BROWN TAKES TOP SPOT IN TOP FUEL; PEDREGON, ANDERSON, SMITH STAY NO. 1 AT MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS
CLERMONT, Ind. – Antron Brown raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel Saturday at the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Cruz Pedregon, Greg Anderson and Matt Smith stayed in the provisional top spots in their respective categories at the 16th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the final race before the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoffs to determine the world championships.
Brown powered his Matco Tools dragster to the top of the field Saturday night with an impressive run of 3.818-seconds at 322.96 mph on the final pass of the Top Fuel session. If it stands it would be his second No. 1 qualifier of the season, 28th of his career and second No. 1 qualifier at Lucas Oil Raceway, a track where he has two Pro Stock Motorcycle wins but has yet to collect a Top Fuel win at the prestigious race.
“We came out here last week and tested a whole variety of things we wanted to test,” said Brown. “We came up with some stuff and have just been running the same package that we have run all year and will run the rest of the season. Brian (Corradi, co-crew chief) and Mark (Oswald, co-crew chief) and the boys have just been refining it and just making it better and better.”
Defending event winner and four-time Mac Tools U.S. Nationals winner Larry Dixon sits in the fifth spot after three qualifying sessions, while current points leader Del Worsham is fourth with two qualifying sessions remaining.
In Funny Car, Pedregon and his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry stayed in the provisional No. 1 spot with a Saturday night run of 4.071 at 301.54. If it stands it would be his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season, 43rd of his career and first at Lucas Oil Raceway.
“The first run yesterday was a great run in the heat,” said Pedregon. “The second we just were trying to take it down the track and were just too slow. But the last run tonight, I never like to use the phrase ‘going for it,’ but we take advantage of the conditions and we made a calculated guess at what the track would handle and we put it together and like we’ve done all year, the car hung on and man, it was haulin’ down there.”
Seattle winner Tim Wilkerson currently sits in the second spot in the field, while four-time Mac Tools U.S. Nationals winner and defending world champion John Force is in the provisional seventh spot.
In Pro Stock, Anderson kept his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP at the top of the class when he posted a 6.629 at 208.01 during the third qualifying session. If it stands, it would be his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and 76th of his career.
“It’s absolutely presenting a heck of a challenge out there,” said Anderson. “We’ve had three completely different conditions to start with. We had hot, hot, hot air last night. Today we had hot, hot, hot air and a really hot race track. Everyone slowed down a bunch but we didn’t; we hit the bulls eye pretty good. Tonight we came out and now the air’s starting to cool down, the race track cooled down, we got a little better air, everyone improved and so did we.”
Smith and his Haltech Affliction Redline Buell stayed at the top of the field in Pro Stock Motorcycle with his Friday night run of 6.954 at 190.97. If it stands, it would be Smith’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season and 19th of his career.
“All and all we had a good day,” said Smith. “We had something go wrong on my bike on that last pass My other two bikes are running good. We’ve got everybody in the top 12 so I can’t complain too much.”
Qualifying will continue tomorrow will sessions at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Eliminations will begin Monday at 11 a.m.
CLERMONT, Ind. -- Saturday's results after the first three of five rounds of qualifying for the 57th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, 16th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Sunday for Monday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel -- 1. Antron Brown, 3.818 seconds, 322.96 mph; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.856, 320.36; 3. Spencer Massey, 3.875, 319.37; 4. Del Worsham, 3.876, 316.38; 5. Larry Dixon, 3.883, 315.56; 6. Morgan Lucas, 3.891, 313.80; 7. Terry McMillen, 3.893, 317.64; 8. Brandon Bernstein, 3.907, 313.51; 9. T.J. Zizzo, 3.919, 301.27; 10. David Grubnic, 3.921, 310.91; 11. Troy Buff, 3.930, 305.77; 12. Keith Murt, 3.949, 305.91.
