EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK GSA PRO MODS POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND  FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

SUNDAY FINAL NOTEBOOK - HAGAN DOMINATES, ANTRON TRIES TO HIDE AND THE MOST UNLIKELY OF WINNERS PREVAILS

BULLY BEAT DOWN - By the way Matt Hagan acted on Sunday at zMax Dragway, you would have thought this weekend was the third weekend of November, the weekend after his most painful loss ever.

Hagan, driver of the Diehard fuel Funny Car, performed his version of Bully Beat Down at O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals by eliminating the field and then the biggest man on the campus Mike Neff. This was his first national event win of 2011 in three final round appearances. It also somewhat avenged a first round loss at the 2010 AAA NHRA Finals, a race which cost him a certain championship.

Hagan was the No. 1 qualifier, established a new world record, and established low elapsed time every round on race day, walking away with a whopping 147 points. The victory moved him from sixth in the championship points to second, just 22 points out of the point lead.

The fact he was in the point lead when he entered the final event of the 2010 season wasn’t lost on Hagan entering the first race of the 2011 championship sprint.

“This is huge,” said Hagan. “I know in the public light we always say we aren’t supposed to dwell on it in our heart but when you lose like we did last year, it’s a burning deal inside. It gets you to the point you want to jump up and down on the car to the point it breaks in half.

“We put a lot of heart, sweat, blood into this. These boys wrench on this car every day and they put that same kind of emotion into it. To come out here and run like we did was phenomenal.”

Hagan not only won, but made history with his performance in recording the sport’s first three-second run on Friday evening. The run officially became a record on Sunday in the first round of eliminations when he ran a 4.01.

Just how dominant was he? For the first three rounds of competition, Hagan carried nearly .08 on the field in the first round, .02 in the second and nearly .05 into the finals.

In fact, his 4.13 was his slowest run of the day.

“I really can’t believe what happened today, really happened,” Hagan admitted. “I’m just an old country boy from Virginia. The legends have their grandstands and for me, I’m plenty satisfied signing my name on the wall here at zMax. We’re excited and this was a little bit of payback.”

Don’t think for a moment, Hagan was the only one still feeling the stinging sensation of the 2010 championship loss. Hagan said crew chief Tommy Delago was in a mood of his own.

Hagan watched a first from his crew chief when Delago went into the management to make a change following the burnout during the first round. Rarely does Delago second guess a decision.

“Tommy was very focused, he came in and said he wanted to kill everybody,” said Hagan, pointing out the rage was not in a literal sense. “He didn’t want to take any prisoners. He didn’t want to let anyone step in his way. He believes we are at war and today was as close as we could be gladiators.”

Hagan rolled to the starting line and since John Force, the driver who beat him out for the championship was eliminated earlier in the day wasn’t available, redemption at the cost of Neff, worked just as well.

“When you race one of those Force drivers, you’re racing them all,” said Hagan. “They are a team and it’s all underneath one umbrella. When you beat one of them, you beat them all.”

And for Hagan, every racer was under a common umbrella. They sought to keep him from the Funny Car championship and with drivers gunning for him -- he’s already been there and done that with the No. 2 ranking to prove it.

NO MORE MR. UNDER THE RADAR - New Top Fuel points leader Antron Brown said Sunday after winning the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals that he "always liked to be the guy under the radar."

Too late. He's on every dragster driver's radar screen after beating Don Schumacher racing mate Spencer Massey in the final round to earned his third straight victory and fourth in five races in the Aaron's Dream Machine/ Matco Tools Dragster.

It was Brown's first victory at zMAX Dragway but his sixth this year in seven final-round appearances.

Brown said he recognizes he no longer is lurking in the shadows and poised for an ambush but rather that "all those guys are gunning for you and they're going to throw up her runs and knock you down. But we've already been 'gunned at.' These guys are going to bring it, but we're going to bring it, too," he said.

He beat Massey in the final round with a 3.784-second pass at 325.14 mph on zMAX Dragway's 1,000-foot course. Massey, in the FRAM-Prestone Dragster, ran a 4.533, 155.08.

Brown will carry a 16-point advantage over second-place Massey this weekend into the Texas Motorplex, at Ennis, south of Dallas. Five races remain in the playoff that will end Nov. 13 at the Auto Club Finals at Pomona, Calif.

In a surge that resulted in the all-Don Schumacher Racing final round, Brown and Massey helped relegate season-long points leader Del Worsham to third place in the standings. The Al-Anabi Racing / Toyota Dragster dominator stumbled, too, in losing to Vandergriff in Sunday's opening round.

Worsham, who yielded the points lead for the first time since grabbing it with a victory March 13 at Gainesville, Fla., is 38 points off Brown's pace. And Brown knows not to count him out.

"Del, his car's still phenomenal," Brown said. "He just had a mishap."

(Brown's victory Sunday is the 14th in 17 events for a Toyota-sponsored Top Fuel driver.)

Having to beat pesky T.J. Zizzo, upset-master Vandergriff, and top-qualifier Tony Schumacher, the only driver to stop him in the past five events, Brown had to maneuver a minefield. In addition, he said he never knew who was going to pop up with the next stunning elapsed time or speed -- and he wasn't sure what to expect because of changing weather conditions.

"It was a hard-fought weekend. This track just sucked the life out of the race car this weekend," Brown said. "There's still a long way to go in the championship, though, and a lot of hard work to get done."

Although he pointed to several improving teams, such as Bob Vandergriff's and Brandon Bernstein's, Brown said, "We're going to be a strong contender."

That might seem like an understatement, considering his recent achievements. However,

Brown said, "We have been performing extremely well in recent races, but we can't rest easy. We can't leave one crack undone. We have to remain focused, work hard, and exhibit plenty of determination. I truly believe this team can win the world championship. It all starts here in Charlotte.

"We got in a zone right before the Western Swing [this summer]. Now our car's doing what [crew chiefs Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi] want it to do," Brown said. "This year, we've just been hitting it right. Three wins in a row against this type of competition feels amazing. I've just been having a blast out there."

Brown denied Massey his fourth victory of the season and first since the July Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Denver. But with Matt Hagan's Funny Car victory over Mike Neff, the DSR double-down became official. Said Brown of boss Don Schumacher, "He's brilliant to have all the people he has. What makes the best equipment shine are the teams."

And no one shone brighter Sunday in the Top Fuel class than Antron Brown.

SIR, THE PRESS ROOM IS THIS WAY - Kurt Johnson was a little lost in the zMax Dragway media room Sunday during his victory press conference in Charlotte, N.C.

Who could blame him?

Johnson, a veteran Pro Stock standout, had not won an NHRA national event since he captured the title at Brainerd, Minn., in 2008.

This was even more special since it was Johnson’s 40th career win making him only the fifth driver in NHRA Pro Stock history to have 40 or more wins.

Johnson snared the elusive title when Jason Line, the No. 1 qualifier, registered a redlight against him in the final round. Prior to the finals, Johnson beat Buddy Perkinson, Greg Stanfield, and Vincent Nobile.

“It has actually been a struggle the last three years,” said Johnson. “It has been a battle. We have been working on that dyno room and we finally figured out that maybe we need new cars. This car was totally different than anything we have had since 2003. That Cavalier I had in 2003, that thing would go down a dirt road, and we just kind of got off (on) a tangent. We tried to go faster with the horsepower we had, and the chassis has been different and we have (just) been adapting the last few races. The thing has been picking up and we know what to do with the car. It proved itself today.”

Johnson said he has brought out his Pro Stock machine back in June at Bristol, Tenn., and he failed to qualify at that event.

“It was a rough rider there (in Bristol) and we went to Norwalk, Chicago, Denver, Sonoma, and by Brainerd it really started to tunker, and we are real pleased with it. It is good to make a little bit of money when you are not making any money. It (this win) is good to boost the guys working on his car (his dad Warren’s car), and it helps the guys who are working on my car.”

Although Kurt Johnson had experienced a lengthy victory drought, he had sympathy for Line, who did overtake his teammate and reigning Pro Stock world champ Greg Anderson for the points lead.

“We are both are engine builders and we try to be drivers at times, and sometimes that doesn’t work out,” said Johnson, who failed to qualify for the Countdown Playoffs. “I know exactly what he is going through. There is a lot of pressure with these last six races for all the 10 guys. You want to win. He did everything he could (and) to come (minus) 0.03 that is just bad luck. My hat’s off to him, he does a good job.”

Johnson admitted the mental strain the past several years has been tough to deal with for him.

“When your major budget gets cut by a significant amount and you are trying to do it on your own, luckily we had some golden years there that we are surviving on now,” Johnson said. “You think you are going to get sponsorship and nothing ever happens and it is real aggravating. You need to be marketing people more than you need to be drivers and engine builders. It has been tough and this is a big boost.”

There were times in recent years that Johnson thought this win might not ever come.

“This is big, this is No. 40,” Johnson said. “It’s huge. You struggle at 39 for years and 70-plus races and it’s like sh** is it ever going to happen. What is going on? What do I have to do? I have to shoot some tires out.”

KRUSHER IS IN THE HOUSE - Has the Pro Stock Motorcycle class seen just the beginning of "Crusher Krawiec?"

Taking a more pro-active control of his own performance, showing up at zMAX Dragway with a Jersey-grade chip on his shoulder, and with -- in his words -- "trash-talk on the track," Eddie Krawiec sported a tougher, don't-mess-with-me attitude but the same winning style Sunday in capturing the Wally at the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.

It was Krawiec's first victory at zMAX Dragway and stretches his perfect final-round record this season to 3-0. He remains the bike-class points leader as the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series travels to Texas this weekend for the AAA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex at Ennis, near Dallas.

Aiming to make up for his own shortcomings this season and to avenge a red-light loss to Steve Johnson in the inaugural race here in 2008, Krawiec and his Screamin' Eagle / Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson set the tone early. He qualified No. 1 after leading each of the four time-trial sessions, then in eliminations he reset both ends of his own track record with his quarterfinal blast of 6.810 seconds at 196.79 mph -- on a solo run after Hector Arana III's bike broke on the starting line.

Finally, Krawiec let Karen Stoffer know she would get the points lead back if he had anything to say about it. He sent a 6.870-second, 196.42-mph, even though the GEICO Suzuki rider (one of Vance & Hines' engine-prep clients) red-lit by two-hundredths of a second beside him.

But he knew how she must have felt, for he said he has changed his attitude heading into the Countdown, perturbed by his own failings.

"My attitude changed. I felt I gave up a couple of race wins this year. I feel like I've been riding well but I'm riding better than I'm racing," he said. When he knows he has the potential to perform better and doesn't do it, "it wears on you." He said he had struggled at the Christmas tree this season and that the blame is "mixed between the motorcycle and the rider."

But he wasn't going to let "the rider" off the hook. No one, not even himself, is going to escape Krawiec's take-no-prisoners approach. In an effort to prove -- maybe to himself as much as to anyone -- that he belongs at the top of the pack, he said he decided, "I have the bike that can do it, but the rider wasn't always there. Now the rider's going to be there.

"It comes down to I feel I am a champion, I know I am a champion, and I want to be another champion," the 2008 king of the class said. "I don't want anybody to beat me. I don't want to lose. I want to win this whole deal, and that's what I'm here to do," Krawiec said.

"I want to crush everybody. That's the way I look at it," he said. "My goal [coming into the six-event Countdown] was to try to dominate the first four races . . . And I'm not leaving anything on the table."

As for his newfound swagger or posture, Krawiec, of Old Bridge, N.J., said, "That's the Jersey coming out. It's my Jersey attitude."

