Saturday's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals photo blog
Saturday, September 08, 2012
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[10 a.m.] The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus is ready for version two, but more than 2 inches of rain fell on the area last night and has slightly delayed the start of today's action.
Currently, we are under partly cloudy (but partly sunny!) skies, scheduled to start with a Super Stock time trial at 11 a.m., which was the original start time for Pro qualifying, which has now been moved to 2:30 p.m. It's going to be cool, and it's going to be fast!
Additionally, the Traxxas Nitro Shootout for Funny Cars has been scrubbed from the schedule and will now be run on Saturday of the Dallas event [story].
Fans are coming through the gates at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, teams are unloading and prepping their cars, and all lights are green for the Big Go to resume.
Following Super Stock at 11 a.m. will be Q3 for alcohol cars, round one of Comp, then Q2 for Pro Mod, followed by final Full Throttle qualifying, which is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Alcohol round one will take place at 7 p.m. followed by round one of Super Stock. |
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Last night's heavy rainfall has left some standing water in the pits; some of it (above) is being taken care of by the NHRA Safety Safari presented by AAA. In one remote corner of the pits (below), it's in the hands of heavy-duty pumps. Right now, Jim Cunningham's marooned Pro Stock rig is largely inaccessible to its crew. |
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It's a beautiful sight ... |
Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Kris Hool and his Pizza Ranch/Gripper Hand Cleaner team made good use of the delay, heading to Tri-State Raceway in Earlville, Iowa, for the completion Thursday of the rained-out Topeka Division 5 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event, where they won and also qualified No. 4 for the Earlville event Friday to at least earn event grading points. Topeka final-round opponent Tony Bartone and Top Alcohol Dragster winner Sidnei Frigo also made the 390-mile return trip, but neither stuck around for qualifying Friday.
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[10:45 a.m.] Super Stock to the lanes ... |
[12:15 p.m.] Tony Bartone left Indy last weekend as the No. 1 qualifier with a 5.58, then watched Frank Manzo take that spot from him today with a 5.54. Bartone, the last car down the track in today's final session, retook what previously was his with a killer 5.49 pass in Rick Jackson's Centre Point Collision Mustang. |
Cruz's new hot rod
Cruz Pedregon had his latest project on display in the showroom of the Brownsburg, Ind., facility that he shares with his brother Tony. Pedregon put together a race-ready Nostalgia Funny Car that he painted like the Keeling & Clayton-owned California Charger from the early 1970s.
The race car resembles the California Charger entries in spirit in addition to paint. The hard-running Keeling & Clayton front-engine Top Fuel dragsters in the 1960s and Funny Cars in the 1970s were equal parts impressive in performance and immaculate in detail. Pedregon took great pains to make sure that all visible components were polished, powdercoated, or painted. From the painted Plueger chassis to the polished rear-end housing, no stone was left unturned (or in this case, unpolished).
“I like how people pay homage with tribute cars, and being a California guy, I remember how beautiful the California Charger was and asked the family for permission to use the name,” said Pedregon. “They set a high standard for detail that we tried to uphold.
“It’s not a show car, though. It’s ready to race. Our plan is to shake it down with some 330-foot runs in Indy during the week between one of the four-in-a-row races and take it to the California Hot Rod Reunion [presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California] in Bakersfield [Calif.], Oct. 19-21.”
Pedregon, who has some previous Nostalgia Funny Car experience, will join the likes of Jim Head and Chuck and Del Worsham as Professional team owners who will field Nostalgia Funny Car entries at Auto Club Famoso Raceway.
“People have asked why I built a race car when I already race so many weekends a year, but this is what I love to do,” said Pedregon. “Some people buy boats or whatever, but I’m not really into that. I like to race, and this is a fun class where we can run 500-cid motors and nitro without the same type of pressure as we see week in and week out.”
As they await their first qualifying session later today, the Pro racers got back to business. (Above) DSR teammates Ron Capps, left, and Jack Beckman talked strategy, and John Force (below) signed autographs. |
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[2:15 p.m.] Former Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Matt Smith (left) picked up more than a tenth from the previous week, improving on his 7.019 with a 6.902 that moved his Buell from eighth to No. 1, but it only lasted a little while. Andrew Hines, the incoming leader based on his first-week 6.928, picked up to a 6.895 to retake the pole. Smith held onto the No. 2 spot.
Session bonus points went to Hines (3), Smith (2), and Hector Arana Sr., who ran a 6.910 (1).
Hines’ Harley-Davidson teammate Eddie Krawiec could only muster a 7.145.
Michael Phillips is on the bump with one session remaining after clocking a 7.099.
