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

 

CAROLINA NATIONALS WINNERS CROWNED AT DALLAS

SCHUMACHER STEAMROLLS TO TOP FUEL VICTORY AND POINTS LEAD - Tony Schumacher has won seven Top Fuel championships and done that in a variety of ways. He has the NHRA record for the largest points margin, and he owns the NHRA record for the narrowest of points margins. And he fell just seven points short in 2012 to Antron Brown.

And Tony Schumacher is a patient man. That's helpful, because he has had to be patient this year after starting the Winternationals this February at Pomona, Calif., in 12th place. But it's all paying off right about now.

He entered the Countdown in fourth place in the standings. And heading into Sunday's eliminations of the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals, he and the Mike Green-, Neal Strausbaugh-led U.S. Army Dragster team are the point leaders.

That's largely due to Saturday's victory over Khalid alBalooshi in the final round of the belated Pep Boys Carolinas Nationals that took place at the Texas Motorplex at Ennis, south of Dallas.

So Schumacher, a new resident of Austin, Texas, earned his first victory on his new home track – which will be even more memorable because it wasn't even in the regularly scheduled September event. The highly touted zMAX Dragway lost its luster and the chance last week to complete the first race of the 2014 Countdown.

He completed a steady march from 12th place to first with a 3.866-second pass at 318.77 mph on the 1,000-foot course in a wire-to-wire victory. AlBalooshi countered with a 3.903, 316.67 in the special showdown that followed qualifying for the Dallas event.

Schumacher reached the final round with a victory back in North Carolina over Bob Vandergriff last Sunday and Saturday victories over Billy Torrence and Spencer Massey as the final two Dallas qualifying sessions doubled as Charlotte elimination rounds.

AlBalooshi, rising steadily himself in the Charlotte race from the No. 11 position, beat teammate Shawn Langdon last weekend, then advanced to the final round Saturday past first Morgan Lucas and then Steve Torrence.

And there at Billy Meyer's doubleheader at the Texas Motorplex, on a 129-degree racetrack, Schumacher was his hottest all year with his 75th victory – best in Top Fuel history – and third this season. Perhaps fittingly, it's where he earned his career-first triumph 15 years ago, in 1999.

"It couldn’t have come at a better time," Schumacher said of the Charlotte-at-Dallas victory. He called it "fantastic timing" and said he thinks his U.S. Army Dragster can go the distance.

"I know we've got the car capable of doing it," he said Saturday. "We'll have to see what happens. But we'll be there to force the issue. We're not going to wait and see what happens. We're going to leave nothing on the table. If you want to win a championship anymore, as good as these cars are, you'd better leave nothing on the table, absolutely dominate."

To reinforce his point, three drivers failed to qualify, including Countdown driver Brittany Force, a three-time No. 1 qualifier this season, and six-time IHRA Top Fuel champion Clay Millican. First-time Top Fuel competitor Kebin Kinsley joined them.

While the air temperature and track temperature were hot, Schumacher said his mission is to be ice-cold.

"There's no better time to be ice-cold," he said. "I always say 'Be a machine. Be machine-like.' " He said his crew chiefs "need me to go out and do what I do so they can do what they do better than any other crew chiefs on the planet."

Schumacher was pumped up about the chance this weekend "to try to take home two trophies." And he has more on his agenda.

"I'd like to leave, Reading, Pennsylvania, with a 140-point lead or more. I'd love that. That's be beautiful," Schumacher said, alluding to the notion that he's especially successful at Las Vegas, the following race.

"But nobody's stupid enough to think it's easy. We could go out tomorrow [in the Dallas eliminations] and get spanked in the first round," he said.

Despite the Charlotte victory, Schumacher is the No. 6 qualifier (3.790, 322.11), but he matched No. 1 JR Todd in qualifying bonus points with six this weekend. Schumacher will face Leah Pruett, whose Gumout/Dote Racing Dragster team added Dallas to the schedule to finish its Charlotte chances, in the opening round of the AAA Texas FallNationals Sunday.

He said one of the best aspects of winning the Charlotte trophy is "to be able to do it on demand."

The times will demand he repeat his results and get a second Wally this weekend. The question is whether his team will – not can but will – do it with all the variables any race has to stymie drivers.

Schumacher had an answer for that: "We're good in the heat, man, and it’s going to be hot tomorrow."

HAGAN STARTS COUNTDOWN WITH CHARLOTTE WIN - This wasn’t zMax Dragway at Charlotte, N.C.

Mother Nature, more specifically rain, changed the venue for the Carolina Nationals to the Texas Motorplex Saturday.

It made for a hectic schedule – but Matt Hagan, the 2011 NHRA nitro Funny Car world champ, wasn’t complaining Saturday afternoon.

Hagan defeated his rival 16-time world champion John Force in the finals.

Hagan clocked a 4.212-second time and was handed the win when Force had a redlight start.

“It was hot,” said Hagan, the driver of the Rocky Boots Don Schumacher Dodge. “(Saturday night) we are going to be partying with pedialyte. It has been one of those deals where we had so much going on. My guys busted their butts (Saturday). I’m so proud of them. They are just a great group.”

This was Hagan’s 12th career victory and he now has three wins at Charlotte – 2011, 2013 and 2014.

“I wouldn’t trade Dickie Venables for any crew chief out here,” Hagan said. “The guy is smart and methodical. This is our second year together and we still have a lot of growing to do. Dickie has a game plan and we don’t want to go out there and press. We want to get that data and go down the track so we have something to work off. That’s what we did and Dickie was able to just put a car that was phenomenal under me (Saturday). It went down the track every lap and that was huge.”

It didn’t take Hagan long to realize he beat the legendary Force.

“I think as soon as it took off,” Hagan said. “He was so early. I don’t even know if I ran it all the way because I didn’t want to do something stupid on the other end. I was either dead late or he was really early and I feel pretty confident about my lights out there and I didn’t think I was dead late. I just thought he was pretty early. John is a great racer and I’m glad we have a little rivalry. We need that out here in this sport, it can’t be all kissy, kissy all the time. He’s the man to beat and he's proven it all year long.”

Hagan defeated Tony Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson, Robert Hight and Force for the win.

“The Countdown gives us another shot to come back out here and really take this thing over,” Hagan said. “I don’t know what (Sunday) brings all I know I’m happy with the outcome (Saturday) and we still have to get focused for (Sunday). Everything changes for (Sunday). This sport is so humbling it is crazy.”

Hagan qualified No. 6 for the Texas FallNationals and will meet Bob Tasca III in Sunday's first round.

JONATHAN GRAY GETS HIS FIRST PS WIN - This has been a memorable couple of weeks for Jonathan Gray.

At the U.S. Nationals on Sept. 2, he upset two-time world champion Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson in the first round to qualify for the Countdown to the Championship.

