Words and images courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Mike Neff continued John Force Racing’s dominance in Funny Car as he raced to his first victory of the 2012 season Sunday at the 25th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Royal Purple Raceway. With the win, Neff gave John Force Racing its sixth consecutive win to open the season.

Morgan Lucas (Top Fuel), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also earned victories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event near Houston.

Neff powered his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang past Ron Capps’ NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T in the final round of eliminations. Neff’s 4.239 second pass at 301.67 mph was too much for Capps, who hazed the tires in the Texas heat and clocked a 4.476 second pass at 211.79 mph.

“This whole race was one of a kind,” Neff said. “To not be qualified until the last session and then have a wacky couple of rounds today was a nail-biter. Racing Jim Head, my old buddy, it took so long for the Tree to come on. I never let go of the brake but I blipped the throttle. Thankfully, I was staged shallow so I didn’t red-light. I looked down and saw green so I legged it and then it smoked the tires. It was a total mistake on my part as a driver and a crew chief.”

Neff struggled during qualifying and made it into the 16-car field during the final qualifying session in the heat of the day Saturday. That tune up proved to be what the JFR driver needed throughout Sunday’s eliminations as he beat first round foe Head, top qualifier Cruz Pedregon and defending event winner Jeff Arend en route to his seventh career Funny Car victory.

Neff is currently second in the NHRA Full Throttle point standings behind his JFR teammate Robert Hight, who saw his four race win streak snapped with a semifinal loss to Capps.

“That was a heck of a string he had going,” Neff said about Hight. “That’s hard to do in Funny Car or any class for that matter. I’m just glad I could keep the string going for John Force Racing. I feel pressure but that’s just the business we’re in. We’re a top team and we were built on winning. I feel it, but I don’t get pressure from John or anyone else. Just myself.”

In Top Fuel, Lucas proved that he is a championship contender with his win Sunday as he posted low e.t. during each round of eliminations. The GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster outran Antron Brown’s Matco Tools dragster in the final round with his 3.848 second pass at 320.81 to Brown’s losing 5.894 second pass at 117.05 mph.

“I’m just as proud as can be for this race team, the whole GEICO pit area, and my parents (Forrest and Charlotte),” Lucas said. “Just to be able to go up to the starting line on race day and feel like you can beat anybody is a feeling that I’ve never had before. This is probably the first time in my career, Top Alcohol Dragster included, that I’ve ever had low e.t. of every round of eliminations.”

Lucas started from the No. 1 qualifying spot for the fourth time of the season and the win moved him to third in points. With the runner-up finish Brown took over the series points lead.

Nobile earned his first Pro Stock win of the season by outrunning veteran driver Dave Connolly in the final round. Nobile’s 6.595 second pass at 210.14 in his Mountain View Tire Dodge Avenger edged Connolly’s 6.604 second pass at 210.41 mph in his Alamo Iron Works/KLR Group Chevy Cobalt to claim his second consecutive win in Houston.

“It’s an amazing feeling [to win this event two years in a row],” said Nobile, who beat Greg Stanfield, Larry Morgan and Mike Edwards to advance to the final. “In the semis, we actually had to swap motors in that short amount of time [before the final] and the crew did it with now flaws and everything was perfect. The crew produces a really fast race car. I owe it to all of them. My dad taught me everything I know about driving a race car and drag racing period.  This win is a win for the both of us. He never won a Wally because he never had the power. But now we’re doing it both together.”

Nobile’s win moved him from fifth to third in the series standings.

Hines used a perfect reaction time to beat sophomore rider Hector Arana Jr. in the final round in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Arana’s 6.886 second pass at 196.33 mph on his Lucas Oil Buell was quicker than Hines’ 6.905 second pass at 194.52 mph on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, but Hines won the race on the starting line.

“I knew I’d need a good light, but I wasn’t expecting a .000,” Hines said. “I’m lucky I didn’t roll in an eighth of an inch more or I’d have red-lighted. We had to add 20-pounds so I figured I’d need to win on a holeshot in order to have a chance, especially after he [Hector Jr.] ran that 6.84 in the semifinals.”

