C. Force, Enders and Hines also lead respective fields
BROWNSBURG, Ind.—Top Fuel driver Spencer Massey earned the qualifying lead and won the inaugural $100,000 NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout during Saturday action at the 58th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Courtney Force (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.
Massey set low E.T. of the weekend during the third qualifying session of the weekend, which also happened to be the second round of the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout, a special $100,000 bonus race within a race.
“For Traxxas to come into our sport and put up this much money and add these two bonus races is awesome,” Massey said. “I can’t believe that we won it. We’ve wanted to win it since we qualified when we won the season opener and it’s been a lot of pressure this week but it’s been awesome to be able to say we won the first Traxxas Nitro Shootout.”
Massey’s 3.762-second pass at 324.51 mph wasn’t only good enough to advance to the final round of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout, it also gave him the provisional Top Fuel lead heading into Sunday. Massey outran fellow Texas-native Steve Torrence in the final round of the Traxxas Nitro Shootout to earn the win.
“Torrence’s car has been running on a string all year long and I know he wanted to win this thing just as much as I did,” Massey said. “When I hit the throttle the car started moving and I knew I was on a good ride. Then I crossed the finish line and saw the win light and I couldn’t believe it. I’m so proud of my Prestone guys, they deserve this win.”
The Funny Car NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootout is scheduled for Sunday with first round set for 12:30 p.m.
If Massey holds onto the No. 1 position through Sunday’s qualifying action it will be his fourth of the season and seventh of his career.
Force ran a career-best ET of 4.049-second pass at 317.27 mph to earn her first provisional qualifying lead of her career during the final qualifying session of the day.
“I have all the faith in the world in my guys,” Force said. “They’ve been working hard all season, and to get a career best at Indy, it’s huge. This is the one track that you want to say it at, and it’s pretty cool that it’s the Big Go and it’s my career best, an awesome time, so we’re excited.”
If Force holds onto the top spot through Sunday’s qualifying efforts, it will be the first No. 1 qualifying position of her career.
Pro Stock qualifying was called early due to weather so Enders held onto the qualifying lead thanks to her 6.624-second pass at 208.84 mph from Friday evening qualifying.
“It has been a really long day,” Enders said. “We had been changing our setup back and forth. We thought we were going to run once, and then it started with the rain. And every time the weather comes in and things change, we have to re-assess our setup and go back and change everything. It’s a tough time with a day like today, but we went out and made a pretty good run early in the day and were able to keep the number one spot, and that’s exciting, so I’m proud of my guys.”
Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying was also cut short and Hines held onto the top spot with his Friday pass of 6.928 seconds at 194.21 mph.
“Given the weather, I don’t think we could have run any quicker but it would have been nice to get the data,” Hines said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow but I think we can keep the top spot. If it’s slow, we’re safe and if the conditions get better, we should be able to pick up. Our last run could have been better so we know there’s more left.”
Qualifying for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event continues Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations are scheduled for Monday at 11 a.m.
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BROWNSBURG, Ind. -- Saturday's results after the first three of five rounds of qualifying for the 58th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, 17th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Sunday for Monday's final eliminations.
Top Fuel -- 1. Spencer Massey, 3.762 seconds, 324.51 mph; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.772, 326.79; 3. Shawn Langdon, 3.773, 326.48; 4. Morgan Lucas, 3.792, 311.63; 5. Antron Brown, 3.807, 322.34; 6. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.817, 320.97; 7. Doug Kalitta, 3.823, 322.58; 8. Bob Vandergriff, 3.830, 322.73; 9. Steve Torrence, 3.834, 295.34; 10. Brandon Bernstein, 3.835, 321.19; 11. J.R. Todd, 3.836, 320.05; 12. David Grubnic, 3.844, 317.79. Not Qualified: 13. Bruce Litton, 3.871, 312.57; 14. Clay Millican, 3.872, 316.30; 15. T.J. Zizzo, 3.908, 307.30; 16. Pat Dakin, 3.916, 312.35; 17. Tommy Johnson, 3.939, 302.21; 18. Cory McClenathan, 3.956, 295.08; 19. Luigi Novelli,3.959, 260.21; 20. Terry McMillen, 3.964, 311.49; 21. Troy Buff, 3.975, 301.74; 22. Chris Karamesines, 3.986, 289.32; 23. Scott Palmer, 4.050, 278.52; 24. Hillary Will, 4.052, 284.81; 25. Brady Kalivoda, 4.088, 238.68; 26. Ike Maier, 4.094, 264.75; 27. Keith Murt, 4.348, 193.43.
