NHRA SUNDAY FINAL RESULTS: Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
CONTACT: NHRA Media Relations, Michael Padian, 626-278-0312
 
 
SCHUMACHER WINS AGAIN, EXTENDS LEAD IN POWERADE SERIES TOP FUEL POINTS
RACE
Ron Capps wins in Funny Car, closes in on Gary Scelzi; In Pro Stock,
Jason Line wins fourth event of season over first-time finalist Erica
Enders
 
JOLIET, Ill. -- POWERade Series points leader Tony Schumacher backed up
his national-record run in qualifying with a win Sunday at the Fifth
annual Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.
 
The other winners at the $1.5 million race, the 20th of 23 events in the
$50 million POWERade Series, were Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Jason Line
(Pro Stock). Line's win came against 21-year old Erica Enders, who
became the first female to advance to an NHRA Pro Stock final round.
 
With his 4.535-second pass at 328.94 mph in his U.S. Army dragster in
the final round win over the tire-spinning Doug Herbert (9.877 at 82.52)
-- on a weekend when his two closest competitors were eliminated in the
first round -- Schumacher continued a steady charge toward a third
overall and second straight POWERade Series championship. With three
events remaining, he has built a 205-point lead over Larry Dixon. 
 
"It's kind of upsetting that (Herbert) smoked the tires (on his Snap-On
Tools dragster). You want to see a good race, but ... all in all, I got
the trophy and I didn't care how I did it," said Schumacher, who has
advanced to four straight final rounds.
 
Asked if he was ready to crown himself the POWERade Series champion,
Schumacher said: "I'd much rather be in my spot, there's no question
about it."
 
Schumacher set the provisional national record of 4.437 seconds during
qualifying Friday night. His first pass on Saturday, 4.473 seconds, was
good enough to validate the time -- an NHRA national record requires a
second run within 1 percent of the record run -- and it earned him a
valuable 20-point bonus. Schumacher held the previous record of 4.441
seconds, set on Oct. 5, 2003 at Reading, Pa.
 
"I was the No. 1 qualifier ... I set the national record ... I won the
race," Schumacher said. "I couldn't have left with less points."
 
In Funny Car, Ron Capps (4.760 at 327.82) beat a tire-spinning Tony
Pedregon (7.369 at 138.50) in his Q Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to jump
from fifth to third in the standings and pull to within 45 points of
first-place Gary Scelzi.
 
"Any of these guys in the points chase that say they don't think about
it all the time, they're lying," said Capps, who drives the Brut Dodge
Stratus R/T. "I think about it when I'm taking the kids to school. I
think about it in the shower. I call (team owner) Don (Schumacher) every
five minutes and ask him if it's time to go racing. Then we have to wait
a week when Dallas got postponed. I've been so anxious to get back into
it so this feels great."
 
Capps took out second-place John Force and his Castrol Syntex GTX Ford
Mustang in the semis and Pedregon eliminated first-place Scelzi and his
Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T in the other semifinal.
 
So with three events remaining (Dallas, Las Vegas 2 and Pomona 2), the
still-too-close-to-call Funny Car point standings look like this: Scelzi
1,326; Force 1,283; Capps 1,281; Robert Hight 1,256; Eric Medlen 1,226.
"At this point in the game you have to win rounds or you're done," Capps
said. "We felt like we had a good chance to make up ground in Reading
racing Robert Hight in the first round but he beat us. Then we draw him
again here in the first round. It was destiny." 

In Pro Stock, Jason Line (6.719 at 205.88) beat Erica Enders, who fouled
out at the starting line, to win for the fourth time in 2005 and for the
second consecutive year at Route 66 Raceway.

"I love racing here," said Line, who drives the Summit Racing Pontiac
GTO. "I wish I knew what it was ... I'd like to put it in a bottle and
bring it to Dallas."

With her performance Sunday, Enders became the first female in NHRA
history to advance to a Pro Stock final round. Enders picked up her
first round-win in her Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevy Cobalt just one
event earlier at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Reading, Pa. and
Sunday she punctuated her run to the finals with a semifinal win over
NHRA legend Warren Johnson (who fouled) in the semifinals.

"First of all, we would really liked to have won, but we're going to get
our win here soon," said Enders, who then spoke about being the first
woman to advance past the first round in an NHRA Pro Stock race. 
 
"That's a huge point of interest for the public and the media, but for
me, I don't consider there to be any difference when I strap the helmet
on," Enders said.
 
Line began the weekend by setting the track speed record with a 208.17
mph pass in Friday night qualifying. 
 