He indicated that he became annoyed with "a lot of people running their mouths" and adamantly said that his team never sandbags and always has the highest expectations every time the haulers leave the Brownsburg, Ind., race shop.

"W always plan on winning. If you fail it's your own fault. But I don't think anybody's going to stop us," Krawiec said.

"I think we definitely made a statement to all those guys who had something to say in the pits," he said after eliminating Johnson, Arana III, Michael Ray and finally a strong-running Stoffer. "We trash-talk more on the track, because we've got our Wally."

 

QUICK HITS - RACE DAY REPORTING IN RAPID FASHION

TOP FUEL

ROUND ONE

PIZZA . . .WITH EXTRA CHEESE - Hot Rod Fuller gave the suddenly struggling Terry McMillen another disappointment, knocking him out with a 3.815-second, 324-mph blast in the Yas Marina / DiGiorno Pizza Dragster.

An elated Fuller said, "I can almost play with the big boys again! Used to, back in the day, I could run as fast as all these guys. We're a part-time team. And for us to come out and do that -- (3.)81 and 324 -- it shows that we can do, we can win the race."

Then, once again stirring up his one-sided rivalry with seven-time champion Tony Schumacher, Fuller said, "Hopefully my buddy Schumacher wins [and reaches] the next round and I can get him in a headlock."

Four pairings later he got his wish, as Schumacher beat Morgan Lucas in a milestone run.

DRAWS TEAMMATE - Dave Grubnic outlasted Terry McMillen and Bob Vandergriff to make the Countdown field at No. 10. He qualified No. 10, as well, for this first race of the playoffs. And his reward? Racing teammate Doug Kalitta. "The Kalitta Air car's going on," the winner said, "and hopefully we'll have something for 'em."

GOOD ENOUGH BUT WANTING BETTER - Antron Brown, winner at three of the previous four events, bested an upset-minded T.J. Zizzo in the opening round. But already he noticed that the crew chiefs are going to have their hands full.

"The track is robbing the car of whatever it's got. It's just really tight out there," Brown said. "We'll go back. Mark and Brian (crew chiefs Oswald and Corradi) are going to work on it. It was good enough to get that round -- (3.)82's good out there. We'll go back and dig deep. We've got to work hard, because everybody's at the best of their game right now."

DIXON ROLLS - Larry Dixon knew Shawn Langdon was going to throw everything he had at him and his Al-Anabi / Toyota Dragster that methodically had churned out 3.7s all weekend. Dixon didn't disappoint the crowd with an other 3.7-second run -- 3.790, to be exact. But Langdon and the Lucas Oil / Speedco Dragster went away disappointed with his third straight Round 1 loss.

HISTORY-MAKING CONTINUES - In eliminating Morgan Lucas, Tony Schumacher recorded the fastest pass in Top Fuel history during the 1,000-foot era -- a 327.90-mph speed. His 3.775-second elapsed time was quickest of the round. But for once, the normally talkative Schumacher seemed a bit speechless.

"That's good," he said, almost surprised. "I got to push the pedal down. I got to hold on. Mike Green and the Army team are doing a fantastic job," he said, quickly focusing on his opponent instead of himself.

"There's no car easy anymore. These guys are all bad to the bone. Morgan was No. 16, but he's a much better car than what his 16th spot was. You just can't take him lightly. Those guys are great."

In qualifying, Don Schumacher Racing mate Matt Hagan made the quickest run in Funny Car history, so this Top Fuel run underscored the DSR dominance. Team owner Don Schumacher praised the all-concrete racetrack, thanking facility owner Bruton Smith and his GM son Marcus Smith. He said the big numbers this weekend are "a testament to what they created."

ANOTHER 327 'DREAM' - Spencer Massey came along right after Tony Schumacher and flexed some more DSR muscle with his  3.779-second pass at 327.74 mph that sent Dom Lagana home early. The always-animated Massey hopped from his FRAM-Prestone Dragster and was giddy about the run -- despite the fact he ran those eye-popping numbers and wasn't even the quickest and fastest driver on his own team.

He said it certainly is a treat "to drive a Top Fuel car, going over 327 miles an hour. That's definitely living a dream. But what about that FRAM car? Second-fastest pass in history, because I just watched the fastest pass in front of me by Tony Schumacher! We got the round-win. We just need to worry about three more. We have [a] Kalitta car to worry about and more importantly, [an] Al-Anabi car. It's a big one."

Massey's next foe will be Doug Kalitta.

Top Fuel veteran racer Doug Herbert, on the public-address system as analyst with Bob Frey, wondered aloud "what that [speed] would correlate to in the quarter-mile. It'd have to be close to 340 miles an hour."  Replied Frey, "It is spooky. Of course, the engine's got to live for that extra 320 feet."

DAVID BEATS GOLIATH . . . AGAIN - No. 13 qualifier Bob Vandergriff is the Top Fuel class' latest giant killer. After knocking aside Tony Schumacher in the opening round of the U.S. Nationals in the previous race, Vandergriff scored the upset of the round Sunday, eliminating No.4 starter and points leader Del Worsham and his feared Al-Anabi / Toyota Dragster with a 3.853-second, 320.28-mph shot. Vandergriff, driver of the Rob Flynn-tuned C&J Energy Services Dragster, said, "We've got a great-running race car right now. Rob Flynn and the guys are doing a great job. I just wish I had him earlier in the year. We would be in that Countdown, trying to win the championship right now. It's great for our team. That's the kind of performance we expect." Asked if he feels like he's in a nothing-to-lose position. "Every run. We just want to ruin everybody's day out here."

Quipped announcer Bob Frey, "And he used to be such a nice, warm, fuzzy guy. Now he just wants to make everybody's life miserable." Piped up Herbert, "Yeah, how about that? Hey, that's not very nice. Heh-heh-heh."

EXCELLENT BUT OVERSHADOWED - Copart Dragster driver Brandon Bernstein, who ran a really strong 3.811-second, 322.65-mph pass to qualify No. 6 but got a bit lost in the hype about Tony Schumacher's, Spencer Massey's, and Larry Dixon's runs that crept close to the national record, showed consistency Sunday morning. He posted a 3.815, 322.65 in defeating Clay Millican. Afterward, he said of the astonishing string of stout numbers, "It's amazing. It's hardball out here! There are too many 3.77s out here! It's ridiculous!"

 LANGDON LAMENTS - Shawn Langdon had no excuses and no apologies for why he and the Lucas Oil / Speedco Dragster didn't make it out of the first round, didn't get past Larry Dixon.

He said, "We kind of set ourselves up. We ran one of the quickest runs we've had all season, but the air and track are so good, guys are setting records. It's record-setting conditions at this track,.

"We didn't make a bad run first round. It's one of the fastest mph we've ever run. We just need to figure something out, because we found out that we're further behind than we thought we were," Langdon said.

"It's not a good way to start the Countdown, but you are running the defending champ. We kept him honest," he said. "If they messed up at all, we were winning that race."

MAKING IMPROVEMENTS - Morgan Lucas, in the GEICO / Lucas Oil Dragster, didn’t beat Tony Schumacher in the opening round, but at least he share the TV screen with him at the end of the run. That was Lucas' consolation Sunday afternoon. "We went down the track, kept them honest and finished in the same frame on the TV show," Lucas said.

In his defense, few had the horsepower to trump Schumacher's monster 3.775-second, 327.90-mph run.

"We anticipated they would try to run a 3.70 of some sort," Lucas said after running 3.869, 314.90. "We had to be realistic. We've never run that fast. We went up there and made some pretty good-sized moves from Saturday. We made the motor happier. The guys have done a great job this weekend. Qualifying better might have put us in a little better position, but we're making gains every weekend."

A FEW POSITIVES - Terry McMillen didn’t have the weekend he wanted at zMAX Dragway, but he indicated it wasn't a total disappointment. He lost in Round 1 to Hot Rod Fuller, and afterward he said, "We brought a knife to a gunfight this morning. The only good news is that we made a decent pass and brought back a happy motor. We made it down the track three out of the five times – all with solid passes in the 3.80s. I think we have something to work with in Dallas next week."  McMillen will have his Amalie Oil / UNOH / Motor State Distributing Dragster on special display Thursday at the 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth.

QUARTER-FINALS

WHO'S MISERABLE NOW? - A funny thing happened on the way to making Antron Brown's day miserable. Bob Vandergriff, who said that was his intention in the C& J Energy Services entry that's nicknamed "The Silver Bullet," was giving the higher-qualified Brown a run for his money. Brown started having mechanical woes toward the top end of the track but took the victory just the same with a wounded but strong 3.830 seconds at 320.66 mph to Vandergriff's 3.862, 316.45.

So Brown had a mess to deal with, but his misery came only partly from VandergrifF.

"It looks like it pushed the plug out," Brown said, addressing the cause of the clean-up job for the Safety Safari that cost him 10 valuable points. "You do that when you hit a little bump and the car gets loosened up. This is drag racing. You've got to run hard out here. I mean, we had a great race against Vandergriff, and that was a close race. This is the Countdown."

Announcer Alan Rinehart asked him to look ahead at which driver he might face in the semifinal: Tony Schumacher or Hot Rod Fuller. "I can't cheer for somebody else to get beat. The better car's going to win," he said. "My teammate's car is running on mean right now. Hot Rod's got his work cut out for him." Brown said he'd race whoever was in the next lane: "We want to race them hard, and that's what the truth is."

TIPS THE BALANCE - Larry Dixon denied Brandon Bernstein a second straight trip to the semifinals with a 3.816-second elapsed time at 322.96 mph. Bernstein challenged with a 3.827, 322.65. Dixon leads their even-handed rivalry 20-18.

GROUNDED - Spencer Massey grounded Air Kalitta with a 3.815 that gave him lane choice in the semifinal against Larry Dixon by one-thousandth  of a second. Massey's 3.815, 316.60 edged Doug Kalitta's 3.865, 315.93.

DSR CLOUT - Tony Schumacher didn't say a word about Hot Rod Fuller after beating him with a 3.798-second pass that set low E.T, for the round. (After all, he has beaten Fuller 22 times in their 30 meetings.) The U.S. Army driver instead concentrated on the notion of facing DSR mate Antron Brown and the overall semifinal picture.

Schumacher marveled at a semifinal lineup featuring "three DSR cars and Dixon." Said the top qualifier, "Let's face it, man --the top five cars are running almost identical. It's just a monster battle. Whoever leaves with the points lead here is going to go to the next race, with five left, and have massive, massive respect. You can't ask for any more than [what has happened] today."

SEMI-FINALS

IT'S OFFICIAL: ALL DSR FINAL - In a duel between the Nos. 2 and 3 qualifiers, No. 2 Spencer Massey ensured that the final would be an all-Don Schumacher Racing affair with his victory over Larry Dixon. The later Funny Car semifinal results meant DSR would have a chance to double-down at this race.

"I love racing Tony. I love racing Antron," Massey said after running a 3.786 at 324 mph, shrugging off the question of which teammate he would prefer to run in the final. Either way, he sounded ready to go for it.

"It's major pressure. It's the Countdown. It's awesome. What better could you get than that?" Massey said.

BROWN TO TAKE ON MASSEY - Antron Brown moved into his fourth final round in five races with a four-thousandth-of-a-second victory margin over top qualifier and record-setting Tony Schumacher. It was the seventh time Brown has defeated the U.S. Army Dragster driver this season, including in the final rounds at Atlanta, Sonoma, and Brainerd.

Said Schumacher, who remains winless this season, "We should've run a (3.)70. We had a hole out. It's unfortunate, because we had the car to beat. We were going to go for the world record in the final round."