Then for an encore the rookie captured his inaugural NHRA Wally by winning the rain-delayed Carolina Nationals Saturday at Texas Motorplex in his Gray Motorsports Chevy Camaro.

“This is huge,” Gray said about his first win. “It’s huge for everybody back at the shop, all the guys back at Gray Motorsports. All the guys on my team are just awesome. I also have to thank my wife and kids for putting up with this and my mom and dad being extremely supportive of this deal. This is just really a cool deal.”

Gray defeated Rodger Brogdon, V. Gaines, Shane Gray, his older brother, and then he edged two-time world champion Jason Line in the finals.

Gray clocked a 6.589-second lap at 209.10 mph to defeat Line’s 6.605-second lap at 209.62 mph.

“I had the utmost confidence in my equipment and my guys and it all worked out,” Gray said.

Gray definitely has been a quick learner in the Pro Stock class. He skipped the first two races of the season at Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix, lost in the first round at Gainesville, Fla., and then skipped the first Las Vegas race.

Fast-forward to the present and he’s a contender for a Pro Stock world championship.

“I really didn’t have any intentions of running all of the races,” Jonathan said. “We ran Gainesville and everything worked out really good and we had a good time. I’m enjoying this more than anything I’ve ever done, aside from having my kids.”

Gray will not have much time to celebrate as he qualified No. 3 for the Texas FallNationals and the eliminations will be run Sunday the Texas Motorplex.

“The momentum going into (Sunday) is just huge,” Jonathan said. “We have all three cars in our team really running good and I don’t think we could’ve peaked at a better time. It would be awesome (to win Charlotte and Dallas).”

Shane Gray won the U.S. Nationals at Indy Sept. 2 and Dave Connolly, who drives the third Gray Motorsports Camaro, came to Charlotte fifth in the points.

“We will win another race or two before the Countdown is over whether it is me or Shane or Dave,” Jonathan said. “Quite honestly, I think we probably have as good a shot of winning the championship as anybody out here does. I think we are on a roll.”

BIKE RACER KRAWIEC HAS CHANCE TO DOUBLE HIS FUN AT DALLAS

Just don’t even try to goof up Eddie Krawiec's rhythm.

It won’t work.

The three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion is enjoying one of those zones in which nothing can ruin his momentum – not even time zones.

Krawiec scored his third consecutive victory of the season Saturday in the postponed Charlotte-race runoffs, all while registering his eighth No. 1 qualifying position of the year for the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals.

The Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson racer had more than one-hundredth-of-a-second advantage on his closest competitor, Hector Arana Jr., with his 6.841-second elapsed time (at 194.83 mph) on the Texas Motorplex quarter-mile.

Krawiec was as blistering as the 129-degree track temperature Saturday evening, when he beat fellow finalist Steve Johnson with a 6.888- second, 193.49-mph pass. Johnson challenged with 6.917, 193.29.  

The final three elimination rounds of the Pep Boys Carolinas Nationals, halted and moved to Dallas because of shoddy track conditions and rain at Charlotte last weekend, took place during qualifying for the Dallas event.

So Krawiec's success Saturday is even sweeter, considering the Charlotte victory vaulted him into the points lead past teammate Andrew Hines and the fact he has a chance to extend his streak to four consecutive triumphs again from the No. 1 starting spot.

This fifth straight Wally trophy for the Vance & Hines team is an even bigger blessing because it came in the first race of the six-event Countdown to the Championship.

"Having a fast bike at every race helps. Definitely competitors and everybody take notice of it," Krawiec said.

He entered this weekend 17 points behind leader and teammate Andrew Hines in the standings. But he traded places with Hines, thanks to gaining 11 qualifying bonus points and going one round better than Hines in the Charlotte finish. He will begin Sunday's racing for the Dallas trophy and custom-made cowboy hat 23 points ahead of Hines.

Nobody has had a chance to forget Krawiec. With his bike's consistency, his 'Don't beat-yourself' motto, and his quest to "stay on top of your game as a rider," he has built a 26-7 elimination-round record heading into Sunday's first-round Dallas competitor, Fred Camarena.

And uprooting Krawiec from a venue with unfinished business and expecting him to get back into a racing frame of mind at another facility – to take on both races in one weekend – didn’t rattle him too much. He did say he had endured an unusually long and peculiar week.

"It's been a long week. It's one thing to start a race at one facility, then pick up your stuff and drive 1,000 miles clear across the country and start back up again," Krawiec said after recording his fourth victory of the season and 26th overall. He described the exercise as "an emotional roller coaster," saying, "One of the hardest things is getting back into race mode."

He did that relatively easily, advancing past Scotty Pollacheck, Brian Pretzel, then beating Hines by about only four feet (.0147 seconds).

He said, "The key for us this weekend is rolling off the truck with great momentum and making a good run down the track. That's what I've done with my Harley for the last couple of laps here, making good, clean, straight runs."

The key word for Krawiec these days is "fun." And he has a chance to double it Sunday.

"Moving on to tomorrow, it’s even better," he said.

In Dallas first-round pairings, Arana Jr. will battle Shawn Gann, No. 3 Hines will face Hector Arana Sr., Charlotte runner-up Steve Johnson will race LE Tonglet. Other match-ups have John Hall (No. 5) facing Angelle Sampey (No. 12), No. 6 Jerry Savoie racing Angie Smith (No. 11), Chaz Kennedy (No. 7) going against Scotty Pollacheck (No. 10), and Matt Smith (No. 8) running against Adam Arana (No. 9).

Missing the field were Mike Berry, Michael Ray, Redell Harris, and David Barron.

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - WE'RE ON HOLD UNTIL NEXT WEEK - RANDOM NOTES

THERE'S A PROBLEM - During the fourth pair of Pro Stockers, V. Gaines lost control of his Dodge Dart just past the eighth mile and crashed. The car barrel-rolled multiple times before coming to a stop upright. Gaines was checked by medical personnel onsite and released.

Multiple Pro Stock cars had experienced issues in the second-half of the track prior to Gaines' accident. Following the first pair of cars in the round, NHRA officials halted the competition and worked on the racing surface before resuming.

Gaines was in the fourth pair of cars to run during the first round.

“Clyde told me before I ran that no one made it down that lane,” Gaines said. “I was fully prepared the minute anything got stupid to get out of it. I was going down the groove, knew I was ahead of Allen and boy it went. It just took a left turn on me, and there was no correcting. It was gone.”

One of the drivers who won the first round said at one point during the run, the front-end of his car turned in one direction and the rear-end the other, but was able to correct through counter-steer. Gaines couldn't say definitively if this was the case in his accident.

“It happened so fast, I know it just made a left-hand turn,” said Gaines. “It wasn’t good.”

UNDETERMINED - NHRA VP of Operations Graham Light said in the postponement press conference he will speak to the Pro Stock teams before making a decision to scratch the completed first round results and start over.

