NHRA NEWS: POWERADE SERIES RESULTS FRIDAY FROM SEATTLE

BURKART, FULLER AND LINE TAKE QUALIFYING LEAD AT SCHUCK'S AUTO SUPPLY
NHRA NATIONALS

KENT, Wash. -- Phil Burkart Jr. raced to the qualifying lead Friday with
a 4.898 second pass at 316.75 mph, which earned him the provisional
Funny Car lead at the 19th annual Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals
presented by Lucas Oil at Pacific Raceways. 

Burkart was joined by Top Fuel driver Rod Fuller and Pro Stock points
leader Jason Line as qualifying leaders at the $1.4 million race, the
14th of 23 on the POWERade Drag Racing Series. Two qualifying sessions
remain Saturday for Sunday's 11 a.m. eliminations.

Thirteen-time Funny Car champion John Force continues to track down
points leader Ron Capps with a No. 2 qualifying effort. His 4.903 at
316.52 mph in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang placed him just behind
Burkart's event sponsor favorite Checker Schuck's Kragen Chevy Monte
Carlo and seven spots ahead of Capps' 4.968 in his Brut Dodge Charger.

If Burkart can hang on to the position, it would be his first career No.
1 qualifying position.

"This is awesome," Burkart said. "My PR guy, Bob Wilber, just came over
and said, 'Come on, we gotta go.' I was like, 'OK, where are we going?'
I've never been No. 1 before, even on Friday night. I didn't know I had
to [talk to the media.] This is cool.

"I feel like this has been coming for a long time with this team. Maybe
this will kick it off for us and we'll be the breakthrough team of the
second half of the season."

When Fuller made his 4.578-second, 322.19-mph run in his Valvoline/David
Powers Homes Top Fuel dragster it was considerably quicker than anyone
else in the class had posted to that point, bringing big smiles from
crew chief Lee Beard and team owner David Powers. Brandon Bernstein
later drew close with a 4.599 at 319.75 mph in his Budweiser/Lucas Oil
dragster, but Fuller's E.T. kept him on top.

"The sun went down for us and Lee dove into the [timing] box a few times
before we ran," Fuller said. "He had that look in his eye like he was
going for it. What a place for this to happen for me because the last
year I ran as a Sportsman, I ran Division 6, so this was my area and so
many of my buddies have stopped by today to say hi."

New Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta drove to third place overall
with a 4.656 at 324.28 mph in his Mac Tools dragster. Former points
leader Melanie Troxel is 12th with a 4.748 in her Skull Shine/Torco Race
Fuels dragster. 

Line's Summit Racing Pontiac GTO remains the quickest car in Pro Stock
as he posted a 6.690 at 206.80 mph to earn provisional low qualifier
honors by .036 seconds through two rounds of time trials. Line, who
moved into the series lead last weekend at Denver, already has a
career-high three No. 1 qualifiers this year.

"That felt really good in the car and I guess the scoreboard agreed,"
Line said. "It was pretty stout. I'm usually over optimistic before each
run as far as what the number's gonna be but to go 6.690, almost a
6.68-something, is pretty good. I'd say we got all of it out of that
run."

* * * 

KENT, Wash. -- Results Friday after qualifying for the 19th annual
Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at Pacific
Raceways, 14th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series.  Qualifying continues Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.

Top Fuel -- 1. Rod Fuller, 4.578 seconds, 322.19 mph; 2. Brandon
Bernstein, 4.599, 319.75; 3. Doug Kalitta, 4.656, 324.20; 4. Bob
Vandergriff, 4.660, 316.38; 5. David Baca, 4.670, 300.26; 6. Tony
Schumacher, 4.694, 310.48; 7. Cory McClenathan, 4.714, 310.63; 8. Larry
Dixon, 4.720, 318.02; 9. Hillary Will, 4.722, 315.19; 10. J.R. Todd,
4.733, 302.69; 11. Morgan Lucas, 4.738, 310.13; 12. Melanie Troxel,
4.748, 319.67; 13. Mike Strasburg, 4.791, 299.20; 14. David Grubnic,
4.815, 305.70; 15. Alan Bradshaw, 4.827, 311.49; 16. Doug Herbert,
8.049, 146.15. 

Funny Car -- 1. Phil Burkart, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.898, 316.75; 2. John
Force, Ford Mustang, 4.903, 316.52; 3. Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.903,
310.84; 4. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.929, 310.27; 5. Gary Densham,
Monte Carlo, 4.934, 310.77; 6. Gary Scelzi, Dodge Charger, 4.945,
309.20; 7. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.947, 311.63; 8. Whit
Bazemore, Charger, 4.953, 309.13; 9. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.968, 310.48;
10. Scott Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 4.988, 304.39; 11. Del Worsham, Monte
Carlo, 5.003, 308.85; 12. Mike Ashley, Dodge Stratus, 5.030, 309.42; 13.
Bob Gilbertson, Stratus, 5.128, 290.32; 14. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo,
5.303, 231.87; 15. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 5.347, 206.07; 16. Robert
Hight, Mustang, 5.763, 176.24. 

Pro Stock -- 1. Jason Line, Pontiac GTO, 6.690, 206.80; 2. V. Gaines,
Dodge Stratus, 6.726, 205.32; 3. Dave Connolly, Chevy Cobalt, 6.728,
206.07; 4. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.732, 205.98; 5. Greg Anderson, GTO,
6.735, 206.51; 6. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 6.741, 204.91; 7. Kurt Johnson,
Cobalt, 6.744, 205.13; 8. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.751, 204.60; 9. Jim
Yates, GTO, 6.760, 205.22; 10. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.760, 204.63; 11.
Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.761, 204.60; 12. Tom Martino, GTO, 6.768,
204.98; 13. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.769, 204.88; 14. Max Naylor, Stratus,
6.769, 204.17; 15. Mark Pawuk, GTO, 6.776, 203.98; 16. Erica Enders,
Stratus, 6.776, 203.37.