Cory Mac, Hight, Coughlin, Smith lead four-wide qualifiers

by Phil Burgess, National DRAGSTER Editor

For full ladders, be sure to visit NHRA.com

The fields are set for Sunday’s historic four-wide eliminations at zMax Dragway as final qualifying was completed Saturday for the inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Cory McClenathan, Robert Hight, Jeg Coughlin, and Matt Smith will lead their fields into battle.

Great weather conditions yielded not only a record field in Pro Stock Motorcycle but also a national speed record in Pro Stock. Teams spent the day not only working on their tune-ups but their drivers on their four-wide staging skills. Some took to it naturally and others continued to struggle with not only the concept but the execution.

Sunday’s final eliminations also will follow a unique format in which the first two drivers across the finish line in each four-car pairing will advance to the next round until the four-car final round, making it possible for a driver to win the race despite “losing” the first two rounds to the first-through finisher and guaranteeing no driver will throw in the towel early.

McClenathan held onto the top spot in Top Fuel he earned Friday with a 3.790 to take his second pole position of the season with the Fram dragster and the 35th of his decorated career.

“I think we have a car that they are going to have to step up to beat us. We’ve had the same car all year long. We have

either shined or taken someone for granted this year. Todd said we were going to try and run 3.79 again but I was happy with an 81. That’s the perfect package for tomorrow. Thought it was a gutsy call, though. The track temp jumped up but at the same time, Todd [Okuhara] and Phil [Shuler, crew chiefs] were swinging for fences and I like that.

“As for the four-lane, it is very interesting. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from fans, all positive. Everything is different from the track to the time slip but it’s all been handled very well. All four lanes are race-able. Everything is smooth. I do like lane two better but maybe that’s because we won in that lane last year. At the same time, I’m good with all of them.”

Larry Dixon pushed the Al-Anabi dragster to the second position with a 3.812 on his final pass Saturday, which came alongside Cory Mac’s session-best 3.810. Antron Brown’s special-edition Valvoline machine is third at 3.819 and world champ Tony Schumacher makes it three Don Schumacher cars in the top four with a 3,827.

Teammates Doug Kalitta and Dave Grubnic ranked fifth and sixth after respective passes of 3.848 and 3.856. Behind them, Steve Torrence (3.878) and Rhonda Hartman-Smith (3.888), in the Hartley Family dragster, round out the top eight. It’s Hartman-Smith’s first NHRA start since Atlanta 2006.

Brandon Bernstein ended up unexpectedly on the bump spot with a 3.998, ahead of non-qualifiers Ron August, Luigi Novelli, and Chris Karamesines.

First-round foursomes:
Cory McClenathan-Brandon Bernstein-Rhonda Hartman-Smith-Morgan Lucas
Tony Schumacher-Pat Dakin-Doug Kalitta-Doug Foley
Larry Dixon-Bobby Lagana Jr.-Steve Torrence-Shawn Langdon
Antron Brown-Terry McMillen-Dave Grubnic-Doug Herbert

Hight stayed atop the Funny Car pack with his Auto Club Ford based on his Friday 4.024, which is just shy of the 4.023 national record. He and several drivers have backups to better the record Sunday. It’s Hight’s second No. 1 of the season and 34th of his young career.

“The car is good,” said Hight. “We tried to set the national record on the first run today but we were too far into the day, but I’m excited about tomorrow. The record is still out there for us, and for a lot of other people.The conditions are supposed to be cool tomorrow.

“I told my crew I don’t even want to know who I’m running tomorrow. I don’t want to think about who’s in what lane when I’m staging. It’s just go up there, see the amber, and step.”

Ron Capps, who holds that national record, is qualified No. 2 behind Hight with a 4.039 from his NAPA Auto Parts Charger and his teammate, Jack Beckman, is just behind him with a 4.040 in his Valvoline/MTS Charger and Ashley Force Hood is fourth with a final-session 4.062. Del Worsham is fifth with a 4.064 in the Al-Anabi Toyota and is followed in the top eight by John Force (4.067), Tim Wilkerson (4.088), and Jeff Arend (4.091). Force has never won a round at zMax Dragway.  He failed to qualify at the inaugural Carolinas Nationals in 2008 and lost in the first round last year.

Paul Lee qualified for his second race of the season with Jim Dunn’s Canidae entry, finishing on the bump spot.