Light said his team had discussed moving over to the other set of lanes, Lane 1 and Lane 2 of the Four-Wide Nationals, and could have prepped in an hour to resume but bad weather and an unfavorable forecast led to the decision to allow teams to begin travel toward next weekend's event in Dallas.

MAMA SAID ... - Jason Line had a priceless quote in winning his first round match against Chris McGaha. Line quipped, "Mama said if you don't have anything nice to say ..."

Line was the only driver to navigate the tricky racing surface in a representative elapsed time and speed.

EARLY TOP FUEL PLAYOFF EXITS - The top three seeds in Top Fuel - Doug Kalitta [Morgan Lucas], Antron Brown [Spencer Massey] and Shawn Langdon [Khalid alBalooshi] fell in the opening round. Only five playoff eligible racers survived the first round - Massey, Balooshi, JR Todd, Tony Schumacher and Steve Torrence.

In their first meeting, Leah Pritchett beat Countdown racer Brittany Force. She is scheduled to race another Countdown racer in the second round.

THE FUNNY CARS - Cruz Pedregon, Tommy Johnson Jr., Alexis DeJoria, Courtney Force and Del Worsham were the playoff cars eliminated in Sunday's first round.

DeJoria the No. 1 qualifier smoked the tires against No. 16 qualifier Dave Richards. She appeared to be on the path to recovering and reeling in Richards until the supercharged backfired zapping her Toyota's power. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK – A BAD FORECAST GIVES WAY TO COMPLETE DAY OF RACING

TOP FUEL

JUNIOR IS SENIOR - JR Todd heads into Sunday's final eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier on the strength of a final session 3.804-second elapsed time at 317.64 miles per hour. This performance marks his first No. 1 qualifier of the season and pairs him alongside Clay Millican in the first round.

Todd, who led Friday's qualifying, was bumped down in the Q-3 session by Steve Torrence but he battled back to claim the top spot.

“It’s been a fun weekend driving this Optima Batteries car,” said Todd, whose lone victory this season came at Denver in July. “We can go nowhere but up from 10th (in the Countdown playoffs), so now it’s up to me to do my job tomorrow and I think we’ve got a horse for ‘em.”

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR - Indy runner-up Steve Torrence qualified second in his Capco Contractors dragster with a 3.810 at 317.57, and Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta qualified third in his Mac Tools dragster with a 3.831 at 318.62.

GIRL POWER TIMES TWO - Brittany Force landed in the No. 7 qualifying position and as a result, will race fellow female dragster pilot Leah Prichett. Sunday's first round match will mark the first time they've faced one another.

“I’m excited going into my first Countdown race," said Force. "We made a big move and moved up today to the seventh spot, and we have Leah Pritchett first round tomorrow. I have my expectations, but you have to be realistic out here considering all the competitors I’m going against. But we have a great team and a great race car, great crew chiefs with Todd Smith and Dean Antonelli."

BONUS BEATS - Steve Torrence and JR Todd were the top bonus point earners during qualifying. Non-Countdown runner Billy Torrence took four points out of the mix. There are 24 available bonus qualifying points for each event.

THIS ISN'T HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK - The goal of team cars is to hope to meet in the final round.

Two teams will have their Countdown-eligible cars race one another in Sunday's first round. Spencer Massey, celebrating his birthday Saturday, matches up with Antron Brown. Massey carries lane choice by .002.

On the other side of the ladder, Team Al-Anabi partners Shawn Langdon faces Khalid alBalooshi, with lane choice going to Langdon.

There are a total of three Countdown matches with Steve Torrence racing Indy champion Richie Crampton representing the only non-team match.

BLOCKING OUT LAST YEAR - Antron Brown stumbled out of the gate with a DNQ during last season's NHRA Carolina Nationals and the miscue effectively cost his chances as successfully repeating as series champion. He finished second in the final point tally.

"The one thing last year, we struggled mid-season," Brown said. "We won three races in the middle of the season and slowed up some when we got into a new clutch program. We had to figure that out just like everyone else does. It took us way longer than we expected to get it right -- six races. The race before, we had it all figured out and did well."

Brown had no reason to doubt his team had the issue under control. After all, they did qualify No. 1 at the previous race.

"Came into this race thinking we had it figured out," Brown explained. "We also knew we weren't going to win this championship by being shy. We knew we had to get aggressive. We were very aggressive. First round, we went out there trying to rotate the earth backward, and it didn't happen. We went up in smoke."

Brown and the Matco Tools team didn't back off and, as a result, didn't it down again. The team reasoned the track was improving and, as a result, began to come to them.

Wrong.

"We got to the last day and began backing the car down," Brown explained. "We should have done the opposite and came in gradually. We shouldn't have been so aggressive early in the event. The track was so stellar it ate our tuneup up."

Q-3 resulted in mechanical failure and in the final session was too soft, and they missed the cut.

"It was our fault," Brown admitted. "It wasn't all bad; we came out and made the semis and cranked out two wins to get us back in it."

LOOKING TO FILL SPOILER ROLE - Bob Vandergriff Jr. qualified No. 12 with a 3.868, 316.08 and races Tony Schumacher in the first round. They have only met once this season with BV2 getting the best of Schumacher.

PLAYING THE GAME - Winning a championship can be a learning experience, and for Shawn Langdon he's headed into his title-defense season wiser for the experience.

“Last year was a lot of firsts for me,” said Langdon, who entered the event ranked third in points. “I didn’t know how to handle the pressure because I had never been in that position before. I just followed my Al-Anabi team’s lead. This year, I’ve been through it and I know how to prepare and block out the added tension. It’s still tough because you’re racing for a lot of reasons: yourself, your sponsors, your team. It’s a lot of pressure, but I think I know how to prepare for it a little better.”

Langdon enters the weekend 40 points behind leader Doug Kalitta and ten points behind 2012 world champion Antron Brown. He picked up a bonus point in qualifying over Kalitta.

Langdon enters eliminations from No. 6.

“There’s been enough drivers out there that have shown you can win in any position,” Langdon said. “We’re in a position where it’s something we can make up in the first race but it’s also critical that we maintain going rounds. If you have a bad race or two you can get in a hole you can’t make up. But we’re in control of our destiny and that’s what you want.”

This weekend, Langdon believes, his biggest concern is making sure he's on his game.

“The biggest thing entering the Countdown is you can’t be concerned with anybody but yourself,” Langdon said. “Every round you have to be on your game. You really do have to go up there and make the best run possible every time up.”

GETTING THE HEART RIGHT - Doug Kalitta racked up a remarkable nine final round appearances, winning twice and only suffering two first-round exits during the regular season.

Kalitta concluded qualifying as the third quickest with a 3.831 elapsed. He races Morgan Lucas in the first round.
 
Kalitta, who has finished second in Top Fuel three times and third three times, including last year, has already recorded more final round appearances than he did previously in any season in an NHRA career that has featured 35 wins and 77 final round appearances.

