EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

SUNDAY

HAGAN RUMBLES TO 2013 WIN NO. 4, TIES 240 GORDIE ON ALL-TIME LIST - The giant was never sleeping. His team was just experimenting.

Following two less-than-average showings, NHRA Funny Car point leader Matt Hagan and his team flexed their muscles in a big way by scoring his fourth victory of the season en route to winning the NHRA Northwest Nationals outside of Seattle, Wash.

"The charisma and the chemistry I have with these guys is unbelievable," Hagan said. "I've never had it before. It's showing on the racetrack. It trickles down from the top; Dickie (Venables) is a great leader."

Hagan shut off early in the final round, slowing to a 4.171 elapsed time at 294 miles per hour in beating a resurgent Bob Tasca III, who smoked the tires early in the race and lifted.

"It's phenomenal to strap into a race car from DSR and know that you have a chance to win any time," said Hagan, in praise of crew chief Dickie Venables and his crew. "We were No. 1 qualifier and tied the Funny Car record, and we struggled. We tried to get our sixty foot times more aggressive. It bit us."

Hagan said Venables told him, "We're going to go back to what we've been doing all year long."

"He said we'd roll into Seattle and we'd be just fine," Hagan said Venables assured him.

Hagan has learned in his reasonably short time to take Venable's words as the gospel.

"I just said, that's cool," Hagan said. "And sure enough, two hits and he puts it up there near the top."

The victory also marked the ninth of Hagan's career, pulling him into a tie with one of Seattle drag racing's favorite sons - 240 Gordie Bonin. Hagan leaves Pacific Raceways with a solid six-round lead over Cruz Pedregon with only two events left in the regular season.

Hagan said mastering the new Pacific Raceway's 1000-foot course was a challenge because his car tended to spin the tires close to the finish line.

"[Dickie] seemed to have a handle on it and the car just kept going down the track," Hagan explained.

Hagan ran in the 4-teens all day long, using a 4.155 to beat Todd Lesenko, a 4.175 to get past an upset-minded Paul Lee and stepped up with a potent 4.121 to get the best of defending event champion Courtney Force.

In winning the event, Hagan became the first and only driver to mathematically clinch a spot in the Countdown to the Championship.

"That's huge in the big picture today," Hagan said. "We're already clinched into the Traxxas Shootout and Ron Capps, who didn't qualify, was nipping at our heels trying to get some points. We were able to put a race on him. He's a teammate, and I love the guy, but we are out here trying to win a championship and that's what we are all trying to do. We'll be buddies right now, but for now our focus is to put our helmets on and pull up to the starting line and focus on turning four win lights on Sunday."

And, thanks to Venables, Hagan has never been more focused on winning.


SEATTLE VICTORY SPARKS LUCAS' TOP FUEL TITLE DREAMS - Morgan Lucas made his NHRA national-event debut at Pacific Raceways in 2000 in the Super Comp class, and he red-lit away his chances in the first round that Sunday.

"I was so nervous my first race here that I bulbed it real bad first round. It was one of those red lights that you try to hang your head in the car but you still have to look where you're going," he said Sunday after defeating Dave Grubnic in the final round to win the Top Fuel trophy at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals.

"I've just always had a special place for this track in my heart," the GEICO/Lucas Oil/MAVTV Dragster driver said before joining Matt Hagan/Bob Tasca (Funny Car) and Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) in the winners circle.

"Realistically, to win here in front of these fans, with the amazing team that I have -- and this is the first one we've had since my wife and I found out we're pregnant -- this is probably as big and cool as any one I've ever had," Luca said. "I wish my mom and my dad could be to experience it. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of my team."

His 3.908-second elapsed time at 296.57 mph easily topped Grubnic's tire-smoking 4.253-second, 256.31-mph pass in the Optima Batteries Dragster for Kalitta Motorsports.

 More significant, it marked a milestone and changed his outlook about the Countdown. Before he earned this first victory of the season and eighth overall, Lucas said, he simply was hoping to stay in Countdown contention through the Brainerd and Indianapolis races and not dreaming any bigger than that. 

"We've had so many in consistencies with the car this year. We've just had our struggles. I feel like this is a symbol that we're turning the corner," Lucas said.

"The consistency's getting there. Even on a hot track like this, we managed to get down it. And it's really a blessing to have the consistency we had today. Before the final, I was baking, sweating in my firesuit, thinking if we just go down the racetrack, that gives us pretty good odds," he said. "Against guys like Grubnic, you never know. Those guys ran good all day. He's been driving so well.

"My mindset going up there was if this thing smokes the tires, get ready to -- I call it dirt-track driving -- When the track's real wet and soupy, you like to get that little sideways drift. That's what these things feel like whenever you're pedaling and you're trying to get it down there, I guess, finesse them as much as you possibly can with a Top Fuel car. I got my mind ready to do that, just because you don't know what's going to happen," he said.

Today, after reaching his career 15th final by eliminating Doug Kalitta and Khalid alBalooshi, then paying back Shawn Langdon for beating him in the final at Sonoma a week ago, Lucas has renewed motivation.

"I don't want to feel like we get hot and peak. I want to feel like we get hot, the kind of hot you maintain consistency through the back half of the year, because I'd like to make a serious run at the championship," Lucas said. "I feel like if we can maintain that consistency -- we know how to run fast -- [chip] away at it and make this car good as we possibly can -- we actually have a legitimate shot.