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[3 p.m.] Eleven drivers ran quicker than Erica Enders' incoming 6.621 Pro Stock pole position, led by Greg Anderson (above), who raced his Summit Camaro to a 6.556. Mike Edwards (below) had the second-best time, a 6.563 at 211.06, which broke Anderson's old track speed record of 211.03. Allen Johnson was third quickest at 6.564. Enders improved to a 6.570 but fell to fifth. The bump is 6.636 by Ronnie Humphrey. |
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[4 p.m.] Jeff Arend didn’t match his 4.088 from last week, but the 4.112 that his Jon Oberhofer-tuned DHL Toyota put on the board was the best run of the day’s first Funny Car session. Arend remains No. 9 on the qualifying sheets. Courtney Force, whose 4.128 effort was the second best, held onto the top spot with her earlier 4.049. Ron Capps’ 4.136 earned the final bonus point. Robert Hight (below), who came into today not in the field, bashed his way into the show with a 4.175, good for the No. 13 spot. Bob Bode is on the bump with a 4.223. |
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[4:45 p.m.] Eight-time Indy Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher (above) had the best run of the day’s first Top Fuel qualifying session with a 3.825 in his Mike Green-wrenched U.S. Army dragster but couldn’t wrest the No. 1 spot away from first-week leader Spencer Massey (3.762) and remained No. 2 on the qualifying sheets. Brandon Bernstein and the MavTV/ProtectTheHarvest.com dragster (below) had the second-best run of the Top Fuel qualifying session with a 3.829 better than his earlier 3.835 to jump into the top half of the field. J.R. Todd’s 3.859 earned the session’s remaining bonus point.
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(Above) Shawn Gann, who holds the unique distinction of four straight U.S. Nationals runner-ups (2001 to 2004), will get another crack at winning the Big Go for the first time after qualifying in the No. 9 spot. He lost the first two finals to Angelle Sampey and the last two to Reggie Showers and current Top Fuel ace Antron Brown, respectively.
(Left) Columbus' “Red Dawn” Minturn, who came into the weekend not in the field, raced to a 7.044 in the first session to secure her first career race-day start riding one of Matt Smith’s powerful Buells. Minturn qualified No. 16 and will race low qualifier Andrew Hines in Monday’s first round. |
[5:50 p.m.] Andrew Hines finished the day's qualifying where he started it: atop the Pro Stock Motorcycle sheets. Both teammate Eddie Krawiec (6.886) and Hector Arana Sr. (6.881) bettered his first-session-leading 6.895, but he took back the No. 1 spot when his turn came with a 6.861. |
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V. Gaines (left), holding on to the 10th and final spot in the Pro Stock standings, was bumped from the field and would have lost his spot in the playoffs but responded in kind with a 6.606 to regain a berth in Monday’s field. Jeg Coughlin Jr., 11th in points and just two points behind Gaines, also successfully qualified for the show.
The Countdown hopes of 12th-place Ronnie Humphrey (above) already were hanging by a thread before he got bumped from the Pro Stock field in the final session, but he coolly responded with a 6.625 to fight his way back in, then was bumped again to end his playoff dreams.
The success of Coughlin, Gaines, and Larry Morgan, combined with Shane Gray's failure to qualify eliminated Gray from the playoffs, dropping from eighth to 11th.
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[6:15 p.m.] After a lot of shuffling in both sessions, Erica Enders finished Pro Stock qualifying where she left off last week: sitting in the No. 1 spot after racing to a 6.550 in the final session. |
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First-year nitro pilot Todd Lesenko put "Big Jim" Dunn's Grime Boss Funny Car into the field in spectacular fashion on his final attempt, making the field with a 4.173 despite a body-shedding blower explosion. Lesenko looked anything like a rookie when he skillfully manhandled the car to a stop without hitting the guardwall.
Lesenko said that the team has enough parts and pieces — including a spare body and, if needed, a spare chassis — to return for Monday's final eliminations.
Qualifying mate Jon Capps also qualified on his pass, on the bump, with a 4.19. |
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[7:40 p.m.] Defying all odds, last week's Countdown-crucial match between Ron Capps (above), the provisional top seed in the playoffs, and his teammate, 11th-place Matt Hagan, will happen after all. Last week, they were Nos. 5 and 12, respectively, but after qualifying was reopened and following a pair of runs today, they ended up third and 14th and will race in round one after all. Hagan will need to win the round to keep his title repeat hopes alive.
Capps' 4.053 in the evening session was the best of the round but did not top the earlier 4.049 of Courtney Force (left).
Force becomes just the 11th women to qualify in the top spot at an NHRA Full Throttle event and joins Erica Enders (No. 1 in Pro Stock) and former Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Angelle Sampey as the only No. 1 female qualifiers in the Full Throttle categories at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. |
[8 p.m.] Scott Palmer was already safely in the Top Fuel field in the No. 16 spot with a 3.927 after all other drivers who could bump him had already run, yet chose to make a pass and was rewarded with a career-best 3.900. |
[8:30 p.m.] A spectacular nighttime session closed qualifying for the 58th Big Go. Shawn Langdon (above) earned his second No. 1 qualifying position of the season with a 3.740 — the fourth-quickest run in history — in the Al-Anabi silver entry. Antron Brown (below) was second quickest with a 3.762 that matched Spencer Massey's earlier run, but Massey earned the No. 2 spot due to a better speed, 324.51 to 322.50. |
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