NHRA NEWS: Pontiac Performance Nationals Friday night

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT: Michael Padian at 626-278-0312 or Lachelle Seymour at
626-253-6337

 

SCHUMACHER TOPS AMONG RECORD-SETTING PROVISIONAL NO. 1 QUALIFIERS

Hight in Funny Car, Connolly in Pro Stock and Hines in Pro Stock
Motorcycle also top respective qualifying fields

 

HEBRON, Ohio (May 19) -- Back-to-back Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher
posted a 4.476-second pass at 331.53 mph Friday night to highlight a
record-setting opening day of Pro qualifying at the 42nd annual Pontiac
Performance NHRA Nationals presented by Summit Racing. 

 

Seven of eight National Trail Raceway records fell by the wayside in the
opening two sessions of the $1.5 million race, the eighth of 23 events
on the NHRA POWERade Series circuit.

 

The track record elapsed times of Funny Car's Robert Hight (4.715), Pro
Stock's Dave Connolly (6.693), and Pro Stock Motorcycle's Andrew Hines
(7.038) placed them atop their respective fields, although they had to
share the spotlight with Gary Scelzi (329.58 mph), Jason Line (206.16),
and Chip Ellis (193.46), who all set NTR speed records under nearly
ideal conditions.

 

Schumacher's run was a true crowd-pleaser as the U.S. Army rail lit up
the night sky with a perfect header flame pattern all the way down the
track. When his E.T. and speed hit the scoreboard, the capacity crowd
erupted.

 

"I didn't think that run would be as good as it was but we'll certainly
take it given how we've been struggling lately," Schumacher said. "The
key will be to put together two runs tomorrow so we have a good feeling
going into race day."

 

Hight went from zero to hero in 4.715 seconds Friday evening with a
track-record pass that lifted him from last place on the qualifying
sheet to the provisional No. 1 qualifier slot. The Auto Club of Southern
California Ford Mustang driver has been the top qualifier once this year
and seven times in his career.

 

"I didn't think that time would stand, especially since we were the
first pair up there in that round," Hight said. "There were a lot of
cars that had run quick in the first round and I figured they'd really
be stepping on it tonight. I didn't even think we'd be top four, to be
honest, but here we are."

 

Reigning POWERade Series champion Scelzi continues his resurgence with a
fast 4.749 at 329.58 mph in his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger.

 

Connolly remains the man to beat in Pro Stock. Coming off his win in
Atlanta, the pride of Elyria, Ohio, thrilled the locals by leading both
Day 1 sessions. His second pass of 6.693 seconds at 205.94 mph in the
Tommy Utt-tuned Skull Gear Chevy Cobalt set a track elapsed time record.

 

"He's like Superman right now," Connolly said of Utt. "Everything he's
doing is working. We made an absolutely beautiful pass just now. We made
the right run at the right time, and it's great to do it here with all
our friends and family here cheering us on."

 

Top-10 runners Erica Enders and Kurt Johnson failed to make the field
Friday. They'll pray for dry weather along with five others as they wait
for Saturday's final two sessions.

 

Hines ran a track-record 7.038 at 189.07 mph on his Screamin' Eagle
Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson V-Rod in Round 2 to easily pace the
two-wheel set by more than three hundredths of a second.

 

"That's the best run a V-Rod has made in a long time," Hines said.
"We're trying very hard to go out there and run with the top bikes.
We've had to work on improving our 60-foot times. The competition has
forced us to change what we were doing. I'm not ready to say we're where
we need to be but it's getting better, that's for sure."

 

Ellis opened with a 7.069 at 193.46 mph, a National Trail speed mark,
but couldn't improve in the cooler evening session, so his S&S Buell
V-Twin dropped one spot from first to second.

 

Saturday's final two time trials are scheduled for 12 and 2:30 p.m.

 

 

 

AGATE  ***  AGATE  ***  AGATE  ***  AGATE  ***  AGEATE

 

 

HEBRON, Ohio -- Results Friday after qualifying for the 42nd 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. Tony Schumacher, 4.476 seconds, 331.53 mph; 2. Bob
Vandergriff, 4.513, 323.89; 3. Cory McClenathan, 4.523, 329.50; 4.
Melanie Troxel, 4.529, 303.03; 5. Larry Dixon, 4.531, 324.28; 6. David
Baca, 4.542, 327.27; 7. Rod Fuller, 4.558, 326.00; 8. David Grubnic,
4.558, 321.96; 9. Brandon Bernstein, 4.566, 326.08; 10. Scott Palmer,
4.780, 294.88; 11. Doug Herbert, 4.819, 298.67; 12. Luigi Novelli,
5.054, 306.33; 13. J.R. Todd, 5.097, 201.40; 14. Doug Kalitta, 8.559,
98.07; 15. Morgan Lucas, 9.733, 84.77; 16. Hillary Will, 10.370, 75.58. 

Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.715, 326.63; 2. John
Force, Mustang, 4.720, 326.79; 3. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo,
4.728, 323.58; 4. Whit Bazemore, Dodge Charger, 4.741, 327.11; 5. Cruz
Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.744, 326.56; 6. Gary Scelzi, Charger, 4.749,
329.58; 7.

Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.752, 325.92; 8. Ron Capps, Charger,
4.759, 322.96; 9. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.765, 317.72; 10. Jim Head,
Dodge Stratus, 4.777, 320.05; 11. Scott Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 4.797,
316.67; 12. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.799, 319.07; 13. Tim Wilkerson,
Monte Carlo, 4.832, 318.69; 14. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.832,
312.13; 15. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 4.840, 320.89; 16. Phil Burkart,
Monte Carlo, 4.850, 314.90. 

Pro Stock -- 1. Dave Connolly, Chevy Cobalt, 6.693, 205.94; 2. Jason
Line, Pontiac GTO, 6.701, 206.16; 3. Greg Anderson, GTO, 6.701, 205.60;
4. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.704, 205.85; 5. V.

Gaines, Dodge Stratus, 6.717, 205.76; 6. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.717,
205.01; 7. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.719, 204.73; 8. Mike Edwards, GTO,
6.720, 205.82; 9. Dave Howard, Cobalt, 6.722, 206.13; 10. Warren
Johnson, GTO, 6.726, 205.76; 11. Rickie Smith, GTO, 6.731, 205.04; 12.
Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.740, 205.41; 13. Dave Northrop, Stratus,
6.742, 203.80; 14. Mike Thomas, Stratus, 6.743, 205.04; 15. Larry
Morgan, Stratus, 6.743, 204.76; 16. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 6.744, 204.70. 

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.038, 189.07;
2. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.069, 193.46; 3. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.071,
188.02; 4. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.072, 185.95; 5. Matt Smith, Buell,
7.073, 189.79; 6. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.075, 189.20; 7. GT Tonglet,
Harley-Davidson, 7.084, 188.04; 8. Marco Andreano, Buell, 7.085, 185.54;
9. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.126, 187.31; 10. Antron Brown, Suzuki,
7.127, 184.95; 11. Tom Bradford, Buell, 7.148, 192.58; 12. Ryan Schnitz,
Buell, 7.149, 180.02; 13. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.152, 182.11; 14. Steve
Johnson, Suzuki, 7.162, 186.12; 15. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.172,
185.69; 16. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.184, 186.98.