NHRA NEWS: SATURDAY QUALIFYING FROM DENVER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: NHRA Communications, (626) 914-4761

 

LINE CLAIMS PRO STOCK POWERade POINTS LEAD;

KALITTA KEEPS CLOSING GAP ON TROXEL

 

MORRISON, Colo. - Former Rookie of the Year Jason Line assumed the NHRA
POWERade Pro Stock points lead with a double-track-record pass of 7.062
seconds at 195.65 mph Saturday at Bandimere Speedway.

Line's stunning run under record high temperatures of 101 degrees placed
him alongside fellow low qualifiers Doug Kalitta, Gary Densham, and Chip
Ellis, who will lead their respective categories into final eliminations
at the $1.5 million Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. Eliminations begin
at noon.

By virtue of his higher qualifying effort, Line takes the POWERade
points lead from his boss and Summit Racing Pontiac GTO teammate Greg
Anderson by two points. Anderson qualified fifth with a 7.094 at 194.60.

"This is the first time in my career that I've been in the points lead
so it's pretty cool, even if it only lasts for one night," Line said.
"We'll have to see what happens tomorrow. It's still a lot of fun for
both of us.

"That was the best run of the year, at least for us. I knew it was good
and when I got around the corner Dave Connolly was shaking his head at
me and he held up the No. 1. I thought he meant low for the session but
when I heard I was No. 1 qualifier I was stunned. That was phenomenal."

Kalitta nibbled another six points off Melanie Troxel's quickly
vanishing lead by qualifying on top of the Top Fuel ladder with a 4.631
at 319.60 mph in his Mac Tools rail. Troxel, the season-long point
leader, qualified 12th with a best of 4.785 at 312.42 in her Skull
Shine/Torco Race Fuels dragster. She now leads Kalitta by just 18
points, or less than one round of action.

"The track's pretty tricky, so it could go either way tomorrow," Kalitta
said. "It's definitely easier being the driver than the tuner at this
event, I can tell you that. The first round will be tough. I hope like
heck we have the tune-up. 

"The guys are up for the championship run. We think we can get it done.
We're within a round of the lead now and [crew chief Rahn] Tobler's won
championships before so he knows how to get it done. It should be fun."

Densham skipped the last qualifying session to save parts but his
Racebricks Chevy team managed to survive the final assault and award the
59-year-old Densham his ninth career low qualifier award and his first
as an independent team owner. 

"Competing against the teams we see out here each week, to end up as the
No. 1 qualifier is a real thrill for me," Densham said. "Those darn Team
Force cars are usually the ones taking these low qualifier deals so to
steal one away from them is fun. Plus, I can really use the money."

Defending series champion Gary Scelzi, who is quietly sneaking back into
this year's championship picture, zoomed to second place in the final
session with a 4.896 at 310.20 in the Oakley/Mopar Dodge Charger. 

An intriguing first-round match-up between archrivals Whit Bazemore and
John Force developed in the last round shuffling. Bazemore's Matco Tools
Charger will have lane choice over Force's Castrol GTX Ford Mustang by
virtue of his quicker E.T., 4.952 to 4.984.

The heat didn't bother Pro Stock Motorcycle leader Ellis at all as he
got quicker in each of Saturday's two runs. After posting a 7.383 Friday
night, he dipped to a 7.348 Saturday morning and then a 7.332 Saturday
afternoon for his fourth low qualifier award of the year. 

"This Drag Specialties Buell has been running really, really well,"
Ellis said. "If we can go into tomorrow and just duplicate what we did
today and yesterday, I like our chances. I don't want to toot my own
horn but I'm driving good also. This motorcycle is just perfect for me
and it's so easy to ride. I don't know what it is, but I like it."

Points leader Angelle Sampey was third with a 7.427 on the U.S. Army
Suzuki. Defending POWERade champion Andrew Hines dropped to ninth with a
best of 7.450 on his Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod.

 
MORRISON, Colo. -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations
Sunday for the 27th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere
Speedway, the 13th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended
Saturday.

Top Fuel -- 1. Doug Kalitta, 4.631 seconds, 319.60 mph vs. 16. Scott
Palmer, 5.563, 176.47; 2. J.R. Todd, 4.638, 316.45 vs. 15. Cory
McClenathan, 5.140, 302.28; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 4.640, 324.28 vs. 14.
Mike Strasburg, 4.902, 254.38; 4. Tony Schumacher, 4.642, 321.96 vs. 13.

Morgan Lucas, 4.854, 288.15; 5. David Grubnic, 4.643, 327.82 vs. 12.
Melanie Troxel, 4.785, 312.42; 6. Larry Dixon, 4.654, 314.90 vs. 11.
Doug Herbert, 4.739, 305.29; 7. Hillary Will, 4.662,

318.69 vs. 10. Bob Vandergriff, 4.704, 311.41; 8. Rod Fuller, 4.673,
316.60 vs. 9. David Baca, 4.703, 308.71. 

Funny Car -- 1. Gary Densham, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.893, 292.20 vs. 16.
Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 5.177, 286.32; 2. Gary Scelzi, Dodge
Charger, 4.896, 310.20 vs. 15. Scott Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 5.172,
274.50; 3. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.907, 307.37 vs. 14. Mike
Ashley, Dodge Stratus, 5.138, 299.80; 4. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang,
4.916, 311.41 vs. 13. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 5.118, 293.15; 5. Ron
Capps, Charger, 4.941, 307.37 vs. 12. Bob Gilbertson, Stratus, 5.107,
298.14; 6. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.952, 313.37 vs. 11. Eric Medlen,
Mustang, 5.019, 309.42; 7. Whit Bazemore, Charger, 4.952, 311.70 vs. 10.
John Force, Mustang, 4.984, 314.31; 8.

Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.956, 309.91 vs. 9. Del Worsham, Monte
Carlo, 4.983, 317.64. 

Pro Stock -- 1. Jason Line, Pontiac GTO, 7.062, 195.65 vs. 16. Mike
Thomas, Dodge Stratus, 7.147, 192.85; 2. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 7.064,
194.60 vs. 15. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 7.143, 193.77; 3. Dave Connolly,
Chevy Cobalt, 7.079, 194.88 vs. 14. Max Naylor, Stratus, 7.140, 193.82;
4. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 7.082, 194.13 vs. 13. Erica Enders, Stratus,
7.127, 193.05; 5. Greg Anderson, GTO, 7.094, 195.14 vs. 12. Tom Lee,
Cobalt, 7.116, 194.60; 6. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 7.098, 194.77 vs. 11. V.
Gaines, Stratus, 7.113, 194.21; 7. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 7.100, 194.49
vs. 10. Jim Yates, GTO, 7.108, 193.63; 8. Mike Edwards, GTO, 7.104,
194.30 vs. 9. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 7.105, 193.74. 

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.332, 180.26 vs. 16.
Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.521, 178.47; 2. Tom Bradford, Buell, 7.399,
180.55 vs. 15. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.507, 177.65; 3. Angelle
Sampey, Suzuki, 7.427, 179.14 vs. 14. Marco Andreano, Buell, 7.507,
177.46; 4.

Matt Smith, Buell, 7.429, 177.53 vs. 13. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.500,
178.28; 5. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.435, 179.80 vs. 12. GT Tonglet,
Harley-Davidson, 7.474, 179.64; 6. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.436, 180.60
vs. 11. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.472, 179.61; 7. Shawn Gann, Suzuki,
7.448, 180.26 vs. 10. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.467, 178.85; 8. Karen
Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.449, 180.69 vs. 9. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson,
7.450, 180.21.