"Last week, after the final against Shawn, and we lost, I was so content after that, thinking, 'OK, that helps. That helps a lot. We just have to make sure we don't screw this up and not qualify or something stupid,' “he said.

Teammate Brandon Bernstein, still annoyed by back problems that forced him out of the seat earlier this summer for surgery, lingers out of Countdown contention. But, Lucas said, "As much as we'd like to have Brandon in [the Countdown with a secure berth] right now, it feels good that we're [giving ourselves] a little more room. Also, we're gaining ground on the guys in front of us."

Lucas began the weekend in eighth place but moved up to seventh during qualifying. That's where he'll remain as the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series heads to Brainerd, Minn., in two weeks.

"To say that we could make sixth is not impossible, even though it's probably a little far-fetched," Lucas said. "But if God wants to bless us like that, then that's where we're going to be."

For Grubnic , this was his third runner-up finish here. He made the finals also in 2004 and 2006. He still is battling to reach the top-10 tier.

Lucas explained his struggles, saying, "We had a really hard time getting hold of the supercharger parts we needed. Once they finally showed up, the car started making power. It started having good 60-foot times. My reaction times got a little better. It seems like everything woke up. Speeds came back in the middle of the track. Between that and switching to a six-disc clutch, that's just helped the big picture overall."


TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BAD FOR NOBILE; MOPARS SWEEP SWING - Normally when you think of sweeping the NHRA's Western Swing, the feat is largely credited to a driver. On the tour from Denver to Sonoma to Seattle, the engine builder was clearly the unbeatable one.

The Mopar team, powered by Roy Johnson engines, brought out the broom on the competition with Allen Johnson winning Denver and then college student Vincent Nobile taking the rest.

Nobile, the driver of the Moutainview Tire Dodge Pro Stocker, won the NHRA Northwest Nationals and in doing so scored his second consecutive 2013 win by beating Jeg Coughlin Jr. For his part, Coughlin reached the finals in two events.

"Definitely a great time to turn it on for the Countdown," said Nobile. "I owe it all to my team, I really do. They have been working their butts off, and without them, I wouldn't be holding this trophy now. Congratulations to Roy Johnson, it was a great sweep for him and Allen."

"I owe it all to the guys back at the shop," Johnson said.

Nobile won the battle of teammates as he overcame a quicker reaction time from Coughlin and chased him down with a 6.586 elapsed time at 210.54 miles per hour. The second-generation driver has had Coughlin's number in 2013 by beating him in all three of their final round meetings.

Nobile raced two of his teammates en route to his eighth career victory. After beating Chris McGaha in the first round, Nobile was able to beat fellow Mopar runner Allen Johnson. He took out Greg Anderson for the right to meet Coughlin in the finals.

"Luckily, we got by them," Nobile said.

Nobile is the son of past IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock champion John Nobile.  Nobile tried his hand at NHRA Pro Stock, but running an underfunded team didn't afford him the same opportunity his son has received.

"It means the world to me to be able to share this with him," said Nobile. "He did this but never really had the funding. That's what it all came down to because he has the brains and talent. If he would have had the money back in the day, I know he would have won races. He probably would have done better than me. He's a talented man. He taught me everything I know. I owe it all to him."

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK

TOP FUEL

TOP FUEL'S LANGDON STILL ONE WITH TARGET ON HIS BACK - Shawn Langdon wasn't sure exactly what to expect Saturday at Pacific Raceways.

All the Top Fuel teams -- all the pro racers -- would be making their first qualifying passes for Sunday's eliminations at the O'Reilly Northwest Nationals after losing two Friday sessions to rain.

Was crew chief Brian Husen setting up the Al-Anabi Dragster simply to go A to B, to make sure when they hit that patch of brand-new asphalt halfway down the 1,000-foot course they didn't lose traction?

Was the plan to grab some big bonus points? Langdon leads the standings by 102 points ahead of his closest competitor (Spencer Massey), but he said before the race began that "we know that lead can disappear as fast as we got it. There's no such thing as a comfortable lead."

Was the car simply going to have a mind of its own and keep running like a Triple Crown Thoroughbred that can't stop? After all, Langdon described it Saturday afternoon as being "like a bracket car. Throw a dial-in on it. We think it can run 3.76. It's going 3.76." And it was rolling -- steamrolling -- through four rounds last Sunday at Sonoma as he beat Morgan Lucas for his fourth victory in six finals this season.

Langdon took the starch out of Lucas once again Saturday at Seattle, just after Lucas ran the first three-second pass for a dragster at this historic dragstrip and broke Tony Schumacher's elapsed-time record that had stood since July 2008.

With his 3.765-second E.T. at 320.58 mph (which didn't challenge Schumacher's 2010 speed mark here), Langdon eclipsed the record and grabbed his fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the year and 10th of his career.

As it turned out, Langdon said, "The 3.76 was what we were trying to run right out of the box."

He hadn't had a chance to speak with his crew chief to learn what he had set the car up to run beforehand, so he said the 3.765-second elapsed time at 320.58 mph was a little bit of a surprise.

"I saw a lot of 80s, 81s, 82s, 83s. So I thought if we could run a (3.)70-something we'd be OK," he said.

