CONCORD, N.C. – Top Fuel driver Del Worsham nosed out Al-Anabi teammate Larry Dixon by four thousandths of a second to win the Second annual VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway Sunday.
The other winners at the fourth of 22 races in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock).
Worsham gave up four thousandths to Dixon at the starting line (.064 to .068), but he was eighth-thousandths quicker than Dixon (3.813 at 3.821) on the track for a net win-margin of .0048, or about half a foot.
“I told (team manager) Alan (Johnson) it would be only a matter of inches … and it was,” said Worsham, who won for the second time this season and opened up a 77-point lead over Dixon in the Top Fuel point standings.
The Funny Car final was also a close finish with Beckman (4.120, 309.63) crossing the stripe in his Aaron’s Dodge Charger just in front of Bob Tasca’s Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang (4.137, 311.05) for his first win this year and 10th of his career.
“Del talked about peaking too early. I’m not worried about that … I just want to peak,” said Beckman, who won for the first time in more than a year (Phoenix, 2010).
In Pro Stock, four-time and defending Series champion Anderson, from nearby Mooresville, N.C., chased down runner-up Greg Stanfield (6.559, 211.10) right at the stripe with a 6.556-second pass at 211.39 mph to win (by .005) for the first time this year.
“I love this race track and the best part of it is it’s home for me. Just a great, great day. I’m a very happy person,” said Anderson, who extended his NHRA-best streak of consecutive seasons with at least one win to 11.
Also of note for Anderson, who drives the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP, this was his 66th career win, pulling him within one of Tony Schumacher (67) for fifth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list and within three of Kenny Bernstein (69) for fourth place.
The 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Series resumes in two weeks with the 24th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Raceway Park in Houston.
CONCORD, N.C. -- Final finish order (1-16) for professional categories at the Second annual VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway @ Concord. The race is the fourth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
TOP FUEL:
1. Del Worsham; 2. Larry Dixon; 3. Spencer Massey; 4. Shawn Langdon; 5. Doug Kalitta; 6. Tony Schumacher; 7. Steve Torrence; 8. Antron Brown; 9. Terry McMillen; 10. Morgan Lucas; 11. Bob Vandergriff; 12. Doug Herbert; 13. Brandon Bernstein; 14. David Grubnic; 15. Doug Foley; 16. Dom Lagana.
FUNNY CAR:
1. Jack Beckman; 2. Bob Tasca III; 3. Tim Wilkerson; 4. Jim Head; 5. Mike Neff; 6. John Smith; 7. Robert Hight; 8. John Force; 9. Dale Creasy Jr.; 10. Tony Pedregon; 11. Cruz Pedregon; 12. Johnny Gray; 13. Jeff Arend; 14. Ron Capps; 15. Matt Hagan.
PRO STOCK:
1. Greg Anderson; 2. Greg Stanfield; 3. Dave Connolly; 4. Vincent Nobile; 5. Allen Johnson; 6. Erica Enders; 7. Mike Edwards; 8. Ron Krisher; 9. Larry Morgan; 10. Kurt Johnson; 11. Jason Line; 12. Rodger Brogdon; 13. Ronnie Humphrey; 14. V. Gaines; 15. Warren Johnson; 16. Shane Gray.
CONCORD, N.C. -- Sunday's final results from the Second annual VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway @ Concord. The race is the fourth of 22 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:
Top Fuel -- Del Worsham, 3.813 seconds, 319.82 mph def. Larry Dixon, 3.821 seconds, 319.90 mph and Spencer Massey, 3.892 seconds, 304.67 mph and Shawn Langdon, 3.974 seconds, 294.31 mph;
Funny Car -- Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.120, 309.63 def. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 4.137, 311.05 and Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.158, 306.95 and Jim Head, Toyota Solara, 4.242, 268.17;
Pro Stock -- Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 6.556, 211.39 def. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.559, 211.10 and Dave Connolly, Chevy Cobalt, 6.585, 210.73 and Vincent Nobile, Dodge Avenger, 17.216, 50.05;
CONCORD, N.C. -- Final round-by-round results from the Second annual VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway @ Concord, the fourth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:
TOP FUEL:
ROUND ONE -- Spencer Massey, 3.848, 320.13 and Doug Kalitta, 3.850, 320.97 def. Bob Vandergriff, 4.877, 177.28 and Brandon Bernstein, 5.064, 178.99; Larry Dixon, 3.805, 324.12 and Shawn Langdon, 3.852, 317.94 def. Terry McMillen, 4.021, 271.02 and Dom Lagana, 8.399, 90.67; Tony Schumacher, 3.815, 325.30 and Steve Torrence, 3.869, 315.49 def. Doug Herbert, 6.829, 128.92 and Doug Foley, 8.097, 80.72; Del Worsham, 3.823, 322.11 and Antron Brown, 3.872, 320.05 def. Morgan Lucas, 4.026, 298.01 and David Grubnic, 6.573, 87.58;
SEMIFINALS -- Worsham, 3.824, 318.24 and Massey, 3.848, 322.88 def. Kalitta, 4.411, 226.05 and Brown, 4.589, 190.67; Dixon, 3.818, 321.88 and Langdon, 3.867, 317.19 def. Schumacher, broke and Torrence, 4.523, 195.05;
FINAL -- Worsham, 3.813, 319.82 def. Dixon, 3.821, 319.90, Massey, 3.892, 304.67 and Langdon, 3.974, 294.31.
