Beard, Rob Wendland, what can you say? All I have to do is get in there and pull the trigger and hang on. Lee and Don and Rob have provided me with a hot rod here. We’re going to ruin some peoples’ days.”
Gray spent the last three seasons competing in Pro Stock, where he advanced to three final rounds and posted two top 10 points finishes. He advanced to three finals during five seasons of Funny Car competition in the early 2000s.
Two-time champ Cruz Pedregon was second in his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry with a 4.088 at 307.86 and defending world champ John Force was third in his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang with a 4.093 at 305.84.
Enders led the Pro Stock order with a performance of 6.553 at a track record speed of 211.69 in her Za Za Energy Chevy Cobalt.
“That run was awesome,” Enders said. “My crew chief came on the radio and let me know what we had run. I had never official run a 6.5 before — we had run it in testing — and I had never been 210, either, and he came on the radio, and he’s like, ‘Well, you skipped right over 210 and went 211.69.’ It’s just awesome.”
Enders is the most successful female competitor in the history of NHRA Pro Stock, as she has two career runner-up finishes and a No. 1 qualifying position (2006 Topeka) on her resume. This season she has reunited with former team Cagnazzi Racing after spending last season driving part-time for Cunningham Motorsports.
“To be back with Victor Cagnazzi, I’m so excited,” Enders said. “I haven’t stopped smiling [since rejoining Cagnazzi Racing]. To be back where I started with a team of that caliber and the type of people they are is awesome. I’m excited about the opportunity, and I think we have a lot to be optimistic about.”
Ron Krisher was second with a 6.562 at 211.26 in his Valvoline Cobalt, while Greg Stanfield was third in his Safety Sentry Pontiac GXP with a 6.562 at 210.77.
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THURSDAY PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING
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SPORTSMAN RESULTS
