CLERMONT, Ind. – Antron Brown laid down the quickest pass in Top Fuel while fellow Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan had the best run in Funny Car Thursday as open testing came to an end at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series teams wrapped up a two-day test session in preparation for the 57th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, the world’s most prestigious drag race, which will be held Aug. 31 – Sept. 5. Tickets for the event are available by calling (800) 884-NHRA (6472) or logging on to www.NHRATIX.com.
Brown, who is coming off a recent win at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., powered his Matco Tools dragster to an impressive 3.810-second pass at 321.50 mph on one of the final runs made Thursday evening.
“Testing went well today and we tried a whole variety of different things today,” said Brown. “We wanted to see what we could do at the same time and conditions as we are going to actually qualify at next Friday. So next Friday is going to be coming and we got a good baseline to go from with that last pass, which was a good number. I think if we can run that next Friday, we’ll be somewhere in the top half of the field for sure.”
Defending Mac Tools U.S. Nationals winner Larry Dixon posted the second quickest run of the session, piloting his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to a 3.828 at 318.39. Dixon’s teammate and current points leader Del Worsham was third with his run of 3.829 at 318.02 in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster. Rod Fuller came in fourth with his pass of 3.866 at 320.43 while Copart dragster pilot Brandon Bernstein was fifth with his run of 3.883 at 313.22.
In Funny Car, Hagan, who currently sits fifth in the point standings, put up the quickest time of the class with a 4.055 at 310.41 in his Die Hard Dodge Charger.
“Today we started off the day great and went 4.05 at 310 and got a good baseline to work off of with this combination,” said Hagan. “I think there is a lot more there but we slowed everything back down and we went out here for a hero run and didn’t quite make it, but at least we made a good solid lap the first lap and got something to build off of and move forward. We will roll into Indy with that in our pocket and kind of see what happens.”
Hagan’s Don Schumacher Racing teammates Jack Beckman and Ron Capps had the second and third quickest passes of the session respectively. Beckman drove his Aaron’s/Valvoline Dodge Charger to a 4.080 at 313.00, while Capps powered his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger to a 4.087 at 306.74. Funny Car points leader Mike Neff was fourth with his run of 4.112 at 306.88 in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang while DHL Toyota driver Jeff Arend had the fifth quickest run with a 4.118 at 305.98.
NHRA Full Throttle qualifying for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals will begin Friday, Aug. Sept. 2 at 5:30 p.m. Two sessions will be held on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., and the final two qualifying sessions will take place on Sunday, Sept. 4 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., with final eliminations beginning at 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 5.
Day 2 Testing results from Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis
Top Fuel
1. Antron Brown 3.810 seconds, 321.50 mph; 2. Larry Dixon 3.828 seconds, 318.39 mph; 3. Del Worsham 3.829 seconds, 318.02 mph; 4. Rod Fuller 3.866 seconds, 320.43 mph; 5. Brandon Bernstein 3.883 seconds, 313.22 mph; 6. Doug Kalitta 3.883 seconds, 312.28 mph; 7. Tony Schumacher 3.884 seconds, 317.49 mph; 8. Bob Vandergriff 3.894 seconds, 316.82 mph; 9. Morgan Lucas 3.905 seconds, 311.85 mph; 10. Shawn Langdon 3.915 seconds, 312.21 mph; 11. Brady Kalivoda 3.947, 299.93 mph; 12. Cory McClenathan 4.056 seconds, 279.90 mph; 13. Scott Palmer 4.713, 163.53 mph
Funny Car
1. Matt Hagan 4.055 seconds, 310.41 mph; 2. Jack Beckman 4.080 seconds, 313.00 mph
