NHRA POST RACE NOTES: LAS VEGAS
NHRA POWERADE SERIES POST RACE NOTES: Sixth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals Oct. 26-29, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas TOP FUEL * Tony Schumacher earned his fourth win of the season and the 34th of his career when he drove his U.S. Army dragster to a 4.469-second finish at 313.58 mph over J.R. Todd's 4.550 at 320.81 in his Skull Shine dragster. * Schumacher moved into second place in the POWERade point standings with his second-round win over David Grubnic - then cut Doug Kalitta's lead to 45 points with his win over J.R. Todd. * Kalitta, the series leader, exited in the semifinal round with a loss to Schumacher, when his 4.584 at 327.35 in his Mac Tools dragster was not enough to overcome the eventual event winner. * David Baca lost 15 points for oiling the track surface during the first round of eliminations in his Mach 1 dragster. * Schumacher earned a record 13th No.1 qualifier of the season and claimed the Budweiser Shootout award. It is the 35th of his career and his second at The Strip when he drove his dragster to a track record time of 4.445 seconds at 333.08. * Kalitta earned $100,000 for his third win in nine career appearances in the Budweiser Shootout, a lucrative race-within-a-race bonus event for Top Fuel's best performing drivers from the last season. * It was Kalitta's fifth final-round appearance in the all-star event. Las Vegas native Rod Fuller advanced to the final round in his first Shootout appearance. * Hillary Will's KB Racing dragster crew earned the Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship award. FUNNY CAR * Jack Beckman earned his first POWERade Series win when he drove his Matco Tools Dodge Charger to a 4.783 at 327.19 over Tommy Johnson Jr.'s 5.704 at 244.47 in his Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo. * Title contenders Robert Hight and Ron Capps, who are both chasing their first POWERade world championship titles, exited the event in the first round of eliminations. Capps lost to Scott Kalitta, while Hight's Auto Club Ford Mustang broke on the starting line and was unable to make the pass. * Thirteen-time world champion John Force extended his series lead to 71 points over Capps and 73 points over Hight. * Tony Bartone was fined 10 points for oiling the track surface during the first round of eliminations in his Lucas Oil Chevy Monte Carlo. * Hight earned the Skoal Showdown award when he drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang to a track record performance of 4.677 at 333.08 to qualify No.1. It was his ninth No. 1 of the season and 15th of his career. * Johnson Jr. earned the $1,000 Motel 6 "Who Got the Light" award when he defeated Eric Medlen by a .0024-second margin of victory in the semifinal round of Funny Car eliminations. * Force's Castrol GTX Ford Mustang crew earned the Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship award. PRO STOCK * Jason Line clinched his first NHRA POWERade Series world championship title when he defeated teammate and three-time defending world champion Greg Anderson in the semifinal round. Line is the first NHRA POWERade world champion crowned in 2006. * Richie Stevens Jr. earned his second win of the season and the sixth of his career when he drove his Team Mopar Dodge Stratus to a 6.789 at 202.85 over Line's 6.735 at 204.57 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO. * Line earned the NHRA King Demon Crown award for qualifying No.1 in his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO (6.705, 204.94). It was Line's sixth No. 1 of the season and 10th of his career. * Dave Connolly's Torco Race Fuels Chevy Cobalt crew earned the Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship award. PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE * Defending POWERade Series world champion Andrew Hines defeated teammate G.T. Tonglet in an all Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson final when he rode to a track record time of 7.080 at 188.65 in the final round. Tonglet turned in a 7.310 at 181.91. It was Hines' third win of 2006 and eighth of his career. * Hines moved into the series lead with the win and now leads Antron Brown by 37 points. Brown's U.S. Army Suzuki teammate Angelle Sampey is third going into the final event of the year, 57 points behind Hines. * Shawn Gann earned the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle award for qualifying No.1 on his Gann Speed Suzuki (7.090, 188.12). It was Gann's first No. 1 qualifying effort since 2003 and the fifth of his career. * Sampey's U.S. Army Suzuki crew earned the Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship award. POWERADE FAN NATIONALS * Ryan Lentzkow, 34, a FedEx driver from Waterloo, Iowa, earned his first win in three career final-round appearances in the POWERade Fan Nationals. Lentzkow has attended six Fan National competitions this season and was the runner-up in Brainerd, Minn. and Indianapolis. He and one guest will travel to the 42nd annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., on Nov. 9-12 to compete for the season title.