 
 
* * * * * A G A T E * * * * *
 
JOLIET, Ill. -- Final finish order (1-16) for professional categories at
the Fifth annual Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.
The 1.5 million race is the 20th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:

1. Tony Schumacher; 2. Doug Herbert; 3. Brandon Bernstein; 4. Scott
Kalitta; 5. David Grubnic; 6. Morgan Lucas; 7. Clay Millican; 8. Tim
Cullinan; 9. Melanie Troxel; 10. Larry Dixon; 11. Jack Beckman; 12. Rod
Fuller; 13. John Smith; 14. Bobby Lagana Jr.; 15. Cory McClenathan; 16.
Doug Kalitta. 

FUNNY CAR:

1. Ron Capps, Dodge Stratus; 2. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo; 3.
Gary Scelzi, Stratus; 4. John Force, Ford Mustang; 5. Eric Medlen,
Mustang; 6. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo; 7. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo;
8. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo; 9. Robert Hight, Mustang; 10. Mike
Ashley, Monte Carlo; 11. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo; 12. Whit Bazemore,
Stratus; 13. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo; 14. Phil Burkart, Toyota Celica;
15. Frank Pedregon, Stratus; 16. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo. 

PRO STOCK:

1. Jason Line, Pontiac GTO; 2. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt; 3. Warren
Johnson, GTO; 4. Dave Connolly, Cobalt; 5. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt; 6. Greg
Anderson, GTO; 7. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus; 8. Mike Edwards, GTO; 9.
V. Gaines, Stratus; 10. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus; 11. Jim Yates, GTO; 12.
Allen Johnson, Stratus; 13. Richie Stevens, Stratus; 14. Greg Stanfield,
Chevy Cavalier; 15. Dave Howard, Cobalt; 16. Ron Krisher, Cobalt. 

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 4.535 seconds, 328.94 mph def. Doug
Herbert, 9.877 seconds, 82.52 mph. 

Funny Car -- Ron Capps, Dodge Stratus, 4.760, 327.82 def. Tony Pedregon,
Chevy Monte Carlo, 7.369, 138.50. 

Pro Stock -- Jason Line, Pontiac GTO, 6.719, 205.88 def. Erica Enders,
Chevy Cobalt, foul. 

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Bill Reichert, 5.248, 275.84 def. Jeff Wilson,
5.378, 265.74. 

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Frank Manzo, Pontiac Firebird, 5.615, 257.87
def. Mick Snyder, Firebird, 5.666, 254.71. 

Competition Eliminator -- Jeff Taylor, Pontiac Grand Am, 9.086, 121.68
def. David Eaton, Bantam, foul. 

Super Stock -- Hugh Meeks III, Olds Achieva, 9.794, 138.22 def. Dan
Fletcher, Chevy Camaro, 9.888, 128.02. 

Stock Eliminator -- Peter Biondo, Chevy Camaro, 10.888, 115.79 def. Lee
Zane, Buick Apollo, 12.065, 99.33. 

Super Comp -- Shane Carr, Dragster, 8.883, 166.58 def. Gary Stinnett,
Dragster, 8.877, 171.36. 

Super Gas -- Henry Sliwinski, Chevy Corvette, 9.943, 156.37 def. Steve
Hoyt, Corvette, 9.895, 153.58. 

Super Street -- Dudley Gee, Ford Mustang, 10.880, 140.55 def. Allen
Sharp, Chevy S-15, 10.821, 128.52. 

 

JOLIET, Ill. -- Final round-by-round results from the Fifth annual
Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, the 20th of 23
events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

 

TOP FUEL: 

ROUND ONE -- Morgan Lucas, 4.540, 322.65 def. Melanie Troxel, 4.527,
326.63; Scott Kalitta, 4.541, 327.35 def. Larry Dixon, 4.578, 326.71;
Clay Millican, 4.606, 321.88 def. Rod Fuller, 4.750, 311.70; Tim
Cullinan, 4.669, 312.35 def. Cory McClenathan, 5.916, 180.65; Tony
Schumacher, 4.526, 328.46 def. Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.883, 298.01; Doug
Herbert, 4.581, 323.74 def. John Smith, 4.760, 284.93; David Grubnic,
4.557, 322.04 def. Doug Kalitta, 7.004, 119.77; Brandon Bernstein,
4.540, 328.22 def. Jack Beckman, 4.658, 315.27; 

QUARTERFINALS -- Herbert, 4.583, 324.44 def. Millican, 10.027, 72.89; S.
Kalitta, 4.617, 324.75 def. Cullinan, 10.196, 78.77; Bernstein, 4.507,
325.22 def. Grubnic, 4.568, 322.73; Schumacher, 4.508, 327.03 def.
Lucas, 9.399, 88.64; 

SEMIFINALS -- Herbert, 4.544, 317.57 def. S. Kalitta, foul; Schumacher,
4.510, 323.97 def. Bernstein, 7.716, 103.39;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 4.535, 328.94 def. Herbert, 9.877, 82.52. 

