NHRA NEWS: Saturday qualifying, Brainerd, Minn.

SCHUMACHER, MEDLEN, WARREN JOHNSON AND TONGLET ARE QUALIFYING LEADERS AT
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS

	BRAINERD, Minn. - Tony Schumacher, two-time and defending NHRA
Top Fuel world champion, clocked the fastest speed in the history of the
sport during the second day of qualifying at the 24th annual Lucas Oil
NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
	The pilot of the U.S. Army dragster goes into Sunday's
eliminations in the No. 1 spot with his best effort of 4.446 seconds in
a blistering 337.58 mph. Schumacher can certify the performance as an
NHRA national record by clocking a speed of at least 334.21 mph on any
run during the remainder of the weekend. 
	Eric Medlen (Funny Car), Warren Johnson (Pro Stock), and G.T.
Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also are the qualifying leaders of their
classes at the $1.6 million event, the 16th of 23 races on the $50
million NHRA POWERade drag racing series' schedule. Sunday's first round
of eliminations are slated for 11 a.m.
	All eight of the track records set during Friday night's
qualifying sessions were bettered on Saturday - in part thanks to ideal,
cool weather conditions and a partly cloudy sky.
	"That was fantastic," Schumacher said. "From 800 feet on it was
vibrating so much that it blurred my vision. I've been 335 and 336
before and that didn't happen so I thought maybe it was going 337 that
did it. But we ran 330 in Round 4 and it did it again so it's something
with the car that we can fix. For a minute there I thought, 'Okay, that
was cool, but not the blurring part.' But it's just a harmonics deal.
	"You don't expect to run that here but since they ground it a
few years ago the track has been great. If you can run a 4.40, you have
a great track. We went 4.44 in one lane and 4.48 in the other today so
I'd say this is a great track."
	Medlen qualified at the top of his category with a 4.730 in
327.35 in his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang.
	"Today we saw the advantages of having two other cars on our
team," Medlen said. "Both John [Force] and Robert [Hight] were able to
radio back a bunch of great info to us and the end result was that we
could tune this thing for a great number. All four of our qualifying
passes were stout and we're extremely pleased with the way the car has
been reacting to what we're doing to it.
	"I think some guys were pressing today to try and match us. We
saw some teams struggling, but we came through. Believe me, it's all
about our crew chiefs. They're the reason this team historically has run
so well at this track. It ain't the drivers. We just keep the car
straight. The crew chiefs are the ones that have Brainerd figured out."
	Johnson, a Minnesota native, drove his new GM Performance Parts
Pontiac GTO to a category-leading performance of 6.698 in 206.57, both
track records. Johnson now has 136 career No. 1 qualifying attempts -
more than any other professional NHRA driver.
	"We felt the GTO, aero-wise, was so significantly better then
our Grand Am that it was in our best interest to get it into service as
soon as possible," Johnson said. "In my estimation it's the best car out
there now. The Stratus has been revised four or five times and the
Cobalt is right there too, so it's great for competition.
	"This car is so stable it's almost boring to drive down the back
half. It's like my old Cutlass only the front end is so much narrower.
There are five cars within five rounds of each other at the top of the
points so one point here or there can be the difference. You only need
to win the championship by one point so every one is important,
definitely."
	Tonglet clinched the top qualifying spot with a track record
time of 7.011 in 191.35 on his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines
Harley-Davidson.
	"I know (teammate) Andrew (Hines) wanted to be No. 1 but if
anyone were to take it away from him I know he's glad it's me," Tonglet
said. "We're a true team. He was happy for me down there. As long as
there's a Screamin' Eagle Harley on the pole, we're both happy. To be
1-2 is the best case."


BRAINERD, Minn. -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations
Sunday for the 24th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd
International Raceway, the 16th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series.  Pairings based on results in qualifying,
which ended Saturday.
 
        Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 4.446 seconds, 337.58 mph  vs.
16. John Smith, 4.940, 237.80; 2. Cory McClenathan, 4.501, 328.62  vs.
15. Mitch King, 4.936, 290.88; 3. David Grubnic, 4.501, 327.43  vs. 14.
Luigi Novelli, 4.825, 314.31; 4. Scott Kalitta, 4.509, 329.58  vs. 13.
Joe Hartley, 4.749, 308.57; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 4.514, 332.26  vs. 12.
Scott Weis, 4.702, 310.98; 6.
Larry Dixon, 4.527, 329.34  vs. 11. Melanie Troxel, 4.626, 315.78; 7.
Morgan Lucas, 4.531, 320.36 vs. 10. Doug Herbert, 4.594, 317.27; 8. Jack
Beckman, 4.563, 324.28  vs. 9. Doug Kalitta, 4.565, 326.40. 

         Funny Car -- 1. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.730, 327.35  vs.
16. Phil Burkart, Toyota Celica, 4.892, 312.50; 2. Tommy Johnson Jr.,
Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.751, 326.24  vs. 15. Bob Bode, Pontiac Firebird,
4.890, 304.53; 3. John Force, Mustang, 4.762, 324.05  vs. 14. Gary
Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.855, 316.82; 4. Ron Capps, Dodge Stratus, 4.767,
323.89  vs. 13. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.854, 318.54; 5. Gary Scelzi,
Stratus, 4.770, 328.70  vs. 12. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.843,
313.73; 6. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.776, 327.66  vs. 11. Tim
Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.830, 324.20; 7.
Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.784, 323.04  vs. 10. Robert Hight,
Mustang, 4.813, 323.81; 8. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.791, 323.74
vs. 9. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.799, 323.43. 
 
        Pro Stock -- 1. Warren Johnson, Pontiac GTO, 6.698, 206.57  vs.
16. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.754, 205.10; 2. Greg Anderson, GTO,
6.700, 206.35  vs. 15. Dave Connolly, Chevy Cobalt, 6.741, 204.57; 3.
Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.721, 205.13  vs. 14. Kenny Koretsky, Stratus,
6.740, 204.57; 4. Rickie Smith, Chevy Cavalier, 6.725, 205.22  vs. 13.
Greg Stanfield, Cavalier, 6.739, 205.13; 5. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.726,
205.19  vs. 12. Jim Yates, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.737, 204.14; 6. Dave
Howard, Cobalt, 6.731, 205.10  vs. 11. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.737,
204.60; 7. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.733, 204.54  vs. 10. Richie Stevens,
Stratus, 6.735, 204.85; 8. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.735, 205.01  vs. 9.
Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.735, 204.85. 

         Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.011,
192.96  vs. 16. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.175, 189.26; 2. Andrew
Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.024, 196.82  vs. 15. Tom Bradford, Buell,
7.172, 189.68; 3. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.049, 193.35  vs. 14. Shawn Gann,
Suzuki, 7.161, 185.08; 4. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.071, 189.68  vs. 13.
Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.144, 183.37; 5. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.078, 192.08
vs. 12. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.135, 192.74; 6. Antron Brown, Suzuki,
7.095, 188.36  vs. 11. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.126, 186.98; 7. Karen
Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.098, 194.21  vs. 10. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.115,
190.59; 8. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.103, 188.83 vs. 9. Ryan Schnitz,
Buell, 7.103, 182.30.