FINALS

BROWN RULES - In the all-Don Schumacher Racing final round, new points leader Antron Brown earned his fourth victory in five races in the Aaron's Dream Machine/ Matco Tools Dragster. He beat FRAM-Prestone Dragster driver Spencer Massey, who was seeking his fourth victory of the year and his first since his triumph in July at Denver. It was Brown's first victory at zMAX Dragway, making DSR's double-down performance in the nitro classes here official. He did it with a 3.784-second pass at 325 mph to Massey's 4.533, 145.08.

Massey exploded the engine and put oil on the track, but since he had a freebie didn't incur a point or monetary fine.

FUNNY CAR

ROUND ONE

BECKMAN GETS SPEED RECORD – Jack Beckman, in his Don Schumacher Racing machine, clocked a solid 4.092-second run at 316.01 mph run to defeat Paul Lee who slowed to an 8.312-second run.

Beckman’s mph was crucial because it backed up his national record 318.92 mph run during qualifying.

“Yeah it is cool,” said Beckman about having the national record. “It is a piece of paper but it says you are the fastest in the quartermile and 1,000 foot and I love that. I think we are well on our way today.”

HEAD’S UPSET WIN IS COSTLY – Veteran racer Jim Head lived to race another round, but it came at an expense. Head clocked a 4.154-second time at 295.46 mph to get past Melanie Troxel, who got out of the groove and smoked the tires.

“We really fouled up,” Head said. “We changed our combination at Indy, and thought we were getting somewhere, but we haven’t got much form here.”

Head has major engine problems and oiled down the shutdown area.

HAGAN ROARS TO VICTORY – Matt Hagan has been making history all week. During qualifying he became the first nitro Funny Car to clock a 3-second run at 1,000-feet with a 3.995-second lap that made him the No. 1 qualifier.

Hagan was just as strong in the opening round clocking a 4.018-second run at an amazing 322.27 mph. Since Hagan ran faster than 4.035 seconds, he backed up his national record time of 3.995 seconds. If Hagan goes 319.04 mph or quicker he will backup his 322.27 record mph run.

“That was huge, huge, huge,” Hagan said about the win. “It is just tremendous to be able to sit in a race car and know you can go up there and do that. What a show for the fans and what a great ride for me. I can’t say enough about my guys putting this thing together. I love them like brothers. We just need to go back up there and hopefully go more rounds.”

NEFF ESCAPES WITH VICTORY – Mike Neff dodged an upset in first-round as he pedaled the John Force Racing Funny Car, to a 4.490-second lap at 255.92 mph to beat Tony Pedregon. Pedregon left the line first, but lost traction early and slowed to 4.973 seconds.

“I’m disappointed that thing smoked the tires again,” Neff said. “I thought I backed it off. You see a run like Matt (Hagan) in front of you, and you would figure the track would take about anything. I got something a little goofy in there, so I have to get it straightened out for the next round.”

Neff improved his career record to 9-7 against Tony Pedregon.

AREND KNOCKS OUT CAPPS – Through most of the regular season, Jeff Arend was having success. That changed of late, but Arend, in his DHL Solara, turned on the win light with a 4.103-second run to upset Ron Capps, who came in at 4.999 seconds.

Capps only made it about 200 feet off the starting line before smoking the tires.

“Ron is always a tough car,” said Arend, who drives for Kalitta Motorsports. “It was a tough race and our DHL team is doing great and we got the first round down in the Countdown.”

GRAY STUNS FORCE – Johnny Gray finished 11th in the regular-season point standings and just missed the chance to run in the Countdown Playoffs.

Gray, however, is playing spoiler as he knocked out reigning world champ John Force.

Gray had a 4.354-second time at 238.43 mph to beat Force who slowed to 5.751 seconds after going up in smoke early in the left lane. Gray nearly hit the wall at the end of his run, but was able to straighten his Service Central Funny Car out.

“I actually thought there for a second I won because I saw debris coming off the side of his car,” Force said. “They said if it is a cone against the wall, that doesn’t count.”

WILKERSON GETS BIG WIN – Tim Wilkerson made a late-season charge to get into the Countdown and he kept charging in round one as he beat Bob Tasca III. Wilkerson came in at 4.121 seconds at 306.88 mph to defeat Tasca’s 5.171-second lap that saw him smoke the tires.

Unlike Force, Wilkerson was able to keep from smoking tires in the left lane.

CRUZ ELIMINATES HIGHT – In a key match-up of drivers in the top five in the point standings, Cruz Pedregon scored the big win over Robert Hight.

Cruz only came in at 4.329 seconds, but was able to take advantage of the fact Hight smoked the tires early.

“The track is good obviously and there is one guy out here who made a good run, and makes everybody else look bad, but we are moving on,” Pedregon said. “We are happy (the sun is coming out). We are going to race the track, but I would like to see the track slow down a little bit until we figure it out. It’s nice to get that round win. I think we got (Matt) Hagan in the next round, so hopefully we can get it together.”

QUARTER-FINALS

GRAY KEEPS FINDING A WAY – Johnny Gray’s, Service Central Funny Car, hasn’t run well in eliminations, but he keeps finding a way to get the win light.

Gray smoked the tires late and held on for the win at 5.055-seconds at 255.82 mph. Jim Head, who smoked the tires early, tried to run Gray down, but ran out of track as he came in at 5.238 seconds.

“They changed the track on us,” Gray said. “I do not what is going on, but they are going to fix it and they are going to surprise me, and give me a real good race car, and then I will probably do something stupid. We will see what happens here.”

HAGAN REMAINS STOUT – Matt Hagan has a hot rod all weekend, and it is still lightning fast. Hagan came across the finish line at 4.054 seconds at 316.38 mph to defeat Cruz Pedregon. Pedregon had a 4.108-second lap in the loss.

“Pressure is here all the time, whether it is running good or bad,” Hagan said. “We all have to perform and do our job out there. This Diehard car, it just doesn’t get any better right now. These guys are really working hard and I’m proud to be a part of this thing.”

NEFF FINDS HIS GROVE – Mike Neff didn’t have a great run in the first round, but he found the right tuneup in round two against Tim Wilkerson.

Neff clocked a 4.076-second lap at 312.35 mph to beat Wilkerson’s 4.133-second run.

“I do not know if it is ever fixed, but we definitely got it to go down the track that time,” Neff said. “It was too over center (Saturday) and even the first run (Sunday). I was actually afraid it was going to be too slow. We will take it. We definitely needed to get a good run in there, and we will see how this next one goes.”

BECKMAN MAKES IT THREE FOR DSR - Jack Beckman, in his Don Schumacher Racing machine, joined his Don Schumacher Racing teammates Gray and Hagan in the semis by defeating Jeff Arend in the second round.

Beckman had a solid 4.083-second run at 318.99 mph to beat Arend, who slowed to 5.223 seconds.

Beckman will now meet Hagan in the semifinals.

“In the staging lanes, I saw Hagan walk over to that driver’s porta-john, and it was really tempting to push that thing over door side down. He’s a big dude, he would have got out, smelled bad, and came after me. I do not know, we are pretty close to him. That car (Hagan’s car) has been amazing all weekend, but right now, the Valvoline car does hold the speed record. I would like to take that (318.99 mph) into the final round, which means we have got to get past that Diehard car in the next one.”

SEMI-FINALS

THREE PLUS ONE = ONE AGAINST ONE - The semi-finals featured three DSR Funny Cars and the lone JFR driver remaining in competition.

Mike Neff, of the Force camp, grabbed his berth in the finals by outrunning Johnny Gray by a 4.08 to 4.11 margin.

Hagan continued his blistering path to the finals by nailing the third consecutive low elapsed time of the event, recording a 4.032, 318.69 to outrun Jack Beckman, who turned in a 4.090.

“It’s just great to go to the final and do everything right on the starting line,” said Hagan. “We have one more shot at winning a race and you just don’t want to lose because these guys work so hard. That was a huge win for us.”

Neff holds a 3-to-1 head-to-head record in races against Hagan.

FINAL

MR. DOMINANT WINS IT ALL - Matt Hagan began his week of domination Friday night when he became the first Funny Car driver in NHRA history to make a three-second run. After taking the No. 1 qualifier with a 3.995-second run, Hagan then backed up that pass with a first round win Sunday at 4.018 seconds to secure the national record and the 20 bonus points that come with it. Hagan then powered his Die Hard Dodge Charger past points leader Mike Neff in the final round with a run of 4.130 seconds at 301.07 mph to secure his fourth career win and move up to the second spot in the point standings, just 22 points behind Neff.

“It’s something else to sit in a race car when it has that kind of potential,” said Hagan. “This is the third national record we’ve set with this car and that’s phenomenal to me. To have a group of guys around you like (crew chief) Tommy DeLago, (assistant crew chief) Glen Huszar, and all the guys who beat this thing up and put it back together is phenomenal. It’s truly a fairy tale deal to go out there, set the record and win the race.”

 

PRO STOCK

ROUND ONE

GRAY SHOCKS ANDERSON – Shane Gray has had a roller-coaster season in Pro Stock, but he did come up with a huge win Sunday. Gray stunned reigning world champion Greg Anderson. Gray clocked a 6.607-second run at 209.01 mph to beat Anderson’s 6.571 seconds at 205.47 mph. Anderson’s motor broke in high gear right near the end of the run.

“I certainly didn’t think we had a chance when we woke up this morning,” Gray said. “Greg is a great friend of mine, and I’m sorry for the bad luck for him and I’m happy for the good luck for Service Central.”

LINE KEEPS HIS COOL – Jason Line, the No. 1 qualifier, watched as his Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson was upset in the first round. Line, however, was all business on the track as he clocked a solid 6.524-second run to race past V. Gaines who slowed to 11.339 seconds.

“It definitely puts more pressure,” Line said. “When you lose one horse, you want to make sure the other one stays in. It is a lot of pressure, actually. I do not know what happened and I feel bad for him (Anderson) and the rest of our guys. He has a great hot rod and that is a tough way to lose. At the same time, I have to focus on our car and we managed to turn the win light on.”

KENT GETS HISTORIC WIN – Steve Kent will remember this race the rest of his life. The veteran Sportsman racer claimed his inaugural round win when he beat Ronnie Humphrey in round one.

Kent had a 6.569-second lap at 210.11 mph to roar past Humphrey’s 6.586 seconds.

“I’m glad to have my first win under my belt,” Kent said. “I hope I can do well for my team and my sponsors. It’s a rush and this a milestone I needed to get to. The first one is always the best one.”

STANFIELD STOPS ALLEN JOHNSON – Allen Johnson’s hopes of making a run at winning the Pro Stock world championship took a serious hit Sunday.

Greg Stanfield upset Johnson with a 6.592-second run at 209.39 mph. Johnson shook hard right off the line and gave up on the run.

“Allen is good racer over there and I do not know what happened to him,” Stanfield said. “We are struggling out here, man. Hopefully we can figure out what is wrong with this (Nitro) Fish car. It needs to run a lot better than what it is.”

ENDERS MOVES ON – Erica Enders has been on the brink of making NHRA history all season by becoming the first woman to win a Pro Stock national event. She kept that dream alive in the first round.

Enders knocked out legendary Warren Johnson. Enders came in at 6.568 seconds at 210.80 mph to beat Johnson’s 6.617-second effort.

“I do not really know if it is better or worse (being the first to run),” Enders said. “Sometimes it is better, but (Sunday) not so great. The thing is we put the win light on in our lane. That’s one more win in our column.”

