NHRA NEWS: POWERADE SERIES RESULTS SATURDAY FROM LAS VEGAS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: NHRA Communications, (626) 695-6649

KALITTA RACES TO $100,000 BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT VICTORY AT ACDELCO LAS
VEGAS NHRA NATIONALS
Schumacher, Hight, Line and Gann are No. 1 qualifiers at The Strip at
LVMS

LAS VEGAS -- Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta raced to the $100,000
win in the Budweiser Shootout, highlighting Saturday's racing at the
ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. 

Kalitta held off Rod Fuller to claim his third victory in the Budweiser
Shootout, a special race-within-a-race bonus event for the category's
top eight qualifiers from the previous year.

Tony Schumacher, Robert Hight, Jason Line, and Shawn Gann earned No. 1
qualifying honors at the POWERade Drag Racing Series' penultimate event.
Schumacher (4.445 seconds in Top Fuel) and Hight (4.677 in Funny Car)
neared national record numbers en route to the low qualifier podium.
Line (6.704 in Pro Stock) and Gann (7.090 in Pro Stock Motorcycle)
settled for Las Vegas Motor Speedway records.

In the Shootout final, Kalitta and Fuller's cars were side-by-side all
the way down the track until Fuller's David Powers Homes/Valvoline
dragster lost its blower belt just past the 1,000-foot timer and slowed
suddenly. Kalitta's Mac Tools/Von Dutch machine kept charging.

"That ride back down the return road on the Budweiser Clydesdales is
pretty special," Kalitta said. "I guess the race was really close. We
were two-thousandths apart at 1,000 foot and that's nothing. I didn't
see him at all the whole run but I knew he was over there. I guess he
pitched the belt so that worked out for us."

After pacing the Top Fuel field by eight hundredths of a second during
Friday's action by running a track-record 4.445 at 333.08 mph,
Schumacher tried to set a national record on his final qualifying
attempt, which would be worth 20 bonus points. Instead, he blew his
motor.

"I went as shallow as I could," Schumacher said. "The conditions were
perfect and the tune-up was there. We just didn't get it done. Something
happened and I saw that the burst panel was out so we'll see what it was
when we get back to the pit. Bottom line, we didn't get it done. I'm
glad this happened in qualifying rather than tomorrow. We got lucky
there."

Fellow championship hopefuls Brandon Bernstein and series leader Kalitta
are also running well here. Bernstein moved up to second in the last
round with a 4.522 at 329.58 mph, while Kalitta ended up fifth on the
grid with a 4.530 at 329.38 mph.

Hight posted a track record run of 4.677 seconds at 333.08 mph in his
Auto Club Ford Mustang to claim the top spot in Funny Car.

"Jimmy was swinging for a home run," Hight said. "We couldn't really
believe we had a chance for a record here but it just set up perfectly
and he went for it. I don't want to get greedy but it would have been
awesome to get those 20 bonus points. It sure would make it interesting
in the championship chase."

Hight's father-in-law and championship rival John Force ended up second
with a 4.711 at 329.34 mph in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. His
incremental numbers during his last run were actually quicker than
Hight's but his engine expired just before the finish line. Second-place
points earner Ron Capps is 11th overall with a 4.761 in his Brut Dodge
Charger.

Line scored his sixth low qualifier of the year and the 17th for KB
Racing this season with his 6.705 at 204.88 mph. When combined with his
previous pass of 204.94 mph, the Summit Racing Pontiac GTO driver now
owns both ends of The Strip's Pro Stock records.

"Everything's going as good as it could possibly go up to this point,"
said Line. "I see we open against Warren [Johnson.] He's the ultimate
champion so I guess it's fitting we have him in Round 1. To be the champ
you need to beat the champ and he's the champ's champ, so we'll have our
work cut out for us."

Gann appears to be emerging from the worst stretch of his career,
earning his first low qualifier award in Pro Stock Motorcycle since the
St. Louis race in 2003. Gann's unsponsored Suzuki carried him to a 7.090
at 188.12 mph, which set a track record for elapsed time.

"This new stuff I've got is so bad," Gann said. "I've always made my own
motors but now I'm making twice as much of the stuff inside so the
quality control I have is way better than when I was buying (engine
components)." 

The three riders vying for the 2006 POWERade championship -- Andrew
Hines, Angelle Sampey, and points leader Antron Brown -- all earned
top-half starting berths for Sunday's eliminations. Hines slipped one
slot from his top perch on Friday to the No. 2 position with a best of
7.102 at 187.13 mph on his Harley. Sampey is close behind in third after
a 7.107, while her Suzuki teammate Brown is seventh with a 7.130.

