EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS SPORTSMAN RESULTS

THURS. GALLERY FRI. GALLERY SAT. GALLERY (POSTED) SUN GALLERY VIDEO FEATURES

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK

KALITTA MAKES IT THREE IN A ROW WITH TOPEKA WIN - Doug Kalitta can now check this off his bucket list.

For the first time in his career, Kalitta has won three races in a row.

Kalitta made it a hat trick when he won a pedalfest in his Mac Tools dragster past reigning world champion Antron Brown Sunday at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.

Kalitta clocked a 5.452-second time at 238.86 mph - while losing body panels - to hold off Brown’s 5.687-second effort at 298.60 mph.

“My car, I don’t think the thing ever really hooked up,” said Kalitta, who made his NHRA Top Fuel debut in 1998. “Fortunately, I got there a little quicker than Antron because he went blowing by me right at the finish line. If this was a quarter-mile, I think I probably would have gotten beat. The panels look like they were having issues, but the thing was still running good. Jim (Oberhofer, Kalitta’s crew chief) and everybody on this Mac Tools car worked their tails off (Sunday). It’s pretty exciting (to win three races in a row). I’m definitely proud of my guys and the opportunity I have here with Connie (Kalitta).”

This was Kalitta’s 41st career national event victory and third this season. Kalitta will remain in the points lead as he departs Topeka. He placed a career-best second in the point standings in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Kalitta now has two career wins at Topeka (2006 and 2016). His cousin, the late Scott Kalitta, has the most Top Fuel wins in Heartland Park history with six.

“Scott, this was like his track, he loved this place (Heartland Park),” Doug said. “It’s just real special to come and have success at a place Scott loved to race at. It’s great that this whole team has kept this legacy going at this track. It’s a cool facility.”

Kalitta ousted Rob Passey, Clay Millican, Steve Torrence and then Brown during his Sunday victory march.

“We exploded a supercharger in the first round and we changed everything we had and after that the parts damage wasn’t too bad actually,” Kalitta said. “I was a little surprised in the final there, with it smoking the tires, but I’m just happy to get the win.”

Kalitta has won 12 rounds in a row and he last lost in eliminations when he finished third in the Four-Wide Nationals finals in Charlotte, N.C., to Brittany Force and Brown April 24 at zMax Dragway.

“We have a lot of momentum and we keep winning rounds,” Kalitta said. “My guys are doing a great job and we will just keep doing what we are doing. This is a really good car and a really good team. We’ve brought the building of the cars, the frames in-house this year, and that has helped us this year and it’s all those little things that hopefully keep adding up.” Tracy Renck

HAGAN COMPLETES PERFECT WEEKEND WITH NATIONAL RECORDS, FIRST TOPEKA WIN - A new national elapsed time record? Check. The fastest speed ever recorded in NHRA Funny Car history? Check. A top qualifier award, a thrilling finish and back-to-back national event wins? Check, check and check.

It is hard to find any word other than perfection to describe the weekend Matt Hagan just experienced.

Coming into the 28th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals, Hagan was riding high having just earned his first victory of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season one week prior at Atlanta Dragway. But, even with momentum on his side, not even he expected to have a weekend quite like the one he found waiting for him at Heartland Park Topeka.

First, Hagan blasted to the pole position with a historic pass of 3.862-seconds at 335.57 mph on Friday, setting both ends of the national record in the process. He then followed that up with bracket-like numbers on race day, earning his way to his second final of the season as he won in a pedal fest against Jack Beckman to collect his 20th career win and first ever in Topeka.

“The records are phenomenal. I don’t know how many national records we have been able to set. I have just been very, very blessed to have a fast racecar around me my entire career,” Hagan said. “But the race wins, that is what your common goal is. The race wins will end up turning into championship wins if you win enough of them. That is what is really important to us.

“It is important to put everything into perspective. We just set a world record out there and then, to come back out here and win the race, it is a tribute to my guys and how hard they are working.”

Hagan capped the historic weekend in exciting fashion in an all-Don Schumacher Racing Funny Car final. With both DSR cars running strong throughout the weekend, it was only fitting that the finale come down to an edge-of-your-seat pedal fest to walk away with the Wally.

In the championship tilt, Beckman struck the tires first just after launch, but Hagan lost traction a few moments later just shy of half track, pedaling the car a number of times before eventually fishtailing his way across the stripe to collect the win. Replays showed Hagan flirting dangerously close to the center stripe, but he was able to steer clear of disqualification as he limped across the line with a 5.725 at 179.04 mph. Beckman, in his second final of the year, finished with a 6.560 at 146.75 mph.

“It was wild. I would be lying if I said my butt wasn’t puckered pretty good that last run,” Hagan said. “It was one of those deals where it was like, ‘oh no, oh no, oh no.’ I don’t know how many times we hit the fuel pedal, but it was a lot. A lot of it was me not being patient enough to let it calm down and ease back into it, but you are always looking over beside you to see where he is at and if he is going to blow by me.

“You don’t have time to process it while it is happening, but you get out and you are like, wow, that was pretty stupid, I should have let it calm down. To see the win light come on after that, I am pretty tickled.

“In my career I have been on fire, blown up, exploded, those kinds of deals where you can’t even see the finish line because you are on fire, but this run was definitely up there. Honestly, that is why we crawl in these things, because you never know. It is an adrenaline rush and my heart is still pounding thinking about it.”

Prior to Hagan’s exciting final round, he had little trouble dispatching his earlier opponents, taking his Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger R/T from point A to point B with bracket-like laps of 3.943, 3.942 and 3.951 in victories over Brian Stewart, Robert Hight and Courtney Force.

Beckman had wins over Dale Creasy Jr., Tommy Johnson Jr. and Tim Wilkerson in finishing runner-up for the second time in 2016.

Hagan’s consistent runs were especially noteworthy due to the ever-changing conditions and a semifinal incident involving Wilkerson, leaving crew chief Dickie Venables scrambling to make calls on the fly.