FUNNY CAR:
ROUND ONE -- Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.079, 313.66 and Mike Neff, Ford Mustang, 4.098, 305.15 def. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala SS, 4.258, 301.07 and Jeff Arend, Toyota Solara, 4.811, 184.35; Jim Head, Solara, 4.148, 299.93 and John Force, Mustang, 4.173, 297.61 def. Dale Creasy Jr., Impala SS, 4.212, 297.16 and Ron Capps, Charger, 5.289, 153.72; Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.125, 310.55 and Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.767, 157.19 def. Johnny Gray, Charger, 5.899, 125.86 and Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.422, 246.75 and John Smith, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.475, 227.96 def. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.996, 249.30 and Matt Hagan, Charger, 6.217, 111.15;
SEMIFINALS -- Tasca III, 4.137, 308.92 and Wilkerson, 4.158, 305.84 def. Smith, 5.161, 166.37 and Hight, 5.342, 259.86; Beckman, 4.103, 312.57 and Head, 4.184, 304.53 def. Neff, 4.522, 236.22 and Force, 6.070, 113.57;
FINAL -- Beckman, 4.120, 309.63 def. Tasca III, 4.137, 311.05, Wilkerson, 4.158, 306.95 and Head, 4.242, 268.17.
PRO STOCK:
ROUND ONE -- Vincent Nobile, Dodge Avenger, 6.560, 211.96 and Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.927, 162.84 def. Rodger Brogdon, Pontiac GXP, 16.381, 52.32 and V. Gaines, Avenger, 14.449, 60.15; Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.546, 211.79 and Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.562, 211.23 def. Larry Morgan, Ford Mustang, 6.567, 211.06 and Warren Johnson, Cobalt, 14.850, 63.20; Allen Johnson, Avenger, 6.563, 211.26 and Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.552, 211.93 def. Kurt Johnson, GXP, 6.574, 210.24 and Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.572, 211.76; Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.567, 211.23 and Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.580, 211.79 def. Jason Line, GXP, 14.036, 61.64 and Shane Gray, GXP, DQ;
SEMIFINALS -- Nobile, 6.584, 210.93 and Connolly, 6.599, 209.88 def. Enders, 12.594, 69.76 and Krisher, 16.201, 52.02; Stanfield, 6.547, 211.49 and Anderson, 6.549, 210.93 def. A. Johnson, 6.573, 211.20 and Edwards, 13.755, 54.14;
FINAL -- Anderson, 6.556, 211.39 def. Stanfield, 6.559, 211.10, Connolly, 6.585, 210.73 and Nobile, 17.216, 50.05.
CONCORD, N.C. -- Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the Second annual VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway @ Concord, the fourth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -
Top Fuel
1. Del Worsham, 389; 2. Larry Dixon, 312; 3. Antron Brown, 309; 4. Tony Schumacher, 272; 5. Spencer Massey, 262; 6. Shawn Langdon, 244; 7. Doug Kalitta, 216; 8. Morgan Lucas, 210; 9. Brandon Bernstein, 202; 10. Steve Torrence, 171.
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight, 349; 2. Mike Neff, 300; 3. Jack Beckman, 289; 4. Cruz Pedregon, 283; 5. Matt Hagan, 241; 6. Johnny Gray, 224; 7. John Force, 217; 8. Bob Tasca III, 212; 9. Ron Capps, 190; 10. Jeff Arend, 187.
Pro Stock
1. Greg Anderson, 336; 2. Jason Line, 333; 3. Greg Stanfield, 317; 4. Mike Edwards, 264; 5. Vincent Nobile, 253; 6. Erica Enders, 221; 7. Ron Krisher, 220; 8. Rodger Brogdon, 210; 9. Allen Johnson, 182; 10. Shane Gray, 166.
