Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com provides quick hit coverage of the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals hosted by Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. Follow along for news and notes from the event.

TOP FUEL

FINALS

STILL PERFECT - Larry Dixon entered the final round with a decided 44-21 edge over Cory McClenathan in the final round.

At the green, Dixon was not only the first out of the gate but also the first up in smoke. McClenathan appeared en route to the victory when about 200 feet out, he began to smoke the tires. Dixon alertly got back into the throttle.

McClenathan valiantly tried to get his dragster to regain traction but could only watch helplessly as Dixon drove by for his 60th career win at only 4.906 seconds.

SEMI-FINALS

DIFFERENT VENUE SAME SCENARIO - If Cory McClenathan is going to make up points on Top Fuel leader Larry Dixon, he is going to have to do the job himself. Dixon, unbeaten in final round appearances this year, never trailed David Grubnic to secure a spot in the final against McClenathan. McClenathan's path was not nearly as easy. Racing against his teammate, Antron Brown, McCleanathan needed a strong pass to overcome the margin at the light - .056 to Brown's .048. 

SECOND ROUND

THE NO MERCY LADDER – Larry Dixon is letting the ladder doing the dirty work. With Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan and Antron Brown all positioned on the same side of the ladder, three of Dixon's toughest competitors were forced to battle against each other, while Dixon mowed through Terry McMillen and Doug Foley.

While Antron Brown eliminated Schumacher is their second round pairing, David Grubnic eliminated his teammate – Doug Kalitta – after mowing past Brandon Bernstein in the first round.

FIRST ROUND

FOR YOU CHAD - Fresh off his quickest run of the weekend, Doug Foley, in the Dote Racing Top Fueler, dedicated the win to a fallen friend.

“This one is for Chad Wilcox,” said Foley from the top end. “He was set to marry the Dote's daughter but passed away suddenly on July 4th.”

The round win was critical to Foley and the team as they continue to gear up for the 2011 season.

“This was important to us. We're really starting to makes moves and this helps as we get ready for an even better year next year.”

TORRENCE DID THE JOB AND LOST – There aren't many drivers who beat Shawn Langdon at the tree. In a first round matchup against Steve Torrence, Langdon got beat at the tree, .034  to .044, but won the race with a 3.886 at 292.58 mph.

Torrence smoked the tires in the first hundred feet to lose his starting line advantage and the race.

ONE BATTLE WON – Tony Schumacher made it look easy as he outran Morgan Lucas in the first round. While Schumacher drove the track in straight and narrow fashion in 3.835 seconds at 317.57 mph, Langdon struck the tires and coasted across the line.

FUNNY CAR

FINALS

THE CRUSADERS - Cruz Pedregon and Matt Hagan both entered the final round banking on a ton of emotion and motivation.

Pedregon, shut out of the Countdown to 1, declared he was racing his own personal playoffs following a win in Charlotte.

Hagan, who was finally able to overtake John Force for the point lead following the 14-time champ’s first round loss, hoped to use a victory as a means to further his newly acquired point lead.

In the end, it was Pedregon continuing his crusade by beating Hagan on both ends of the track. Pedregon used a 4.130, 312.35 to beat Hagan’s traction-challenged 4.242, 301.13.

SEMI-FINALS

MONSTER MATCHUP – Cruz Pedregon used a hole shot, .065, to Del Worsham's .074, to get to the finish line first despite Worsham's better 4.136 at 305.42 mph.

With the win, Pedregon set up a monster match-up against Matt Hagan. Hagan, entering his fourth final of the year, is guaranteed to leave Reading as the Funny Car point leader.

Hagan reaches the final round with a convincing victory over Jim Head, clearly the surprise runner of the weekend.

SECOND ROUND

NOT A FORD DAY – Ford's hopes at Maple Grove Dragway died on the vine as Dodge driver Matt Hagan powered his way past Tim Wilkerson in a critical second round matchup. Wilkerson was Ford's lone remaining driver as all three of Force's teams were eliminated first round along with Bob Tasca.

CHRISTMAS CARD LIST – Jim Head should add Ron Capps and Jack Beckman to his Christmas car list. Will Matt Hagan's name be added to the list.

Head took easy wins over the tire smoking efforts of Ron Capps and then Jack Beckman to set-up a third round match-up with Hagan. Should Head defeat Hagan, he might find himself on the John Force Racing card list.

FIRST ROUND

A RARE MOMENT IN TIME – Its been slightly more than one year between instances where a non-Force Racing driver has led the Funny Car points in NHRA competition.

Tony Pedregon led the point standings by a single point over Ashley Force on Sept 24, 2009, the Thursday prior to the start of the O’Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals at Dallas.