“It is tough when you have a fast racecar like this and then, when the sun is out, to pull those fast cars back, it takes a lot,” Hagan said. “Dickie was looking at the data and it was running 94 pretty consistently and he was just going to leave it alone. But with Wilkerson and his deal, obviously that changed the race track. They had to go out there and do some different things.

“We were setup to run a low 90, maybe a high 80, but things cooled down, the track came around a little bit, so you don’t know what to expect. It is drag racing. It is 10,000 horsepower at over 300 mph. Every time I crawl into it it is a different ride.”

With the win, Hagan leaps from 9th up to 4th in the championship standings, as the two-time champion rides the momentum of back-to-back wins for only the second time in his career into New Hampshire for the New England Nationals in two weeks.

“We have really turned the corner since Vegas and I think it has been full steam ahead since then,” Hagan said. “The back-to-back wins, I have only done that once, so that is special in itself. It just shows you how good the crew is working, how everything is clicking and you have a little luck coming your way. We just have to carry that momentum into these next few races.” Larry Crum

LINE SHAKES TOPEKA MONKEY OFF HIS BACK, COLLECTS FIRST KANSAS NATS WIN - Finally.

After 12 previous attempts to collect a Wally at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas, Jason Line finally broke through with his first career win at the 28th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals, going wire-to-wire in picking up his fifth victory of the season as he improved to a perfect 8-for-8 in final rounds in 2016.

“It was the perfect weekend,” Line said. “I was joking that Topeka is my new favorite place. I have never done anything good here until now. Now I have done two good things here. It was an exciting weekend for sure, and the fact that we didn’t mess it up and actually put our Chevy Camaro in the winner’s circle is awesome.”

Line earned his 42nd career Pro Stock victory in a showdown with his KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson. In the fifth final round of the year between the two drivers, it was actually Anderson who got the jump with an .019 reaction time to Line’s .033, but Line had the horsepower to chase him down and collect the win with a solid 6.664-second run at 207.85 mph. Anderson, in his fifth final of the year, crossed the stripe with a 6.687 at 207.02 mph.

“When I left I didn’t think I nailed it and I didn’t. I wasn’t late by any means, normally for me that is really good, but I didn’t feel like I got it as good as I should have and I was like, ‘oh boy, here it goes again,’” Line said. “I will have to take a little heat for losing another holeshot, but when my light came on I was pretty excited.

“He is tough to beat. He is probably the toughest out there. He has got more wins than anybody else and you don’t look forward to racing against him in the final round, especially since I know what kind of equipment he has. But we were excited to get the win.”

While Line was certainly excited to extend his near-perfect start to the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season, he was even more excited to finally have something go his way at a track that has historically proven a menace.

“This is a big deal to me. It is nice to win at some place you have never done well at, so it feels really good, I can’t stop smiling,” Line said. “I don’t know whether it was bad luck, I have just done a bad job. There were times I had good cars, I just didn’t drive well. And today, I managed to do enough to make sure my win lights came on.”

Line had relatively smooth sailing on his way to his eighth final of the season, collecting wins over Mark Hogan, Erica Enders and Shane Gray. In the semifinal, a relatively inconspicuous run proved more than a handful in the cockpit for Line in what was by far his biggest scare of the weekend.

“In the semifinals I got down there and put it in fourth gear and it started to do a powerslide, so I had to revert back to my Minnesota driving on the snow days,” Line said. “The track was very slippery out there, but we managed to get to the finish line without hitting anything, so I was thankful for that.”

Even with the hiccup, Line still managed to run a 6.670 in the semifinal run, adding passes of 6.647 and 6.661 to his winning stat line. Anderson added wins over V. Gaines, Vincent Nobile and Allen Johnson en route to the runner-up finish.

While it was yet another 1-2 for the Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaros, the gap between the KB Racing teammates and the rest of the field continued to shrink as the rest of the teams continue to make significant gains in figuring out the new cars.

“They have been working and it shows. I hate it, but I am happy for them,” Line said. “Obviously you hate being beat up all the time and that is what brings good competition. They did what they needed to do. They went out and worked hard and absolutely made gains. Unfortunately, now we are going to have to go back and work harder yet.

“That is the great thing about NHRA drag racing, it breeds good competition. They are not quitters and they are not going anywhere. And neither are we.”

With his fifth win of the season, Line extends his points lead to an impressive 126 points over Anderson and 328 points clear of third place Bo Butner. Line will look to keep his streak alive in two weeks when the series returns to the track for the NHRA New England Nationals June 3-5 at New England Dragway. Larry Crum

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK

TOP FUEL

FORCE JOINS ANDERSON – NHRA stat guru Lewis Bloom provided the following nugget on Twitter:

It has been 22 years since a woman last set the ET record in TF, 1994 Shelly Anderson @BrittanyForce has the mark for now, #NHRAonFOX #NHRA

After the first qualifying session Saturday, Brittany Force stayed atop the qualifying leaderboard with her 3.676-second elapsed time.

Force’s quickest elapsed time of 3.676 seconds stands as the national record but won’t officially be recognized until the end of the event. Force will receive a bye run in the first round but the two-time 2016 winner is still focused heading into the first round.

“We are definitely very anxious for (Sunday),” Force said. “This track is always a good one for us and we seem to do pretty decent here.  And then to put a number on the board like we did yesterday and come away as the number one qualifier with the National ET record is pretty exciting. So we are pumped up and ready for (Sunday).  I am just proud of my Monster Energy team led by Brian Husen and Alan Johnson. I am really excited to see what we can do (Sunday).”

BRITTANY, TORRENCE GET SECOND CHANCES – According to John Force Racing, there was a timing system/staging lights malfunction during Brittany Force and Steve Torrence’s final qualifying runs. Since Force and Torrence had completed burnouts, they had to come back and run after Funny Car qualifying’s final session was completed.

The extra time didn’t pay dividends for Force as she smoked the tires. Torrence, however, ran a solid 3.713-second pass, which was second quickest of the session and allowed Torrence to pick up two bonus points.It was about a 45 minutes delay until Force made her final qualifying lap and she handled it like a veteran.

