O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA National Recap From Charlotte

Words and photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Matt Hagan drove to his first win of the season and backed up his national record-setting run in the process as eliminations came to an end Sunday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Antron Brown, Kurt Johnson and Eddie Krawiec were also winners in their respective categories at the first of six races in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoffs to determine the world championships.

Hagan began his week of domination Friday night when he became the first Funny Car driver in NHRA history to make a three-second run. After taking the No. 1 qualifier with a 3.995-second run, Hagan then backed up that pass with a first round win Sunday at 4.018 seconds to secure the national record and the 20 bonus points that come with it. Hagan then powered his Die Hard Dodge Charger past points leader Mike Neff in the final round with a run of 4.130 seconds at 301.07 mph to secure his fourth career win and move up to the second spot in the point standings, just 22 points behind Neff.

“It’s something else to sit in a race car when it has that kind of potential,” said Hagan. “This is the third national record we’ve set with this car and that’s phenomenal to me. To have a group of guys around you like (crew chief) Tommy DeLago, (assistant crew chief) Glen Huszar, and all the guys who beat this thing up and put it back together is phenomenal. It’s truly a fairy tale deal to go out there, set the record and win the race.”

Hagan’s Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman also set the new national record for speed this weekend with a pass at 318.99 mph, but lost to Hagan in the semifinal round. Countdown to the Championship contenders John Force, Robert Hight, Bob Tasca and Ron Capps all lost in the first round of eliminations.

In Top Fuel, Mac Tools U.S. Nationals winner Brown continued his streak of success when he held off teammate Spencer Massey in the final round to secure his third race win in a row. Brown powered his Macto Tools dragster to a 3.784 at 325.14 to secure his fifth win of the season and take over the points lead for the first time this season.

“The radar is on us now, so we have to dig harder with all these guys gunning for us,” said Brown. “When we raced Tony Schumacher (in the semifinals), we had nothing to lose. He was running on a whole ‘nother level. Our Aaron’s Matco Tools guys threw the kitchen sink at it and threw the whole tractor-trailer with it. We threw our other tractor-trailer at it again for the final.”

Brown’s Don Schumacher Racing teammate Schumacher set the national record for speed when he drove his U.S. Army dragster to a 327.90 pass, while Brown’s other teammate and runner-up finisher Massey took over the second spot in the points standings, just 16 points behind Brown.

In Pro Stock, after over three years since his last race win, Johnson held off Jason Line to get the win. Johnson powered his Johnson Racing Chevy Cobalt to a 6.545 at 210.97 past points leader Line to get his 40th career win.

“It’s been a real battle and we finally figured out that maybe we needed a new car,” said Johnson. “I brought this car out in Bristol and didn’t qualify, but we’ve been adapting and it really started to thunder in Brainerd. It’s totally different than anything we’ve had since about 2003, but I think we know what to do with it now and it’s proved itself today.”

Krawiec kept his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson at the top of the pack all weekend when he picked up the No. 1 qualifier Saturday and raced to his third win of the season Sunday. Krawiec rode to a 6.870 at 196.42 past runner-up Karen Stoffer and strengthen his points lead over the competition.

“I came into the Countdown as the points leader, and my attitude changed,” said Krawiec. “I struggled a lot on the Tree this year and gave up a couple of race wins in my mind. I feel like I’ve been riding well but not racing well. When you have low e.t. and set national records but lose rounds because of bad riding, it wears on you. I shook it off coming into the Countdown and told myself, ‘You’re leading the points. You’re obviously a good rider and a good racer.’

Leah Pruett raced to her first win in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series Sunday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Pruett drove her ProCare Rx ’10 Mustang to a 5.843-second pass at 253.52 mph past her R2B2 Racing teammate Melanie Troxel to collect her first Pro Mod career win at the same track where Troxel collected her first Pro Mod win one year earlier.

“It’s just now starting to sink in,” said Pruett. “I think I’ll really realize it when Roger Burgess flies in and kicks the party off. Nothing really compares to this. This is my first national event win. Having the (Nostalgia Funny Car) championship last year was amazing but a national event win doesn’t get any better than this.”