Matt Hagan, driving the Don Schumacher Diehard Dodge Charger will leave Maple Grove Dragway leading the points over as a yet to be determined driver.  

In between Pedregon and Hagan, Force Hood led the point standings for one race, Robert Hight for six and John Force for 18 events.

Asked if the any of the three Force cars would stick around to test on Monday, Forces public relations team joked, “with what bodies?”

Force Hood lost two bodies this weekend and Robert Hight one. 

John Force lost in the first round when his car wouldn't shift into reverse following the burnout.

Standing on the starting line just before Bob Tasca made his deflating pass, Force commented, “We're getting our bad luck out of the way before Vegas and Pomona.”
 

PRO STOCK

DIAMOND DAVE DELIVERS - Dave Connolly knows how to leave a lasting impression. In only his second race representing IDG orchestrated his 22nd career victory by stopping newly christened Pro Stock point leader Greg Anderson.

Connolly led the race from start to finish, fending off Anderson with only four inches to spare at the finish line. His 6.580, 210.05 was the winning ticket. Anderson lost despite a quicker 6.579, 209.75.

Connolly was competing in only his second Pro Stock event since 2008.

SEMI-FINALS

WELCOME BACK – With sponsorship woes behind him for the moment, Pro Stock returner Dave Connolly is re-establishing himself as a threat to the competition. In his semifinals match with Shane Gray he cut a typical Connolly light, a .016 to Gray's .035, and clocked a swift 6.597 to better Gray's 6.609.

"It's been a great weekend," said Connolly. "We came out here and ran real good yesterday, and we've had a lot of support from all the folks at IDG, 3M, and Makita. They're the ones making this happen. We're just out here having a great time. We have a great crew, and I'm looking forward to the final. It's been a long time, and I'm excited, that's all I can say."

FAMILIAR FINAL – Greg Anderson disposed of KB Racing teammate Jason Line and was once again the quickest of car of the round, recording a nice 6.573 at 210.47 mph that tied his teammate for speed. The final will be the sixth of the season for Anderson, and it will be the 14th time he has been paired with Connolly in a final round.

SECOND ROUND

FATHER AND SON SQUARE OFF AGAIN – The father-son racing team of Johnny and Shane Gray found themselves in opposing lanes for the fifth time this season. At the most recent previous event, in Dallas, son Shane beat dad Johnny in the first round, and he did it again here in round two when his pop was a too quick -.012 at the tree.

Both of the Grays are in the championship chase, rookie of the year candidate Shane entering the event 7th in the standings and former Funny Car racer Johnny 10th. Shane has seen the win-light flash in his own lane each time the two have raced.

CRITICAL KNOCK OUT – Nitro Fish GXP pilot Greg Stanfield was .024 and put a quick 6.583 on the scoreboard in his quest to rack up more points in the chase, but Jason Line was in the other lane with a .019 light and the fastest pass of the round, a 210.57 mph run that was accompanied by an e.t. six-thousandths off of the quickest of the round. Line pocketed the points for the round to aid his own championship run and effectively blocked Stanfield from gaining on fellow Summit driver Greg Anderson's advantage in the standings.

STAYING LOW TO GO – Anderson was again the standout of the round, clocking a quick 6.554 at 210.34 mph to send Warren Johnson home on a 6.598 that was a bit off of his winning 6.578 in the opening act.

"We've definitely had some good fortune today so far," said Anderson. "You don't want to see other guys struggle, but when they do, you have to be able to capitalize if you want to be a champion. We'll see what we can do the rest of the day. We've got two great Summit Pontiacs."

FIRST ROUND

RISING FROM THE BOTTOM – Bottom-half qualifiers made up the majority of drivers advancing to the second round; No. 4 qualifier Jason Line, still a threat to win the championship, and No. 6 starter Dave Connolly were the lone top-halfers to win in the first round.

At the top of the list of upsets: No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson rattled the tires and lurched towards the centerline, and he had to let off the throttle in his pairing with Warren Johnson. AJ's hope of a first Full Throttle Series world title have all but been shelved, and the Professor will meet with his former crew chief, Greg Anderson, in the quarterfinals.

Mike Edwards hit the go button two-thousandths too quick in his first round match with Larry Morgan, negating his 6.560 at over 211 mph and stumbling a bit in his attempt to defend his championship title. Jeg Coughlin Jr. rattled the tires in his JEGS.com Cobalt in his first-round match with Anderson.

EYE ON THE PRIZE – While a few other Countdown to 1 competitors leave Maple Grove dejected, Greg Anderson and Greg Stanfield each won their first-round pairings to keep the points battle hot, hot, hot. Anderson, who set low e.t. and top speed of the event in the first round, 6.544 at 211.43 mph, entered the event 16 points behind front-runner Edwards, and Stanfield was 62 points out of the lead in the No. 4 spot.