“It is all about the heart and then winning these races,” Kalitta said. “Just wanting it just as bad or worse than anybody else out there is what keeps you out there. My car has been more consistent this year than it's been in a number of years (and) it's probably the best year that I've had that I can remember. So that's our mission for sure is to go to each one of these (Countdown events), qualify good, be consistent and be ready to go rounds on Sunday. We definitely plan on continuing what we've been doing.”

MARCHING INTO SUNDAY - Tony Schumacher enters eliminations looking for career win number 75 against Bob Vandergriff Jr. Schumacher has an overall record of 25-10 versus Vandergriff.

COMING UP SHORT - There were 19 cars in attendance this weekend ensuring three would go home following four qualifying sessions. Terry McMillen, Chris Karamesines and Ike Maier fell short of the 3.902 bubble.

FUNNY CAR

THE QUEEN OF THE HILL -  The heiress left no room for interpretation during Saturday qualifying. She wants to rule the Funny Car class starting on Sunday.

Alexis DeJoria claimed her second No. 1 qualifying position as a follow-up to her Indy victory two weeks ago. She posted a qualifying best of 4.090 at 300.53 in her Patron XO Café Toyota Camry to take the top spot. She races Dave Richards in the first round.

“It’s only our second No. 1 so it’s really exciting for our team,” DeJoria said. “(Crew chief) Tommy (DeLago) and the guys have got a real good handle on the race car and they’ve managed to get us down the track more often than not. The consistency has helped us get round wins and get better. I am really excited about our chances at this race.”

DeJoria led qualifying early with a 4.100-second pass after missing Friday’s second qualifying session with a mechanical problem.
 
DeJoria claimed the Lion's share of the bonus qualifying points with six, followed by Matt Hagan and Robert Hight with four apiece. Jack Beckman secured one point as the only non-Countdown point qualifier.

“It’s such an incredible feeling to come off of our Indy win and now in the first race of the Countdown, go out and run number one qualifier,” said DeJoria. “This builds confidence within the team going into race day. We have a consistent car, and hopefully we can make it down the track four times tomorrow. Tommy and the guys have such a good handle on our XO Cafe Toyota Camry and even missing that one run yesterday, we had no problem bouncing back and recovering today,” she said, referring to the team’s decision to opt out of Q2 after discovering a fuel pump leak in the staging lanes.

DeJoria is now just two points shy of third place.

“Every point counts and it feels good to start the Countdown with six bonus points. We haven’t always done the best in qualifying but managed to perform on race day, and hopefully we can do that again tomorrow.”

THE CRUZ MISSILE - Cruz Pedregon struggled in the heat on Friday, but bounced back to place third in both of today’s sessions, good for fourth overall in his Snap-on Tools Camry.

QUICKEST OF THE HERD - Matt Hagan, who led DSR's quartet of Funny Cars, qualified third with a 4.123.

SKIN OF THE TEETH WORKS FOR HIM - Tim Wilkerson isn't discounting gaining the final berth in the Funny Car Countdown to the Championship.

"We always say that, when you're qualifying, 16th isn't very good but it's way better than 17th, and the same goes for the Countdown," said Wilkerson. "10th place isn't as good as we'd like, but 11th is way worse and somehow, over the course of 18 races, we managed to hold the spot. I spoke with Jack (Beckman) after we both lost, and he was really gracious, but the truth is both of us don't have to look very hard to find a few dozen moments we'd like to go back and do better."

"We're in it, though, and it's time to turn up the dial and find the aggressive race car we had earlier in the summer. We have absolutely nothing to lose, so there's no holding back and no being conservative. We can't finish the season any worse than where we are right now, so there's no reason not give it everything we have, and that's the only philosophy we'll follow. We're like the wild-card team that just sneaks into the playoffs, with a record that doesn't wow anyone, but once the playoffs start anything can happen and maybe we can surprise some people."

With the points being reset, Wilkerson now finds himself just 10 points behind Del Worsham, and the 110-point climb to catch John Force.

REVENGE? - Be careful of which title you affix to 2012 NHRA Funny Car champion Jack Beckman.

Beckman, who is not competing in the Countdown, qualified sixth and faces Tim Wilkerson, who slipped past Beckman for the 10th and final Countdown spot two weeks ago. Don't call Beckman a spoiler.

"I don't even like the word spoiler," Beckman said. "Spoiler means a non-contender. It was a great qualifying weekend for our team, but it doesn't mean anything unless it translates to round wins on Sunday.

FATHER-DAUGHTER DANCE - Courtney Force meets her famous father John Force in one of two Countdown matches in Sunday's first round. This will be the twelfth time the pair have matched up on race day and the sixth time they have faced each other in the opening round.

Courtney is 6-5 to her dad in previous meetings. The last time they raced each other was Sonoma of this year, when Courtney qualified No. 1 and won the race.

“We still have to end up running my dad, which is unfortunate," said Courtney. "We have a pretty good race car. I think we’ve seen some consistency this weekend. Ron Douglas and Dan Hood have given me a great car to drive so we’re looking forward to tomorrow. We have got to keep ourselves in the game and in order to do that we have to take out my dad in round one."

SEVEN ON SEVEN - Del Worsham, No. 1 qualifier Alexis DeJoria's teammate, placed seventh in the DHL Toyota.

ODD MAN OUT - Bob Gilbertson, No. 17 qualifier of 17 entries, missed the cut with a 6.117 best.

 

PRO STOCK

HEAR HER ROAR - Erica Enders-Stevens secured her third No. 1 qualifying position of the season by improving on her Friday effort with a 6.568 at 210.37.

“We picked up 10 points on Jason (Line, points leader) which is so crucial with only 24 rounds of racing left,” Enders-Stevens said. “Hat’s off to my team for giving me such a consistent race car. The track was pretty tricky this afternoon being as hot as it was and they nailed the tune-up. I’m really excited going into Sunday.”

If Enders-Stevens can pull off a win, it will be her fifth victory of the season. She races John Gaydosh tomorrow. She dominated the bonus points in qualifying by grabbing 12 and gained ten points on Jason Line.

NIPPING AT HER HEELS - Vincent Nobile was the second quickest with a 6.579 at 209.88 while Dave Connolly qualified third with a 6.582 at 209.39. Countdown top seed Line qualified sixth in his Summit Racing equipment Camaro, and he will race Chris McGaha in the first round.

THE DEFENSE BEGINS -  Five-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. has a lot of experience bracket racing, so he understands how consistent his Pro Stocker is.

Coughlin qualified No. 7 with a 6.602 second elapsed time at 209.33 mph with his other three passes were within .011-second of that.

"It's been really nice," Coughlin said. "There's only really one car out there that's been as consistent and quicker and that's (No. 1 qualifier) Erica (Enders-Stevens').

"We'll see if we can't be on our best behavior tomorrow, run hard and run smart, and see if we can't turn on some win lights."

