2010 NHRA SUMMER NATIONALS - EVENT RESULTS
Mon, 2010-05-24 04:50
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SUNDAY FINAL - HIGHT, SCHUMACHER AND EDWARDS SECURE VICTORIES AT O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA SUMMER NATIONALS AT HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA
Robert Hight continued on his impressive three race hot streak and dominated the Funny Car field to get his third win in as many races during the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. Tony Schumacher took home the win in Top Fuel and Mike Edwards secured a victory in Pro Stock.
In the final round of Funny Car, Hight in his Auto Club Ford Mustang, was able to hold off the DHL Toyota Camry driven by Jeff Arend for his 17th career victory during his 4.104-second, 303.50 mph pass to the losing effort of 4.150-seconds at 300.80 mph by Arend. Hight started the day as the No. 1 qualifier and used to his advantage as he defeated a tough field of competitors including rival Ron Capps. With the win Hight, the 2009 Full Throttle Series World Funny Car Champion, closes within 49 points of current points leader and his team owner John Force.“Right now what is happening to the Auto Club Ford is stuff you dream about. To win three in a row I’ve only ever won three races in a season and to win three in a row, to come out here and qualify No. 1 win from the pole is tough to do and not many guys do that,” said Hight following the race.
“It’s also all about the team. I like baseball, basketball all that stuff and a big Los Angles Lakers fan and Kobe Bryant. Kobe is the Lakers but it takes the entire team around him, he couldn’t win alone. You see Lebron James and what he does, they couldn’t win with just one guy. Kobe Bryant is Jimmy Prock [crew chief] and there are eight other guys putting that thing together perfectly every run not making any mistakes. All the variables there are with these fuel cars, clutch discs, tires, traction there so many variables and to run like this and to do a job like we are doing you have to give to the whole team.“
The Top Fuel final pitted Schumacher in his U. S. Army dragster up against his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Cory McClenathan. Schumacher took the lead off the starting line and was able to hold off McClenathan in the Fram dragster for the win with a run of 3.875-seconds at 310.27 mph to the losing effort of 3.864-seconds 312.35 mph. This is the third win of the season for Schumacher and he has yet to be defeated when making it to the finals.
“It was a heck of a day,” said Schumacher. “To go out and beat Cory by five-thousandths of a second, Dixon the round before, and Shawn Langdon by eight-thousandths of a second; that’s what racing is about. That’s why you get up in the morning. I say it all the time, it’s not the trophy, it’s getting up Sunday morning and knowing you’re going to have to dig real deep to get it, and we did.
“We needed to get [Topeka] off the list. It’s been a great career but there were two tracks I hadn’t won at, here and Atlanta. I’ve got Atlanta left and I’ve still got time in my career to go out and do that. I enjoy those big moments, where you have to really pull something off and that’s what we had today. Cory’s a great driver and he gave us a great race. We knew it was just going to be just inches no matter what.”
Edwards notched his fifth win of the season and his domination of the category continued when he was able to defeat Allen Johnson in the finals. Edwards in his Penhall / Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP, posted a winning run of 6.717-seconds at 204.63 mph to the losing effort of 6.710 at 205.19 of the Team Mopar / J7J Racing Dodge Avenger driven by Johnson. This year Edwards has 26 round wins to only four losses and also secured his seventh No. 1 qualifying position of the season during the course of the weekend.“It’s been awhile since our last win in Topeka [in 1999], although we were runner-up to Allen Johnson last year,” said Edwards. “But what made this weekend so special was the fact that my parents, A.C. and Gladys were here to see the win. They’ve never been to any of the races that I’ve won before, and you can’t believe how much it means to me for them to see this one. They’re from Oklahoma., and they only get to come to this race and maybe a couple of times to Dallas.
“We managed to leave first today because, and that was a good thing because that Hemi Dodge of Roy and Allen Johnson is really running strong, they are a top-notch team and they’re going to be something to reckon with all year long. I’m not sure that they won’t make a lot of winner’s circles this year because they are running extremely strong.”
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SATURDAY - HIGHT CONTINUES MAY MARCH WITH THIRD NO. 1 OF 2010
Brown, Edwards round out No. 1 qualifiers at O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals
Robert Hight continued his torrid May by qualifying No. 1 at the 22nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.The other No. 1 qualifiers at the ninth of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).
