Sunday's Southern Snapshots
Sunday, May 06, 2012
Race-day Notes:
After collecting career round-win No. 600 last weekend in Houston, the big question remains for Tony Schumacher: When are you going to win again? His second-round exit in Houston pushed his string of winless events to 29, yet he has qualified No. 1 at this event for the first time in his career at the only race on the schedule that he has never won. Also, the week before the race, Schumacher also potted his first hole-in-one on the golf course. Omen?
In what continues to be the not-so-funniest season in Funny Car, Atlanta was Mike Neff’s turn in the DNQ barrel when the John Force Racing/Castrol driver failed to make the cut. On his final attempt, Neff appeared to be on a run good enough to qualify when the blower backfired before the finish line.
"We [were] running good enough to qualify, and then this cap for the spool where the barrel valve slides in, the snap ring or something, basically it unplugged the barrel valve while the fuel was in it, so it lost all the fuel and ran lean and popped the blower. It was running alright, it wasn’t going to be anything earth-shattering. It was going to qualify,” said Neff.
Neff has some good company this year because five of last year’s top-six finishers, including the top three (Matt Hagan, Jack Beckman, and Cruz Pedregon), have missed a field this year. Low qualifier Robert Hight, who finished fourth last year, is the lone exception in the top six that also includes Neff and Ron Capps. The final top 10 racer with a DNQ this season is Tim Wilkerson, who finished 10th last season.
Neff’s streak dated back to the 2008 Dallas race in his rookie season, spanning 56 events (he sat out 2010 to tune Force to his 15th championship, and it’s his first DNQ since returning from that hiatus). Team boss John Force has the longest current qualifying streak in Funny Car at 81 races, four more than Bob Tasca III. Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson has the longest active streak at 216 races.
The carnage raises memories of 2008 because when by season’s end eight of the previous year’s top 10 — Hight, Gary Scelzi, Beckman, Mike Ashley, Force, Jim Head, Del Worsham, and Ashley Force Hood — had missed at least one show, including Hight. Only reigning champ Tony Pedregon and fourth-place Capps had no DNQ demerits on their scorecard.
Despite two wins already this season, Morgan Lucas continues to have a Jekyll-and-Hyde car in qualifying. After qualifying No. 1 three times in the season’s first four races, he ranked only 14th at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, then returned to the No. 1 spot last weekend in Houston only to plummet to No. 13 this week. "We've had a lot of weird things happen in qualifying this weekend," Lucas said. "We're still ironing out some kinks, but we're not worried. The run in Q3 was looking really strong until it dropped a valve. That might've changed the whole outlook of qualifying because it probably would've put us in the top half of the field."
After going through the season’s first-five events without facing one another even in qualifying, high-profile rookie Funny Car racers Courtney Force and Alexis DeJoria have paired off three times in the last two events. Force defeated DeJoria in round one in Houston, and they paired off twice in qualifying on Saturday. DeJoria went 4.16 to Force’s 4.17 in the first go-round (though Force may boast she reached the finish line first), and DeJoria, who has an excellent and consistent car this weekend, ran 4.22 in the final session after Force’s car broke traction.
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Dan Wilkerson remained perfect in his young career after qualifying for the Funny Car field for event sponsor Summit Racing Equipment in his seventh start. His first-round opponent will be Capps, against whom young Wilk was racing in Memphis, Tenn., in 2009 when the rear wheels sheared off and caused him to crash. "As soon as I heard that we race Capps, I thought about Memphis,” he confessed. “This time, the plan is to get out ahead of him again but this time try not to crash. As long as the wheels stay on, I think we'll be OK in that department, but we're going to have our hands full with a very fast car and a very good driver. I bet my dad tells me we're just going to race the track and not worry about the other guy. He always says that."
Race-day Sunday started with a Track Walk with past event champs that allowed fans to make a "pass" down Atlanta Dragway to get up close and personal with "Georgia's House of Speed." |
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(Above) The Automobile Club Funny Car team of low qualifier Robert Hight methodically went about its pre-race preparations in anticipation of today's first round, scheduled for 11 a.m.
(Left) Steve Torrence, left, and crew chief Richard Hogan are quietly confident after qualifying their Capco Contractors dragster No. 2 in Top Fuel for the second straight event. |
As always, NHRA's star drivers, like Top Fuel ace Spencer Massey, are meeting and greeting fans. |
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[11 a.m.] Terry McMillen (above) won the day-opening first pairing in Top Fuel, scoring his second round-win of the season by defeating Khalid alBalooshi. McMillen dropped a cylinder early, and alBalooshi seemed well on his way to his first career Top Fuel round-win but smoked the tires downtrack. McMillen raced by for the win, taking it in a blaze of fire from the engine. McMillen's other round-win this season also came against alBalooshi, in Las Vegas.
(Right) Brandon Bernstein ran 3.843 against Hillary Will to advance, which was second best of the round behind Spencer Massey's 3.823.
Second-round pairings (lane choice first): Tony Schumacher vs. McMillen,
Massey vs. Kalitta, Steve Torrence vs. Bob Vandergriff Jr., and Bernstein vs. Clay Millican.
