Houston Raceway Park benefits from incredible atmospheric conditions because of its proximity to Trinity Bay, which feeds the facility cool air. The track’s first NHRA national event, in fall 1988, established HRP as one of the sport’s quickest with NHRA’s first four-second Top Fuel pass and a new national record. 

 

 

		EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL ROUND RESULTS POINTS AFTER EVENT			EVENT GALLERY

 

SUNDAY FINAL - BROWN CAPS OFF HISTORIC O’REILLY SPRING NATIONALS WITH FIRST TOP FUEL WIN

Del Worsham, Greg Anderson and Matt Smith round out winner's circle

Antron Brown capped off an historic Sunday afternoon at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil when he powered his Matco Tools dragster past Larry Dixon U.S. Smokeless dragster to become the first driver in NHRA history to win races in Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel.

He followed Del Worsham (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) into the winner’s circle at the fourth of 24 races in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Brown had won 16 races in Pro Stock Motorcycle before making the jump to the 7,000-horsepower Top Fuel class this year and he’d not been able to get past the quarterfinals until Sunday when he sped past Dixon in a terrific final, 4.605 (at 320.28 mph) to 4.621 (at 309.06).

“We’ve been plagued by the second round all season – the second round’s been biting us, but today we bit back,” said Brown, who is the second African-American driver to win a race in Top Fuel (J.R. Todd).

Worsham defeated John Force in the semis and Ashley Force in the final – 4.933 at 316.60 to 4.971 at 302.62 – en route to his 22nd career win, but just his first since Labor Day weekend 2005.

“It finally happened,” said Worsham, who was sporting a K&N Filters paint scheme over the traditional Checker Schuck’s Kragen decal on his Chevy Impala. “Everything came together. I won’t say it wasn’t without a problem, but my dad (crew chief Chuck Worsham) made some great calls on the starting line. Great day.”

Ashley Force was in her second career final round in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang and she is still the only female competitor to reach a final round in Funny Car.

Anderson’s win – 6.692 at 207.37 in his Summit Pontiac GXP over a tire-shaking Kurt Johnson (13.425 at 64.01) in his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt – was the 53rd of his career, which moved him one ahead of Joe Amato (52) into solo fifth on the NHRA POWERade Series’ all-time wins list.

It was quite a bit different from win No. 52, which came in the season-opener at Pomona when he ran the table from the No. 1 qualifying position.

“We were flawless at Pomona. This was different – we qualified No. 6, I don’t know how it looked (from the stands), but it was a struggle (on the track). The good lord was looking after me today,” said Anderson, who still willingly accepted the trophy.

“There’s no such thing as an ugly win so we’ll take it,” he said.

Anderson leapfrogged teammate Jason Line and defending POWERade Series world champion Jeg Coughlin to regain the points lead.

The defending Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion, Smith, powered his Nitro Fish Buell past Matt Guidera’s Mohegan Sun Buell, 7.060 at 187.76 to 7.140 at 185.03, to claim his first win of the 2008 season.

“It’s an awesome experience,” said Smith, who struggled at Gainesville in the season-opener for the two-wheel class. “We were embarrassed the way we raced at Gainesville. We went home and went to work and it showed (with the win Sunday).”

 

 

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Sunday's final results from the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park. The race is the fourth of 24 in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

 

 

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SATURDAY QUALIFYING - NO. 1'S FROM FRIDAY HOLD UP AS SUN COMES OUT AT HOUSTON RACEWAY PARK ON SATURDAY

Alan Bradshaw, Cruz Pedregon, Kurt Johnson, Matt Smith top respective classes; Funny Car points leader Hight fails to qualify
 

Led by Odessa, Tex.-native Alan Bradshaw, the four provisional No. 1 qualifiers from Friday night retained their top spots on Saturday as qualifying was completed at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil.

Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) rounded out the No. 1 qualifiers at the fourth of 24 races in the NHRA POWERade Series. The foursome will lead the field into final eliminations beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday.

It was the second straight No. 1 qualifier for Bradshaw, who shot for a high-4.50 on Saturday but wasn’t able to make that happen. Still, his 4.526 at 323.50 mph from Friday night wasn’t threatened.

“Today was all about test mode to see what the track would take,” said Bradshaw, who entered the weekend in 13th place in the POWERade Series standings and would need to win at least two rounds to get in the Top 10 by Sunday night.

Bradshaw will open his quest to get into the Top 10 by facing No. 16 qualifier Urs Erbacher in the first round, hoping for different results from two weeks ago when he spun his wheels and lost to No. 16 qualifier Bruce Litton in the ACDelco Gatornationals first round.

