Saturday's AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals live photo gallery
Saturday, September 29, 2012
It's another beautiful day at Gateway Motorsports Park for day two of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals. We're under clear, blue skies with a forecasted high of just 75 degrees, the kind of conditions that race cars love. Sportsman eliminations are underway in many classes, including Super Comp, with the Full Throttle teams scheduled to hit the track at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. for the event's final two qualifying sessions. |
While their teams ready their machines, NHRA's Full Throttle Pros are interacting with their fans in NHRA's world-famous open pits. (Above) Three-time Top Fuel champ Larry Dixon is taking part in his second of three planned events with the Dote Racing team and put together a pair of nice mid-3.8-second passes Friday. Funny Car rookie Alexis DeJoria (below left) and Pro Stock Motorcycle vet Karen Stoffer (below right) also are "working the ropes." |
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Mopar-backed drivers, including Pro Stock points leader Allen Johnson and current Funny Car low qualifier Jack Beckman, took part in an autograph session prior to the opening round of qualifying today. |
The pits at Gateway Motorsports Park are packed with NHRA fans eager for another day of record-setting action. |
Funny Car stars Courtney and John Force took part in a Sports Illustrated photo shoot for a new book. |
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[11:55 a.m.] Hector Arana Jr. (right) made a stunning pass to close the day's first Pro Stock Motorcycle session, crushing out a 6.804, better than his Friday-leading pass of 6.826, to maintain the top spot on the qualifying sheets.
(Above) Crew chief Matt Hines, himself a former world champ, gives reigning season champ Eddie Krawiec the go-ahead to stage his pink Screamin' Eagle Harley, painted in special colors in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness month, which begins Oct. 1. Krawiec ran 6.853, a tad slower than his Friday best of 6.839, but nonetheless the second-best run of the round. Hector Arana Sr.'s 6.866 was third best. |
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[12:20 p.m.] Summit Racing teammates Jason Line. left, and Greg Anderson both improved in the morning Pro Stock qualifying session.
Line's Camaro (left) improved on its already-field-leading 6.514, 212.53 dual-track record effort from Friday with a stout 6.496 at 213.47 to reset both marks. Line's speed is the fifth fastest in class history; Line also holds the time slip for the fastest run ever, 213.91 mph, set earlier this year in Charlotte.
Anderson, meanwhile, improved from 6.533 to a 6.517 to go from sixth to third behind Allen Johnson's Friday 6.516. A.J. ran 6.517 at a better speed than Anderson to claim two session bonus points. |
The grandstands at Gateway Motorsports Park are filled for today's final qualifying sessions. |
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[1 p.m.] Spencer Massey (above) ran 3.838 for the second-best time of the day's opening Top Fuel session, and while his e.t. didn't quite match Tony Schumacher's top time of 3.831, the two bonus points he earned did bring him back into a tie for first place in points with teammate Antron Brown.
(Left) After two misses Friday, veteran Luigi Novelli, of Crete, Ill., made it down the track with a 3.98 but will have to step up his performance in the final session if he wants to make Sunday's starting field, which has a bump 3.932 held by Bruce Litton.
Behind Schumacher and Massey, the round's third-best time was 3.844 by Steve Torrence. |
TJ Zizzo, another Illinois fan favorite, saluted the crowd after making a pass in his Peak Motor Oil dragster; Zizzo, of Lincolnshire, Ill., is currently in the field in the No. 15 spot with a 3.889 best. |
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Mike Neff has taken four different race cars to the Funny Car final here — three as a crew chief and one as a driver. In 2002, he tuned Scotty Cannon to a runner-up, and in 2004, he guided Gary Scelzi to the win.
In 2005, while simultaneously tuning eventual world champ Scelzi and subbing for an ailing Ed McCulloch as crew chief for Ron Capps, he wrenched Scelzi to the No. 1 qualifying spot and Capps to the win.
As a driver in 2008, Neff drove the John Force Racing/Old Spice Ford to a runner-up behind Tim Wilkerson in what was his first final round as a driver.
