Familiar faces lead Madison pro qualifying

by Kevin McKenna, National DRAGSTER Senior Editor

The qualifying lead changed in Top Fuel Saturday at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison as points leader Cory McClenathan vaulted to the top spot with a 3.815 from his FRAM dragster. The lead also changed hands in Pro Stock Motorcycle as Hector Arana went around Friday’s leader Craig Treble to lead the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. The top spot in Funny Car did not change as John Force’s 4.10-second run from Friday held as low elapsed time while Mike Edwards claimed another pole in Pro Stock, although he needed a strong effort on Saturday afternoon in order to do it.

Following the severe thunderstorms that forced the cancellation of most of Friday’s second Pro qualifying session, Saturday dawned warm and sunny in Madison and the hearty crowd was able to take in a full day of on-track action.

McClenathan was the star of the show during Top Fuel qualifying, posting a 3.815 Saturday morning that nudged his teammate, Tony Schumacher, from the top spot. McClenathan has now qualified in the top spot 36 times in his career, including three this season following his similar efforts in Pomona and Charlotte.

“On our No. 1 run it was on a string,” said McClenathan. “We had good conditions and everything went right. I shut it off at 900 feet so I was surprised it ran that quick. As the day went on, conditions changed and it got tricky. We didn’t see any really good runs in the left lane and had to abort the last run. The hardest thing is that going into tomorrow we’ve only had a few good runs. If it is cool and cloudy, we can run another [3.]81, but if it’s hot and sunny, we need to back off a little. In a day’s time, we have seen it all as far as weather. I’d like to see some clouds tomorrow but we have to adapt to it.

McClenathan’s Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Antron Brown struggled in qualifying with his Matco Tools dragster as the defending event champ did not complete a full run and ended up on the bump spot with a 4.48 and will be McClenathan’s first-round opponent,

“It’s tough when you fall on the same side of ladder as Antron but it will be a good drag race either way. It’s kind of tough because we are all trying to chase points and trying to do the best job we can for our sponsors and Don Schumacher Racing. Tomorrow, the exchange of information will end and we’ll go slug it out.”

Schumacher remained in the second spot with his U.S. Army dragster while Larry Dixon and Dave Grubnic are third and fourth with runs of 3.86 and 3.89, respectively. Schumacher will race Scott Palmer in round one while Dixon squares off against Luigi Novelli and Grubnic will face Terry Haddock.

The lone non-qualifier in Top Fuel was legend Chris ‘the Greek” Karamesines, who was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his controversially historic 200-mph pass, which occurred in Alton, Ill., not far from Gateway Int’l Raceway.

Very little changed in the Funny Car class as John Force held on to the top spot with Friday’s 4.10 run although his daughter, Ashley Force-Hood moved to second following a 4.123 run, the best pass of the day. John will face Justin Schriefer in round one while Force-Hood will meet Jeff Diehl.

“My run last night was really good in the cool air,” said Force, who has now qualified in the top spot 134 times and is just four short of Warren Johnson’s NHRA record of 138. “When we put that 4.10 on the board it was good but I think Ashley was more impressive with that 4.12 today. That’s the car to beat. I’m struggling in the heat but I have a good hot rod so I can race.

“They let me keep my job but for the last two years when it looked like I forgot how to race,” Force continued. “Mike Neff [in his role as a crew chief] has got everyone excited. I think a little bit of change don’t hurt. I’m not saying its working for [President] Obama but it works for me. When one gets in trouble we help each other and that’s how it works. The bottom line; I have to win on Sunday but it’s gonna be tricky. It’s supposed to be cooler but we have to watch the conditions.”

“Fast Jack” Beckman is solidly in the third spot with a 4.18 in his Mail Terminal Services/Valvoline Dodge while DSR teammate Ron Capps is fourth with a 4.19 and Al-Anabi’s Del Worsham is fifth quickest with a 4.21. The rest of the top-half qualifiers are Paul Lee, Bob Tasca III, and Dale Creasy, who is starting in the top half of the field for the first time since the 2002 Denver event.