“We’ve got the Vis Viva in there. We’ve got the Shell V-Power in there. I think we’ve got something that works … at least for Friday night qualifying,” said Bradshaw, who is sporting a Shell V-Power wrap on his dragster this weekend.

Early-arriving fans will be treated to a monster first round matchup between three-time defending champion Tony Schumacher and Brandon Bernstein, who came within a single round-win of wresting that championship away from Schumacher at the Auto Club Finals last November.

The most impressive pass of the day was turned in by Cruz Pedregon’s Advance Auto Parts team, which guided his Chevy Impala to a 4.86-second pass during Saturday’s first session that was a tenth better than the next best Funny Car.

“It kind of surprised us. It was actually faster at the eighth (mile) than (Friday night’s) 4.83,” said Pedregon, whose 4.834-second pass at 314.97 from Friday night remained the standard in Funny Car. “It (the tune-up) was a calculated guess (by crew chief Rahn Tobler) and guys guess right sometimes. Rahn has a good feel for the car. He’s adapted well.”

In yet another illustration of how difficult the Funny Car class is, Pedregon’s reward for qualifying No. 1 is a matchup with four-time world champion Gary Scelzi.

“Bring it on. I feel like if we’re going to be successful, we’re going to have to beat guys like that,” said Pedregon, who will enter Sunday’s final eliminations in second place after points leader Robert Hight failed to qualify. “It’s a long year, but is it good to be in this position after four races? Yeah.”

The other particularly intriguing first-round matchup in Funny Car features John Force’s Castrol GTX team against Jack Beckman’s Valvoline/MTS team, which will enter Sunday’s final eliminations in the points lead after Robert Hight failed to qualify.

In Pro Stock, Kurt Johnson’s 6.638-second pass at 208.42 mph from Friday was good enough to keep the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt on top of the ladder.

“We’re pretty pleased with the runs we’ve made so far this weekend, especially considering the amount of changes we’ve thrown at it,” said Johnson, who will meet John Nobile in the first round Sunday. “Today (Saturday) we were tuning for (Sunday), throwing different combinations at it, and fortunately everything stuck.  It’s like a Velcro race car – everything we’re throwing at it is sticking.”

Smith led the two-wheelers with a 6.929-second pass at 191.38 mph on his Nitro Fish Buell that was set on Friday and held up Saturday. And in spite of the fact that he maintained the top bike on Saturday, the defending POWERade Series champion is cautious entering Sunday.

“This is qualifying and raceday is different. That’s why they call it qualifying,” Smith said.

 

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park, the fourth of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel -- 1. Alan Bradshaw, 4.526 seconds, 323.50 mph vs. 16. Urs Erbacher, 4.734, 302.41; 2. Doug Herbert, 4.547, 318.02 vs. 15. Bob Vandergriff, 4.697, 308.71; 3. Larry Dixon, 4.549, 314.46 vs. 14. Morgan Lucas, 4.691, 320.51; 4. Cory McClenathan, 4.568, 326.79 vs. 13. Rod Fuller, 4.684, 319.98; 5. Doug Foley, 4.582, 303.09 vs. 12. Antron Brown, 4.644, 322.42; 6. David Grubnic, 4.587, 322.42 vs. 11. Bruce Litton, 4.620, 324.28; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 4.596, 325.77 vs. 10. Tony Schumacher, 4.619, 313.22; 8. Hillary Will, 4.599, 316.45 vs. 9. Doug Kalitta, 4.606, 317.87.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Mitch King, 4.795, 304.60; 18. Troy Buff, 4.823, 309.20; 19. J.R. Todd, 7.025, 263.56.

Funny Car -- 1. Cruz Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.834, 314.97 vs. 16. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Charger, 5.052, 296.57; 2. Tony Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.839, 305.08 vs. 15. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 4.986, 307.93; 3. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.875, 316.23 vs. 14. Tony Pedregon, Impala, 4.977, 310.63; 4. Del Worsham, Impala, 4.881, 313.66 vs. 13. Jerry Toliver, Charger, 4.961, 314.09; 5. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.886, 310.05 vs. 12. Tim Wilkerson, Impala, 4.939, 301.40; 6. Ashley Force, Mustang, 4.890, 319.29 vs. 11. Bob Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 4.928, 310.34; 7. Gary Densham, Impala, 4.904, 312.42 vs. 10. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 4.913, 303.16; 8. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.906, 314.31 vs. 9. John Force, Mustang, 4.913, 312.71.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Scott Kalitta, 5.218, 236.55; 18. Bob Bode, 5.291, 239.70; 19. Melanie Troxel, 5.942, 211.20; 20. Robert Hight, 6.273, 200.44; 21. Terry Haddock, no time.

