LAS VEGAS – As the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series nears the conclusion of the 2012 season, the battle atop the points standings in Top Fuel is heating up as teams head to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, Oct. 26-28.
Matco Tools pilot Antron Brown and FRAM/Prestone driver Spencer Massey sit first and second in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship points standings and are separated by 104 points.
Brown, who is attempting to become the first African-American to win a major motorsports series title, claimed six wins and three No.1 qualifying positions so far this season. The final two races of the playoffs are crucial as he works to put the finishing touches on his first Top Fuel world championship.
“We’re basically going to the last two races keeping our head down, and we want to stay on the offensive side, keep attacking,” Brown said. “We have got to keep attacking if we want to have the hopes to actually bring this championship home. And that’s the way we’re looking at these last two races is that they’re do or die. We've got to go in and not leave one i undotted and one t uncrossed, and we’ve got to go in there and just keep digging and digging, and hopefully we can be there at the end and contend and try to bring this championship home.”
Keeping an eye on the prize and not letting distractions get in the way have been proven before as successful keys to winning. Luckily for Brown, having a champion’s attitude comes naturally and having a strong team makes it even better.
“You’ve just got to stay humble,” Brown said. “You’ve just got to appreciate the guys that make it happen because you can look at our team, Tony, Spencer and myself, that, yeah, we have confidence in ourselves that we go out in a car and get a job done, but all three of us would be nothing if we didn’t have the stout teams that we have.”
Massey has also had a successful 2012 season, racing to four victories, three No.1 qualifying positions and winning the inaugural Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Top Fuel that came with a $100,000 paycheck. The pressure is on as he tries to run down teammate Brown in the Countdown to the Championship, but feels anything can happen during the final two races of the season.
“We’re going to get out there and try to get as many rounds and try and get a Wally or two before the end of the season,” Massey said. “With only two races left, it makes everybody hungry to at least get another Wally with only two of them sitting out there. And if stuff happens to fall for guys where it changes to where it makes it close at the Pomona race, we’ll see. But right now obviously our goal would be to stay No. 2 in points, and if it happens to be, we can try and get the No. 1 spot. But let me tell you, with Antron doing how he’s been doing, it’s a tough one.”
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been good to Massey in the past, as the Texas native driver won the fall event in 2009, made a final round appearance in the fall of 2011 and took home the Wally in the 2012 spring race. Needless to say, he’s looking to sweep Las Vegas this year.
“I don't mind Vegas,” Massey said. “I mean, I tend to do kind of well there. I got my second win ever there with Don Prudhomme Racing, and obviously the final round there a year ago for the fall race against Del Worsham and then winning in the spring, so I like racing there. Obviously it's Vegas; we all have a good reason to like to go there from hanging out on The Strip to actually racing on the drag strip. It’s always a fun place, and it makes it that much more special whenever you’re racing for so much meaning, meaning that you’re racing for the championship, for the Countdown. I can't wait to get there.”
Also in striking distance of winning the title is U.S. Army Top Fuel pilot Tony Schumacher with two wins and three No.1 qualifying positions on the season, Al-Anabi Racing’s Shawn Langdon with one victory and Brandon Bernstein, who has had two-runner up finishes this season in his ProtectTheHarvest.com dragster.
* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for noon and 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26, and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27. Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28.
* TICKETS: Tickets are available for the 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals. Please call The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at (800) 644-4444 or visit www.lvms.com.
* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise one hour of qualifying coverage at 4 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Oct. 28 preceded by one hour of coverage at 1:30 a.m. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three-hours of eliminations coverage at 8 p.m. (ET), also on Sunday, Oct. 28.* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals also will feature competition in seven categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 8 a.m. on Oct. 25 and continue through Oct. 26. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8 a.m. on Oct. 27.
* NHRA PRO MOD SERIES PRESENTED BY PROCARE RX: NHRA’s popular Pro Mod touring series will make its final start of the 2012 season at the 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals. The first two qualifying sessions will be Oct. 26 at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Qualifying will continue on Saturday, Oct. 27 with a session at 10:30 a.m. and will be followed by the first round of eliminations at 4 p.m. Eliminations will continue Sunday, Oct. 28 at approximately 2:30 p.m.
* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
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BIG O TIRES NHRA NATIONALS FACT SHEET
WHAT: 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, 22nd of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the fifth of six playoff races in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. The top 10 drivers in four categories - Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle - earn points leading to 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championships.
WHERE: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas. Track is located approximately 15 miles north of Las Vegas off I-15.
