FORCE SITS NO. 1 IN ATLANTA; MASSEY, EDWARDS, KRAWIEC ALSO IN PROVISIONAL TOP SPOTS AT ATLANTA DRAGWAY
COMMERCE, Ga. – John Force continued his domination of Atlanta Dragway as he took the provisional No. 1 qualifier Friday night at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals.
Spencer Massey, Mike Edwards and Eddie Krawiec also took the provisional top spots in their respective categories at the sixth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Force, who has a career record at Atlanta Dragway that includes seven wins, six runner-ups and seven No. 1 qualifiers, drove his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to a 4.072-second pass at 310.98 mph to become the provisional top qualifier in Funny Car. If it stands it would be his fourth consecutive No. 1 qualifier of the season and 138th of his career, which would tie him for the most in NHRA history with Pro Stock driver and Buford, Ga. native Warren Johnson.
“The fans are just starting to like me in Atlanta, so why would I want to make them mad by taking it away from Warren Johnson, I know how they like him,” said Force. “I’ve never raced Warren Johnson. If you put me in a Pro Stocker I couldn’t even start it. So I don’t want to compare. It would be like comparing baseball to football. Any time you can put your name up with a guy like Warren Johnson, I’m proud, and it’s cool.”
Recent event winner Jeff Arend sits third in the field while points leader Mike Neff is currently eighth.
In Top Fuel, Massey drove his Prestone/FRAM dragster to a 3.825 at 323.19 in the final qualifying session of the day to take the provisional No. 1 spot. If it stands, it would be Massey’s first of the season and only second of his career.
“I knew we had a car that was very capable of running an 82 or possibly a 79 to go No. 1, but what was nerve racking was watching all the other cars go in front of us and smoke the tires,” said Massey. “But Todd (Okuhara, crew chief) and Phil (Shuler, crew chief), they run their program a little bit differently and I have total trust in what they do. They’re not the kind of guys that come back and make little changes because they saw the cars in front of them go up in smoke.”
Defending event winner and world champion Larry Dixon will enter Saturday qualifying not yet qualified for the field, while current points leader Del Worsham sits second in the field.
In Pro Stock, Edwards posted the quickest runs of both qualifying sessions and powered his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP to a 6.605 at 208.55. If it stands, it would be his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and 36th of his career.
“If we get the cooler weather tomorrow, for sure that time won’t stand,” said Edwards. “But we made two good runs today and we’re real happy about that. We’ll just come out here tomorrow and hopefully make two more good ones.”
Krawiec rode his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to the top of the field in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a run of 6.933 at 192.44. If it stands, it would be Krawiec’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season and seventh of his career.
“Something that we’ve struggled with all season has been having fast consistent motorcycles,” said Krawiec, who’s teammate Andrew Hines sits fourth in the field. “To go 105 at the 60 foot mark right off the track during the first run, for our team, that’s really a strong point, that’s where we’ve lacked. If you can make everything work together, it’s going to go that much faster.”
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
COMMERCE, Ga. -- Friday's results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 31st annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, sixth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel -- 1. Spencer Massey, 3.825 seconds, 323.19 mph; 2. Del Worsham, 3.828, 320.05; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 3.846, 309.91; 4. Clay Millican, 3.894, 308.64; 5. Antron Brown, 3.906, 313.15; 6. Doug Kalitta, 3.914, 314.75; 7. Doug Foley, 3.918, 307.44; 8. David Grubnic, 3.919, 309.20; 9. Tony Schumacher, 3.920, 311.92; 10. Bob Vandergriff, 3.927, 307.23; 11. Morgan Lucas, 3.960, 299.93; 12. Shawn Langdon, 3.996, 291.89.
Not Qualified: 13. Terry Sainty, 4.005, 297.48; 14. Terry McMillen, 4.038, 273.05; 15. Scott Palmer, 4.039, 290.19; 16. Steve Torrence, 4.062, 255.39; 17. Ike Maier, 4.078, 248.20; 18. Fred Farndon, 4.129, 286.25; 19. Larry Dixon, 5.746, 157.67; 20. Chris Karamesines, 6.513, 95.54; 21. Pat Dakin, broke.
Funny Car -- 1. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.072, 310.98; 2. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Solara, 4.111, 305.77; 3. Jeff Arend, Solara, 4.132, 304.87; 4. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.135, 307.65; 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.137, 303.98; 6. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.146, 299.40; 7. Melanie Troxel, Solara, 4.148, 305.15; 8. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.157, 304.80; 9. Jim Head, Solara, 4.163, 301.74; 10. Jon Capps, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 4.166, 291.19; 11. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.172, 302.62; 12. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala SS, 4.187, 298.47.
Not Qualified: 13. Brian Thiel, 4.190, 296.96; 14. Johnny Gray, 4.253, 290.32; 15. Tim Wilkerson, 4.515, 276.18; 16. Paul Lee, 4.602, 204.85; 17. Ron Capps, 4.821, 264.34.
Pro Stock -- 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.605, 208.55; 2. Jason Line, GXP, 6.619, 208.84; 3. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.619, 208.59; 4. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.631, 208.14; 5. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.632, 207.37; 6. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.652, 207.21; 7. Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.653, 207.24; 8. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.658, 207.27; 9. Warren Johnson, Cobalt, 6.658, 207.21; 10. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.662, 207.62; 11. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.664, 206.39; 12. Larry Morgan, Ford Mustang, 6.678, 207.02.
Not Qualified: 13. Shane Gray, 6.697, 205.47; 14. Kurt Johnson, 6.698, 206.35; 15. Steve Kent, 6.737, 204.66; 16. Mark Martino, 6.750, 204.85; 17. Steve Spiess, 6.777, 204.20; 18. Buddy Perkinson, 6.802, 204.60; 19. Robert Patrick, 6.808, 204.48.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.933, 192.77; 2. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.948, 190.92; 3. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.955, 190.73; 4. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.958, 192.17; 5. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 6.960, 194.38; 6. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.963, 193.38; 7. Gerald Savoie, Suzuki, 6.983, 191.08; 8. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.985, 191.29; 9. Michael Ray, Buell, 6.991, 189.39; 10. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.003, 191.16; 11. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 7.009, 189.23; 12. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.013, 190.51.
Not Qualified: 13. Mike Berry, 7.015, 190.14; 14. Chip Ellis, 7.017, 191.00; 15. Shawn Gann, 7.032, 186.67; 16. David Hope, 7.033, 189.34; 17. Angie Smith, 7.068, 186.79; 18. Redell Harris, 7.095, 189.87; 19. GT Tonglet, 7.109, 187.08; 20. Justin Finley, 7.131, 188.73; 21. Junior Pippin, 7.136, 186.79; 22. Bailey Whitaker, 7.195, 184.83; 23. James Surber, 7.227, 186.05; 24. Joe DeSantis, 7.239, 183.27; 25. Odolph Daniels, 7.500, 174.44.