Current points leader Khalid Balooshi lost in the first round of eliminations to Donald Martin, while second-place driver in the point standings, Danny Rowe, lost just one round later to Pete Farber.

Qualifying

Tony Schumacher raced to the No. 1 spot in Top Fuel as qualifying came to an end Saturday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Matt Hagan, Jason Line and Eddie Krawiec also took the No. 1 qualifying spots in their respective categories at the 17th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the first of six races in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoffs to determine the world championships.

Schumacher powered his U.S. Army dragster to the top of the field on the last pass of Saturday qualifying. His run of 3.771-seconds tied for the third quickest in Top Fuel history, while Schumacher’s speed of 325.92 mph was the third fastest in Top Fuel history. The run gave the seven-time world champion his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season and 66th of his career.

“I love coming here,” said Schumacher. “Bruton Smith built a great racetrack, and it’s topped off with the great weather we have this weekend. The crew chiefs just turned it up all the way. We saw (Larry) Dixon running 3.70’s and knew that’s where we had to be. The U.S. Army dragster went 3.80, 3.80, and 3.77 in its last three runs. I couldn’t be happier.”

Top Fuel points leader Del Worsham qualified fourth in the field, while Worsham’s teammate Dixon took the third spot. Schumacher will face Morgan Lucas in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.

Hagan, who made NHRA history Friday night when he drove his Die Hard Dodge Charger to the first three-second pass in Funny Car history, stayed at the top of the field with his run of 3.995 at 316.23. With the history-setting run, Hagan collected his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and ninth of his career.

“It’s Tommy’s (DeLago, crew chief) call whether we try to go for (the national record) tomorrow or just go rounds,” said Hagan, who still needs to back up his 3.995 pass to set the national record and earn 20 bonus points in the process. “It’s anybody’s ballgame right now, and I’m just excited to have a competitive race car underneath me. I can’t wait to get going in the morning and hopefully we can do big things out here.”

Funny Car points leader and Mac Tools U.S. Nationals winner Mike Neff will start Sunday eliminations from the second spot, while defending event winner Cruz Pedregon qualified ninth in the field.

In Pro Stock, Line kept his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP at the top of the field as qualifying came to an end. His Friday run of 6.520 at 212.66 was strong enough to give Line his third No. 1 qualifier in a row, fifth of the season and 22nd overall, while Line’s teammate and current points leader Greg Anderson secured the second spot heading into eliminations on Sunday.

“We just have to make it so that the No. 1 qualifier wins instead of the No. 2 qualifier,” said Line. “We’ve kind of been jinxed on that the last three races, but we’re going to fix that tomorrow. Obviously to peak right now as the Countdown starts is a great thing. As a racer and a team, that’s what you dream about, so it feels really good. We just need to do our job tomorrow and capitalize on it.”

Krawiec’s Friday run on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson stayed strong to give him the top spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle. With a track-record run of 6.833 at 196.70, Krawiec earned his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and ninth of his career. Krawiec will face Steve Johnson in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.

“It definitely feels good to be No. 1 heading into tomorrow,” said Krawiec. “We got a bunch of qualifying points with low e.t. of three of the four rounds, and the only time we didn’t get low e.t. was when we missed it last night. I lost the championship one year by two points, so I know that an extra point here and there really adds up.”

Melanie Troxel held on to the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Troxel powered her In-N-Out ’53 Corvette to a 5.815-second pass at 256.55 mph Friday to take the provisional top spot and held on to it through Saturday qualifying to take her second consecutive No. 1 qualifier of the season and third for the year. Troxel then went on to win her first round match-up against Kenny Lang.

“It’s a nice change to know we have two really good race cars on Saturday night,” said Troxel, who also qualified third in her NHRA Full Throttle ProCare Rx Toyota Funny Car. “We had a few hiccups where the car didn’t go down the track but (tuner) Steve Petty always does a great job of putting the In-N-Out Pro Mod back where it needs to be when it’s time to step up to the game.”

Current points leader Khalid Balooshi lost in the first round of eliminations to Donald Martin, while second-place driver in the point standings, Danny Rowe, held off Mike Knowles to advance to the second round of eliminations.