When he reunited with his crew, he expressed some astonishment, telling them, "Wow -- that was an impressive run!"

They said, "Yeah, that's what we were trying to do."

Said Langdon, going over it again in his memory, "It was on a run. It was three-flat-seven at 287 miles an hour to half-track. It was scootin'."

In his second attempt, he ran a 3.769, 295.08 -- two numbers that do not appear to be in synch because of the relatively slow speed. Langdon said the car actually was on its way to a 3.74-second E.T., but the blower belt broke and the engine went silent toward the top end of the pass.

"That's why the speed was down. It was trying to go probably a high [3.]74, then it broke the blower belt at about 800 feet," he said. "It was nine-thousandths [of a second] quicker at 660 [feet downtrack] and three miles an hour faster, as well. It's a great race car."

The racing surface, often maligned for just cause in the past, was at its best in years Saturday.

"The track is excellent, really. Anytime you can go out there and go mid-3.70s, the track is very good," Langdon said. "The little bit of trouble we're having is the new asphalt at about 660 feet. It's pretty bare. It's kind of a race to the new asphalt. It's [the tire's] going to spin, but we're trying to find ways around it. It'll improve."

Langdon was runner-up to Steve Torrence here last year, and this time, he said, "We don’t want that runner-up again. We're looking to win. We feel we have an excellent car. Today we felt really comfortable in the car."

With temperatures anticipated in the low 80-degree range Sunday, Langdon said he's expecting adjustments from the crew for his Round 1 meeting with Troy Buff.

"This track can be very tricky if it gets a lot of heat in it," he said. We know the conditions will change tomorrow. It's going to get a lot hotter. We've got to rethink everything, go back to our notes."

But he has a not-so-secret weapon in Alan Johnson, who has had success at this track, among others. So Langdon said he's heading into race day with confidence in not only his car but also with his Al-Anabi team manager and his crew.

"He's the master with the plan," Langdon said of Johnson. "He'll get it figured out. I'm not too worried about it. He's the best all-around -- on a tricky track, on a good track, on a bad track. It doesn't matter. I love having him on my side, no matter what."

It was here at Pacific Raceways that Langdon earned his first NHRA Wally trophy 11 years ago. "Eleven years ago, you never would have thought I'd be in the position I am now. I'm just very fortunate."

And he's very hard to beat these days.

WESTERN SWING BITES McMILLEN BUT WON'T DEFINE HIM


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Before the Western Swing began, Terry McMillen calculated that had he earned only minimal points at the five races in which he wound up with DNQs, he would have had an extra 150 points.

But he was optimistic. He had discovered a hidden gem in his pit in crew member Ray Murphy. Lee Beard, who had consulted with McMillen's team in 2012 until he had to focus solely on Cruz Pedregon's Funny Car efforts, helped McMillen exclusively this spring at the Las Vegas race. And Beard urged McMillen and crew chief Richard Hartman to rely more on Murphy.



"Lee said we need to bring Ray more into the circle," McMillen said. And he did, assigning Murphy to pore over data and helping relieve some of the burden from Hartman's shoulders. Murphy and McMillen knew each other from their IHRA days years ago, as Murphy worked with Virgil Hartman (Richard's father), raced with Andy Kelly, and did graphic wraps for the race cars.



So it was all going well, as McMillen reached the final at Las Vegas and did the same at Epping, N.H., and Joliet, Ill. Murphy was helping him remember his new motto: "Let's stop trying to hit home runs." Murphy was managing the small-ball game.

And the hard-working, always-thinking Amalie Oil/UNOH racer looked like he was starting to improve overall. But the Western Swing only got worse -- after 3,547 miles on the road looping from Denver to Sonoma, Calif., to Seattle on the way back to Elkhart, Ind.

By the time he reached this weekend's O'Reilly Northwest Nationals at Seattle's Pacific Raceways, McMillen was on a skid of three consecutive first-round losses. And one of his biggest losses was Murphy, back in California.

Relaxing at Lake Berryessa in the Napa Wine Country, Murphy fractured his leg in three places in a mishap on a rope swing. He didn't make the trip to Washington State. He didn't have to sit through a rainy Friday at the racetrack that saw no pros make a run. And he didn't have to stand there and watch McMillen's first run Saturday, a traction-troubled pass that ended with an 8.644-second, 78.76-mph clocking -- and 17th-place position.

McMillen improved considerably in his second and final chance of qualifying. He posted a 3.940, 309.27. But it fell about three-hundredths short as Troy Buff jumped onto the grid of 16 and left McMillen and Washington resident Ron Smith on the sidelines for Sunday.



That difference between his time and Buff's, he calculated, was the time it takes to blink an eye or the time it takes people to post 544 tweets on the social medium Twitter.



McMillen called Pacific Raceways "a hard track to get down. It's definitely the most difficult track in the world for us." Despite the oxygen-rich air, what he simply referred to as the "challenges" got to him and his Amalie Oil/UNOH Dragster again.

"Our day is coming," the team owner-driver said shortly after missing the field and missing out on any chance to make the Countdown field of 10. "We're just going to keep our heads up and keep fighting.



"We're going down the track more consistent now than we ever have. We just have to keep improving, keep trying to figure this thing out. We're going to get there. I have no doubt," McMillen said.

