MEMPHIS FINAL RESULTS
Top
Fuel pilot Tony Schumacher and Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson
strengthened their points leads as many Countdown contenders fell early
Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil.
Pro
Stock’s Mike Edwards and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Craig Treble joined
Schumacher and Wilkerson in the winner’s circle with three races
remaining in the Countdown to 1 playoffs.
Top
Fuel pilot Tony Schumacher and Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson
strengthened their points leads as many Countdown contenders fell early
Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil.
Pro
Stock’s Mike Edwards and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Craig Treble joined
Schumacher and Wilkerson in the winner’s circle with three races
remaining in the Countdown to 1 playoffs.
Schumacher drove his
U.S. Army dragster past Countdown competitors Rod Fuller, Doug Kalitta,
Hillary Will and Doug Herbert en route to his 13th win of the season
and second since the playoffs began. Schumacher’s final-round pass of
3.880 seconds at 309.91 mph was strong enough to get past Herbert and
build his points lead to 166 on second-place Cory McClenathan.
“I
walked into this race 97 (points ahead) and I said I wanted to leave
150 ahead,” Schumacher said. “I wanted to leave here knowing that with
each race, with three left, they’re going to have to pull 50 points on
me just to catch up.”
McClenathan,
Schumacher’s Don Schumacher Racing teammate, moved past David Powers
Motorsports driver Antron Brown into the second-place spot after Brown
lost to Countdown driver Larry Dixon in the first round. Herbert’s
runner-up finish also moved him up one spot from eighth to seventh in
the point standings.
Wilkerson also faced some of the most
difficult competition on the circuit en route to his sixth win of the
year. He won a first-round match-up with Melanie Troxel before facing
three of four John Force Racing entries that are all still alive in the
playoffs, starting with John Force himself. Wilkerson then defeated
Robert Hight in the semifinals and took down No. 1 qualifier Ashley
Force in the finals to maintain his points lead. Wilkerson is now 4-1
against the younger Force in head-to-head meetings this year.
Wilkerson drove his Levi Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS to a 4.166 run at 298.47.
“We
were lucky enough to get by the three Force cars and that was a
tremendous opportunity for us to build on our points,” Wilkerson said.
“When Tony and Cruz (Pedregon) went down and Robert (Hight), we had to
beat him, he’s right behind me in the points so it was a pretty
spectacular weekend for the whole team.”
Ashley
Force’s runner-up finish moved her up in the point standings from sixth
to fifth, while JFR teammate and father John Force jumped from eighth
to seventh in the point standings.
Edwards strengthened his spot
in the Pro Stock point standings with his second win of the season. He
drove his Young Life/Penhall Pontiac GXP to a 6.702 at 207.27 past
Countdown driver and runner-up finisher Jason Line. The win also shot
Edwards from ninth to fifth in the point standings.
“It seems
like ever since this Countdown started, crazy things are going on in
Pro Stock,” Edwards said. “You’ve got a lot of people that are better
than our team but they’re having a lot of problems like everybody else.
Every race we’ve done a little bit better. We’ve got three races to go
and if I can pick up another win that would be awesome for our team.”
Points
leader Jeg Coughlin stayed in the top spot following a second-round
loss to Allen Johnson after his Jegs.com Chevy Cobalt broke on the line
and nudged his precarious lead over second place Kurt Johnson to 32
points.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Craig Treble rode his
Albrecht’s Fast Track Suzuki to a 6.985 at 188.57. It was Treble’s
first win of the season in three final-round appearances and his first
since joining Don Schumacher Racing.
“I’ll tell you what, Steve
Tartaglia, all the guys over there work so hard,” Treble said. “Man,
it’s just a privilege to be part of it. And (DSR teammate) Chip Ellis,
what an awesome rider he is. We’re trying to work together. I’m not as
good a rider as he is. I’m probably a better racer on Sunday and if we
can combine our efforts I think we can be some pretty tough guys out
here.”
Runner-up finisher Eddie Krawiec kept his second-place
spot in the point standings and moved to within 42 points of leader
Matt Smith, who lost in the semifinals.