CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals Post Race Notes

NHRA POWERADE SERIES POST RACE NOTES:

Ninth annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals

June 8-11, Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, Ill.

 


TOP FUEL


*    Doug Kalitta continued his hot streak with his fourth event win in
five races. He drove his Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster to a 4.503-second
finish at 330.23 mph over Melanie Troxel, whose Skull Shine/Torco Race
Fuels dragster broke near the starting line. Troxel coasted to the top
end at 10.273 at 82.18.

*        Kalitta is now just 71 points behind Troxel, the POWERade
points leader.

*        After qualifying No. 1, defending category world champion Tony
Schumacher's Sunday eliminations jinx continued with a first-round loss
to No. 16-seed Alan Bradshaw. Schumacher's U.S. Army dragster struggled
at the top end of the track - but Bradshaw's advantage started at the
starting line, where he got a quicker jump at the Christmas tree.

*        Schumacher has qualified No. 1 at six events this year, but has
yet to win an event in  2006. He advanced to the semifinals in Phoenix
and Bristol.

*        Alan Bradshaw earned his second career round win in the first
round of eliminations - against No. 1 qualifier and defending world
champion Tony Schumacher. Bradshaw's only other round win was also
against Schumacher, Chicago's hometown hero.

*        Schumacher earned the Budweiser Shootout award, while his U.S.
Army crew's top performance earned the Full Throttle Pit Crew
Championship award for this event.


 


FUNNY CAR


*         John Force earned his 120th career win - but it wasn't a
smooth ride. Force and teammate Robert Hight, Force's son-in-law, were
neck-and-neck when both Mustangs experienced mechanical issues and
slowed to cross the finish line. Force clocked a 4.930 at 233.60 in his
Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, while Hight drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang
to a 4.890 at 244.56.

*        Tommy Johnson Jr., who earned his first No. 1 qualifier since
Pomona 2001 when he drove his Skoal Chevrolet Monte Carlo to a 4.672 at
328.70, exited in the second round to defending category POWERade world
champion Gary Scelzi. POWERade points leader Ron Capps, who made the cut
for the event in the final qualifying round, advanced to the second
round, where he was defeated by Hight. 

*        Johnson earned the Skoal Showdown award.

*        Eric Medlen earned the Motel 6 "Who Got the Light" award when
he defeated Del Worsham by a .0007-second margin of victory in the first
round of Top Fuel eliminations.

*        Medlen's crew earned the Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship
award for this event.

 


PRO STOCK


*        Kurt Johnson drove his AC Delco Chevy Cobalt to his second win
of the season on a holeshot in 6.646 at 207.46. Defending category
POWERade world champion Greg Anderson narrowly missed his chance to
double-up on award money when he finished second in his Summit Racing
Equipment Pontiac GTO (6.641, 208.10).

*        Anderson captured the King Demon Crown title in his Summit
Racing Pontiac GTO, earning $50,000 in the race-within-a-race bonus
event for the category's top drivers, when he defeated his teammate
Jason Line, who earned $10,000 for the runner-up finish.

*        No. 1 qualifier Richie Stevens Jr. reached the semifinals,
where he was defeated by the eventual runner-up.


 


PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE


*         Ryan Schnitz drove his Trim-Tex Drywall Products Buell V-Twin
to the fourth win of his young career when he defeated surprise finalist
Matt Guidera with a 7.064 pass at 182.03.  It was Guidera's first career
appearance in the final round.

*         Chip Ellis became only the second rider in NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle history when he rode his Drag Specialties Buell to a
6.988-second run at 189.26 mph during the third round of qualifying.
Defending category world champion Andrew Hines was first to join the
elite Mickey Thompson 6-second Pro Stock Bike Club when he powered his
Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 6.991 in Ganesville
of 2005. Ellis earned $3,000 for the pass.

*         Ellis advanced to the semifinals, where Guidera beat him on a
holeshot.

 


POWERADE FAN NATIONALS


*        Matt Sackman, 13, of Channahon, Ill., defeated hundreds of fan
participants to become the local POWERade Fan Nationals Event Champion
for the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. Sackman, a driver in the
O'Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Dragster League, will travel to Auto Club
Raceway at Pomona to compete for the ultimate 2006 POWERade Fan
Nationals title in November.


 


 


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