Hines has won this event three years in a row and he is now the series leader in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

“I knew this was the 25th anniversary of this race so I really wanted to win that silver Wally,” Hines said.

No. 3 qualifier Danny Rowe earned his first NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx victory of the 2012 season Sunday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway.

Rowe’s Sterling Bridge ’68 Chevy Camaro powered to a winning performance of 5.969 seconds at 244.43 mph in the final round of eliminations to beat Kenny Lang’s pass of 6.043 seconds at 238.51 mph.

Rowe defeated Mike Knowles, Troy Coughlin and Danny Walsh in earlier rounds en route to his first final round appearance of the season.

Qualifying Recap

Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas raced to his fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the 25th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Royal Purple Raceway.

Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were No. 1 qualifiers and will lead their categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. elimiantions at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event near Houston.

The GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel team ran low E.T. of the event during Friday evening’s qualifying session and the 3.772 second pass at 327.74 mph held up as the No. 1 qualifying position throughout Saturday’s warm weather conditions.

“We were real fortunate that the Friday night session ran a little late for us, and we got the conditions to run that big number [3.772],” Lucas said. “We also had the opportunity to test a little bit [with the hotter temperatures] today, but for tomorrow we’ll put the car back to where we know it can run well. We obviously have a good handle on the car and can make it run consistent 3.80s.”

Lucas will start from the No. 1 position for the eighth time of his career and will face No. 16 qualifier Troy Buff in the opening round.

No one in Funny Car was able to better Pedregon’s Friday pass of 4.103 at 305.29. The Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry will start from the No. 1 position for the second time this season and 47th time of his career. He will face No. 16 qualifier Gary Densham in round one.

“Thankfully we made two good runs yesterday because we dropped a cylinder on both runs today,” said Pedregon of his eighth career No. 1 qualifying effort at Royal Purple Raceway. “The good news is that we stayed No. 1. I’m already thinking about race day.”

In Pro Stock, Johnson held onto the No. 1 spot through Saturday’s qualifying efforts as no one was able to outrun the Team Mopar Dodge Avenger’s Friday evening pass of 6.545 at 211.73.

“Our motto in the Mopar camp is ‘consistency’ and I think we’ve accomplished that this weekend,” Johnson said. “We weren’t quite as fast as we wanted to be, but we were just a hundredth off. I think tomorrow will be a knock-down drag-out, but the Mopar Avenger team is ready for that. Everybody has their winning hats on and we’re learning how to win.”

This is Johnson’s second No. 1 of the season and 20th of his career. Johnson will race Shane Gray and his Tire Kingdom GXP Sunday morning.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Lucas Oil rider Arana set low E.T. of the weekend during Saturday’s final qualifying session when he posted a performance of 6.850 seconds at 194.86 mph and secured his first No. 1 of the season and 18th of his career. Arana’s Lucas Oil Buell teammate and son Hector Arana Jr. is qualified second in the 16-bike field.

“We just worked hard,” Arana said. “We know the Harleys are fast, but we can’t think about them. We just keep working and the results show. I was happy when I ran but I felt even better when my son [Arana Jr.] was No. 2.  We keep tuning on the bike and little by little it’s getting better. We’re making excellent runs and that’s what’s giving us an edge.”

No. 3 qualifier Danny Rowe advanced his Sterling Bridge ’68 Chevy Camaro to the second round of eliminations and was among the first-round winners Saturday in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx portion of the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway.

Rowe’s 5.951 second pass at 244.92 mph was too much for first-round opponent Mike Knowles, whose ’68 Camaro lost traction almost immediately and coasted across the finish line at 11.413 at 78.30. Rowe will face Troy Coughlin in round two Sunday. Coughlin defeated Leah Pruett to advance.

Defending event winner and No. 1 qualifier Mike Castellana was upset in the opening round of eliminations by Steve Matusek. No. 2 qualifier Rickie Smith also lost in round one to Donald Walsh.

Other second-round pairings include Brad Brand v. Kenny Lang, Walsh v. Pete Farber, and Matusek will get a bye run.