Things aren’t looking quite that rosy yet this year for Neff, who’s qualified just No. 15 with one session remaining.
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[1:55 p.m.] Johnny Gray (above) had the quickest time of the third Funny Car session with a 4.126 from his NTB/Service Central Dodge.
Courtney Force (left) was the second quickest, just a thousandth of a second behind Gray with a 4.127. Reigning season champ Matt Hagan's 4.132 was third as no one got close to Jack Beckman's Friday field-leading 4.049. |
Don Walsh Jr. locked down his third straight No. 1 qualifying berth in the NHRA Pro Mod Series presented by ProCare Rx. The turbocharged Mustang will lead the field into the first round later today after posting a 3.816. |
Country artist Chelsea Bain and her band put on a mini concert in the pits between qualifying sessions. The band will play again Sunday at 1 p.m. after Bain sings the national anthem to kick off the day's final eliminations. |
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[2:30 p.m.] After a disappointing DNQ at the series' last stop in Dallas and a trouble-plagued Friday, rookie Pro Stock Motorcycle rider John Hall (above) and the Sovereign/Star Racing team rebounded to get him in the field today, albeit on the bump spot of the all-six-second field with a 6.987 best. He'll run low qualifier Hector Arana Jr. in round one Sunday.
(Left) Arana made it a clean sweep of bonus points, netting the maximum 12 session points after having the quickest bike in each of the four Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying sessions.
In the final session, his 6.832 was two-thousandths quicker than his dad's 6.834. Andrew Hines was third quickest of the round with a 6.883.
All told in qualifying, Arana earned 10 more points than points leader Eddie Krawiec to carve his deficit down to 69 points. |
[2:50 p.m.] Jeg Coughlin Jr., who has had a lot of success at Gateway Motorsports Park, squeaked into the Pro Stock field with a last-ditch 6.581 that put him on the bump spot.
The last time the NHRA competed here in 2010, he won in Top Dragster and just missed a rare Pro/Sportsman double up when he was runner-up to Warren Johnson in Pro Stock.
Coughlin, who won Pro Stock here in 2002 and 2009 and also was runner-up in 1998 and 2007.
He'll take on the low qualifier in round one, but the smart money won't count out Coughlin, who has won in Pro Stock from every qualifying position. |
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[3:05 p.m.] Although Jason Line once again had the quickest run of the round with a 6.509, Erica Enders was the second quickest in the final Pro Stock session with a 6.530 on a less-than-perfect pass and finished in the fourth spot with her earlier 6.519. Enders has had a breakout season in 2012, with three victories, three runner-ups, two No. 1 qualifiers, and two track e.t. records. She recently earned a third-place finish in third-quarter voting for the Driver of the Year Award, a prestigious prize that covers motorsports in the United States. |
[3:20 p.m.] Illinois' most storied drag racer, Chicago-based Chris "the Greek" Karamesines (above), ran a best of 3.974 but couldn't crack the Top Fuel field with his Lucas Oil-backed digger. His Lucas Oil "teammate," Bruce Litton (below), made the show in the No. 16 spot much to the delight of daughter Heather and grandson Landon. |
| Nitro racing legend Connie Kalitta has to be happy with the outings of his two Top Fuel cars so far this weekend. David Grubnic placed the Optima Batteries dragster — tuned by Kalitta and assistant crew chief James Riola — in the No. 3 spot with a fine 3.773 recorded Friday night, and Kalitta's nephew, Doug, put the Jim Oberhofer-wrenched Mac Tools dragster into the field in the No. 5 spot with a 3.795. |
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[4:40 p.m.] Robert Hight (above) made his and the event sponsor proud by wheeling the AAA Insurance Mustang to a 4.109. The pass was the second quickest of the round behind teammate Courtney Force's 4.107. Hight's boss, John Force (below), qualified No. 2, his best race-day start since qualifying No. 1 in Chicago in June. |