“You know, it’s definitely tough when something like that happens,” Force said. “You are up there ready to go, ready to step on the gas and get the car down the track.  Then they come over and they tell you to shut the car off.  It’s a little bit of a letdown but we needed that run.  So we pulled the car back and let the Funny Cars run for a little bit and we pulled back up there. We were hoping to run and make a better run than that since the conditions improved a little bit.  We were really trying to push for something a little better and then we shook and didn’t make it down there.  But we still have three awesome runs from Friday and earlier today and we will just go from there.”

PART FUNNY CAR RECORD HOLDER – That’s what Shawn Langdon, the 2013 Top Fuel world champion, was claiming to be on Twitter because of a favor he did for Matt Hagan. Hagan set both ends of the nitro Funny Car record with a 3.862-second time at 335.57 mph.

Since @MattHagan_FC had to borrow my arm restraints I technically own the quickest and fastest arm restraints in funny car! #claimtofame.

Langdon did do some driving Saturday and will start in the No. 6 spot at 3.726 seconds.

Langdon and the Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher/Sandvik Coromant team with crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler produced a 3.726-second pass at 330.15 mph during ideal conditions on Friday night.

Langdon, the 2013 Top Fuel world champion, will start Sunday ranked in the top-10 for the first time this season.

"The two runs in qualifying when we didn't make a full run we know exactly why, so that's good," Langdon said. "The first run we just underestimated the track but we showed our potential on Friday night in those incredible conditions.

"Friday night here at Heartland Park was ideal. Nights like that, you just feel so lucky to be able to get into one of these and drive it. These Red Fuel/Sandvik guys are doing a great job out here."

Langdon closed out his qualifying efforts with a 3.754-second pass at 326.56 mph in the fourth and final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon under overcast Topeka skies.

MORE SPEED FOR KALITTA – When Doug Kalitta clocked a 3.742-second run Saturday in Q1, it wasn’t an improvement in his ET. Kalitta, however, clocked a 331.85 mph speed, which was a new track record.

"The conditions are good again and the stands are packed," said Kalitta. "I'm glad to be in Topeka. This place has been good to the Kalitta cars over the years."

Kalitta kept his momentum going as he as quickest in the Q4 session at 3.702 seconds and got three bonus points. That run wasn’t an improvement for Kalitta. He ran a 3.701-second pass Friday and qualified second.

“Topeka’s been a good place for the Kalitta Motorsports team over the years,” said Kalitta, who continues to lead the Top Fuel point standings. “Our Mac Tools/Red Line Oil/Toyota car has been running well and we’re just looking to keep that going.”

CRAMPTON TOPS IN Q3 SATURDAY – Richie Crampton, who won at Topeka a year ago, flexed his muscles in the first qualifying session Saturday. He clocked a 3.722-second lap, which was best in the session, followed by Steve Torrence (3.729) and Brittany Force (3.741).

Crampton’s run wasn’t an improvement on his best lap Friday of 3.710 seconds, which left him qualified No. 4.

 

 

 

BROWN STARTS EIGHTH – Reigning NHRA world champion Antron Brown qualified No. 8 with a 3.743-second run.

 

The Matco Tools team set a game plan to use Saturday's two qualifying sessions as a test to make gains in areas that will be beneficial for the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs that will begin in September.

"Everything went good," Brown said. "We made a good halftrack pass in the first session today and then this afternoon, we got what we were looking for and got a really solid, full run. We have a baseline and now we can make some more improvements and adjustments to get it where we need it to be.

"With all that being said, we are working toward that championship run. We know what it takes to win a championship and you have to be right in the Countdown. Right now, these conditions out here in Topeka are really awesome. We are actually making great gains in the areas that we need to make our package more efficient. Today was a good day for testing, we made some gains."

The Matco Tools team will race Kalitta Racing's J.R. Todd in the first round.

"We have a tough first round matchup with JR (Todd) and we will give it our best shot," Brown said. "We're just going to keep working towards our goal and that's getting better each weekend."
 

FUNNY CAR

HAGAN TALKS ABOUT HIS HISTORIC RUN – No matter what Matt Hagan does the rest of his NHRA career, he likely never forget May 20, 2016.

Hagan, driver of the Don Schumacher Racing Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots Dodge, had an historic run during qualifying at the Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park.

Hagan set both ends of the national record with a 3.862-second time at 335.57 mph.

That speed was the fastest of any Funny Car or Top Fuel dragster in NHRA history on the current 1,000-foot track, and the fastest a Funny Car has ever gone at the end of a quarter-mile.

NHRA has been competing at 1,000 feet for nitro Funny Cars and Top Fuel since the 2008 Mile-High Nationals in Denver. Jack Beckman, Hagan’s DSR teammate, holds the nitro Funny Car quarter-mile mph record at 333.66 mph, which he set in 2006. The Top Fuel record for a quarter-mile was set by Tony Schumacher at 336.15 mph, in 2005.

Less than 12 hours after his run for the ages, Hagan, the 2011 and 2014 nitro Funny Car world champ, took some time to talk to CompetitionPlus.com.

“The track conditions were just incredible,” Hagan said. “Going up there to the staging lanes, you’re talking to your crew chief and your kind of thinking what is he going to try and run? They kind of has a number in his head and obviously your adrenaline is going and your heart is pounding and your pulling your seat belts down and you have your mouthpiece in and your grinding on it. You just know if it hooks and goes, it’s going to be really fast.”

Hagan’s team is led by crew chief Dickie Venables and assistant Michael Knudsen and they made the right calls, and Hagan acknowledged he thought he could post a great ET moments after he completed his burnout.

“When I did my burnout, a lot of times on tracks when you step off the pedal it just rolls for a while, but this deal here I stepped off the pedal and it stuck and didn’t go very far,” Hagan said. “That’s when I thought “Wow it’s good out here.’ When I was staging the car, my heart was pounding and when I left it hopped up on the tire really quick and it had a little fast paddle. I was thinking ‘Oh no,’ I didn’t want to steer it too much because a lot of times when you’re on a really fast run if you steer it too much, it will come loose because it will upset the rear-end. It got through that little paddle and it was sticking me back in the seat. The only thing was that was holding my head forward was that chin clip there that we tie our helmets down with. In the middle is where it really felt like it was running when clutch comes to it and it comes 1 to 1. After I got through the middle part and it was trucking, I was just trying to keep it in the groove and it kept digging and kept running and keeps pulling. Then I found the finish line and put those parachutes out.”