Edwards grabbed the lead in Pro Stock for the 15th time in the last 16 events with a demoralizing 6.640 Saturday afternoon that trumped the 6.644 of Rodger Brogdon, who was seeking to lead the field for the first time in his career. Edwards, who currently has a 266-point lead over Allen Johnson, will take his Penhall Pontiac up against the Kendall Dodge of V. Gaines when the first round of eliminations gets underway tomorrow. Edwards has now qualified in the top spot 28 times during his career.

“We had some misfortune this morning so we came back and regrouped,” said Edwards. “We put in a new K&N filter and a fresh Interstate battery and it worked. Seriously, we just didn’t make the right choice on our tune-up this morning but this afternoon’s run was much better.

“Everybody has been saying that I’ve been dominating but if you look at the back half numbers, our performance is not much different than the rest of the field. We’ve just been making good runs and that’s why we’ve been beating them. There are a lot of good cars out here and it’s really really close. That’s what our fans come out to see. [No. 1 at 6 of 7 races] is a good start. My hat is off to my guys, and to K&N Filters for putting up the bonus money. My team has been together for three and a half years, and we’re all pulling the rope from one end.”

Brogdon, who had never been qualified higher than No. 3 in his brief Pro Stock career, but had to settle for second place. Five-time world champ Jeg Coughlin was not qualified heading into the final session but delivered a strong effort with a 6.647 that was good for the No. 3 spot, just ahead of Mopar driver Allen Johnson, who posted a 6.653 for fourth. After much shuffling late Saturday, V. Gaines ended up on the bump spot with a 6.686 best. The entire field Pro Stock is separated by just .046-second, setting up a highly competitive battle during Sunday’s final eliminations.

The biggest shocker of the weekend came in the Pro Stock class as former champion Jason Line missed the field for the first time in 150 previous events. With 27 entries on the grounds, Line wasn’t the only Pro Stock driver who left Gateway Int’l Raceway disappointed Saturday night as Larry Morgan, Vinnie Deceglie, and Phoenix runner-up Bob Yonke also missed the cut.

There are several intriguing match-ups set for Sunday including a pair of father-son races. Warren and Kurt Johnson will race for the 67th time while Johnny Gary will be paired with his son, Shane, for the first time.

Arana, the reigning NHRA Full Throttle champ, captured his 11th career pole after posting the best elapsed time of the weekend with a 6.905 aboard his Lucas Oil Buell. Arana also ran a 6.98 Saturday afternoon and will be paired with Angie Smith’s Coffman Truck Tanks Buell when final eliminations begin tomorrow.

“This track is awesome on the starting line and I had a hard time getting the right combination,” said Arana, who also led the field at the most recent event at Houston Raceway Park. “I knew if I could get it today that we’d be okay. I dropped the clutch and the rpm came up quickly so I knew it was a good run. Then [the track crew] gave me the No. 1 sign and I knew I was the quickest.

“To keep this bike running strong is a dream come true for me,” Arana continued. “I can’t ask for anything more. The only help that I have this weekend is my two boys, Hector Jr. and Adam. One of them reads track and the other helps me [start] the bike. It’s pretty much just the three of us. So far it’s looking good but I know we have to start doing some R&D in order to keep qualifying at the top. I’m waiting for a break so I can devote some time to finding horsepower. I have been to two finals this year but it’s time to get some wins.”

Friday leader Craig Treble slid to second with his earlier 6.90 despite destroying an engine during Saturday’s first session. Treble and his Valvoline team were able to get the bike repaired in time to make the second run, but slowed to a 7.03.

All told, 10 riders qualified in the six-second zone, including former champs Matt Smith and Andrew Hines, who are third and fourth, respectively. Smith posted a 6.932 while Hines, the 2008 Madison champ, made the quickest run during Saturday’s second session with a 6.937 effort.

Current NHRA elapsed time record holder Karen Stoffer is also solidly in the field with a fifth-best 6.94 from her GEICO Powersports Suzuki with Michael Phillips (6.95), Eddie Krawiec (6.96), and Jim Underdahl rounding out the top half of the field.

