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After 22 races and tens of thousands of miles criss-crossing the nation, the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season comes down to this: the traditional season finale Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. The first five races in the Countdown to the Championship have set up an epic battle amongst the Don Schumacher Racing camps, and it will all be decided this weekend as the curtain closes on the 2012 season and the Full Throttle era. Join us all weekend long as we bring you the sights of drag racing’s final hurrah of what’s been an incredible season.
A special thanks to the presenting sponsor of our same day coverage, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels. Whether it’s your daily driver, your tow vehicle, or your race car, Mickey Thompson’s rolling hardware has the looks and the competitive edge you’re looking for!
After 15 years of being out of the cockpit of a Pro Stock car, Jerry Eckman is back behind the wheel. His first race back in 2012 was Indy, "I've got 5 runs on the car in fifteen years, Eckman exclaimed. "And it feels FAST. We were running low 6.90s at 198 when I left. Now we are going 6.68 at 205. I felt like I was being picked up by a jet flying by with a grappling hook." Keep an eye out for a future article with Jerry here on Dragzine.
Courtney Force's crew in the JFR camp prepare her Funny Car for the second round of qualifying. Courtney currently leads the Funny Car qualifying with a 4.032 at 315.93 mph run. “This was kind of surreal, coming out here and remembering what it was like (at her first race) in February, when I was so sick to my stomach,” Force said. “I’ve got a great car and a great team. Running a 4.03 the first lap out is amazing. I’m hoping it hold up for No. 1. That would be pretty awesome.”
Antron Brown is eagerly waiting to make his first run of the weekend in Funny Car. Brown currently leads the Top Fuel points over Tony Schumacher and Spencer Massey and is looking to end up in the final round this weekend as he did at the Pomona season opener.
Qualifying Round 2 Notes
Antron Brown's new tow vehicle, dubbed the 'DragQuoia' was revealed to the public at last week's SEMA show. This badass Sequioa comes complete with a TRD supercharged 5.7-liter that makes an estimated 650hp. Believe it or not, the carbon fiber Aerodine injector hat is functional. While this truck still looks faster than it is, it's by far the coolest tow vehicle on the property.
Andrew Hines distanced himself in the second round of Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying by bettering his 6.872 pass with a 6.838 at 196.10 mph. Other significant jumps in qualifying included LE Tonglet rising from 9th to 5th and Chip Ellis' DQed run was replaced with a 9th place pass.
As yesterday we talked about how Jason Line had out performed teammate Greg Anderson by a large margin, we were sure that Anderson was looking for a way to change that. While Jason Line (pictured above) did slightly improve on his round one attempt, it was Anderson who pushed his teammate back to third with his number one qualifying pass of a 6.527 at 211.76 mph. Soon to be crowned Pro Stock champion Allen Johnson still sits in second.
(Left) Del Worsham watches Jack Beckman's explosion on the big screen while the NHRA crew preps the track for Top Fuel Funny Car. (Right) Running his unscathed chassis and back up body, Jack Beckman blasted to the number one qualifying spot. 'These are the things that you dream of,' said Beckman, who is going for the fifth pole of the year and ninth in his career. 'You don't think of blowing a car up that bad but when you do you think, Would that be unbelievable for this team to come back and go to the top. That's not practical most of the time. I thought they might give us a (4.07 or 4.08) and we'd be back to our baseline tune-up and could lean on it (Saturday).'
Missing an eye brow from the fire, Beckman still went on to talk to parents about safe driving for their teens.
The entire Top Fuel class was eager to start their first round of qualifying after yesterday's rain out. Lucas attributes the solid 3.761 at 324.98 mph pass to being aggressive on his tune up. "A lot of people, because of looking at the weather forecast, were a little more conservative than they probably would be," Lucas said. "We're just happy to be in this position because it lets us have a chance to try some things tomorrow." But Lucas says that while this time was good, there is more to be had, "We're having a problem with the car not wearing as much clutch as we normally would, and it's been consistent in that regard," Lucas said. "That run, for example, it didn't wear nearly as much as we wanted to in the clutch, and that affects how it locks up in the middle and how it's going to run to the middle of the race track."
(Left) Spencer Massey is currently the top qualifier out of the top three drivers (Brown, Schumacher, and Massey) currently in the battle for the championship with a 4th spot 3.791 at 325.69 mph run. Brown currently sits in 6th and Schumacher in 9th.