ROOKIE NOBILE WINS –Vincent Nobile has had a great rookie season in Pro Stock this year. The youngster flexed his muscles in round one as he led from start to finish to beat Larry Morgan. Nobile came in at 6.558 seconds to Morgan’s 6.748-second run.

KJ UPENDS PERKINSON – Kurt Johnson has had a tough season, but he clocked an impressive 6.561-second lap at 210.21 mph to defeat Perkinson’s 6.608-second lap.

EDWARDS ADVANCES – Mike Edwards, the 2009 Pro Stock world champ, moved on to round two by defeating Rodger Brogdon in the first round.

Edwards came in at 6.585 seconds to Brogdon’s 6.669 second run.

QUARTER-FINALS

KJ FINDS SOME OLD MAGIC – Kurt Johnson has struggled this season and he didn’t earn a bid into the Countdown Playoffs, but the veteran driver is having a great race.

Johnson advanced to the semifinals by defeating Greg Stanfield. Johnson clocked a 6.579-second run at 209.82 mph. Stanfield had a losing lap of at 6.597 seconds.

“We have been struggling for a couple of years and everybody knows that,” Johnson said. “We finally got some new cars, and we always felt we had the horsepower, and it just feels good. I’m just trying to drive the best that I can. When you line up against Stanfield he is double 0 something every time. We are just doing the best we can out here and we love what we have to work with.”

KENT WINS AGAIN – Before Sunday, Steve Kent had never won an elimination round in NHRA’s Pro Stock class. Now, he has two wins.

Steve Kent stunned Mike Edwards, the 2009 world champion, in round two. Kent clocked a 6.556-second time at 210.14 mph. Edwards slowed to 6.895-seconds after his car had a big wiggle at the top end of the track.

NOBILE MOVES ON – Rookie Vincent Nobile had another consistent run, clocking a 6.575-second run to get past Gray’s 6.594-second run.

“I’m having a lot of fun out here, but this is the Countdown and you have to count points because this is where it all counts,” Nobile said. “I’m very happy about (being in the semifinals).”

LINE ELIMINATES ENDERS – Jason Line has been strong all day and he won off the line in the second round when Erica Enders registered a redlight.

Line still clocked a 6.525-second time at 212.09 mph, compared to Enders’ 6.551-second elapsed time.

“I didn’t see the redlight,” Line said. “I looked over once in high gear and saw she was ahead of me and I was hoping she went red. I was thinking man what did I do? I have such a great car right now and it is my job to let the clutch out on time. I was watching here and I probably should not have been. I should have watched where I was going, going 212 mph. I’m happy to carry the banner for our Summit team right now. It was a great run and a great job by our guys.”

SEMI-FINALS

ONE SURPRISE, ONE NON-SURPRISE – The semi-finals had the makings of the most unlikely final round until Jason Line spoiled it.

Line knocked off a surprising and quicker-reacting Steve Kent to take the stripe by .01 en route to scoring his 54th career final round berth.

The unlikely finalist is Kurt Johnson, who defeated Vincent Nobile, to reach his first final round since the 2009 AAA NHRA Finals.

FINAL

CALL HIM MR. 40 - A little over three years has elapsed since his last race win, but this didn't deter Kurt Johnson as he held off Jason Line to get the win. Johnson powered his Johnson Racing Chevy Cobalt to a 6.545 at 210.97 past points leader Line to get his 40th career win.

“It’s been a real battle and we finally figured out that maybe we needed a new car,” said Johnson. “I brought this car out in Bristol and didn’t qualify, but we’ve been adapting and it really started to thunder in Brainerd. It’s totally different than anything we’ve had since about 2003, but I think we know what to do with it now and it’s proved itself today.”

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

ROUND ONE

FIGHTING WORDS - AND NUMBERS - It's unclear what -- or who -- made Eddie Krawiec so angry, but he answered any critics on the track with a blistering 6.836-second, 196.33-mph statement. Then he issued a verbal challenge to any doubters of him and his Screamin' Eagle / Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.

The points leader and No. 1 qualifier called it a mind-boggling run and said, "They'd sure better be mind-boggled all right there with that. You know what? This Screamin' Eagle team came out here -- we're serious. We're trying to prove a point. We're showing everybody. A lot of people are talking junk, having something real bad to say, whatever. Come on over to our trailer and say it to our faces. Let's go. We're proving it on the track, not in the pits."

QUITE THE MAVERICK - GEICO Suzuki racer Karen Stoffer followed Krawiec's blast with low elapsed time of the weekend, a 6.825-second, 195.79-mph performance. And she was a bit of a maverick with . . . "Maverick," her favorite motor.

"We went back to our A program we had at the beginning of the year. Vance & Hines has given us some good power. We figured out and tweaked the motor just right. I've got to do my job on the GEICO Powersports bike and continue to turn on the win light for them."

DOUBLE WHAMMY - For the second straight race, Hector Arana III advanced to quarterfinals past Angie Smith. At Indianapolis, she cut a .009 light, but Sunday at zMAX Dragway, she was a little too eager at the starting line. She red-lit by eight-thousandths of a second, disqualifying herself.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE - Andrew Hines had dropped out in the first round of eliminations at four of the previous six races, but the Screamin' Eagle / Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson racer advanced to quarterfinals over Jerry Savoie with a 6.911-second, 193.65. Hines is 2-0 against the rookie.

.00 - OH-OH! - A string of .00 reaction times spiced the third, fourth, and fifth pairings of the class' first round of eliminations. Jim Underdahl, riding the Suzuki Extended protection entry, started things with a .005 light en route to a winning 6.945-second elapsed time in beating Michael Phillips. It was the third straight Round 1 loss for Phillips.

Next, in a battle of Buells, Shawn Gann, with his outstanding .008 light, wasn't even as quick off the line as opponent Chip Ellis, who had a .005 reaction time. Gann won nevertheless with a 6.918 to Ellis' 6.942.

QUICK LIGHT - GOOD NIGHT, HECTOR - Michael Ray, the No. 13 qualifier, upset Countdown contender and No. 4 qualifier Hector Arana, thanks to a .009 launch.

MATT SMITH PREVAILS - Matt Smith, who tuned Ray for his coup over Arana, won the battle of champions to close the first round of bike eliminations. Smith, the No. 2 starter, got the better of reigning champion LE Tonglet, 6.837, 193.05 to 6.953, 186.56. It was Smith's first victory over Tonglet in five tries. Following qualifying Saturday, Smith joked, referring to Tonglet's Nitro Fish sponsorship, that he was "going fishing" Sunday and hoping to catch a fish. He did, courtesy of a slightly better reaction time (.022 to .029).

UPSET WITH HERSELF - Angie Smith said after she red-lit against Hector Arana III, "I went up there and just pushed it too much. I'm just really mad at myself right now. I only went a (6).93, but a red light is the one thing that probably p---es me off, because I'm really good on the tree and I never want to be on that side in case something happens to the other person. But, I did it. I guess we'll have to regroup and go from there. I'll get over it."

QUARTER-FINALS

RAY OF HOPE - Michael Ray, the No. 13 qualifier, took advantage of No. 5 Shawn Gann's red-light foul to reach his first semifinal round in 13 career races. "Oh, man. I just can't say enough about Godspeed Racing and Matt Smith giving me this awesome bike. This is the Countdown. You've got to be on your game. It's Sunday. I'm so speechless right now," Ray, of New Braunfels, Texas, said. "I watched John Myers and Dave Schultz do this my whole life since I was a little guy. This is just so awesome right now."

SEEING MORE RED - Andrew Hines followed with an other red light, by six-thousandths of a second, allowing Matt Smith an automatic trip to the semifinal. Hines had gotten the better of Smith 19 times in their previous 25 meetings. Smith had a strong showing anyway, 6.864-second elapsed time at 191.89 mph, to make the semifinals for the first time in five races. It was Hines' second consecutive red-light exit -- and those have been his only two foul-outs of the season.

"We've got the Fan Bike here this weekend, and we want to thank all the fans for supporting us. Hope you’re having a good ride," Smith said. "We've got a pretty good bike." He encouraged fans to come by his pit and sign the bike and get a semifinal rush. 'Come by, sign your name and we'll see what happens," he said.

KRAWIEC SHINES - Hector Arana III, shooting for back-to-back event victories after winning the U.S. Nationals and another reason to earn more rookie-of-the-year votes, could not get his bike to start for his match-up with Eddie Krawiec. So Krawiec got to make a solo pass. He used the opportunity to record a 6.810-second pass, the fourth quickest in Pro Stock Motorcycle class history. His 196.79-mph speed from the Screamin' Eagle / Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson was fastest of the weekend, as well, and extended his track speed mark.

CONSISTENCY PAYING OFF - Karen Stoffer, whose 6.825-second pass in the previous round tied for eighth-best in class history, nearly equaled it with a 6.830-second clocking at 195.82 that earned her lane choice against Matt Smith in the semifinal. Stoffer has advanced to the semifinals or better at six of the season's 11 bike events. It guaranteed the Gardnerville, Nev., racer her best performance since she won in July at Denver.

NOT THE BEST START - LE Tonglet, who acknowledged that his quarterfinal loss to Matt Smith "wasn't a good way to start the Countdown," said his Nitro Fish / Tonglet Racing Suzuki "just isn't running like it has been. The weekend didn't get off to a good start, and it got worse from there." Tonglet won this race last season as part of his march to the championship.

BAD LUCK, DOUBLED - Both Lucas Oil Buells had mechanical troubles, leaving Hector Arana II with a headache and his father, Hector, scratching his head.
 
The younger rider's bike wouldn't fire at the starting line for his quarterfinal run against eventual winner Eddie Krawiec , but it seemed to have no problem starting once it got back to the pit.

"You kind of feel sick," he said. "You've got all the adrenaline going, and then it's not starting, so you're rushing. It's still not starting, and you have the hope that it's going to start. When it doesn't start, you've got to walk away. Your body starts to shake because you've got all this adrenaline now because you didn't use it going down the track. The headache sets in.

"We were off on the tune-up, but I was hoping to put a whooping on him," the 22-year-old said. "I was going to do my best on the Tree and try to run the best number."

His father's bike gave out before that, against Michael Ray in the opening round, but it immediately slowed and coasted to a stop. The elder Arana said he wasn't sure what happened. "It just quit on me," he said.

SEMI-FINALS

STILL CHARGED UP - Eddie Krawiec heard the question, whether after beating semifinalist Michael Ray he'll be able to close the deal against Karen Stoffer in the final round. And he showed the same passion he did in addressing his detractors earlier in the day.

"I sure will," he promised.

"This Screamin' Eagle / Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson's running awesome. Vance & Hines horsepower going to the final -- both categories of bikes," he said, referring to Karen Stoffer's Suzuki.

"We're happy to be out here having fun. I'm trying to defend the points lead. I don't want to give it up. All I want to do is go rounds and see win lights. That's my objective here," Krawiec said.

Ray was first off the starting line with a .022-second reaction time to Krawiec's .082, but the more experienced Harley-Davidson rider overpowered him, winning with a 6.813-second elapsed time at 196.76 mph to Ray's 6.944, 189.95.

BACK IN THE FINAL - Karen Stoffer, the No. 3 qualifier, took the lead at about the first timing block and powered past No. 2 qualifier Matt Smith to reach her first final since the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Denver. She turned in a 6.857-second, 194.83-mph performance, while Smith countered with 6.911, 189.52.