Coughlin starts the Countdown to the Championship in fourth place in the Pro Stock standings, 50 points behind leader Jason Line. Coughlin faces Line's teammate Greg Anderson in the first round of eliminations after Anderson qualified No. 10 with a pass of 6.618 seconds at 209.72 mph.

WHO MADE THE CALL? - Of the three Gray Motorsports drivers who qualified for the Countdown, none would own up to making the call to keep team owner Johnny Gray from fielding a fourth car this weekend.

"None of us did," said Shane with a smile. "He said he was afraid he'd beat me, Dave or Jonathan. He just decided he didn't want to drive and believed it would have been a distraction. He's really excited about three cars being in the Countdown. You gotta respect his decision."

Shane admits he's not enthused about racing a teammate, especially when they are family.

"In 2010, I had to race my dad," said Shane. "It's fun but it's not fun. I thought, after 2010 that was over with. Then Jonathan came along and it is fun, but it is not fun."

"There's no favors or punches pulled," said Gray. "It's whoever gets to the finish line first. We are either going to smack them on the back or on the back of the head for it."

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED - Jonathan Gray, a rookie of the year candidate, was surprised he beat out Greg Anderson for the final Countdown spot. Gray led the race for tenth for much of the season but fell behind, and then won it back two weeks ago in Indy.

"I was very surprised to make the Countdown," Jonathan admitted. "And, was even more surprised considering this is my rookie season. There are not many drivers competing in this caliber of competition who can say they would have expected this in their rookie season."

ALL RUN - There are only sixteen cars on the grounds making this weekend's event an all-run.
 

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

SCOOPING THE POINTS - Eddie Krawiec is leaving no point unturned, especially those bonus points. Krawiec picked up ten of them en route to scoring the No. 1 qualifying position on Saturday.

Krawiec remembers how valuable they can be considering he lost the 2011 title by two points, the equivalent of a second quickest run in a session.

Krawiec ran a 6.849-second elapsed time  at 194.30 mph to grab the top spot.

"Those little points are ever so important," Krawiec said. "I lost the 2009 championship by two points. So I know what those little points can do.

"We went into Pomona, and we were struggling to get down the track. And I blew the tire away on two out of four runs, and I didn't get any points. I had a motorcycle that would've easily gotten two or one point each round, had I gone down the track those two runs," Krawiec said. "Maybe I would've celebrated my fourth championship last year. Who knows?

"But my main goal and focus," he said, "is to make good, clean runs every single lap."

WHO RACES WHO - No. 2 Hector Arana Jr. will face No. 15 Shawn Gann, and No. 3 Steve Johnson will go against Michael Ray in Ray's first start this year not under the Star Racing banner. Other first-round pairings pit No. 4 Matt Smith against No. 13 Hector Arana, No. 5 Andrew Hines versus No. 12 Jerry Savoie, No. 6 John Hall v. No. 11 teammate Angie Smith, No. 7 Chaz Kennedy v. No. 10 Adam Arana, and No. 8 Jim Undersahl v. No. 9 Scotty Pollacheck.

SHUFFLING - Friday qualifying leader Hector Arana Jr. dropped to second in the final order with a 6.876 at 195.48 on his Lucas Oil Buell. Past zMAX winner Steve Johnson qualified third on his Suzuki with a 6.893 at 193.77. Andrew Hines, the two-time defending winner at this event and the playoff top seed, qualified fifth on his Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson and will face Indy runner-up Jerry Savoie in the opening round.

SHE'S BACK - Pro Stock Bike team owner George Bryce lost a rider last week when Michael Ray resigned. Saturday, in the media center of zMax Dragway, Bryce wasted little time in filling the void with a legendary rider.

Angelle Sampey-Drago will ride a bike for Star Racing in 2015, the team's 35th anniversary on the NHRA tour.

"We had been trying to develop a plan to celebrate our 35 years in business," Bryce said. "When Michael resigned I had a list of people I needed to call and update. One of those calls was to my daughter Julie, who was adamant I needed to call Angelle, and for the two of us to get back together and start practicing."

Sampey-Drago could return as early as the NHRA Fallnationals next week outside of Dallas.

"I never realistically thought I'd be back here again," said Sampey-Drago. "When I retired seven years ago, I really thought that was it for me; especially after my little girl Eva was born. I would have bet every penny I had because I'm a mommy now. I didn't think I would be a racer again."

Sampey-Drago has 41 NHRA event victories to her credit and stands four victories short of the late Dave Schultz's class record for victories. She said her fans and friends never gave up hope she'd return one day.

"If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if I was coming back, I'd have enough to fund my own race team," Sampey-Drago admitted. "George came to visit about three years ago, and we started throwing the idea around. He wanted to guage my interest and at the time, it was clearly no."

This year the conversations were rekindled, and the staunch no became a maybe. A trip to the Houston event in anticipation of the 100th female victory, enabled Sampey-Drago to bring her daughter and immediately she began to get vibes that a return to competitive riding wouldn't be a bad idea.

Sampey-Drago believed drag racing as a sport is family friendly but wondered if her riding skills had degenerated to the point she couldn't be competitive.

When Ray resigned, it provided the perfect opportunity for Sampey-Drago and her former team owner/crew chief to get in some testing. A private test session this past week answered a lot of questions.

"It had been seven years since I raced," said Sampey-Drago. "I didn't even know if I could ride a bike anymore. I've had a baby. I haven't trained. The bikes are much faster now. We went, and I was scared to death on my first run. I literally almost gave myself a heart attack."

Sampey-Drago said she experienced chest pains associated with the anxiety of the return, and second-guessed every aspect of what would have been her normal routine.

"I finally convinced myself to just do what I do, and if the bike got crossed up, I was ready to lift," said Sampey-Drago. "The lights came on, the threw the clutch and had a .024 light. It went straight down the track, and I hit my shifts. I went through the gears, plugged it into sixth and just lifted. By the third run, I was in the groove and ready to do it."

Sampey-Drago ran a 6.95 and a 6.90, less than a tenth off of her best run.

"My 6.90 run, I was so excited, I jumped off the bike at the end, and said, 'let's do this."

Bryce confirmed he plans to field a two-bike team next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - THE PLAYOFFS ARE UNDERWAY

AND A TEN SHALL LEAD THEM - J.R. Todd, the final seeded entry into the Countdown, led the field during first day qualifying with a 3.828, 310.34 pass during Friday's second session.

“I definitely expected to see some low 80s out there, but I’m happy to get three bonus points,” Todd said. “We started No. 10 in the Countdown so we need every point that we can get. There’s nowhere to go but up.”

Todd made his run from the front of the session after losing the blower belt on his engine during Q-1.