Pro Stock -- 1. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.638, 208.42 vs. 16. John Nobile, Dodge Stratus, 6.703, 206.01; 2. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.650, 207.72 vs. 15. Justin Humphreys, Pontiac GXP, 6.701, 207.08; 3. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.666, 207.59 vs. 14. Matt Hartford, Stratus, 6.693, 206.67; 4. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.667, 206.80 vs. 13. Kenny Koretsky, GXP, 6.689, 206.26; 5. Jason Line, GXP, 6.668, 207.98 vs. 12. Jim Yates, GXP, 6.684, 206.32; 6. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.671, 207.56 vs. 11. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.681, 207.18; 7. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.673, 207.37 vs. 10. Rickie Jones, Stratus, 6.680, 206.39; 8. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GTO, 6.676, 206.54 vs. 9. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.679, 208.42.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Tom Hammonds, 6.715, 206.51; 18. Johnny Gray, 6.735, 206.32; 19. Max Naylor, 6.735, 203.40; 20. Larry Morgan, 6.741, 206.04; 21. Vinnie Deceglie, 6.747, 204.60; 22. Bill Glidden, 6.748, 205.38; 23. Shane Heckel, 6.919, 202.42; 24. Vernon Swindoll, no time.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.929, 191.62 vs. 16. Junior Pippin, Buell, 7.190, 185.51; 2. Chip Ellis, Suzuki, 6.970, 190.57 vs. 15. Angie McBride, Buell, 7.175, 185.08; 3. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.971, 191.16 vs. 14. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.150, 188.86; 4. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.972, 191.13 vs. 13. Edward Murphy, Suzuki, 7.128, 187.23; 5. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.985, 192.06 vs. 12. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.124, 188.89; 6. Matt Guidera, Buell, 6.988, 190.92 vs. 11. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.073, 192.06; 7. Hector Arana, Buell, 7.003, 190.06 vs. 10. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.042, 189.15; 8. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.024, 191.57 vs. 9. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 7.042, 189.92.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Michael Ray, 7.281, 184.42; 18. Redell Harris, 7.410, 180.04; 19. Jim Randolph, no time; 20. Ryan Schnitz, no time.

 

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FRIDAY QUALIFYING - ODESSA'S BRADSHAW CLAIMS TOP FUEL'S PROVISIONAL TOP SPOT AT 21ST ANNUAL O'REILLY NHRA SPRING NATIONALS

Cruz Pedregon, Kurt Johnson and Matt Smith round out the first day's provisional No. 1's
 

Odessa, Tex.-native Alan Bradshaw raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel during the first day of qualifying at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil Friday at Houston Raceway Park.

Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) rounded out the provisional No. 1 qualifiers through the first two of four rounds of qualifying at the fourth of 24 races on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Bradshaw powered his Vis Viva dragster to a 4.526-second pass at 323.50 mph to put himself in an excellent position to prove that his first career No. 1 qualifier, earned just one race earlier at the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, was no fluke.

"I've got my family and a bunch of friends from West Texas here with me ... we're just getting warmed up, Texas style," said Bradshaw, who had the best run in both qualifying rounds on Friday and thinks his dragster may have more yet to prove on Saturday. "If the cloud cover comes that they're telling us is coming, we should run  even better."

Cruz Pedregon, who's already reached a final round and is third in POWERade Series points this season, delivered a 4.834 at 314.97 in his Advance Auto Parts Chevy Impala SS to put himself in excellent position to claim his second straight No. 1 qualifier at this race and 34th of his career.

"I'm happy ...it's been a good season. I'm smiling," said Pedregon, who ran a 5.01 in the first round of qualifying Friday and talked about crew chief Rahn Tobler's challenge when good weather conditions descended on Houston Raceway Park. "It's kind of a double-edged sword. You want to go for it, but (you don't want to go for it too hard and not get a qualified run)."

"It's a good morale-boost for the team," he added.

Kurt Johnson capped a wild Pro Stock round when he powered his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt to a category-topping 6.638-second pass at 208.42 mph that came on the same qualifying pass that saw his father, Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson, tag the wall for only the third time in his 37-year career.