According to Hagan, pulling the parachutes was a painful experience that made him forget for moment about his blistering lap.

“The buckle where my parachute is caught me on the side of my (right) leg and pinched me really hard, so I wasn’t so much concerned with how fast we ran as I was about getting the seat belts undone so my leg would quit being on fire.”

In the midst of his pain, Hagan realized quickly his run was special.

“(My crew) was screaming and hollering, so I thought I must have run pretty good.” Hagan said. “When I came around the corner all my guys were jumping up and down and hollering. It was a killer run, but at the time I was thinking I don’t know if that will hold because there were a bunch of good cars behind us. A lot of guys went for it after us and Funny Car is just super competitive. It gets my blood pumping and that’s why we do it because you never know what you’re going to get. You never know how fast you can go and what these cars are going to throw at you. Every lap is a handful.”

Hagan was paired with Alexis DeJoria of Kalitta Motorsports and her time of 3.875 (332.18 mph) combined with Hagan’s produced the quickest pair ever by Funny Cars.

Hagan and DeJoria’s pair of runs were made possible thanks to mild weather (66 degrees) and a cool track temperature (78 degrees).

“Now that NHRA has put these rev limiters on these cars, we did that (3.862 seconds, 335.57 mph) with a cylinder out, and that’s crazy,” Hagan said. “There’s a real fine there with how we can limit these rev limiters on these cars without us blowing motors up and putting holes out. Nowadays, it’s really hard to keep eight cylinders lit towards the finish line because of the rev limiter.”

Hagan said although his Funny Car was blazing down the track, he was calm behind the wheel.

“I absolutely was in a zone,” Hagan said. “Your mind slows it all down for you and you’re just processing all that information a lot quicker. You wouldn’t think your mind would slow things down when you’re going 335 mph, but it does. The first couple of times I drove a (nitro) Funny Car it was just a blur. I didn’t know how I got to the end, it was crazy. Then as you make more runs, things start to slow down for you and you get a feel for where you’re at.”

Actually, Hagan wasn’t the only driver to set a national record Friday. Brittany Force made Top Fuel history with a national record elapsed time of 3.676 seconds in her Monster Energy dragster.

“If you came to the race (Friday) and you walked out disappointed, you need to find a different sport to watch,” Hagan said. “Two national (elapsed time records) in Funny Car and Top Fuel, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Hagan did acknowledge seeing the look on his crew chief Venables face after they rewrote the NHRA record book was priceless.

“It was incredible to see the smile on his face,” Hagan said. “Obviously the beginning of this year was a little tough start for us and not the way we wanted it to go. We’ve been pulling our hair out over here, trying to get things right and together. We’re are the only one in the DSR camp (of Funny Cars) running the 6-disc clutch and it has been all on Dickie to figure the thing out. So to be able to go out there and see a number like that and have the car do as well as it did, you could tell there was just a huge amount of pressure lifted off his shoulders.”

Hagan didn’t improve on Saturday, but still collected his 22nd career No. 1 qualifying position and his first this season.

"(Saturday) was more important than (Friday) was for Dickie getting our Mopar/Rocky Dodge ready to race," said Hagan, the 2011 and 2014 NHRA Funny Car world champion who is looking to advance to his first final round at Topeka.

BOLD PREDICTION COMES TRUE – A year ago, nitro Funny Car driver Chad Head captured the No. 1 qualifying spot at Topeka with a then track record elapsed time of 3.967 seconds.

What a difference a year makes for the Funny Car field in 2016 at Heartland Park. Head qualified No. 11 on Friday with a 3.974-second elapsed time at 320.74 mph.

“We are slowly getting back to our original form,” said Head, who arrived in Topeka 11th in the point standings.

And, Head wasn’t surprised at all about the incredible numbers that were posted Friday.

“We were No. 1 qualifier here last year with that 3.96 and I kind of predicted that wouldn’t make the top 12,” Head said. “I figured there would be at least 12 cars qualifying in less than 3.96. It’s just a really good track and there’s a lot of history here. Sometimes this place has sh**** air which makes it harder to make power, but one year Del (Worsham) and I counted there were like 59 full runs in a row. I think that was in 2011 and 2012. There was like 59 runs in a row made where nobody smoked the tires. Whatever is going on here, whether it is the combination of the weather, and the track, people just go up and down the race track here.”

Head’s thought process for Saturday was simple.

“Hopefully we can improve and try to run a 92 or 93, that would be outstanding, or anything to improve on where we are at,” Head said.

Head was unable to improve his ET and finished in the No. 12 spot and will meet No. 5 qualifier Alexis DeJoria.

Q3 WAS BENEFICIAL FOR BECKMAN – Jack Beckman, driver of the Infinite Hero Dodge for DSR, didn’t surpass Hagan at the top of the qualifying ladder in the first session Saturday, but it was a worthwhile session for him.

Beckman ran the quickest time of the session – 3.913 seconds at 326.63 mph – to collect three bonus points.

"The Infinite Hero Dodge was sashaying big-time on that run," said Beckman. "I thought it was going to knock the tires loose, which shows that it was pretty safe in the tune-up."

Del Worsham (3.915) and Courtney Force (3.934) also earned bonus points.

Beckman qualified No. 2 at 3.866 seconds and will meet Dale Creasy Jr. in the first round.

Beckman and the Infinite Hero team sponsored by Terry Chandler and led by crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris
Cunningham followed Hagan's runs of 3.866 seconds at 335.57) on Friday night was quicker than Beckman's old record.

"It was unbelievable. Mind blowing," said Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car world champion.

Beckman’s 3.885-second lap also was second best in the fourth and final session to collect 10 of a possible 12 qualifying bonus points. The three quickest in each outing earn from one to three points.

