NHRA NEWS: Pontiac Performance Nationals Final Qualifying
Story
VETERAN PRO STOCKER ALLEN JOHNSON EARNS FIRST NO. 1 QUALIFIER
Schumacher, Hight and Chip Ellis round out top performers at Pontiac
Performance Nationals
HEBRON, Ohio -- Pro Stock veteran Allen Johnson used a personal-best
pass of 6.679 seconds at the 42nd annual Pontiac Performance NHRA
Nationals presented by Summit Racing to earn the first No. 1 qualifier
of his career. The race is the eighth of 23 on the $50 million POWERade
Drag Racing Series.
Johnson was joined at the top of the respective qualifying ladders by
Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), and Chip Ellis
(Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Racing in his 11th season as a professional, Johnson had never qualified
No. 1 before Saturday. All that changed when he posted a 6.679 at 205.82
mph in his Johnson & Johnson/Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T in the final
qualifying session.
"That's probably the best run we've ever made in our team's history,"
Johnson said. "We've come close to being No. 1 qualifier three different
times but never got it done. It's nice to finally get one."
Schumacher (4.476 at 331.53 mph) and Hight (4.715 at 326.63 mph) didn't
improve on their opening day runs and received no real challenges in
Saturday's sunshine. Ellis was another story, coming from mid-pack to
earn the top spot with a track-record 7.025-second pass on his Buell
V-Twin.
This was Schumacher's fifth low qualifier award of the season but the
back-to-back reigning champion is still looking for his first win of the
year for the U.S. Army team.
"This is a good veteran team," Schumacher said. "These guys won't get
rushed. We all know the clock is ticking but we're not going to panic
with only a third of the season gone. With other teams, maybe they would
worry. But we have Alan Johnson and everyone knows he's capable of
turning it on big time."
Schumacher's teammate, points leader Melanie Troxel, ended up fifth with
a 4.529 in the Skull Shine/Torco Race Fuels dragster.
Hight was No. 1 earlier this year in Las Vegas but it didn't pay off as
he lost in the opening round on race day to the same opponent he'll face
again this time around, Tony Bartone. He's hoping his eighth career low
qualifier will turn out better for his Auto Club of Southern California
Ford Mustang team.
"The last time I was No. 1 we raced Tony Bartone in Round 1 and he beat
us," Hight said. "We got him again tomorrow so I guess we owe him one.
You never forget those tough first-round losses and I'm sure I'll be
thinking about it all night tonight."
Ellis grabbed the NTR speed record Friday with a 193.46 mph clocking.
Saturday, he added the more important elapsed time mark Saturday when
clocked a 7.025 to place his Drag Specialties S&S Buell V-Twin on top of
the Pro Stock Motorcycle field for the first time this season.
"I was surprised with that 7.02 just because there was a pretty strong
headwind and that usually slows the bikes down quite a bit," Ellis said.
"I just got into my tuck and tried to get as small as possible. I was
pretty excited when I heard what I had run."
Sunday's eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
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A G A T E
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HEBRON, Ohio -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations
Sunday for the 42nd annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals presented
by Summit Racing at National Trail Raceway, the eighth 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, 4.476 seconds, 331.53 mph vs.
16. Scott Weis, 4.662, 318.24; 2. Bob Vandergriff, 4.513, 323.89 vs.
15. Luigi Novelli, 4.646, 318.54; 3. Rod Fuller, 4.516, 326.00 vs. 14.
Hillary Will, 4.624, 317.87; 4. Cory McClenathan, 4.523, 329.50 vs. 13.
Doug Herbert, 4.617, 316.30; 5. Melanie Troxel, 4.529, 303.03 vs. 12.
Morgan Lucas, 4.610, 299.53; 6. Larry Dixon, 4.531, 326.95 vs. 11. Doug
Kalitta, 4.590, 329.67; 7. David Baca, 4.542, 327.27 vs. 10. Brandon
Bernstein, 4.566, 326.08; 8. J.R. Todd, 4.557, 311.49 vs. 9. David
Grubnic, 4.558, 321.96.
Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.715, 326.63 vs.
16. Tony Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.840, 320.89; 2. John Force,
Mustang, 4.720, 326.79 vs. 15. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.832,
312.13; 3. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.728, 323.58 vs. 14. Tim
Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.832, 318.69; 4. Whit Bazemore, Dodge Charger,
4.741, 327.11 vs. 13. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 4.806, 318.77; 5.
Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.744, 326.56 vs. 12. Del Worsham, Monte
Carlo, 4.799, 319.07; 6. Gary Scelzi, Stratus, 4.749, 329.58 vs. 11.
Scott Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 4.797, 319.14; 7. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte
Carlo, 4.752, 325.92 vs. 10. Jim Head, Stratus, 4.777, 320.05; 8. Eric
Medlen, Mustang, 4.756, 317.72 vs. 9. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.759,
322.96.
Pro Stock -- 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Stratus, 6.679, 205.82 vs.
16. Greg Stanfield, Pontiac GTO, 6.722, 205.29; 2. Jim Yates, GTO,
6.680, 205.85 vs. 15. Dave Howard, Chevy Cobalt, 6.722, 206.13; 3.
Jason Line, GTO, 6.688, 206.61 vs. 14. Dave Northrop, Stratus, 6.718,
205.44; 4. Erica Enders, Cobalt, 6.689, 205.98 vs. 13. Ron Krisher,
Cobalt, 6.717, 205.19; 5. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.689, 206.26 vs. 12.
Rickie Smith, GTO, 6.712, 205.16; 6. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.693,
205.94 vs. 11. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.707, 206.39; 7. Larry Morgan,
Stratus, 6.693, 205.47 vs. 10. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.706, 206.04; 8.
Greg Anderson, GTO, 6.695, 205.60 vs. 9. Richie Stevens, Stratus,
6.696, 204.98.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.025, 193.46 vs.
16. Paul Gast, Suzuki, 7.154, 185.82; 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson,
7.038, 189.26 vs. 15. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.149, 181.91; 3. Matt
Smith, Buell, 7.059, 189.79 vs. 14. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.145, 186.98;
4. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.071, 191.32 vs. 13. Shawn Gann, Suzuki,
7.145, 188.99; 5. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.072, 186.64 vs. 12. Antron
Brown, Suzuki, 7.127, 185.03; 6. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.075, 189.20 vs.
11. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.126, 187.31; 7. GT Tonglet,
Harley-Davidson, 7.084, 188.04 vs.
10. Tom Bradford, Buell, 7.110, 192.58; 8. Marco Andreano, Buell, 7.085,
185.54 vs. 9. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.089, 186.69.
