LUCAS, FORCE HOOD, EDWARDS AND ARANA RACE TO QUALIFYING LEAD AT TOYO TIRES NHRA NATIONALS
Morgan Lucas powered his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster to a 3.867 second run at 307.37 mph to lead the Top Fuel field. Lucas just came off the second win of his career at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. If the time stands through tomorrow’s qualifying, it will be Lucas’ second consecutive No. 1 qualifying position and third of the season.
Courtesy: NHRA Media Relations
MOHNTON,
Ashley Force Hood,
Mike Edwards and Hector Arana also were qualifying leaders in their
classes at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event, the 17th of 18 races in the NHRA regular season.
Morgan Lucas powered his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster to a 3.867 second run at 307.37 mph to lead the field. Lucas just came off the second win of his career at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. If
the time stands through tomorrow’s qualifying, it will be Lucas’ second
consecutive No. 1 qualifying position and third of the season.
“We’ve
been close all year long to having this kind of race car,” said Lucas.
“We battled cylinder dropping earlier in the year, and we kind of
worked through it. Jimmy [Walsh, crew chief] noticed what some other
teams were doing and kind of just paid attention to it and fixed it.
Now, we have a responsive race car, and when a car is doing what you
want it to do, they’re a lot easier to work around. The problem we had
earlier this year kind of created a level of inconsistency and
unpredictability, and I think now we’re not 100 percent around it but I
have confidence when we go to the starting line it’s not going to do
that.
“The
playoffs are definitely on everybody’s mind, but to be completely
honest with you, after last weekend, it’s going to be really hard to
top that unless the championship is around the corner. There’s a lot of
good cars still, and it’s still a long season left. We’ve got to mind
our P’s and Q’s, and we’ve got to keep the wins out of our head and
just keep focused on what we need to do to win. To be honest with you,
the Countdown is going to be huge, and I’m just happy to have made it.
Anything on top of this is a cherry on top of the sundae.”
Antron Brown,
winner of the famed Western Swing races and current points leader, was
third overall in his Matco Tools dragster, posting a 3.895 at 313.07.
Ashley Force Hood
led Funny Car with a performance of 4.114 at 301.47 in her Castrol GTX
Ford Mustang, while fellow teammate Robert Hight, who is in a tight
battle to make it into the NHRA playoffs, was second in his Auto Club
Ford Mustang with a 4.137at 293.66.
"All
of us in the camp were really happy with that run," said Force Hood,
who leads all Funny Car drivers with four No. 1 spots this season.
"We're glad to have all four Mustangs get down the track A to B. I
didn't want to tie up the line on the radios by asking how everybody
did, but I was trying to listen in and happy to find out that all four
did well."
"It's
really nice to get back to racing," Force Hood said when asked about
the hoopla surrounding Force and Hight switching teams. "We all want to
come out here and do the best we can do, and we don't want to let
ourselves get distracted by getting into all the stuff happening with
our teammates. We're up here trying to get back into that No. 1 spot.
With everything else going on in our category, it's nice that our team
and I can just go into our own cocoon and do the best we can. That's
part of drag racing - there's always something going on."
John Force, who
has six wins at Maple Grove Raceway, was fifth in his Castrol GTX
High-Mileage Mustang, posting a 4.159 at 299.00. Tim
Wilkerson has become the latest Funny Car driver to clinch a spot in
the Countdown to 1. Wilkerson qualified for the Countdown at Maple
Grove Raceway with a 6.886 at 93.96 mph, currently qualified in the
15th spot.
Mike Edwards continued his strong season in Pro Stock, posting a leading effort of 6.640 at 207.78 in his ART/Young Life
"You
never know what the weather is going to do on a day like today," said
Edwards, who has qualified No. 1 at half of the first 16 event this
season. "We made a game plan when we left the trailer, and it turned
out that we made a good decision. It doesn't matter how much horsepower
you have if you don't make a good run. I might sound like a broken
record, but I have to give all the credit to my guys.”
Greg Anderson was
second with a 6.679 at 207.11 in his Summit Racing GXP, while Warren
Johnson was third in his K&N Filters GXP with a 6.680 at 206.80.