"This is certainly a setback," he said. "I know it ends our chance to make the Countdown. But we're not going to let this define us. What will define us is how we bounce back from this. Obviously this puts us in the role to be the spoiler, and I think our team is prepared to take on that role better than anyone right now.



"We have so many friends up here who help us and pull for us," McMillen said. "We couldn't do it without great companies and people like Lance Hansen from My Town Motors, Vic Payment from Budget Auto and Truck Wrecking and Jimmy Vasser from Jimmy Vasser Toyota. We have a great team of partners behind us, from our major associate sponsors to all of the folks that support us regionally. We can't thank them enough."

Gary Nastase TEAM GELLING - Tommy Johnson Jr. was the only one in the Rapisarda Autosport International camp who has competed at Pacific Raceways before. In just his second event behind the wheel of the RAI Dragster, he helped the team to a 10th-place start.

He was sixth after the first session Saturday with a 3.833-second pass at 311.41 mph. After that pass he said, "We were hoping to run in the mid-[3.]80s. I was really happy to see that 3.83 come up on the board. It got a bit loose at the top end.



"We were in the first pairing in Top Fuel to hit the track, and all the other teams were out watching how the track would shape up," Johnson said. "And the Rapisarda boys and the team certainly delivered. Sixth was a strong performance, particularly considering the team has never raced here."



But that 3.833 was the better of his two E.T.s, as Khalid alBalooshi, Antron Brown, Clay Millican, and Steve Torrence leapfrogged him in the final session.



On his second run, Johnson shut off the engine early because it was dropping a cylinder. But Johnson was pleased with his day, although he has to think overnight about meeting Clay Millican in the opening round Sunday.



"The car is coming around," Johnson said. "You can see today and also at Sonoma last weekend that we are building a more consistent package each time we go out to race. And as a driver, give me consistency over one great run and one bad run every time."

Joining the Rapisarda Autosport International team for the weekend is Australian Top Fuel driver Damien Harris, who accepted an invitation from team owner Santo Rapisarda to experience the NHRA's Western Swing. "I'm rapt to be with Santo's team for the swing," said the ANDRA ace who was runner-up to champion Darren Morgan last season. Harris arrived at Seattle Thursday and said, "From Perth to Sonoma was a 20-hour hike, but this an opportunity too good to pass up." Harris said he wasn't tempted to pack his firesuit and helmet in his luggage. "Definitely not. I'm here to crew, not drive," Harris said, grinning.

FOUND IT, DID IT - T.J. Zizzo is visiting Pacific Raceways for the first time, but he landed a No. 14 start. "Thankfully we have a lot of friends in this pit area," Zizzo said. "So when we go to a race for the first time, we can ask the right questions about what this track is like, what to expect from the race surface itself, and the weather conditions. We take that and we use it with our knowledge [of our car] and then we apply what we know. It really works out well. Going to a race track for the first time isn't a devastating event for us." It hardly looked devastating Saturday as he got safely into the field at No. 13 in his first pass on the 1,000-foot course. He said he knew he'd be all right even before he arrived after a first-time visit to Sonoma, as well. "We may not be able to find the place," Zizzo said with his famous sense of humor, "but we'll certainly be able to navigate down the track well." And he did in his PEAK Dragster.



IN TOP HALF - Antron Brown avoided landing in the bottom half of the field for the sixth time in eight races. The Matco Tools Dragster driver used a 3.799-second E.T. at 315.42 mph in the final session to jump into the top half at No. 6. He'll face Bob Vandergriff in Sunday's first round of eliminations. "We only had two runs, so we had a game plan," Brown said. Referring to crew chiefs Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi, he said, "Mark, Brian, and all the boys, we were focused on different things. We were just changing stuff back and forth to make things right in our bellhousing and clutch department. 

"The first run (3.880) we knew was going to be a test lap, and we just wanted to see where we were and then make adjustments. It did exactly what we wanted it to do, and then the next run was a lot better. We were hoping for more, but we know we can make it better. All in all, it was a great two runs, and we qualified sixth. We wanted to be in the top three, but we're in a good position to go racing, so we feel good about that. That last run was a great one to work off tomorrow."
LIKES SEATTLE - Tony Schumacher, who ended up third in both qualifying sessions Saturday, is joining crew chief Mike Green in test mode with the U.S. Army Dragster. Since they clinched a berth in the Countdown field at the outset of the Western Swing, they'll use this event, the one at Brainerd, Minn., in two weeks, and the Labor Day classic U.S. Nationals to get ready for the six-race playoff he's hoping will bring his eighth championship. Schumacher won here in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. That last victory brought a sweep of that year's Western Swing.




FUNNY CAR

GIMME THE TROPHY, KEEP EVERYTHING ELSE - Keep the points. Keep the berth in the Traxxas Showdown.

For defending NHRA Funny car champion Jack Beckman, all he wants is a trophy. Saturday during the final day of qualifications at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, he earned the pole position on the strength of a track record 4.049-second elapsed time at 303.64 miles per hour.

Of course Beckman understands the aforementioned perks are associated with winning, and he will gain them if he drives away as the winner from Pacific Raceways. He just uses this as an example of how badly he wants a win in his championship defense season.

"It has been a long time," Beckman said. "You never know if your last win was your last win.

