NHRA NEWS - Friday qualifying roundup

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: NHRA Communications, (626) 253-6337

DIXON, BAZEMORE, JOHNSON AND TONGLET LEAD QUALIFYING AT PONTIAC
PERFORMANCE NHRA NATIONALS

	HEBRON, Ohio - Three-time event winner Larry Dixon led all Top
Fuel competitors Friday at the 41st annual Pontiac Performance NHRA
Nationals at National Trail Raceway.
 	Whit Bazemore, Warren Johnson and GT Tonglet also were the
provisional qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the $2
million race, the eighth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series.
	Dixon took advantage of the early evening's cool temperatures to
power his Miller Light dragster to a leading qualifying performance of
4.510 seconds at a track record speed of 331.94 in his first attempt.
	"A lot of fans came by and they were excited about (the speed),"
Dixon said. "The car went out there and quivered a little bit, got
through that and ran on through. You're listening to the engine. It ran
on eight cylinders all the way out.
	"I think (crew chief) Dick LaHaie, it all goes to him. He's done
real well, and fortunately he's in our corner."
	The final two rounds of professional qualifying are scheduled
for 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Final eliminations are Sunday at
11 a.m.
Dixon chose not to make his second run after most of the Top Fuel field
struggled to complete their second qualifying runs on a rapidly cooling
track.
	"We had the car set up for a certain track temperature, and it
started cooling off rapidly," Dixon said. "As cars were not going down
the track, it kind of reconfirmed where we were at. We're here a month
earlier. Last year it'd be hot and humid and you'd be wishing you were
running the sessions at 10 p.m. so it would be nice and cool."
	This year's event was moved to May from its traditional June
date in the hopes of avoiding the state's rainy season. Rain did arrive
during the early morning hours Friday, but the professional rounds went
on as scheduled.
Bazemore powered his Matco Tools Dodge Stratus down the track in 4.762
seconds at 322.34 mph to lead Funny Car.
"It's a real good start for the weekend," said Bazemore, who has yet to
qualify No. 1 this season despite winning two events. Bazemore was
second in the point standings to John Force after Atlanta last weekend.
"Our team hasn't qualified that well all year, so hopefully it's not a
jinx. We've done fairly well. We're second in the championship, and
we've won two races, but all from qualifying eighth and 12th. Hopefully,
if we can stay low tomorrow it won't be a jinx. It's what our team's
needed. We've worked really hard trying to right our ship and eventually
hard work pays off. Qualifying is a tribute to our Matco Tools team.
It's (crew chief) Lee Beard making the right call, it's the guys doing a
perfect job, and here we are. It felt good to run that quick, because we
hadn't done that in quite a while."
	Johnson covered the quarter-mile distance with a track record
time of 6.749 seconds at 204.48 mph in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac
to pace Pro Stock.
	"We had a few problems on our first run that could have had an
adverse effect on the evening session," Johnson said. "We had a
malfunction with the throttle linkage which prevented the second
carburetor from fully opening, which was compounded by our not getting
any computer data from the run. Therefore, we pretty much had to wing it
for our second attempt.
	"We actually made a significant amount of changes based on
something Kurt (Johnson's son and driver of the ACDelco Cobalt) had done
with his car in testing.  Considering our predicament, we felt it was a
good time to try it, and fortunately, it seems to have worked well
enough to place us in the No. 1 position at the moment. Overall, I was
pleased. It was a good, straight run, and our sixty foot time was back
in the hunt, so I think we're getting this GM Performance Parts Pontiac
to where it needs to be."
	Tonglet rode his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson
down the track in 7.090 seconds at 187.03 mph to lead Pro Stock
Motorcycle qualifying after forfeiting his first run due to a battery
malfunction. Tonglet came to Columbus fresh off of a win at Atlanta, his
first victory of 2005 and the second of his career. The win put him on
top of the point standings.
	"It's been a real good week," Tonglet said. "First I win Atlanta
and now I'm No. 1 here. I'm real happy with the run. We had a 1.08
(-second clocking) to 60 feet plus the tire was spinning downtrack so I
know we have room to improve.
	"It's good to have a teammate because I didn't get to run in
Round 1 but our bikes are identical so we were able to use his data to
tune me up for tonight. (Team crew chief) Matt Hines is a three-time
champion; he can get any bike down any track."