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[11:45 a.m.] Ron Capps (above), racing a special-edition NAPA Brakes Charger Funny Car at the national event closest to NAPA Auto Part's headquarters in Atlanta, advanced to round two over Daniel Wilkerson with a 4.148. Capps has been runner-up here three times but has not advanced out of the semi's since 2001. Courtney Force (below) collected the fifth round-win of her rookie career by beating Jack Beckman by just .006-second. She'll have lane choice over teammate/low qualifier Robert Hight in round two. Other second-round pairings (lane choice first): Cruz Pedregon vs. Jim Head, Capps vs. Matt Hagan, and Johnny Gray vs. Jeff Arend. |
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[12:15 p.m.] Erica Enders (above) beat Shane Gray on a holeshot in round one of Pro Stock, 6.618 to 6.617, but she'll give up second-round lane choice to Allen and Roy Johnson (below), who reset low e.t and top speed with a 6.594 at 209.98 mph. Other second-round pairings (lane choice first): Jason Line vs. Vincent Nobile, Mike Edwards vs. Ronnie Humphrey, and Greg Anderson vs. Steve Kent. |
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[12:45 p.m.] Eddie Krawiec (above) reset low e.t. in round one of Pro Stock Motorcycle with a 6.888 to defeat Michael Phillips. He'll take on Karen Stoffer in round two.
Chip Ellis (right), whose weekend began with a broken motorcycle Friday, upset No. 3 qualifier Hector Arana Jr. to advance but will cede lane choice to Shawn Gann.
Other second-round pairings (lane choice first): Hector Arana Sr. vs. Scotty Pollacheck and Andrew Hines vs. Michael Ray. |
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[1:20 p.m.] A first-time season winner was assured after round two of Top Fuel because none of the four semifinalists have scored this season, Doug Kalitta (above), who beat Don Schumacher racing teammates Antron Brown and Spencer Massey in rounds one and two, respectively, will face the third DSR car, the Army dragster of Tony Schumacher, who will have lane choice. Neither driver has won since the 2010 season. The other semifinal will feature Steve Torrence with lane choice against Brandon Bernstein. |
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It's been a rough Sunday for Terry McMillen. He won his first-round race, but it cost him two holes in his engine block (left), and then he repeated his fiery feat (above) in his second-round loss to Tony Schumacher. |
[1:30 p.m.] After upsetting Tim Wilkerson in round one, Jim Head (above) bested No. 4 qualifier Cruz Pedregon to advance to his first semifinal of 2012. He'll race Robert Hight in semi's, where Hight gets to pick his lane. The other semi will pit Jeff Arend (below, beating Johnny Gray in round two) against Ron Capps, who has lane choice. |
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[1:35 p.m.] Ronnie Humphrey, representing the event sponsor through its Genuine Hotrod Hardware line, has everyone talking after reaching the Pro Stock semifinals on back-to-back holeshots in the first two rounds. Humphrey beat Kurt Johnson, 6.64 to 6.63, in round one and Mike Edwards, 6.67 to 6.64, in the second round. He'll take on teammate Jason Line in the semifinals, where Line has lane choice
The other semifinal match will pit Greg Anderson, in the third Summit car, against Allen Johnson, who has lane choice.
All four of the top qualifiers have reached the semifinals. |
[2 p.m.] Attack of the shiny suits. (Above) Shawn Gann, near lane, defeated Chip Ellis, and (below) Michael Ray, near lane, upset Andrew Hines allowing both brightly attired riders to make the semi's, though neither will have lane choice. Ray will run Hector Arana Sr., who reset low e.t. with a 6.863, and Gann will tackle Eddie Krawiec. |
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[2:35 p.m.] After beating a tire-smoking Doug Kalitta in the semifinals, Tony Schumacher is one round away from winning at the only venue on the tour at which he has never won. Schumacher also is winless in his last 29 starts, dating back to the penultimate race of 2010. The only guy standing in his way is Steve Torrence (below), who will be appearing in his first career Top Fuel final and will have lane choice after beating Brandon Bernstein. |
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[2:35 p.m.] Ron Capps (right) made it to his third straight final round and is looking for his first win of the season after defeating Jeff Arend in the Funny Car semifinals.
Capps' opponent will be Robert Hight (above), whose four-race winning streak Capps stopped last weekend in Houston. Capps will have final-round lane choice over Hight based on his 4.164 vs. Hight's 4.194 victory against Jim Head. |
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[2:50 p.m.] As it was last year, Summit Racing Equipment teammates Greg Anderson (above) and Jason Line (left) will square off for the Pro Stock title at their sponsor's event.
Line, the defending event champ, will have lane choice after his 6.634 victory against Ronnie Humphrey; Anderson ran 6.670 against Allen Johnson. |
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| [3 p.m.] The Pro Stock Motorcycle final will pit reigning season champ Eddie Krawiec (above left) against first-time finalist Michael Ray (above right); Krawiec will have lane choice after a 6.953 in the semi's to Ray's 7.060. |
Eddie Krawiec, far lane, defeated Michael Ray to win his 13th Pro Stock Motorcycle Wally, 6.90 to 7.03. |
Greg Anderson, near lane, reversed the outcome of last year's Pro Stock final, beating Summit teammate Jason Line on a holeshot, 6.64 to 6.61, to claim his 73rd career win. |
Ron Capps, far lane, ended John Force Racing's six-race 2012 dominance of the Funny Car class, defeating Robert Hight in the final round, 4.16 to 4.34. |
Steve Torrence, far lane, a former world champ in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, scored his first career win in Top Fuel and kept Tony Schumacher winless at Atlanta Dragway, beating him in the final with a 3.89. |
The event's Full Throttle winners, from left, Ron Capps, Steve Torrence, Eddie Krawiec, and Greg Anderson. |