NHRA NEWS: Final Qualifying story from the CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals

DIXON FLIES TO TOP QUALIFYING POSITION AT CARQUEST AUTO PARTS NHRA
NATIONALS

Medlen, Thomas pull down No. 1 qualifiers in Funny Car, Pro Stock

 

KENT, Wash. - Larry Dixon highlighted a record-setting four rounds of
qualifying action for the 18th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals by
setting both ends of the track record to earn the top qualifying
position entering Sunday's final eliminations.

 

Track records were set across the board -- in all three pro categories
for both speed and elapsed time -- at the $1.4 million race, the 14th of
23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

 

In Funny Car, Eric Medlen earned the No. 1 qualifying position in his
Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang with his 4.735-second pass while No. 2
qualifier Gary Scelzi topped the radar gun at 325.85 mph in his
Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T to set the track speed record. 

 

In Pro Stock, it was part-time racer Mike Thomas who earned the No. 1
qualifying position with a track-record 6.661-second pass in his Nitro
Fish Gear Dodge Stratus, which he was driving for the injured Kenny
Koretsky. The track speed record was turned in late Friday night when
Greg Anderson notched a top speed of 207.24 mph in his Summit Racing
Pontiac GTO.

 

Dixon, the all-time winningest active Top Fuel driver (37 victories),
made the record-setting pass of 4.490 seconds at 331.36 mph in ideal
conditions Saturday morning, the first-ever sub-4.5-second pas in
Pacific Raceways history. 

 

"The track had a lot of grip right before the sun came out for good and
we were able to post a good number," said Dixon, who pilots the Miller
Lite dragster for Don Prudhomme Snake Racing. "I think I'm more
impressed with the speed than the E.T. That's almost 10 mph faster than
the old mark (of 323.58 mph set by Kenny Bernstein in July, 2002).
That's big."

 

Dixon (876 points) will enter Sunday's final eliminations in third
place, 89 points behind Tony Schumacher (965) and the U.S. Army dragster
and 69 behind Doug Kalitta (945) and his second-place Mac Tools
dragster.

 

"I'm not going to stay up tonight and worry about racing farther than
Tony or Doug. Whatever car wins the championship is the one that goes
the most rounds. If I win tomorrow, then I've gone more rounds than
anyone else so I will have earned more points than anyone else. That's
what we're going to try and do."

 

Schumacher will be driving in his backup car in final eliminations
Sunday because during his final qualifying run his U.S. Army dragster
bowed and then snapped at the finish line. Schumacher was able to grip
the steering wheel and avoid a serious accident, but his dragster was
not so fortunate.

 

"These cars are going so fast," Schumacher said. "A crash at half-track
is bad. A crash at the finish line when you're covering two football
fields a second can be serious. This one was lucky. It lifted me up and
I was ready for it to start turning around, but it just came back down
and stopped. I've been through two bad ones. This one wasn't bad. The
deal is that if you want to win races and championships, you have to be
aggressive. I'm not going tell (crew chief) Alan Johnson to back it
down."

 

Medlen entered the weekend in eighth place in the Funny Car standings
and could use the momentum from qualifying to carry over to final
eliminations Sunday.

 

"We need to get up there in the top five," Medlen said of the points
chase. "That's where we want to live. The only way to get back up there
is to go rounds and win races. We would love to do that (Sunday). It
would be a big lift for the entire team. We all share in the wins, but
we also all suffer when someone is struggling."

 

The CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals represent just the sixth race of the
season for Thomas.

 

"I'm kinda shocked to be No. 1," said Thomas, who has one Pro Stock and
15 Super Stock wins. "But at the same time when you work with this crew
and see how awesome (crew chief) Eddie Guarnaccia and Jerry Eckman and
the rest of the guys are it's not really too surprising."

 

Thomas is hoping a big Sunday will open some doors for him.

 

"This is a lot of fun," Thomas said. "I've been part-time for the last
few years, really ever since (former sponsor) Pennzoil pulled out. We've
been searching for funding so it's nice to be able to perform like this
and show everyone you haven't forgotten how to drive. Maybe this will
open some doors for me."

 

 

 

****  AGATE ****  AGATE ****  AGATE 

 

KENT, Wash. -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday
for the 18th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Pacific
Raceways, the 14th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series.  Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended
Saturday.

 

 

        Top Fuel -- 1. Larry Dixon, 4.490 seconds, 331.36 mph  vs. 16.
Don Sosenka, 5.467, 222.18; 2. Tony Schumacher, 4.512, 326.56  vs. 15.
Mitch King, 4.926, 275.00; 3. Morgan Lucas, 4.548, 323.35  vs. 14. Scott
Weis, 4.766, 296.05; 4. David Baca, 4.549, 322.34  vs. 13. John Smith,
4.691, 312.13; 5. Doug Kalitta, 4.552, 325.61  vs. 12. Melanie Troxel,
4.626, 319.29; 6. Scott Kalitta, 4.556, 321.12  vs. 11. Doug Herbert,
4.610, 315.19; 7. David Grubnic, 4.566, 326.08  vs. 10. Jack Beckman,
4.603, 322.19; 8. Brandon Bernstein, 4.570, 321.35  vs. 9. Cory
McClenathan, 4.598, 321.19. 

 

 

        Funny Car -- 1. Eric Medlen, Ford Mustang, 4.735, 323.12  vs.
16. Gary Densham, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.004, 297.48; 2. Gary Scelzi,
Dodge Stratus, 4.776, 325.85  vs. 15. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.999,
312.57; 3. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.776, 322.65  vs. 14. Jeff Arend,
Monte Carlo, 4.952, 296.89; 4. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.777,
324.05  vs. 13. Frank Pedregon, Stratus, 4.889, 308.21; 5. Del Worsham,
Monte Carlo, 4.782, 324.83  vs. 12. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.876,
310.91; 6. John Force, Mustang, 4.793, 314.09  vs. 11. Cruz Pedregon,
Monte Carlo, 4.858, 314.17; 7. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.806, 318.62
vs. 10. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.841, 320.51; 8.

Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.812, 319.75  vs. 9. Ron Capps, Stratus,
4.823, 313.66. 

 

 

        Pro Stock -- 1. Mike Thomas, Dodge Stratus, 6.661, 206.76  vs.
16. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.751, 205.13; 2. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt,
6.665, 207.15  vs. 15. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.747, 204.73; 3. Jason
Line, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.669, 206.07  vs. 14. V. Gaines, Stratus,
6.740, 205.29; 4. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.672, 207.24  vs. 13. Jim
Yates, Grand Am, 6.723, 204.23; 5. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.686, 206.67
vs. 12. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.723, 205.16; 6. Richie Stevens,
Stratus, 6.691, 206.16  vs. 11. Bob Panella, Cobalt, 6.710, 205.16; 7.
Greg Stanfield, Chevy Cavalier, 6.693, 206.07  vs. 10. Allen Johnson,
Stratus, 6.709, 205.35; 8. Warren Johnson, Grand Am, 6.695, 206.32  vs.
9. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.707, 205.13.