The senior Johnson, whose 96 career wins are second-best all-time, left a trail of smoke behind his GM Performance Parts Pontiac GXP as he crossed the finish line and soon thereafter his car veered right and as he regained control it nicked the wall before coming to rest. Johnson emerged unhurt.

"We threw everything at our ACDelco Cobalt for the second session that we thought would make it go fast, and it did," Kurt said. "It stuck and made an absolutely flawless run. Unfortunately all the action was in the other lane with Dad.  I looked over and saw smoke coming out from his front and rear wheel wells, and at first thought he had just blown a motor and made a lot of extra work for us.

“But then I saw he was having trouble slowing down, and that his car was filling up with smoke, so I knew he couldn’t see where he was going.  At that point, I did everything I could to get my car stopped. Just as I did, he came over into my lane and tagged the wall.  I was able to pull up right next to him at the top end afterwards and saw that he was all right, except for a little smoke inhalation.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, but it could have been a lot worse."

Earlier in Pro Stock qualifying, Baytown’s Vernon Swindoll, making his first career POWERade Series pass and in front of his hometown fans, couldn’t bring his car safely to a stop and it careened into the sand pit and was finally brought to a stop by the protective net. He was unhurt.

Smith led the two-wheelers with a 6.929-second pass at 191.38 mph.

“Today we had a good tail wind. My run was pretty stout and I don’t know if anyone can beat it,” the defending POWERade Series world champion said.

 

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Results Friday after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park, fourth of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.

Top Fuel -- 1. Alan Bradshaw, 4.526 seconds, 323.50 mph; 2. Doug Herbert, 4.547, 318.02; 3. Larry Dixon, 4.549, 314.46; 4. Cory McClenathan, 4.568, 326.79; 5. Doug Foley, 4.582, 303.09; 6. David Grubnic, 4.587, 322.42; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 4.596, 325.77; 8. Hillary Will, 4.599, 316.45; 9. Doug Kalitta, 4.606, 317.87; 10. Tony Schumacher, 4.619, 313.22; 11. Bruce Litton, 4.620, 324.28; 12. Antron Brown, 4.644, 322.42. Not Qualified: 13. Morgan Lucas, 4.679, 320.51; 14. Urs Erbacher, 4.730, 291.26; 15. Mitch King, 4.798, 304.60; 16. Troy Buff, 4.833, 277.72; 17. Rod Fuller, 4.861, 319.98; 18. J.R. Todd, 5.986, 263.56; 19. Bob Vandergriff, 7.254, 105.93.

Funny Car -- 1. Cruz Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.834, 314.97; 2. Tony Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.839, 305.08; 3. Mike Neff, Ford Mustang, 4.875, 316.23; 4. Del Worsham, Impala, 4.881, 313.66; 5. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.886, 310.05; 6. Ashley Force, Mustang, 4.890, 319.29; 7. Gary Densham, Impala, 4.904, 312.42; 8. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.906, 314.31; 9. John Force, Mustang, 4.913, 312.71; 10. Tim Wilkerson, Impala, 4.939, 301.40; 11. Jerry Toliver, Charger, 5.012, 305.56; 12. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 5.052, 264.49. Not Qualified: 13. Bob Gilbertson, 5.323, 209.01; 14. Scott Kalitta, 5.368, 211.03; 15. Terry Haddock, 5.580, 245.05; 16. Tommy Johnson Jr., 5.851, 179.83; 17. Robert Hight, 6.186, 200.44; 18. Tony Pedregon, 6.202, 164.13; 19. Melanie Troxel, 6.706, 190.97; 20. Bob Bode, 7.603, 111.25; 21. Gary Scelzi, 8.430, 92.38.