"We do have the bike [that's capable of winning]. I think Gary (her husband and crew chief, Gary Stoffer) knows which way to go now to get it down to an .81 or .80 to beat this guy over here in the Screamin' Eagle," she said. "I'm proud of our team, proud we pulled it off together, got ready for the Countdown. We struggled toward the end of the regular season . . . So I'm glad were in the final here in Charlotte."

FINAL

THE EAGLE SCREAMS - Eddie Krawiec won for the first time at zMAX Dragway, defeating Karen Stoffer with a 6.870-second elapsed time at 196.42 mph on the Screamin'-Eagle / Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. Stoffer, aboard the GEICO Suzuki, fouled out by two-hundredths of a second and threw away a 6.888, 194.74 effort.

 

 

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - AN OVERCAST DAY OF RED-HOT RACING

MILLICAN RUSHED TO HOSPITAL - Clay Millican made the Top Fuel field at No. 11, but before he even could think about going against Brandon Bernstein in Sunday's opening round of eliminations, he had to make a trip to the hospital. After his final qualifying run, a foreign object -- a piece of metal -- became lodged in his eye.

Doctors were able to extract the metal and Millican was treated and released. He is expected to be fine for Sunday's elimination.

UP TO THE CHALLENGE - It was only a matter of time.

Like Popeye after gulping his empowering can full of spinach, Tony Schumacher, in the U.S. Army Dragster, roared back to take control. Somehow NHRA fans have come to expect it.

Too often this season Schumacher was like Wile E. Coyote to dominator Del Worsham or even his own Don Schumacher Racing mates Antron Brown and Spencer Massey, throwing everything at those Road Runners but missing the target.

Even at the U.S. Nationals, where eight-time winner Schumacher -- who's winless this season -- lost in the first round, and reporters gathered around him. They didn't necessarily want to see him fall on his sword. Instead, they almost looked at him with pity.

But standing in the back of the media room that day in Indianapolis was his biggest supporter -- not his dad, not an Army general, not even one of the rank-and-file soldiers he loves to praise. His wife, Cara, whispered to one reporter, "My husband loves adversity. He loves rising to a challenge. He thrives on it. He has that bounce-back personality."

Cara Schumacher called it, and Saturday's final qualifying session for the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C., proved it.

With his final chance to lead the field in this first event of the six-race Countdown, Tony Schumacher laid down the third-quickest pass in Top Fuel history. He came within one-thousandth of a second of taking back the national elapsed-time record from Larry Dixon, stunning the crowd with his 3.771-second pass at 325.92 mph on the 1,000-foot course.

It knocked Dixon from the perch he had through three qualifying sessions and set both ends of the track record, signaling that Schumacher still is in fighting mode. Call it "the shot heard 'round the drag-racing world," this Countdown salvo, this declaration of drag-racing war from the South's Concord: Concord, N.C.

Referring to Saturday's weather and track conditions, Schumacher said, "Most of the crew chiefs were just shaking their heads: We can't do any more. We've got it turned up all the way."

He said Mike Green, his crew chief, was under pressure, and it's unclear if Green relishes that as much as Schumacher does, but he responded the same way. "You're fifth and you've got a great race car. Dixon's out there running 70s. You've got to do it," Schumacher said.

They did it, pulled out all the stops, and registered the same E.T. that was the record before Dixon beat it in Feb. 27 at Pomona by a mere thousandth of a second.

What's more, he did it with a cylinder out and the engine threatening to explode and splatter oil on the track in a move that would have cost precious points.

"I shut the car off 25 feet early, Schumacher said. "It put a hole out [and made] a pretty hard move. I clicked it off and it still ran an outstanding number. It was better than blowing up and oiling the track down and not being No. 1."

He had seen his own act like that at Indianapolis and wanted none of that again.

"We lost more points in Indy, oiling the track and getting beat in the first round. We can't do that," he said. "We've got to go out and make good, clean runs." Thanks to the crew installing new fuel and electronics systems in the dragster this past week, Schumacher did that.

He said if he hadn't killed the motor early, he "might have picked up a thousandth." He explained that "just because I lifted doesn't mean the car shut off. It's still got fuel. You lose more miles an hour than elapsed time when you shut off."

The Army Dragster driver held off Massey, as well, for the upset-minded FRAM-Prestone Dragster rival also recorded a 3.771-second E.T. but couldn't match Schumacher's speed. With his 324.98, Massey settled for second in the order.

That dropped Dixon to third with his 3.775-second E.T. from earlier Saturday, when he came within five-thousandths of a second of his own seven-month-old national E.T. mark.

With that 3.775, Dixon appeared to have set himself up well to bid for his second straight victory at this race. Moreover, he had fired the first salvo in the six-race Countdown to the Championship as he strives for back-to-back series titles and a fourth overall.

But along came Schumacher and Massey, sending the message that he will have to dig just as hard as he did against the dogged Cory McClenathan last season.

Dixon still is sitting well and easily could counter with a time that could earn him 20 bonus points. His first opponent Sunday in eliminations is Shawn Langdon, while Schumacher tackles Langdon's teammate and boss, Morgan Lucas.

Schumacher's feat contributed to a purple-ribbon day for DSR, as DieHard Dodge Charger mate Matt Hagan stayed on top of his lineup with the quickest run in Funny Car history from Friday night. Hagan made the first sub-four-second pass, at 3.995 seconds, and was quickest in three of the four qualifying sessions.

It also capped one of Schumacher's busiest weeks, as he left Indianapolis after labor Day and visited the Pentagon and the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington national Cemetery for 9-11 remembrances, then traveled to North Carolina's Ft. Bragg, where he jumped from a tower with the 82nd Airborne -- all before arriving at zMAX Dragway in Concord for Friday's qualifying opener.

RED HOT HAGAN, LITERALLY - Matt Hagan could see the Promised Land.

Somewhere between hanging on the edge of the groove and his vision beginning to blur, he saw the light. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the light of this beautiful land. It was the light of fire caused when a head gasket pushed out during his third qualifying attempt during the second day of qualifying for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.

Hagan would have been in the Promised Land had he registered a 4.034 on the run. He would have been in a happy place with the required .01 national record back up and the accompanying 20 point back up.

Instead he returned to the pits with a charred race car and a lot of work for his crew.

“We went out there and tried for it,” said Hagan, whose Friday evening provisional record of 3.995 held for his third No. 1 qualifier of the season.

“We went back and regrouped. We were so close. It didn’t nose over but it pushed me close. Then I saw orange.”

Hagan, unfortunately admits, he’s seen orange more than once this season as his team has struggled at times trying to find a happy medium for a new combination implemented beginning at the second race of the season in Gainesville, Fla.

“We still have a long way to go to build all of our confidence,” said Hagan. “This season has been a rollercoaster of trying new things. The one thing you can have confidence in is Tommy Delago. The guy is smart. He will put a competitive car under you. The only thing I can control is leaving on time and keeping it in the groove.”

Hagan wouldn’t say if the team abandoned the combination they implemented this season but did confirm team owner Don Schumacher got involved in the decision.

“It’s been very exciting that we’ve been able to put spectacular numbers on the board,” Hagan said. “We are way behind in this game and I keep waiting for [point leader] Mike Neff to take his ‘S’ from his chest. He’s been a Superman out there and we’re chasing him right now.”

Headed into Sunday’s final eliminations, Hagan will be the one Neff and the rest of the field will be chasing. The question remains, will Hagan be chasing the record or the win tomorrow?

“It will be Tommy’s call tomorrow as to whether we go for the record or try to just go rounds,” Hagan said.

JUST NOT IN THE CARDS - When you’re as close to a national record as Jason Line was on Friday, giving up hope because the weather changes is a difficult task. This is why, Line and his teammate Greg Anderson, spent much of the morning prior to Saturday’s qualifying at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, plotting and scheming how they could push their Summit Racing-sponsored Pontiacs down the zMax Dragway quarter-mile in enough of an aggressive fashion to grab the 6.49 elapsed time record presently held by Rodger Brogdon.

Line admitted the combination of low-lying clouds and the high-water grains in the air didn’t help their cause. In the end, Line realized Sunday’s final eliminations presents a new day.

“We took a little more of a conservative approach in trying to see if we could do it,” Line said. “We just didn’t make all that good of a call and if you look at it, nobody else did either. We were just a little more off on our tune-up. I’m not sure whether we underestimated or overestimated the conditions. We went for it a lot more on that last run. We ended up shaking the tires. It just wasn’t there this weekend.”

Line did come close to duplicating Friday night’s 6.513 run with a 6.518 in session three but missed the mark in the final session with a 6.55.

“We thought we were aggressive but really we weren’t it,” Line admitted. “Today we got after it. We ended up slowing both cars down. We learned something today, so maybe that will help us tomorrow.”

Sunday’s eliminations will bring about a larger challenge for Line than trying to corral a national record. He feels a sense of urgency to end the streak of No. 2 beating No. 1 on Sunday.

“We just have to make it where the No. 1 qualifier wins more than the No. 2,” said Line, who scored his third consecutive No. 1 2011 No. 1 qualifier. “We’ve been kind of jinxed on that in the last three races. We’re going to fix that on Sunday.”

Line believes the performance of the Summit team as of late is a good indicator that both he and Anderson are peaking at just the right time.

“To peak right now is a great thing,” Line said. “As a racer and a team, you dream about situations like this. We just need to do our job and capitalize on it.”

The No. 1 qualifier marks Line’s third consecutive and the fifth in 2011.

JUST WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW - After securing the No. 1 qualifying position for the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals,

Eddie Krawiec predicted for Sunday that "you'll see a great show tomorrow" with "lots of guys getting their stuff together.

"It is the fastest field in history," he said. "I want to throw that out there so everybody understands. For Pro Stock Motorcycle in Charlotte, that's a huge deal. To say you're at the top of the fastest field in history means a lot to me."

For the Screamin' Eagle / Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson standout, this was his career ninth top-qualifying position, third of the season, and first at the Concord, N.C., racetrack that owner Bruton Smith coined "The Bellagio of Dragways."

Said Krawiec, "Our Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson team is always proud to be No. 1. We pride ourselves on performance."

As he prepared to race Suzuki rider Steve Johnson (6.984, 192.03) in the first round of eliminations Sunday, Krawiec said, "There's no slouches out there. I think there's a couple of guys that are sort of sitting back -- sleepers, foxes in sheep's clothing. You've got to watch out for those guys. Those are the guys you don’t want to run into."

If he does, Krawiec indicated he might have even more in his V-Rod for that pack.

"I think we're sneaking up on a set-up for tomorrow that's going to be really fast for the first 60 feet," he said.

Krawiec zeroed in on the issue of points, still haunted by Hector Arana's razor-thin margin of victory over him for the 2009 series crown, which would have been Krawiec's second in a row.

"I went low E.T. three of four sessions this weekend, which was nice," Krawiec said. "Unfortunately last night we missed out on it, but that was only our fault. So I know we have a great motorcycle.

"Round-win points and qualifying points are what it's about. So getting some extra here and there adds up in the end. A couple of years ago, I lost the championship by two points, and I certainly don't want that to happen again. Every point you leave on the table is valuable," the points leader said.

Although Krawiec ran consistent 6.8s all weekend on the zMAX Dragway quarter-mile, posting a 6.880-second elapsed time and a 6.860 Saturday, even he wasn't able to trump his track-record 6.833-second effort from Friday's opening session.

He made the quickest pass of the final session at 196.56 mph.

He said the conditions he had hoped for didn't materialize.

"They sure didn't," he said. 'The overcast [skies and] clouds had a little bit of an effect on it. We would have liked to see the sub burn off the water in the air. It didn't. But conditions were good today -- our headwind [from Friday] was almost gone. The whole overall package was there. It's just a little tricky to get hold of the track for us motorcycles, with one tire.