“When you break like that it sets the tone for the weekend, and we were fortunate to rebound,” Todd said. “You never know what to expect from [owner and tuner] Connie Kalitta. He’s smart, and he’ll push only as hard as he needs to. If it’s warm tomorrow, that (run) may hold up, but I think we’ll see some low 3.80s or maybe even a high .70 from the Al-Anabi or Schumacher teams. Heck, we can run 3.7s if we hit it just right.”

FOR THE FIRST TIME - For the first time in the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship “playoffs” era, all four Team Kalitta drivers and teams are racing for the championship in their respective classes.

Doug Kalitta came into Charlotte as the No. 1 seed amongst the Top Fuel racers, followed by teammate JR Todd, who rounded out the field at tenth. Alexis DeJoria was the highest seed of the Funny Car at fourth while Del Worsham was ninth.

Team Kalitta nitro race cars have six event wins and have appeared in 18 championship rounds so far in the 24-event 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule of events this year.

UP IN THE CLOUDS - When a driver wins the NHRA U.S. Nationals, it's easy to be emotionally as high as a cloud. When the driver is a rookie, they're usually on cloud nine.

Richie Crampton, a virtual shoo-in for Rookie of the Year, captured his second career national event victory with the Indianapolis win. Those victories make the transplanted Australian a bona-fide contender for this year's series championship.

"It seems weird for me to talk about a championship as a rookie driver," Crampton said. "We want to finish out the year strongly for everyone involved, and I've got my eyes set on the rookie of the year award. That's priority, but if we can keep this race car running like Aaron has it running right now, we should be able to continue to go rounds in the Countdown and put a real dent on the top 10. We'll see where we end up."

Crampton isn't about to rest on his laurels with 24-available rounds remaining in the 2014 season.
 
"We've gone back to work, and we've tried to focus on keeping the ball rolling," Crampton said. "We're trying to go to Charlotte strong, and we ran really good last year and won the race, so that gives us extra confidence. MLR has won the last two races we've been to, so we're pretty confident rolling into Charlotte."

HOLDING BACK FOR THE RIGHT TIME - A large part of the Countdown to the Championship strategy is getting hot at the right time - the final six races of the year. Steve Torrence had a reasonably good regular season in finishing fifth in the final point tally.

Torrence has been saving up those six crucial races where he stands 60 points behind No. 1 seed Doug Kalitta.

“(Crew chief) Richard Hogan and these Capco guys have a great handle on the race car right now and I’ve got to do all I can not to screw it up,” said Torrence. “We’ve held back some of our inventory, especially clutch discs and stuff we know runs well, stuff that’s been consistent, for the Countdown,” said the four-time tour winner.  “The first year we were in (the playoffs), that was our Achilles Heel.  

“It was our first year as a team and even though we ran really well the whole year (three wins and two runner-up finishes) we had used up our parts inventory by the time we got to the Countdown.  You can’t count last year because we made some changes and struggled (but) maybe the third time’s a charm.”

PROBLEM SOLVED - Antron Brown and his Matco Tools team struggled two weeks ago at drag racing's most prestigious event.

As a result, the 2012 NHRA Mello Yello Series champion struggled through his worst qualifying effort of the season. The riddle of what was plauguing the team was quickly solved by crew chiefs Brian Corradi, Mark Oswald, and assistant Brad Mason during a test session in the days following the event.

"We found out what was plaguing us," Brown confirmed. "The problem hasn't been our ability to make power but we weren't able to keep all of our holes (engine cylinders) lit. Brian, Mark, Brad and all of our Matco crew worked really hard. We made one run Wednesday night and three on Thursday after the U.S. Nationals just to make sure we found the culprit."

NEW LOOK FOR THE COUNTDOWN - Spencer Massey unveiled the red and white colors of Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher, a new product line by Schumacher Electric that features innovative fuel packs for cell phones and personal devices, a compact back-up power jump starter and an LED cordless work light magnetic torch.

The new look provided the spark for Massey to jump into the No. 4 spot with a 3.858 second elapsed time at 317.42 miles per hour.

LOOKING BACK - There were no new car blues for Morgan Lucas as he won this event in 2013. The victory was no accident as Lucas qualified No. 1 and beat Terry McMillen, Brandon Bernstein, Doug Kalitta, and Spencer Massey to capture his second victory of the season. This event marked the last time a driver has won from the top seed in the dragster division.

"That was really our weekend," Lucas said. "We'd just finished a new car and it performed flawlessly all weekend. The guys put in a lot of work before the race to get it ready, and it was great to be able to deliver a win for them."

Lucas, on the strength of the victory, finished fourth in the Top Fuel points standings. This year he's scaled back his effort and runs a part-time schedule. He hasn't scaled back his competitive drive, however, winning one event and reaching the semifinals in his four races to date.

Additionally, his Morgan Lucas Racing team has won two consecutive NHRA events.

"I couldn't be more proud of (crew chief) Aaron Brooks and all the guys on both teams," Lucas said. "The GEICO team is really performing well now, and Richie has done a great job in the car. My guys are doing great, too, and we'll do everything we can to help Richie and his team do well. That's our focus, but of course we want to go rounds, too."

FUNNY CAR

HULK HAGAN ON TOP - Matt Hagan was the quickest driver during Friday's afternoon sessions with a 4.114 elapsed time at 304.25 mph pass during the Q-2 session.  

Hagan, the 2011 NHRA Funny Car series champion and last season's runner-up, will secure his second 2014 No. 1 qualifying effort if the run holds.

"I wouldn't say we're peaking at the right time, but it was a slap in the face at Indy after we won the pole with a three-second run then smoked the tires in the first two rounds and didn't make it to the semifinals," said Hagan.

Hagan has qualified No. 1 twice here and recorded the first three-second Funny Car pass in the 1,000-foot nitro racing era.

"It puts in perspective how finicky these race cars are; it's a razor blade. You really have to be on point, have your game face on and the crew chief has to be on his game."

DROPPING THE TITLE - As much as Ron Capps might not want to hear it, he's becoming the Susan Lucci of Funny Car racing.

The Lucci comparison might be a stretch as the daytime television actress failed in 18 Emmy nominations before getting her first. Capps, who has four series runner-ups, and missed out by two points back in 2012, never gives up hope the stars will align in his favor one day.

"A couple years ago (2012) we won the first Countdown race and battled for the championship right down to the wire," Capps said.

"That was the season when we got (crew chief) Rahn Tobler. He's a big picture crew chief who makes sure everything like clutch discs and all of our parts are in order to start the Countdown. He's already thought out what parts and pieces he wants for different conditions all the way through to Pomona."

The point reset is the great equalizer for the final six events.

"We've seen other teams that barely got into the Countdown win the championship and other teams that dominated the regular season struggle in the Countdown. History has shown it doesn't matter where you start.

"You can have all the confidence in what your team has done all year, what it did at the last race or on the last run. In drag racing it doesn't mean you're going to get a win the next time out.

"We've seen it all."

