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RAIN WASHES AWAY QUALIFYING ROUNDS THREE AND FOUR; FINAL ELIMINATIONS SUNDAY

BAYTOWN, Texas -- The final two rounds of qualifying at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals were washed away by persistent rains in the Houston area Saturday. Still, two rounds of qualifying were completed Friday and that was sufficient to set the ladder for final eliminations, which will be run as scheduled Sunday, beginning at 11 a.m. The No. 1 qualifiers are Whit Bazemore (Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle). “We’re disappointed not to have ran on Saturday,” said Bazemore, who pilots the Matco Tools dragster. “We’d much rather have lost the top spot and gotten the track time. We’re excited though. It was the perfect run for those conditions. We’ll be ready for Sunday. We have the option to run further back in the order. Hopefully, we can continue winning rounds and improve on our results.” Bazemore became the 15th driver to earn No. 1 qualifiers in both Top Fuel and Funny Car and it came in Bazemore's fourth career race in Top Fuel. Bazemore will face No. 16 qualifier Cory McClenathan in the first round of final eliminations. Some other intriguing first-round matchups in Top Fuel include Tony Schumacher vs. Brandon Bernstein and Larry Dixon vs. Doug Kalitta. In Funny Car, Kenny Bernstein qualified for his second consecutive race in his Monster Energy Dodge Charger at No. 11 and he will face Gary Scelzi in the first round.

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BAYTOWN, Texas -- First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park, the fourth of 23 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

Top Fuel -- 1. Whit Bazemore, 4.514 seconds, 326.87 mph vs. 16. Cory McClenathan, 4.689, 276.86; 2. Melanie Troxel, 4.530, 323.89 vs. 15. Alan Bradshaw, 4.670, 313.58; 3. Rod Fuller, 4.533, 326.56 vs. 14. Bruce Litton, 4.658, 312.78; 4. Morgan Lucas, 4.538, 317.27 vs. 13. David Grubnic, 4.650, 309.91; 5. Tony Schumacher, 4.558, 312.50 vs. 12. Brandon Bernstein, 4.649, 310.34; 6. Larry Dixon, 4.597, 313.44 vs. 11. Doug Kalitta, 4.633, 315.27; 7. J.R. Todd, 4.618, 313.37 vs. 10. Clay Millican, 4.632, 314.61; 8. Hillary Will, 4.630, 310.41 vs. 9. Joe Hartley, 4.631, 312.42.

Funny Car -- 1. Cruz Pedregon, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.796, 300.20 vs. 16. Todd Simpson, Chevy Camaro, 5.222, 293.28; 2. Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.798, 304.25 vs. 15. Tony Bartone, Monte Carlo, 5.141, 224.47; 3. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.806, 315.34 vs. 14. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.995, 259.41; 4. Mike Ashley, Charger, 4.814, 309.63 vs. 13. Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Impala, 4.902, 312.13; 5. Jim Head, Toyota Solara, 4.823, 282.72 vs. 12. Tim Wilkerson, Monte Carlo, 4.885, 313.00; 6. Gary Scelzi, Charger, 4.827, 311.85 vs. 11. Kenny Bernstein, Charger, 4.864, 291.45; 7. Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.830, 318.24 vs. 10. Gary Densham, Monte Carlo, 4.861, 310.34; 8. Jeff Arend, Monte Carlo, 4.836, 308.50 vs. 9. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 4.854, 302.82.

Pro Stock -- 1. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cobalt, 6.649, 208.17 vs. 16. Kenny Koretsky, Cobalt, 6.728, 206.57; 2. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.665, 208.59 vs. 15. Larry Morgan, Dodge Stratus, 6.720, 206.51; 3. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.675, 206.89 vs. 14. Erica Enders, Stratus, 6.713, 205.69; 4. Jason Line, GTO, 6.676, 208.42 vs. 13. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.709, 207.34; 5. Warren Johnson, GTO, 6.680, 207.94 vs. 12. Tom Hammonds, Cobalt, 6.703, 206.16; 6. Richie Stevens, Stratus, 6.688, 206.35 vs. 11. Jim Yates, GTO, 6.701, 207.11; 7. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.696, 207.15 vs. 10. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.699, 207.43; 8. Greg Stanfield, GTO, 6.696, 206.35 vs. 9. Mike Edwards, GTO, 6.698, 206.61.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.968, 191.76 vs. 16. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.092, 189.82; 2. Angelle Sampey, Suzuki, 6.973, 192.22 vs. 15. Shawn Gann, Suzuki, 7.091, 187.89; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.995, 192.41 vs. 14. Tom Bradford, Buell, 7.084, 188.75; 4. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.025, 192.60 vs. 13. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki, 7.083, 191.48; 5. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.029, 190.70 vs. 12. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.076, 188.62; 6. Antron Brown, Suzuki, 7.043, 190.67 vs. 11. Scott Lewis, Suzuki, 7.071, 187.52; 7. Peggy Llewellyn, 7.045, 189.18 vs. 10. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.071, 189.92; 8. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.050, 191.10 vs. 9. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.069, 187.65.