*** AGATE ***

	HEBRON, Ohio -- Results Friday after qualifying for the 41st
annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals presented by Summit Racing at
National Trail Raceway, eighth of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series.  Qualifying will continue Saturday for
Sunday's final eliminations.

 
        Top Fuel -- 1. Larry Dixon, 4.510 seconds, 331.94 mph; 2. Doug
Kalitta, 4.551, 327.35; 3.
David Baca, 4.568, 324.83; 4. Cory McClenathan, 4.698, 324.75; 5. Scott
Weis, 7.332, 138.34; 6.
Doug Herbert, 7.499, 135.97; 7. Bruce Litton, 8.291, 106.77; 8. John
Smith, 8.477, 105.83; 9. Mitch King, 8.507, 99.60; 10. Tony Schumacher,
8.800, 82.06; 11. Brandon Bernstein, 9.632, 84.47; 12.
David Grubnic, 9.666, 78.13; 13. Scott Kalitta, 9.765, 74.91; 14. T.J.
Zizzo, 9.876, 88.14; 15.
Morgan Lucas, 10.005, 84.69; 16. Jack Beckman, 10.073, 75.07. 

 
        Funny Car -- 1. Whit Bazemore, Dodge Stratus, 4.762, 322.34; 2.
Tim Wilkerson, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.763, 319.45; 3. Robert Hight, Ford
Mustang, 4.786, 322.50; 4. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.792, 325.06; 5. Phil
Burkart, Toyota Celica, 4.817, 316.60; 6. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo,
4.841, 317.42; 7. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.946, 315.49; 8. Del
Worsham, Monte Carlo, 5.329, 251.06; 9.
Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 5.959, 159.34; 10. Ron Capps, Stratus,
6.149, 197.94; 11. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 6.386, 152.80; 12. Bob
Gilbertson, Monte Carlo, 8.268, 118.22; 13. John Force, Mustang, 8.727,
94.65; 14. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 8.998, 103.31; 15. Jack Wyatt,
Pontiac Firebird, 9.256, 88.43; 16. Gary Scelzi, Stratus, 9.898, 81.03. 

 
        Pro Stock -- 1. Warren Johnson, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.749, 204.48;
2. Mike Edwards, Grand Am, 6.752, 204.85; 3. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt,
6.761, 204.26; 4. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.767, 203.98; 5. Jeg Coughlin,
Dodge Stratus, 6.771, 203.77; 6. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.784, 203.31;
7. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.785, 204.17; 8. Ben Watson, Chevy Cavalier,
6.789, 202.21; 9. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.790, 202.64; 10. V. Gaines,
Stratus, 6.791, 203.43; 11. Greg Anderson, Grand Am, 6.793, 204.05; 12.
Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.793, 203.52; 13. Ronnie Humphrey, Cavalier,
6.804, 202.33; 14. Rickie Smith, Cavalier, 6.807, 203.28; 15. Allen
Johnson, Stratus, 6.813, 202.42; 16. Greg Stanfield, Cavalier, 6.816,
203.25. 

 
        Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.090,
187.03; 2. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.107, 185.59; 3. Geno Scali, Suzuki,
7.120, 188.54; 4. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.128, 187.34; 5. Karen
Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.135, 187.11; 6. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.140, 186.00;
7.
Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.141, 178.02; 8. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.145, 183.69;
9. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.156, 190.40; 10. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.158,
185.36; 11. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.162, 186.33; 12. Matt Smith,
Suzuki, 7.178, 184.57; 13. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.186, 184.67; 14.
Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.195, 180.07; 15. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki, 7.206,
182.58; 16. Blaine Hale, Suzuki, 7.270, 180.65.