Network
by Kevin McKenna, National DRAGSTER Senior Editor
For full event results, be sure to visit NHRA.com.
Rain threatened to interrupt the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals for most of the day but held off long enough to allow the professional fields at Gateway Int’l Raceway to begin to take shape. One full round of qualifying was completed for competitors in all four NHRA Full Throttle Pro classes and rain hit midway through the second Pro Stock session before activities were halted for the evening based on the less-than-favorable forecast for the rest of the evening.
Tony Schumacher
Tony Schumacher, John Force, Mike Edwards, and Craig Treble will head into Saturday as the provisional low qualifiers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, respectively. Of the four, only Treble got in two passes on the day. Qualifying resumes Saturday with the final two qualifying sessions at this, the seventh event of the 23-race 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, to set the fields for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Just four Top Fuel dragsters posted three-second runs on Friday but Schumacher was able to put nearly a tenth on No. 2 qualifier Brandon Bernstein with a stout 3.82 from his Mike Green-tuned U.S. Army dragster. If he were to remain in the top spot, it would mark Schumacher’s first low qualifier at Gateway Int’l Raceway.
“That was an outstanding run by the U.S. Army team,” said Schumacher. “The car left great and we shot right through the shake zone. I didn’t know the number, but I felt like it was a pretty good lap.
“It’s only one run, but it looks like the test we had right after the Las Vegas race is producing the kind of results we wanted. We tried a lot of things to try and get the car to run consistently. We need to go some rounds this weekend to try and turn this thing around. Before too long, we’ll start moving up in the standings.”
Bernstein, who celebrated the birth of his daughter, earlier this week, is currently No. 2 with a 3.90 while Morgan Lucas and Doug Kalitta are also solidly in the show with runs of 3.91 and 3.92 respectively.
John Force
Force, who has already qualified in the top spot at two events this season, is on track for a third after a 4.10 in his Castrol Mustang. Force’s run was especially impressive as on other driver in Funny Car ran quicker than 4.26. Like Schumacher, Force has also never qualified No. 1 in Madison.
“We learned how to run on good tracks with cool air and we have learned how to run in the hot air,” said Force. “We are also able to learn from the other two [John Force Racing] Mustangs. I watched Robert [Hight] go out and spin his tires and then saw Ashley [Force-Hood] do almost the same thing.
“[Crew chiefs] Mike Neff, Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly got together and made some adjustments on my Castrol hot rod. Getting everyone in the top half of the ladder when you have weather coming in is important.”
Ron Capps is currently No. 2 with a 4.26 while Del Worsham (4.27), Paul Lee (4.34), Jack Beckman (4.36) and Cruz Pedregon (4.39) are the only other drivers to make anything resembling a competitive run during Friday’s lone session. Bob Tasca III, Tony Pedregon, and Jeff Diehl are currently not among the top 12 qualifiers.
The broken record that has become Pro Stock qualifying did not skip a beat as Edwards once again showed the way with a
Mike Edwards
6.64. Edwards has been the low qualifier at 13 of the last 14 events dating back to the middle of the 2009 season. In Madison, Edwards wheeled his Penhall Pontiac to a 6.64 in the opening round and although he was one of six drivers who did not get to run the second session, he remained in the top spot.
Allen Johnson, who earlier boasted that his Mopar team has closed the gap on Edwards, stated his case with a 6.661 that is currently good for the second spot.
Like Edwards, he did not get to complete his second run before the rains hit. Ron Krisher, Johnny Gray, Shane Gray, V. Gaines, Greg Stanfield and Ronnie Humphrey round out the top eight.
Justin Humphreys currently holds down the No. 12 spot with a 6.709 and the long list of drivers who will have to make the field on Saturday includes former world champions Jeg Coughlin, Jason Line, and Warren Johnson.
Treble, in his first full season aboard Don Schumacher’s Valvoline Suzuki, could grab his first No. 1 qualifier award since the 2003 Auto Club Finals if his 6.90 can hold up through Saturday’s two scheduled qualifying rounds. Treble opened qualifying with a 6.92 and then became one of the few riders to improve his elapsed time under the lights Friday night.
“Conditions are lacking. It’s real wet but have a stout tailwind so that helped,” said Treble. “I can’t say enough about [crew chief] Steve Tartaglia. I don’t want to say we’re flopping around, but we are certainly not on our A-game. We have to get used to a new [engine] combination. We knew this bike would be stout, and Steve has slowly but surely snuck up on it. This bike is a pleasure to ride.
“Actually, I could have ridden better on that [6.90] pass. I short shifted the 1-2. I’m still learning how to ride it the way
Craig Treble
it’s supposed to be ridden. I guess I’m happy because this team got put together in February. I was gonna go work construction in Phoenix when Don Schumacher called me and I wasn’t going to say no to him. At the same time, we got a big increase for the Suzuki engines. We also had to put our rig together, and order parts. We didn’t do any testing until after Houston. Steve is still not concerned about rotating the earth. He’s just trying to get it down the track.”
