Saturday's Super Shots
Saturday, June 02, 2012
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Historic Old Bridge Township Raceway Park lived up to that superlative last night as the site of the quickest runs in Top Fuel and Funny Car history during a spectacular nighttime qualifying session at the Toyota NHRA SuperNationals.
At least a dozen drivers — including field leaders Spencer Massey (3.728 in Top Fuel) and Ron Capps (3.964 in Funny Car) — recorded career-best performances under the lights in E-town.
An evening rainstorm, which let loose minutes after the final runs, blew through the area last night and today blue skies have replaced Friday's gray day.
The NHRA Full Throttle drivers will set their fields for Sunday's final eliminations in two qualifying sessions today, scheduled for noon and 2:30 p.m. |
The late, great Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins is being remembered as part of a display of nostalgia cars in the pits. |
The Englishtown experience of the local fan-favorite Lagana family, from Scarsdale, N.Y., will be chronicled this week in National DRAGSTER's All Access feature. Patriarch Bobby, third from left, was an E-town regular with his Twilight Zone entries and son Dom now is at the controls of the family's NTB-sponsored Top Fueler. |
After sitting out Friday's two Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying sessions, Angie Smith will be making her first start of the 2012 season today aboard one of her husband Matt's Buell machines.
The bike was ridden previously this season by Joey Gladstone, who successfully qualified aboard it in both Gainesville and Atlanta.
Smith finished 11th in last year's championship points but has been sidelined this season while she searches for a sponsor. |
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[12:25 p.m.] Hector Arana Sr. had the best pass of the event's third Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying session, racking up a 6.836 aboard his Lucas Oil Buell that was better than the 6.853 of qualifying mate and field leader Eddie Krawiec but not better than Krawiec's Friday track record pass of 6.782. Krawiec had the best pass of both sessions Friday. |
[12:45 p.m.] Local hero Vincent Nobile, of Dix Hills, N.Y., had the third-best run of the day's opening Pro Stock session with a 6.542 in the Mountain View Tires Dodge. Nobile was runner-up at this event last year. Allen Johnson (6.527) and Jason Line (6.539) had the best two passes of the session; Line still leads qualifying based on his Friday best of 6.518. |
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| To honor the 20th anniversary of the first exhibition passes by a Jr. Dragster, at this event in 1992 — a display that directly led to the founding of the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League — eight Jr. Dragster racers made passes down the Raceway Park track in the middle of the day's first Pro qualifying session. |
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New Jersey fans have packed the Raceway Park pit area to get up close and personal with the stars of NHRA. |
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Can you guess which Top Fuel racer carries this popular green-wearing mascot from the Super Mario Bros. franchise on the nose of his race car and a popular character from the Cars movie painted on same?
Yep, veteran Luigi Novelli has the famed character of the same first name on his National Machine entry (the plush toy gets removed before the run).
Novelli finished the third qualifying session on the bump with his 4.10 pass. |
[1:35 p.m.] Tony Schumacher had the best run of the event's third Top Fuel qualifying session, a 3.778 that was almost four-hundredths quicker than Shawn Langdon's next-best pass of 3.825.
Spencer Massey, who rotated the earth last night with an all-time-best 3.728, did not make a full pass. He needs a 3.776 to back up his monster pass for a national record.
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Mike Smith is back behind the wheel of Paul Weiss' Ultimate Warrior Stratus Funny Car, which is sponsored at this event by Ducubella, Venter & Santmore, better known as DVS, which handles top-level security for many projects, including the new World Trade Center and the Liberty Bell. The car, tuned by Smith and East Coast veteran Rhea Goodrich, of New Englander Top Fuel fame, is not yet qualified with one attempt remaining. |
Bob Tasca III's tuning brain trust of, from left, Chris Cunningham, Dickie Venables, and Marc Denner consult on the starting line. Their uniform backs mirror the image on the hood of their Funny Car, a special-edition Mystery 4 Mustang honoring Tasca's grandfather. Tasca sits 10th based on his 4.065 best from Friday. |
[2:15 p.m.] A pair of Toyota drivers had some great runs in the third Funny Car session. Tony Pedregon (above) and his STP Camry ran 4.106, the best of the round, and Jim Head (below) ran 4.113, third best of the frame. |
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[2:55 p.m.] After posting the third-best pass of the day's first session, Michael Ray had the second-best run of the final session, a 6.876, aboard his Buell. Eddie Krawiec had the best pass of the session, a 6.863. Krawiec had the best run of three of the four sessions and was second best in the other, earning 11 of 12 possible bonus points. |
[3 p.m.] After losing her first qualifying run of the day, Grace Howell powered Jim Cunningham's Mastercam Mustang into the Pro Stock field with a 6.628. She'll take on No. 1 qualifier Jason Line in Sunday's first round. |
[3:15 p.m.] Allen Johnson had the best run of the final Pro Stock session and almost the best of the meet; his 6.518 tied Jason Line's Friday best, but Line earned his fifth No. 1 of the season based on speed, 212.16 to 211.76. |
[3:55 p.m.] T.J. Zizzo bumped his way into the Top Fuel field with a last-ditch 3.920 for the No. 16 spot. |
[4:20 p.m.] Steve Torrence, who earlier this year in Atlanta scored his first career Top Fuel victory, had the best elapsed time of the final session with a 3.785, just ahead of Doug Kalitta's 3.794. Spencer Massey remained No. 1. |
[4:30 p.m.] Two weeks after qualifying No. 1 for the third time this season, Cruz Pedregon suffered his second DNQ of the season; his 5.13 best fell short of the bump. Pedregon's other DNQ came at the season opener in Pomona. "All self-inflicted," admitted Pedregon. "We were just off our game this weekend." |
[5 p.m.] Johnny Gray completed a great four-run qualifying effort with a 4.045, the best run of the final Funny Car session. Gray also ran 4.022, which has him qualified No. 3, as well as 4.082 and 4.115. |