Not Qualified: 13. Rod Fuller, 3.950, 315.34; 14. Cory McClenathan, 3.950, 308.35; 15. Bob Vandergriff, 3.953, 309.98; 16. Bruce Litton, 3.968, 307.93; 17. Shawn Langdon, 3.968, 293.54; 18. Doug Kalitta, 3.984, 296.31; 19. Pat Dakin, 4.025, 305.42; 20. Luigi Novelli, 4.094, 279.09; 21. Brady Kalivoda, 4.173, 244.07; 22. Fred Farndon, 4.183, 262.59; 23. Chris Karamesines, 4.184, 237.09; 24. Scott Palmer, 4.761, 162.94; 25. Clay Millican, 9.683, 75.19.
Funny Car -- 1. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Solara, 4.071, 301.54; 2. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.138, 302.96; 3. Melanie Troxel, Solara, 4.139, 309.63; 4. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.161, 302.08; 5. Paul Lee, Chevy Impala SS, 4.171, 307.86; 6. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.182, 301.33; 7. John Force, Mustang, 4.184, 307.30; 8. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.192, 303.03; 9. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.196, 301.47; 10. Jim Head, Solara, 4.206, 298.40; 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.212, 290.76; 12. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.226, 301.27.
Not Qualified: 13. Bob Bode, 4.228, 293.86; 14. Tony Pedregon, 4.231, 299.26; 15. Jon Capps, 4.239, 286.68; 16. Jeff Arend, 4.264, 292.58; 17. Terry Haddock, 4.435, 275.56; 18. Bob Tasca III, 4.714, 260.56; 19. Justin Schriefer, 5.743, 140.83; 20. Daniel Wilkerson, 6.372, 104.22.
Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 6.629, 208.23; 2. Jason Line, GXP, 6.640, 208.17; 3. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.651, 207.30; 4. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.657, 208.04; 5. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.660, 207.24; 6. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.662, 207.72; 7. V. Gaines, Dodge Avenger, 6.664, 207.24; 8. Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.666, 207.85; 9. Kurt Johnson, GXP, 6.677, 207.18; 10. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.678, 206.45; 11. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.680, 206.54; 12. Steve Kent, GXP, 6.685, 206.51.
Not Qualified: 13. Allen Johnson, 6.691, 207.78; 14. Warren Johnson, 6.693, 207.02; 15. Mark Martino, 6.696, 205.98; 16. Larry Morgan, 6.699, 205.98; 17. Shane Gray, 6.707, 206.51; 18. Buddy Perkinson, 6.710, 206.16; 19. Chris McGaha, 6.742, 206.32; 20. Bob Benza, 6.753, 203.61; 21. Steve Schmidt, 6.766, 204.11; 22. Steve Spiess, 6.790, 203.92; 23. Paul Pittman, 6.795, 202.45; 24. Frank Gugliotta, 6.798, 204.29; 25. Mark Hogan, 6.819, 203.22; 26. Kevin Lawrence, 6.864, 201.46; 27. Dave River, 6.911, 199.43; 28. Grace Howell, 7.354, 149.23.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.954, 190.97; 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.962, 192.49; 3. Chip Ellis, Buell, 6.972, 190.48; 4. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.978, 193.65; 5. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.991, 190.11; 6. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 6.994, 193.29; 7. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.004, 191.97; 8. Angie Smith, Buell, 7.023, 190.73; 9. Hector Arana, Buell, 7.055, 191.05; 10. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 7.062, 188.54; 11. Michael Ray, Buell, 7.066, 186.74; 12. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.078, 187.47.
Not Qualified: 13. David Hope, 7.087, 188.81; 14. Justin Finley, 7.106, 187.44; 15. Matt Guidera, 7.108, 186.18; 16. Steve Johnson, 7.119, 190.11; 17. Jim Underdahl, 7.123, 188.94; 18. Shawn Gann, 7.130, 187.86; 19. Bailey Whitaker, 7.162, 188.10; 20. Karen Stoffer, 7.174, 185.69; 21. Joe DeSantis, 7.177, 185.23; 22. James Surber, 7.247, 183.79; 23. GT Tonglet, 7.254, 187.11; 24. Dawn Minturn, 7.318, 182.50; 25. Redell Harris, 7.348, 184.25; 26. Odolph Daniels, 7.505, 176.01; 27. Wesley Wells, 8.882, 103.03.