Top Fuel Dragster:

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Cory McClenathan     Fram Tough Guard Dragster       3.815  305.63
   2. Tony Schumacher      U.S. Army Dragster              3.829  318.62
   3. Larry Dixon          Al-Anabi Racing Dragster        3.861  314.83
   4. David Grubnic        Kalitta Air Dragster            3.896  310.55
   5. Brandon Bernstein    Copart/Lucas Oil Dragster       3.903  307.09
   6. Morgan Lucas         Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr  3.918  307.30
   7. Terry McMillen       Amalie Oil Dragster             3.931  300.06
   8. Doug Kalitta         Rocky Boots Dragster            3.939  305.22
   9. Steve Torrence       Simple Mobile Dragster          3.972  292.52
  10. Pat Dakin            Commercial Metal Fabrications   3.994  285.11
  11. Troy Buff            Bill Miller Racing/Okuma Drags  4.005  281.19
  12. Shawn Langdon        Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster      4.072  295.08
  13. Terry Haddock        Dragster                        4.082  241.50
  14. Luigi Novelli        National Machine Repair Dragst  4.091  290.44
  15. Scott Palmer         Tigerflow Dragster              4.236  264.75
  16. Antron Brown         Matco Tools Dragster            4.688  206.20
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  17. Chris Karamesines    Strange/Impact Dragster         6.114  106.11

Funny Car:

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. John Force           Castrol GTX Mustang             4.103@ 307.23&
   2. Ashley Force Hood    Castrol GTX Mustang             4.123  298.60
   3. Jack Beckman         Valvoline/MTS Charger           4.182  298.01
   4. Ron Capps            NAPA Auto Parts Charger         4.197  297.02
   5. Del Worsham          Al-Anabi Racing Solara          4.218  293.60
   6. Paul Lee             Jim Dunn/Canidae/Lucas Oil Imp  4.250  292.39
   7. Bob Tasca III        Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang   4.260  281.83
   8. Dale Creasy Jr.      Tek Pak Inc. Impala             4.299  286.44
   9. Robert Hight         AAA of So. Cal Mustang          4.323  282.01
  10. Cruz Pedregon        Snap-On Solara                  4.399  253.28
  11. Tim Wilkerson        Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang       4.415  247.25
  12. Matt Hagan           DieHard Charger                 4.418  267.06
  13. Jeff Arend           DHL Solara                      4.446  213.20
  14. Tony Pedregon        Herzog Impala                   7.405   75.70
  15. Jeff Diehl           Rimz One Monte Carlo            8.180   83.09
  16. Justin Schriefer     Creasy Family Camaro           15.222   74.85

Pro Stock:

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Mike Edwards         Penhall/K&N/Interstae GXP       6.640  207.82
   2. Rodger Brogdon       Kent Services & Trucking GXP    6.644  208.01
   3. Jeg Coughlin         Jegs.com Cobalt                 6.647  207.75
   4. Allen Johnson        Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger      6.653  208.55
   5. Ron Krisher          Valvoline Cobalt                6.659  207.21
   6. Greg Anderson        Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.660  207.75
   7. Greg Stanfield       Nitrofish GXP                   6.665  206.89
   8. Rickie Jones         Elite GXP                       6.673  206.39
   9. Johnny Gray          NTB GXP                         6.675  206.48
  10. Shane Gray           Tire Kingdom GXP                6.678  206.73
  11. Kurt Johnson         Mark Christopher Cobalt         6.681  206.48
  12. Warren Johnson       K&N Filters GXP                 6.684  207.27
  13. Ronnie Humphrey      Pro Stock Grills/THM GXP        6.685  207.59
  14. Erica Enders         Mustang                         6.685  206.48
  15. Justin Humphreys     RaceRedi Motorsports GXP        6.685  205.88
  16. V. Gaines            Kendall Oil Avenger             6.686  207.15
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  17. Steve Spiess         Billet Specialties Cobalt       6.688  206.23
  18. Bob Yonke            Adrenaline Motorsports GXP      6.695  206.76
  19. Jason Line           Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.701  207.34
  20. Larry Morgan         Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang        6.705  206.45
  21. Vinnie Deceglie      Mountain View Tire Avenger      6.706  207.27
  22. Steve Schmidt        Schmidt Competition Engines Co  6.729  205.38
  23. John Nobile          Nobile Racing Mustang           6.744  204.63
  24. Dave River           River Racing Cobalt             6.823  201.97
  25. John Gaydosh Jr      Gaydosh Performance GTO         6.865  200.74
  26. Mark Hogan           EMSI Inc. GTO                   6.930  204.82
  27. Danny Gruninger      Cunnningham Racing Mustang     11.656  204.76