Beckman's last win actually came last September, when he defeated Matt Hagan, a teammate and another driver who struggled in his championship defense season.

Beckman believes it’s the nature of the Funny Car class.

“Matt Hagan had the No. 1 on his car and never won a race,” Beckman said. “It’s not a jinx, it’s nitro Funny Car. They’re that unpredictable. You do things that you think will take your team to the next level and the next thing you know, you’re lost. You are on a dirt road and don’t know how to get back to where you started. It sounds easy to get a baseline in these cars but sometimes it is the most difficult thing on the planet. I think the Funny Car crew chief job is the toughest in all of motorsports.”

Speaking of tough, Beckman believes getting only two runs instead of the traditional four makes the challenges of tuning even tougher. Friday's rainout only made for a tough Saturday not only for his team but also his teammates. Four-time winner Johnny Gray landed in the final spot in the sixteen-car field and Sonoma winner Ron Capps missed the cut.

“You would not think losing two runs would have such an impact,” said Beckman. “All you have to do is look at this year who has failed to qualify … Brittany Force in Houston, Ron Capps here and he just won the last race … they qualify everywhere they go. The problem with two runs is if you missed it on the first run, you don’t know how much you missed it by. When you get two shots on Friday, two on Saturday, you can always back it up … get the car down the track and tune from there. I was floored when that NAPA car didn’t make it. That team has tune-up notes for every track out here and it wouldn’t have surprised me if they went out and grabbed the pole. That’s what keeps Funny Car so incredibly interesting. It’s these kinds of things which are so unpredictable.”

Beckman was spinning the tires on the top end, which he believes cost him several thousandths in elapsed time.

“It spun the tires and dropped a cylinder, and I shut off seventeen feet early. And, it still went a new track record," Beckman said.

Beckman said he doesn’t expect quick runs on Sunday such as the one his Valvoline team kicked out in Q-1, except maybe in the first round or the final.

“It could be an interesting day tomorrow because some of the data from today could be useless,” Beckman said.

The factor in Sunday success could be his crew chief Todd Smith.

“Todd is interesting when it comes to qualifying,” Beckman explained. “He is conservatively aggressive. In other words, he’ll go down the track far more often than not on the first few runs. And it’s almost always near the top of the pack, too. We had the luxury of swinging harder on the second session because we knew we were firmly in. It didn’t stick but we probably learned something from it. Nothing surprises me with Todd.”

Saturday’s No. 1 qualifying position was Beckman’s first since last October in a championship pivotal event in Reading, Pa., when the defending champion overtook teammate Ron Capps for the point lead on the strength of a head-to-head win coupled with a record-setting performance.

This season has been a different kind of beast for Beckman and his team.

“Look at how many No. 2s this car has had this year,” said Beckman. “It’s been nearly at the top of the pack every time."
 
Beckman, ranked sixth and 28 points out of fifth, isn't counting points right now and is logically a cinch to get into the Countdown.

“There are different things you want to do out here,” said Beckman. “I gotta tell you, if you’re Worsham, Wilkerson, Hight or Tasca, No. 8 through No. 11, you’re counting every single point. We just want a trophy right now. If they were giving away a race win with no points, but a trophy, that’s what we want now. We would love to move up a few positions before the Countdown starts. You are racing for half-round increments. Every position when they reset the points is worth a half-round. In sixth place, you are giving up a quite a few rounds plus another bonus round the first place car gets. At this point, I think our team would say, ‘keep the points, we want the trophy.”

CHANGE WORKING FOR DADDY FORCE - John Force has won 15-championships in his storied career by respecting the value change can bring. Two races ago, Force made a significant change by swapping crew chiefs and crews with Robert Hight.

Force, after rising as high as fifth in the point standings, made the decision to send his crew chief, Mike Neff, and crew over to Robert Hight's team, and in return welcomed Jimmy Prock and the AAA Auto Club crew.

Hight's team was in the midst of a slump, having lost three of four first round matches in the races leading up the NHRA Mile High Nationals. They were also ranked eleventh with time running out to qualify for the Countdown to the Championship.

“Sometimes, you just have to shake things up,” explained the Hall of Fame inductee (Motorsports Hall of Fame of American in 2008 and International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2012).  “You gotta get the right people in the right place.”

So far the move has worked as Force stepped up into fourth after finishing runner-up last weekend in Sonoma, Calif. Hight also climbed back into the top ten as he's won three rounds in the last two events.

“We’re getting paid to win a championship,” Force said of the shuffle. “Prock and Neff have different crew chief styles (but) they’re both world championship crew chiefs.  I believe I made the right call and I’m going to stick with it."

Shuffling the crew chiefs isn’t the only change Force has made this year in an attempt to reclaim a championship that has been his, as either driver or car owner, 17 of the last 23 seasons.

He also had to change his driving style after Neff pointed out a negative aspect of the heavy training regimen he adopted during his recovery from injuries suffered in September, 2007, in a crash at Dallas, Texas.

“He said since I’ve been living in the gym, building myself up, I was way over-steering the car,” Force said.  “He said I was taking it right out of the groove.  So we started watching the videos and that’s exactly what was happening.  He really helped me just calm down and get back to doing my job.”

The result?  Force has gone to the finals four times in the last six races with two different cars, two different crews and two different crew chiefs.  More important, at age 64 he has established himself, once more, as a legitimate threat to win the title.