Hight, the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Series Funny Car world champion, earned the No. 1 qualifying position with a run of 4.095-seconds at 308.21 mph in his Auto Club Ford Mustang. The No. 1 is Hight’s third this season and he is seeking a third straight win that would give him a sweep of NHRA’s three May races (the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals, the Summit Racing NHRA Southern Nationals and the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals).
Hight will be rewarded with an opening-round bye and then he’ll hook up with either Del Worsham or Ashley Force Hood, one of several marquee first-round matchups including Jack Beckman vs. Bob Tasca, Ron Capps vs. Cruz Pedregon and John Force vs. Matt Hagan.
“We’ll have a tough matchup second-round either Ashley or Del. There are no easy rounds. Even as good as we are running it is tough,” Hight said. “We’ll see if we can’t make it three (wins) in a row. It is going to be a lot of work to get there.”
In Top Fuel, Brown powered his Matco Tools dragster to the top of the field with a Friday pass at 3.785-seconds at 321.96 mph. The No. 1 was also Brown’s third of 2010.
“I’m just stoked because we made it down the track three of four passes,” Brown said. “That last pass we just got greedy. We were trying to run a .86 and it was on a .86 run. It was good to just before the 330, where it came unglued a little. But it ran decent. It still ran 219 (mph) and it smoked the tires before the 330, so if we back it up we should be right in the hunt with a .88 or .89. That’s what it’s going to take (Sunday). There are going to be a lot of tough rounds. You look at the ladder and we’ve got (Larry) Dixon on our side, Shawn Langdon, and (Tony) Schumacher, my teammate, so there’s going to be a whole bunch of racing going on tomorrow.”
Brown will meet Luigi Novelli in Round 1 Sunday and among the highlight first-round matchups in Top Fuel is the No. 7-10 matchup of Cory McClenathan and Morgan Lucas.Edwards secured his NHRA-best seventh No. 1 of 2010 in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP with a pass of 6.638-seconds at 206.99 mph on Friday that easily held up Saturday in windy conditions.
“Getting a chance to race under these conditions does help us get ready for (Sunday), which from what I gather is going to be similar to what we had (Saturday),” Edwards said. “It’s going to be a matter of who makes the best adjustments is going to win this race. It won’t necessarily be the fastest car, but the team that can adapt the best.”
Edwards, who won four of the first six races this season, has slipped of late, losing in St. Louis when his car broke (vs. Warren Johnson) and in Atlanta on a holeshot (vs. Rickie Jones). He’ll be looking to regain the early season form Sunday.
There are no easy opening-round matchups in Pro Stock, which boasted a 23-car field. Edwards opens with Justin Humphreys, Allen Johnson will meet Greg Stanfield, Jeg Coughlin will meet Kurt Johnson and Jason Line faces teammate Greg Anderson.
With the fields set, final eliminations at the ninth race in the 17-race Countdown to 10 regular season will begin Sunday at 11 a.m.
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First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX at Heartland Park Topeka, the ninth of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.
Top Fuel -- 1. Antron Brown, 3.785 seconds, 321.96 mph vs. 16. Luigi Novelli, 4.248, 292.27; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.849, 316.08 vs. 15. Steven Chrisman, 4.168, 282.24; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 3.886, 312.13 vs. 14. Scott Palmer, 4.148, 281.83; 4. Shawn Langdon, 3.887, 312.57 vs. 13. Mike Strasburg, 4.074, 305.56; 5. Tony Schumacher, 3.896, 313.58 vs. 12. Dom Lagana, 3.987, 302.21; 6. Steve Torrence, 3.902, 305.91 vs. 11. Terry McMillen, 3.957, 303.30; 7. Cory McClenathan, 3.904, 312.13 vs. 10. Morgan Lucas, 3.946, 305.91; 8. David Grubnic, 3.915, 311.92 vs. 9. Larry Dixon, 3.915, 311.05. Did Not Qualify: 17. Chris Karamesines, 4.257, 280.54.
Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.095, 308.21 vs. Bye; 2. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.103, 307.16 vs. 15. Paul Lee, Chevy Impala SS, 4.507, 298.60; 3. Jeff Arend, Toyota Solara, 4.104, 305.84 vs. 14. Jeff Diehl, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.373, 264.70; 4. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.113, 306.26 vs. 13. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.256, 294.05; 5. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.117, 305.42 vs. 12. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.206, 286.92; 6. John Force, Mustang, 4.118, 307.58 vs. 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.200, 297.81; 7. Jim Head, Solara, 4.125, 296.31 vs. 10. Tony Pedregon, Impala, 4.195, 299.00; 8. Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.133, 303.37 vs. 9. Del Worsham, Solara, 4.173, 303.78.
Pro Stock -- 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.638, 207.56 vs. 16. Justin Humphreys, GXP, 6.780, 204.88; 2. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.656, 207.34 vs. 15. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.767, 206.01; 3. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cobalt, 6.663, 205.04 vs. 14. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.762, 206.32; 4. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.666, 206.64 vs. 13. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.757, 204.82; 5. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.670, 206.39 vs. 12. Bob Yonke, GXP, 6.692, 206.54; 6. Shane Gray, GXP, 6.680, 206.51 vs. 11. Rickie Jones, GXP, 6.686, 205.63; 7. Jason Line, GXP, 6.682, 205.94 vs. 10. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.685, 206.10; 8. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.684, 206.51 vs. 9. Johnny Gray, GXP, 6.684, 206.23. Did Not Qualify: 17. Erica Enders, 6.784, 205.01; 18. Richie Stevens, 6.810, 205.26; 19. John Nobile, 6.827, 204.73; 20. Steve Spiess, 6.845, 205.01; 21. Larry Morgan, 6.857, 205.54; 22. Mark Hogan, 6.861, 196.70; 23. Dave River, 7.014, 198.32.
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FRIDAY - HIGHT LEADS FUNNY CAR FIELD; BROWN AND EDWARDS SECURE PROVISIONAL TOP POSITIONS AT HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA
Robert Hight took the provisional No. 1 qualifier position on Friday and showed he is a contender to win his third race of the season during the first day of
qualifying for the 22nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.Antron Brown and Mike Edwards also take No. 1 qualifying positions in their respective categories during the ninth of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.
Hight, the 2009 Full Throttle Series Funny Car World Champion, continues his recent string of success as he grabbed the provisional No. 1 qualifying position with a run of 4.095-seconds at 308.21 mph. Hight and his Auto Club Ford Mustang are red hot as they are enjoying a two race win streak and if his time stays at the top it will be the third No. 1 qualifying position for him this season.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Hight. “These are the times you dream about. When your car can win two in a row and then you go out there and you’re No. 1 in both sessions at the next race it gives you a lot of confidence as a driver. My car is going down the track and the more runs you make the better you get, so I’ve got more confidence and it’s a lot of fun. The unfortunate truth about all that is when you run like that and dominate – and we’re kind of dominating right now – you make those other guys work harder and they’re going come back and get you. So we’ve got to be careful that we don’t celebrate and get too excited. We’ve got to stay focused and work hard because those other guys are coming.”
“Tomorrow is going to be hot and Sunday is going to be hot, but we just came from two real hot racetracks and you saw how my car preformed, so we’ve got a lot of confidence right now. And having only 15 cars here, that No. 1 spot is pretty important tonight because that’s going to give me a bye run. I don’t think anybody is going to beat that tomorrow in the heat, so having a bye run in the first round, that doesn’t hurt either.”
In Top Fuel, Brown powered his Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster to the top of the field with a pass at 3.785-seconds at a blistering 321.96 mph. The run posted by Brown is the sixth fastest at 1,000 feet. If he remains in the No. 1 position going into eliminations it would be his third of the season with his most recent coming at the Las Vegas race in April.
“The last few races have been really hard on our whole team. We were just one run behind in Atlanta. The car was there, we qualified well, and we were making gains, we just didn’t make them quick enough. We dropped a hole in first round and didn’t show what our team is capable of. We know this is a great race car. We’re getting a whole new management system worked out and it’s going well. We ran that .88 in the first session in the heat of the day, so we started with a foot forward instead of a foot behind. The first run is so important. You’ve got get a decent run down because that transfers to every other run, and this weekend we started with our best foot forward. We just want to get back up there in competitive shape, and I feel like we’re back. Now we just have to do it on race day.”
