NHRA News: Friday Qualifying Results from Sonoma, Calif.

BROWN JOINS SIX-SECOND CLUB, SCHUMACHER, HIGHT AND GAINES SET TRACK
RECORDS AT SONOMA
 
SONOMA, Calif. -- Antron Brown became the third Pro Stock Motorcycle
rider in drag racing history to post a six-second run Friday when he
traversed Infineon Raceway in 6.983 seconds during the first round of
qualifying at the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals.

Ironically, Brown's historic run was not one of the four Infineon
Raceway records set in the first two rounds of time trials. Top Fuel
leader Tony Schumacher, second-year Funny Car racer Robert Hight, and
Pro Stock veteran V. Gaines all set elapsed time records in their
classes, while Greg Anderson added a speed record in Pro Stock.

Brown's 6.983-second pass at 191.51 mph on his U.S. Army Suzuki was
remarkable, but the track record remains with point leader Andrew Hines,
who posted a 6.968 at last year's race. Nevertheless, Brown is the third
member of the NHRA Mickey Thompson 6-Second Pro Stock Bike Club and will
receive a $2,000 bonus from the tire maker for his effort.

"The six-second deal is very huge," Brown said. "It feels awesome to do
it and to be the first Suzuki to do it in competition. We've done it a
bunch in testing but we'd come and stub our toe and run like a 7.01 or a
7.02 at the races. Credit my crew chief Steve Tartaglia."

Hines almost reached into the sixes himself but came up one-thousandth
of a second short when he tripped the timers in 7.000 seconds at 192.69
mph on his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson V-Rod.

After Schumacher opened with a 4.543 at 328.94 mph, which was still No.
1 when he arrived at the starting line in the last pairing of the day,
anticipation was high that the U.S. Army driver would set another
record. He didn't disappoint as his Alan Johnson-tuned Top Fuel dragster
passed the scoreboards in 4.486 seconds at 326.48 mph, the quickest pass
in track history.

"At 1,000 feet that rev limiter hits and you just get out of the car at
the other end and think, 'man, what would it have run?'" Schumacher
said. "That was a cool pass but the one that impressed me was the 4.54
earlier today that was a tenth of a second quicker than everyone else.
That's the lap that will help us win the race Sunday. Tonight was just a
whoo-wee run."

Brandon Bernstein, driver of the Budweiser Top Fuel dragster, was well
back in second with a 4.557 at 327.79 mph. Denver winner and Rookie of
the Year candidate J.R. Todd continues to run well, qualifying third
with a 4.586 at 321.19 mph in the Skull Shine rail.

Running a special Rookie-of-the-Year paint scheme on his Auto Club Ford
Mustang, sophomore pro Hight put a huge gap on the field with a
track-record 4.738 at 325.30 mph. Hight was born and raised in Alturas,
Calif., near the Oregon border and considers Infineon his home track. 

"That was pretty exciting," said Hight, who has been low qualifier five
times this year. "The joke is that if you qualify No. 1 you should just
drive past the scales and have the run thrown out because there hasn't
been any No. 1 qualifiers that have won a race this year. But we don't
feel that way at all."

Hight's father-in-law and boss, John Force, is not qualified.

Gaines' Dodge Stratus R/T was the quickest of both sessions with his
6.651 at 206.86 mph setting an Infineon Raceway elapsed time record. The
pass also marked a career-best E.T. for the Lakewood, Colo., driver.

"We've had a great car, what I would call a No. 1 or No. 2 car, for the
last six or seven races but we've had little things wrong with the
set-up and just missed it," Gaines said. "We've aspired to be the No. 1
qualifier for a number of years and it would certainly be a great thrill
if we can hold on through tomorrow."

Points leader Jason Line is second with a 6.656 at 207.02 mph in his
Pontiac GTO.

****

SONOMA, Calif. -- Results Friday after qualifying for the 19th annual
FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, 15th 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, 4.486 seconds, 328.94 mph; 2.
Brandon Bernstein, 4.557, 327.74; 3. J.R. Todd, 4.586, 321.19; 4. David
Grubnic, 4.593, 324.20; 5. Morgan Lucas, 4.605, 304.87; 6. Bob
Vandergriff, 4.607, 321.12; 7. Hillary Will, 4.626, 320.81; 8. Alan
Bradshaw, 4.632, 319.52; 9. Melanie Troxel, 4.640, 322.65; 10. David
Baca, 4.642, 285.53; 11. Doug Kalitta, 4.665, 306.12; 12. Doug Herbert,
4.695, 305.84; 13. Cory McClenathan, 4.702, 325.14; 14. Larry Dixon,
4.733, 319.60; 15. Steven Chrisman, 5.259, 201.25; 16. Mike Strasburg,
9.482, 94.39. 

 
        Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.738, 325.30; 2.
Del Worsham, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.803, 323.89; 3. Eric Medlen, Mustang,
4.804, 319.37; 4. Scott Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 4.806, 319.14; 5. Tony
Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.816, 319.75; 6. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo,
4.825, 319.14; 7. Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.833, 313.51; 8. Ron
Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.851, 314.17; 9. Mike Ashley, Dodge Stratus,
4.851, 314.09; 10. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.857, 314.31; 11.
Gary Scelzi, Charger, 4.865, 317.64; 12. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo,
4.922, 304.39; 13. Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.952, 290.19; 14. Whit
Bazemore, Charger, 4.966, 265.59; 15. Bob Gilbertson, Stratus, 4.975,
301.33; 16. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.987, 314.39. 

 
        Pro Stock -- 1. V. Gaines, Dodge Stratus, 6.651, 206.92; 2.
Jason Line, Pontiac GTO, 6.656, 207.02; 3. Greg Anderson, GTO, 6.657,
207.24; 4. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 6.666, 206.51; 5. Kurt Johnson, Chevy
Cobalt, 6.669, 206.80; 6. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.670, 206.16; 7. Tom
Martino, GTO, 6.678, 206.86; 8. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.679, 205.72; 9. Mike
Edwards, GTO, 6.680, 206.32; 10.
Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.688, 206.10; 11. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.692,
206.42; 12. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.692, 205.76; 13. Mark Pawuk, GTO,
6.708, 205.41; 14. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.709, 206.64; 15. Mike Thomas,
Stratus, 6.714, 205.04; 16. Max Naylor, Stratus, 6.715, 205.29. 

 
        Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 6.983, 191.51;
2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.000, 192.69; 3. Chip Ellis, Buell,
7.013, 189.84; 4. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 7.024, 190.54; 5. Tom
Bradford, Buell, 7.038, 191.13; 6. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.042, 191.65; 7.
Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.044, 190.57; 8. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.061,
189.39; 9. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.079, 189.26; 10. Karen Stoffer,
Suzuki, 7.082, 189.98; 11. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.104, 189.82;
12. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.114, 188.20; 13. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.119,
185.28; 14. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.144, 187.47; 15. Michael Phillips,
Suzuki, 7.204, 189.39; 16. Mike Berry, Suzuki, 7.220, 185.84.