“They were ready to print up T-shirts that said ‘John Force: Extinct,’” he said of this year’s slow start in which he advanced beyond the second round just once in the first nine races, “but I ain’t dead yet.  I can still drive these hot rods. I’ll know when it’s time (to get out of the car) and it ain’t time, yet.”

Hight was second quickest of Saturday’s two sessions with a 4.056 while Force was respectable at fifth with a 4.072.

THIRD TIME THE CHARM? - Tony Pedregon is running the Wix Filters scheme on his Toyota Funny Car for the third time this season.

“The focus for our team is still to qualify well and prepare for a solid showing on race day,” said Pedregon. The two-time series champion has only one win at Pacific Raceways, and it came during the 2002 season.

Pedregon ended Saturday as 11th with a 4.105 best. He meets Bob Tasca III in the first round.

CAPPS MISSES CUT – The nature of drag racing isn't lost on Ron Capps, especially in the competitive Funny Car division.

One race after a convincing victory at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, the Napa Auto Parts driver and his team failed to qualify this weekend in Seattle. Rain shortened qualifying for the NHRA Northwest Nationals to just two sessions, and on Saturday, Capps tuner Rahn Tobler was challenged to back down a powerful car.

Both of Capps’ runs resulted in tire smoke.

"That's how this sport goes sometime, especially when you only get two chances to qualify," said Capps, whose last DNQ occurred in April 2012 at Las Vegas.

The DNQ comes at a tough time for Capps, who had moved up to second in the championship standings and only 27 points behind Matt Hagan.

"This hurts because we had a chance to leave Seattle with the points lead, but I know how good our NAPA Dodge is, and we'll be ready for the next race."

The opportunity to challenge for the point lead was tough for Capps but not as tough as feeling he let others down.

"We had so many of our friends from NAPA out here with us and letting them down is what's most disappointing to me," Capps said.

"I know we're still in the hunt for the championship but it would have been very special to have all of my NAPA family in the winners circle with me."

FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC - There's no minute like the last minute for Courtney Force.

Force, who lost her first qualifying run when a cable broke on her Traxxas Ford Mustang at the start, rebounded with a 4.085 elapsed time at 304.74 mph to jump as high as the No. 4 spot.  By the end of the session, she dropped to No. 8.

 “On our first run in qualifying we had a problem with a cable breaking. We missed out on the run, and it was unfortunate that something like that happened, especially after we got rained out on Friday and missed both of those shots to qualify. We only had one chance in Q4 to get our Traxxas Ford Mustang down there and into the show. There’s nothing like a little extra pressure to make it into the field,” said Force.

The defending Seattle event winner knew it was do or die on the second session for her qualifying chances.

“I pulled up for the last session and I could see from my car what I needed to run to get in," she explained. "I knew that I needed to be prepared in case I had to pedal it, but luckily, I have a great team and they are on top of the game. Ron Douglas and Dan Hood lead this team and they were able to send my Traxxas Ford straight down to the end of the track and even get lane choice secured for tomorrow,” said Force.

Last year, Force won the race from the No. 14 spot on race day and took home her first NHRA Funny Car Wally.

“This is one of my favorite race tracks here in Seattle, so I’m glad we were able to get in the show and I’m excited to get paired up tomorrow. I’ll be racing my good friend Alexis DeJoria. We’ll both go out there and do the best we can and we’ll see what happens,” said Force.

Force is 4-1 to DeJoria in previous matchups.


WELCOME TO THE BIG SHOW – John Hale, a frontrunner on the NHRA’s Heritage Series, stepped away from his nostalgia nitro Funny Car to give Steve Plueger’s NHRA Mello Yello Series car a try. In his first attempt to race the “big show”, Hale finished qualifying as 15th quickest and will race Robert Hight in the first round.

ON THE EDGE - Bob Tasca III is fighting for his NHRA playoff life. Counting this weekend at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, the Ford Motorcraft-sponsored driver has three races in which to pull into the top ten of point earners for a chance to participate in the Countdown to the Championship.

Tasca helped his cause, when in the final session he ran the third-quickest pass to pick up a bonus point. His 4.077-second elapsed time at 306.33 mph was good for sixth position and will pair him against Tony Pedregon in Round 1 Sunday.

Entering Seattle, Tasca was just three points out of tenth, one round out of ninth, and two out of eighth – not including the scenarios that qualifying points throw in. Tasca entered Saturday's final session as No. 16 in the qualifying order.

“That (4.077 in Q4) was a big-time run,” Tasca said. “It goes to show you the confidence this Motorcraft/Quick Lane team is built on. We went up there knowing we weren’t qualified, but knowing what our race car could do. We knew we were really close to making it on that first round, and the guys went up there and moved into the top half and even went for the pole. Hats off to all the guys on the team for digging deep on that run. I had my hands full. I got past half-track and it was moving around, spinning the tires and the smile on my face was getting bigger and bigger as the finish line was getting closer and closer.

“That’s what it’s all about. This is a humbling sport. You see (Ron Capps) win last weekend and DNQ this weekend. This Funny Car class is wide open and it’s going to play all the way to Pomona. Clearly we want to get back into this top 10 tomorrow. We control our own destiny. We’re on the same side of the ladder of a bunch of the guys we’re fighting against (Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson and Del Worsham), so all we have to do is go rounds.”