BABY GIRL RUNS STRONG - John Force's youngest daughter Courtney Force started the first day of the 2014 Countdown to the Championship in the top half of the Funny Car field. During the first qualifying pass, Force posted a 4.155 elapsed time at 288.21 mph and picked up three qualifying bonus points for being quickest of the session.

“We had a good start to the weekend here in Charlotte and a good start to the countdown. We picked up three bonus points right off the bat in Q1 being the quickest car out here,” said Force.

On the second qualifying attempt, Force’s Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car was bumped down to the No. 7 spot. The car smoked the tires and lost out on recovering the No. 1 spot for the day. Force is solidly in the field with her 4.155 ET from Q1 and will go into Saturday’s sessions in the top half.

“We pushed it harder in Q2 and couldn’t get it to perform how we wanted it to and it smoked the tires," said Force. "The good news is we are qualified so far here at zMAX Dragway. It’s great to be back here at the track that Bruton Smith built. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a good start for us to kick off the Countdown to the Championship. We’re looking forward to tomorrow and seeing what more we can bring to the table."

NEW TERRITORY - Jack Beckman hasn't won a race since his 2012 championships season, and even if he does score what has been an elusive victory, the triumph just won't seem the same than if he were contending for the series championship.  

"The demoralizing part is we recognize that no matter how good we do the rest of the year the best we can finish is 11th," said Beckman, who up until this season had finished no worse than fifth in the championship standings.

Beckman, who is running the Infinite Hero body this weekend on his Funny Car, isn't about to throw in the towel for the season just yet.

"In some aspects you can say we're more motivated than ever," he said.

"The interesting thing about drag racing is that it's not like football or baseball where they whittle down the number of teams," Beckman explained. "We still get to go to every race and if we're good enough we can compete in every round and we can beat the cars that are still contending for a world championship.

"There's no lack of motivation because they're still giving a trophy away at the end of the day for the next six races."

HOW LOWE'S CAN YOU GO? - Big Jim Dunn racing will fly the banner of the significant home improvement retail chain near and dear to the hearts of many Charlotte race fans.
 
Lowe’s Home Improvement, a leading retailer of Grime Boss heavy duty wipes, has its logo on the Jim Dunn Racing Dodge Funny Car this weekend.  Lowe’s sells 10 count and 30 count re-sealable packages of Grime Boss and can be found in the paint section at all stores nationwide.

“We are grateful to Lowe’s for their support of Grime Boss and Jim Dunn Racing,” said Jon Dunn, team Business Manager.  “We hope to make them proud at their home track, zMAX Dragway.”  Lowe’s Home Improvement corporate headquarters is located in nearby Mooresville, NC.

Fans who stop by the Jim Dunn Racing pit area can pick up a Jim Dunn Racing/Jeff Arend hero card that contains a $2.00 off coupon that can be used anywhere Grime Boss Wipes are sold, including Lowe’s.  Grime Boss fans also still have time to tell their “True Grime Story” for a chance to win tickets to an NHRA Mello Yello series of their choice in 2015, and a MAC Tools Tech 1000 Tool Box valued at $5,000.  Enter today at http://a.pgtb.me/491Ql1

BACK AGAIN - The last time Tommy Johnson Jr. finished in the NHRA Funny Car top ten was 2006, the final season of the traditional point series. Johnson ended the dry spell with a fifth place finish this season.

"It's been a long time since I've been part of a team capable of winning a championship, and I'm very happy that our Make-A-Wish team made the top 10 and is in contention," said Johnson. "But you can't just be happy to be in the position where you are and leave it at that, you have to want more. Right now, it's more important than ever that everyone, including myself, does a good job."

Johnson won for the first time this year in Bristol and was runner-up in Chicago, where he was also the No. 1 qualifier. He also broke the 4-second barrier with a career best 3.999-second run in Chicago qualifying.

BOOMING BOB - Bob Gilbertson, a local nitro racer, had some issues in Friday qualifying and missed the cut.

FOR THE THREE-SECOND RUNNERS - Snap-on Tools will continue the generous $10,000 donation for each three second Funny Car pass to benefit the Honor Flight Challenge through the rest of the season.

To date, $30,000 has been tallied since Snap-on announced at the Chicago race it would recognize any sub-4-second Funny Car runs with a donation and extended the challenge in Norwalk through the end of the season. Tommy Johnson, Jr., Alexis DeJoria and Matt Hagan have posted 3-second runs since the announcement in June.

“Our driver Cruz Pedregon set a personal best in the Snap-on Funny Car last year at Charlotte and posted one of two sub-4s with a 3.98 run.  He’s since set the record for the fastest pass in history so we believe that involving him and all the other Funny Car teams in the Honor Flight Challenge is a great way to bring awareness to the efforts of the Honor Flight Network,” said Nick Pinchuk, Snap-on chairman and chief executive officer.

Pedregon will accompany Snap-on veterans on the company’s fifth Honor Flight in October. “It’ll be a wonderful opportunity for our associates, retirees and franchisees who are on the upcoming trip to meet Cruz and for him to experience how the exposure he brings to the Honor Flight Network at the track benefits these heroes of our company and of our country,” said Pinchuk.

STICKING TO ATTAINABLE GOALS - Tim Wilkerson snagged the final spot in the Countdown by outlasting Jack Beckman two weeks ago in Indianapolis. He came into the first of the final six events armed with a not-so-impossible game plan. He simply wanted to get his Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang down the track, if not twice then at least once.

The first hit was no beauty, but it made it to the finish line in 4.292 seconds, good enough for 8th after one session. A 4.162 in Q-2 moved him back into the eighth after the cars ahead of him bumped his Funny Car to deep into the bottom half.

"I just kept thinking that the real important thing here is to not mess up on Friday, because we don't have a clue what the weather is going to do," Wilkerson said. "Some really good teams missed on at least one run, probably just trying to run faster than this track was going to let you, and a couple of really good teams missed twice. We kind of fouled one off and then hit one safely in Q2.

"I was trying to run something like a 4.13, but it was just a little too conservative and slow in the middle to do that. I didn't want to overdo it and smoke the tires because then you know it will rain tomorrow. So, we're alright, and the 4.16 was better than a poke in the eye, so we'll take that and anticipate two more runs tomorrow. Even if it's just like this, I know we can run a .12 or a .13 out there."
 

PRO STOCK

ERICA JUMPS OUT EARLY -  Erica Enders-Stevens appears to have found her groove, as she was the quickest qualifier on Friday with a 6.591 at 210.11.

“It's just a really good start,” Enders-Stevens said. “I'm proud of my team. We struggled the last couple of weeks in Brainerd and Indy, and in our test session in St. Louis. It's very refreshing to see that Ol' Red is back to herself.”

Enders-Stevens carried a commanding lead into the NHRA's Western Swing, encouraging her Elite Performance team to take a two-race hiatus in order to prepare for a championship run. As a result, she ended up losing her point lead to Jason Line in the midst of an uncharacteristic slump.