"But when you nail the set-up and you get it right, you will go fast," Krawiec said. "The key is making fast, clean, straight runs."

He did. But perhaps the most eyebrow-raising pass Saturday was Shawn Gann's 6.901/191.89 on the Dirt World Nation Buell that rocketed him from the No. 16 spot to No. 4 at the time and finally No. 5.

Gann gained eight-hundredths of a second from his previous best pass of the weekend (6.984), marking a 180-degree turn from his start. He opened the event by crossing the center line and was disqualified, wiping out Angie Smith's time, as well.

Gann will face Chip Ellis in the opening round of eliminations Sunday.

 

HIS LITTLE PART OF HISTORY - It’s the kind of history many professional drag racers aren’t too eager to divulge.

Mike Neff simply deals with it.

The former championship tuner, who had one year of nitro driving experience prior to 2011, was named the driver of the second Castrol GTX Funny Car when the previous driver went on maternity leave.

Neff replaced Ashley Force Hood just two weeks before the start of the 2011 season.

“We knew at some point that she and Danny were going to start a family,” said Neff, the current NHRA Full Throttle point leaders. “Knew it was coming ... just not when it did. It was much quicker than we expected. We were thinking a little more along the lines of two or three years.”

Instead just hours before an announcement intended to name Robert Hight as the new team president and likewise unveil the new John Force Entertainment property, Neff found out he was being drafted into duty. He wasn’t disappointed with the move. Surprised would be a better description.

Very surprised would characterize entering this weekend’s Countdown to 1 portion of the season as the top seed.

“I couldn’t say I expected to be in this situation by any means, taking over the driving two weeks before the season, and then gaining the point lead,” Neff said. “My initial hopes when I found out, I just wanted to be a contender and just be in the fight. All I had ever hoped for was in having a legitimate shot of winning.”

Neff has displayed more than a legitimate shot of winning from the first event in Pomona where he reached the semi-finals. He then went on to win five out of eight final rounds. Neff assumed the point lead just four races into the season and has never looked back.

Neff admits he can handle the pressure from past experience. After all, he did tune John Force to his 15th career title last season.

“That [the pressure] really doesn’t bother me,” Neff said. “I was in pretty much the same situation last year with John Force as a tuner. We led the points pretty much all year. We came into the Countdown as No. 1. There isn’t any more pressure on me than anyone else. There will be someone to get hot and that will be your champion. I can only hope I am the one who gets hot then.”

Getting hot at the right time will depend a lot on his driver, Neff understands. His status as both tuner and driver has been major storyline this season.

“We have an army of people and resources,” said Neff. “The bottom line is you have to make the call and then get it to drive it as you have set it up to go,” Neff said. “I have gotten aggravated with my driver at times. There’s a lot of pressure as a driver because one bad move and you can blow it all. You have got to concentrate because a lot of these drivers out here are good.”

 

 

 

 

 

PLUGGING AWAY - Top Fuel driver T.J. Zizzo and clutch specialist Tony Smith weren't able to capitalize on Friday's ninth-place effort to do any real experimenting with the PEAK / Herculiner Dragster. Just the same, they're plenty pleased with Friday evening's 3.860-second pass at 316.23 mph that was Zizzo's quickest pass this year and the fastest of his career.
 
That was an improvement from his first pass of the weekend, a 3.894, 313.22. As he awaited his night run, Zizzo was knocked down from No. 7 to No. 13. So Smith tweaked some settings.
 
"We made a couple changes after we got bumped out of the top 12. It feels good," he said after Zizzo's personal record-setting run. "We want to be in the top 12. That's one of the goals we set every race weekend is to be in the top 12 so we can try some things on Saturday."
 
It didn't happen for the team Saturday morning, as Zizzo slowed slightly but hung onto the No. 9 position, just four-thousandths of a second off Terry McMillen's top-half pace.
 
No one in the PEAK / Herculiner camp was unhappy Saturday.
 
"A 3.89, a 3.86, a 3.90, and a 3.90 -- that's fantastic," Zizzo said. "It's a great start to the weekend and it's great to be racing week in and week out right now. We're looking forward to tomorrow. The car has been consistent and that will scare the guy next to us."
 
That "guy next us" is Antron Brown, who has won three of the previous four races. But Brown had to use a holeshot last October at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to edge Zizzo in their most recent meeting.
 
Zizzo said he was proud of his Friday statement on the track. "It's fantastic. All the PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner guys did a good job. The car was put together well," he said. (Crew chief) Mike (Kern) and T.S. (Smith) put a great clutch setup in the car. It was a nice 3.86. It was fun, no oil, a clean run."
 
Kern, a second-generation racer and the longtime tuner for the suburban Chicago team, said Saturday's runs are all about improving their position, weather permitting.
 
"For the rest of the weekend, we'll just try to work with what we've got and see what the weather gives us and maybe try to improve," Kern said. "We're going to have to keep putting tires on this thing. We're eating the tires up, that's what happens when you have a tight track."
 
He called Friday "a good day. The car went down the track twice, two passes in a row, so we're happy."
 
Said Smith, "We're going to do what we always do when we come to the track, and that's try to make small improvements every run."

SIMPLE AS THAT - Spencer Massey shrugged off missing out on the No. 1 qualifying spot. After all, he knows his FRAM/Prestone Dragster can match up with any other Top Fuel car on the property -- and he sees the big picture.

"That's all right," he said. "We had great runs today and throughout qualifying, and the car shows great signs for tomorrow's race. We're going for rounds and to try and win another race."

With his 3.771-second pass at 324.98 mph Saturday in the final qualifying session, Massey will start No. 2 and line up against Dom lagana, who knows how to get to a final round himself.

"We live and breathe this," he said, sounding a lot like Lagana, who also cut his teeth in the International Hot Rod Association. "We are going into race day with tremendous confidence. That's especially critical now, since we are starting the Countdown to the Championship.

"It is the Countdown, but it's still racing," Massey said. "I really don't feel any extra pressure, and I don't think Phil or Todd [crew chiefs Shuler and Okuhara] or any of the crew guys feel it, either. Our performance during qualifying showed we are approaching this the same way we've approached every race throughout the year.

"We go in looking to win rounds and win the race – plain and simple. I go into every round confident Phil and Todd have given me the best race car out there and all I have to do is my job – get a good light, hit the throttle and keep the car in the groove to be successful."

 

TRIPLE DUTY - Matt Smith, of King, N.C., might be closer to home than he will be at any other race this season, but his weekend certainly isn't any easier. He has tuned his fan-supported Buell to a second-place showing and -- as he did at Indianapolis at the U.S. Nationals two weeks ago -- Smith is crew chief for the bikes of wife Angie Smith and Michael Ray.
 
Angie Smith was a top-five rider Friday and slipped spot down to sixth in Saturday's first session -- but still is in the top half of the field. Ray ended Friday in the top 10 but fell to 11th place early Saturday as Jerry Savoie improved 10 places to take the No. 7 position with one more qualifying run  to go.
 
"First, the fan bike turned out great," Matt Smith, last year's spring race winner here, said. "Thank you to all the fans for your support. We couldn't have done this without you all, and I hope you're enjoying the ride.
 
"We have a good bike," he said Friday. "We were second of the round on both runs. We hurt the motor on the first pass, so we're going to get it out and see what happened and try to get it back right. But I think we'll be in pretty good shape."
 
He'll start second and square off against LE Tonglet in Round 1.


  

BEEN HERE, DONE THAT - This season isn’t the first time Wally Stroupe had dumped the clutch in a fast doorslammer while drag racing in Charlotte.

Stroupe, a chassis builder from Kings Mountain, NC, is racing a Pro Stocker this weekend at zMax Dragway. Just 23 years ago, he was part of a dozen or so drag racers who would converge on the old Shuffletown Dragway about 10 miles from Bruton Smith’s palatial facility to stage a bit of drag racing history.

This is where Stroupe learned how to race quick and fast, drive resourcefully and hold on for dear life as the nitrous oxide kicked in for the eighth-mile drag races. Simply put, Shuffletown was no zMax Dragway.

“It was a great track for us back in the day,” said Stroupe, who used to run a nitrous-injected Monte Carlo. “But you had a lot of people hanging over the fence and the track was narrow, there was some betting going on, but they loved their drag racing. The lanes were barely wide enough to open up the door backing up from a burnout. Nowadays you look back and think to yourself, ‘What in the world was I thinking.”

Just as Stroupe rolls to a different starting Charlotte starting line, he also does so in a different drag racing setting. This season Stroupe, who owns SRC Motorsports, races a 2009 Pontiac GXP with sponsorship from Elite Sportswear and TAI Sports, a national online retailer, specializing in softball equipment.

Stroupe’s current program evolved from a friendship which later turned into a working relationship with Alan Rose, a Richard Childress employee, who approached Stroupe about building a Comp eliminator car.

During their conversations, racing 500-inch Pro Stock became a topic.

“I told him, 'I can't afford this deal,' he said, ‘you don't understand, we're going to do the motors,” said Stroupe. “We wound up doing our own engines. It has turned into a pretty good deal and I've always wanted to run Pro Stock.”

Stroupe said his sponsors plan plan to send the the team to 23 races in 2012.

“It will be kind of difficult running a business, but mom and dad can take the truck and trailer then I can fly in with Alan to the races,” said Stroupe. “I think it will work out.”

'LIKE A SECOND MOTHER' - Hector Arana III, fresh from his career-first victory at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, qualified No. 8 and matches up Sunday against Angie Smith -- just like he did at Indianapolis. But the woman in his life this weekend is "Charlotte." That's the engine he used to make his 6.914-second pass at 191.51 mph aboard the Lucas Oil Buell. His favorite engine, "Gracie, is sidelined withja mechanical problem. But, Arana III said, "Charlotte's like a second mother to me. I have no worries. We've just got to get the right tune-up to get the bike to leave the starting line, and it should run just as well.
 
"The motor accelerates good and pulls good at the top end," he said. "We just had too much clutch, so it's bogging a little on the starting line. We'll work on that and get it right for tomorrow. My confidence level is pretty high. I'm approaching tomorrow thinking I have a good chance at winning again."
 
ONE AT A TIME - Karen Stoffer is trying hard to concentrate on only her next pass, whether it’s qualifying or eliminations. "We just need to race. All the other stuff will take care of itself," she said. "If we do the right things to prepare this GEICO Suzuki and I do my job riding the bike, then everything will work out for us. Being consistent carries so many good benefits. If we stay within our program and do what we we've been doing for most of the season, things will work out."
 
She said before the weekend began, "It's exciting to start the Countdown and to return to zMax Dragway because it's such a beautiful facility and the fans that come out are so supportive. We've got six races to see what we can do, but we're certainly not going to look past our next trip down the quarter mile.
 
"We'll need to run well to stay up front over these last six races. We know what to do on the track and we know how to win, so it'll come down to execution, especially in those key match-ups you have to take."
 
As No. 3 qualifier, she'll take on No. 14 Justin Finley in Sunday's first round.
 
Stoffer, the first in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class to earn a berth in the Countdown, led the standings after four of the 10 bike events in the so-called regular-season and never has been worse than in third place. She won the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Denver and has advanced to four final rounds so far this season.
 
She's counting the "little points," too. She earned eight of them this weekend for placing in the top three in each of the four qualifying sessions.
 
"Accumulating those bonus points through those first four or five races when we were doing well helped out significantly when we started having some issue in the last four races. It kept us above water and in the No. 3 spot in points.
 