"The sun was out and we ran earlier today than Friday so I couldn't imagine anyone running better than Friday night," he said. "But we got a lot of (qualifying) points, and those add up."

But the big points are earned on Sunday, and Beckman could make a big jump in points if he defends the title he won a year ago, something he's only done once in his career.

"At this point, I don't care about defending any title or getting points. Our goal now is to get the trophy and get the last spot you can earn to get into the Traxxas Shootout," he said of the $100,000 all-star race he won last year during the U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis.

The first seven event winners earn spots in the eight-car field with a fan vote determining the last berth.

CAPPS SHOWS SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT - A lengthy delay to fix the NHRA starting system Saturday evening at Heartland Park Topeka created a long enough delay that helped Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T team move up one spot and into the top half of the 16-car field for Sunday's championship eliminations in the Kansas Nationals.

The reward for the NAPA team's best run of the weekend in the 28th annual event was a time of 3.895 seconds at 326.79 mph to go from No. 9 to No. 8, but his opening-round opponent remains former world champion Robert Hight of John Force Racing.

"We wanted our NAPA Dodge to be a little quicker on the last run but the most important thing is we moved up to eighth so we'll get to pick our lane for the first round tomorrow," Capps said.

"Obviously we're very, very happy that Topeka was put back on the schedule for 2016," he said of an ownership change late last year that saved the sprawling facility. "The people running the track and the investors have reminded everyone how fast Heartland Park can be."

Capps, the second winningest Funny Car driver in NHRA history with 45 titles, was disappointed the best his car could muster Friday night when records were falling like leaves in the fall was a run of 3.908 (328.38).

"Tobler felt very good that we would run better (Saturday). The 3.90 we ran shows there's a lot left in our NAPA Dodge and he brought some of that for our 3.89 when we really needed it."

HIGHT KNOWS FACING CAPPS WILL BE NO EASY TASK - “We will have a tough opponent first round in Ron Capps. We are pretty evenly matched so it should be a good race. I made a just about a career best run on Friday night as far as ET and today in the first session we made another quick run,” said Robert Hight.

“This Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro is in the thick of this fight. The conditions here at Topeka are unbelievable and they should be good tomorrow. We will have to be at the top of our game and I have a lot of confidence in Mike Neff and this Auto Club team.”

The Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro team had a consistent racecar and will go into race day firmly positioned in the middle of a very tight field. Hight posted a nearly career quick elapsed time on Friday night, 3.907 seconds just .002 off his career quickest time.

The 2009 Funny Car champion did post a career fastest speed of 332.84 mph on the way to the No. 9 qualifying spot. Even though Hight will give up lane choice to the veteran Capps the two-time Kansas Nationals winner is confident going into race day.

JOHNSON JR. UPBEAT ABOUT RACE DAY – Tommy Johnson Jr. ran a stellar 3.889 (320.66). That run bumped him up to the seventh spot.

On Saturday afternoon during the third session, Johnson ran a 3.962 (321.27), which kept him in the number seven spot. Finally, during the fourth round of qualifying, Johnson ran a 3.905 at 327.51 mph.

"Qualifying for us this weekend was pretty good," Johnson said. "It's something we've struggled at throughout the season so we've been trying to concentrate to get ourselves in a better qualifying position. You don't think it's a big deal, but it definitely is a big deal going into race day with having lane choice. It just helps set the tone for Sunday."

Johnson will have lane choice over his first-round opponent, Cruz Pedregon, who is seeded as the No. 10 qualifier.

COURTNEY STARTS FOURTH – Courtney Force qualified her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car in the No. 4 position at Heartland Park Topeka with a qualifying best 3.871 ET at 331.12 mph. The 3.871 second run she made on Friday is a career-best for the fifth year Traxxas driver. She picked up a total of four additional bonus points for making the second-quickest pass of Q2 and third quickest of Q3 and Q4. Force will have lane choice in the opening round over Bob Tasca III.

“We were the third quickest in both sessions today. I’m really proud of my guys. They gave me a good race car. The conditions weren’t as good as yesterday, but we still had a fast car. We’ve been running consistently in the threes and I think that’s the best thing that we can do right now. It definitely makes us feel good going into race day. We have a lot of competitive Funny Cars in our class right now, but we picked up two bonus points today so a total of four for this weekend. We’re hoping that helps us maintain our points lead. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow and we’re going to have some tough rounds. We have Bob Tasca III in round one so hopefully we can make it a great race,” said Force.

Force is 11-2 to Tasca III in previous events. The last time the pair met in eliminations was during the 2014 Countdown to the Championship in St. Louis. Eight of their 13 match-ups have happened in the opening round on race day. This is their first time racing head-to-head at the Kansas Nationals.

JOHN FORCE LOOKS TO CHANGE HIS LUCK SUNDAY – A tough two days of qualifying concluded Saturday for six-time Kansas Nationals winner John Force. The winningest driver in NHRA history brushed the guardwall with his brand new 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car in the Friday night qualifying session and today he blew up his back-up car in the final qualifying session. In both instances Force escaped unscathed but the 16-time Funny Car champion is motivated to turn around his luck on race day.

In the final qualifying session Force’s PEAK Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car started and completed the burnout when the scoreboard gremlins returned and forced his team to shut off his Funny Car. The team opted to restart the Funny Car and make the final run. Force launched hard and at the finish line his Funny Car depleted all the fuel in the tank and proceeded to blast the supercharger off the block. Force’s best elapsed time still lit up the scoreboard and he jumped form the No. 16 spot to the No. 11 position.

“This is a brand new racecar. I want to thank all my guys for putting this car back together and I have to thank all the fans for sticking around. Tomorrow will be a bigger day since the weather will be good. The racecars will be flying. I love being out here. My old hot rod ran out of gas at the other end. I should have refilled her sitting here. I am lucky it made it to the lights. We are OK. You have to run 3.85 just to get out of the cellar,” said Force.

Force is 1-1 this season against Del Worsham, his first-round opponent. He lost to him in the semifinals at Pomona and won in the first round of the Gatornationals in Gainesville.