First-round foursomes:
Robert Hight-Paul Lee-Jeff Arend-Matt Hagan
Ashley Force Hood-Bob Gilbertson-Del Worsham-Cruz Pedregon
Ron Capps-Jeff Diehl-Tim Wilkerson-Melanie Troxel
Jack Beckman-Bob Tasca III-John Force-Tony Pedregon

Coughlin, the first-session Pro Stock leader Friday, finished qualifying where he started it, stealing back the No. 1 spot from Mike Edwards on his final pass with a stunning 6.520, the third quickest pass in history. By bumping Edwards out of the top spot, he ended the world champ’s dizzying streak of 12 straight pole positions dating back to the middle of last season. Coughlin’s speed of 212.29 is the fourth fastest in class history.

“It feels fantastic and it’s an honor to be first low qualifier for the Four Wide Nationals,” said Coughlin. “It gives us great momentum going into tomorrow. We had a car that struggled for the first three races of the year and now we’ve got a little momentum built. My dad, Jeg Sr., came back out in Gainesville and helped us. We made a couple of test runs before Gainesville, and made quite a few changes. Once we got there, we had a car that qualified No. 2.

“I’ve been a drag racer my entire life, and this [four wide] is definitely more of a challenge for a driver I’ve made thousands of runs in many kinds of cars and this is more of a challenge but I’m looking forward to it. I’ve tried to prepare

over the last few weeks. We’ve talked about how the format works. Mentally I’ve put a lot of time and thought into it as far as how we will handle different situations. I had a lot of them play out on four my qualifying runs this weekend. Coming in, I’d say my comfort level was about 60 percent but it’s now well above 90 percent.”

Edwards had leaped into the No. 1 spot in Saturday’s first session with a 6.548 but finished second with his Penhall Pontiac, just ahead of Friday leader Jason line, who improved to a 6.551. Greg Stanfield is fourth at 6.560.

Like teammate Jason Line last event in Gainesville, Greg Anderson entered the final session not qualified, but made up for it with a stout 6.570 for the fifth spot. His speed, 212.46, is the fastest ever in class history and a new national record, bettering his own 212.36 set in Richmond last year.

Allen Johnson’s Dodge sits sixth with a 6.580, just ahead of veteran Warren Johnson (6.590) and Phoenix runner-up Bob Yonke (6.592). Rodger Brogdon ended up on the bump with a 6.616. Perennial qualifiers like Johnny Gray, V. Gaines, Ron Krisher, and Ronnie Humphrey all failed to qualify.

First-round foursomes:
Jeg Coughlin-Rodger Brogdon-Bob Yonke-Shane Gray
Greg Stanfield-Kurt Johnson-Greg Anderson-Rickie Jones
Mike Edwards-John Nobile-Warren Johnson-Vinnie Deceglie
Jason Line-Larry Morgan-Allen Johnson-Erica Enders

Local hero Smith’s Al-Anabi Buell fronts the quickest field in Pro Stock Motorcycle history, his late-session 6.875 bettering his Friday 6.884 just in time to hold off the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley Davidsons of Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines, who ran 6.882 and 6.883 alongside him.

“I can’t say enough about those Harleys and the power they have,” said Smith. “They run such big speed and I knew if they got hold of the track in 60 foot they would give me a run for my money, and they did, 6.88s a pair.

“We struggled at the first race [in Gainesville] but we’ve worked on it quite a bit and made a lot of strides. As long as nothing mechanical happens, we have the bike that can win. We should be in the final four and we’ll see what happens there.”

Douglas Horne ended up on the bump with a 7.025, bettering the 7.032 mark first set in Englishtown 2007 and duplicated two weeks ago in Gainesville to make this the quickest field of 16 bikes ever assembled. Fourteen of the 16 qualified in the sixes.

World champ Hector Arana sits in the No. 4 spot with a 6.897 with his Lucas Oil Buell while Jim Underdahl made a career-best 6.90 to grab the No. 5 spot as the field’s quickest Suzuki with a 6.906. Steve Johnson’s Suzuki is right behind him with a 6.924,an e.t matched by Shawn Gann’s Buell, but Johnson earned the higher spot with a superior speed, 194.86 to 192.33. Craig Treble’s Suzuki rounds out the top eight with a 6.954.

