NHRA NEWS: Sears Craftsman Nationals, Final Qualifying
DOUG KALITTA EARNS TOP FUEL NO. 1 QUALIFIER AT SEARS CRAFTSMAN NHRA
NATIONALS
Gary Scelzi, Kurt Johnson and Andrew Hines lead their categories
MADISON, Ill. - POWERade Series Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta
earned the No. 1 qualifying position at the Sears Craftsman NHRA
Nationals with a 4.564-second pass in the fourth and final round of
qualifying Saturday night at Gateway Raceway.
The other top qualifiers are Gary Scelzi in Funny Car (4.797 seconds,
325.14 mph), Kurt Johnson in Pro Stock (6.750, 204.14) and Andrew Hines
in Pro Stock Motorcycle (7.114, 186.72).
It was the third No. 1 qualifier this season and 26th in his career for
Doug Kalitta, who is a three-time and back-to-back winner at the Sears
Craftsman Nationals, the 12th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Series.
"I've been very fortunate here," said Kalitta, who drives the Mac Tools
dragster. "If I ever figure it out, I'll let you know."
Kalitta will enter final eliminations today beginning at 4:30 p.m. with
a 62-point lead over the U.S. Army dragster driven by Tony Schumacher
(qualified second), and a 68-point lead over the Miller Lite dragster
driven by Larry Dixon (qualified fourth).
"The car was strong," Kalitta said. "We had a nice car and we ended up
with a nice run."
As good as Kalitta has been at Gateway Raceway, Scelzi has been even
better in his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus with four wins overall, three
in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car.
"This has got to be the absolute best I've done at any race track, even
Pomona, but tomorrow's going to be anyone's game," Scelzi said.
"We went for the pole tonight, that was the plan," he said.
Kurt Johnson, who earned his first No. 1 qualifying position of the
season the previous weekend at the K&N Filters NHRA Supernationals, set
the number in his Friday night run and it held up all day Saturday.
Johnson, who drives the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt, is coming off of a weekend
in which he had the top car through qualifying and won two rounds before
he spun his tires against his father Warren Johnson in the semifinals.
"It's all hills and valleys out here so you've got to take it while you
can get it," said Johnson, who is currently in fifth place in the
POWERade series Pro Stock standings.
Hines' Vance & Hines Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson was the top
motorcycle all weekend as he turned in the best run in all four rounds
of qualifying.
"If we can keep it up this weekend, we will be a tough team to beat,"
Hines said.
MADISON, Ill. -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations
Sunday for the Ninth annual Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals at Gateway
International Raceway, the 12th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying,
which ended Saturday.
Top Fuel -- 1. Doug Kalitta, 4.564 seconds, 325.85 mph vs. 16.
Mike Strasburg, 4.959, 286.92; 2. Tony Schumacher, 4.580, 328.30 vs.
15. Tim Gibson, 4.956, 228.85; 3. Morgan Lucas, 4.588, 323.19 vs. 14.
Mitch King, 4.874, 281.13; 4. Larry Dixon, 4.601, 322.58 vs. 13. Scott
Weis, 4.752, 293.54; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 4.602, 326.79 vs. 12. T.J.
Zizzo, 4.747, 300.40; 6. Rod Fuller, 4.604, 318.77 vs. 11. Bobby Lagana
Jr., 4.707, 319.14; 7. David Grubnic, 4.607, 322.34 vs. 10. Cory
McClenathan, 4.694, 322.73; 8. Scott Kalitta, 4.616, 322.65 vs. 9. Doug
Herbert, 4.683, 301.20.
Funny Car -- 1. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Stratus, 4.797, 325.14 vs.
16. Terry Haddock, Chevy Camaro, 5.001, 310.63; 2. Ron Capps, Stratus,
4.799, 323.35 vs. 15. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.931, 309.98; 3.
Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.808, 316.82 vs. 14. Phil Burkart, Toyota
Celica, 4.919, 303.84; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.834,
317.79 vs. 13. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 4.912, 315.19; 5. Eric Medlen,
Mustang, 4.842, 316.30 vs. 12. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.904,
318.17; 6. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.847, 320.66 vs. 11. Tony Pedregon,
Monte Carlo, 4.902, 314.97; 7. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.855, 313.07
vs. 10. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.893, 305.70; 8. Tim Wilkerson,
Monte Carlo, 4.863, 317.79 vs. 9. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo,
4.887, 318.32.
Pro Stock -- 1. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.750, 204.14 vs.
16. Kenny Koretsky, Dodge Stratus, 6.817, 201.61; 2. Greg Anderson,
Pontiac Grand Am, 6.756, 204.01 vs. 15. Jim Yates, Grand Am, 6.814,
201.97; 3. Warren Johnson, Grand Am, 6.757, 203.89 vs. 14. Larry
Morgan, Stratus, 6.809, 202.97; 4. Jason Line, Grand Am, 6.771, 203.16
vs. 13. Dave Howard, Cobalt, 6.803, 202.52; 5. Richie Stevens, Stratus,
6.772, 203.43 vs. 12. Greg Stanfield, Chevy Cavalier, 6.798, 202.79; 6.
Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.778, 203.28 vs. 11. Rickie Smith, Cavalier,
6.797, 202.73; 7. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.785, 203.19 vs. 10. V.
Gaines, Stratus, 6.797, 203.00; 8. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.793, 202.64
vs. 9. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.796, 202.06.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.114,
192.71 vs. 16. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.305, 183.29; 2. Antron Brown,
Suzuki, 7.120, 189.26 vs. 15. Hector Arana, Suzuki, 7.303, 186.07; 3.
Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.146, 190.78 vs. 14. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.252,
185.31; 4. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.158, 187.44 vs. 13. Michael Phillips,
Suzuki, 7.250, 184.27; 5.
Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.162, 185.87 vs. 12. Matt Smith, Suzuki,
7.248, 185.69; 6. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.175, 186.92 vs. 11.
Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.241, 186.72; 7. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.178, 186.07
vs. 10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.233, 186.02; 8. Craig Treble, Suzuki,
7.197, 187.47 vs. 9. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.220, 185.38.