WHEN: Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 25-28.
SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY, Oct. 25- LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying at 8 a.m.
FRIDAY, Oct. 26– LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying at 8 a.m.
PRO MOD SERIES PRESENTED BY PROCARE RX qualifying at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at noon and 3 p.m.
SATURDAY, Oct. 27– LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations begin at 8 a.m.
PRO MOD SERIES PRESENTED BY PROCARE RX qualifying at 10:30 a.m.; first round of eliminations at 4 p.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
SUNDAY, Oct. 28- Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
PRO MOD SERIES PRESENTED BY PROCARE RX second round at approximately 2:30 p.m.
TELEVISION:
Sunday, Oct. 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise one hour of qualifying highlights at 1:30 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, Oct. 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise one hour of qualifying highlights at 4 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, Oct. 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of coverage starting at 8 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, Oct. 26, 9 - 9:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 01C
(Digital HD feed) Saturday, Oct. 27, 9 - 9:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 01C
Sunday, Oct. 28, 9:30 - 10 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 01C
(3720 MHz, horizontal; Data Rate: 40.461470554 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 29.27 Ms; FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 36 Mhz)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Sunday.
2011 EVENT WINNERS: Del Worsham, Top Fuel; Ron Capps, Funny Car; Mike Edwards, Pro Stock; Eddie Krawiec, Pro Stock Motorcycle.
MOST VICTORIES: Greg Anderson, PS, 4; Tony Schumacher, TF, 4; Ron Capps, FC, 3; Andrew Hines, PSM, 3.
TRACK RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.779 sec. by Antron Brown, April ’12; 326.08 mph by Brown, April ’12
Funny Car - 4.030 sec. by Matt Hagan, Oct. ’09; 315.49 mph by Ron Capps, Oct. ’11
Pro Stock - 6.594 sec. by Mike Edwards, Oct. ’11; 208.84 mph by Edwards, Oct. ’11
PS Motorcycle - 6.879 sec. by Hector Arana Jr., Oct. ’11; 196.56 mph by Eddie Krawiec, Oct. ’11
NATIONAL RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.701 sec. by Antron Brown, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 332.18 mph by Spencer Massey, April ’12, Charlotte, N.C.
Funny Car - 3.986 sec. by Jack Beckman, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 320.58 mph by Beckman, Oct. ‘12, Reading, Pa.
Pro Stock - 6.477 sec. by Jason Line, Oct. ’11, Reading, Pa.; 214.35 mph by Line, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.
PS Motorcycle - 6.728 sec. by Andrew Hines, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 199.26 mph by Eddie Krawiec, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.
TICKETS: For tickets call The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at (800) 644-4444, or visit www.LVMS.com online.
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NHRA FULL THROTTLE COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
GLENDORA, Calif. -- Point standings (top 10) following the 21st of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the fourth of six races in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, NHRA's playoffs -
Top Fuel: 1. Antron Brown, 2,491; 2. Spencer Massey, 2,387; 3. Tony Schumacher, 2,355; 4. Shawn Langdon, 2,351; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 2,314; 6. Morgan Lucas, 2,267; 7. Doug Kalitta, 2,228; 8. Steve Torrence, 2,212; 9. David Grubnic, 2,193; 10. Bob Vandergriff, 2,149.
Funny Car: 1. Jack Beckman, 2,437; 2. Ron Capps, 2,414; 3. Mike Neff, 2,383; 4. Johnny Gray, 2,246; 5. Cruz Pedregon, 2,244; 6. John Force, 2,217; 7. Courtney Force, 2,216; 8. Robert Hight, 2,211; 9. Tim Wilkerson, 2,207; 10. Jeff Arend, 2,180.
Pro Stock: 1. Allen Johnson, 2,502; 2. Jason Line, 2,420; 3. Erica Enders, 2,377; 4. Vincent Nobile, 2,325; 5. Greg Anderson, 2,272; 6. V. Gaines, 2,235; 7. Mike Edwards, 2,214; 8. Jeg Coughlin, 2,187; 9. Ron Krisher, 2,161; 10. Larry Morgan, 2,157.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1. Eddie Krawiec, 2,523; 2. Andrew Hines, 2,506; 3. Hector Arana Jr, 2,384; 4. Hector Arana, 2,326; 5. Karen Stoffer, 2,282; 6. Michael Ray, 2,251; 7. Scotty Pollacheck, 2,209; 8. Matt Smith, 2,192; 9. LE Tonglet, 2,182; 10. Shawn Gann, 2,177.