"Right now, rounds are what is carrying the most weight, but those little tiny points you get for qualifying sure did help us out in the first half of the season, so hopefully, it'll help us out in the Countdown, too," she said.
 
"It's nice to be able to come out and run four good passes," Stoffer said Saturday evening. "We've got to get our game face on for tomorrow. That's what's it about. It's not just about qualifying. It helps, but it's always more about race day. We've got to do our thing on race day.
 
"We're glad to be back in the top half of the ladder pretty deep," Stoffer said. "That's where we'd like to qualify. I'm excited about going in for race day. It's supposed to be one of the better days tomorrow, maybe a little bit warmer, maybe a bit of sunshine. Hopefully, it'll keep the air cool and the bike fast – especially the GEICO bike."

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - HISTORIC [AND FAST!] NIGHT AT THE BELLAGIO

HISTORY IS HAGAN'S - If Matt Hagan has his druthers, his crew chief Tommy Delago will remain mute every time he prepares to send his driver down the strip. Delago didn’t need to say a thing. The car did the talking for him.

It spoke for 3.955 seconds, sending driver Hagan into drag racing history as the first Funny Car racer to run under four seconds since the NHRA adopted the 1,000 foot race course.

‘I sat there and watched as every driver was turning the wick up,” said Hagan. “You look at a crew chief like Tommy Delago and you know he’s no slouch. He’s got something for them. We usually chat it up but he said nothing to me. I looked at him and he looked at me and he gave me a look as if to say, ‘You had better get a hold of this thing.”

Hagan described his run as one that left with a quicker speed sensation than he’s ever experienced and at one point his vision blurred.

“Nothing really needed to be said,” Hagan admitted. “We knew we had a fast race car. I don’t know what the thing 60-footed, but it got up on the tire really quick and the next thing I know, it gets out there and it is just digging. Then it tried to make a move and I was afraid it was going to get out of the groove. I was trying to finesse it back because it can be like it is on glass when you get out that far in a run. It was moving around and just digging.”

For the record, Hagan ran a class best .886 seconds in the first 60 feet and was 3.224 to the eighth-mile at 273.44 miles per hour.

“It was one of those runs where you really don’t know what is going to happen,” Hagan said. “The finish line got there in a hurry. I knew it was a good one. Things were vibrating and it was dark. My vision was blurred. One of the guys came over and told me I had run a 3.99. I didn’t believe him. But when I realized it was for real, I said some words on ESPN, some choice words, that I ought to apologize for.”
                             
Hagan heads into Saturday qualifying as the provisional leader but with the three-second milestone out of the way, he’s not going to shed a tear if he gets bumped down.

“That’s a milestone that no one can ever take away from me,” Hagan said. “As long as I am that first one into the threes, I can get bumped down to No. 2. I’ve learned that No. 1 qualifier position can have some bad juju to it. I’d just as soon be No. 2 and run in the threes.”

A silent Delago is a good thing too.

“I hope he never says anything to me anymore,” Hagan said with a smile.

As for the race car, it can talk all it wants to.

If the run holds it will his third No. 1 of the season and ninth career.

MAKING HAY WHILE THE SUN IS OUT - Current Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon saw no two ways about it.

"The fact of the matter is you absolutely have to run well in these six races if you want to win the Full Throttle championship," he said.

And that begins with the first one in the Countdown, the O'Reilly NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C. So the Al-Anabi / Toyota Dragster driver.

"You can't back-door a championship with this format," Dixon said. "You have to run hard or be in the receiving line for the guy who does win the championship at the end of the year."

No "back-dooring" it for Dixon. He made that clear Friday with a 3.784-second blast at 324.83 mph that dared the rest of the Top Fuel class to top that.

Moreover, he ran hard. He and Terry McMillen, who missed the Countdown field by a crummy eight points at the previous race but burst to the No. 3 spot right off the trailer in Friday's first session, lined up in the cool Carolina darkness. And both went after what they wanted.

Of course, both Dixon and McMillen smoked the tires on the cars and idled alongside each other, a picture of passion and proof that no matter which end of the spectrum a driver is, he tries to bring all he has to the starting line, especially during the Countdown.

McMillen, relegated already to that receiving line, had a 7.2 on that run to take eighth place overnight. Dixon clocked a 7.3 in the second session but relied on his 3.784 that was five-hundredths (.056) of a second quicker than No. 2 Doug Kalitta in the opening session.

"We had nothing to lose," Dixon said, though adding, "We'll try a different plan tomorrow."

At the end of Friday, Dixon was the lone Top Fuel driver in the 3.7-second range, almost two-hundredths quicker than No. 2 Antron Brown and No. 3, Del Worsham, Dixon's Al-Anabi teammate.

Brown and Worsham were separated by a mere one-thousandth of a second (3.802, 3.803). Rounding out the top five were Tony Schumacher and his other DSR mate Spencer Massey, who had identical elapsed times (3.808 seconds). So that tight bunch could see a shake-up Saturday.

Dixon said he hopes the weather will cooperate and give the racers two sessions Saturday. He also said if that happens, he needs to step up his performance: "If we get two sessions, we'll probably have to run better to stay on the pole."

He said he's ready to try to lower his own national record and put 20 more points in his ledger that would improve his standing even before Sunday's eliminations start.

Dixon owns the mark at 3.770 seconds. He set it February 27 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona during the Winternationals.

"There's only 24 rounds of racing [left in the season]. If you can grab a round or two somewhere that's not up for grabs, that can make a huge difference. We've not no reason in the world not to try and go for a national record. We did it once already this year. Why not try it again? We got the record at Pomona by just one-thousandth of a second. We'll just try to run one-thousandth better than Pomona.," Dixon said.

"What Matt Hagan did (recording the first 3-second Funny Car pass), it shows you can run great at the quickest track in the country. We're certainly trying to do our part," he said.

The class-best run Friday, he said, "felt like a nice, smooth, clean run. At (3.)78, I was plenty happy."

Dixon knows the rules, knows the strategy, and at least overnight rules the Top Fuel class.

OH IT'S COMING, COUNT ON IT - Jason Line will have to settle for a track record for now.

What promised to be the quickest and fastest Pro Stock session the class has ever seen was dampened by a 45 minute rain delay which made incredible atmospheric conditions turn waterlogged.

Jason Line ran a 6.510, 212.56 in the first session to establish himself as the driver to beat early, edging Greg Anderson’s 6.515. As it turned out, the initial hit would be the most potent of the of Friday’s O’Reilly NHRA Nationals qualifying at zMax Dragway.

Just how dominant were the Summit cars in the first session?

There was .025 of a second between Anderson and No. 3 Mike Edwards. From Edwards to No. 12 Erica Enders, there was .034 of a second.

During the final session, Line ran a 6.520 while Anderson shook the tires and aborted the run early.

“Best starting line I’ve ever seen here,” said Line. “It was a little bit cold, a little bit loose down track. With these temperatures, it’s tough to adapt to all conditions.”

Line and his team were going for the home run shot with an adjusted altitude below 1,000 feet.

“We were going for it,” Line said. “We thought we were but we were both way soft. You never know what tomorrow will bring. We still have a lot left.”

Said Greg Anderson following the first session, “They’re not as good as Gainesville but every car has made gaines since there. You’ll have to be perfect. I think this could be a home run derby and you have to go for it. We are qualified well, so the time for practice is over. If you’re not going to go for it, you’re a sissy.”

Rodger Brogdon treats his world record of 6.49 seconds with the same admiration as the NFL’s Miami Dolphins regard their perfect season but even the Houston, Texas driver believed the Summit-sponsored team had the stuff to grab his milestone.

“Those guys can do it, they’re fast,” admitted Brogdon. “I pleaded with them to not do it because I just had new hero cards printed. But really, you’re not going to run faster than them. They’ve done great with their r&d work. If there’s anyone out here that hasn’t realized this is the team to beat, then they had better wake up.”

For Line, if the weatherman proves accurate, he believes Saturday’s final qualifying will bring even better opportunities.

“If we get dry and cool, with this racing surface, you could see the record fall,” Line said.

NOT YOUR AVERAGE EDDIE - Most fans think of Eddie Krawiec as the Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson rider, 2008 champion and teammate to three-time champion Andrew Hines.

The more knowledgeable ones know he's Eddie Krawiec the Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader entering this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C.

The really in-tune drag racing fans would say he's Eddie Krawiec, the provisional No. 1 qualifier in the bike class and that he registered a track-record 6.833-second elapsed time at a 196.70-mph speed Friday that was light years ahead of all in the class except provisional No. 3 Karen Stoffer (195.59 mph in 6.873 seconds). They'd say Krawiec's E.T. was nearly four-hundredths (.038) of a second quicker than his closest competitor, Matt Smith.

But really, he sounded like Professor Eddie Krawiec, teaching aerodynamics and what it's like to ride a virtually unprotected motorcycle as the wind buffets it about. Thanks to some visual aids -- a headwind and the effects of an evening rain shower -- Krawiec was explaining about corrected altitude and water grains in the air.

Acting as a bit of a meteorologist, he said, "We try to look at the weather and let that dictate our tune-up."

And as tricky as the calculations were Friday, they could be just as much guesswork Saturday, he suggested.

"I don't know if this run is going to hold up," Krawiec said, adding that the 11 a.m. session might be a bit too early to cause much of a scramble in the order. The dew and moisture in the air might be a factor at that hour.

"It would be ideal if the sun were to pop out at 9 or 10 a.m. and start baking some of that off," he said. He said naturally aspirated engines "don't really like" a lot of moisture in the air.

Only Krawiec, Matt Smith, and Karen Stoffer put up 6.8-second E.T.s. Friday. The next 10 riders were in the 6.9 range.

Announcer Bob Frey hinted that 6.80s might surface this weekend, and Krawiec said "I think that's there." However, Krawiec said a 6.84 or 6.85 might be more what to expect -- "if you make a nice, clean run." But he did allow that the track right now "is a little on the slick side."

Holding things back was a headwind.

"The cars are not as affected as the motorcycles," he said. "The motorcycles are aerodynamically challenged. We're out there in the wind." He contrasted that with the cars, whose "swoopy body lines" are products of hours of wind-tunnel engineering.

"Our stuff just travels through the air so dirty that it tends to disrupt the air flow," Krawiec said. "Your big shoulders -- everything you have -- grabs the air and slows you down."

He said if the headwind had been a tailwind, perhaps the best pass would have taken only 6.78 or 6.79 seconds.

"But a national record is going to be tough," Krawiec said.

Forcing his bike to try something that's pretty near impossible is not something tuner Matt Hines and Krawiec would attempt. They like to race as intelligently as they do quickly, and at least for tonight Krawiec said he's happy that his E.T. "set a tone."

And because it was such a strong run, fans might not have noticed what he would consider a minor goof Friday in the second session.

"Unfortunately in that second run, we underestimated the track and second-guessed ourselves," Krawiec said. "We saw a bunch of people either spinning the tire or getting a little bit out of shape. We didn't know what was out there. But we sort of second-guessed it, turned the RPM down a few hundred, and the bike went out there and bogged. That's not the way you want to make your second lap.

"But we'll bounce back," he said.

Bounce back? Oh well . . .who can argue with the professor?

WELL, IT DOES TAKE A VILLIAGE -  Bob Vandergriff Jr.'s lovely gesture Friday while at the O’Reilly NHRA Nationals for wife Marisa gave him a renewed appreciation of all she does -- and made him appreciate the fact a tire-shaking, tire-smoking 8,000-horsepower dragster isn't all that awful, really.

