Sunday's Topeka pics
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Ideal temperatures in the 70s and clear skies prompted the fans to fill up the grandstands and pit area once again to cap off three days of perfect weather conditions at the 2012 Dollar General NHRA Summernationals. |
Top Fuel driver Antron Brown was one of three Pro No. 1 qualifiers interviewed by Bob Frey during the pre-race driver introductions that were conducted in front of a large group of Sunday’s race fans. |
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Morgan Lucas helped ignite a Top Fuel performance extravaganza in round one when he made the third-quickest run in NHRA history. His 3.745 at 328.22 mph defeated Khalid alBalooshi’s 3.768. His 291.01 speed at the eighth-mile mark is considered the fastest speed ever at that increment. |
| Robert Hight, starting from the bottom half of the field for the first time since the Phoenix event last season, made the quickest lap of Funny Car eliminations with a 4.05 that put his teammate and sister-in-law Courtney Force on the trailer in the first round. |
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Shane Gray began his trip to the Pro Stock semifinals when he upset No. 4 qualifier Mike Edwards on a 6.596 to 6.579 holeshot. Gray then advanced past Erica Enders, who red-lighted by .003-second in round two. Gray has done well in the past at Heartland Park Topeka, having won last year’s event. |
Vincent Nobile, who was defeated in the first round here last year on a .000 light by Greg Stanfield, pulled off the trick himself this time with a perfect .000 reaction time against Kurt Johnson in round one of Pro Stock. |
Spencer Massey advanced past teammate Tony Schumacher in the second round of Top Fuel in an anomaly: a neck-and-neck pedalfest. Massey scored a 4.112 to 4.114 victory by a razor-thin eight-ten-thousandths margin. |
After posting career-best numbers in the first round, Doug Kalitta set low e.t. of the Top Fuel second round against a red-lighting Antron Brown to advance to the semifinals for the second straight race. |
| Cruz Pedregon appeared to be home free in the second round of Funny Car until his Snap-On Camry made an abrupt move to the centerline and took out the foam blocks at the finish line, disqualifying him against a tire-smoking Robert Hight. |
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Tim Wilkerson’s weekend ended in a loss to Jack Beckman in the Funny Car semifinal round after he had already doubled his 2012 round-win total. |
| After qualifying third in Pro Stock with a 6.630 and scoring wins over Steve Kent and V. Gaines with respective times of 6.566 (low e.t. of the meet) and 6.571, Jason Line was denied the chance to advance to the final round for the first time in his career when he was defeated in the semi’s by Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson in a close 6.57 to 6.58 decision. |
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Greg Anderson’s Pontiac left first on Allen Johnson’s Dodge in the Pro Stock final, .004 to .014, but tire shake early in the run cost him considerably, and A.J. went on to score the 6.58 to 6.69 win, his second of the year. Anderson still came away with a new speed track record of 211.30 mph and retained his No. 1 points position. |
Jack Beckman lit both staging lights simultaneously in the Funny Car final against teammate Ron Capps before cutting a near-perfect .004 light and beating Capps in a 4.15 to 4.10 holeshot win. This is Beckman’s first win since the Phoenix event last season. |
David Grubnic scored his first Top Fuel win since 2006 and second at Heartland Park Topeka when he chased down Spencer Massey at the very end of a 3.89 to 3.91 final in a .009-second decision. |
The Dollar General NHRA Summernationals Full Throttle champs, from left, David Grubnic (Top Fuel), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock), and Jack Beckman (Funny Car). |