Former national champ and past Gateway winner Matt Smith piloted his Al-Anabi Buell to a 6.94 for the second spot while reigning champ Hector Arana is third with a 6.96. After two runs, there are eight riders in the six-second zone and the 12-bike bump spot is an impressive 7.03 by Douglas Horne.
Competitors in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series completed both of their scheduled qualifying sessions and Houston champion Danny Rowe is the provisional low qualifier with a 5.955 from his Sterling Bridge/Hottinger Group Camaro. Three other drivers — Jay Payne, Mike Janis, and Brad Personett — are also qualified in the five-second zone. The current bump is held by Houston runner-up Melanie Troxel with a 6.137 from her In-N-Out Burger Corvette. Pro Mod racers are scheduled to receive one additional qualifying run tomorrow morning before moving to eliminations later Saturday afternoon.
Top Fuel Funny Car-Psn Driver Vehicle ET Speed 1. Tony Schumacher U.S. Army Dragster 3.829 318.62 2. Brandon Bernstein Copart/Lucas Oil Dragster 3.903 307.09 3. Morgan Lucas Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr 3.918 307.30 4. Doug Kalitta Kalitta Air Dragster 3.939 304.53 5. Luigi Novelli National Machine Repair Dragst 4.156 288.70 6. Pat Dakin Commercial Metal Fabrications 4.643 233.03 7. Larry Dixon Al-Anabi Racing Dragster 4.927 148.41 8. Cory McClenathan Fram Tough Guard Dragster 5.475 121.27 9. Shawn Langdon Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster 6.729 89.88 10. David Grubnic Kalitta Motorsports Dragster 6.750 90.06 11. Chris Karamesines Strange/Impact Dragster 6.784 88.97 12. Antron Brown Matco Tools Dragster 7.157 88.55 --------- Not Qualified --------- 13. Terry Haddock Dragster 7.465 93.11 14. Terry McMillen Amalie Oil Dragster 8.668 74.70 15. Troy Buff Bill Miller Racing/Okuma Drags 10.926 77.92Top Fuel Funny Car-
Psn Driver Vehicle ET Speed
1. John Force Castrol GTX Mustang 4.103 307.23
2. Ron Capps NAPA Auto Parts Charger 4.262 297.02
3. Del Worsham Al-Anabi Racing Solara 4.274 293.60
4. Paul Lee Jim Dunn/Canidae/Lucas Oil Imp 4.343 274.72
5. Jack Beckman Valvoline/MTS Charger 4.364 298.01
6. Cruz Pedregon Snap-On Solara 4.399 253.28
7. Robert Hight AAA of So. Cal Mustang 4.581 184.47
8. Ashley Force Hood Castrol GTX Mustang 4.640 186.36
9. Jeff Arend DHL Solara 4.641 186.18
10. Tim Wilkerson Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang 7.970 85.47
11. Matt Hagan DieHard Charger 8.409 79.54
12. Dale Creasy Jr. Tek Pak Inc. Impala 8.625 77.60
--------- Not Qualified ---------
13. Bob Tasca III Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang 8.684 75.79
14. Tony Pedregon Herzog Impala 9.756 47.22
15. Jeff Diehl Rimz One Monte Carlo 21.461 52.97
Pro Stock-Psn Driver Vehicle ET Speed 1. Mike Edwards Penhall/K&N/Interstae GXP 6.644 207.75 2. Allen Johnson Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger 6.661 208.55 3. Ron Krisher Valvoline Cobalt 6.684 206.51 4. Johnny Gray NTB GXP 6.694 206.32 5. Shane Gray Tire Kingdom GXP 6.695 206.39 6. V. Gaines Kendall Oil Avenger 6.696 206.73 7. Greg Stanfield Nitrofish GXP 6.696 205.79 8. Ronnie Humphrey Pro Stock Grills/THM GXP 6.698 206.20 9. Kurt Johnson Mark Christopher Cobalt 6.699 206.45 10. Rodger Brogdon Kent Services & Trucking GXP 6.701 207.40 11. Greg Anderson Summit Racing Equipment GXP 6.705 206.26 12. Justin Humphreys RaceRedi Motorsports GXP 6.709 205.26 --------- Not Qualified --------- 13. Jeg Coughlin Jegs.com Cobalt 6.712 207.75 14. Vinnie Deceglie Mountain View Tire Avenger 6.712 207.27 15. Rickie Jones Elite GXP 6.712 205.98 16. Erica Enders Mustang 6.715 206.26 17. Jason Line Summit Racing Equipment GXP 6.716 206.61 18. Steve Spiess Billet Specialties Cobalt 6.717 205.91 19. Larry Morgan Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang 6.718 205.47 20. Bob Yonke Adrenaline Motorsports GXP 6.735 205.51 21. Warren Johnson K&N Filters GXP 6.736 206.04 22. Steve Schmidt Schmidt Competition Engines Co 6.757 204.51 23. John Nobile Nobile Racing Mustang 6.762 204.14 24. Mark Hogan EMSI Inc. GTO 6.763 204.82 25. Danny Gruninger Cunnningham Racing Mustang 6.763 204.76 26. John Gaydosh Jr Gaydosh Performance GTO 6.866 200.53 27. Dave River River Racing Cobalt 6.893 198.03