Funny Car -- 1. Courtney Force, Ford Mustang, 4.049, 317.27; 2. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.051, 310.70; 3. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.060, 306.60; 4. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Camry, 4.064, 314.39; 5. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.064, 312.13; 6. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.076, 308.78; 7. John Force, Mustang, 4.077, 314.83; 8. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.079, 310.98; 9. Jeff Arend, Camry, 4.088, 311.20; 10. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.089, 306.53; 11. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.107, 308.21; 12. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.119, 307.65. Not Qualified: 13. Jim Head, 4.151, 292.33; 14. Jon Capps, 4.170, 290.94; 15. Todd Lesenko, 4.209, 296.05; 16. Blake Alexander, 4.224, 280.25; 17. Bob Bode, 4.232, 292.58; 18. Robert Hight, 4.325, 284.81; 19. Cruz Pedregon, 4.731, 172.23; 20. Terry Haddock, 6.510, 104.54.
Pro Stock -- 1. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.624, 208.84; 2. Vincent Nobile, Dodge Avenger, 6.631, 208.78; 3. Allen Johnson, Avenger, 6.634, 208.42; 4. Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.646, 208.52; 5. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.655, 208.17; 6. Mark Martino, Pontiac GXP, 6.659, 207.69; 7. Richie Stevens, Avenger, 6.666, 207.46; 8. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.673, 207.30; 9. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.674, 206.70; 10. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.677, 206.64; 11. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.678, 207.66; 12. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.678, 207.27. Not Qualified: 13. Dave Connolly, 6.684, 206.61; 14. Warren Johnson, 6.689, 207.11; 15. Rodger Brogdon, 6.692, 206.13; 16. Ronnie Humphrey, 6.693, 206.83; 17. Larry Morgan, 6.696, 206.80; 18. Kurt Johnson, 6.703, 205.98; 19. Chris McGaha, 6.716, 206.16; 20. Jerry Eckman, 6.727, 205.29; 21. Greg Stanfield, 6.735, 205.16; 22. Richard Freeman, 6.745, 205.79; 23. Kevin Lawrence, 6.745, 204.17; 24. Steve Spiess, 6.767, 203.86; 25. Steve Schmidt, 6.769, 203.49; 26. Lewis Worden, 6.769, 203.43; 27. Dave River, 6.879, 201.13; 28. John Gaydosh Jr, 6.919, 199.82; 29. Mark Hogan, 26.083, 28.60.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.928, 194.21; 2. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.932, 193.05; 3. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.950, 192.11; 4. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.953, 192.93; 5. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.978, 188.67; 6. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.993, 191.38; 7. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.010, 190.43; 8. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.019, 190.22; 9. Shawn Gann, Buell, 7.023, 192.28; 10. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.024, 189.52; 11. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.042, 192.06; 12. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 7.054, 185.31. Not Qualified: 13. Kieth Burley, 7.059, 189.73; 14. Dawn Minturn, 7.063, 187.47; 15. Michael Ray, 7.084, 189.50; 16. John Hall, 7.118, 187.63; 17. Redell Harris, 7.127, 189.87; 18. Steve Johnson, 7.135, 175.50; 19. Michael Phillips, 7.213, 186.07; 20. Katie Sullivan, 7.247, 183.00; 21. James Surber, 7.364, 185.51.