“We’ve got one more day of qualifying and it’s going to be hot tomorrow. I think that second run at 3 o’clock is going to be the most important run tomorrow because that’s going to set us up for Sunday because Sunday is going to be even hotter.”
Edwards is looking to regain the form he had at the start of the season as he is currently the No. 1 provisional qualifier with a pass of 6.638-seconds at 206.99 mph. Edwards has four wins to his credit this year but has stumbled in the last two events as his Penhall / Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP broke at St. Louis in the semi-finals and was defeated in the first round in Atlanta. If he holds onto the No.1 qualifying position it would be his seventh this season in nine races.“I was surprised that more cars didn’t pick up in the evening session,” said Edwards. “I really thought that Ron Krisher [who uses Edwards’ engines] would have run a 6.64 and I was surprised that [No 2 qualifier] Allen Johnson slowed down.
“I hope that our recent success in qualifying No. 1 is becoming a trend, but even though we’re running real well, it’s not like it was last year. I feel like we’re just a little bit off in a couple places. We’re always looking for a little bit more, trying to tweak a little extra performance out of the car because all the other teams are really close. Tonight’s run was awesome, though, with a .977 60-foot time. I’m real happy with the job my guys did."
Qualifying continues on Saturday for the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series with sessions at Noon and 2:30 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
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Results Friday after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX at Heartland Park Topeka, ninth of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel -- 1. Antron Brown, 3.785 seconds, 321.96 mph; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.849, 316.08; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 3.886, 312.13; 4. Shawn Langdon, 3.887, 312.57; 5. Tony Schumacher, 3.896, 313.58; 6. Steve Torrence, 3.902, 305.91; 7. Cory McClenathan, 3.904, 312.13; 8. David Grubnic, 3.915, 311.92; 9. Larry Dixon, 3.915, 311.05; 10. Morgan Lucas, 3.946, 305.91; 11. Terry McMillen, 3.957, 303.30; 12. Dom Lagana, 3.987, 302.21. Not Qualified: 13. Mike Strasburg, 4.005, 305.56; 14. Luigi Novelli, 4.023, 292.27; 15. Steven Chrisman, 4.168, 282.24; 16. Scott Palmer, 4.302, 202.91; 17. Chris Karamesines, 6.376, 96.72.
Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.095, 308.21; 2. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.103, 307.16; 3. Jeff Arend, Toyota Solara, 4.104, 305.84; 4. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.113, 306.26; 5. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.117, 305.42; 6. John Force, Mustang, 4.118, 307.58; 7. Jim Head, Solara, 4.125, 296.31; 8. Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.133, 303.37; 9. Del Worsham, Solara, 4.173, 303.78; 10. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.195, 299.00; 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.200, 297.61; 12. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.206, 286.92. Not Qualified: 13. Paul Lee, 4.208, 298.60; 14. Bob Tasca III, 4.279, 288.46.
Pro Stock -- 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.638, 207.56; 2. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.656, 207.34; 3. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cobalt, 6.663, 205.04; 4. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.666, 206.64; 5. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.670, 206.39; 6. Shane Gray, GXP, 6.680, 206.51; 7. Jason Line, GXP, 6.682, 205.94; 8. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.684, 206.51; 9. Johnny Gray, GXP, 6.684, 206.23; 10. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.685, 206.10; 11. Rickie Jones, GXP, 6.686, 205.63; 12. Bob Yonke, GXP, 6.692, 206.54. Not Qualified: 13. Rodger Brogdon, 6.693, 204.82; 14. Larry Morgan, 6.694, 205.54; 15. Greg Stanfield, 6.698, 206.01; 16. Kurt Johnson, 6.701, 206.32; 17. Steve Spiess, 6.705, 205.01; 18. Richie Stevens, 6.716, 205.26; 19. Erica Enders, 6.718, 205.01; 20. John Nobile, 6.719, 204.73; 21. Justin Humphreys, 6.721, 204.88; 22. Mark Hogan, 6.833, 188.20; 23. Dave River, 14.905, 54.21.
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