PRO STOCK

LINE STAYS ON TOP – All season, Jason Line and his Ken Black Racing teammates – Greg Anderson and Bo Butner – have dominated in qualifying and on race day.

Line kept KB ahead of the pack in Q3 Saturday with a session-best with a 6.595-second run.

Line continued his domination of qualifying as he also had the quickest run in Q4 (6.582) and claimed his third No. 1 qualifying spot this season and 44th of his career.

For those keeping score at home, KB Racing has nabbed all eight No. 1 qualifying positions this year.

Anderson has qualified No. 1 four times, Line three, and Butner once.

 

ENDERS-STEVENS LOOKING FOR RHYTHM – Erica Enders-Stevens, who has won the last two Pro Stock world championships, will start in the No. 9 spot Sunday. She will not enter race day with a good taste in her mouth as she had a violent tire shake in the final qualifying session and had to click off the motor.

 

Enders-Stevens’ Elite Motorsports teammates Drew Skillman (8th), Vincent Nobile (11th) and Jeg Coughlin (13th) also struggled in qualifying.

Enders meetsSkillman in the first round.

"Drew and I are friends everywhere but on the racetrack," Enders said in a press release. "When I put on my helmet, he becomes just another driver. It was a lot of fun to work with him last year as he made the transition to Pro Stock, and I helped him as much as I could in 2015.

"But on race day, I'm going to try to beat him like I try to beat anyone else in this class. I hate that we have to race a teammate in the first round, but we all need to qualify better."

FULL FIELD – It’s no secret the Pro Stock class has had trouble attracting full fields at national events this season.

That’s a result of the major overhaul of the rules in the class in the offseason that went into effect Jan. 1.

As of Jan. 1, 2016, NHRA required all Pro Stock teams to equip their cars with electronically-controlled throttle body fuel injection systems to make engines more relevant from a technology standpoint. In order to reduce and control costs for the race teams, an NHRA-controlled 10,500 rev limiter also was added to the fuel injection systems.

There are 16 competitors in the field at Topeka. The No. 1 qualifier is Line and the No. 16 qualifier is Mark Hogan (7.002).

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – HISTORIC QUALIFYING EFFORTS HIGHLIGHT FIRST DAY ACTION AT TOPEKA

TOP FUEL

BRITTANY MAKES HISTORY – With two Top Fuel wins under her belt, the first two of her career, Brittany Force is brimming with confidence about the Kansas Nationals.

“I am really proud of this Monster Energy team. We have two wins already this season and I am looking forward to the Kansas Nationals,” Force said. “The last two years we have gone to the semifinals and we have qualified well there too. I think we can continue to run well there and we’ll see what happens. The biggest positive for me is how well this team is working together with Alan Johnson and Brian Husen. I am excited to get back to the track,” said Force who sits No. 3 in the Top Fuel point standings.

Force was all smiles again Friday as she made Top Fuel history with a national record elapsed time of 3.676 seconds in her Monster Energy dragster.

“That was an incredible run for the entire Monster Energy team,” Brittany Force said. “I knew with the way the Funny Cars were running (tuning consultant) Alan Johnson and (crew chief) Brian Husen we were going to throw down.  To be able to put a 3.67 on the board is just incredible. I was blown away when I found out what it ran at the top end. It really pumps us up going into tomorrow. This track is always fast. I love coming here and I’ve always had good luck here. To end up in the winner’s circle on Sunday would be awesome.”

Steve Torrence, who is also getting tuning help from Johnson, is No. 3 on the qualifying ladder in his family-owned Capco dragster with a 3.709-second run at 329.91 mph.

Force captured her first Top Fuel win at the Gatornationals. In the midst of her celebration her winner’s hat was lost, but now that mystery has been solved.

“The Gatornationals win was great because my sister Ashley was there along with the rest of my family. It was also cool to win the same event as Robert (Hight). He has been to supportive of me throughout my whole career going all the way back to Super Comp. It was just an amazing day. The one bad thing about the day was I thought I lost my winner’s circle hat. I was bummed because that was the first winner’s hat I ever won and I couldn’t find it after the race. I figured it just got lost in all the excitement of the winner’s circle,” said Force.

On May 17 at the team’s unveiling of the new Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car after a thorough search of the team’s hauler as well as an examination of the hats that the crew guys had Force’s original hat was located. It turns out that during one of the many hat swaps and photo sessions in the winner’s circle Force’s hat was passed off to track specialist Lanny Miglizzi.

“I put a star on the inside headband of the hat so we just asked everyone with a hat to check and sure enough we found my hat. There were a few extra hats so everyone on the team got one but I am thrilled to have my hat back,” added Force.

And to have the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at Topeka.

DOUG KALITTA STILL SOARING – Kalitta had a career-best 3.701 elapsed time at 330.88 mph, a new track record speed.

It was another solid run for Kalitta who moved into first in the points standings after wins at Houston and Atlanta.

It’s worth noting Kalitta has qualified first (Phoenix, Atlanta) and second (Pomona, and Las Vegas) at four of the seven races this season.

MILLICAN EYES HISTORIC WIN – Clay Millican arrived at Heartland Park this weekend full of optimism. The veteran racer is having a solid season as he’s sixth in the point standings.

Millican has been in three semifinal rounds at Phoenxi, Gainesville and Charlotte. Although Milican has had a strong season he wants nothing more than to get his first NHRA national event win in this his 227th NHRA career start.

“We might be on our way to Kansas this weekend, but we’re not looking for Dorothy or the Wicked Witch. We’re on the hunt for our first Wally and that’s what I am planning to bring home,” said Millican, whol pilots the Parts Plus/Great Clips/UNOH dragster. Last weekend (at Atlanta) the team pulled together to make our first round run against some incredible odds. I think it’s an experience that has made these guys want their first win even more than before, and I didn’t think wanting it any more than we already did was possible.”

Millican's co-crew chief David Grubnic has had success at Topeka, as he made history by taking his first Top Fuel win at Heartland Park May 29, 2005. In doing so, Grubnic, of Australia, also became the first racer born outside of North America to win a Top Fuel race.