First-round foursomes:
Matt Smith-Doug Horne-Craig Treble-Junior Pippin
Hector Arana-Karen Stoffer-Jim Underdahl-David Hope
Eddie Krawiec-Mike berry-Shawn Gann-LE Tonglet
Andrew Hines-Angie Smith-Steve Johnson-Michael Phillips

Top Fuel Dragster:

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Cory McClenathan     Fram Tough Guard Dragster       3.790@ 319.82&
   2. Larry Dixon          Al-Anabi Racing Dragster        3.812  320.66
   3. Antron Brown         Matco Tools Dragster            3.819  314.90
   4. Tony Schumacher      U.S. Army Dragster              3.827  319.45
   5. Doug Kalitta         Technicoat Dragster             3.848  314.97
   6. David Grubnic        Kalitta Motorsports Dragster    3.856  313.73
   7. Steve Torrence       Simple Mobile Dragster          3.878  309.84
   8. Rhonda Hartman-Smith NitroStrike Dragster            3.888  313.15
   9. Morgan Lucas         Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr  3.888  309.13
  10. Shawn Langdon        Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster      3.892  312.42
  11. Doug Herbert         Irwin Tools Dragster            3.911  303.84
  12. Doug Foley           DAM Dragster                    3.912  293.60
  13. Pat Dakin            Commercial Metal Fabrications   3.915  308.28
  14. Terry McMillen       Amalie Oil Dragster             3.954  302.82
  15. Bobby Lagana Jr.     NTB Dragster                    3.968  303.91
  16. Brandon Bernstein    Copart/Lucas Oil Dragster       3.998  288.39
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  17. Ron August           TIM HORTON/CROSBIE/PATON Drags  4.013  282.84
  18. Luigi Novelli        National Machine Repair Dragst  4.087  267.27
  19. Chris Karamesines    Strange/Impact Dragster         4.182  224.21

Funny Car:

 Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Robert Hight         AAA of So. Cal Mustang          4.024@ 314.24&
   2. Ron Capps            NAPA Auto Parts Charger         4.039  310.34
   3. Jack Beckman         Valvoline/MTS Charger           4.040  313.66
   4. Ashley Force Hood    Castrol GTX Mustang             4.062  314.24
   5. Del Worsham          Al-Anabi Racing Solara          4.064  309.77
   6. John Force           Castrol GTX Mustang             4.067  310.77
   7. Tim Wilkerson        Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang       4.088  303.43
   8. Jeff Arend           DHL Solara                      4.091  306.12
   9. Matt Hagan           DieHard Charger                 4.104  308.14
  10. Melanie Troxel       In-N-Out Burger Charger         4.105  304.19
  11. Tony Pedregon        Quaker State Impala             4.107  308.71
  12. Cruz Pedregon        Snap-On Solara                  4.110  303.43
  13. Bob Gilbertson       Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters   4.161  295.59
  14. Bob Tasca III        Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang   4.179  262.74
  15. Jeff Diehl           Rimz One Monte Carlo            5.347  122.54
  16. Paul Lee             Jim Dunn/Canidae/Lucas Oil Imp  7.251   91.64

Pro Stock:

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Jeg Coughlin         Jegs.com Cobalt                 6.520@ 212.29
   2. Mike Edwards         Penhall/K&N/Interstae GXP       6.548  212.13
   3. Jason Line           Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.551  212.19
   4. Greg Stanfield       Nitrofish GXP                   6.560  211.30
   5. Greg Anderson        Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.570  212.46^
   6. Allen Johnson        Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger      6.580  210.80
   7. Warren Johnson       K&N Filters GXP                 6.590  210.34
   8. Bob Yonke            Pints for Prostate GXP          6.592  210.97
   9. Shane Gray           Gray Motorsports GXP            6.595  209.56
  10. Vinnie Deceglie      Mountain View Tire Avenger      6.599  209.17
  11. Erica Enders         Mustang                         6.602  209.01
  12. Rickie Jones         Elite GXP                       6.606  209.85
  13. Kurt Johnson         Mark Chriastopher Cobalt        6.606  209.69
  14. Larry Morgan         Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang        6.614  209.17
  15. John Nobile          Nobile Racing Mustang           6.614  208.88
  16. Rodger Brogdon       Kent Services & Trucking GXP    6.618  210.57
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  17. V. Gaines            Kendall Oil Avenger             6.626  209.69
  18. Ronnie Humphrey      Pro Stock Grills/THM GXP        6.628  210.80
  19. Steve Spiess         Billet Specialties Cobalt       6.631  207.88
  20. Ron Krisher          Valvoline Cobalt                6.642  208.17
  21. Johnny Gray          Gray Motorsports GXP            6.656  209.43
  22. Jimmy Alund          J&J PERFORMANCE RACING GTO      6.663  207.30
  23. Bob Benza            BNB Racing GXP                  6.708  206.70
  24. John Gaydosh Jr      Gaydosh Performance GTO         6.828  204.29
  25. Wally Stroupe        STROUPE RACE CARS GXP           7.049  196.73
  26. Justin Humphreys     RaceRedi Motorsports GXP       13.429   64.87