“We just have to do our job day in and day out, and make every little point count,” Enders-Stevens said. “We had a team meeting this morning, where we discussed our goals for the Countdown... It's the small steps on the way to the big goal. We're just going to keep our heads down and stay focused. This is not a bad way to start though.”

HOME TRACK ADVANTAGE - Jason Line entered this weekend's event with a decided advantage. The Summit-sponsored driver entered the weekend with a 30 point lead; 49 less after the reset but the points aren't his greatest advantage.

Line and his team are based in nearby Mooresville, roughly thirty minutes from zMax Dragway. He is a four-time finalist at the palatial drag strip with a victory in 2012. Line also has five career No. 1 qualifiers.

"It's always good to go back to a track where you've had some success, and zMAX Dragway is close to home for us," Line said. "I don't know that it gives you any more of an advantage, but it certainly makes it convenient for the team. It's a nice way to start the Countdown; that's for sure. Last year at this time we were running really well, and we came to Charlotte and did pretty good. I feel good about this weekend."

Line has qualified third or better in each of the most recent five races, including two starts from the No. 1 position and a remarkable three consecutive victories with wins earned in Sonoma, Seattle and at the delayed Brainerd event.
 
"We have some momentum on our side, and I keep saying it but it's true: I wouldn't trade places with anybody else," said Line.

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’ – Gary Cummin, hauler driver for Pro Stock racer V. Gaines, won the NHRA Championship in the Pilot Flying J Truck Driver Challenge. As champion , Cummin has been named the safest transport driver in the NHRA, receiving a prize of $30,000.

“I have no words,” said a humbled Cummin. “I woke up at 3:00 AM this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about the championship. The Pilot Flying J Truck Driver Challenge has meant more and more to me over time; I think it’s awesome what Pilot Flying J has done for the truck drivers in this sport. Being named champion is more than I could have ever hoped for!”

Duane Doffing of Tuttle Motorsports finished in second place with a prize of $7,500, followed by Matt Smith of Matt Smith Racing in third, for a prize of $2,500.

Since 2004, Pilot Flying J has sponsored the Truck Driver Challenge as a way to promote safe driving within the trucking industry. Spotlighting the best transport drivers in racing, Pilot Flying J is able to provide professional transport drivers a safe, yet challenging competition of their own.

Gary Cummin was joined on stage by Gaines. Endorsing his champion transport driver, Gaines remarked, “For those of you who may not know I’m also a truck driver, and I think this is great for Gary and for the NHRA.” Gaines continued, “As a team we’re awfully proud to have Gary with us- he’s an awfully good driver.”

For their outstanding demonstration of safe driving, the top-3 NHRA transport drivers also received a Rand McNally IntelliRoute® TND™ 730 LM; the official GPS unit of the 2014 Pilot Flying J Truck Driver Challenge. Committed to the welfare of transport drivers in racing, Rand McNally provides the finalists with a GPS unit specially designed to aid the route of a professional truck driver.
 
NEW CAR, NEW DEAL - Rodger Brogdon unveiled a new Owens Corning Chevrolet Camaro for the U.S. Nationals two weeks ago, but has struggled to turn increased horsepower into top-half passes. If practice makes perfect then testing at two different tracks before this weekend signals the future is bright.

A "broken-in" car bodes well for Brogdon.

"It's going to be a fantastic car when we get done with it," Brogdon said. "I really do like it. It's the straightest car I've ever had in Pro Stock. The last couple I've had, they just seemed to not go straight. This one does, and every time I turned it loose it's like it's on a string. That tells me it's a good car."

Bringing out an unproven race car is a luxury Brogdon couldn't afford if he qualified for the Countdown to the Championship.

"If we were in the Countdown, that's something we wouldn't have done," said Brogdon. "We would've stuck with the old car, but we're getting a jump on next year."

IN A DIFFERENT ROLE - Greg Anderson declared in the midst of his bid to secure a playoff spot that if he couldn't win a race then he didn't deserve a seeding into the Countdown to the Champion. Two weeks ago, Anderson fumbled the ball in both his bid to win a championship and a place in the playoffs.

Anderson came up a painful six points shy of making the top 10, and for the first time in his career as a Pro Stock driver, he isn't racing for the chance to win a title.
 
Anderson still has six races left this season to gain his elusive first race win of the season.
 
"I need to win races, and I need to help KB Racing win a championship," said Anderson. "That's what all these guys here work for all year long, and yes, we're going to battle with one bullet instead of two this time around – but we'll just have to make sure that it's a bigger bullet so that we can hit the target."
 
Anderson, a four-time champion, will be charting new territory this weekend.
 
"I'm going into this race without any kind of pressure at all, now I can go have fun and try to win races, and that could very well turn out to be a winning formula," said Anderson. "After seeing Jimmy win Charlotte earlier this year, I know my car is capable of it. Hopefully, I can slide right into that winning racecar and put it back in the winner's circle."

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

LITTLE HECTOR COMES UP BIG - Hector Arana Jr. rode his Lucas Oil Buell to a 6.876 at 195.48 to lead Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying.

“This means a lot as far as my confidence goes,” Arana Jr. said. “It’s all about confidence. I know I have the equipment to take me to the winner’s circle, but confidence is the key.”

I'M IN, I'M IN - To hear Steve Johnson beam about his Countdown berth, you'd never figure he got in by the skin of his teeth. Johnson gained his spot in the playoffs when Gerry Savoie failed to win the most recent event in Indianapolis.
 
“Everybody wants to race for a championship,” Johnson said. “The fans love the Countdown and I love it. I’ve been racing for more than 25 years and there has to be something keeping you wanting to go. To feel like I have a chance to win a championship is a huge bonus. I know the odds are stacked against it, but I love that I have a shot.”

Johnson has, although it's a longshot, a chance to win a world championship.

“If you’re 110 points behind you’re likely not going to be leading after the first race, but it can be a gamechanger,” said Johnson, who won the event in 2008. “Charlotte is one of my favorite tracks and we just have to qualify well and go some rounds. It’s really, really important that we make four good qualifying runs. I feel like we’re ready.

“What I am excited about is the opportunity to win a championship. I’m over the top excited, to be honest.”

Johnson qualified second on his Suzuki with a 6.893 at 193.77.

EDDIE IS CRUISING - Recent Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals winner Eddie Krawiec was third on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson with a 6.901 at 191.67. He led the opening session.

Countdown top seed Andrew Hines, the two-time defending winner here, was sixth on his Harley-Davidson with a 6.951 at 191.38.

PUTTING ON THE BRAKES - Matt Smith was strong in his debut with the BRAKES message with a 6.925 best to claim the No. 4 spot.

MISSED THE CUT - Days after resigning from Star Racing, Michael Ray made his way to Concord, where he was No. 15 after two sessions aboard a Suzuki. He ran a best 7.785 elapsed time.