BIG SHOT – Paul Lee, driving Gary Densham’s car this weekend, ran a strong 4.113 to earn a spot in the field. He was outside of the field headed into the final session. For his efforts, he will face 15-time Funny Car champion John Force in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations.

ATTABOY GIRL - Hot off of her impressive Sonoma performance, Alexis DeJoria had a good showing despite getting only two shots at the track. The Patron-sponsored driver broke into the 4.0s with a 4.099 pass, good for ninth.

Her Funny Car mentor and teammate Del Worsham posted a strong 4.065-second run in his DHL Toyota Camry to earn the number three spot in qualifying.

LAST MINUTE HEROICS - After pedaling his car on the first run and dropping to 14th by the time he made his final qualifying attempt, a last-ditch 4.083 from Tim Wilkerson put him into the No. 7 spot, and he will face Jeff Arend in round one Sunday.

"Crazy stuff can happen when you only get two runs, and we had a few spoilers with us this weekend in the form of a few part-time teams who could definitely get in," Wilk said. "All you needed was one of those part-timers to do it, and we ended up having a couple of them get in, so Ron was the unlucky guy who got left out. I've been there and done that, so I know how it feels and it's a perfect example of how cruel this sport can be.

"We knew what we did wrong on the first one, and I felt pretty good about the second lap, but you know how that goes. You just never know what these cars will do, and even something fluky can ruin a good lap. It powered right down there, though, and we're happy to be seventh. We really need to get all of our junk to work right, and be smart about putting a good run on the board, because these rounds are all big right now."


PRO STOCK

EDWARDS LOOKING TO PREVENT SHUTOUT - When you win four events, qualify No. 1 a whopping twelve times and lead the points, the term shutout isn’t something usually considered when discussing the performance of a season. Mike Edwards faces this scenario on the NHRA’s famed Western Swing, however, if he doesn’t pull out a victory at this weekend’s Northwest Nationals outside of Seattle.

Edwards put himself in the best position to prevent this Saturday when he covered Pacific Raceway’s quarter-mile quicker than 15 other Pro Stock competitors with a 6.526 elapsed time at 212.29. Friday’s professional qualifying was rained out, leaving Edwards and the rest of the competition with only two runs to conquer a new starting line at Pacific Raceways.

“When you have two sessions, you just never know what the track is going to give you,” Edwards said. “We were real conservative the first run and wanted just to get from A to B. We made some adjustments and went to the left lane and made a really good run. Real proud of my guys.”

Edwards was no slouch, even in conservative mode, as his 6.542, 211.76 performance was good enough for third after the first session. He enters Sunday’s final eliminations with three career Seattle wins to his credit [1996, 1997, 2009].

"I don't know if it is the cooler temperatures, the great scenery, or just my comfort with the Northwest, but I always feel relaxed at the Seattle race," Edwards said. "I think that goes a long ways in producing good results."

Last weekend, Edwards felt his team was on the right track to winning a Western Swing event during the NHRA Sonoma Nationals after landing in the No. 1 qualifying spot. But in losing a second-round match against Vincent Nobile he faced the realization that a win had to come at this weekend's event in Seattle.

"Qualifying in Sonoma we were able to grab the pole. That meant a lot to this team because it meant we were moving back to where we want to be," he said. "Now we are focused on getting the best race car we can have come eliminations and go into the six-race dash with as much momentum as possible. That all starts this weekend in Seattle; where we hope to get on a streak and carry it to the end of the season and a second NHRA Pro Stock championship.

"We came into these three races wanting to get better at every angle of the race team. I do not think we are to the point where we want to be, especially in eliminations," Edwards said. "Now we need to continue that approach in Seattle and hopefully grab our fifth trophy of the season and get moving forward."

Edwards will face Deric Kramer in Sunday’s first round.

CALL HIM MR. EARLY BIRD – Rickie Jones has developed the propensity to get off on the right foot in 2013. Thanks to an alliance with Shane Gray, the second-generation chassis builder and driver of the Elite Performance Camaro of Richard Freeman has managed to make the early leap in NHRA Pro Stock qualifying during multiple events this season.

Jones is certainly no Mike Edwards, No. 1 qualifier at 12 events this season, but if these events were one-and-done qualifying – Edwards’ mark wouldn’t be as strong. For instance, in two of the last three events, Jones led the first session in qualifying. In the one race he didn’t ascend to the top early, Gray picked it up.

“We’re about ready to turn a corner, I hope,” said Jones, who has been the first session qualifying leader at multiple events this season. “Anytime you can unload and make a good run, it goes a long way towards helping to make good decisions. If you’re behind early, you have to work hard to get to where you need to be.”

Friday’s qualifying at the NHRA Northwest Nationals outside of Seattle was rained out, pushing what would have been Saturday’s third session into the first hit at the track for the professional categories.

Jones drove his way into the early lead with a 6.532, 211.49 run. Unfortunately, Edwards swiped the top spot away in the final session resulting in his twelfth 2013 pole.
Before, when Jones was running as a single-car team, he and the Elite team did well despite their data shortcomings. In joining with Gray, more data is available for the once single-car operations.

“Having more data helps,” Jones confirmed. “Having more data to draw on with Shane has helped us a lot.”