Pro Stock -- 1. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.638, 208.42; 2. Allen Johnson, Dodge Stratus, 6.650, 207.72; 3. Jason Line, Pontiac GXP, 6.668, 207.98; 4. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.668, 207.59; 5. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.671, 207.40; 6. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.671, 206.70; 7. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.673, 207.37; 8. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GTO, 6.676, 206.54; 9. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.679, 208.42; 10. Rickie Jones, Stratus, 6.680, 206.13; 11. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.681, 207.18; 12. Jim Yates, GXP, 6.692, 206.32. Not Qualified: 13. Matt Hartford, 6.695, 206.57; 14. Justin Humphreys, 6.697, 207.08; 15. Tom Hammonds, 6.698, 206.51; 16. Larry Morgan, 6.713, 206.04; 17. Johnny Gray, 6.730, 205.69; 18. Max Naylor, 6.731, 203.40; 19. Vinnie Deceglie, 6.762, 204.39; 20. John Nobile, 6.777, 204.94; 21. Bill Glidden, 6.801, 204.91; 22. Shane Heckel, 6.850, 202.42; 23. Vernon Swindoll, 6.975, 201.40; 24. Kenny Koretsky, 14.084, 59.22.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.929, 191.38; 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.972, 191.13; 3. Chip Ellis, Suzuki, 6.982, 190.30; 4. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.985, 190.92; 5. Matt Guidera, Buell, 6.988, 190.92; 6. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.994, 187.91; 7. Hector Arana, Buell, 7.003, 190.06; 8. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.024, 191.57; 9. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 7.042, 189.92; 10. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.042, 189.15; 11. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.081, 191.08; 12. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.124, 188.75. Not Qualified: 13. Angie McBride, 7.126, 185.08; 14. Michael Ray, 7.155, 184.42; 15. Edward Murphy, 7.158, 185.21; 16. Redell Harris, 7.362, 180.04; 17. Ryan Schnitz, 7.363, 178.05; 18. Jim Randolph, 7.446, 179.61; 19. Junior Pippin, 14.404, 52.61.

 

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EVENT PREVIEW - PLOT LINES START TO UNFOLD AFTER THREE NHRA POWERADE SERIES EVENTS

It takes 46 days for pledges to approach proven.

All teams make promises before a season starts. Everyone has goals for 2008. But less than two months have passed since the season-opener of the NHRA POWERade Series in Pomona, Calif. and in the three races since, some promises look primed to be broken. Others are well on their way to fulfillment.

Take Tony Schumacher’s, for instance. Schumacher has held off a host of formidable talent to hang on to the NHRA POWERade Series world championship title in Top Fuel since 2004 (he also won the championship in 1999). His goal? Championship ring No. 6.

Out of his 43 career wins, only one has come at the next stop on the tour, Houston (2005). The NHRA POWERade Series comes to Houston Raceway Park for the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil, March 27-30. The event is the fourth of 24 in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, the world’s fastest motorsport.

“We’re going to need to try some different parts to get back ahead because everyone is right there with us," Schumacher said after his recent win. "There were a lot of good cars and a lot of people running equal to us and every round (in Gainesville) was a battle. We really had to earn this one. I look at this trophy and it’s a nice one, and we had really difficult cars to beat and it was one of the (tougher) ones to earn.”

Schumacher is the only driver to win multiple titles so far this season, reaching the winner’s circle in Pomona and Gainesville, Fla. in his U.S. Army dragster. He holds a 52-point lead over Phoenix winner Larry Dixon, who sits in the No. 2 spot entering Houston. Schumacher’s is obviously a formidable stable and with coveted tuner Alan Johnson at the lead, it’s no wonder his is the first ride to win more than one event this year. But there’s plenty of talent still at the table and 21 events between the best drag racers in the world and the final win light of the year.  And 52 points is a little less than three rounds of competition.

Funny Car and Pro Stock have seen three different winners in three races. Robert Hight (Pomona), Jack Beckman (Phoenix) and Tony Pedregon (Gainesville) have all outlasted the others in what’s been called the most competitive field in NHRA Funny Car history. Of the three, Robert Hight and his Auto Club Ford Mustang holds the points lead. Beckman and Tony Pedregon’s brother Cruz are No. 2 and 3, with Tony Pedregon in the fourth position.

In Pro Stock, the story is much the same. The expected duel between the Jegs and Summit Racing Equipment camps has come to fruition yet again, with both Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Jegs.com Chevy Cobalt) and Greg Anderson (Summit Racing Pontiac GXP) at one win each. Veteran racer V. Gaines pulled off a stunner in Phoenix.

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s drama has just begun with one race in the books. In Gainesville, Northern California’s Matt Guidera proved his Mohegan Sun Rocklin Motorsports Buell the one to beat, turning in a blistering 6.922-second run in qualifying and winning the event with a 6.949 at 191.54 – after leaving on three-time NHRA POWERade Series world champion Andrew Hines at the tree.

SCHEDULE: Pro qualifying sessions are scheduled for 2 and 5 p.m. on Friday, March 28. Qualifying continues at 11:15 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 29 and final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 30.

TICKETS: Tickets are available for the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil. Call Houston Raceway Park at (281) 383-RACE (7223) or check online at Ticketmaster.com.

ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise qualifying highlights at 4:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, March 29. ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute pre-race show, at 11 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, March 30. ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise the race beginning at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, March 30.