"My wife has a job where she oversees a lot of properties in the Southeast, so she's taking the opportunity to see some properties while she's here," he said while waiting for the first qualifying session at zMAX Dragway.

"Since we don't run till 4, I decided to give Mama a break and watch the baby. But I don't know -- it's a handful," he said of the job. "I'm going to have to second-guess that decision."

Little Robert Vandergriff III, known as Trey, was born May 28, so at three and a half months old, he's starting to teethe. The discomfort from that and maybe the notion of missing Mommy at least a little didn't make his time with Daddy -- and the crew and the car and the crowds and all the confusion -- a quiet bonding moment.

"He's cutting some teeth right now. He's crying up a storm. He's wearing Daddy out, I can tell you that, "Vandergriff Jr. said, gladly accepting some help from his own dad, Bob Vandergriff Sr. "But we'll get through it -- she'll get here in a couple of hours and relieve me from duty."

The self-proclaimed "Mr. Mom" said if he had to choose which is harder, caring for a three-month-old or tending an unruly race car, Vandergriff Jr. said unhesitatingly, "Babysitting, definitely!"

 

 

STEERING WHEEL? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING STEERING WHEEL - Bob Gilbertson had a pretty good excuse for cracking the throttle early during his first qualifying attempt at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. The steering wheel on his Funny Car came off in his hands a little shy of the 60-foot timers.

Gilbertson instinctively reacted and slowed the car to a stop without a scratch.

How does one instinctively corral an 8,000-horse nitro burning beast when a crucial element such as the steering wheel comes off?

“Experience,” Gilbertson said.

Gilbertson paused and continued, “When you do this like I have since 1976, stuff is going to happen. This happened to me one time before and I flat broke a steering wheel.”

The run, Gilbertson explained, started off promising.

“So I’m feeling the g’s [g-forces] and I believe this car is going to make a great run and then the steering wheel falls off,” Gilbertson said. “That’s about the time I said, ‘Holy S***’ Then I was trying to put the steering wheel back on and I couldn’t find the hole. I just grabbed my b***s and the steering wheel fell on the floor. Then I figured it was about time to shut this thing down.”

Gilbertson admits he was glad the incident transpired early in the run.

“A little bit further down and it could have been disastrous,” Gilbertson continued. “I guess when you look it from the outside it was pretty funny.”

To a certain group of guys, the incident wasn’t the least bit funny.

“My guys were all apologetic about it,” Gilbertson said. “I told them not to worry about … to just fix it.”

For the record, Gilbertson’s crew installed a brand new steering box on the car.

 

 

 

 

 OOPS . . .  OH WELL . . .  -- Despite a piece falling off his Suzuki Extended Protection bike just after the launch in the first qualifying session, Jim Underdahl is in the top half of the Pro Sock Motorcycle field so far. Even with the loose piece, he landed the No. 5 position. He sits sixth in the order overnight.

 

 



HE'S A PLAYER - At least I’m in.

This was the mindset of blue collar Funny Car Countdown to 1 qualifier Tim Wilkerson headed into the NHRA’s Countdown to 1 playoff format scheduled to begin this Friday at zMax Dragway located outside of Charlotte.

If not for a strong late season surge which projected him into the top ten in the eighth place points ranking, Wilkerson might have been singing the blues.

Instead, final round finishes in consecutive events at Sonoma and Seattle thrust the fan favorite driver into a championship run despite winning only four rounds in the first 11 races.

Never mind his drop from eighth to eleventh in the point standings, when Indy concluded the regular season, 10 still beat 11. He enters this weekend’s Charlotte event knowing a precedent has already been established.

"Everybody knows Robert Hight won the championship out of the 10th spot, so we know it's possible," Wilkerson said. "It's the toughest road to the trophy, and if you're going in 10th you better not be making any mistakes, but now that we've all had our points reset we could move right back up the list in a hurry if we get hot. There's a lot of teams to pick off, though, so we have to focus on doing what we do one step at a time.”

Wilkerson realized following the early season misfortunes that if he didn’t make a move headed into the NHRA’s Western Swing, he’d be an “also ran” regardless of how well he did after Labor Day.

This was all the inspiration the resourceful Wilkerson needed.

"For us, once it got to be June and we were still struggling to win rounds, this became an exercise in just getting in,” Wilkerson said. “We knew we probably weren't going to do much better than one of the final two or three spots, so we approached it with an attitude that you can't win it if you're not in it. We just wanted to get in, and it wasn't easy to do that. We got hot at the right time, and now we need to come out firing this weekend."

Making the cut, even as the equivalent of a National Football League’s wildcard team, Wilkerson is intent in morphing pigskin mentality with horsepower.

"The best thing for us is that we have a chance, and this is a really exciting time of year,” said Wilkerson. “Football teams work all season to get in the playoffs, and wild-card teams have won the Super Bowl by playing at their best when the playoff pressure was on. I see us like that, as a team that comes in with the toughest chance, but the opportunity is there. If we do some good, we've got a chance to something special."

Something special, in Funny Car terms, has a precedent.

 

CONCORD 1974 - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY - Larry Carrier couldn’t wait to kick off the 1974 IHRA season in Charlotte, N.C.

Three days later, the IHRA founder and president couldn’t get out of town quick enough.

The only national event drag race staged on the hallowed grounds of what is now Lowe’s Motor Speedway featured plenty of entertaining and competitive drag races, but in the end a single-car crash accounting for three deaths cast a pall on the event. It was more than many could endure, especially Carrier.

So what inspired a race at what is now one of the most famous oval track racing facilities in the world?

Carrier’s networking prowess was the primary reason.

Carrier understood the value in cross-promoting drag racing with stock car racing long before the rest of drag racing caught on to the idea.

The pioneering leader of the fledgling International Hot Rod Association knew the NASCAR markets; after all he was one of them.

READ THE FULL STORY

THIS AIN'T YOUR DADDY'S ROCKING ROBIN - Drag racing fans beware. Shawn Langdon is armed with a Twitter account and he’s not afraid to use it.

Starting this with the event in Charlotte, the Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Langdon will send out tweets throughout the weekend.

If Langdon buys a hamburger, his followers get a tweet from him.

Sneezes or brainstorms are tweet-able offenses.

"I've got my own Twitter page now -- shawnlangdontf -- and I plan on taking all my followers through the Countdown with me," Langdon said. "Every time I have a thought, good or bad, I'm going to Tweet it so I hope everyone signs up and follows me. It should be a lot of fun."

Welcome to the modern era of communication.

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF - Ever known how it felt to be hungry, really famished, and no one would give you even a morsel of food?

Ask Antron Brown. He says he's hungry, insatiable. And no one is tossing him a crumb.

The Top Fuel driver said, "What we did in Indy [winning the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals] was Indy. What we did in Brainerd [a victory at the Lucas Oil Nationals, the previous race] was Brainerd. We're still starving as we take on zMAX.

"Larry Dixon has three championships, we have none. Tony Schumacher, our [Don Schumacher Racing]  teammate, has seven, we have none. They want to beat me, as does Del [points leader Worsham] and my other teammate, Spencer [Massey]. And the feeling is mutual," Brown said. "We're really hungry and won't be satisfied till we have that title."

Should anybody feel sorry for Brown, driver of the Aaron's Dream Machine/Matco Tools Dragster? Decide after considering that Brown has been gobbling up much of the Top Fuel goodies in the past month or so with gluttonous gusto.

He has won three of the past four events, running his mark to is 5-1 in six final rounds this year. He was No. 1 qualifier at two of the past three races. He enters this weekend's O'Reilly Nationals at zMAX Drag way at Concord, N.C. -- the first race of the Countdown to the Championship -- with a 37-11 elimination record. And he has been in the top five all season, except for the March 13-April 3 layoff between the Gatornationals and the spring Las Vegas race.

"We're coming to Charlotte in really good shape," Brown conceded. "But we have something to prove. We're hungry, hungry for a championship and this week's race is the first one in the playoffs."

He'll feed his relentlessness with a look forward rather than a look backward.

"We've had some great performances this year," he said, "but we are striving for overall excellence. And that is what it will take to win the championship. Make no mistake, we like winning Wallys, which makes us feel good, and we have five, a huge accomplishment. But the real prize is the large trophy given to the champ.

"Our team comes to Charlotte peaking at the right time," Brown said. "In a lot of races we lost by beating ourselves, by smoking the tires. Often we were the fastest car in the previous round. But now we are racing smarter and not doing things like that. We've really jelled as a team."

The Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi-led team has been strong since pre-season testing in Florida. He said "We were growing and growing, but we had to get used to our combination, just everything we did this year that we changed on the car. We went through our bumps and bruises."

It's hard to imagine that, just like it is hard to remember that this is Worsham's first year in a dragster in 15 seasons. The two of them have captured 11 of the 16 victories so far this year.

"We just lost some close drags races at the beginning of the season," Brown said. "Right now our car has been running consistent and the races have been falling our way. We've been winning some close, close, close drag races. Could go either way. We're just riding that wave right now.

"We just want to keep on doing the same thing that we're doing and hopefully if we can do the right things, we just want to be there at the end, the last race the year. We just want to be there and have a chance to win the championship. We want to be right there, if not having the points lead, but being in striking distance to actually win a championship. That's all we can ask for right now."

The former Pro Stock Motorcycle contender said he's approaching this Countdown, his fourth in the Top Fuel class, differently.

"We learned a valuable lesson in '09 -- 2009 was definitely a year we came in the Countdown with over 200 points lead, then it got wiped away. We were racing, but I think our mindset was that we put so much pressure on ourselves where we qualified, to start at Charlotte, we qualified second and lost first round because we had to change the injector at the last minute. We went to another race that we baffled. We raced the other four races that went good. We just messed ourselves up," Brown recalled.

"In the Countdown, you have to go there and be poised, be in that zone, medium zone, not too high, not too low, treat it like every other race we have this year where we have nothing to lose," he said. "The problem is that when the Countdown comes, you get all these nerves, all this stuff just comes up even to another level. Then when something bad happens, you have to have the mindset to regroup."

He said that 2009 misstep forced him to settle his nerves as much as possible and recognize that the unexpected can take a driver form his comfort zone.

"It's like you went in there on this big full of steam, you win all these races, you're expecting to do good. You're expecting to win first round, especially when you qualify No. 2," he said. But he saw the big, sometimes-unexplainable picture: "NHRA drag racing, when the playoffs happen, anything can happen."

So when he lost the first round of the Countdown in 2009, at Charlotte, against Terry McMillen, Brown collapsed a bit.

"It knocked the wind out of our sails. Then we went back, We got to work hard," he said. "The thing about it is you got to work smart and you have to be wise to it where you got to settle down. You got to say, 'You know what? We're here. We got to settle down and take it one step at a time, and we got to put our best effort forward.'

"The thing about it is when you put all that pressure on yourself, you do things that you tend not to do," Brown said. "I think knowing that now is that we're going to approach this Countdown like we did last year different. We're going to go in it and we're going to be in the offensive mode, not the defensive mode. I think the last two years, we've been in the defensive mode.

"Now," he said, "we're in that mode, the last three races. We're going to look at the track and attack the track for whatever it can handle. That's what has got us successful so far this year. We're going to continue that on and attack it that way and see where the chips fall."

Brown is like a lean wolf, on the hunt for more prey, using his instincts, ready to pounce. His predators, the drivers chasing him, also are his prey. He wants to beat them; they want to beat him.

"We're in attack mode," Brown said. "We've got something to prove."

Will someone please give him something to eat?

Not on your life. - Photos by Jon Asher