Gray, who presently ranks fourth in the standings, sees the momentum gravitating towards their alliance.

“We are pretty close,” said Gray, on how close they are being to the top. “I still think Mike [Edwards] has a little bit on us. But we are close. Closer than I have ever been, for sure.”

At the Denver event, both Jones and Gray were one round away from the final. Gray has been to the finals three times while Jones, who, despite missing the first two races of the season, has ascended to 11th in points.

Together they have formed a potent alliance. Prior to the start of the season, Gray’s in-house engine program pooled resources with Jones’ engine supplier Elite Performance and for them the strength has been in the alliance.

“It has been a conglomeration of everybody,” said Gray. “That team helps this team and this team helps that team. It’s like a football team. There’s no MVP here. Everybody is working together and trying to do their job. Everybody is doing a wonderful job.”

A YEAR LATER - One year after skipping the Western Swing to concentrate on building his new in-house engine program, Rodger Brogdon believes his team is on the way to getting where they need to be. The results might not show it, but Brogdon has been pleased with his team's progress.

"It's pretty good so far," Brogdon said. "We haven't won any rounds, but hopefully we can change that and do better this week. It's so close. You've got to be off the clutch pedal so quick. That's what you've got to do."

Brogdon presently holds the tenth spot in the points standings on the strength of a victory at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in June. He presently holds a 206-point lead over 11th place with three races left before the Countdown.

The reasonably cushy advantage has enabled Brogdon to test parts, pieces and combinations without the stress of earning a spot in the Countdown to the Championship.

"We're trying a lot of stuff," Brogdon said. "We keep changing stuff in the bellhousing, and since everything works differently together, it's a work in progress. We'll see what happens."

FORGING AHEAD - Summit Motorsports drivers Greg Anderson and Jason Line haven't experienced a terrible season in 2013. They haven't had a stellar one, either.

Thus far, Anderson and Line have only accounted for one win in 15 races. Neither driver ranks inside of the top five point standings, usually a home for the two during this time of the season.

"The good news is that the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is running better," said Anderson, who has one final round appearance and five semifinals to his credit. "We can focus on the positives because we were basically within a couple-hundredths of the fast guys. That's the closest we've been for quite a while, and obviously we still need to continue working on it, but we ran close enough that we had a chance to win. We'll try to build on the positives that we uncovered."

Line has the lone win in 2013 for the KB Racing team, dating back to Houston in April. Winning has become a tradition with the two as they have accounted for 104 wins combined. Anderson has 74 of those, including at least one victory in each of the past 12 seasons, the longest streak among active NHRA competitors

"All I'm worried about right now is making sure our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros are as fast as they can possibly be," said Line, a two-time world champion. "That's where it all starts. Greg and I both need to be on our game as drivers, but we have to have the horsepower to get it done.”

The lack of wins this season certainly isn't for lack of effort, noted Line.

“The KB Racing team hasn’t really taken much of a breath lately,” Line said. “We want to have the fastest cars out there, so we have the best chance of bringing home those trophies.”

Anderson believes sooner or later their race day fortunes will come back around.

“We need to capitalize on what we’ve learned, and we have every capability to do that,” said Anderson, who also has the longest qualifying streak among active drivers at 247 races. “Right now, Team Summit is really heading in the right direction, and I give a lot of credit to the employees and bosses at Summit Racing for their encouragement. They always make us want to raise the bar, and hopefully we’ll do that for them.”

Anderson and Line qualified No. 7 and No. 8 respectively after two sessions.

EXCLUDED FROM THE GROUP - Allen Johnson and his band of Mopar front-runners have been lethal in the first two events of the famed Western Swing.

Johnson, the point man for the Mopar brand, dominated the NHRA Mile High Nationals by winning from the No. 1 qualifying position.

Vincent Nobile, winner of the season-opening NHRA Winternationals, won again last weekend in Sonoma.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. has been the odd man out during the three-race stretch which hosts races from Denver to Seattle. Coughlin was runner-up to Nobile last weekend.

"With Allen winning Denver, Vincent winning Sonoma, maybe it'll be my turn in Seattle," Coughlin offered. "But I know there are 14 or 15 other Pro Stock drivers out here who want to say differently. I really feel good about the program."

Coughlin has won in Seattle before, scoring a 2002 victory over Mark Whisnant.

After two sessions, Coughlin was fifth quickest with a 6.56 best.

BACK IN ACTION – Two races after crashing his Total Seal-sponsored Dodge Avenger, Matt Hartford was back in action. He was No. 15 after two sessions with a 6.62.

STRUGGLING – After running strong for most of the season, Shane Gray struggled in Saturday’s two sessions. He could only muster 13th best and will meet V. Gaines in the first round.

STRONG PERFORMANCE – Chris McGaha ran strong in qualifying, posting the 11th quickest run, a 6.598, which will pair him alongside of Sonoma winner Vincent Nobile.

 FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -  IT'S A WASH, WE'LL TRY IT AGAIN

Persistent rain showers forced NHRA officials to cancel qualifying on Friday for the 26th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Pacific Raceways. Qualifying will resume on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Rain showers moved into the area Friday afternoon before Pro Stock, Funny Car and Top Fuel qualifying sessions began. Gates will open at 8 a.m. Qualifying rounds are set for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. for Sunday's final eliminations at 11 a.m.