QUALIFYING ENDS AT
53rd MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS WITH SOME SHOCKING RESULTS
Force, WJ miss field;
Naylor, Arend nail down first career No. 1 qualifiers
Two
first-timers outshined two of the biggest names in the sport as
qualifying for the 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals concluded
Sunday evening in shocking style.
While Funny Car's Jeff Arend and Pro Stock's Max Naylor secured the
first career low qualifying awards of their careers, the two winningest
drivers in NHRA POWERade Series history, John Force (125 career wins)
and Warren Johnson (96 wins), failed to qualify for this all-important
event.
It's a tough way to start the six-race POWERade Series playoff for
Force and Johnson, as well as Top Fuel contenders Whit Bazemore and
J.R. Todd, who also failed to make the cut here. It was the first time
since 1984 that Force has failed to start at the Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals and for Warren Johnson it's the first time in 32 career trips
to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals that he has failed to qualify.
Meanwhile,
in the Skoal Showdown, the $100,000 race-within-a-race bonus for Funny
Car drivers, "Fast Jack" Beckman defeated Ron Capps in an all-Don
Schumacher Racing final and the win-light went to Beckman by
one-hundredth of a second, 4.950 to 4.976. Both Capps and Beckman,
seeded first and fifth entering the playoffs, qualified safely into the
field. Capps will open with Kenny Bernstein and Beckman opens against
Scott Kalitta.