Millican started on the right foot Friday, qualifying No. 7 with an elapsed time of 3.736 seconds at 325.77 mph.

TOPEKA HASN’T BEEN BROWN’S TOP STOP – Antron Brown is a star NHRA Top Fuel driver, winning world championships in 2012 and 2015.

Those memorable seasons didn’t include success at Topeka. Actually during Brown’s decorated Top Fuel career, he has never had much success at Heartland Park on Sundays as he has no wins, or runner-up finishes. Saturday had been a different story as he has been the No. 1 qualifiers three times (2009, 2010 and 2012).

Brown arrives at Topeka this season in second place in the points – 64 behind leader Doug Kalitta.

"We've been pretty darn good recently," he said. "We've been working on some to make our car stronger and we accomplished that last weekend in Atlanta. We're looking good right now.

"Topeka is a race that we always want to do well at. We always qualify well there. We haven't won there yet but we're working hard to try and bring a win home from there this year.

"It's one of the few racetracks that we haven't won at. We're looking for wins at Topeka, Epping and Bristol because I haven't won at those yet, so those are definitely on the top of my list.

"There's a lot of history at that racetrack. Gary Ormsby, one of my heroes and mentors, you see his name on the property when you pull in. The game plan is to go there and try do the best that we can do and try to bring a win home."

Brown didn’t have his best effort Friday, clocking a 3.743-second run at 323.12 mph to come in the No. 8 spot.

LANGDON EYES TOP 10 – There’s no question this isn’t the start Shawn Langdon had in mind for the 2016 season.

The 2013 Top Fuel NHRA world champion left the Southern Nationals in Atlanta, the seventh race of the season, 11th in the season point standings.

Langdon, who drives the Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher/Sandvik Coromant dragster, did leave Atlanta Dragway upbeat as he had his best event of the season, losing in the semifinals to J.R. Todd.

"I'm excited to get to Topeka," Langdon said. "After the past couple of races, we've been improving so much that I can't wait to get to the next race and see what we can accomplish. Topeka is a great place to race. I'm glad that NHRA and everyone at Heartland Park was able to get this race back on the schedule.

"Coming into the racetrack knowing that we can go rounds and turn on win lights is great. We went down the racetrack seven times in Atlanta. That shows our potential and how good we can be on race day. We have confidence, we have momentum. Now we just have focus on turning on four win lights on Sunday.”

Langdon has had success in the past at Topeka, winning the 2013 Top Fuel crown at Heartland Park while driving for Alan Johnson Racing.

On Friday, Langdon posted a best time of 3.726 seconds at 330.15 mph, which left he in the No. 6 spot.

FUNNY CAR

HAGAN KEEPS ROLLING – Fresh off breaking his 19-race winless streak at Atlanta May 14, Matt Hagan has found his groove.

The two-time world champion had a run for the ages in the second qualifying session with a 3.862-second lap at an incredible 335.57 mph. Those numbers are national records for elapsed time and mph.

That set a national record with a speed which is the fastest any Funny Car or Top Fuel dragster has gone on the current 1,000-foot track or and the fastest a Funny Car has ever gone at the end of a quarter-mile.

“We will take it,” said Hagan, who was the 2011 and 2014 Funny Car world champion. “We got ourselves a hot rod. It was just digging. I just had to keep it in the groove. Anytime we got weather like this and a track out there like that, you pull your belts down tight.”

Hagan was paired with Alexis DeJoria of Kalitta Motorsports and her time of 3.875 (332.18) combined with the Mopar/Rocky performance to produce the quickest pair ever by Funny Cars.

Hagan and DeJoria’s pair of runs were made possible thanks to mild weather (66 degrees) and a cool track temperature (78 degrees).

SHATTERING RECORDS – During the first qualifying session Friday, nitro Funny Cars were in a record-setting mood.

Jack Beckman, who drives the Infinite Hero Dodge for DSR, had the top time of the session with a track record run of 3.891 seconds at national record speed of 332.59 mph.

By the time the session was done, there were 10 drivers who had runs faster than Beckman at No. 1 and Cruz Pedregon (3.985) at No. 10.

“How about that Topeka,” said Beckman.

By the time the second qualifying session was complete, there were 11 drivers in the top 12 who were faster than four seconds. Hagan was No. 1 and Chad Head was No. 11 at 3.974 seconds. Bob Tasca was No. 12 at 4.015 seconds.

In all, 10 Funny Cars were quicker than the previous track record and six reached 330 mph.

Beckman, who won at Topeka a year ago for DSR's 250th title, is seeking his first event title of the year in the eighth Mello Yello event of the 24-race season. He came back for the night session with a 3.866 at 332.10.

"It's pretty jaw-breaking to think what these cars are capable of doing," said Beckman, who won a series-best seven titles and seven poles last year.

"That's why (fans) should come out on Friday. We've all been talking about getting our hot-weather tune-ups because we're coming into the summertime. But at Houston and Atlanta we had unseasonably cool racetracks, and here it's just circus atmosphere conditions for these nitro cars. It's candy land out there."

THERE’S A WALL THERE – While most the nitro Funny Car drivers were enjoying the exceptional track conditions at Topeka, John Force wasn’t one of them.

The 16-time world champion put his brand new 2016 Camaro into the wall during the second qualifying session. Force was 14th after Saturday and will make adjustments to be on the track Saturday.

In his second qualifying lap, Force launched hard, but experienced tire shake in the following session, smoked the tires, did a quick pedal job, but scuffed the left lane guard wall. It was the debut weekend for the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and the second pass down the track for the new body. Force made the best of his first day of qualifying at the Kansas Nationals in an interview with media this evening.

“First of all I want to apologize to all the Chevrolet enthusiasts out there, everyone that worked on this car and helped design it.  The first run that we made with the car…..there are two different kinds of shake,” Force said. “There is an aggressive shake and a weak shake and on those two types, you have to know which way to pedal it.   If it’s weak, it’s got to be real quick snap of the pedal to get off and get back on to catch it.  And that is what I did on the first run, it was weak.   It still ran 4.10 and put me in the top 12 in the show and ran a 327 or 326 something.   So it cut the air, steered perfect, and the view was awesome.   Everything was good about it.  So we went back to work and said we have to get after this thing because the conditions were getting better.