With Edwards out, the top spot is up for grabs, and Anderson's teammate Line will be looking to oust Stanfield in the second round to keep the title in sight for Team Summit. Stanfield made his best run of the weekend to overcome Rodger Brogdon's .012 to .023 reaction and collect the round win.

LOOSENING UP – There were traction troubles for many in the first round. Ronnie Humphrey looked awesome in the first 60 feet but got loose before the 330 mark and shimmied erratically, sending Johnny Gray to round two despite some tire-spin of his own down track, and Kurt Johnson lost traction early and made a hard move towards the wall in his match with Line, who came unglued further down track. The pair gave a shout-out to the nitro cars with an unusual Pro Stock pedalfest, with Line emerging victorious at the top end, 7.447 to 8.756.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

FINALS

SCORE ONE FOR GOLIATH - Sooner of later his run of good fortune had to end. And for past multi-time champion Andrew Hines, he was all too happy to end LE Tonglet's assault on his first place ranking and Countdown to 1 winning streak at 15 rounds.

Hines' victory over Tonglet enabled him to head into Las Vegas in three weeks with the slight championship advantage.

Hines was the first out of the gate and that advantage proved to be the difference in beating Tonglet, 6.916, 188.36 to 6.913, 190.40.

SEMI FINALS

REPEAT – The tune keeps repeating when it comes to Pro Stock Motorcycle final rounds. For the fourth consecutive event, Andrew Hines will be challenged by LE Tonglet in the money round. Hines had to get around teammate Eddie Krawiec to earn a ticket to his seventh consecutive final round, and it was pretty much decided at the starting line when Krawiec was a sleepy .130 at the tree to Hines' .039. Hines has trailered Tonglet twice this season but has yet to accomplish the feat in the final round. Regardless of the outcome, Hines will retain the points lead.

Prior to the Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson semifinal match, Tonglet said, "This Nitro Fish Suzuki is just flying, and we don't care who it is in the final, we're just going to try to take them out."

SECOND ROUND

HAMMERED OUT – The comeback of reigning Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Hector Arana came to a grinding halt – at least temporarily – in the quarterfinals. After the late .189 start in the first round, Arana jumped the gun and launched .164-second ahead of the green light in the quarterfinals. He got the red light and LE Tonglet soared ahead to a 6.884, 191.76 victory to add to an expanding points collection.

SCREAMIN' – Andrew Hines isn't messing around. For the past six events he has been to the final round and has thus far accumulated four wins in eight total final rounds this season. In Reading, he was the No. 3 qualifier and picked up an advantage in eliminations by establishing himself as the quickest in both the first and second rounds with respective 6.850 and 6.867 passes. Hines will be challenged by Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson teammate Eddie Krawiec in the semifinals.

"Matt Smith is going rounds, too, so we're battling for that No. 3 spot right now," said Krawiec. "Drew and LE are battling for that No. 1 spot, so we're going to make a good race of it, go out there, and put on a good show for the fans."

FIRST ROUND

AL-ANABI RISING – Matt Smith's nitro burning counterparts, Al-Anabi-backed Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon and Funny Car's Del Worsham, both advanced to the second round in their respective categories, and Smith kept it going for the maroon and gold with his first-round victory over Wesley Wells, who rolled the beams at the starting line and illuminated a red light.
 
SEEING CRIMSON – In addition to Wells' red-light, Countdown competitor Karen Stoffer fouled out by .015 in her match with rising star LE Tonglet. Tonglet made his best pass of the weekend in the other lane with a 6.860 that was second-quickest of the round. Joe DeSantis also lit the red-light in the first round in his efforts to gain a bit on Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson rider Eddie Krawiec.
 
BACK IN FORM – Just as No. 1 qualifier Hector Arana announced after scoring his first pole position since the Sonoma event, 'The Hammer is Back' and he proved it with a first-round defeat of Connie Cohen, despite an early disadvantage. The win light was up for grabs early, as No. 16 qualifier Cohen, who was making her first national event appearance since racing at Maple Grove Raceway in 2008 and was riding a brand new Buell, took a big ol' lead at the starting line with a .037 green light to Arana's tardy .189. Arana reeled in his challenger with a 6.861 to 7.249.
 
ROUGH START – The first three pairs left little to be desired in terms of exciting, side-by-side racing. Stoffer red-lighted in the first pair of two-wheelers of the day and then Shawn Gann got the win after recovering from a super-tardy .186 to beat a troubled Michael Phillips. Craig Trebled had problems from the start and watched bottom half-qualifier Angie Smith sail ahead for the round-win.

 

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