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