In Pro Stock
Motorcycle, Hector Arana guided his Lucas Oil Buell to the top spot
with a 6.986 at 190.11 mph. If the time stands through tomorrow’s
qualifying, it will be Arana’s second consecutive No. 1 qualifying
position and fourth of the season. Arana came off of his second win of
the season at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.
“Boy,
this gives me more confidence definitely going into the [Countdown to
1]”, said Arana. “I see a light there that I have an opportunity there
to win the championship. It’s an awesome feeling, but from what I’ve
learned before, if I start paying attention to that, it seems like I
start going backwards.”
Series point’s leader Eddie Krawiec is in fourth position with a 7.041 at 187.91mph.
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations start at 11 a.m.
Top Fuel
1. Morgan Lucas, 3.867 seconds, 307.37 mph; 2. Larry Dixon, 3.889, 310.20; 3.
Antron
Brown, 3.895, 313.07; 4. Cory McClenathan, 3.903, 312.21; 5. Spencer
Massey, 3.920, 304.05; 6. Shawn Langdon, 3.933, 310.84; 7. Joe Hartley,
3.972, 306.67; 8. Doug Foley, 3.972, 305.01; 9. Dom Lagana, 3.981,
303.03; 10. Terry Haddock, 3.994, 287.35; 11. Clay Millican, 4.011,
302.89; 12. Tony Schumacher, 4.047, 223.62. Not Qualified: 13. Chris
Karamesines, 4.307, 217.39; 14. Doug Kalitta, 4.598, 191.76; 15. David
Grubnic, 7.194, 86.54; 16. Brandon Bernstein, 9.978, 76.95.
Funny Car
1. Ashley Force Hood, Ford Mustang, 4.114, 301.47; 2. Robert Hight, Mustang,
4.137, 293.66; 3. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.138, 299.26; 4. Cruz Pedregon,
295.21; 5. John Force, Mustang, 4.159, 299.00; 6. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.167, 292.14; 7. Del
Worsham, Solara, 4.174, 299.26; 8. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.177, 297.61; 9. Mike Neff,
Mustang, 4.178, 295.92; 10. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.180, 296.83; 11. Jim Head, Solara, 4.220,
273.66; 12. Jerry Toliver, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.289, 276.52. Not Qualified: 13. Gary Densham,
6.506, 132.82; 14. Justin Schriefer, 6.611, 154.32; 15. Tim Wilkerson, 6.886, 93.96; 16. Jeff
Arend, 12.034, 79.66; 17. Ron Capps, 15.744, 33.64.
Pro Stock
1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.640, 207.78; 2. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.679,
207.11; 3. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.680, 206.80; 4. Jason Line, GXP, 6.689, 206.35; 5. Greg
Stanfield, GXP, 6.705, 205.76; 6. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.713, 206.99; 7. Rodger Brogdon, GXP,
6.718, 205.57; 8. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.721, 205.54; 9. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.726,
206.32; 10. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.731, 205.22; 11. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.731, 204.08; 12.
Rickie Jones, Stratus, 6.742, 204.73. Not Qualified: 13. Ryan Ondrejko, 6.753, 204.26; 14. Dave
Northrop, 6.758, 204.14; 15. Bob Benza, 6.761, 203.68; 16. Kenny Delco, 6.868, 201.16; 17. John
Gaydosh Jr, 6.887, 199.35; 18. Justin Humphreys, 7.293, 149.25; 19. Johnny Gray, 7.317, 204.60; 20.
V. Gaines, 10.635, 80.83; 21. Allen Johnson, 23.206, 47.44.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.986, 190.11; 2. Michael Phillips, Suzuki,
7.020, 192.30; 3. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.023, 188.65; 4. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.041,
187.91; 5. Junior Pippin, Buell, 7.053, 188.02; 6. Douglas Horne, Buell, 7.056, 188.44; 7. Shawn
Gann, Buell, 7.059, 188.10; 8. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.068, 189.95; 9. Steve Johnson,
Suzuki, 7.080, 187.36; 10. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.105, 187.39; 11. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.108,
185.95; 12. Bailey Whitaker, Buell, 7.258, 174.87. Not Qualified: 13. Neil Jacobs, 7.687, 172.76;
14. Geoff Godfrey, 8.833, 101.17; 15. Wesley Wells, 11.023, 74.22; 16. Matt Smith, 15.859, 79.69.