Sunday's eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

* * *

LAS VEGAS -- Final round-by-round results from the 22nd annual Budweiser
Shootout at The Strip at Las Vegas Motorsports Speedway. The Budweiser
Shootout, which pays $100,000 to the winner, is a special bonus race for
the eight best Top Fuel dragsters from the past year.

ROUND ONE -- Rod Fuller, 4.571, 326.48 def. David Grubnic, 4.570,
327.19; Doug Kalitta, 5.669, 317.42 def. Brandon Bernstein, 9.055,
87.21; Larry Dixon, 4.587, 325.22 def. Melanie Troxel, 8.601, 87.98;
Tony Schumacher, 4.500, 324.59 def. David Baca, foul; 

SEMIFINALS -- Kalitta, 4.543, 328.22 def. Dixon, 4.645, 321.58; Fuller,
4.518, 326.95 def.
Schumacher, 4.531, 326.71;

FINALS -- Kalitta, 4.567, 329.18 def. Fuller, 4.669, 266.95.

* * *

LAS VEGAS -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday
for the Sixth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the 22nd 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, 4.445 seconds, 333.08 mph  vs. 16. Mike
Strasburg, 4.628, 326.56; 2. Brandon Bernstein, 4.522, 331.61  vs. 15.
David Baca, 4.597, 322.42; 3. J.R. Todd, 4.526, 320.89  vs. 14. Larry
Dixon, 4.587, 329.42; 4. Hillary Will, 4.527, 327.11  vs. 13. Alan
Bradshaw, 4.584, 326.24; 5. Doug Kalitta, 4.530, 329.18  vs. 12. Bob
Vandergriff, 4.583, 325.37; 6. Cory McClenathan, 4.536, 329.10  vs. 11.
Steve Torrence, 4.583, 326.56; 7. Melanie Troxel, 4.558, 329.42  vs. 10.
Rod Fuller, 4.571, 327.66; 8. Doug Herbert, 4.564, 324.28  vs. 9. David
Grubnic, 4.570, 327.19. 

Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.677, 333.08  vs. 16. Tony
Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.848, 315.71; 2. John Force, Mustang,
4.711, 329.34  vs. 15. Jim Head, Dodge Stratus, 4.816, 325.30; 3. Eric
Medlen, Mustang, 4.712, 323.43  vs. 14. Bob Gilbertson, Stratus, 4.809,
322.19; 4. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.720, 330.39  vs. 13. Gary
Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.806, 323.04; 5. Mike Ashley, Charger, 4.725,
331.36  vs. 12. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.794, 301.33; 6. Scott
Kalitta, Toyota Solara, 4.726, 325.69  vs. 11. Ron Capps, Charger,
4.761, 325.30; 7. Tommy Johnson Jr., Monte Carlo, 4.739, 323.97  vs. 10.
Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.750, 326.00; 8. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo,
4.742, 320.97  vs. 9. Gary Scelzi, Charger, 4.746, 328.30. 

Pro Stock -- 1. Jason Line, Pontiac GTO, 6.705, 204.94  vs. 16. Warren
Johnson, GTO, 6.769, 203.09; 2. Allen Johnson, Dodge Stratus, 6.726,
204.01  vs. 15. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.761, 203.80; 3. Dave
Connolly, Chevy Cobalt, 6.727, 204.20  vs. 14. Bob Panella, Stratus,
6.759, 203.98; 4. Greg Anderson, GTO, 6.730, 204.88  vs. 13. Mike
Edwards, GTO, 6.756, 204.51; 5. Tommy Lee, Cobalt, 6.732, 204.17  vs.
12. Kenny Koretsky, Cobalt, 6.753, 203.95; 6. Tom Martino, GTO, 6.744,
204.26  vs. 11. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.752, 203.28; 7. Greg Stanfield,
GTO, 6.745, 204.32  vs. 10. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.748, 204.05; 8. Jeg
Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.747, 203.83  vs. 9. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.748,
204.17. 

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.090, 188.12  vs. 16.
Marco Andreano, Buell, 7.166, 184.50; 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson,
7.102, 187.13  vs. 15. Tom Bradford, Buell, 7.161, 187.70; 3. Angelle
Sampey, Suzuki, 7.107, 187.23  vs. 14. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.156,
185.92; 4. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.107, 185.69  vs. 13. Chris Rivas, Buell,
7.152, 184.85; 5. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.113, 184.67  vs. 12. Geno
Scali, Suzuki, 7.151, 188.10; 6. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.117, 189.23
vs. 11. Ryan Schnitz, Buell, 7.147, 185.74; 7. Antron Brown, Suzuki,
7.130, 185.43 vs. 10. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.147, 186.36; 8. Chip
Ellis, Buell, 7.132, 183.27  vs. 9. GT Tonglet, Harley-Davidson, 7.137,
185.03. 

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