“It left hard, did the same thing.  People had been running some big numbers and when it rattled again so I tried to catch it quicker thinking it was a weak shake.  I was thinking I could step up and put myself higher in the show.  Well, it was an aggressive shake which means I should have got out of it and waited.   But I didn’t know.  And right as I went back to hit it, you can see on the video that it was starting to turn and it’s just enough when you hit that throttle its sideways and it put me straight into the wall.  It’s a shame because of all the hard work.  We can’t fix it and it will have to go back, and go back in the mold.   And that is all we can do right now,” said the 16-time Funny Car Champion.  

COURTNEY HAS BETTER DAY THAN DAD – During the stellar Q2 session, Courtney Force had a blistering 3.871-second lap at 331.45 mph in her Traxxas Chevy Camaro SS Funny Car.

“The conditions were amazing out here today at Heartland Park Topeka. It’s great to be back here with the fans,” Courtney said. “The stands were packed which is great to see. The new owners and their staff did a great job getting this track ready to go for the drivers, teams and fans; from the concessions stands to the grandstands to the race track. We’re really excited to be back here. They proved that this track was ready for us because we laid down some solid numbers. We had great track conditions and we know that’s not an easy task.”

“A lot of these teams laid down some solid numbers. We had two great back-to-back three-second runs that were career bests for me, so we’re really excited to have had such a great start to this weekend. We picked up two bonus points and I posted a career-best speed in Q1, followed by my new career-best ET in Q2. Those runs put us in the No. 4 spot and it really shows how quick the competition is here this weekend. I think it’s going to be a fast weekend here at Heartland Park,” added Force.

Force opened with a 3.899 ET at 331.45 mph in the first qualifying session. It was a big speed that now stands as the 27-year-old’s career best. Force made the second-quickest pass of the round and picked up two bonus points.

The current Funny Car points leader Force came to Topeka with 522 points, followed by second-place Beckman (482).

Force recently picked up her eighth Funny Car win and is still the winningest female driver in Funny Car. She holds the points lead for the second race in-a-row after just seven races in the 2016 Mello Yello season have been completed. The fourth-year driver has 522 points just ahead of Jack Beckman in second place with 482.

“It has been an incredible start to our 2016 season so far and I'm thrilled with the performance of our car and team,” Courtney said. “We have picked up a win in Houston, which put us in a tie for the points lead with Tim Wilkerson, but we were able to extend our lead in this Traxxas Funny Car this past weekend in Atlanta! My crew chiefs, Dan Hood and Ronnie Thompson and this great group of crew guys have really exceeded my expectations so far. I'm proud to drive for this team and am thrilled to show the fans and sponsors how much stronger we have become together from everything we have learned in the past few years.”

HIGHT IN THE MIX – Robert Hight made two solid runs down the drag strip Friday and ended the day in the top half of the field in the No. 8 spot. His Auto Club Chevy Camaro SS Funny Car ran 3.932 ET at 327.11 in the first session and followed up with an improved 3.907 ET at a new career-best speed for Hight, 332.84 mph.

“We’re just a run behind it here. These are unbelievable conditions; conditions we’ve never seen before as you can see all the Funny Cars doing so great and I think we’re one run from being right there at the top. I just hope we get the same conditions tomorrow and we get a third try at it,” said the 2009 Funny Car World Champion.

JOHNSON JR. HAS CAREER-BEST RUN - A trip to Heartland Park Topeka is a trip down memory lane for Tommy Johnson Jr.

Johnson is hoping to add a win with the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team at this weekend's NHRA Kansas Nationals to the memory bank. He and crew chief John Collins both hail from Ottumwa, Iowa, roughly four hours from Heartland Park.

They did make memories Friday as Johnson Jr. clocked a career-best 3.889-second pass.

The Make-A-Wish team is ranked 10th in NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car points standings entering this weekend's event.

"If we keep turning on win lights, the points will come. We just need to keep at it and heading into the right direction and we'll be in the winner's circle soon."

PRO STOCK

NO SURPRISES – Jason Line’s dream season continued Friday at the Kansas Nationals. Line has the fastest two runs of the day, the second 6.578 seconds left in the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot.

Line, and his Ken Black Racing teammates Bo Butner (6.591) and Greg Anderson (6.600) were No. 1 through No. 3 in the qualifying ladder.

Line and Anderson have now combined to win all seven national events so far, and Line has been in all seven final rounds. What’s more, Anderson has qualified No. 1 four times, Line twice, and their teammate Bo Butner once.

MCGAHA STILL GOING STRONG - Harlow Sammons Pro Stock driver Chris McGaha might’ve had an early exit last weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals but McGaha feels that he may have an ace up his sleeve for the competition at the 28th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals.

As the only non KB-Racing driver to reach the finals all season, McGaha is in the No. 7 spot on the qualifying ladder with a 6.638-second time at 208.84 mph.

“I felt we were really good at the first of the season and we kind of went backwards a little bit the last few races,” he said. “I think we’ve gotten back to where we were in Phoenix when we went to the finals. I think we’ll put this Harlow Sammons Chevrolet Camaro in the winner's circle soon. We’re fixin’ to be the one to beat in Topeka.”

McGaha arrived at Topeka fifth in the points, highlighted by his one runner-up finish.

GRAY SHOWS IMPROVEMENT – Shane Gray has had a tough early season in his Gray Motorsports Camaro. He arrived at Topeka 11th in the point standings with six first-round losses in seven races.

Gray, who qualified a season-best fourth at Atlanta last weekend, kept up his momentum as he was No. 4 on the ladder after Friday’s two sessions with a time of 6.623 seconds at 208.46 mph.

ENDERS-STEVENS, COUGHLIN IN FIELD – Erica Enders, who has won back-to-back Pro Stock world championships is ninth after Friday with a 6.643-second run. Coughlin, her teammate at Elite Motorsports is 12th (6.670).