 

FUNNY CAR: 

ROUND ONE -- Del Worsham, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.830, 322.34 def. Tim
Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 12.475, 87.86; Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo,
5.067, 238.30 def. Frank Pedregon, Dodge Stratus, foul; Tony Pedregon,
Monte Carlo, 4.809, 322.50 def. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 7.210,
117.92; Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.832, 310.05 def. Gary Densham,
Monte Carlo, 4.855, 319.22; Gary Scelzi, Stratus, 4.773, 325.06 def.
Mike Ashley, Monte Carlo, 4.820, 325.45; John Force, Ford Mustang,
4.800, 317.42 def. Phil Burkart, Toyota Celica, 10.758, 84.28; Ron
Capps, Stratus, 4.751, 328.54 def. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.778, 327.27;
Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.811, 323.81 def. Whit Bazemore, Stratus, 4.962,
261.32; 

QUARTERFINALS -- T. Pedregon, 4.829, 318.32 def. Medlen, 4.807, 315.12;
Capps, 4.796, 324.20 def. C. Pedregon, 6.576, 148.67; Scelzi, 4.771,
328.22 def. Worsham, 4.833, 323.89; Force, 4.796, 326.79 def. Johnson
Jr., 4.852, 320.97; 

SEMIFINALS -- Capps, 4.784, 328.30 def. Force, 4.796, 326.95; T.
Pedregon, 4.770, 319.90 def. Scelzi, 4.772, 326.71;

FINAL -- Capps, 4.760, 327.82 def. T. Pedregon, 7.369, 138.50. 

 

PRO STOCK: 

ROUND ONE -- Warren Johnson, Pontiac GTO, 6.766, 204.54 def. Jim Yates,
GTO, 6.781, 203.61; Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.752, 204.45 def. Allen
Johnson, Dodge Stratus, 6.781, 202.76; Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.784,
203.19 def. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.778, 203.65; Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.783,
202.52 def. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.797, 203.03; Jason Line, GTO,
6.756, 204.88 def. Greg Stanfield, Chevy Cavalier, 6.815, 202.00; Larry
Morgan, Stratus, 6.764, 204.23 def. Jeg Coughlin, Stratus, 6.780,
203.46; Greg Anderson, GTO, 6.760, 203.83 def. Dave Howard, Cobalt,
foul; Erica Enders, Cobalt, 6.773, 204.11 def. Ron Krisher, Cobalt,
15.620, 52.47; 

QUARTERFINALS -- Enders, 6.790, 202.24 def. Edwards, 6.816, 201.67;
Line, 6.746, 204.85 def. K. Johnson, 6.760, 204.08; Connolly, 6.792,
202.12 def. Morgan, 6.781, 203.83; W. Johnson, 6.749, 204.48 def.
Anderson, 6.763, 203.28;

SEMIFINALS -- Enders, 6.931, 185.41 def. W. Johnson, foul; Line, 6.742,
205.32 def. Connolly, foul;

FINAL -- Line, 6.719, 205.88 def. Enders, foul. 

 

JOLIET, Ill. -- Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional
categories following the Fifth annual Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals
at Route 66 Raceway, the 20th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series - 

Top Fuel

1. Tony Schumacher, 1,630; 2. Larry Dixon, 1,425; 3. Doug Kalitta,
1,422; 4. David Grubnic, 1,232; 5. Morgan Lucas, 1,192; 6. Brandon
Bernstein, 1,182; 7. Doug Herbert, 1,149; 8. Scott Kalitta, 1,007; 9.
Cory McClenathan, 999; 10. Scott Weis, 686.

Funny Car

1. Gary Scelzi, 1,326; 2. John Force, 1,283; 3. Ron Capps, 1,281; 4.
Robert Hight, 1,256; 5. Eric Medlen, 1,226; 6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 1,135;
7. Whit Bazemore, 1,075; 8. Tony Pedregon, 1,054; 9. Del Worsham, 1,032;
10. Cruz Pedregon, 931.

Pro Stock

1. Greg Anderson, 1,633; 2. Kurt Johnson, 1,451; 3. Warren Johnson,
1,372; 4. Jason Line, 1,369; 5. Dave Connolly, 1,199; 6. Greg Stanfield,
963; 7. Richie Stevens, 940; 8. Ron Krisher, 939; 9. Jeg Coughlin, 904;
10. Jim Yates, 900.